Marie* heard about Future Pathways after participating in the Scottish Child Abuse Inquiry. Marie works full time and cares for a family member, so she felt spread thin when she first reached out to Future Pathways.
When she met her Support Coordinator, Marie shared that she felt like she didn’t have a lot of time to herself. She felt that she often prioritised other people’s needs, and this had affected her confidence. Marie’s Support Coordinator helped her to consider what her interests were, and she shared that she had always been interested in gardening. Marie had worked in a garden several years previously and was interested in picking up these skills again.
With her Support Coordinator’s support, Marie started looking into volunteering opportunities in her local area and found a local community garden.
With her Support Coordinator’s encouragement, Marie started volunteering there once a week. This gave her some dedicated time in the week for herself and made her feel more confident and valued, while also allowing her to gain more skills in gardening and feel more engaged with her local community
Sadly, shortly after starting to work with Future Pathways, a close family member died. While grieving this loss, Marie and her family were also struggling to pay the costs of the funeral, which caused worry and strain during an already difficult time. This was made more difficult because they had lived far away.
Marie shared this challenge with her Support Coordinator and was surprised to hear that Future Pathways could help pay for travel and accommodation costs for her to attend the funeral.
Her Support Coordinator also helped Marie contact the local authority to explore options for funeral cost support which reduced financial pressure considerably. This enabled Marie and her family to grieve their loss without worrying about getting into debt.
After returning from the funeral, Marie started struggling with her mental health as thoughts and memories from her past in care resurfaced. She decided to talk to Future Pathways about accessing counselling. Marie shared with her Support Coordinator how important it was to be able to relate with her counsellor so that she could feel comfortable talking about her trauma. Her Support Coordinator researched some options.
Marie attended the first session knowing that if she didn’t feel a connection with the counsellor, other options were available.
Marie chose a counsellor who she felt comfortable with and over time they developed a relationship which allowed Marie to explore how her trauma impacts her in the present. Future Pathways also provided funds for materials for a creative project which Marie did alongside counselling to express her life story. Marie feels this support has allowed her to develop a different, more rounded perspective on what she needs going forward. She no longer feels she is facing life’s challenges alone.
See How We Help to find out more about how Future Pathways can help you.
The Community Brokerage Network (CBN) works alongside Future Pathways to support people to achieve their outcomes.
CBN was established with support from the Scottish Government, Support
in The Right Direction (SiRD) Fund. They provide independent information and support to help people with social care needs choose how to use the resources available in the best way for them.
Brokers at CBN help people identify what support they require, find out information about the options available, and put a plan in place which meets their needs.
Recently, CBN worked alongside Future Pathways to support a client to develop his literacy skills. Michelle, a CBN Broker, tells us about this experience:
My relationship with Future Pathways works well because they work in a person-centred way, and they give us as a partner the time and flexibility to be person-centred too. This aligns with our ethos at the Community Brokerage Network which is about putting people first.
The client’s Support Coordinator, Mary, put me in contact with Cellfield U.K. Mary explained how trauma can affect people and what could be triggering for the client. We identified that the time and expense of travelling to attend sessions presented a barrier to the client.
We took the time to explore several options, but Mary also knew when to step back, and trust our experience and expertise as partners. She did not micro-manage.
We arranged for sessions to take place in the client’s local community, and we adapted the length and structure of the programme according to the client’s needs.
The client initially felt quite reluctant and low in confidence because of their previous experiences of education, so we took a relaxed, informal approach. The client enjoyed the process and attended every session without prompt. This experience seemed to increase the client’s self-belief and open up future opportunities to learn.
I enjoy working with Future Pathways because we have a respectful, open exchange of ideas. My opinion is listened to.
We feel comfortable to disagree with one another and discuss options. In my
view, the Support Coordinator role is invaluable. The Support Coordinator connects me with the
client and provides information which allows me to do my job more effectively. Having a link with a Support Coordinator makes my interactions with Future Pathways more human. I have a relationship with Future Pathways – it is more than just a referral process or a box-ticking exercise.
Working alongside Future Pathways has taught me the importance of expressing clear boundaries and expectations with clients and partners.
I have gained more patience by working with Future Pathways. Sometimes, we support people with complex needs, so I have learned that it can take longer to put the right support in place. Finally, working with Future Pathways has enabled me to shift my mindset as a practitioner. Previously, I believed that I knew what support people needed. Now, I learn from survivors what support they feel they need. It’s a shift from ‘fixing’ to acknowledging survivors’ autonomy over their support.
When Gerry started working with Future Pathways, one of his goals was to make sense of his past in care. One of our Support Coordinators reflects on this journey.
Gerry struggled with feelings of depression and with managing feelings of anger and distress. This made Gerry feel uncomfortable in group settings, causing him to withdraw and isolate himself. His Support Coordinator referred him to the Anchor. Following assessment, the Anchor provided weekly Cognitive Behavioural Therapy, followed by mindfulness and compassion focused therapy.
Gerry developed a positive rapport with the CBT practitioner, and he shared with us that he felt
comfortable and safe with them. When the Anchor’s support came ended, Gerry expressed sadness about this loss of support, but acknowledged that significant progress had been made.
“I noticed a big difference in how Gerry engaged with the world and those around him. Accessing psychological support gave Gerry some momentum to make further positive changes.”
Gerry reported feeling more self-confident after accessing this support. He had come to terms with his experiences in care and had been able to work through difficult feelings towards his family. Gerry learned about what triggered him and gained new skills to manage difficult feelings.
Accessing mental health support so swiftly also motivated Gerry to continue working on himself.
“It was amazing to see how effective the right support at the right time can be. Because he had a therapeutic outlet, Gerry and I could build on the momentum he had gained. When people cannot access psychological support, this can be very difficult.”
Gerry successfully applied for an apprenticeship. Whereas previously engaging with a group course would have been too challenging, Gerry could now apply the skills gained in therapy to meaningfully engage with his course and develop positive working relationships with others. This further increased Gerry’s confidence because he felt he could accomplish goals and be trusted by others. The work Gerry did with the Anchor also supported his other goals such as developing physical fitness and creating a supportive routine.
Gerry reviewed his support with his Support Coordinator. Together they agreed that Gerry had been able to achieve the goals he had set with Future Pathways, and Gerry felt able to move forwards, focusing on his apprenticeship, without Future Pathways support.
A Support Coordinator reflects on developing a relationship with someone they work with.
When I started working with Thom, he felt let down by statutory services and he did not have trusting relationships in his personal life. He often shouted at services over the phone, causing them to stop providing support. Thom felt that services used his anger as an excuse to disengage from him which reiterated his feelings of not being cared for.
Due to interruptions in Thom’s education, Thom has some literacy issues, which also made it difficult to engage with services which communicate via email, post, or text. When I started working with Thom, he came across as deeply mistrustful. His mindset was, “nobody is going to mess with me.” However, over time, I have observed a gradual evolution in Thom’s interactions with me and others.
‘I think listening to Thom and understanding where his anger stems from has contributed to this change.’
I think listening to Thom and understanding where his anger stems from has contributed to this change. Thom and I had a phone conversation which he ended in a state of distress. I asked the police to complete a wellbeing check. Thom appreciated that I had followed up and he understood why I had been concerned. I think this demonstrated to Thom that I had heard him, I took him seriously and I cared about him. This experience seemed to cement our relationship.
Listening has also been important when adapting to Thom’s literacy needs which I approach by making suggestions which are always up for discussion. For example, because receiving text messages can be stressful for Thom, we speak on the phone, meet face-to-face, and we have also created a plan using visuals.
‘Our relationship feels more relaxed.’
Following through consistently has also been important. For example, we spoke about what it would mean to Thom to take a break away, and we worked together to plan and book this. Acknowledging and moving on from mistakes has also developed the trust in our relationship. If I make a mistake in something that I say, I apologise and I model that it is okay to make mistakes. It has made the relationship feel less fragile. We both know we can get things wrong, and this is okay because we can also repair the relationship and move forward.
I have noticed that Thom is starting to express gratitude for the work we are doing together. Our relationship feels more relaxed, and I have noticed that he is more open to recognising people’s good intentions and repairing situations outwith Future Pathways. For example, Thom recently started working with an external service. Initially, he felt angry about a miscommunication. However, he then acknowledged the misunderstanding and the good intentions of the service involved and continued to engage with them. Similarly, when Thom went on his break away, a conflict arose with a service provider. Initially, this caused Thom some distress, but he was able to resolve this and move forward with his holiday.
‘It feels like green shoots are starting to appear.’
I think of the relationship between Thom, myself, and Future Pathways as a safe space within which Thom can explore how to develop and maintain trusting relationships. My hope is that this will enable him to negotiate himself around his world without as much defensiveness. While it is early days, it feels like green shoots are starting to appear.
A Support Coordinator describes how they work with partners to provide the right kind of support.
I would like to shine a spotlight on two delivery partners who have provided excellent, trauma-informed support to Callum, one of the survivors I work with. When I started working with Callum, one of his outcomes was to be a good role model for his daughter, Claire. Claire had been struggling at school due to her dyslexia and seeing Claire have difficulties at school caused Callum to reflect on his own experiences of education. He wanted to teach his daughter that education is important.
Together we explored some options and Callum decided that he wanted to work with Cellfield UK to address his literacy challenges while supporting Claire to do the same. The Cellfield programme usually involves daily computer-based sessions at the University of Stirling for two weeks, following by 10 weeks of planned reading.
‘When I started working with Callum, one of his outcomes was to be a good role model for his daughter.’
Callum had been working with another delivery partner, the Community Brokerage Network, who helped him to explore the practicalities of Claire taking time away from school, as well as travel and expenses. The Community Brokerage Network then reached out to Cellfield UK to discuss Callum’s and Claire’s needs.
Both partners recognised that the distance that Callum and Claire needed to travel to attend the sessions was a significant barrier to them engaging with the service, so they worked together to mitigate this. Rather than delivering sessions over two weeks, they created a programme over one week and arranged to deliver the programme at Callum’s local library.
‘It took time for Callum to build trust in these partners, but the outcome of their work together has been inspiring.’
It took time for Callum to build trust in these partners, but the outcome of their work together has been inspiring. Having completed this course, Callum’s reading age has increased from 9 to 14 and he now feels more confident with identifying words. Perhaps most importantly, the experience has enabled Callum and Claire to develop their relationship, and has prompted Callum to consider longer term, aspirational goals such as attending college. This would not have been possible without these delivery partners recognising the importance of adjusting practice according to survivors’ needs, and taking the time to build a trsuting relationship with Callum.
One of our coordinators considers how listening and encouragement were crucial to provided support.
As soon as I started working with Nancy, I could see that, like many survivors, she expected to be let down or rejected by me. I knew that we had to slowly build trust with one another and so we spent the first several meetings just talking and listening.
I had been under the impression she needed practical support from Future Pathways due to a health issue, but it became clear she was not quite sure what support she wanted or needed. We ended up talking about many other things other than her health issue, including her interests and ambitions.
‘I knew that we had to slowly build trust with one another.’
I noticed that Nancy swore a lot, but this never phased me. This could sometimes create barriers for Nancy when she tried to communicate with other services, but it quickly became something
we joked about together. It was important that Nancy never felt judged by me, and this was part of us developing an equal relationship in which she felt comfortable expressing herself in her
own way.
After getting to know each other, Nancy told me about a dream that she had always wanted to accomplish, and I listened carefully to what it would mean for her to achieve this. I also connected personally to her goal, sharing my own experiences, which heightened her curiosity and may have helped her realise that her dream was more within reach than she had previously believed. We talked through what had been holding her back, and I took her worries seriously. It was important never to invalidate her concerns but to acknowledge them and encourage Nancy to consider how these could be overcome.
‘It was important that Nancy never felt judged by me.’
‘I encouraged Nancy to think of this goal as worthwhile even if she was the only one who ever knew about it.’
We talked about reducing some of the pressure around this goal and considering it to be worthwhile to try just for her, even if she was the only one who ever knew about it. Reducing the pressure around this dream made it possible to move away from thinking about it in ‘all or nothing’ terms and allowed Nancy to start taking steps towards her outcome.
‘I encouraged Nancy to think of this goal as worthwhile even if she was the only one who ever knew about it.’
This basis of trust, encouragement and equality which we developed gave us a good foundation for working on Nancy’s outcomes. When working with Nancy, and many other survivors, it was vital to ensure that decisions came from her, rather than from me, so that she never felt she was being pushed or told what to do. This is crucial to maintaining a dynamic in which we are working on survivors’ outcomes side by side, as a team. Taking an authoritarian approach can cause survivors to reject support, so I encouraged Nancy to make decisions for her so that she felt fully in control of this process.
Our latest Quarterly Report is now available to view. It covers our work from October to December 2022. It shows what we’ve learnt, and includes key stats and feedback from those who access Future Pathways.
This quarter:
- 60 people started working with a Support Coordinator.
- Most people heard about us from friends and family, or from statutory services.
- We supported 202 people to access support.
- We worked with 53 delivery partners.
- People shared they wanted to expand their social network and improve their living environment.
- People told us that working with us gave them an increased sense of purpose, independence, and self-awareness.
When agreeing a support plan, we ask people what difference they envisage these outcomes having in their lives.
People highlighted that they hoped these outcomes would positively affect their relationships, and their mental wellbeing. The word cloud below shows the themes which emerged from people’s answers.
People shared with us how the support can help create a positive outlook
Our full report features further infographics, feedback and a breakdown of our financial spend. Read the full report.
A fantastic poem by Eileen, one of our contributors.
The Suit
Happy birthday she said as I ripped opened the bag…
My heart beating faster and faster as I’m peeling back the layers…
Ooh…I can see something…peeking out in the corner…
With one last pull the paper let’s go of its goodies…WOW…
I say as it lies before me…
What is it mum? I say…
Hold it up and you will see…
My hands touch the beige-coloured fabric…
Ooh… it’s so, so soft to the touch…
As I hold it up a piece falls down…
Mmm…. I say,
hold it up against you then…
Taking it out of my hands mum holds it up against my body…
Oh yes …looks lovely…
Now try the trousers on….
I put one leg in then the other and as my mum pulls me into them, I feel the soft silk lining touching my young skin…
It’s beautiful mum I shout…
Have a look then…have a look…
I head over the mirror with such anticipation for what I’m about to see…
I squeal…
There I stand in all my glory in my new beige camel coloured suit…
Soft to the touch and so, so elegant…
It’s the most loveliest thing I’ve ever seen…
Now look after it, she shouts…
Cost a lot of money…
OK mum, I reply still staring in the mirror…
Well…take it off now…
Go and hang it up, she says…
OK mum…
I slept well that night…
Happy I’d got a lovely suit for my party…
As the weekend comes…
I’m so looking forward to playing in the streets below…
I hear my mum call…
Eileen…
Take this to the pawn shop for me will ya…
All wrapped up in brown paper…
Mum…is this my suit …is it my suit…
Tears well up in my eyes as she nods her head …
Only this once …only this once…
promise…
the pain I felt on that long journey down to the pawn shop can never be explained…
tears running down my face as I hand it over to the man with the glasses on in exchange for the coins, he drops into my open hand…
It went on that journey often my suit…
And every-time the tears would flow…
Didn’t fit me when I finally got it back…
Ahh well, mum said …may as well take it back to the pawn man and get a bob or two ehh….
A tear drops onto my cheek…
You can discover more creative pieces from people we support in our Arts and Crafts Winter Showcase.
Sarah Smith is the founder of lightbulb.coach, a coaching company which supports people to build confidence and reach their goals. We spoke to Sarah to find out more about her work.
How did you get started in coaching?
My background is in finance. I was working for Aberdeen Asset Management for about 17 years in learning and development, and I was a coach in-house. I got the opportunity to take voluntary redundancy at the end of 2017, and started lightbulb.coach at the start of 2019. So I’m just in my fourth year.
What is your main goal?
To make coaching mainstream for young people. When I was working with executives and senior leaders in corporate organisations, I realised that what I was helping them with was the same struggles that many young people have in their early careers. And I thought, well, why are we not offering this to young people much earlier? So I started working with young people and trying to raise the awareness of coaching and the benefits. I’ve got a broad range of clients, though – basically anyone from the age of nine upwards – which is fantastic.
Coaching really is for everyone. Maybe some people have the idea that it’s only reserved for executives or very senior people, but in today’s world it’s becoming more of a solution for people who just want to make a change, and just need a little bit of an extra help. Coaching is available and affordable.
Is the process of doing coaching for children very different from adults?
Fundamentally, the themes are very similar, but the approach is slightly different. You have to be a little bit more directive with children, so you maybe use a lot more play: things like Lego and creating vision boards. But I use that with adults as well, because we all like to release our inner child sometimes.
So the approach is different, but the topics are very much the same. It’s about building confidence, self-esteem and self-awareness, and understanding our own personal triggers and our barriers and what gets in the way.
Are there many differences between coaching and counselling?
Yes. Coaching is forward-facing: where are you now, where do you want to get to and how can I help you get there? Purely by asking the right questions. Whereas counselling is very much looking into the past and unravelling the events that have brought you to where you are today, and helping you to understand that.
I always compare what I do to sports coaching. Everyone knows that if you want to jump higher, swim faster, run faster, your coach will help you do that. They’ll look at your technique, work out what’s holding you back and try to improve on what you’re already doing.
It’s the same with the coaching I do. It could be something that is holding the person back, like a particular fear or maybe not feeling confident in their ability. You often see imposter syndrome, for example. And coaching involves being really specific about what the goal is, and then working out the steps and strategies to get there.
What are some of the main reasons why people come to you?
For children, it’s through parents. Covid has changed things a lot. It feels like our young people are really struggling to get back into socialising: having the motivation to go back to school clubs or sports.
With adults it might be similar. Or maybe the person wants to change their career, because they’re just really unhappy in what they’re doing, but they don’t know what it is that they do want to do. So they will come to me looking just to explore what their options are, and to come up with more ideas and strategies of how they can make real transformational change in their lives.
People often think that coaches are like cheerleaders, and that’s really not what we’re there to do. We are very much partnering with the person, but we also provide the challenge if there’s a lack of motivation.
What would be a typical amount of time that you would spend with someone?
That’s another difference compared to counselling. I would describe coaching as a short-term solution for long-term gain. You might work with someone for an hour or 90 minutes per month for, say, six to eight months. A lot of the work is done between the sessions. That, I think, is very similar to counselling. But whereas with counselling you might have someone support you for a long period of time, a coach will tend to work with you for a shorter period.
How did you start working with Future Pathways?
Someone got in touch with me to ask about coaching and coach mentoring. They said that they were working with Future Pathways and that I would be a good partner. I’d heard of Future Pathways before, through my work with a number of charities, so I was familiar with what they do.
And it was great to hear that coaching was being embraced. Because within charities, for example, there’s often a counselling service offered, but once you get to the end of that counselling, how do you move forward? You’ve done all of that work to get to where you are now: what is the next chapter? And I think that’s where coaching can really help.
You can find out more about Sarah’s work at lightbulb.coach
For a full list of who we work with, visit our Delivery Partners page.
We are pleased to share a piece of work created with Matter of Focus. Matter of Focus is a company that helps organisations to look at how they support people to reach their goals.
In 2018, we commissioned Matter of Focus to evaluate our service. This would support our learning and the ongoing development of Future Pathways.
Since then, Matter of Focus have helped us to track, measure and report on our work. They help us to see the difference we make and where we can improve.
Understanding our relationships
The way someone experiences a service (and the feeling they have about this) plays a significant role in how the person benefits from the service. It is important, therefore, to make sure we build effective relationships that foster trust. It is not just about delivering a service, it is about the interaction between us and the people we support.
Understanding the relationships between Future Pathways and the people we support is essential to how we learn. Matter of Focus created a simple framework which helps us to map a person’s journey of support. Through the framework, we consider:
- What we do
- Who with
- How they feel
- What they learn and gain
- What they do differently
- The difference it makes
The framework helps us to think about our service, show where we are making a difference and highlight areas we can improve. It also prompts us to consider the relationships we build. For example, how we build trust and how people respond to us. It also helps us to think about how we can support people in their goals, by considering emotional or practical outcomes.
The framework helps us identify additional context, like the person’s individual sphere (for example, values, habits and skills), their social sphere (such as networks, roles and relationships) and their material sphere (things like infrastructure, time or resources). Considering this additional context helps us to understand the diverse ways people experience Future Pathways. This, in turn, helps us to build and sustain relationships.
What we learned
The research showed how important it is for us to consider, talk about and understand the relationships we have. The evaluation approach from Matter of Focus has helped us clarify how Future Pathways make a difference. Their research also shows that establishing and maintaining trusting relationships with those we support is crucial to creating an environment where a path towards recovery becomes possible. In addition, by being able to use a framework that demonstrates evidence of outcomes, we have been able to make a stronger case for continued funding and ensure continuity for survivors.
In short, this work has shown that it is not just what we do, but how we do it that gets results. This learning is essential for other services too – we encourage partners and organisations to place people’s experiences at the heart of improvement work.
Collaborative research
This piece of work by Matter of Focus looked at the issue of trust and how important this is to the people we work with and to our own staff. Focusing on this specific theme helped to show how the evaluation approach can shine a light on the relationship between Future Pathways and the people we support. It also helped to show how we adapted in response to the findings.
Our collaborative piece has recently been published in Evaluation and Programme Planning, an international journal hosted by Science Direct.