This month we celebrated an amazing milestone – Routes To Work has supported 20,000 people in North Lanarkshire into work.
Clients, employers, staff, elected members and partners were welcomed to an event on 17 June by the interim Chairman of the Routes to Work Board John McDougall.
“In the 20 years since Routes to Work was established, it has transformed the lives of 20,000 residents, which is a remarkable achievement,” Mr McDougall said.
“When someone comes to Routes to Work they start on a journey with many steps along the way, and the support they receive from so many people at every step is what makes this service so successful."
The 20,000th person to be supported by Routes to Work is Catherine Scorgie, who attended the celebration event where her story was shared. When Catherine first registered with Routes To Work in October 2019, she told her case worker Janice that her dream was to bake cakes!
With no real work experience and lacking in confidence, Catherine attended courses to build her self esteem and gain employability skills before successfully applying for a work placement to give her a taster of what work would be like.
In May 2021 Catherine was offered a full-time kitchen assistant post in the Royal Hotel in Crieff - a huge step as it involved moving to a new town and renting a flat. The job was busy and Catherine experienced a range of duties around the kitchen, which she enjoyed.
This learning and experience allowed Catherine to apply for a new job at Crieff Hydro at the end of last year – she was successful and is now in her dream job as a pastry chef!
So she now spends her days baking those cakes she told Janice about way back at the start of her journey with Routes To Work.
“I’m still standing and I wouldn’t be where I am today without the support from Routes To Work and Janice the whole way through,” Catherine said. “A thousand thank yous for everything. It is an amazing feeling to be one of 20,000 people to be helped into work by Routes To Work - keep going strong into the future.”
We think supporting 20,000 people into work is a great achievement. But don’t take our word for it - follow the links below to learn from our clients, employers and partners about how Routes To Work is making a real change in North Lanarkshire people's lives:
Click here to see the full event and hear amazing perspectives from our speakers.