Founding Director Sabbatical: taking sustainable leadership seriously

2025 marks seven years since I co-founded Routes, during which time we have supported more than 280 women to access employment and education through our award-winning mentoring programme; researched and co-designed interventions to create systemic change in the unemployment of refugee women; and grown to a staff team of six, with many more freelancers, board members and advisors helping us to deliver our work. 

This year, I will be taking a three month sabbatical away from my role as Founding Director. I’m aware that for some this might seem unconventional, or even risky, but research shows that sabbaticals can benefit organisations. I wanted to write this blog to explain why I believe that taking a sabbatical will strengthen the foundations of the organisation, and how I hope it will be a part of creating a more sustainable leadership model at Routes. I hope more organisations can make space for senior leaders to take meaningful periods of rest, and that funders would support this too, not only in the interest of individual leaders, but in the interest of the organisations too.

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The Power of Pause

Last month, Fair Collective published findings showing that 85% of small charity leaders in England experience poor mental health due to their roles. Without adequate structures to support those in leadership to maintain positive wellbeing and do their job well, we are setting our leaders, and therefore our organisations, up to fail. Sabbaticals can be used proactively - not just when someone reaches a point of burnout - to make leadership positions more supportive and sustainable. Support for leaders needs to be improved if we are going to diversify our sector’s leadership in a sustainable way. 

Whilst sabbaticals are common in some workplaces, they remain rare in the charity sector, where urgency often overshadows self-care. Last year I joined the We Are Feminist Leaders training, and found the exploration of urgency culture particularly interesting. Whilst feelings of urgency can fuel us to take action and respond to injustice, we must safeguard against a culture of urgency creeping into the way we work together, run our organisations, and approach our day-to-day work. My sabbatical is an intentional break designed for rest, reflection, and renewal – three things that are not compatible with a culture of urgency. I strongly believe that we need to support leaders to take more time to rest, reflect and renew, bringing much-needed spaciousness to work that can often feel frantic and urgent.

Creating Space for New Voices and Growth

Part of my role as a founder is to build an organisation that thrives independently, and this requires decentralising leadership away from one person. Whilst I’ve tried to take steps to create opportunities for collaboration across the team, our community of participants, and at board level, in practice I often feel that people still default to looking at me for answers. I hope that in stepping back, there will be more space for new ideas and leadership styles to emerge. The team will have more space to make independent decisions, and to bring their own approaches to the forefront, building feelings of collective ownership of the organisation. The board have already stepped up their engagement during the planning phase, and this will continue throughout my time away. In this way, I sincerely hope that my sabbatical will be an opportunity for growth – both for individuals and the organisation as a whole.

Preparing the Organisation

Preparing Routes for this sabbatical has been a long process that has required a lot of my time. I have had the support of our team, as well as our brilliant board, including Yeri Al-Jaf who I am delighted will be stepping in as Interim CEO while I’m away. Yeri has been on Routes’ board for the past three years, most recently leading our Lived Experience Leadership Group. She has such a deep understanding of Routes’ work, and I couldn’t think of a better pair of hands to lead the organisation in my absence. 

Despite our collective conviction in this as a positive step for me and for the organisation, Routes was not in a position to offer a paid sabbatical, so taking this time off has only been possible for me due to securing a Churchill Fellowship in a personal capacity. I know that not everyone has this privilege. In order to implement practices like this, which invest in the sustainable leadership of organisations like Routes, the support of funders is essential. Organisational health relies heavily on the wellbeing of its people, and yet it is extremely difficult to find funders willing to support core costs and staff wellbeing initiatives in small organisations. I sincerely hope that we will begin to see a shift towards this kind of holistic funding in the future.

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Routes has navigated many complex challenges over the past seven years as a small organisation with tight resources and big ambitions. From the seed of an idea in 2017, I am so proud that Routes has become a thriving organisation with a small but mighty team, strong values, a track record of impact, and an expected £350k turnover next year. 

At its core, this sabbatical is about trust – trust in the team and trust in the organisation to thrive without me. In the sector we work in where the stakes are high, the work is urgent, and government policy is often changing for the worse, sustainable leadership is not just beneficial, it is essential. 

I am very happy to speak to anyone thinking about taking a sabbatical – please reach out on leyla@routescollective.com. And if you were hoping to connect with me between April and July 2025, please reach out to the rest of the team instead, you can reach them all at [their name]@routescollective.com. I look forward to returning in July! 

Voices that lead: how Lived Experience is shaping Routes' future

Across 2024, we embarked on an exciting new journey - creating a Lived Experience Leadership Group! We’ve always been passionate about making sure the people we work with are at the heart of what we do. Over the years, we’ve tried all sorts of methods: inviting people to join job interview panels, co-designing projects, running focus groups, and recruiting team members and board members with lived experience. Whilst these efforts have been fantastic (50% of our team currently have lived experience), we also acknowledged something was missing; we lacked consistent, senior-level leadership from experts by experience. So, we decided to try something new to fix that.

About the pilot

One hurdle we’ve faced in the past when trying to include more lived experience in our governance, is that becoming a board member can feel daunting. The legal responsibilities can be a big turn-off, and for asylum seekers, being a registered director of a Community Interest Company isn’t even an option. We designed this group to be a space where six brilliant alumnae from our mentoring programme can share their expertise without the weight of legal responsibilities. They sit alongside our board and team to offer strategic insights, foster co-production, and provide consultancy-like advice that keeps us moving forward.

One common complaint about groups like this is that advice can sometimes go nowhere, leaving members feeling like their voices aren’t valued. We are determined not to let that happen and so have built in two-way accountability. Every piece of advice from the group must be addressed in the next meeting. This keeps the conversation flowing and ensures members know exactly how their input is shaping the organisation—and they’re empowered to push back if they don’t think we’re doing enough.

We’re also putting our money where our mouth is—literally. Group members are paid for their time, and those who are asylum seekers receive vouchers. We think this is important to show how much we value their insights.

This whole initiative has been made possible thanks to Refugee Action’s EBE Project Planning course, which gave us both the tools and a small grant to kickstart the group. We’re so grateful for the work they’re doing around shifting power in the sector, you can read more about that here. 

What We’ve Achieved So Far

It was great to see such a positive response from our community when we announced the group. We received 28 applications, interviewed 11 fantastic candidates, and ended up with six wonderful individuals. For this first round, we recruited specifically from our programme alumnae, but we’re excited to open it up to others in the future.

So far, we’ve had three meetings: one onboarding session and two group meetings. The group is currently chaired by Yeri (who sits on the Routes board) alongside a rotating co-chair from the group itself. Our hope is that one of the members will step into the chair role in the future, when they feel confident to do so. The group also created their own “group agreement” to hold each other accountable.

After the first meeting, Yeri checked in with everyone individually about how the group was working for them, and we’ve already learned so much. Embedding lived experience leadership into governance structures definitely takes a lot of time and effort to do well, but it’s already proving to be worth it. These early days have been full of energy, insights, and the kind of collaboration that makes us excited for what’s next.

Looking Ahead

As we look ahead, we’re feeling really enthusiastic about the potential that this group has to become more embedded into Routes’ leadership and a more integrated part of our governance. We have two more meetings scheduled, and then a reflection session where the group will help us to define their role moving forwards. 

Creating meaningful opportunities for lived experience experts to lead takes time, effort, and commitment—and we’re here for it. We can’t wait to see how this group evolves and continues to shape Routes’ future. Stay tuned for updates — we hope that in sharing our learning here we can support other organisations to try similar projects and ultimately become a sector that is learning from, listening to, and led by those with lived experience.

This project is part of our wider leadership and governance strategy aiming to ensure lived experience is at the heart of Routes in a sustainable and supported way that gives everyone the chance to thrive in their roles.

Celebrating our 13th mentoring cohort: 'What's hanging in the air'

On Wednesday 29th January 2025 - which also marked Chinese New Year as we entered the year of the snake - we organised the Celebration Event for our 13th Mentoring Cohort. It was a beautiful evening that brought mentors and mentees together in person, giving everyone a chance to reflect on the programme and mark the web of connections that have been created through working together.

Below is Wieke’s poem ‘What’s hanging in the air’, which was read at the celebration event to mark this moment. It’s inspired by the individuals and their experiences on the programmes, and also captures the external local and global events that took place during these 4 months.

What’s hanging in the air
For the 13th Routes Mentoring Cohort, January 2026

We tell our children
The stars will look after them
But what if we can’t see the stars

We encourage children to dream big
But what if a bunch of tech-savvy guys
Take that cue and aim for Mars

What if what is hanging in the air

Is storm
Hay fever
And uncertainty

What if employment is a distant dream

Without the right to work
And pathways of clarity

This is when we get together
When we pool our privileges and resources
Our expertise and connections

For making waves across a London
That’s banking on the Thames

This is when we try for a tripod
And a light box

To paint new pictures
Share new dishes

This is when we meet with other women
To share our wishes

This is when what is hanging in the air
Is not left unsaid – but listened to

When we listen with intent
And speak words of encouragement too

For we all understand the importance
Of autonomy

Of being able to make your own decisions
Follow your passions
With your own precision

Provide for your family

To live a life of dignity
In a country
Where refugee rights
Need to be restored

Where what is hanging in the air -
Is our opportunity

For individuals
Businesses
Organisations

To get on board

When we build our own technologies
Of relationships and community

Of accessible opportunities
To bring new professionals on board

In healthcare and psychology
In finance, college and university
In hospitality and content creation

As we do our own design thinking
Receive good news
Or are kept waiting

When we celebrate winter solstice, and Christmas
Missing those that are usually with us

In the cold, and the dark, and the sunlight
Of this moment

This is when we tell each other

We get to pursue our goals
We get to pick our own stars
And build support around them

Build a fire, that is keeping us warm
That can light up, instead of burning down

For we all know the value of a cease-fire
Holding in our hearts this widespread solidarity
This wish of safety for all

As we have seen, in one country, a liberation
Knowing the meaning of ‘hob’, meaning freedom

Where we can focus on building, not breaking
Where we can work on crafting, and making

At this Lunar New Year
We need this wisdom
Of reptile transformation

Like the snakes who circle and circle
Like the moon illuminates
And the wood of trees can stand tall, if we let them

We know
We have been building this something
Made up of strength, and courage, and shared learning 

That no crypto coin can ever monetise
That can only be nurtured, and mentored

For what’s hanging in the air tonight

Is a bold determination
To the power of our connection

And women making waves
Of finding new ways
To building new lives

That can hold us all together

That can hold all the places
That we are a part of

And that the stars
Will be happy
To shed their light on 

Call to action: what we can all do to support the human rights of those affected in the Middle East and globally

Today, we are sharing a statement about the importance of accountability under international law - and what we all can do, as UK residents and citizens, to demand the UK uphold its international legal duties. 

This statement from Routes comes in a week, in which we have seen further attacks on civilians in the North of the Gaza Strip, whilst there has been an unprecedented forced entry into a UN peacekeeping base in South Lebanon. The incessant bombing also creates further risks for those who survive: the release of asbestos is cancer-inducing and will have long-lasting impacts on civilians for years to come.

At Routes, we feel the impact of the further escalation in Gaza, Lebanon and the wider Levant region in our community. We have also seen a lack of accountability under international law, including the Convention on the Prevention and Punishment of the Crime of Genocide, which also has a direct implication for the UK Government.

We call for an immediate ceasefire in the Middle East and an end to the UK’s complicity in the violence through arms sales and diplomatic support. 

We are committed to standing in active solidarity with everyone experiencing violence and displacement. We recognise that calls for a ceasefire, calls for accountability under international law, and calls for refugee rights are all part of the same picture.

Whilst our statement today has a focus on the Levant region, we recognise that calls for non-discrimination and equal application of the law should be for everyone.  We keep in our thoughts everyone in our community who are affected by events in Sudan, Ukraine and other regions of the world. No-one is free until everyone is free - and we’ll be sharing resources that are relevant for supporting safety for communities in the Middle East and beyond. 

We invite everyone reading this to be part of this commitment.  Please find below a few resources and ways to engage: 

• Join the workshop ‘How to talk about Palestine’ organised by Shado Mag and Makan Rights, on Wednesday 23rd October, from 7:30 - 9 PM on Zoom. 

• Message your Member of Parliament and the UK Foreign Office. You can do this if you are a resident in the UK, with a UK postcode. Many organisations have templates available, that you can use to share your concerns and calls to action. 

• Attend national demonstrations happening in your area. Follow Palestine Solidarity Campaign to find out when and where they are happening. You can also borrow a banner from London Protest Banner Library to take to the marches. 

• Keep educating yourself, by following organisations and individuals who are sharing relevant updates. A good place to start might be this post from Give Your Best, or the British data journalist, writer and illustrator Mona Chalabi, who shares important infographics about the situation in Gaza, the Levant, Sudan and more.

• See if there are local campaigns that you can support. Change is built by millions of people acting simultaneously at lots of different levels - locally, nationally and globally.

• Maintain grounding practices that allow you to stay engaged. Those of us who are not directly affected or from affected communities need to ensure that we do not get numb by the current news cycle. Instead, we need support structures so that we can continue to engage and keep speaking out for human rights and human dignity. 

• Uplift the work from organisations such as Healing Justice London and Shubbak Festival, who are organising support spaces for affected communities, as well as embodied rage spaces, for material arts to be used to process rage in community.  

• If this is possible for you, please support people who are directly affected via direct aid initiatives, or by supporting relief organisations to do their work.

We want to live in a world that doesn’t force people from their homes, but will also continue to fight for the rights and dignity of displaced people worldwide. We hope you join us in this commitment, in a volatile time where it is important to speak up. 

If you are safe and able to do so, please make sure the current news is part of your daily conversations - with work colleagues, in your local communities, and in other groups where you hold power or influence.

In this important time for human rights, we need to work together to keep the UK Government, and other actors, accountable for their duties under international law. 

There is not one way of getting engaged - there are many ways to do so, from political to creative - and we need all of your talents, as we pull our resources together for a better world, in which people can live in safety and free from violence.

Statement on the far-right riots

The past few weeks have been filled with fear as migrants, Black folks, people of colour and Muslims are being targeted by far-right violence across the UK. We stand in solidarity with all those affected, everyone who’s been counter-protesting, and those working to ensure those in asylum accommodation are protected from the rioters. At Routes, we remain committed to supporting people from asylum and refugee backgrounds in the pursuit of a fairer and more welcoming asylum system. We will continue our efforts with even greater determination, in the face of these events.

We also feel it’s important to do more than just put out a message of solidarity. Here are some resources, care sessions and organisations we want to amplify:

• Healing Justice London are offering spaces for breathwork and embodied rage that centre racialised and global majority people. Please spread the word for anyone that might benefit from these.

• Muslims Against Facism have created an Allyship in the Workplace resource. We encourage you to read it and use it to advocate for your employer to do what it can to care for people affected

• Support organisations like Hope Not Hate and Stand Up To Racism who have been organising counter protests and resources to support those working with and living in places targeted by violence. 

The violence we are currently seeing has not started overnight; it is the product of years of racist ideologies and demonising rhetoric in our politics and media. It’s no coincidence that the riots have been targeting asylum accommodation. 

Routes has a 45 minute talk about the asylum system that we are offering to organisations for free in light of recent events. The talk provides a clear and accessible overview of the entire asylum process, delving into legal terms and definitions, exploring the meaning of 'refugee' and dispelling misconceptions. 

Please contact hello@routescollective.com for more information and to schedule. We hope that in this small way we can contribute to stopping the spreading of misinformation that fuels the horrific, but unfortunately not surprising, events we’ve seen over the last few weeks. 

Refugee Week 2024: Banner Making Workshop

As part of Refugee week 2024, Routes organised a Banner Making Workshop with artist Aram Han Sifuentes. 

The UK has a long history of using banners as a tool for activism, as a way of people expressing themselves, and a means for people to share their stories. Banners were made by all sorts of organisations that had a marching tradition, but perhaps particularly most recognisable will be the trade union banners of the labour movement. Looking back on the history of banners in the UK, we can see the history of the struggles that people have fought for; to support the miners strikes, to protest nuclear war and poll tax, and to secure many of the worker rights we all have today. 

The asylum system that we currently have in the UK has been designed to create a hostile environment for those who are seeking safety. In the last few years we have seen countless bills passed through parliament that have made conditions worse, culminating in the recent Rwanda Bill. There have been many campaigns, protests and solidarity efforts in an attempt to change things, and the fight continues. 

This Refugee Week, we invited participants to create their own banners, with a slogan of their choice. 

Protests are not a safe place for everyone; for asylum seekers, or anyone with insecure immigration status, the consequences of being arrested could be deportation. And with the increase of police powers at protests under the Police Crime, Sentencing and Courts Act, the risk of arrest at protests has increased. Our hope was that this workshop gave everyone the chance to make a banner, and get involved with the issues that they care about, regardless of whether they feel able to go on a march. The workshop itself was centred around creativity, fun and self-expression. 

We were honoured to be joined by artist Aram Han Sifuentes, who runs banner making workshops as part of their Banner Lending Library project. In Aram’s own words:

Banners are a way for me to resist what is happening in the United States and in the world. It is a way to put my voice out there and not stay silent. I cannot be silent. However, as a non citizen and a new mother, I cannot always go to protests. And in these workshops I realized that there were many people who came because they needed to find a way to participate, resist, and speak up but also couldn’t always go to protests because they too were mothers, non-citizens, undocumented- those who would be at great risk if caught up and arrested. My protest banner making workshops has become a place where people come together in solidarity through making. And making is, in and of itself, a form of resistance.

Here are the beautiful banners made by participants in our workshop

You can read more about Aram’s work, and lending libraries here. 

If you are a refugee or asylum seeker and worried about your rights when attending protests, please read this guidance from the Joint Council for the Welfare of Immigrants.

Statement on the passing of Anti Refugee Law

On the 11th July, the UK Parliament debated the Illegation Migration Bill, which ended with the passing of the Bill for royal ascent. Please see below a statement written by Routes Founding Director Leyla McLennan:

You may have seen the news that the Refugee Ban Bill will now become law, despite the fact that it breaches the Refugee Convention. We are deeply saddened by this news.

Seeking asylum is a human right, but the UK has now effectively extinguished this through passing this Bill; anyone arriving ‘irregularly’ to claim asylum will be banned from doing so. There are almost no safe routes into the UK so this will affect the majority of refugees that need protection.

We stand in solidarity with everyone who this bill unfairly punishes, and all the organisations and individuals who have tried their best to stop this from happening. 

This is a dark moment in the UK’s history, but we will continue to fight to create a compassionate and humane welcome for all those seeking safety. We hope you will join us!

If like us, you have been feeling disheartened by this news, watch this video for a message of hope from Freedom From Torture. 

This fight needs as much support as it can get; now that the Illegal Migration Act has become another one of the UK’s #AntiRefugeeLaws, it’s more improtant than ever to fight for a just, compassionate asylum system and commit to repealing these harmful laws.

Join us and sign the pledge today: fighttheantirefugeelaws.org