Annette initially attended Routes to Work in October 2018 after being referred from Bellshill Job Centre.

Annette, who is 50 years old and lives in Bellshill, had not worked in 30 years due to raising her family and caring responsibilities for other family members. 

Whilst attending Routes to Work,  Annette and her Caseworker discussed the possibility of going back to work as an option.

However, Annette’s confidence was low and she did not feel she had the necessary skills or experience to get back into the work environment.  With the assistance of her Caseworker,  she agreed to being referred to the Routes to Work Skills Team to support her in gaining the relevant training in relation to her employment needs. 

After completing her REHIS Food Hygiene and First Aid qualifications in March of this year, Annette was referred to our partner - Community Learning and Development - Adult learning, for support with her CV.  

Whilst waiting on the childcare vacancies to be released, her Caseworker and Skills Trainer discussed other options that would be suitable and in line with her recent training.  Annette was keen to consider roles in the catering, cleaning and care industries. 

She was then referred to our in-house Employer Link Worker (Sarah) whereby her needs were identified and she was supported with interview preparation.  Subsequently she was then referred for interview with a care organisation based in Motherwell.   Annette was successful and offered the position with them.

Routes to Work covered the costs of her disclosure application and on confirmation of successful disclosure, Annette took up her new role as a Support Worker on 7th August this year. 

On commencing work with her new employer, Routes to Work supported Annette financially in the transition between benefits to earnings.  She was then referred directly to our In-work Support Team, to ensure that she is fully supported for the first 6 months whilst in employment.  This service enables the client to gain support as and when required in relation to financial and practical issues that may arise.

Annette said,          “I am loving it.  Being in work has changed my life for the better.”

Sharon Stobbart is one client who has benefited from the SQA level 4 Employability Award: “Through family commitments of caring for my disabled daughter, I never thought that I would have the time for myself to pursue the career I had always wanted… to become Self-Employed as a caterer.

Fifty-five-year-old James faced a number of barriers whilst trying to get back into work. In constant pain due to musculo-skeletal issues, he could no longer carry out his physical work as a painter and decorator. As a result he was unemployed for over 10 years and was claiming Employment and Support Allowance.

​A security guard of some 17 years standing, Robert Gartshore suddenly found himself in the position of having to seek employment in his late 50s – an extremely daunting prospect for anyone so far into their working life.

​Mathew registered with Routes to work in September 2017. Mathew worked closely with his caseworker and was seen regularly throughout his journey. After Mathew was taken through the full registration process, his case worker put in place a series of interventions around CV development and ELW referrals. These interventions were put in place quickly to best support Mathew.

Colin registered with RTW in November 2017. Colin built up a good working relationship with his case worker through the development of his CV and referral for various job opportunities. Colin also received interview support to prepare him for up and coming interviews. Colin retained close contact with his case worker throughout his journey, leading on to two job interviews.

Peter had been unemployed since 2005. He registered with Routes to Work and met his case worker to discuss his future options and choices of work. Peter highlighted that he would enjoy working in a warehouse/production work environment. Peter also had a desire to be a Care Assistant and had a car so he felt he could move around and support others. 

The case worker agreed that care work was a good option for Peter and discussed some options for short training courses in Care with him. Peter gave the training options strong consideration and they both agreed an action plan of training and intensive job searching. Within a month, Colin had attended several relevant courses: REHIS, Intro to Care, Care job roles and skills, CV Cover Letters. Colin also undertook additional First Aid training and moving and handling. He successfully completed all of this training with a high pass rate.