Why Social Value Is Important: The Stories Behind Routes to Impact
- 20 hours ago
- 5 min read
For years, the employability sector has measured success in a fairly narrow way: "How many people moved into work?". It's an important number and one Routes to Work is proud of with 1400 clients entering employment in 2025/2026. However, anyone who has spent time in a caseworker's office, a training room, or on the other end of a support call knows that the real story is bigger than a job start figure. This is why social value is important, and why Routes to Work has spent the last few years building the evidence to prove it.
Gary Swan and Jai Elder's journeys with Routes to Work are proof of the impact we pride ourselves on.
Gary's Story: Rebuilding after Encephalitis
In 2021, Gary's life changed overnight. A serious brain injury caused by encephalitis left him unable to work, unable to live independently and facing a future that looked nothing like the one he'd built for himself. Gary began the slow process of adjusting to life with his condition.
Gary's brain team, whilst treating his condition, recommended Routes to Work to get him on the right path. It wasn't a straightforward path, an initial return to hospitality as a server at the Hard Rock Cafe, proved too demanding for someone managing short-term memory loss. Rather than treating that as a setback, his caseworker worked with him to move into a host role instead, one that played to his strengths and let him thrive in his own way.
Just as important as the move into sustainable work was what came alongside it. Routes to Work connected Gary with a brain injury counsellor, support that has reached far beyond his job.
"It hasn't just helped me retain work, but also helped me throughout the rest of my life and my family... The support is second to none."
Gary's mum, Linda, saw the difference it made first-hand. "When Gary was in the hospital, we didn't know what his future was going to be like," she recalls. "To see where he is now, I couldn't be any prouder of him."
Gary's talents haven't stopped at hospitality, either. A keen tap dancer before his illness, he now runs his own dance class. A full-circle moment that speaks to just how far his confidence and independence have come, whilst helping and engaging with the local community through dance.
Jai's Story: Building Confidence and Motivation
When Jai first connected with Routes to Work in 2021, the goal wasn't simply employment; it was rebuilding a sense of self.
"I was a person that sat in a room that didn't have self-esteem, didn't have confidence, didn't feel good about themselves." This is what Jai had to say about herself before she engaged with Routes to Work.
The starting point wasn't a job listing, it was training and confidence-building. Jai completed a progression course focused on self-esteem, alongside a REHIS Food Hygiene qualification. Jai then moved into a volunteer role with the British Heart Foundation, a role that gave her the chance to build real workplace experience and confidence in a supportive setting. From there, she moved into further employment, with continued support around travel and workwear along the way.
For Jai, the shift has been transformative.
"To see me now, making others feel good about themselves, making people smile, making people happy."
Today, Jai is working in a retail role at Tesco, continuing to build on the confidence and skills she developed through her time with Routes to Work when she was a client.
What Gary and Jai's Stories Reveal About Employability and Outcomes
Neither journey fits neatly into a single "job start" statistic. Gary's outcome includes a role tailored to his ability, a counsellor who supported him manage his condition and gain renewed independence. Jai's journey includes rebuilt self-esteem, transferable skills, and a support network that stayed with her through every transition to enable what she has always been capable of.
Stronger family and community relationships, renewed motivation to achieve goals and reduced isolation. When it comes to employability and outcomes, these are the results clients and caseworkers talk about most, yet they've historically been the hardest for the sector to evidence.
That's the gap Routes to Impact was built to close.
What Is Social Value and Why Social Value Is Important?
Social value is a broader way of understanding the impact of support like ours. Rather than relying on money as the only measure of success, it puts the emphasis on people, on how their lives, relationships and communities change as a result of the support they receive.
For an organisation like Routes to Work, that means looking past the job start figure to the confidence, wellbeing and stability that come with it. It's precisely why social value is important to funders, partners and policymakers as well as to the people we support: it shifts the conversation from "how many jobs?" to "how much genuine, lasting change can we make to people's lives?"
How to Measure Social Value: Introducing Routes to Impact
Answering how to measure social value in a way that's rigorous, credible and genuinely useful has long been a challenge for the employability sector. Routes to Impact is Routes to Work's answer: a methodology developed through a Knowledge Transfer Partnership with the University of the West of Scotland, backed by Innovate UK.
Over more than two years, academic researchers worked alongside our teams to build a framework for measuring the full social value of employability support.
Our Social Return On Investment Framework
At the centre of Routes to Impact is a social return on investment framework. It puts a monetary value on outcomes that are often treated as "soft" or anecdotal, things like improved confidence, greater mental wellbeing and financial security.
The SROI Calculation Behind the Numbers
The SROI calculation behind Routes to Impact produced a headline finding that speaks for itself: Routes to Work generates a social return on investment of £7.34 for every £1 invested in its services, assured by Social Value International.
For partners, funders and policymakers across the Scottish employability landscape, that figure represents more than a return on spend. It provides evidence that person-centred holistic support, the kind that helped Gary find a job that worked for him and helped Jai rebuild her confidence from the ground up, delivers value that compounds across families, communities and public services.
Why This Matters For Employability
Scotland's employability sector has long understood, instinctively, that supporting someone into sustainable work is about more than the job itself.
Routes to Impact gives that instinct an evidence base. It offers a model that other organisations, funders and policymakers can look to as they consider how employability outcomes should be measured and valued, not just in North Lanarkshire, but across Scotland.
Gary and Jai's stories are two of many that sit behind that framework. They're a reminder that behind every statistic is a person whose life, relationships and future look different because of the support they received.
Find Out More
Routes to Impact will be officially launched on 27th August at New College Lanarkshire's Motherwell Campus, where the full framework and findings will be shared with partners, employers, academics and stakeholders from across the employability space.
To learn more about the framework ahead of the launch, visit our Routes to Impact page.
Routes To Work Ltd. are a registered charity founded in 2002, offering a free, confidential service helping unemployed residents in the North Lanarkshire area to access opportunities in employment, education and training.
Routes to Work is an ALEO of North Lanarkshire Council
Contact us on 0800 783 4731 or through generalenquiries@routestowork.co.uk
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