The Trailblazer was designed to explore a number of important questions: 

• What support works best for people experiencing economic inactivity? 

• How do different projects and delivery models influence engagement and outcomes? 

• How can public services, VCSE organisations and communities work together more effectively? 

• What role do trust, relationships and community connections play in helping people move towards employment? 

• How can Bolton create sustainable approaches that avoid dependency while building confidence, capacity and resilience? 

• What can be learned to shape future investment and commissioning activity?  

Bolton recognised that measuring outputs alone would not answer these questions. There was a need to understand the human stories, behaviours, relationships and cultural shifts taking place beneath the surface.  

As Learning Partner, Collaborate Out Loud took a real-time learning approach, working alongside delivery partners rather than evaluating from a distance. The focus was on helping the system learn while projects were still operating so that insights could shape future decisions and improvements.  

The approach included: 

• Stakeholder interviews and conversations. 

• Deep-dive exploration of selected projects. 

• Learning workshops and system-wide reflection sessions. 

• Community and participant insights. 

• Cross-project learning and collaboration. 

• Storytelling and stories of change. 

• Curated insight reports and practical recommendations.  

This enabled learning to emerge across individual projects while also identifying opportunities to strengthen the wider employment and support ecosystem across Bolton.  

The Projects 

The Trailblazer brought together a diverse range of initiatives, each designed to support residents in different ways. These included: 

• Building Bolton’s Futures. 

• Employment Support Hub. 

• Adult and Young People’s Construction Skills Academies. 

• Connect Her Digital Skills and Wellbeing Programme. 

• Intensive Cohort Commissioning through Bolton CVS. 

• Pathways to Progress Community Connector Programme.  

Together, these projects created opportunities to test how community-rooted, person-centred support could help residents overcome barriers and move towards greater participation, confidence and employment.  

Relationships Became the Foundation for Change 

The strongest learning across all projects was that relationships matter more than programmes. 

Residents engaged because they felt listened to, respected and supported by people who stayed alongside them. Community organisations, project workers and Community Connectors created the trust that enabled people to take first steps and remain engaged when challenges arose.  

Confidence and Identity Were Rebuilt 

Many participants arrived feeling isolated, invisible or disconnected from opportunities. Through sustained support, people began rebuilding confidence, recognising their strengths and seeing themselves differently. 

For many individuals, this shift in identity happened before any movement towards employment and proved critical in enabling future progression.  

Community Organisations Demonstrated Their Value 

The Trailblazer highlighted the crucial role played by VCSE organisations. 

These organisations successfully reached people who often do not engage with mainstream services, creating trusted spaces where residents could build relationships, access support and develop confidence at their own pace. The learning demonstrated that community organisations are not supplementary partners but a core part of the local support infrastructure.  

New Approaches Increased Engagement 

Projects deliberately removed barriers that often prevent people from accessing support. Examples included: 

• Flexible participation models. 

• Verbal applications. 

• Shared interview questions. 

• Community-based delivery. 

• Informal learning environments. 

• Holistic wellbeing support.  

These approaches increased engagement and helped people who had previously struggled to access traditional employment and skills provision.  

People Are Not Far From Work 

One of the most important insights was that people are rarely far from work because they lack motivation. 

More often, they are far from the conditions that make work possible, including confidence, health, wellbeing, stability, language skills, social connection and trust. When these conditions improve, people naturally begin moving towards further participation and employment.  

Relationships Are the Intervention 

The learning repeatedly showed that relationships are not an additional component of support. They are the mechanism through which change happens. 

Projects that prioritised trust, consistency and human connection achieved stronger engagement and more sustainable outcomes than those focused solely on delivering activities or outputs.  

Progress Is Not Linear 

Residents rarely followed a straightforward pathway from engagement to employment. 

Instead, journeys involved stops, starts, setbacks and periods of reflection. Supporting these nonlinear journeys required flexibility, patience and an understanding that progress can take many different forms.  

Prevention Works Better Than Crisis Response 

The learning highlighted the importance of reaching people before they reach crisis point. 

Community-based support, trusted places and early intervention helped build confidence and resilience while reducing the need for more intensive support later.  

Community Connectors Add Significant Value 

The Community Connector model emerged as one of the most significant areas of learning. 

Connectors helped residents navigate complex systems, provided continuity of support and surfaced valuable insights about barriers and opportunities within communities. The role demonstrated significant potential as part of Bolton’s future support infrastructure.  

Creating a Stronger System 

The Trailblazer demonstrated that success depends not only on individual projects but also on how well the wider system works together. 

The learning identified opportunities to: 

• Strengthen partnerships between organisations. 

• Improve warm handovers between services. 

• Create clearer pathways through support systems. 

• Invest more heavily in prevention and wellbeing. 

• Embed lived experience in decision-making. 

• Position VCSE organisations as system partners. 

• Develop Community Connectors as core infrastructure. 

• Build a long-term learning and improvement culture.  

The programme showed that reducing economic inactivity requires a coordinated ecosystem rather than isolated interventions.  

The Bolton Economic Inactivity Trailblazer demonstrated that meaningful change happens when people are supported as whole people rather than as employment statistics. 

Through community-rooted approaches, trusted relationships and a commitment to learning, the programme helped residents rebuild confidence, strengthen wellbeing and reconnect with opportunities. It also generated valuable insights about how systems can work differently to support those furthest from the labour market.  

Most importantly, the Trailblazer showed that reducing economic inactivity is not simply about helping people into jobs. It is about creating the conditions that enable people to participate, contribute, belong and thrive. By understanding and acting on this learning, Bolton has an opportunity to build a more connected, preventative and inclusive system for the future.