We’d like to take a moment to shine the spotlight on one of the fantastic young people we’ve helped recently, who has just started doing a job he really loves!

We met Blair when he was in his last year of school. As someone who had struggled in the school environment due to his autism, Blair was linked in to CY through the JET programme for some extra support and to help him complete his Employability Award qualification.  When Blair finished school and the support through JET ended, he continued his weekly visits to CY and his garden updates became a regular thing.

From the first day we met Blair he was very clear about what he wanted to be – a Groundsman at Easter Road! At this time, Blair was only 16 and – even though he had lots of gardening experience – the team at Easter Road couldn’t take him on before he was 18.

We helped Blair find work with Edinburgh Leisure, where he maintained the golf courses and tennis courts across the city. He was also fortunate enough to be given an opportunity to volunteer at another local stadium – Tynecastle – which gave Blair some invaluable experience in this line of work.  The Edinburgh Leisure role ended for the winter and then Covid hit leaving him with no gardening, no volunteering and struggling to find meaningful work. Blair got in touch with us again this summer and continued to have one main focus – to be a Groundsman. He made contact with local football clubs to find out if they had any positions, with very little luck. Then came a break through! Blair had been told about a potential opportunity to take on a Kick Start position at none other than Easter Road Stadium…all he had to do was apply and get through an interview.

We were delighted when he called to let us know they had offered him the job!!! Blair has never given up on his passion and is such an inspiration. He is an amazing young man who has succeeded in the face of any adversity. It has been a delight to support him and see him get to where he wants to be.

We wish him all the very best in this job and look forward to hearing what happens next!