BORDERS rugby legend Peter Brown was on hand to present a cheque for £1500 to a local initiative designed to help young people in the area find employment.

The ex Scotland international was attending the graduation ceremony of Galashiels Works, a ten-week programme that helps unemployed young people to find work, training or further education opportunities. He made the donation on behalf of the Gordon Brown Memorial Fund.

“I’m happy to be involved with this project, and to raise the awareness for such a good cause,” he told the Border Telegraph.  “To discover that Galashiels had the third highest level of unemployment in Scotland was a shock to me.” The programme is part of a larger campaign by nationwide charity Tomorrow’s People to help young people from disadvantaged areas across the UK find work.  “The programme has an incredible success rate, with almost 80% of people across the country finding employment, further education or training,” said Alan Doyle, Tomorrow’s People Ambassador and Managing Director of APS Scotland. “It has the potential to make a huge difference to young people’s lives.” William Makenzie, a 16 year old recent graduate of the course from Selkirk said: “I have learned a lot from the team bonding exercises. Learning how to write a CV and covering letter has been very useful too.” Robbie Cairns, 16 from Galashiels also spoke positively about the project:  “I feel more confident now than when I started the course.” Natasha Dixon, 21 from Selkirk said: “The course was crucial for me, I have two children, and finding work has been hard. There is an assumption out there that young people don’t want to work, but we just want the opportunity.” Project leader Mark Timmins said: “The aim initially is to improve confidence levels, so our graduates can complete an interview or even do a presentation in front of the public.

“It’s a busy time for them. they come in every day, five days a week 9am to 1pm.

“We also aim to get young people involved in the community, and community based projects. We are deeply grateful to all the communities and companies and organisations in the Borders that support us. And hopefully we give something back as well.”