Glasgow-based chef and restaurateur Nick Nairn is supporting a new project that aims to attract more people to careers in tourism and hospitality.
The Working in Tourism and Hospitality (WITH) project was devised by Scottish Enterprise Dunbartonshire to help support the area's unemployed and unskilled.
At the official launch breakfast at Loch Lomond, Nairn said: "Employers often say, provide us with half-decent people and we'll do the rest. WITH gives them that flying start, but it is vital employers make jobs available which people can be proud of."
With funding from the European Union and the Royal Bank of Scotland, the free training programme covers customer care, food hygiene, first aid and interview skills to help people find employment in the region's growing tourism and hospitality sector.
The scheme includes a freephone number for employers and potential employees, and offers one-day courses run through local JobCentres and community organisations, and long-term support such as Modern Apprenticeships.