Includem was established in 2000 by Sandy Jamieson, Gary Westwater and Olive Arens. Our three founding members – with over one hundred years of youth and social work experience between them – recognised that there were limits on what existing welfare and justice services could do to have a positive impact on the lives of Scotland’s children and young people.

Back then, includem’s focus was on bridging the gap between social care and criminal justice. The vision was to develop effective ways to challenge offending behaviour whilst inspiring more hopeful futures for young people. Together, Sandy, Gary and Olive had seen first hand the gaps in services and knew how they could forge a better path – through the powerful impact of one-to-one relationships, available when and where it was needed most, 24 hours a day, 7 days a week, 365 days a year.

Since then, includem has grown and developed to offer a wide range of services and projects to children, young people and families across Scotland. We have expanded our offering of specialist support to not just young people in conflict with the law, but to families as well. We work with children and young people in care, and their caregivers, as well as supporting those facing challenges with education or transitioning to adulthood. Regardless of who we are supporting, our commitment to relationship-based, 24/7 support, remains unchanged.

Our ambition is to continue to innovate, grow and provide the dedicated support that is needed by so many; to deliver our mission and realise our vision.