Prospects for Parents
Megan Gosling's Story
For every parent, wanting the best for your child is natural. Giving them good opportunities in life is a universal desire for parents, regardless of their situation.
For Megan Gosling, as a single parent, her desire was simply to provide the best possible example to her little girl.
With her three-year-old settled in nursery, Megan wanted to return to work with an opportunity that would support her childcare commitments.
It’s a difficult challenge, but one Routes To Work caseworkers Jane Speirs and Camrie Hole were on hand to help her tackle when she was referred in October 2021.
Immediately, Megan was placed on the Prospects for Parents (PFP) programme - a scheme that aims to help families, of many varieties, become better off.
PFP works with people out of work and looking for an opportunity, as well as those in work and searching for a career progression and better financial stability.
The programme features a range of support to tackle child poverty, including money, debt and childcare advice, access to funds such as the childcare development fund and the discretionary fund, as well as health interventions and training.
For Megan, the aim was to get back to work in a meaningful way after focusing on raising her little girl for the first three years of her life while juggling jobs.
The 27-year-old, from Motherwell, received support with her childcare costs, help to write a CV, achieved a food hygiene certificate and found her first opportunity as a catering assistant in November 2021.
Struggling to make the hours work around her childcare, the following July Megan re-engaged with Routes To Work.
With a new caseworker - Claire Findlay - at hand to help, Megan went down a new path into caring.
After altering her CV, going through interview preparation, which included helping Megan buy formal clothes for her first interview, she got a job.
Now a support worker for Potential Living, providing personal care for the elderly and young adults with disabilities, Megan started to thrive.
Providing rounded support to clients is something Routes To Work prides itself on - and Megan was also able to - through The Welfare Fund and with support from Michael McGowan at North Lanarkshire Council - move out of her mum’s home and into her own.
Megan was also assisted with getting furniture for her new home and received support to budget her new income to make sure everything was paid on time.
For Megan, the programme did what it said on the tin, as she believes it improved not only her life, but that of her daughter.
She said:
“I wanted a bit of a career change and Claire really helped with that.
“I’d always wanted to get into support work, the caring side of it and I’ve just never, ever went for it.
“Claire helped me through that and I managed to get a job that I really wanted.
“That was my first proper interview, that job, so Routes To Work even helped with funding so I could get a proper outfit for it.
“It’s all been good so far, I’m absolutely loving it and I feel so much happier as well.
“It’s definitely been the job I wanted to do, it’s definitely for me. I look forward to going.
“I’m so thankful for all the support my little girl and I have had.”
