AYR College is looking for more males to sign up for social care and nursing courses by getting out in the community to spread awareness of getting involved in a career caring for others.

Headed up by lecturer Mark Ballie, a college stall will be in place at Ayr Central this Wednesday, May 1 for their fourth and final outing to encourage men to get involved in a rewarding job sector.

The Diverse roles available cover everything from social work to nursing and Mark is hoping the wide range of opportunities available will attract more male candidates.

Mark said: “We’ve so far had a lot of interest from men who are maybe looking for a career change.

“A lot of the time the attitude is that male stereotypes aren’t for certain jobs like nursing or community care. But there is a wide spectrum of diverse jobs within health and social care that men can get involved in.”

Mark himself studied at community care at Ayr College before he went on to pick up a psychology degree before returning to the college as a lecturer.

Now he is looking for more men to get involved after noticing a lack of “male role models” during his previous work experience working in child care.

Mark added: “Personally I have worked in the children’s care sector and there isn’t a lot of men involved or working within it.

“I think it’s something that should be encouraged “I’ve worked with a lot of male students who have came from a challenging background and they want to give something back.

as a lot of these children have maybe not grown up with a good male role model and that can be important to have.

They feel like they can relate well to people because they’ve had that experience and used it in a positive way.”