A NEW employability project which aims to support people into permanent jobs is also helping to improve Glasgow's environment. 

The Citymakers scheme, which is being managed by Jobs and Business Glasgow with support from Glasgow City Council's Neighbourhoods, Regeneration and Sustainability department, has so far recruited over 70 people. 

The scheme gives people without a job, but who are ready to work, the chance to get paid employment and learn new skills while working alongside the council's parks and streetscene teams over a 26-week-long programme of work. 

The project is also helping to improve Glasgow's environment as it sees small teams clearing and enhancing areas of the city that are not included in the council's regular work programme. 

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This includes gap sites, small pockets of land next to buildings, paths unadopted by the council, areas under or next to major road infrastructure or other parcels of ground where ownership is unclear. 

Councillor Angus Millar, chair of Jobs and Business Glasgow, said he sees Citymakers as a vital stepping stone back into the jobs market for those out of work following the pandemic, as well as a way to assist the city's recovery. 

He said: "Citymakers is about providing assistance for those looking to get back into the jobs market while doing productive work and earning a wage. 

"It's a programme that will allow those involved to show employers they are ready for work and willing to take on new challenges. 

"Ultimately success for the scheme will see the participants gain permanent jobs and that really can be in anything where individuals can make their mark. 

"Citymakers is providing those involved with valuable experience of working on environmental maintenance and is giving people practical experience of work they can take forward to any range of roles and fields. 

"Those involved are also making a valuable contribution to the city while they reset themselves for permanent jobs. 

"All across the city, there are small spaces that the council doesn't routinely manage or where ownership is uncertain. 

"Having the Citymakers working on those spaces is making a significant difference to the look and feel of our neighbourhoods as we recover from the pandemic. 

"We've received positive feedback from communities about the ongoing work and I hope the Citymakers can take that with them as they look for new opportunities themselves."

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Over recent weeks, the teams have been all over the city undertaking tasks such as cutting back trees and bushes, stripping out weeds and lifting moss and other debris, as well as in some cases removing fly-tipped waste. 

Citymaker teams have been given the opportunity to use small plant machinery and other hand tools and it is anticipated the scheme will give the workers a platform to move onto a range of employment.