21 SUMMER 2015
Developing Ayrshire’s Workforce
AYRSHIRE STUDENTS RECEIVE TOOLS OF
THE TRADE AT JOHN MATHER AWARDS
FORMER AYRSHIRE COLLEGE
STUDENTS WHO HAVE
SECURED EMPLOYMENT OR
SET UP THEIR OWN
BUSINESS WITHIN THE PAST
YEAR HAVE BEEN GIFTED
’TOOLS OF THE TRADE’
COURTESY OF THE JOHN
MATHER CHARITABLE TRUST
TO HELP SUPPORT THEM IN
THE WORKPLACE.
In total, 127 students benefited
from the John Mather Trust and
attended a ceremony at the
Park Hotel in Kilmarnock on 20
May, where they received an
award alongside their tools in
front of a packed audience of
proud parents, partners and
friends.
The students collected their
awards from Trustee Marilynn
MacKay, who shared fond
memories of John Mather in
her speech.
John left school at 16 and
started working life as an office
boy in the accounts
department of the Clyde
Navigation Trust in 1953. He
later went on to become
company chairman of
Clydeport and built up a
personal wealth of several
million pounds.
He set up the John Mather
Charitable Trust in 1996 to help
young people in the West of
Scotland get started in their
trade. Since then hundreds of
students have benefitted from
the generosity of the Trust.
A number of the former
students’ employers were in
attendance on the night,
including Jewson, Wallace
McDowall and Ashleigh
(Scotland) Ltd.
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