Chairman's report
Thank you for taking the time to read our 2021 Annual Report. In a year where a lot changed, Routes To Work continued its vital work in transforming lives.
Our magnificent staff and supportive stakeholders successfully tackled head on the challenge of coming out of the pandemic to ensure that we would meet the needs of the North Lanarkshire community as we entered our 20th year.
Similarly, North Lanarkshire Council’s continued support and faith in Routes To Work to deliver as one of their Arm’s Length External Organisations has helped us drive to transform lives and offer an exceptionally strong return on investment.
Faced with the uncertainties posed by Covid, Routes To Work remained resilient and showed significant flexibility in continuing to deliver our existing programmes and also in engaging in exciting new programmes of work.
This report shows a range of those, featuring powerful examples from our clients as we assisted 1,050 people into employment in 2021.
There is the remarkable tale of our 20,000th client - Catherine Scorgie - supported through the European Social Fund, the life-changing support Jai Elder received through the Young Person’s Guarantee programme and the difference made to the life of Megan Gosling and her daughter through the Prospects For Parents initiative.
Similarly, new initiatives such as Kickstart yielded great results for young people like musician Johnny Irwin and the Schools programme was a roaring success, too, with Zak Gilday just one example of the pupils impacted across 16 North Lanarkshire High Schools.
A person-centred, focused approach is at the heart of everything Routes To Work does and, while the next generation is vastly important, as illustrated in this report, we remain fully committed to being a service for residents of all ages.
That said, our ability to deliver for young people following the significant investment made by the Scottish and UK governments after Covid shines through in this report.
Our dedicated, authentic and talented staff team ensures we live up to that ethos every day - and that makes my fellow Routes To Work directors and I very proud indeed.
Moving forward, circumstances and challenges will continue to change and Routes To Work must - and will - retain its flexibility.
Our closeness to our clients and needs-first approach will inform this progress as we see new initiatives such as the Community Renewal Fund provide targeted support to economically inactive people residing in the Airdrie Central ward.
Likewise, there is our Knowledge Transfer Partnership (KTP) with the University of the West of Scotland that will help us better understand and communicate – and thereby further increase - our social value moving forward.
This, in turn, will enable Routes To Work to stay ahead of the curve and add to our armoury as we seize opportunities for North Lanarkshire.
If we are to continue to deliver remarkable benefits to society - both in terms of the human and the economic impact - being flexible and proactive rather than reactive is vital.
We are now, hopefully, out of the woods with the pandemic and it is an exciting time to be involved at Routes To Work.
With our staff, partners and our unique processes and approach, we have the right recipe to continue our bounceback from Covid.
I mentioned our 20,000th client - Catherine Scorgie - earlier and, at the time of writing, we have now increased the number of people who have had their lives transformed through new-found employment via Routes To Work to over 21,500.
That ever-growing number, driven by the dedication of Routes To Work staff and our ability to respond to situations in the community, never ceases to amaze me.
Our journey so far has been remarkable, however, we must always be ready to adapt, alter or, indeed, transform to reflect the ongoing changes in the requirements of our community.
It’s been another successful year and everyone at Routes To Work, together with our partners, should be applauded for their work in this achievement.
Here’s to a further successful year ahead as our genuine approach, adaptability and innovation continues to shine throughout the whole organisation.
John McDougall
Chairman, Routes To Work
