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Latest issue of Insight magazine now available

25 Apr 2023

The Spring/Summer issue of Insight, the biannual magazine from Children in Scotland, has been published today.

Insight provides a space for reflection, sharing knowledge and driving dialogue.

It’s published twice a year, free to our members and also available on subscription.

In this fourth edition, we are focusing on positive change being led by children and young people. Dr Khadija Mohammed, Associate Dean for Equality, Diversity and Inclusion at the University of the West of Scotland, talks about young people raising their voices against racism and how the education sector is responding; the outgoing Children’s Commissioner Bruce Adamson is quizzed on the highs and lows of the job by our children and young people’s advisory group, Changing our World and we learn about the benefits of theatre-making from Young Quines in Fife.

Also in this edition:

  • Amy Woodhouse on the complicated legacy of Nicola Sturgeon and her record on improving the lives of children and families
  • Dr Alison Scott explores approaches to supporting mothers whose children have been removed into care
  • Raza Sadiq challenges the Illegal Immigration Bill as an assault on human rights
  • Laura Millar on why we need to redesign the child maintenance system
  • Ed Pybus at CPAG on targeted top=ups to the Scottish Child Payment

We are delighted to continue our partnership with the Illustration department at Edinburgh College of Art and this issue features the work of students on the MA Postgraduate programme.

Speaking about the new issue, Catherine Bromley, Editor of Insight said:

“We hope that professionals across the children’s sector will find something to inspire them in this edition. The issues and themes – including the importance of embedding ant-racism in education, supporting mental health and wellbeing, challenging gender stereotypes and calling for solidarity in the face of the Illegal Migration Bill – are ones we feel will resonate with our membership and the children, young people and families that they support and represent.”

Insight is available in both print and digital format.

Click here to find out more about joining us in membership

Non-members can subscribe to Insight for just £10per year (2 issues).

Click here to find out more about subscribing to Insight

 

Insight - Issue 4

Find out what's inside the latest issue. Illustration by Huayue Pu

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Join us in membership

Insight is just one of many benefits of membership of Children in Scotland

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Our Strategic Plan

Our members sit at the heart of our Strategic Plan for 2023-2028 and the priorities we've set ourselves for the next five years

Click here to read

More about our members

Find out more about who's in membership with Children in Scotland

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Developing our corporate partnership with award-winning estate agent Yopa

29 Mar 2023

We are delighted to announce the continuation of our corporate partnership with award-winning estate agent Yopa.

The partnership, which began with an initial six-month agreement in September 2022, supports our work and the activities of our children and young people’s advisory group, Changing our World.

During the course of the partnership to date, Yopa’s Head of Scotland, Anthony Conroy joined us a sponsor speaker at our annual conference in November, an event co-designed by Changing our World and featuring one of their members as a keynote speaker.

The next six months of the partnership will include Yopa’s invaluable support of a new event in the children’s sector, our forthcoming Children’s Mental Health Conference in May, and their ongoing sponsorship of Changing our World as the group continues to lobby government on the issues on which they want to see change and progress made.

Verona Frankish, CEO of Yopa, says:

“We’re thrilled to be continuing our partnership with Children in Scotland. Engaging with local communities is a big part of life at Yopa, which is why we are proud to support Children in Scotland’s aim of giving all young people in Scotland the chance to flourish. Over the last few months, we’ve been lucky enough to sponsor and attend their annual conference, and we’re looking forward to supporting the upcoming Children’s Mental Health Conference in May. For our teams and our clients, a healthy work-life balance is pivotal, which is why the topic of mental health resonates so strongly with us.”

Anthony Conroy, Head of Yopa Scotland, adds: 

“Along with the rest of the Yopa Scotland team, I’m delighted to be continuing our support of Children in Scotland, starting with the Children’s Mental Health Conference in May. As a father of two I feel personally connected to Children in Scotland’s work in promoting equality and rights for young people, and as a local business owner within Yopa, I’m proud to support a charity that makes a positive difference in our communities. The Children’s Mental Health Conference could not come at a better time, and we’re delighted to lend our support to an event that highlights intersectional approaches to better mental health for all young people.”

Judith Turbyne, Chief Executive of Children in Scotland, says:  

“I’m so pleased that Yopa have chosen to continue their support of Children in Scotland and the work we do. 

Over the past six months, they were not only directly involved in our Annual Conference, but the partnership supported the work of our children and young people’s advisory group, Changing our World – helping shape our activities as well as celebrating their fifth anniversary! 

Looking ahead for the next six months, Yopa’s support will continue with Changing our World while also directly supporting our forthcoming Children’s Mental Health Conference in May. This support will mean we can keep ticket prices as low as possibly, making the event more accessible to the children’s sector. 

 It’s of great value to us to be in a partnership with an organisation with such closely aligned values and a shared belief in achieving our vision that all children have an equal chance to flourish. 

I look forward to seeing how the next six months progresses.”

About Yopa

Yopa is an award-winning national estate agency providing all the services of a traditional agency but for a fair fixed fee. From our exceptional agents and extra services to our simple online tool for booking and hosting viewings, Yopa is great at taking some of the worry, stress and hassle away from selling or buying your home. Having been launched by customers for customers just a few years ago, Yopa is already a top 10 UK estate agency brand with more than 160 local estate agents.

Click here for more information about Yopa

 

Yopa

Find out more about the award-winning estate agent and the services they offer

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Corporate Opportunities

Find out more about how your business can get involved and support our work

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Children's Mental Health Conference

Join us for Digging Deeper: intersectional approaches to inclusive mental health - 30 May

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Changing our World

Find out more about our children and young people's advisory group, Changing our World

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Vision through our values

27 Mar 2023

As we launch our Strategic Plan for 2023-28, the Convenor of Children in Scotland’s Board, Steven Sweeney, looks through the lens of our values to share how we are facing the future.

I am delighted that we are launching our new strategic plan and equally pleased to be able to share some reflections on behalf of the Board of Directors.

Children in Scotland’s values set out the organisation’s beliefs and qualities, which are key to the delivery of our vision that all children in Scotland have an equal chance to flourish. Strengthening equality, diversity and inclusion is an overarching commitment that informs these values, which are to work in a way that’s Brave, Kind, Open and Fair, and Collaborative. So how have our values guided us in the development of this strategic plan, and how will they inform its implementation?

Brave

We will be brave in championing children’s rights with creativity and determination, taking the lead in empowering children and young people. We are also being brave by publicly sharing how we will know whether we are delivering the desired impact through our strategic priorities and associated actions.

Ambition and accountability are important to us. For our membership to sit at the heart of who we are and what we do as an organisation, we need to be accountable to them whilst being the best version of ourselves. This is a live plan so we will be an agile organisation, reviewing and adapting to ensure relevance for our members over the next five years.

Kind

We will be kind by making empathy and trust key to how we connect with others, caring about the impact our work has on people and the environment. We all need to be kind to each other as we continue through a cost-of-living crisis.

At Children in Scotland, we will ensure that children and young peoples’ views will be listened to, taken seriously and acted upon. Like many of our member organisations, we are prioritising, looking at our efficiency and sharpening our focus. We promise to strengthen our commitment to partnership and collaboration, horizon scanning externally, supporting children, young people and our members.

Open and Fair

We will be open and fair by being committed to accessibility, honesty and by sharing learning. We will be open and fair as we aim to influence decision-makers to deliver on our Manifesto priorities, which have been set out by our members and our children and young people’s advisory group. We can take hope from commitments to combat child poverty and champion GIRFEC and incorporation of the UNCRC.

There remains much to do to deliver good policy and practice for children and young people in Scotland. We are ready for the challenge. I really like that as we deliver quality support services for children and young people with additional support needs, we are also collaborating to influence policy and practice.

Collaborative

Finally, we will be collaborative. The participation of children, young people and their families, members, our wider network and the sector workforce, alongside staff and the Board is central to the success of this plan. With three decades of knowledge, skills and experience as an organisation, we will respect the past, live in the here and now, and embrace the future.

We will remain present in all that we do, actively listening to everyone invested in the future health and wellbeing of Scotland’s young people. Thank you to all the stakeholders involved in the development of this strategic plan. Our fantastic staff team and committed Board are excited to hit the ground running.

Click here to read our Strategic Plan 2023-28 including an introduction from our Chief Executive, Dr Judith Turbyne. 

About the author

Steven Sweeney is the Convenor of Children in Scotland's Board. He is one of our nine current Trustees

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Strategic Plan 2023-2028

Read our plan which sets out what we aspire to do in the next five years

Click here to read

Vision and values

Find out more about our vision and the values that guide the way that we work

Click here for more

Our work

Find out more about our participation work with children, young people and families

Click here for more

Our Manifesto for 2021-26

Our Manifesto outlines key suggested changes in policy and legislation - it contains 10 themes and 33 calls

Click here to read

Strengthening the sector with the offer of free membership

13 Mar 2023

Children in Scotland's Head of Engagement & Learning, Simon Massey, on making our membership more accessible and supporting equality and diversity in the children's sector. 

We are acutely aware of how challenging things are for the children’s sector (and beyond) at the minute. We constantly think about different ways we can support organisations across Scotland to deliver the best services for children, young people and their families, while also looking out for their own needs.  

One of our priority areas is to ‘lead and develop the children’s sector workforce’ and we try do this in various ways. This includes delivering learning and networking opportunities, providing advice and information services, championing the inclusion of children and young people, influencing or challenging policy and practice developments, and providing a relevant and cost-effective Membership Service.  

On this last one, we have worked incredibly hard to deliver our activities as efficiently as possible, minimising any increases in costs being passed on to the children’s sector. This means prices haven’t gone up since 2018 and we are really pleased to say that we are able to hold them for a further year.  

In fact, we have made the decision to start a longer-term plan to make Membership more accessible to more organisations across Scotland. This will be a rolling programme over the next 12-18 months and will start off with us offering a free 12-month Membership to the following: 

  • Charities with an annual income under £50,000
    OR
  • Organisations that primarily work with minority ethnic children, young people and families in Scotland.  

Any organisation becoming a Children in Scotland Member will access a range of benefits (Click here to access our Membership Guide 2023) but some of the key ones include: 

  • Receiving our bi-annual Member publication, Insight, providing a space for inspiration, reflection, discussion and sharing of knowledge.  

We have made the decision to extend our free Membership offer to these groups for the following reasons: 

Charities with an annual income under £50,000  

As of 8 March 2023, OSCR (click here for more information about the Scottish Charity Regulator) shows that there are currently 25,413 charities registered in Scotland, and 14,218 of those have an annual income of under £50,000, which is almost 56%. While 7,122 of them identify their beneficiaries as being children and young people, which is 28% of the total number of registered charities. 

We feel this is a great place to start in trying to remove the barrier of cost for those organisations to access our Membership Services, particularly when you consider that OSCR’s Scottish Charities 2021 report (click here to read that report) said that 68% of charities were run entirely by volunteers.  

So, if you are a charity with an annual income of under £50,000 who is registered with OSCR and whose beneficiaries are children, young people or families, get in touch!  

Organisations who primarily work with minority ethnic children, young people and families in Scotland 

As mentioned in Amy Woodhouse’s blog, Making the change and committing to race equality (click here to read the blog), our commitment to improving representation and working in partnership (click here to read the pledges in our Race Equality Statement) includes offering a free 12-month Membership to any organisation in Scotland whose primary focus is working with minority ethnic children and families.  

We hope to remove some of the barriers that organisations may face, while also better reflecting the diversity across Scotland and including a wider range of voices and lived experiences in our activities.  

So, if you are an organisation in Scotland that is primarily working with minority ethnic children, young people or families, get in touch! There are no criteria linked to income.  

How to join  

If you meet the criteria above, then you just need to complete our application form, which can be found on the 'Join us' page.
Click here to access the 'Join Us' page

We ask that, in the ‘Membership category’ section, you add in ‘FREE 1’ if you’re a charity with an annual income under £50,000 or ‘FREE 2’ if you are an organisation working primarily with minority ethnic children, young people and families.  

Then send it to membership@childreninscotland.org.uk. 

This offer will be open until 31 May 2023 and the Membership will last for a 12-month period.  

We look forward to welcoming you to Children in Scotland!  

Membership of Children in Scotland

Find out more about Membership and what it offers

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More about our members

Our membership brings together the expertise and experience of dedicated professionals

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Membership benefits

We offer a range of benefits including discounted training and our bi-annual magazine, Insight

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Join us in membership

Join the the national network dedicated to improving children's lives,

Click here to sign up

Our Learning and Events programme

We offer a broad range of training to professionals working in the children's sector

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Launching the Building Good Relationships eLearning module

6 Mar 2023

The Learning & Events team at Children in Scotland is delighted to launch the Building Good Relationships with Children and Young People eLearning course.

The module is aimed at practitioners working with children and young people, particularly those who are new to doing direct work, or returning from a break from direct work. It’s designed to help practitioners build and reflect on the practice of building strong, meaningful and productive working relationships with children and young people at the following key moments: ​

  • Before meeting the young person
  • At the start of your relationship ​
  • Throughout your relationship

Click here to access the eLearning hub 
Click here to access the user guide

The module also covers ways to support the development of ongoing best practice. It has the voices of children and young people embedded throughout, and is informed by a wide range of reports from direct engagement work conducted by Children in Scotland’s Participation team and reports taken from the Evidence Bank.

Offering plenty of opportunities for students to reflect on their own practice, learners can input their notes on that they already know and what they have learned, and download the content for their CPD portfolios afterwards along with a summary of the module contents to use as a refresher and take-away.

The whole course will take around 30 minutes to complete. Students can stop at any time and return to the site later on – the system will track progress and remember which sections  have already been completed. ​

The module has been made possible by the Adapt and Thrive Programme.

Children in Scotland also offers bespoke training packages and consultancy on participation and engagement with children and young people hosted by subject experts from its Policy, Projects and Participation team. Please email events@childreninscotland.org.uk to find out more. ​

Any questions or issues?​

In the first instance, please refer to the User Guide. If you have any further questions, please contact events@childreninscotland.org.uk. ​

Building Good Relationships

Access our brand-new learning module on our eLearning Hub

Click here to access

Explore eLearning

Take a look at the range of free learning courses currently available on the Hub

Click here to access

User Guide

Your step-by-step guide to registering on the Hub and getting started on eLearning

Click here to access

Learning & Events

Find out what events, training and commissioned CPD our team can offer

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Making the change and committing to race equality

2 Mar 2023

A new report shares learning on the steps Children in Scotland has taken so far to embed our commitment to race equality but this is just the beginning, says Amy Woodhouse, our Head of Policy, Projects & Participation

Back in September 2021 Children in Scotland published its race equality statement (click here to access), which outlined five organisational pledges to strengthen our commitment to race equality and inclusion. These pledges cover areas including policies and procedures, representation, removing barriers and staff training. Click here to read a blog I wrote to accompany the statement’s publication, describing our race equality journey up to that point and where we were hoping to go next. We were both hopeful and realistic – recognising the in-depth work that was needed throughout the whole organisation but committed to making change.  

Now, eighteen months later, we in a position to share our progress.  Our Equalities and Diversity Working Group has finished its current phase of activity and has brought together a report, which we have discussed internally with our staff and Board. We also agreed that it was equally important to share this work externally. 

Our fifth organisational pledge states: ‘We will continue to improve race equality through learning and working in partnership /collaboration with experts. In return, we will share our own learning and experiences openly and honestly with others’

Click here to read our 'Sharing our learning: Children in Scotland’s Equalities and Diversity Commitment Report 

In sharing our learning and experiences openly and honestly, we have to be able to highlight where we have struggled, stumbled or got things wrong, as well as the successes. The ‘key learning’ section of our report is probably the most valuable in the whole document, as it outlines some of the challenges inherent in race equality work (as well as some inherent to Children in Scotland), and how we have tried to address them. It might be helpful for other organisations that are undertaking similar work internally.  

Gathering data

One of the pieces of advice we were given early on was to gather data so that we could establish benchmarks. We couldn’t know our starting point or assess our progress if we didn’t measure things. We had to ask ourselves questions such as whether it was appropriate to ask every helpline caller or child we engage with equalities monitoring questions. What if it’s just a one-off interaction for example? And if we put some limits around that, how then do we accurately measure our reach? In the end, sometimes we have had to compromise and accept that if we are not able to achieve gold standard, then at least our approaches are better than where we were before. 

Some things have been more straightforward. Having the pledges has provided us with a framework for making change. Having a committed cross-organisation working group has supported buy-in from across teams and departments, and working with external partners has been absolutely essential to ensuring we were on the right track. 

Feedback from staff

When reflecting back on the last couple of years, here are a few quotes from members of the Working Group which help to illustrate our journey;  

‘It was both humbling and inspiring to see how Children in Scotland staff got on board with the work we’ve been doing over the past couple of years. While it built on previous equalities work, it wasn’t formulaic and was shaped by people’s lived experiences and what was happening in society. We developed something that is both meaningful and challenging (in the right way!) for all parts of our organisation to build upon.’ 

‘We are looking forward to continuing working with colleagues across the organisation on equality and diversity issues on a structured, ongoing basis.  One dream would be to be able to appoint a permanent colleague responsible for co-ordinating, and keeping everyone informed of, all the equality and diversity work that happens across Children in Scotland.’ 

‘From someone who recently joined Children in Scotland/Enquire and having a minority ethnic background, I was astonished at the willingness to set up such a group and seeing that focus on making true, meaningful change. It was refreshing to see that it was not artificial or a tick box exercise. I was glad to be part of the group.'

Our sincere thanks to those that have helped us along the way, particularly to CEMVO who helped us shape our statement and our pledges, WSREC for their brilliant and wise training that supported our understanding and confidence and Intercultural Youth Scotland, who have stayed with us as valued partners (despite our mistakes) and helped us to develop our understanding how anti-racism work with children and young people needs to be delivered. 

This is just the beginning of our work.  The test will be whether we achieve real and meaningful change over time. Whether the steps we have taken mean in the longer term that Children in Scotland is a more diverse, inclusive, equalities-focussed organisation. Whether our staff team, our board, the people who use our services and the children and young people we work with reflect the diversity of Scotland, in terms of race and other protected characteristics as well. That barriers to access are removed. That we are strong adversaries of discrimination and prejudice wherever we encounter it.  

We cannot confidently say we are there yet. The work needs to continue. 

 

As part of our ongoing commitment to improving representation and working in partnership, we will be offering a free 12-month Children in Scotland Membership to organisations in Scotland whose primary focus is working with minority ethnic children and families. We hope to remove some of the barriers that organisations may face, while also better reflecting the diversity across Scotland. Please keep an eye out on our social media and website for more information in the coming days. 

 

Sharing our learning

Children in Scotland’s Equality and Diversity Commitment - read the report on our learning so far

Click here to read

Our race equality statement

We are committed to creating a culture in which equality, diversity and human rights are actively promoted

Click here to read

Our membership offer

Be part of the largest national children's sector membership organisation in Scotland

Click here for more

Our Manifesto for 2021-26

10 themes and 33 calls: read our manifesto for change

Click here to read

Policy & Influencing

Find out more about our Policy & Influencing work

Click here for more

Research reveals almost half of secondary school pupils are missing out on hobbies

Media release

10 February

New research reveals that almost half of young people of secondary school age are missing out on out-of-school activities or hobbies, with young people living in areas of high deprivation even less likely to take part. 

New Ipsos research commissioned by Children in Scotland asked 1500 young people aged 11 to 18 about the clubs and activities they took part in after school or at the weekend.  

It found that only 54% of young people of secondary school age said that they take part in a club or activity outside of school. This dropped to 45% among secondary school aged children living in the areas of highest deprivation, compared with 65% in the most affluent areas. Those living with a physical or mental health condition were also less likely to take part in clubs or activities out of school.  

Children in Scotland commissioned the research to support the call to government for a national hobby premium to ensure that all children and young people in Scotland have free access to a hobby or activity of their choosing.

Click here to read our policy briefing: “Why Scotland should introduce a Hobby Premium: The Right to Play”

Click here to read our Manifesto for 2021-26 which includes the call for a Hobby Premium.

Article 31 of the UN Convention on the Rights of the Child states that children have a right to leisure and play. Hobbies are a way for children to play, explore their interests, build skills, make mistakes and grow.  

Evidence from countries where support for hobbies is in place, for example Finland, shows that taking part in hobbies has a hugely positive impact on children and young people’s confidence, wellbeing and learning. Benefits can be both immediate and longer term. However, barriers such as cost and availability can mean that not all children have equal access to hobbies and their associated benefits.

Survey results

Providing data on the current Scottish context, responses from 1533 secondary school pupils as part of an Ipsos survey, conducted between September - December 2022, revealed that: 

  • Overall, about half (54%) of secondary school aged children (S1 to S6) say they are currently taking part in an out of school club or activity 
  • Less than half (45%) of secondary school aged children living in the areas of highest deprivation are taking part in an out of school club or activity. This compares with 65% in the most affluent areas.  
  • Young people with a physical or mental health condition are less likely to take part in a club or activity than those with no physical or mental health condition (51% and 62% respectively)  
  • Slightly more children who identify as white take part in clubs and activities than those who identify with another ethnicity (56% and 52% respectively) 
  • Rates of participation in clubs and activities are broadly the same for girls and boys (54% and 55% respectively) 
  • Rates of participation in clubs and activities are broadly the same for those living in rural and urban areas (52% and 54% respectively) 

The call for a hobby premium

On the results from the survey and their implications for children and young people’s health and wellbeing, Head of Policy, Projects and Participation at Children in Scotland, Amy Woodhouse says:

“It’s of real concern that a significant proportion of young people are not taking part in a club or after school activity.  That participation is less common for those living in areas with high deprivation or with a physical or mental health condition adds to evidence from elsewhere that barriers relating to cost and accessibility can be an influencing factor.  

Given the importance of hobbies to physical and emotional wellbeing, we need government to take up the call for a hobby premium and invest in increasing access to hobbies for all children living in Scotland.  

For more information about the Hobby Premium: 

Click here to read our Policy Briefing on the call for a Hobby Premium: Why Scotland should introduce a Hobby Premium: The Right to Play

Click here to read a blog from includem’s Tuisku “Snow” Curtis-Kolu on what we can learn from Finland about establishing a Hobby Premium 

 
Media contact: Catherine Bromley – email cbromley@childreninscotland.org.uk

Notes for editors 
 
Project background  

Children in Scotland launched the call for a Hobby Premium for Scotland within its 2021-26 Manifesto, published in November 2020. The call is supported by Children in Scotland’s members and its partners across the sector including Play Scotland, Early Years Scotland, Children 1st, YouthLink Scotland and Together.
   

 

2021-2026 Manifesto

Our Manifesto outlines key suggested changes in policy and legislation - it contains 10 themes and 33 calls

Click here to access

The call for a Hobby Premium

Read our policy briefing: “Why Scotland should introduce a Hobby Premium: The Right to Play”

Click here to read

Consultation responses

Our members' expertise informs positions we take on child policy and legislation

Click here to read

Children's Rights and the UNCRC Training

Bridging policy and practice: bespoke children's rights training tailored to your organisation’s needs

Click here for more

Impact report reveals the benefits of peer research in participation projects

26 Jan 2023

Children in Scotland has published an impact report on evaluation from the Participation through the Pandemic project.

The report reveals the benefits of taking a peer research approach, where a group of people with lived experience of an issue come together to research it.

Funded by the Young Start programme (click here for more), the Participation through the Pandemic project explored how coronavirus changed the ways in which children and young people got involved in projects or accessed services.

Within it, a group of four young researchers aged 14-18 years worked together to examine how engaging online rather than face-to-face  changed the way children and young people share their views.

By taking a peer research approach, the young people were able to learn by doing, learn from each other and gain skills and confidence in their own abilities.

On the process, one of the participants said:

“The analysis of the projects, especially the tasks following the discussions with the projects, gave me an insight into the depth of analysis and evaluation needed for research. This has allowed me to improve my research skills as I know what is required to gather excellent research.”

To help bring the report and its findings to life, the group worked with artist Victoria Geary to produce a short animation that explores what peer research is and the benefits it can bring to research and evaluation projects led by young people.

Children in Scotland is hosting a free webinar event on Thursday 23 February (10am-12pm) to share learning from the project, this report and the experience of taking a peer research approach.
Click here to find out more and register to attend

On the impact report, Chris Ross, Senior Policy, Projects and Participation Officer said:

“'Our evaluation of the Participation through the Pandemic project has shown the value of peer research as an approach. It gives children and young people a chance to take the lead and drive change. We found that building relationships and learning together were key in supporting our peer researchers, so was having fun!

Our upcoming webinar on the findings of the report will be a great opportunity to share good practice and learn new approaches. Please get signed up if you want to find out more."

Click here to read the impact report

Click here to find out more about the Participation through the Pandemic project

The Peer Research Impact Report

Explore the findings from our evaluation of the peer research approach

Click here to read the report

Participation through the Pandemic

Read the final report from this project published in June 2022

Click to find out more

Participation with young people

Find out more about our how we embed children and young people’s inclusion across all our work

Click here for more

Insight magazine recognised in national publishing awards

1 December 2022

Children in Scotland’s membership magazine Insight was a finalist in the Best Consumer / Member magazine category of the Professional Publishers Awards (PPA) Scotland Awards 2022, with winners announced at an event in Edinburgh last night. 

Insight was listed as a Finalist at the prestigious Professional Publishers Awards 2022 in a category that included membership publications from high-profile national institutions including the National Trust for Scotland, Historic Environment Scotland and the National Photographic Society.

Unfortunately, a win was not on the cards for the Insight team this time, with the title of Best Consumer/ Member magazine 2022 going to RPS Journal, published by Think Publishing.

Insight editor Jennifer Drummond, who attended the award ceremony at Dynamic Earth, said:

“What an honour it is to have been recognised in such prestigious awards, voted on by experts across the publishing sector. Congratulations to all the finalists, and of course to the team behind category winner RPS Journal.

“To be shortlisted shows a recognition of what we are trying to achieve with Insight and the important role it plays in the children’s sector in Scotland.

“A big thank you to my colleagues who work with me on the publication: our designer Angus Doyle and managing editors Catherine Bromley and Chris Small, and to Lynn Gilmour and Nina Joynson for digital comms support.

“I also want to acknowledge the fourth year and postgraduate illustration students at Edinburgh College of Art who contribute fantastic work for each edition of Insight and help give the magazine its creative quality.”

The PPA Awards recognise businesses, teams and individuals who have produced standout work in Scottish publishing.

The awards are divided into 21 categories including Columnist of the Year, Editor of the Year, Consumer / Member Magazine of the Year, Children’s Magazine of the Year and Cover of the Year.

The PPA Awards Dinner was held on Wednesday 30 November 2022 at Dynamic Earth, Edinburgh, hosted by comedian and writer Jo Caulfield.

Click here for more information about the PPA Awards 2022
https://ppascotlandawards.co.uk/2022/en/page/home

 

Click here to find out more about Insight

https://childreninscotland.org.uk/insight-landing-page-public/

Insight

Find out more about our membership magazine

Click here for more

The PPA Awards

A celebration of the media businesses and organisations that drive the thriving publishing sector in Scotland

Click to find out more

Alcohol marketing consultation – youth engagement project


January 2023 - April 2023

In November 2022, the Scottish Government published a series of proposals aimed at restricting alcohol advertising and promotion in Scotland, in recognition of the World Health Organisation’s findings that this is one of the top cost-effective ways to prevent and reduce alcohol-related harm.

Children in Scotland was commissioned by the Scottish Government to support children and young people to engage in the public consultation. We worked with a small focus group over five online sessions and developed a bespoke engagement pack for schools and community groups. In total, 113 children and young people were supported to learn about the consultation and to share their views and experiences about alcohol advertising and promotion in Scotland.

In general, the children and young people we engaged with wanted to see tighter restrictions for alcohol advertising and promotion. This included reducing alcohol sponsorship and advertising linked to sports teams and events, restricting the visibility of alcohol in local shops and supermarkets, and reducing alcohol advertising on television and online. They also felt restrictions on the content of alcohol advertisements would help to prevent “slick” and “glamourous” advertisements appealing to children and young people. However, the children and young people we spoke also had concerns about the financial impact tighter restrictions could have for business.

Click here to read the project report from our engagement work

This report will be included in the analysis of the responses to the Scottish Government’s public consultation, which is scheduled to be published in autumn 2023.

If you have any questions about the project, please contact David Mackay: dmackay@childreninscotland.org.uk

Join the project

Find out more about what's involved and how to apply

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Engagement Activity Pack

Help us gather views from young people aged 8 to 18 on how alcohol marketing is controlled in Scotland

Click here to download