Cathy Jamieson praised the positive impact of Street League on the lives of unemployed young people following a visit to the North and East Ayrshire Street League Academy at Rugby Park in Kilmarnock.

>> The Kilmarnock and Loudoun MP was invited to the Academy to present awards to graduating students.

>> Street League is an employability charity which uses football as a means of helping young people aged 16 to 25 years-old who are either out of work or about to leave school, into employment, further education or training.

>> It runs three 9 week Academy programmes each year, which aim to engage with young people in an environment that allows them to improve their employability skills and qualities, whilst playing and enjoying football.

>> Cathy said: “The Street League Academy is an excellent initiative that gives young people the opportunity to learn essential employment skills, such as how to write a CV and prepare for an interview, in a relaxed and unthreatening environment.

>> "Having a job is very much like playing football – both require you to work as part of a team and to work towards achieving goals. The structure of the Academy programme, which alternates two hours of football with two hours of job training, is effective in communicating these similarities to young people in a context that helps them to remain relaxed and focused.

>> "Unemployment at a young age can have serious negative consequences, damaging self-esteem in the present and making it more difficult to attain stable and well-paid employment in the future. With youth unemployment still at an unacceptably high level, it is vital that we take action now to help young people get into work.

>> >> That 81 per cent of Academy graduates progress into employment shows just how effective this approach is, and I would like to wish all of this year's graduates every success in the future."