DYW Moray's Employer Recognition Award is given to Ross Keddie of Chivas Brothers
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THE third Employer Recognition Award handed out by Developing the Young Workforce Moray (DYW Moray) has gone to Ross Keddie, senior bulk operations manager at Chivas Brothers.
DYW Moray started presenting the award in August 2022 to showcase individuals who have gone above and beyond to support Moray's young people with DYW activities.
Sandy Young, HR Advisor at Baxters, and John Cairns and Bethany Welsh, from Balfour Beatty, received this recognition of their efforts.
When DYW Moray started out, Ross Keddie was one of the first to get involved by hosting stands at career fairs to showcase the variety of opportunities in the whisky industry.
He has also been a Career Ready Mentor, supporting young people to receive one-to-one mentoring from a local professional to help unlock their true potential and discover the right career path for them.
Mr Keddie then chaired a Moray Food, Drink and Tourism working group of employers to support local Education DYW Strategy, the Moray Skills Pathway, which brought together like-minded employers to plan opportunities for school pupils to engage with the world of work.
He then led a Food, Drink and Tourism Sector Day which hosted 15 employers at UHI Moray for third year pupils from local secondary schools to attend practical workshops and inspirational talks on what it is like to work in the industry.
In addition, Mr Keddie was recently a judge at pupil presentations as part of the Youth and Philanthropy Initiative, hosted teacher and pupil workplace tours around Chivas Brothers’ sites and supporting the yearly DYW National #NoWrongPath campaign.
He also delivered a competition for art pupils to draw distillery-related art work, with the winners’ art work now being proudly presented on the walls of local Chivas Brothers’ sites in Moray.
Primary school pupils also got to get involved in naming a company robot this year, which is hosted at the Chivas Brothers’ Keith Bond 2 facility. Ethan Robinson, from Hopeman Primary School, won the competition.
Ethan’s class then attended a workplace tour to launch the robot’s new name, which was called Toby.
Finally, before the summer holidays Ross helped to run a film project for Buckie High School’s Media class to help put their filming and editing skills to practice.
The class got to film local Chivas Brothers’ employees from different departments, interviewing them on their role and asking them to offer their advice for young people entering the world of work.
DYW Moray's Sarah Barnes said: "We would like to sincerely thank Ross for all of his time and efforts in supporting our Moray young people and hope that Ross’s work is a prime example for other employers to be inspired and get involved."
