A young Lanarkshire woman has dumped her past behind her and kickstarted a brand new career.
For Bellshill’s Elivia Martin has driven her way to success and landed her dream job as a dump truck driver with Advance Construction.
The construction giant recruited Elivia after joining the company on the Government’s Kickstart Scheme, which aims at helping young people aged 16-24 on Universal Credit who were at risk of long-term unemployment.
Elivia, now 23, was facing an uncertain future after losing her job during the pandemic and was struggling for more than a year before she heard about the scheme in her local job centre.
She applied for the job at Advance Construction, which is headquartered in Strathclyde Business Park in Bellshill, and was amazed when she heard she got it.
She told Lanarkshire Live : “It was really tough during lockdown, I was stuck in the house all the time and had to borrow money from family and friends just to keep going. When this opportunity came along I jumped at it.
“They have been really good with me, putting me through the dumper truck and compliance qualifications at the Advance Training Academy in Livingston.
"They lent me all kinds of books and were encouraging me every step of the way.”
The Kickstart scheme provided funding for the temporary position for six months but even before the end of that time, it was clear that Elivia was a real asset to the company.
John Irvine, contracts manager, told us : “From the moment she started with us we were impressed by her attitude, she just gets on with things and she has very quickly become a valued member of the team.”
For Elivia it has been a life-changing opportunity and she is proud of being an advocate for women in the construction industry and the only female on site.
She added: “Although I am the only woman on site it doesn’t bother me, everyone is really nice, and I definitely think that girls should think about construction as a career.
"There are so many different trades you can learn and career routes you can follow.”
To find out more about apprenticeship opportunities with Advance Construction go to: recruitment@acscotland.com.
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