What We Do
At Ucan, we are committed to empowering individuals through learning, work, and community involvement, creating lasting positive change in their lives.
UCAN Learn Work Live
UCAN Learn Work Live is a registered social enterprise providing tailored training and work experience opportunities for individuals with additional support needs, including those with learning disabilities and mental health issues. Since opening in 2013, we have focused on delivering life and work skills training to enable those who use our service to live more independent, confident and happier lives.
Over the past 11 years, Ucan has grown and transformed significantly. What began as a service for 20 to 30 individuals per week, has expanded to support approximately 60 people daily across Ayrshire, Glasgow, Renfrewshire, and East Renfrewshire. We now collaborate with partners in social care, healthcare, education, and independent providers to offer services to those who face challenges in their lives and their community, including school pupils.
Our Social Impact Measured
In 2024, our Management Team took part in a valuable exercise in partnership with the Social Value Lab.
Based in Glasgow, the Social Value Lab supports businesses to ‘transform complex data into clear direction, strengthening your programmes with proof of real-world impact.’
Social impact includes things that are often not quantifiable, for example, our service users' happiness, or sense of purpose and belonging; important measures of an individual’s wellbeing that cannot be measured by a number or figure. Working with the Lab allowed us to gain valuable insight into our social impact within our local community and beyond through an independent assessment of our work.
By combining tangible numbers and figures with real-world stories from our staff and service users, we were able to craft a compelling report that highlighted Ucan’s achievements, positive stories, and areas to focus on going forward. This report ultimately supported us to ‘drive decisions, attract support, and accelerate positive change.’ We are so grateful for the experience and insight we have gained from working in partnership with the Lab.
You can click below to read the full report.
Key Achievements:
Supported approximately 400 individuals across multiple regions
Provided 40+ work experience and volunteering opportunities annually
Helped over 40 individuals achieve SQA qualifications in hospitality
Assisted service users in accessing and completing college and training programmes
Offered employment to former service users
Provided affordable gardening and decorating services to the community
Raised £14,000 for local charities
Donated £2,000 annually in birthday gift vouchers for service users
Supported over 50 individuals to positive destinations, including college and volunteering
Offered respite for 160 families annually
Provided 100,000 miles of transport services annually
Served as a valued placement site for healthcare and social work students