How Partnering with MCR Pathways transforms corporate parenting plans in positive action
17 September 2026
Corporate Parents know what their responsibilities are. The challenge is turning those responsibilities into meaningful, measurable outcomes for Care Experienced young people.
Part 9, Section 58 of the Children and Young People (Scotland) Act 2014 provides the statutory framework. Corporate parenting plans set out how organisations intend to fulfil those responsibilities. And across Scotland, Corporate Parents are already doing significant work to improve opportunities and outcomes for Care Experienced young people.
A plan can set out the right ambitions. The challenge is ensuring those ambitions translate into consistent, meaningful experiences and opportunities for individual young people, and that the resulting impact can be demonstrated.
And, ultimately: Would this be good enough for my own child?
For Corporate Parents, the pressure is not simply to demonstrate that action has been taken. It is to demonstrate that action is reaching young people, strengthening opportunities, building trusted relationships and delivering outcomes that can be evidenced.
That is where a partnership with MCR Pathways can make a difference.
MCR Pathways works alongside Corporate Parents to turn existing commitments into practical action, connecting Care Experienced young people with trained volunteer mentors who provide consistent, relational support for one hour a week in schools, further education and community spaces.
Rather than creating another initiative or adding another layer to an already complex landscape, MCR Pathways provides an established, evidence-backed approach that can complement existing corporate parenting priorities and help to bridge gaps for organisations to demonstrate tangible impact.
Andrew Watt – Deputy Chief Officer, Scottish Fire and Rescue Service said: “We are immensely proud of our partnership with MCR Pathways. Recognising the value of positive role models within society, the Scottish Fire and Rescue Service has a leading role to play. Fire stations are at the heart of communities across Scotland. That positioning is crucial, as a trusted partner, to make a positive impact for young people pursuing brighter futures through the power of mentoring.
“Many unique experiences gained by our staff, demonstrating our values and adapting a community-focused approach help many members of Scottish Fire and Rescue Service to fulfil the role of mentors supporting young people to see their potential, believe in themselves and much more with MCR Pathways. The experience also helps our team to grow both as individuals and professionals, enhances our learning and our ability to do more in the future.”
From commitments to outcomes
Corporate Parents understand the importance of their responsibilities and the outcomes they are intended to achieve, including::
- building positive relationships and connections around young people;
- improving educational outcomes and opportunities;
- recognising and building on individual strengths;
- supporting wellbeing and early intervention; and
- Progression into education, training and employment.
The question is how we make those priorities real for more young people.
It is also important to recognise that children and young people in Scotland have additional rights under the United Nations Convention on the Rights of the Child (UNCRC), which has been incorporated into Scots law. This strengthens the importance of ensuring that young people are listened to, their views are considered, and their rights are respected in decisions that affect them.
A trusted adult volunteer mentor relationship can be a powerful way of helping turn these priorities into reality, while respecting and supporting children’s rights.
Through MCR Pathways’ award-winning mentoring programme, Corporate Parents can directly support Care Experienced young people to build confidence, recognise their strengths, develop aspirations and navigate their journey beyond school. At the same time, mentoring creates meaningful opportunities for employees and organisations to contribute to the communities in which they live and work.
Opportunities for young people to participate in wider activities, such as the MCR Pathways Youth National Advisory Board (YNAB), and to volunteer within their local communities through social enterprise, can take this further – strengthening youth voice, building skills and creating opportunities for wider personal development and achievement.
The result is a partnership that doesn’t simply sit alongside a Corporate Parenting Plan. It helps bring it to life – creating tangible opportunities for transformational change, development, voice, achievement and aspiration.
For Corporate Parents, it is a practical way to demonstrate how their commitments can translate into meaningful experiences and outcomes for Care Experienced young people, while creating a culture where young people are heard, supported and empowered to shape their own futures.
The evidence behind the approach
An independent evaluation by Ipsos Scotland confirms what MCR Pathways has always believed: a consistent, Trusted Adult Volunteer Mentor can transform the educational and life outcomes of Scotland’s Care Experienced young people — and does so at exceptional value to society.
For every £1 invested, society gets £2.80 back in return through lifetime earnings via greater attainment and progression to positive destinations, savings from fewer exclusions, as well as wellbeing gained from mentoring and lower levels of unemployment.
Over the period 2014–2022, Ipsos’ evaluation provided evidence that mentoring contributes to improved outcomes for Care Experienced young people, helping to close gaps in attainment, progression and employment compared with their non-Care Experienced peers.
Impact was measured in percentage points (pp) – the absolute difference between two rates. e.g. moving from 40% to 49% is +9pp.
Here are some of the evaluation’s key findings:
- +13pp more young people stayed on at school into S5.
- +7pp more achieved a minimum of three National 5 qualifications.
- 9pp fewer young people experienced exclusion from secondary school.
- +7pp more progressed to positive post-school destinations after nine months.
Read more from our Ipsos evaluation: https://hi.mcrpathways.org/evidence
Statistics demonstrate the scale of impact, but there is nothing more powerful than hearing directly from young people about what having a trusted adult mentor means to them.
The power of connection has proved hugely impactful for MCR Pathways Mentee, Ben, who states: “Mentoring is one of the best things of helping to get through the senior phase of school. It’s great knowing you have someone there once a week that you can just talk to. We made a connection through just getting to know each other, telling each other things, and being honest. It’s a lot to do with sports, being active and things like that.
“Being a teenager means you have lots of ideas and schools tend to rush you into something to go into. Mentoring has helped me figure out what I want to do after school. I’d say mentoring is amazing. It’s great to know you have a trustworthy adult that you can tell them everything and they’ll have your back.”
Demonstrate impact for your organisation
Partnering with MCR Pathways means working alongside Corporate Parents to embed trained volunteer mentors within schools, further education and community settings.
Mentors give one hour a week to build a consistent, trusted relationship with a young person, helping them recognise their strengths, build confidence, develop aspirations and navigate their next steps.
For Corporate Parents, this provides a practical way to translate existing Corporate Parenting commitments into positive action, while creating opportunities for employees to make a meaningful contribution to the lives of young people in their communities.
It can complement existing services and provision, strengthen partnership working and provide evidence of impact that can be reflected in Corporate Parenting Plans, reporting and wider organisational priorities.
The aim is not to replace what is already in place. It is to add capacity, connection and consistency where it can make the greatest difference – helping Corporate Parents demonstrate not only what they have committed to, but what those commitments mean for individual young people.
Download our Partnership Guide, or visit: https://mcrpathways.org/support-us/
