Westley's a cinema star!
Scottish care charity Quarriers has launched its first cinema commercial to boost recruitment and fundraising. The commercial, which is being shown at UGC Renfield Street for the rest of the year, features Inverclyde resident, Westley Grey, one of its service users. Quarriers hopes that the commercial will raise awareness of jobs in social care and attract those job seekers with or without a qualification in social work. Quarriers training department offers extensive career development to those joining its staff, which now stands at over 1600. By raising awareness in this new way, the charity also hopes to attract much needed funds to some of its key projects in Scotland and overseas.
Westley works as a waiter at Sommervilles restaurant in Quarriers Village. Sommervilles is unique in providing training for adults with disabilities in restaurant duties, and providing delicious food to a wide range of customers who live, work or travel to "the village". Quarriers, devised this unique way of working to help people with a disability to achieve qualifications in the food preparation industry. One day a week, Westley attends a day release course at Glasgow College of Food and Technology, to complete his SVQ course in food and drink service, a course provided in partnership between Quarriers and the college.
Rupert Black, restaurant manager at Sommervilles which refurbished last summer, says: "Wesley is a valued member of our staff team here. He has a great sense of humour and gets on well with his colleagues and with all our customers."
By working in partnership with James Watt College and Glasgow College of Food Technology, Quarriers has made a huge success story from the project which has so far led to around 15 people achieving and SVQI or II in Food Preparation, Bakery, Food and Drink Services and Kitchen Portering as well as literacy skills via Inverclyde Adults Literacy Project.
Sommervilles was originally run as a coffee shop and named after Miss Forman ("Miss Forman's Pantry") - a Quarriers girl who was a maid to the family of William Quarrier the charity's founder. She subsequently left to begin a new life in Canada but returned to the village in 1930 when she became a housekeeper to William Quarrier's daughter, Mary Quarriers. Miss Forman became renowned for her home style cooking and baking and the village coffee house was named after her. Today Sommervilles, the restaurant, can cater for up to 40 customers and features an elevated eating area as well as a self-service salad bar and has been granted a table licence and will start opening on Saturdays from 12th March.
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