We’re delighted to announce we’ll be working with employers and parents looking for flexible jobs in East Renfrewshire, thanks to funding from the Scottish Government’s Child Poverty Practice Accelerator Fund.

Feedback from parents looking for work, and from employability staff supporting parents back into work, shows flexible jobs are in high demand but aren’t always easy to find for many people in East Renfrewshire.

We want to change this with our 18-month project with East Renfrewshire Council, which we hope will result in more local flexible jobs for parents and carers, greater flex knowledge among employability providers, and parents and carers feeling more confident in asking for the flex they need.

Reducing poverty

More than a million people in Scotland live in poverty, including 200,000 children. Having a job doesn’t always solve this. But being able to earn an income plays a significant role in improving family finances.

Our partner, East Renfrewshire Council, already advocates for employers to become Real Living Wage accredited but recognises that greater flexible working has a role to play in reducing poverty too. We know that for many parents and carers, a lack of flexible working means they just can’t work at all. And that when parents can work flexibly, it helps them get into work, stay in work and progress at work, all of which can help families escape poverty.

Flexible for families employer scheme

Our project with East Renfrewshire Council will deliver:

• Talks and workshops open to all local employers about the benefits and practicalities of offering greater flexible working
• Workshops or personalised support for a cohort of committed local employers to enhance their flexible working offer
• A peer mentoring programme for employers
• Support for employability workers to help them advocate for flexible working with local employers
• Sessions for local parents who are in work and looking for greater flexibility, and those not in work but seeking flexible jobs
• A ‘festival of flexible working’ open to local employers, workers, people seeking employment, employability professionals and policy makers to showcase the benefits of flexible working and practical real-world examples
• A flexible working employer award category will be added to existing local business awards, to incentivise and recognise employers with a good flexible working culture.

Win-win for families and businesses

Our co-founder and director Lisa Gallagher said: “Parents and families are at the heart of this project because we know flexible working can be leveraged much more to help parents and carers get into work, stay in work and progress at work, all of which is good for family finances. But employers will benefit too. There’s plenty of evidence of the business benefits of flexible working, such as improved recruitment and retention, better productivity and reduced sickness and absence rates to name just a few. It’s a win-win situation.

“We’ve designed this project as a more holistic approach to ‘employability’ – helping people get into to work. We’re very deliberately working with all parties involved – employers, employability staff and people looking for work – to address the crucial need for more flexible working. We’re confident this approach will benefit parents, employers and the local economy.”

Powerful partnerships

Together with East Renfrewshire Council, we applied for funding from the Scottish Government’s Child Poverty Practice Accelerator Fund, so we can support employers, employability workers and parents looking for work without any cost to those involved.

The project will link in with Business Gateway East Renfrewshire, East Renfrewshire Chamber of Commerce, and local Business Improvement Districts. NHS Greater Glasgow and Clyde is also a partner with a focus on its role as a large local employer. A project co-ordinator who knows the business and employability communities well in East Renfrewshire will act as our ‘boots on the ground’ to maximise participation.

Timings and taking part

Project planning is underway now, with public-facing elements due to start from January 2025.

If you’d like more details, or you’d like to be involved please email us at hello@flexibilityworks.org