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.

“And when you consider that it has cost an average of £2,100 to support each person into work over the last 20 years compared to £9,000 in benefits for a single unemployed person, Routes to Work is a highly cost effective service which saves the public purse millions of pounds a year.”

Routes to Work provides a free, confidential service helping unemployed residents in North Lanarkshire to access opportunities in employment, education and training. Staff provide advice, information, guidance and practical support to develop and enhance the employment prospects of clients.

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.” 

Councillor Paul Di Mascio, Convener of the council’s Enterprise, Growth and Fair Work Committee, attended the event and presented Catherine with a gift to mark the occasion. He said: “It was inspiring to see the excellent work done by everyone at Routes to Work over the past 20 years in supporting 20,000 people into employment. By developing skills, knowledge and experience in each individual, the staff have contributed to improving the quality of life of each person and their families.

“Importantly, the celebration event also looked to the future and how Routes to Work will continue to grow and enhance the service it provides to meet the new challenges in the job market and the economy for many more North Lanarkshire residents.”

For the future, Routes to Work aims to look beyond the figures relating to economic value and cost per person, and assess the wider financial and non-financial benefits created by the service’s day-to-day activities.

Robin Turner, Chief Executive of Routes To Work said: “We are grateful to everyone who attended the event and helped celebrate our milestone achievement of supporting our 20,000th North Lanarkshire resident into employment. 

“Our work and achievements would not be possible without the support and investment made in our services by many public bodies but particularly without the special relationship we have with North Lanarkshire Council who have been our principle investor throughout the past 20 years. We look forward to working with the Council and other statutory and third sector services in pursuit of supporting the next 20,000 North Lanarkshire residents into work.”