What a pleasure it is to be able to welcome you to our Annual Conference.

We are in a brand new slot, moving away from November which was becoming a particularly busy time of year for the sector. It feels like a hopeful time to have a conference with spring in the air and fresh strawberries in the fields. This will be my second Annual Conference, and I am very much looking forward to reconnecting with those I know well as well as meeting many new people as we welcome all our delegates, speakers and workshop facilitators from across Scotland and beyond.

The programme is looking great. There should be something for everyone working in the children’s sector. The challenge will be to choose from the breadth of interesting workshops being hosted. A nice problem to have!

We couldn’t do anything without the support of those who have come to exhibit. The programme shows the great range of exhibitors who have come with lots of great stuff to showcase and there is more information on the #AC24 hub.

We are immensely grateful to our sponsors. It takes a lot to put on a conference like this, and we definitely couldn’t do it without them. So, a massive thanks to Kibble, Road Safety Scotland, Harmeny Education Trust and Yopa.

Changing our World, our brilliant children and young people’s advisory group, have been central to the planning of the conference. Several of them will be with us across the two days. I hope you get a chance to have a conversation with them.

We are living through a challenging period. The conference should be a good chance to step back, breathe, exchange ideas and recharge the batteries so that we can do as much as possible to make Scotland a better place for our children and young people.

            — Judith Turbyne, Chief Executive, Children in Scotland