Connections open new doors to employment across the Borders

Organised by the Borders Career Collaborative, the event built on the success of its inaugural gathering in 2025, with a strong focus on collaboration, sharing frontline experience and ensuring organisations understand the breadth of support and opportunities available across the region.

Opening the event, Ally Scott, Employability Lead Officer at Scottish Borders Council, reflected on the progress made since the first Know Your Network gathering and the opportunities that closer collaboration offers to strengthen support for people across the Borders.

With new employers and services preparing to establish themselves in the Borders, the event also provided an opportunity to connect them directly with the organisations and practitioners already working in local communities.

Andrea Hall, Chair of the Borders Career Collaborative, said: “Know Your Network is all about bringing people together.

“Across the Borders, we have an incredible range of organisations, employers and services working to help people develop their skills, build confidence and move towards employment, but the greatest impact comes when we work together.

“What has been fantastic about this year’s event is seeing those connections happening in the room - people sharing ideas, finding out about services they didn’t know existed and identifying new opportunities to collaborate.

“We’ve also been able to hear directly from those working on the frontline about what they are seeing and what more is needed. That insight is incredibly valuable and will help us build on what is already working, identify where the gaps are and make sure, we’re collectively creating the best possible opportunities for people across the Scottish Borders.”

The impact of those conversations can already be seen in projects which have developed since last year’s event.

Recovery Coaching Scotland returned to Know Your Network this year with Launchpad, a new programme developed following conversations at the inaugural event about gaps in the existing employability pathway.

Rod Anderson, Chief Executive Officer at Recovery Coaching Scotland, said: “The Know Your Network event has once again been fantastic for us and for the other organisations attending.

“It’s a really valuable opportunity to make connections, share ideas and have conversations about what’s needed across the employability pathway in the Borders.

“When we attended the inaugural event last year, we had lots of conversations about where the gaps were.

“One of the things that came through was the need to support young people who were a little bit lost and weren’t quite ready for a formal employability pathway.

“Those conversations helped us go away and develop Launchpad, using the skills and experience we already had to help fill that gap.

“Coming back for year two with Launchpad now up and running has been brilliant. We’ve been able to promote the programme to organisations across the Borders and have already come away with lots of referrals and new connections.

“It’s fantastic to see how the conversations that started here last year have developed into something that can now make a real difference to young people.”

The event also looked ahead to new employment opportunities coming to the region, including Center Parcs’ plans for its first Scottish resort.

Representatives from Center Parcs used Know Your Network to learn more about the local employability landscape and begin building relationships with organisations that could help connect people with future opportunities.

Simon Gibson, Talent Director at Center Parcs, said: “I think the event has been brilliant. As Center Parcs prepares to open here in the Borders, it’s been really valuable for us to learn more about the opportunities, schemes and organisations already working across the area.

“The variety of support available has been really eye-opening, particularly as we look at how we can reach more people and help them into work.

“For us, it’s about collaboration and continuing that dialogue – understanding what we can offer as an employer, the opportunities we’ll be bringing to the area and how we can work with local organisations.

“Events like Know Your Network are perfect for that.”

MCR Pathways, which is preparing to launch in the Scottish Borders in January, also attended the event as it builds its understanding of local needs and develops relationships ahead of its work beginning in the region.

Sharon McIntyre, Chief Executive Officer at MCR Pathways, said: “The energy around collaboration at this event has been fantastic.

“Often, we talk about collaboration, but events like this create real human interaction – bringing people together to have meaningful conversations about how we can collectively support communities across the Scottish Borders.”