When Arthur looks back at his own path, he doesn’t see a straight line. Instead, he sees a path wrought with twists and turns, one that could have taken another direction had it not been for his resilience and drive. That’s why, perhaps, Arthur knows that young people need not be resigned to follow the path that others have convinced them lies ahead.

Ever since he was a young boy growing up in Ireland, Arthur understood the importance of hard work. “I got my work ethic from my mum and dad as I grew up on a farm in a tough part of Ireland so hard work was always something that was just drilled into us.” You could never say you were bored at our house, there was always something to do.”

As Arthur grew older he moved to Scotland to pursue a more creative passion, music, gaining a HND in Music Production followed by a BSc Honours degree in Audio Technology. At the same time as his studies, he worked hard on building sites, utilising his manual skills to bring money in.

On graduating, Arthur entered the music industry, his drive and enthusiasm quickly carrying him up the ranks. Although it was something he thought he had been craving, when Arthur reached the level of success he’d been aiming for, he soon realised that he may have been pursuing the wrong dream. “I realised that this career path was soulless and empty to me. I was heading in the direction I wanted to go but it all felt fake and unfulfilling. After some seriously low points in my life, I got out.”

At 33 years old, leaving behind the career he had spent over a decade building, Arthur was desperate to get back to work and found a job in a call centre. What was originally supposed to be a stop gap for a couple of months turned into over two years of employment that would change the course of his life. It was in this call centre that Arthur realised his capacity for fighting for others. And it began with standing up to the difficult working conditions experienced by him and his coworkers.

He and his colleagues found several of their daily restrictions unjust, including an unfounded ban on puzzles. Used by the majority of the call centre’s employees to unwind and break the monotony of the working day, Arthur knew he had to find a way to keep the saving distractions around for the sake of his coworkers’ wellbeing.

Recognising the loophole that employees were allowed to bring in notebooks to their desks, Arthur taught himself InDesign and created a unique notebook that solved this problem and got the tick of approval: one side with regular lined pages, the other with crossword puzzles, quizzes and motivational quotes. “Once I got the go ahead, lots of people wanted one, so I turned my flat into a factory and got to making more.” Realising there may be a greater demand, on his days off he would travel to Edinburgh to sell the notebooks to souvenir shops and even secured contracts to third sector charities who bought books for their clients and staff. With sales growing, Arthur began saving a percentage of the profits from every book to later donate to charity.

Not only did this turn of events lead Arthur to discover the third sector, it also encouraged him to recognise the strength of his own abilities to fight for those who didn’t have a voice. All too aware that he had a different path he needed to follow, Arthur resigned from the call centre and donated his notebook savings to an organisation supporting young people in the local community, called The DRC Youth Project. When he got speaking to the team, Arthur was asked if he could use his music industry experience to lead some sessions. He agreed, feeling positive about this next step.

Thanks to his newfound direction and confidence, Arthur also secured employment with the non-profit organisation, Momentum Scotland, as a personal development tutor supporting adults with addiction and mental health issues. In this role, Arthur realised he had finally found a career path that he found truly fulfilling.

Whilst working for Momentum Scotland, however, Arthur continued to do sessional work at DRC youth project at nights. His aptitude for getting through to young people in his sessions meant that he was soon leading groups with the most disengaged young people at the project, those that most other staff struggled to engage with. During these groups, Arthur fought for young people to believe in themselves and discovered the level of difference he was making to their lives. From working with adults in his day job who had suffered serious traumas throughout their lives, Arthur saw the different outcomes he could help to create by supporting young people who were walking the same path. By fighting for disengaged individuals earlier in their lives, Arthur knew he could guide them towards a different future.

Fast forward just two years later and Arthur was running the DRC Youth Project, utilising his fighting spirit to turn it from a traditional evening youth club into the life-changing service it is today, supporting up to 800 individuals each year. Recognising that every young person required a different approach, one of Arthur’s first transformations was implementing a person-first approach. With Arthur in charge, The DRC youth Project treats every young person as an individual rather than a collective. It recognizes that not all young people have the same issues, the same pasts or indeed the same futures. It works with each person in a non-judgemental way to pursue their own version of success in their own time. “There’s none of this 12-week programme or 6-month programme for young people to fit into, it’s whatever length of time it takes to be successful as every young person is different. We just keep working with them at their own pace until they are ready.”

In what Arthur describes as a three staged approach, The DRC Youth Project begins engaging young people as early as 8 years old, acting as an ‘early intervention’ to promote healthier behaviours. The next stage involves working with 12–19-year-olds to prepare them for the world of work by helping them to realise their ambitions and build skills. This includes providing free online accreditations and courses, field trips to companies or talks from established professionals as an addition to usual youth club activities. Arthur believes that offering variety is key, having worked hard to ensure that the range of options for young people to explore is as diverse as it possibly can be. From construction and skiing to DJing, mountain biking, mechanics, and football, Arthur has the equipment and the partners on hand to help upskill and inspire his community of young people in nearly every skill you can imagine.

The final part of the puzzle for Arthur is ensuring that his approach reaches even the most disengaged young people in the community. That’s why, in 2016, he decided to develop a more inclusive and effective employability programme. Together with his closest partner, WorkingRite, Arthur formed the Pathfinder programme. Pathfinder is designed to be inclusive for all young people but in particular those who have disengaged the farthest from society. The programme engages over 150 young people per year with up to 60 job placements available via a network of small businesses across Glasgow. This portfolio of businesses provides placements, mentoring and training, ending with a guaranteed job in the young person’s chosen field.

Where the industry norm lies at less than 30%, Pathfinder achieves a staggering 87% success rate of sustained employment for the young people that get involved. The Pathfinder Programme has been going strong for over 8 years and has won the National SURF award for Youth Employability and Removing Barriers to Employment. Considering Arthur’s drive and determination to fight for those who don’t have a voice, it’s not surprising that The DRC Youth Project is so triumphant in changing young people’s lives.

He’s even created a fully kitted out beauty salon with a professional beauty therapist to encourage young women to follow their passion in this field! In response to the COVID crisis, community need and the cost-of-living crisis, he also founded the NW Community Pantry in 2021, a young person led high-street shop that distributes two tonnes of food every week to those most in need. The shop also delivers training and volunteering opportunities to those who are on the DRC youth project’s employability initiatives and has become one of the most important shops in the community. It has also influenced the development of a new allotment site which will be used to teach young people how to grow seasonal fruit and veg to keep The Pantry stocked up, and take the form of a workshop and entertainment space for the whole community to enjoy.

The next stage of Arthur’s approach is employability. Perhaps the most important aspect of this stage is the way that success is measured. Unlike other organisations, Arthur measures success not in jobs secured but rather in jobs sustained. “The aftercare for me is massive. Whenever we get young people into a job, we’re always checking how they’re getting on.” Where other organisations may well consider their box ticked and their job done, Arthur and his team feel very differently. For whatever reason a young person may be struggling to sustain their employment, The DRC Youth Project is always on hand to guide them towards the next step and get them back on track.

You can support DRC Youth Project here

arthur mcneaney is

relentlessly fighting