A YOUTH employment project in Port Glasgow has received the backing of Inverclyde’s MP.

Iain McKenzie visited Inverclyde Community Development Trust — The Trust — to learn about their continuing efforts to get young people into employment.

The Trust aims to create jobs and remove barriers to employment, as well as providing other services such as meals on wheels and dementia care.

The organisation, a registered charity, employs more than 70 staff and has been praised in the past by current Scottish Labour leader and then-UK Government minister Jim Murphy for running the second most successful jobs programme in the UK.

Mr McKenzie visited The Trust at their Port Glasgow Business and Training Centre in Devol to meet young people involved in their latest social enterprise Newark Products, which employs young adults with learning difficulties to make a range of products sold all over the country.

He also saw the work of new business Scotcrest, who moved into Inverclyde thanks to Newark Products and are now producing 6,000 bespoke wooden plaques every year.

Mr McKenzie said: “I was delighted to go along to the Inverclyde Development Community Trust in Port Glasgow and see the fantastic work they are doing in helping young people who are unemployed, gain personal development and employment skills.

“It was also great to see the high quality work of Newark Products and Scotcrest, who are a reminder of the diversity of employers right here on our doorstep in Inverclyde.

“The Trust provides a valuable service in supporting and developing the skills of those who are unemployed, which is especially important in these tough times.

“Inverclyde thankfully has seen low levels of youth unemployment thanks to the efforts of the Trust and Inverclyde Council, who have prioritised keeping young people in work through projects such as the last Labour government’s Future Jobs programme.” The MP also praised the organisation for bucking the trend by encouraging employment in the area at a time when the overall jobless total has gone up.

Mr McKenzie said: “It was disappointing to see long-term unemployment increase in Inverclyde between December and January.

“That is why it is vital we never become complacent in our desire to eradicate unemployment and recognise the importance of groups like The Trust for doing all they can to ensure youth unemployment continues to remain low in Inverclyde.”