My name is Stuart, and I started at East Kilbride Credit Union through the Skills for Success programme. This experience helped ease me into what working in an office environment is like, and gave me the opportunity to learn how to use different office systems and processes.

At the beginning, I was introduced to reception duties and supported by staff while shadowing. I gradually became confident taking some member requests myself, and this was made much easier by the friendly team, who were always happy to answer questions and help me learn.

After completing the programme, I chose to stay on as a volunteer because I found the Credit Union to be a welcoming and inclusive workplace. As a volunteer, I worked on reception and supported members by taking cash payments to deposit into their accounts. Although this sounded daunting at first, I quickly realised that most members are friendly, chatty, and easy to speak to.

As I gained confidence, I learned how to process withdrawals too. While it may not sound like a big task, it was a huge step forward for me and really boosted my confidence doing something new and unfamiliar.

Thanks to the support and encouragement from the Credit Union and the staff, I was able to build skills I didn’t have before and feel much more confident in my abilities — especially when working with the public. This experience helped me successfully secure a full-time job, and I’m really grateful for the opportunity.

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📅 Stuart’s Timeline (Skills for Success Journey)

September 2025
✅ Stuart started the Skills for Success programme at East Kilbride Credit Union

Programme Completion
⏱️ Completed 28 hours in total
(Minimum required to receive a reference: 12 hours)

After completing the programme
🤝 Stayed on as a volunteer every Wednesday, supporting the Credit Union as a teller

16th January 2026
📍 Attended an interview for a job at an insurance company

January 2026
🎉 Offered the job and secured a full-time role
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💙 A Message from the EKCU Team

From everyone at East Kilbride Credit Union, we’d like to say a huge thank you to Stuart for all his hard work and dedication.

The main goal of our Skills for Success programme is to help young people build confidence, gain valuable workplace experience, and move into employment — and we’re delighted to say the programme has done exactly what it was designed to do.

We’ve truly loved having Stuart volunteer with us and we’ll be sad to see him go, but we’re so proud of him and wish him all the very best as he starts his new job.

📩 If you or someone you know would like further information on our Skills for Success programme, please email:
info@ekcreditunion.co.uk