The college will be able to dismantle and relocate the yurtThat symbol of glamorous camping, the yurt, could become a symbol of hope for jobless people in the Harlech area.
Coleg Harlech is getting people together to build a version of the traditional Mongolian nomad dwelling, a popular feature these days on up-market campsites.
The completed structure will be used for meetings and activities in a social enterprise that will offer 65 short-term jobs and teach relevant skills for rural employment.
"It seems like a strange thing, building a yurt," said Pitra Lundy, Coleg Harlech's entrepreneurship champion.
"But putting people in an uncomfortable or unusual situation can actually lead to achievement they never they thought they could gain."
The yurt and the grounds are all part of this bigger idea we've got of trying to bring the community in and get people employed
Sally Stringer, assistant principal"The yurt is there to make people think outside the box," Pitra added. "It's also quite a big industry at the moment where there's quite a lot of money to be made."
There are two yurt makers within a few miles of the college alone and one of them, Gari Lewis, will help with the yurt-building from 18-21 November.
Then, from January, it will be available for use by the college's new social enterprise.
"We've had a contract from the Welsh Council for Volunteering to create 65 new jobs in Harlech and we'll be looking at land management, recycling, waste management and agriculture," Pitra explained.
"People will be able to come to us who are unemployed and haven't really got skills or qualifications. We'll be paying them and they'll be able to learn skills that they can use in rural Wales.
"Self-employment will be a big theme because there isn't really any big industry here."
Over 18 months 65 people will be employed for 12-week periods.
Recycling
Growth sectors for jobs in rural Meirionydd have been identified as the Snowdonia National Park, hotels with large gardens, the Countryside Council for Wales and self-employment.
Sally Stringer, Coleg Harlech's assistant principal, said the yurt is being built on an eight-acre piece of college land.
People taken on by the enterprise scheme will be selling logs cut from the land, collecting newspapers to make briquettes, and second hand goods to sell in a small shop they'll set up in the town.
"It's all about reusing, recycling and trying to recreate an enterprising culture," Sally said. "The yurt and the grounds are all part of this bigger idea we've got of trying to bring the community in and get people employed.
"It's just saying, 'look you don't have to be on the dole. If we give you the skills there are things you can do'."
Youth action
Also using the yurt will be Rhyl Youth Action, as Pitra explained:
"They're a group that work with young people who have all sorts of social problems and they have already helped us with a lot of the land management of the site.
"They'd never been anywhere like Harlech before and didn't know what a yurt was.
"These kids will stay on the streets of Rhyl until two or three in the morning and they're afraid of the dark when they come to us because we're in the middle of nowhere. It's a big step away from their comfort zone."
Anyone is welcome to join in the yurt-building on Saturday and Sunday at Crown Lodge, Ffordd Isaf, Harlech, LL46 2PR.
Wednesday 17 November 2010
BBC - Yurt launches new job prospects for Harlech unemployed
via news.bbc.co.uk
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