Jimmy Paul

Jimmy gives us an insight into his role as Head of Scotland's Violence Reduction Unit and how his background growing up in the care system influenced his University experience.

In your current position, what are your main responsibilities? 

I recently started a new role as the Head of Scotland's Violence Reduction Unit, which I am excited about. It was set up in 2004 in Glasgow and it reduced homicide by 90%. The work of the unit, working in partnership with teachers, social workers, health visitors, medics and more, successfully stopped Glasgow from being the homicide capital of the developed world. I am now leading the unit, ensuring that the issues of violence are addressed preventatively, in an upstream way.

In my most recent role, I was the director of a charity called the Wellbeing Economy Alliance Scotland (WEAll Scotland), which is about helping people who wouldn't normally be directly interested in the economy. We worked with others to help define and shape what our economy should look like, rather than leaving these important decisions solely to people with an economics degree or those at the Bank of England.

WEAll Scotland’s role is to encourage and support economic policy but also to build an economy that is about serving people and the planet. The work that is done at WEAll Scotland is all about social justice on a healthy planet and during my time there I brought together everything that I was taught by many of the lecturers at The University of Edinburgh and everything I'm passionate about from my own lived experiences of poverty in the care system.

This role allowed me to connect seemingly disparate issues, bringing them together to try and influence factors that address the poly-crisis that we live in. The charity works with people who are in trade unions, children's charities, environmental charities, public sector bodies and more to achieve this, so it's lovely to have worked with such amazingly diverse people.

An example of a project I worked on is building a children's well-being budget in Letham in Perth and Kinross. My focus in this project, and in all of my work, is always to ensure that those who are easily ignored in spaces like this, whether it's minority ethnic groups, those with care experience or those with disabilities, are given ample opportunities to shape the decisions that affect them.

What led you to work in the charity sector and what was that journey like?

When I graduated in 2012, I was supposed to do a law conversion degree. I had a place on the programme; however, I couldn't receive funding as an English student in Scotland to do a second degree. Suddenly, despite having the place and high hopes of going on to do that degree, I couldn’t, and I was left unemployed.

After graduating, often people who grow up in the care system experience what is called a care cliff, which is when you reach a certain age or when you graduate and support ceases. I had a social worker who contributed financially to my living and gave me emotional support if I needed it. After I graduated, they stopped that support and I was on my own. Without any family support to fall back on and without a job, the year I graduated was very difficult.

I worked in jobs that I didn't feel valued in. I worked for Amazon; I worked in banks where I was treated as in-time inventory. Check-in and checkout. There was no flexibility and no trust in workers as people or as potential leaders and contributors. I didn’t want to remain working in that environment, so I spent the year applying for as many graduate schemes as I could, hoping to secure one that would change my life.

Although I got rejected many times, I persevered and was enrolled on the NHS management training scheme, which is a fast-tracked senior management training scheme in Scotland. Things changed after that. I was paid a decent wage and I was invested in. I had executive coaching paid for, my development was funded through PRINCE2, and I gained valuable experience in health and social care.

Suddenly, I'd gone from not feeling invested in, to being surrounded by people who believed in me and my abilities. I went on to complete a range of placements in the healthcare service industry. It was great and I was in that industry for almost five years.

During that time, I had a complaint where I grew up against the local authority because I was neglected and physically abused in the care system. There was evidence of this, and I initiated that complaint when I was eighteen years old. Every evening and weekend, for years, I battled for a fair outcome. When I was twenty-six, it was finally upheld in my favour.

No longer did I need to spend my evenings and weekends doing that and I had free time to think about where I wanted to be next and how I was going to get there.

I decided to move over to the looked-after children's sector because of all the knowledge I had and my ability to navigate and shape systems from my learning in the health service. I moved to an organisation called the Centre for Excellence for Looked After Children in Scotland and worked there as a consultant, helping to reform Scotland’s care system. 

I spent two years as a co-chair of Scotland's Independent Care Review, which is the world's first ‘root and branch’ review of the care system anywhere. I was so inspired by the people I met there, many of whom worked in the third sector and were both young people and older people. It was just brilliant.

At the age of twenty-eight, I was co-chairing a National Review, helping to write recommendations on the future of care in Scotland, based on my own lived experiences, but also the professional experiences I had accrued in my early career. It was an incredible experience and I met over five thousand people across Scotland.

I heard about the WEALL during my time at the National Review. Katherine Trebeck founded the WEALL, and she wrote a paper on the economic and moral benefits of early intervention, which inspired me. When the director job came up, I applied for it and doing so led me to where I am today.

What part of your role do you find most satisfying?

One of the most rewarding parts of my role is seeing my staff feel cherished and supported so that they can perform because they are the ones who bring the expertise and it is fulfilling to see them break out of their shells. So, the most satisfying part of my job is creating an environment for them to do that.

Another satisfying part of my job is when we host events. For example, last November we hosted a large event called the Wealth of Nations 2.0 that's based on Adam Smith's economics. A big part of that event was bringing together the well-being economy and government of nations. All the six nations; New Zealand, Scotland, Wales, Iceland, Finland, and Canada who said they stand behind a well-being economy, were present.

We had all the leading thinkers on the economy come together in this room on a dark day in Glasgow and had a good discussion that felt honest about the challenges we faced. It was also motivational. In this job, the times when you bring together the people you want to mobilise and feel as though you are making progress, are the most satisfying.

What part of your role do you find most challenging?

When the work that we do at the charity is used as a political football. For example, during election periods of the year, people think about using our work and making the most out of it for their own gain. It is frustrating because this work is about people and their lives. It's not something that should be played with so combating this issue is a challenge.

In an ideal world, our charity would have enough money to recruit an internal operations lead or someone to take care of invoices, travel details and other daily admin tasks. However, these tasks are part of my responsibilities. It just means that I have less time to do the influencing work that I love and have been recruited to do, which is a tough challenge to balance.

Do you have any advice for students looking for a career in your field, from a similar background to yourself?

The first piece of advice I have is to just enjoy university life as much as you can. Studying at the University was the best four years of my life. I studied and I aimed to achieve an upper second-class honours degree. However, I also played lots of football, partied, and had a great time with my best friends. My lifelong friends are those who I met at university and lived with. Those connections were foundational so my best advice would be to just go out there and have an exceptional time.

The second piece of advice I have is to look into volunteering during your time at university. There is absolutely value in volunteering in the spaces you're interested in. Search around and find charities and organisations that are doing work you are passionate about. Speak with their leaders, their chief executives, and their board members and ask if there are any volunteering opportunities or internships you can take part in. Making connections with those people can be so beneficial and they may turn into lifelong relationships.

Lastly, if you want to come into the field I’m in and perhaps one day become the director of a charity, become a member first. You can become an ally for free. You can join the mailing list of that charity and attend their events. Learn more about their work and offer to contribute if you can. Overall, have a good time, but find the balance in using your spare time wisely.

Why did you choose The University of Edinburgh and what did you discover studying here?

One of the main reasons why I chose to study MA Geography at university was because I had great geography teachers at secondary school and because I found it quite a challenging subject out of all the subjects I studied. Even though I achieved straight A's, it was always geography where I scored the lowest. I felt that studying Geography was a challenge and I enjoyed pushing myself.

Edinburgh is the birthplace of geography, which is what brought me here specifically. The University of Edinburgh was just as good as Cambridge and Oxford for their geography course when I was looking at the rankings at the time of my studies and it continues to be right up there. I set high ambitions for myself and wanted to study in the best place possible.

Additionally, I wanted to move away from London, where I grew up, to distance myself from the life I had lived, so it made sense to choose Edinburgh. The University also has high rankings for the social element of living as a student, which was also part of the reason why I chose to study here.

I enjoyed the flexibility in the first two years of my degree in terms of choosing courses. It allowed me to explore and figure out what I was interested in. I did modules in maths, health, and sociology because I also cared a lot about those subjects. It was great to have that freedom.

What I also liked about geography was the breadth of what was on offer in the GeoSciences School, allowing me to explore all aspects of human geography which is a passion of mine. Many of my lecturers were likeable and brought the topics they taught to life, which made them interesting and drove my motivation to do well.

The different modules I was able to study as part of my geography degree were so different and all quite new. Some of them felt abstract, although my favourite courses were the real, applicable studies to people today. I enjoyed it.

What was the highlight of your studies?

My flatmate Tom and I set up an intramural football team during our time at the University. We were good players and we won most of our matches, which was incredible. The team was the focus of my life outside of studying. Once I scored a hat trick for our team and the last goal was an impressive, overhead bicycle kick. It was fantastic and that moment, celebrating with our good pals, having beaten our rivals was an amazing memory.

You don't know others in your class unless you make the effort yourself to go out and get to know them. In my third year of study, I went to Amsterdam together with my classmates and the field trip was amazing. It was a great bonding experience getting to know my classmates and sharing some exciting fun. The ferry trip over to Amsterdam was a blast and so was seeing Professor Dan Swanton dance. It was a brilliant time.

Do you have any advice for current students?

I've spoken about some real highs at university, however, there were some real lows as well and it can sometimes feel quite lonely. For example, university life can be difficult for care leavers, especially if you don't have a family to return to at Christmas, fall back on in the summers, or escape if times are tough. Keep your head up and know that those moments will pass.

Keeping good people around you is my next piece of advice. Young people and young children are now actively taking part in campaigning on climate change. There are students at universities in support their lecturers who are striking. You see people that are politically engaged and it's just incredible. Get to know these people who have the same interests and passions as you and surround yourself with them.

The University of Edinburgh and other old-standing university institutions can be hierarchical and set in the ways of the past. However, some of the newer universities for example have been very quick to improve widening participation and make universities better in terms of equality. A word of encouragement for the younger generation would be to challenge your university to be better at equality, diversity and inclusion in widening participation. Step up and be bold because that's something that traditional universities are less good at.