Recruits are Mòd-el pupils during festival challenge
A group of Renfrewshire teenagers are planning a festival of fun – after devising a series of events for young people when Paisley hosts the Mòd later this year.
The youngsters on Renfrewshire’s Recruit programme were tasked with creating a programme of activities for 11-15-year-olds during the event by festival organisers.
The Royal National Mòd – Scotland’s premier celebration of Gaelic language and culture – will come to Paisley for the first time between 11 and 19 October.
The Recruit is a popular council-run youth employment scheme loosely based on TV’s The Apprentice, which sees young people compete through a series of business-related challenges, with jobs on offer for the winners.
This summer, there are two programmes, one for S5/6 school leavers, and one for unemployed young people aged between 18 and 24.
For the Mòd task, the youngsters on the S5/6 programme were asked to prepare a presentation on their proposals for a fringe programme for young people.
They were also charged with considering budgets and with speaking to local businesses to see if they could secure any deals.
The team judged to be the winners were Team Endeavour, made up of Mateusz Hajdecki, 18; Craig Woods, 17; Rachael Fletcher, 17; Lauren Goldthorp, 16; Shannon Boyle, 18; and Chloe Swordy, 17.
Running the rule over the youngsters’ presentations was Ealasaid MacDonald, Convenor of the Mòd Phàislig 2013 Organising Committee.
She said: “The Royal National Mòd will be a massive event for the town, with thousands of visitors expected over the nine days.
“The aim of the Recruit task was to ask the young people to generate ideas to help keep other young people entertained, which will complement the main Mòd events.
“The committee will now look to implement the best of the ideas. The young people showed a great deal of initiative and enthusiasm, and I was really impressed with the quality of their suggestions.”
The Mòd is being brought to Paisley by An Comunn Gàidhealach. The main competitions will take place in Paisley Town Hall, with fringe events spread throughout the town.
Taking place at the same time is The Spree national arts festival, which returns after a successful debut last year and has been designed to wrap around the Mòd.
This year’s Recruit will culminate with a finale in Paisley Town Hall on Wednesday 14 August, at which the winning Recruits will be revealed.