Young People

Mactaggart Leisure Centre is the only leisure centre on the Isle of Islay, and was specifically set up through a community driven effort to teach children how to swim in a warm, comfortable environment. The staff that operate the pool and teach children are the lifeblood of the centre and without them, we could not deliver on our core mission. Young people make up a large proportion of our core staff, and Mactaggart Leisure Centre has a long history of supporting young people into employment and future careers.

We support young people throughout their education. We fund an annual employability workshop with presentations such as “lets get that job”, interview skills, CV writing and time management. We help with school trips to Oatridge College, Lochranza Outdoor Education Centre, Islay Airport and have recently funded and organised a multi-University residential trip where students got to visit 8 universities in one week, meaning they could make an informed choice about which ones to apply to. Being residential, students also got experience in cooking and looking after themselves. This trip was very well received as university open days are often prohibitively expensive for islanders to attend. We also take on work experience candidates from the high school and accept Kickstart placements, focussing on young people who are not in education, employment or training, and would otherwise be “left behind”.

We truly care about the long term development of young people who choose a career in the leisure industry. Once qualified as a lifeguard there are promotion pathways through the company, as well as extra opportunities such as fitness class instructors, sports coaches, personal training and pool plant operation. As an example, our General Manager started off as a lifeguard for the centre, she took courses in gym instruction, strength training and pool plant, became a supervisor, project manager and then eventually, earned a funded leisure management degree and is now the boss!

We quite often act as a “stepping stone” for young people. Many high school students have their first job with us, gaining lots of qualifications and experience in areas such as health and safety, customer care, teamwork and safeguarding. They then move on and gain lucrative employment in their chosen career using the skills they developed at the leisure centre. This story has been repeated many times and there are lots of people on the island in very good jobs that started out in the centre and have fond memories of their time here. Sometimes it is a shame to lose staff members like this, but moreover it is a source of pride for us that we have been able to deliver our core mission as well as help to see our previous staff set up for lifelong success.

Ultimately, we want to ensure every young person not only learns to swim with us, but also develops the skills and mindset needed to have a rewarding career.