Here is a case study about Daniel, who registered with Future Pathways after struggling with housing issues.
Daniel came to Future Pathways as he had a difficult and traumatic upbringing in care. He was assigned to receive team support from Future Pathways, which involves a group of support coordinators sharing responsibility for more than one person.
Daniel identified that the job he was in was not secure and did not pay him on time. As a result, he was struggling to pay his rent in full each month and received threatening letters. This negatively impacted his mental health and quality of life. Daniel did not feel respected and the trauma from his childhood began to resurface again. Daniel started to place less value on himself and it was a depressing time for him.
Daniel’s flat was a safe space for him and the prospect of losing it and becoming homeless terrified him. Being able to keep his flat was important to Daniel as it contributed towards maintaining his overall mental health and wellbeing.
Daniel required short term assistance from Future Pathways to cover his rent while he moved to a new job, as well as trauma-informed support.
He said: “If I hadn’t had that help to cover my rent while I moved jobs, I would have spiralled into depression. I’ve done that before, but I didn’t this time because I’ve got that help there.”
Daniel remains in his own flat and does not need support from Future Pathways, but he knows that he can reach out to Future Pathways again if his needs change. Daniel has met all his personal outcomes. He continues to live in his own home, has settled in at work, feels respected, and is becoming more social again.
He added: “I can actually see the change. Things are so much better.”
You may have heard that the Scottish/UK Government has responded to the spread of the COVID-19 (coronavirus) by declaring that people should avoid travelling unless absolutely necessary.
The specific advice issued yesterday is:
- Anyone with a fever or persistent cough should stay at home for 14 days. Anyone who lives with someone displaying coronavirus symptoms should also do this.
- Everyone should stop non-essential contact with others. This is particularly important for people over 70, those with underlying health conditions and pregnant women.
- People should work from home where they can.
- People should avoid places like pubs, clubs and theatres.
- People should stop all unnecessary travel.
- By the weekend (from 21/3), those with the most serious health conditions should be largely shielded from social contact for 12 weeks.
- The previous advice also remains and everyone should regularly wash their hands and avoid contacting the NHS unless it’s essential.
We would like to reassure people supported by Future Pathways that protecting the health and wellbeing of the people we support and our staff is our priority.
This will mean that we will not be able to offer any face to face meetings or visit people at home for now, but we will offer alternatives ways of keeping in touch via telephone or email. We are also in contact with our partners who provide support to ensure we keep up-to-date with what services or supports if any are affected and will speak with people whose support may be directed affected by the restrictions.
You will still be able to get in touch with the support coordination team by phone or email, and the freephone number 0808 164 2005 will be available as usual, Monday to Friday, 9:00am to 5:00pm.
We are taking all available steps to minimise any impact to the service during these challenging times and will keep people up to date with any new developments. Our social media channels will be regularly updated, so please check our Facebook, Twitter and this website pages for further news.
Scottish Government information about COVID-19 (coronavirus) can be found here. For people living elsewhere in the UK, please follow this link.
In any crisis or emergency, please refer to the contacts on our website towards the bottom of the homepage.
The Moira Anderson Foundation (MAF) serves Scotland from its base in Airdrie and specialises in supporting people who have experienced abuse. It was one of the first organisations to work with Future Pathways since we were set up in 2016 and has supported several people since then.
One example is “David”. In his 40s and a single father of two, David was abused from the age of eight while in care. He was referred to Future Pathways after reporting the abuse to Police Scotland.
Working with Future Pathways’ Support Coordinator, David identified the outcomes he wanted to achieve, which included improving his mental wellbeing, ensuring his children were insulated from his experiences, and becoming more mobile.
David was allocated a MAF Client Support Officer and together they developed coping strategies which helped with his anxiety. MAF provided complementary therapies and massage to help with relaxation. MAF also identified funding from Children in Need to enable support for David’s children and while we were awaiting this, Future Pathways provided vouchers and toys for the children over Christmas.
David continues to receive counselling from MAF and his WEBMWS (Warwick-Edinburgh Mental Well-being Scale) rating has improved significantly (from 16 to 60). David feels less anxious, though not without the occasional break-down. Overall, he reports having a “brighter and clearer head”. Future Pathways continues to enable travel either by David or by his MAF Client Support Officer to ensure this course of work continues.
David attributes all these changes to being “really listened to” and to the learning and coping strategies he has been able to develop with MAF’s support. David feels that being able to speak out about his past abuse has enabled him to place it better in the past and not the present. He says he is also coming to terms better with the fact that both his abusers have died and thus would not face justice.
David has made great progress and together, Future Pathways and the MAF continue to support him as he progresses towards his goals and enjoys his life.
More than 1,000 people had registered for support with Future Pathways by summer 2019, according to the latest quarterly report.
There was an average of 40 registrations a month, with an increase in the number signing up from out-with the central belt and the rest of the UK.
And all the registrations from the rest of the world came exclusively from people who are now living in Australia.
The number of older adults registering increased due to the launch of the Scottish Government’s Advance Payment Scheme for those aged over 70 or who have a terminal illness.
The report, which covers April to June this year, also contains a financial breakdown of what was spent by Future Pathways.
You can read the report by clicking here.
Mandy is a Support Provider for Future Pathways. Read on to find out about her work with people who were abused in care as children.
“My name is Mandy and I work in the Scottish Borders in Galashiels. I work with Future Pathways in two ways – I offer counselling to people who want that type of support and I also work as a Safeguarder at meetings and workshops.
“Throughout my working life I have always worked with people in helping roles, both in the community and also in the therapeutic and counselling field. My work experience includes working as a team member developing and sustaining Voluntary Sector counselling services and also as a self employed therapist.
“I began training in counselling on part time study at Edinburgh University in my 40’s and it took many years to complete a Masters degree there which, to my family’s delight, after years of me having my head stuck in a book, I finally passed with distinction in 2008.
“By the time I qualified as a counsellor, a small pot of non-recurrent funding through the NHS Sexual Health Strategy became available in the Borders. Penumbra, who I worked for at the time as a Tenancy Support Worker, created a post for me to set up a 10 hour counselling service to meet the needs of people who had survived childhood abuse. As this post and funding came to an end 18 months later (due to lack of funding) I applied for work with what was then a newly launched service for people who had specifically experienced abuse whilst in care and was employed by Open Secret 2009 -2014 to work as a development worker in the Borders whilst still based within Penumbra.
“This service included not only a counselling service for people who had been harmed in care as children, but also advocacy and more general support – folk coming through the door often referred with complex trauma and varying degrees ongoing trauma due to the legacy abuse, which in my experience can leave both incredible resilience as well as devastating impacts. I worked as a freelance counsellor for Health in Mind from 2014-16 working with their CSA service and on the trauma helpline.
“During this phase of my working life I dived headlong into understanding how to work with trauma, training in a few different systems, such as Sensorimotor Psychotherapy, TRE and more lately QEC. I offer a way of working that integrates what I have learnt – I don’t set out to work in a particular way or get into ‘I’m the expert and I’m gonna fix you mode’. My bottom line is that the person I work with is the expert on themselves and their own lives and I always want to respect that, but I do have some skills and ways of facilitating that can be helpful.
“We know that trauma breaks bonds of trust and that this gets very complicated when it happens in the context of a care setting. The approaches I offer are basically aimed at establishing self-trust, self-worth and self-empowerment – I like to work in a flexible and responsive way that suits the individuals I work with. It is hugely rewarding work which leaves me feeling humbled and very grateful for the opportunity to be involved with Future Pathways and its work.”
Mandy Gaze – www.counsellingworks.scot
A massage school offering trauma-informed treatment has joined Future Pathways as a Support Provider.
The Glasgow School of Massage offers training courses as well as various therapies to help address people’s wellbeing.
Head tutor and therapist Rachel Black offers a private treatment clinic to the public with a range of specialised massage treatments including therapeutic massage, scar management, aromatherapy, oncology massage, and manual lymphatic drainage.
Rachel is adversity and trauma informed. She understands the impact of trauma and that it must be recognised and that re-traumatisation must be avoided at all times. She said: “Trauma can have long lasting impact and directly affect the individual and their environment. Sometimes, this requires significant social, emotional, neurobiological, psychological or behavioural adaptation.”
Rachel added: “After recently starting to work with Future Pathways we are looking forward to continuing our work offering a vital space and modality for clients to experience safe touch, relaxation, comfort, tension relief and conscious attention.”
The Glasgow School of Massage is a trusted provider of accredited (Accredited by the FHT, Federation of Holistic Therapists) professional courses and recognised qualifications for beginners to established therapists. All training is insurable for professional use.
Survivors who are registered with Future Pathways are being invited to take part in a series of feedback events across Scotland.
The engagement sessions are an opportunity for people receiving support from the organisation to share their opinions and ideas about the service.
It is very important to hear directly from survivors about how the service is doing and how it can be improved for everyone who is registered.
The events are taking place in:
Dundee – September 12th;
Galashiels – September 16th;
Stirling – September 24th;
Aberdeen – September 26th.
Each meeting will consist of up to 10 people and will include an update about Future Pathways. The aim is that they will take place in a safe and comfortable setting.
To register, please email the Communications and Engagement team on engagement@future-pathways.co.ukor by calling 0141 226 9852. You can also speak to your Support Coordinator if you are interested.
In this case study, Marie talks about how Future Pathways helped her to break down the barriers in her life which were holding her back.
Before registering and working with Future Pathways, Marie felt that it was not possible to have people in her world that could care about her.
Marie had not heard of Future Pathways until her previous support worker called on her behalf to register her. In describing her initial feelings about engaging with the service, she felt worried about being told what to do.
She said: “I thought ‘oh no, they’re going to tell me what to do’ and I will be re-living my life again. But no, it wasn’t, it was something different.”
When Marie met with her support coordinator she felt at ease because the first meeting took place in the comfort of her home. Together they have good conversations about agreeing and working towards personal outcomes. Being more social and improving Marie’s overall mental health and wellbeing was identified as important for Marie. This involved bringing in a trauma support worker from Health in Mind.
Initially, this transition was not easy for Marie because it took many months to build a trusting relationship with her support coordinator, where she felt that she could be heard, and believed about the trauma she had experienced as a child in care.
Marie’s perception of working with a trauma support worker involved feeling scared about sharing elements of her life because she didn’t know what the reaction would be. However, Marie was encouraged to share only what she felt that she wanted to share, which empowered her to speak up for herself and have a choice. Feeling that she was in a safe space and that she had choice helped Marie to feel that making a difference in her life was possible.
Marie feels that she is growing in confidence in a supportive and safe environment, where she feels empowered to plan, have choices and make decisions that will see her life move forward and live the life she wants.
Through attending pottery classes, Marie has learned a new creative skill. While Marie felt that she could only attend the classes with a befriender in the past, she now feels confident to plan her trip to and from the classes on her own. She is also looking forward to joining the next set of pottery classes and attending a new catering class which has allowed her to engage with more people in her community.
Marie added: “I didn’t know that I could get on in life. I can’t ask for anything better – Future Pathways is fantastic.”
In this case study, Jack talks about his experience of working with Future Pathways and how it has helped him.
Before meeting his Support Coordinator, Jack was unsure about how things were going to go, what support he would receive, and even if he’d be entitled to receive support. “I’ve always been independent and tried to make my own way, so it was new for me to take that leap and reach out,” he said. “Nothing was sure in my mind, but I was willing to go with it.”
Jack felt at ease meeting his Support Coordinator for the first time because of the way the Support Coordinator spoke with him. He felt listened to and understood in these conversations. Jack felt that it took a while to open up, but after a few meetings with his Support Coordinator, he felt more comfortable.
Jack’s overall mental health and wellbeing was part of these conversations. Upon reflection, Jack felt that looking back on his overall wellbeing at different stages of his journey was helpful because it reinforced the direction he wanted to move towards, especially when he felt confused. These discussions also helped him to remember his full journey.
Discussions about the future occurred as a gradual process. Jack’s Support Coordinator knew that education was important to Jack and they worked together towards this. Jack realised that he was carrying a ‘load of worries’, ‘suppressing things’, and found ‘old wounds were reopening’ which meant that he had to stop his studies at the time. When Jack first registered with Future Pathways he felt resistant to go down the path related to his past experiences in care, but felt that he had to start ‘dealing with things’.
With the support from Future Pathways, Jack was able to work through things during therapy sessions that were purchased from the support fund. The Discretionary Fund was accessed to assist Jack with purchases when moving house so that he could be closer to his children. Finally, Jack started to attend a college course, which he highlights would not have happened without Future Pathways’ support.
For Jack, the first year of being supported by Future Pathways felt like a journey. He always had a focus and plan about where he wanted to be with his studies, career and personal aspirations: “this was something I had searched for my whole life”. With the support from his Support Coordinator, Jack was able to work through and prioritise his plans based on what was important to him. Resources were also made available for Jack to work towards his plans.
“I’ve had immense support, it has changed my life completely,” he added. “It’s allowed me to move forward and I feel like I’m probably at one of the best points in my life.”
Come join us
Join the National Confidential Forum at their event in Aberdeen to talk about “What we have heard so far”. This is a powerful summary of the experiences of adults who have spoken to the Forum about their time in care as children.
The Aberdeen event is the third in a series and takes place on Wednesday 22 Feb at the Copthorne Hotel 122 Huntly Street AB10 1SU, from 10-2pm. Contact NCF to register today: information@nationalconfidentialforum.org.uk or Freephone 0800 121 4773 or 0141 352 2333