Joe Connolly is leaving after 12 years in the job at Ypeople

A charity chief executive has announced that he is to retire at the end of the year.

Joe Connolly is set step down from his role at Ypeople, which provides support across Scotland to vulnerable groups and individuals, after 12 years in the job.

He will retire in December bringing to an end a career of more than 40 years in social work and social care, which has included a variety of roles with Strathclyde Regional Council and NHC (now known as Action for Children).

One of Connolly’s significant past achievements was setting up the first alternative to custody project in Scotland for 16 – 25 year olds covering the whole of Renfrewshire.

He said: “In my time at Ypeople, the organisation has experienced significant change which has led to it becoming one of the leading social care charities in Scotland.

“It has been a privilege and a pleasure to have led Ypeople during this period and to have worked with so many wonderful people. The commitment and quality of our staff is key to the success of our work which is ultimately about helping to make life better for the people who use our services.

“I’m extremely proud that that the high standard of those services was recognised recently with the Good Practice Award from Quality Scotland and the EFQM Award of Recognised for Excellence 5 Star.”

The recruitment process to identify a new CEO is already under way and an announcement will be made in the coming months.

Ypeople delivers a range of support including mentoring, housing advice, services for people whose lives have been affected by homelessness, throughcare services, counselling and after school care to vulnerable individuals across Scotland and currently operates services in Edinburgh, Glasgow, East Dunbartonshire, North and South Lanarkshire, Orkney, Fife and Highland.

The charity’s origins date back to 1824 with the founding of Glasgow Young Men’s society for religious improvement. It became a YMCA in 1848, known as YMCA Glasgow, the forerunner of the YMCA movement. Last month, Ypeople announced its disaffiliation from the wider YMCA movement.