10/09/2026
EMPLOYABILITY DAY | COLDINGHAM BRAVE BAYERS
What if volunteering could be the first step towards something more?
At Coldingham Brave Bayers, we believe it can.
For us, as a women and disability led social enterprise it isn't simply about getting someone into a job. It is about creating the skills, confidence, experience, connections and lifelong learning opportunities that help people take their next step whatever that step looks like for them.
Through our volunteering and wellbeing programmes 2025/26 we have already created opportunities for people to gain accredited training, including:
🏊 STA Open Water Coaching – 2 people
🌊 STA Open Water Rescue – 2 people
🚑 Outdoor First Aid – 10 people
🍽️ Food Hygiene – 2 people
💙 Trauma-Informed Practice - 2 people
🏊♀️ Aquaphobics – 2 people
🍃 Forest Outdoor Leadership level 8 - 1 person
But qualifications are only one part of employability.
Volunteering and our wellbeing programmes can develop the skills employers value every day:
✨ Communication
✨ Teamwork
✨ Confidence
✨ Reliability
✨ Leadership
✨ Problem-solving
✨ Responsibility
✨ Working with others
✨ Environmental awareness
✨ Asking questions and finding solutions
Our beach cleans, citizen science and environmental activities create opportunities to learn through doing, while improving our coastline and strengthening connections within our community. They also provide meaningful opportunities for older and retired people to stay active, involved and connected. 🌿🌊
Building pathways locally
We want to understand what our local economy needs.
That means talking to small businesses, noticing skills gaps, listening to employers and looking at how a wild swimming community organisation can help create realistic pathways into local work and support their skills gaps within their organisations.
It also means recognising the barriers.
In a rural coastal community, transport can be a barrier. So can caring responsibilities, health, family life, confidence, access to training, digital connections and simply knowing where the opportunities are.
We ask questions.
We encourage people to take part in surveys and consultations.
We share relevant job opportunities and training.
We connect people with local businesses and organisations.
And when we identify a gap, we don't just accept it as “that's the way things are.”
We ask what could be different.
💙 And we want to explore a different model of work.
People are not just employees.
They are parents, carers, partners, grandparents, students, volunteers and members of their communities. Their circumstances can change sometimes unexpectedly.
We want to explore how a social enterprise can put people at the heart of its workforce, building flexibility into the way we develop roles and opportunities.
Not promising that we already have the perfect answer.
But being prepared to listen, learn and try.
Could there be a model where people can contribute around family responsibilities, caring, health, other employment and the realities of life?
Could we build progression routes that allow someone to start small, gain confidence and skills, take accredited training and gradually increase their involvement?
Could local organisations and small businesses work together to create more flexible pathways into employment?
We think it is worth asking.
“The best employability pathway isn't always a straight line. Sometimes it's a series of small steps, made possible because someone created the opportunity to take the first one.”
And that is what we want Coldingham Brave Bayers to be about.
Creating the first step.
Taking part → Volunteering → Skills → Experience → Qualifications → Connections → Confidence → Opportunity → Employment.
Not everyone will follow the same route.
And that's okay.
Because No One Left Behind means recognising that people start from different places and may need different routes to get where they want to go.
We want to keep listening to our community, working with Local and National businesses and partners, identifying barriers and creating opportunities that make sense for our place and our people.
We keep asking questions.
We keep learning.
We keep connecting.
We keep creating opportunities.
And we keep pushing forward.
That's employability to us.
People. Place. Skills. Confidence. Community. Opportunity.
And we're only getting started. 💙
ESES Communities Scottish Borders Council Borders Community Action
