The award was made last month as part of the APSE Scottish Housing and Building Seminar at Peebles Hydro.

Congratulations also go to Darren Hammond, who was a finalist in the prestigious event.

You are invited to send a photographer to Greenfield House at 9.15am on Thursday 11th March when a presentation will be made to Hannah and Darren.

While many of the Council's apprentices have been finalists at this event over the years, this is the first time that one has won the overall award.

Hannah (17) is now in her second year as an apprentice joiner having began her apprenticeship in August 2008. She was named winner of the 1st year category and also the overall winner for the 1st & 2nd year category for the whole of Scotland.

A former pupil of Alloa Academy, Hannah currently attends Forth Valley College's Clackmannan Campus as part of her apprenticeship and is doing her SVQ Level 3 in Carpentry and Joinery.

Hannah, who lives in Alloa with her parents Lorraine and Brian, was inspired to become a joiner by her grandad. She particularly enjoyed Art and Craft and Design at school. Away from work Hannah is a Flight Sergeant in the Air Training Corps.

Darren (20) from Causewayhead was a finalist in the 3rd year category at the event. He was highly praised by the judges and presented with a trophy. Darren was also a finalist two years ago.

Darren is now in his 4th year and has achieved his SVQ Level 3 in Carpentry and Joinery and his Advanced Craft Certificate and will now sit his Construction Skills Test before completing his apprenticeship.

The Apprentice of the Year Awards receives a higher number of entries every year with the standard of submissions also rising annually. This year 24 entrants were invited to attend the Peebles event as finalists.

Clackmannanshire Council's Training and Learning Centre worked with Hannah and Darren to produce a comprehensive portfolio which was presented to APSE's scrutiny panel.

Darren and Hannah were then visited in the workplace and interviewed 'on the job' by a representative of the main sponsor, Hays Montrose. They were chosen as two of the finalists and were interviewed again by the scrutiny panel at the seminar in Peebles.

Both Darren and Hannah's parents attended the award ceremony.

Councillor Eddie Carrick said: "All Scottish local authorities can enter these Awards, which recognise the achievements of our apprentice tradesmen and women. With so much competition, it says a lot for Clackmannanshire Council to have two in the final and an overall winner.

"The Council invests in our apprentices by providing them with first class training, with the support of the Clackmannanshire Training and Learning Centre.

"Both Hannah and Darren are a credit to the Council and I wish them well in their future careers."

The Council's Property Contracts Unit currently employs 12 apprentices who are training to be plasterers, joiners, plumbers and electricians.

The group, who call themselves the Bucky Busters, meet weekly in the Hawkhill Centre. Having learned about the potential risks of drinking too much for themselves, now they want to share their new knowledge with their fellow teenagers.

The group has organised, with the help of the Council's Detached Youth Workers, an event on Saturday 20th March at the Bowmar Centre, Alloa, to raise awareness of the risks of drinking too much and to promote the alternatives available locally. The event takes place from noon - 4pm.

Minister for Skills and Life Long Learning Keith Brown MSP will officially open the event at 1pm.

As well as a range of information and activities, the event is a chance for the group to launch their new leaflet.

Bucky Busters member Jodi Gordon said: "Over a series of weeks we met John and Fiona, the detached youth workers, and we used to hassle them for their alcohol information leaflets. But once we got them we realised they were no use to us as they were old and outdated, so we decided to make our own alcohol information leaflet for other young people."

Hannah Weldon added: "There will be lots of information about your safety and how drinking alcohol can make you unsafe. And there will be lots of activities which are good for young people's health and well being in the community."

Group member Alison Brown continued: "There is going to be football and I will be running a dance workshop. These are activities which keep you fit and healthy. Some of our group will also be making non-alcoholic cocktails for people to try out."

As well as a Bucky Busters stall, LADA, Signpost, the Community Wardens and Detached Youth Workers will also have information available at the event.

Hannah Weldon added: "The group came about because we wanted to show some of the dangers of drinking and we wanted to show some of the risks of consuming too much alcohol. Our group is a really good, social thing as we don't see each other during the week. The group brings us all together and it's good to do something for you're own community."

Group member Alison Brown added: "Young Scot will be there, so if you bring along your proof of age you can sign up for your National Entitlement on the day."

There will be a chance to show off your football skills with members of the late night football leagues, while members of the local Music Project will give you a chance to play some instruments and try your hand with the DJ decks. Or if you fancy something more relaxing why not try out some alternative therapy such as head massage. And there will also be a prize quiz with questions on the theme of alcohol.

Alasdair, who's most acclaimed work is the classic novel Lanark, will read from some of his work followed by a Q&A session. The event is free.

A writer and artist, he is currently working with renowned glass artist Siobhan Healy to create a large glass piece that will go on display in Alloa Library window as part of the Imagine Alloa project.

Councillor George Matchett, Portfolio Holder for Inclusion, said: "I'm delighted that the Clackswrite Writers' Festival is taking place again this year and has attracted a wealth of talent which should appeal to all ages and tastes. The talks and discussions are free to attend and I'm sure the event will prove to be popular."

The Writers' Festival opens on Friday 19th March with Alasdair's appearance at Alloa Library.

The festival, which was held for the first time in 2007, has been organised by Writer in Residence Tom Murray. It has grown from a one-day event to a weekend festival which will culminate with the premiere performance of Clax Youth Theatre's new play.

Another big name on the festival bill is Janet Paisley, who will hold a poetry workshop for both the beginner and the more experiences writer at Alloa Library on Saturday 20th March. Janet is an award winning poet, playwright and fiction writer who's latest work is the novel Warrior Daughter. There are limited places available at this workshop so book your place now by calling 01259 722262.

'Publishing: The future for publishers, writers and readers' will be presented by Sally Evans and Stuart Kelly at Alloa Library also on 20th March. They will discuss how the publishing and reading experience might change in the future, from the perspective of the publisher, writer and reader. This will be an open forum with discussion between the guest speakers and audience. Sally is well respected publisher and widely published poet and Stuart is literary editor for the Scotland on Sunday.

On Saturday evening Clax Youth Theatre present their new play 'Tangents' in D'Nisi Coffee House. Set in a fictional cafe 'Tangents'' is a series of interwoven stories that reflect the comings and goings of staff and young people in the cafe. The stories - both serious and comic - can connect with each other or stand alone.

The youth theatre will give a second performance in the same venue on the evening of Sunday 21st March. Tickets for the play, priced £3, are available by emailing alisonyoung@clacks.gov.uk or calling 01259 763940. Tickets are limited so book now.

The full programme for the Writers Festival is available at www.clacksweb.org.uk.

Notes to Editors

Writers biographies

Alastair Gray
Alasdair Gray is a writer and artist whose books are translated into many languages, while being studied in Scottish and foreign schools and Universities. Later this year shows of his paintings will be hung in the Talbot Rice Edinburgh University Gallery, and in the Scottish National Gallery of Modern Art. He is delighted that Clackmannanshire's main library in Alloa has commissioned from Sioban Healey his stained glass panel about Scotland's international links and foundation, and will be happy to read there.

Janet Paisley
Janet Paisley is an award winning poet, playwright and fiction writer. She also writes non-fiction and screenplays. She writes in Scots and English She is the author of poetry collections Reading The Bones and Ye Cannae Win. Her latest work is the novel Warrior Daughter. Her work has been translated into many languages. This workshop will focus on poetry, and is suitable for the beginner and the more experienced writer.

Stuart Kelly
Stuart Kelly is literary editor for the Scotland on Sunday. He regularly reviews books and publishes articles on the contemporary writing in newspapers which include amongst others The Scotsman and The Daily Telegraph. He is the author of the highly original The Book Of Lost Books -- an account of all the books that have been lost to posterity. He is well qualified to comment on the future of publishing and how it might effect the reader and the writer.

Sally Evans
Sally Evans is well respected publisher and widely published poet. She runs Diehard Publishers and publishes and edits the broadsheet Poetry Scotland. She organises the highly successful annual Callander Poetry Weekend which attracts poets and visitors from all over the world. As a publisher, and a poet, she deals with the realities of publishing everyday and is well positioned to discuss where publishing might be heading.

The film tells the story of the history of glass in Alloa and has been painstakingly filmed using drawings in sand. Video artist Bryony Day, has supported the pupils as part of the Imagine Alloa project. The S1 pupils narrate the story.

The stop-frame filming technique was made famous by stop-motion master Ray Harryhausen and has been seen more recently on the big screen with Wallace and Gromit and Tim Burton's Corpse Bride.

The film will be shown on the evening of Wednesday 17th March as part of an exhibition of art, design and technology, celebrating the work of Lornshill's pupils, past and present.

The exhibition will be held in The Hub from 7-9pm and all will be made welcome.

The exhibition will be of both expressive and design art work from S1 - S6 and include some 3D work and photography.

Pupils from the school's technical department will also be selling clocks, photoframes and other items that they have crafted using the school's new laser cutter.

Notes to Editor

400 years of glassmaking in Scotland is being celebrated in 2010.The OI glass factory is the oldest glassworks in Europe still operating on its original site, while Alloa's glass cone is the only one left in Scotland.

The area's first `swish, swap and salvage' evening takes place on 25th March in Alloa's Make Room, Drysdale Street as part of the Imagine Alloa project.

Nicola said: "We're asking people to bring along items of clothing or accessories to swish into something else, swap with others or salvage. Apparently people don't wear 25% of the items in their wardrobes. By swapping clothes we've all had stashed away in the wardrobe we can save money, help the environment and look fabulous too. What could be better?"

Millions of tonnes of discarded clothing go to landfill sites around the world every year.

In the UK alone we send two million tonnes of clothing to landfill - nearly 4% of all the waste we send to landfill each year.

Council Leader, Councillor Janet Cadenhead said: "Every year in the UK millions of tonnes of textiles are thrown out. The reality is that much of this could be reused or recycled. The recession has affected everyone and clothes swapping parties like this are a great way to save money and the environment without compromising on style."

Former dietician Nicola is now a talented knitter, running her own business, Nic's Eco Knits.

Her range includes hats, scarves, tea cosies, vases, bags, baby gifts and bottle gift bags.
Increasingly, Nic finds herself making items to order or personalised for special occasions.

Nicola has also joined a host of other artists involved in the Imagine Alloa project in running workshops on knitting techniques, from the project's town centre shop, the Make Room.

For more info contact nic@nicsecoknits.co.uk or check out her website at www.nicsecoknits.co.uk

Note to editor:

The Clackmannanshire Alliance, led by the Council, worked with Clackmannanshire Business and Alloa Town Centre BID to successfully secure £2million from the Scottish Government's regeneration fund earlier this year. Together with additional money from Fairer Scotland, the town centre is benefiting from a massive £2.4 million investment. A large part of the success of the bid was the inclusion of public art projects.

A condition of the funding is that the money is spent by March 2010.

The £200,000 extension will provide a real improvement to the facilities in Menstrie.

The extension has been designed in consultation with the local residents and will provide more appropriate community facilities over and above the already well used and popular sporting facilities at the centre.

Councillor Eddie Carrick, Portfolio Holder for Sustainability, said: "I am delighted to see work beginning on the extension to the Dumyat Centre. This is fantastic news for local people. The improvement this will bring to the centre will ensure that this building remains at the heart of community activities in Menstrie."

You are invited to send a photographer to the Dumyat Centre at 2.30pm on Monday 8th March when there will be a photocall to mark the start of construction.

Les Sharp, Chairman of Menstrie Community Council said: " The Community Council welcomes the long awaited start of the new extension to the Dumyat Centre, a facility that will enhance the community facilities within the village and give us a more flexible layout in the Dumyat Centre. The funding provided by Bett Scotland, under the Section 75 planning gain, will allow far more activities to take place within the centre. We plan to start these with this year's Gala Week activities which runs from 6th June."

Marshall Construction has won the tender to construct the extension and the work will be finished by 4th June 2010.

Notes to Editors

Bett Scotland were formerly Gladedale.

Deerpark Primary was chosen to host the Cup on its tour of schools across Scotland, in recognition of the school's football 'masterclass' training for the more advanced footballers in a P7 class.

On Wednesday there will be a masterclass football session from 10.45 to 11.45. You are invited to send a photographer.

When the football is going on the rest of the school will have the opportunity to visit the Cup tent, which displays the history of the Scottish Cup. Class photographs will be taken with the Scottish Cup and former Scotland and Celtic player John Kennedy.

Portfolio holder for Sport and Leisure, Councillor Bobby McGill, said, "Football is a great way for our young people to stay active and get fit. I'm delighted that Deerpark Primary's pupils will have the chance to see a piece of Scottish sporting history, thanks to the hard work of their teachers and the Council's Sports Development staff who've made football such a success at the school."

The Council's Sports Development work very closely with the Scottish Football Association and the local football clubs and teams, if you require any information about development football as a coach or as a player please do not hesitate to contact Sports Development on 01259 450000.

For further information or an informal chat call or text Karen on 07817033651 or email knewbigging@clacks.gov.uk

Council Leader, Councillor Janet Cadenhead said: "These pictures really show the scale of the figures that will be an incredible landmark in the High Street when they are installed later this year."

As well as the three figures for the High Street, a fourth figure has been commissioned as a `wandering figure' in the town.

After involving the community and local volunteers in the decision-making process, the fourth figure is to be modelled on a female worker from the area's traditional industries - such as brewing and textiles.

Daphne Hamilton, one of the volunteers at the Make Room said: "We thought a mill worker would be great as the fourth figure as Patons employed hundreds of women and if they didn't work directly with textiles then they worked there as cleaners, in the canteen or offices.

"Patons' money built the baths, the gymnasium, the Town Hall , public libraries and a school so the work of a lot of women raised enough cash profits to provide loads of facilities that are still important to the people of Alloa."

The pictures were taken at Rob's Aberfoyle workshop.

Note to editor:

The Clackmannanshire Alliance, led by the Council, worked with Clackmannanshire Business and Alloa Town Centre BID to successfully secure £2million from the Scottish Government's regeneration fund earlier this year. Together with additional money from Fairer Scotland, the town centre is benefiting from a massive £2.4 million investment. A large part of the success of the bid was the inclusion of public art projects.

A condition of the funding is that the money is spent by March 2010.

The Cedar (Children Experiencing Domestic Abuse Recovery) Project is a 3-year pilot programme, funded by the Scottish Government, for children and mothers who have experience of domestic abuse. The Forth Valley Cedar Project helps children and mothers from all three Council areas of Clackmannanshire, Falkirk and Stirling.

The programme provides a 12-week programme of support for children and young people aged from 4 years to 16 years old to help them identify and express emotions surrounding domestic abuse. Domestic abuse can have a devastating effect on children and can cause anxiety, fear, anger, sadness and disruption at school.

Groups are run for mothers to help them support their children with their experiences. Mothers are encouraged to attend the Women's programme as an opportunity to look at and discuss the materials their children will be using over the 12-week programme. Groups are held in the local community, also in a safe supportive environment.

The new DVD, which was launched at a special viewing at the Macrobert Film Centre, offers a unique and personal insight into what the experience of a CEDAR group can be like. Made in partnership with the mothers and young people themselves, the series of 4 short films graphically illustrates the activities, the friendships the fun and the successes that participation in the CEDAR programme can potentially bring. The films, each around 4 minutes in length, are designed to give people a greater understanding of what it means to be part of a CEDAR group, and is relevant whether the viewer is a potential referrer or a possible future participant.

For further information on the Forth Valley CEDAR Project please contact Susan Walker at walkers@stirling.gov.uk or Joyce Whyte at whytej@stirling.gov.uk or phone 01786 442711.

Picture Shows: Joyce White (Cedar Group Co-ordinator), Sandy Anderson (Social Care - Children & Families Service Manager), Susan Walker (Social Worker - Domestic Abuse), Murray Swan (Family Support & Community Childcare Co-ordinator)