Originally operating from the Wester Hailes area of Edinburgh we expanded across the East of Scotland as we developed further education ‘Access Courses’. These were designed to encourage people unlikely to access mainstream college courses – without a bit of additional support – to apply for and then retain a college place.
In 2003 we began to develop a specialism in supporting the specific needs of people in recovery from substance misuse. Part of this specialism was delivered in one-to-one support but also in ensuring our programme of activity enabled routine building and the opportunity to grow both in confidence and academic qualifications. Our in-house ‘community’ college was born at this point and our partnership to deliver this with (now) Edinburgh College. Our name changed to Access to Industry.
In 2006 we began development of another specialism, supporting people with an offending history. We offered an innovating employability ‘through-care’ support system initially to young men from HMP & YOI Polmont being liberated to areas in the central belt of Scotland, and subsequently to adults being liberated from HMP Edinburgh and to women offenders.
As an organisation we continue to develop opportunities for people who are unemployed and who face barriers to employment.
