What emerges from the conversation is an organisation quietly and tenaciously challenging a system that often values numbers over people.
The story so far
“We’re 12 years old now, 13 this year. But I’ve been doing this work for 27 years. And really, Transform Lives was born out of frustration. I’d been working in a local authority, seeing first-hand how political agendas shaped the way unemployment was tackled. I kept thinking, ‘What if I could do this on my own terms?’
I didn’t want anything to do with the narrative that characterises unemployed people as lazy, as if it’s all their fault. So TLC became about doing things differently. And that was really about showing up with care, lifting people up.”
For Tracy, it’s simple: people aren’t just economic units. “They’ve got families, stories, struggles. They deserve to be seen as whole people.”
“The unemployment system is dominated by bureaucracy, targets and punitive systems. But also hope. TLC’s mantra, ‘transforming lives through kindness and collaboration,’ isn’t just a slogan. It’s a value that’s central to everything the TLC team does. “It’s kind of what we’re all about.”
The power of a cup of tea
One thing that jumps out of TLC’s approach is the human impact. Terry from Toxteth (not his real name) hadn’t had a job interview for over 20 years. After working with one of TLC’s mentors, he landed a job after his first interview.
“What that story tells us is that the system doesn’t meet people where they are. In a job centre, you’re faced with this paradox. On one hand, you’ve got someone called a ‘work coach’. But the same person has the power to stop your benefits. You can’t be both.”
By contrast, TLC offers something more human. “We sit with someone for an hour, offer them a cup of tea and support them until they feel ready to take the next step. People open up. You find out they’re gardeners, musicians, dog walkers. Those interests can become part of the solution – but you’ll never learn that in a ten-minute job centre appointment.”
People aren’t commodities
We often hear about a ‘people-first approach.’ But Tracy believes that it can still be a tick box.
“Sometimes the way that you’re funded means you haven’t got time for a people-first approach. It means meeting a new person every 10 minutes. That’s not person-first. That’s performance-first”.
Tracy’s blunt about the funding model. “People are walking around with pound signs on their heads. Big providers get paid based on results. If you’re in a category that attracts funding, great. If not, you’re invisible.”
Tracy is quick to point out the structural barriers, too. Outdated skills, digital exclusion, care responsibilities, and health issues. “After a while, confidence just drains away. Anxiety, low-level mental health struggles, social isolation. We see it every day. A lot of times, coming to meet us is the only thing a person does that week.”
Homegrown: recruiting care workers from their own neighbourhoods
Tracy explains how TLC is involved in projects that test alternative ways of working in the employment support sector. One is Homegrown, a pilot with one of Capacity’s ventures, Yonder, aiming to recruit social care workers from the communities they live in.
“If care staff live close to where they work, they stay in a job longer, they’re happier, and so are the people they support. It stands to reason.
No one would design the system that we’ve got. The way providers are funded encourages people driving all over the city, unpaid between visits.”
As a daughter, watching my dad’s care arranged like that was difficult for everyone. The real challenge is that care work is undervalued and underfunded.
For the same money, you can get a job at Asda. Good carers make a life-changing difference. During the pandemic, they never stopped. They were in the most dangerous jobs. We clapped on the doorsteps. But nothing changed afterwards. That still makes me angry.”
Jobs Plus: bringing support to your street
Another initiative Transform Lives is leading is Jobs Plus, a concept imported from the US and based in Toxteth. The idea is simple. Put employment support inside social housing communities.
“Unemployment and social housing overlap massively. So instead of expecting people to go to job centres, we base ourselves where they live. In Toxteth, Plus Dane Housing are the anchor for the project and asked us to take on running a hub on Kelvin Grove – literally the downstairs of a house. From there, our team saturates the area with information. We go to the GP, the children’s centre. We even booked an ice cream van on a sunny day just to meet people.
Guess what’s more effective? A free ice-cream or being met by a bouncer at the door of the Job Centre?
It’s a space where anyone is welcome. There are different partners coming in all the time – employers, social prescribers, housing associations, training and skills providers, organisations offering debt advice.
And we don’t advertise jobs 20 miles away. It’s literally jobs around here. That makes it feel really relevant, really local, really friendly.
We encourage people to be our community champions who help us spread the word. It’s more effective than us promoting Jobs Plus. It becomes contagious. People trust their neighbours more than they trust us. And that’s fine – that’s the point.
So far, we’ve got 25 people into work in just 14 streets of Toxteth. Most of the people weren’t even looking for a job. But now they’ve got one. That changes things for neighbourhoods, families and households.”
The dream system
Towards the end of our conversation, we asked Tracy a big question. If Liverpool’s metro mayor Steve Rotheram handed you a blank cheque to redesign the employment system, what would you do?
“I’d separate benefits from support. Right now, job centres do both, and it’s toxic. People dread letters from the DWP. So let job centres deal with benefits. But put support into hyperlocal hubs like ours in Toxteth. Every area of social housing should have one.
Similar to what we’re offering in Toxteth with Jobs Plus. So it’s like a hub and spoke, and I’d have them all networked. Yes, it’s radical and the exact opposite of what we have now with Job Centres, which are intimidating, transactional, and overwhelming.
So yes, Steve, if you’re reading this – give me the money.”
Want to learn more about the work Transform Lives are delivering? Head over to their website.
