Our work
At its core, our work is about presence — being in the right place at the right time with the right kind of help. Every week our advocates set up in community halls, welfare rooms, and accessible spaces close to Livingston's major employment sites. Workers can walk in off a shift, with no appointment and no referral, and talk to someone who knows the local health landscape inside out.
Sessions cover everything from understanding a GP letter to managing a long-term condition alongside shift work, from knowing your rights during a sickness absence to finding mental health support that is actually available outside office hours. We bring visiting clinicians, benefits advisers, and specialist workers into our sessions so that people can access a wide range of expertise in one trusted, familiar venue.
Beyond the drop-ins themselves, we run targeted outreach — visiting site welfare rooms, speaking at union meetings, and working with HR teams and site managers who want to improve the health support available to their workforce. We gather data carefully, with participants' consent, to track the issues shift workers face in Livingston over time, and we use that evidence to make the case to NHS Lothian, West Lothian Council, and Scottish Government for services that genuinely serve people who work unsociable hours.
The individual support we provide and the systemic advocacy we carry out are two sides of the same commitment: no one should miss out on health support because of when they work.
Everything we run is designed around the real schedules, real pressures, and real health needs of people in Livingston's industrial sector.
Our flagship programme of free, no-appointment evening and weekend drop-ins across Livingston's industrial zones.
We run fourteen sessions each week at four venues positioned close to shift changeover points at Livingston's distribution and manufacturing areas. Sessions are staffed by two trained health advocates per venue and typically host between eight and twenty workers per session. Advocates can help with understanding symptoms, navigating NHS pathways, completing forms, and making onward referrals — and every conversation is completely confidential.
Targeted mental health information, peer support facilitation, and referral pathways for workers experiencing stress, sleep disruption, or anxiety.
Rotating shifts, night work, and production-line pressure carry a significant mental health burden that is often invisible to standard wellbeing services. This strand provides a safe space for workers to talk, a structured programme of resilience and sleep hygiene workshops delivered in evening slots, and warm referral links to NHS Lothian's community mental health teams. We also train line managers and union reps in mental health first aid on request.
Practical information and early intervention support for the back pain, joint injuries, and repetitive strain conditions endemic in warehouse and manufacturing work.
In partnership with a West Lothian-based physiotherapy practice and NHS Lothian's Allied Health Professions team, we run monthly assessment clinics at our drop-in venues, staffed by volunteer physiotherapists who offer brief screenings and self-management advice. Workers who need onward referral are supported to navigate waiting lists and occupational health processes, and we provide written information in multiple formats including easy-read versions for workers whose first language is not English.
Support for shift workers to understand and access the full range of health-related benefits, entitlements, and services they are eligible for.
Many workers on irregular hours miss out on healthy start vouchers, carers' allowances, disability-related benefits, and occupational health entitlements simply because they do not know the services exist or cannot access them during standard office hours. Our navigation strand works one-to-one with workers to map out what they are entitled to, complete applications, and liaise with employers and statutory services on their behalf. We hold a weekly benefits surgery in partnership with West Lothian Citizens Advice Bureau.
Each figure represents the consistency and scale of a service that shows up, week in, week out, wherever Livingston's shift workers actually are.
Get involved
Volunteers, partners, and donors make our sessions possible. If you want to contribute — or simply find out when and where we are — get in touch.
Get in touch