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10 achievements, highlights and special moments of 2024

23 Dec 2024

Over the past 12 months, Children in Scotland staff have worked tirelessly to deliver essential support for the children's sector, bringing together members for networking opportunities, providing quality training on a range of topics, and working directly with children and young people to ensure their voices and views are heard.

As we prepare to wind down for a well-deserved festive break, here, we explore just a few of our 2024 highlights.

We launched an accessible new learning portal

Developed in partnership with The Open University (OU) in Scotland, we launched a new eLearning portal (click here for more) to help support practitioners across the children’s sector to learn new skills and expand their professional knowledge.

Offering a wide range of free courses, the portal has been curated to help meet practitioners’ learning needs, covering key areas such as education in the early years, additional support needs and mental health and wellbeing. Courses range from two to 24 hours, and thanks to the flexibility of distance learning, can be started, paused and restarted again at any time.

Click here to start exploring the new learning portal

A new report looked at the connection between live music and mental health 

The Live Music and Mental Health project, delivered by Children in Scotland, Scottish Ensemble and the University of Stirling between May and October 2023, explored the barriers children and young people face when engaging with live music – and in March this year, we published the findings from the project to inspire musicians, music providers and venues to develop new approaches.

David Mackay, Children in Scotland’s Head of Policy, Projects and Participation, said: “The Live Music and Mental Health project report and findings will be of interest to anyone working on co-design projects with children and young people, and are particularly relevant for the arts and culture and mental health professionals.”

Click here to read the full report

Our Annual Conference 2024 was a huge success

In May, Children in Scotland’s Annual Conference 2024 saw more than 450 delegates, speakers and exhibitors come together at Murrayfield Stadium, Edinburgh, for two days of insightful workshops, keynote speeches and networking sessions. From discussions around children’s rights and AI to a visit from Natalie Don MSP – who stopped to chat with Changing our World, our vibrant children and young people’s advisory group – the conference was one of our most successful to date!

Tickets are already available for our Annual Conference 2025, which will be held on 28 and 29 May in Glasgow – click here to find out more

Natalie Don MSP with CoW
Natalie Don MSP with CoW

Wellbeing was our top priority

Here at Children in Scotland, we believe the workplace should be a happy and supportive environment, and we have put a range of positive policies in place to ensure our staff thrive in their roles. As well as offering flexi-time and hybrid working, we introduced a new employee-led ‘wellbeing working group’ earlier this year to better understand how we can improve wellness at work. The group holds regular Tea & Talk drop-in session to discuss a range of issues, and in the coming year, will look to further developing our work-life balance policies.

Changing our World was celebrated at the Scottish Children’s Health Awards 

Our young people’s advisory group was recognised for the “extraordinary steps” it takes to advance the healthcare rights of children and young people at the Scottish Children’s Health Awards 2024, taking home the Healthcare Rights Award during a glittering awards ceremony. Children’s Health Scotland, the charity behind the Awards, said the judging panel recognised the importance of CoW being children-led, and praised the group for giving young people the opportunity to share their experiences and views.

Parisa Shirazi, Senior Policy, Projects and Participation Officer at Children in Scotland, who nominated CoW for the Healthcare Rights Award, said: “I see my job as providing support and structure for them to share their views in ways that work for them. I particularly enjoy seeing members grow in confidence in areas they initially would have felt more nervous about, such as public speaking and working with MSPs.”

We helped hundreds of professionals learn new skills

As part of our comprehensive Learning Programme, which includes in-person conferences and residentials, professional diplomas and online webinars, our amazing Learning & Events team hosted 30 external training events in 2024. From helping the sector better understand UNCRC incorporation to exploring executive function skills, our training covered a wide range of important topics.

Looking to learn in 2025? Between January and May, we have three in-person events and six online practice-sharing sessions available – click here to find out more

The Kiltwalk put us through our paces!

Led by our wonderful CEO Dr Judith Turbyne, our staff and supporters laced up their trainers for The Kiltwalk 2024, taking on the renowned Scottish challenge to raise vital funds to further the work we do with children and young people across Scotland. Completing  both the Dundee and Edinburgh walks, our team of walkers raised more than £2,000 – a massive thank you to everyone for their generous donations!

Children in Scotland CEO Judith Turbyne and her friend, Jen, at The Kiltwalk finish line
Children in Scotland CEO Judith Turbyne and her friend, Jen, at The Kiltwalk finish line

Our members came together online

In November, we launched a new LinkedIn group for Children in Scotland members, aiming to provide an online space where our vibrant membership community can converse, ask questions and share work with other individuals working in the sector. With more than 400 charities and third sector organisations in membership, we’re excited to see how the group grows in 2025!

Not joined yet? Click here to get involved

Pupil Support staff came together for our new learning programme

Developed in collaboration with children and young people with lived care experience, our new #KeepThePromise Pupil Support Staff learning programme was launched in November. Providing a platform to improve awareness and understanding of care experience and bring Pupil Support Staff together to network and share best practice, more events are planned for February and May, in addition to three free-to-access eLearning modules.

Click here to find out more

We started developing our next Manifesto with help from members

Our members bring a wealth of experience around supporting Scotland’s children, young people and families – so, when it came to updating our Manifesto, it only made sense to include their thoughts, feelings, aims and ambitions. At the end of this year, we began the process of developing our Manifesto for 2026 – 31 by hosting two online Voices Forum discussion sessions with our members, and we currently have an online survey where partners can contribute ideas.

You can still submit your views to the online until 23 December – click here to take part

Our membership offer

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

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Learn with us online and in-person

Browse our range of training and events

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Annual Conference 2025

Making Space for Voices: Join our Annual Conference in Glasgow on 28 and 29 May 2025

Find out more

Creating Hope Togeher

Find out more about the work of the Suicide Prevention Youth Advisory Group

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We offer a range of services that provide support, advice and representation for children and families

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'Peeling back the lid' on hybrid working

17 Dec 2024

Despite hybrid working becoming the new norm for so many over the past four years, how often have we had the opportunity to reflect on the ways it has impacted daily life? As part of a recent Children in Scotland webinar, our Head of Services, Billy Anderson, invited other individuals working in the children’s sector to join him in exploring hybrid working and whether it was really working for them. Here, Billy shares some interesting observations from the session.

I always found that when talking to individual people about their journey through the pandemic to where we are now, everyone had a different story to tell with, what I have termed as, similar positives, frustrations, barriers, worries and wins. I didn’t think that we, as a sector, have had the chance to talk about all of this in a collective way so I set about creating the session by telling my own story.

When I opened up the blank PowerPoint presentation, I felt that my story had to start right at the beginning. For my own reflections it was necessary to remember what working life was like in the sector when I joined almost 25 years ago. This was a time when the office I worked in had one computer to share between eight of us and case notes were mostly handwritten. However, around that time technology was becoming more prominent as organisations were investing in new buildings with new I.T infrastructures where the move to going ‘paperless’ was felt like a real 21st century advancement.

Throughout my reflections on my early years in the sector, it was astounding how much driving and travelling was involved on a weekly basis. Travelling almost 100 miles to get to work, driving 50% of the day once at work, and then travelling home. There was a distinct split between home and work. I was also with people in offices, meeting rooms, homes, schools, police stations, hospitals, sports centres, forests, fields, zoos, stadiums, cars and colleges.

It wasn’t really until I started writing out my story that when it came to 2020 - with the news of COVID-19 burbling away in the background in some far away land - that I realised what a jolt my life had taken. It was a surreal jolt. An acceleration of technology and new working protocols coupled with a deceleration of life itself. The psychologically imposed G-force of this simultaneous acceleration and deceleration created a destabilisation of reality that I don’t feel we have fully come to terms with. Even the process of reflecting back on all of this stuff was quite an emotional experience as it had, to some degree, been locked up and placed on a shelf in my mind with a do not disturb label hurriedly slapped on its lid.

Removing these experiences from the shelf and peeling back the lid on it was kind of my aim. To look back on things from the position that we find ourselves in now and engage others in discussion about how they feel now, what’s working and not working and try to get a grip on whether or not we are still largely in a place of destabilisation.

Finding a balance

So, with my story told to the participants in the session, it was now a space for sharing stories and finding out about those positives, frustrations, barriers, worries and wins. On the positives side of things, flexibility came out on top. This was flexibility in a variety of ways from managing workload, to introducing hybrid working options for staff. “We wanted a set pattern. Our full-time staff have a minimum of two days in the office and our part time staff have a minimum of one”, shared one participant. It was interesting to learn from this participant that those office days were, where possible, focused on being together with each other and staff were encouraged to not set any meetings during that time.

The creation of a good work-life balance was high on the agenda where that separation between the two appeared to be a common frustration/worry for participants. As one person said, “I can shut my laptop at five o’clock and be in the kitchen at five past making the tea and still thinking about work.”  For all of the positives that the rise of technology has brought, it was felt to be a frustration too in terms of how our work has seeped into our homes and home life, an individual reflecting, “I now have access to emails 24/7. I need to be really self-disciplined to switch off notifications when on leave because the temptation to check them is always there.”

There was also what was described as a ‘tension’ between people who worked predominantly from home and those who worked predominantly from an office or base/in the field. There was a felt pressure to “justify that you are actually working”. From what was described as an increase in trust and flexibility over managing workload from home, it appears that some mistrust (or perceived) has slipped in again. “Why do I feel the need to ask others to check my calendar to prove that I’m working? I know that I am working hard but still feel the need to prove it”, noted a participant. This has potentially led to feelings of guilt where home workers are always available and fill their calendars with appointments and back-to-back meetings. In turn, workloads have felt significantly higher and more pressurised since hybrid working began which impacts on the value of contracts where doing more with less is the prevailing narrative.

The positives of the accelerated use of technology were also prominent. Described by one participant as “the turnkey that unlocked a new culture”,  this very sharp and quick change has allowed us to reduce costs and do some previously expensive and logistically impossible work in the virtual arena. There was a feeling within the group that we can’t go back now noting that, "young people are comfortable within the virtual world so it is very much a case of what’s next and what’s best”.

The value of a virtual meeting place

There were also reflections on engagement with children and young people virtually where the anxiety inducing spectre of a ‘professional’ coming to see you at your own home could be nullified. The rituals and routines of this where you arrange a home visit, you knock at the door, you go in and talk with a parent or carer over a cup of tea and a biscuit and then you talk to the child. In a virtual space you can get direct access to a child where, for some, this allowed communication on a more relaxed and impersonal level that really worked for them. We seriously need to think who a home visit is benefitting. Is it a staff member’s preference at the expense of the child’s experience?

The same principle applies to the workforce who are made up of a range of personality types largely located within the two distinct camps of introverted and extroverted. Home working has been a blessing for some especially where childcare is involved. However, the working from home element with all of its flexibility and methods of communication to cater for all personality types needs some reflection and scrutiny from a wellbeing perspective when people all come together at events or large-scale meetings. We don’t inhabit those spaces as frequently now and I for one, can find the experience draining. Even though these experiences can be draining there is definite benefits and a need to be with other people.

Connections at the virtual 'watercooler'

‘Watercooler’ chat was mentioned alongside building and developing relationships with others as something that needs to be worked at and created now. From minimum working days in office, to quarterly all staff in-person meetings, there were various iterations of the importance of being together, seeing each other in three dimensions - we observed how we quite often work with people over long periods of time on a screen without having met each other in the physical world. Using Microsoft Teams channels to open up more informal watercooler style spaces was discussed where having a laugh with colleagues was encouraged. In these less formal spaces, it also brings about opportunity to share and discuss wellbeing topics in a natural way. There was a concern, however, that relationship building using this mode of communication “is almost verging on being overly friendly for a workspace”.

Hybrid working - an ongoing journey

During the session we looked at the ‘Fisher Personal Transition Curve’ and posed the question of where we thought we all were in terms of our own journey. There was a general feeling that we were on the ‘Gradual acceptance’ of the upside of the curve…but we’d not quite got it right yet. The curve tool itself is a helpful way of plotting yourself across recent years and understanding the behaviours and choices of others too. We also briefly discussed how we feel that we are best supported by looking at a person-centred thinking tool, ‘The one-page profile’. People found this question quite hard to answer and for me this was symptomatic of how much time we spend on supporting others and not on thinking about our own needs. As one participant said, “We are always thinking of others. This can add to the guilt of working from home and feeling the need to justify it. We are all role models for each other…we need trust in each other.”

How much we share our support needs with our supervisors came up in discussion where it was found to be quite difficult to “go there”. This has potentially led to greater use of external ‘mentors’ in similar roles or positions where some of the complexities of working life can be talked about in a more open and honest way without fear of any supervisory power dynamics coming into play. Building internal and external relationships was discussed as being an altogether different concept and task in the hybrid working world.

So, anyway, I felt that the session kind of did what I was hoping in that we shared stories and experiences in an open and honest way. I hope that people will continue to have these conversations and continue to reflect on how things are working for them. More importantly, people can spend some time reflecting on how they are and who they are in the hybrid world and consider how they are best supported. I want to extend my thanks to the participants on the day for their time and their reflections as we continue our journeys along our individualised transition curves. I’ll put my thoughts back up on their shelf for now, but think I’ll leave the lock off and bin the do not disturb sticker.

About the Author

Billy Anderson is Head of Services at Children in Scotland

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Exploring UNCRC through a queer lens

10 Dec 2024

Held annually on 10 December, Human Rights Day (click here for more) celebrates the landmark document which recognises the inalienable rights that everyone is entitled to as a human being, regardless of race, colour, religion, sex, language, political opinion and nationality. 

Acknowledging the importance and relevance of human rights in our everyday lives, the theme of this year's celebration is "Our Rights, Our Future, Right Now" – a timely topic here in Scotland given that the United Nations Convention on the Rights of the Child (UNCRC) has just been enshrined in Scot’s law.

Here, Alan Massie, Digital Youth Work Officer at LGBT Youth Scotland, shares details of a recent project to help young people understand the rights afforded to them through the historic legislation.

The United Nations Convention on the Rights of the Child says that all young people have rights, regardless of where they are from or how they identify.

LGBT Youth Scotland is Scotland’s national charity for LGBTQ+ young people aged 13-25. We deliver life-changing youth work and enable young people to use their voice to create change. Our aim is to make Scotland a place where LGBTQ+ young people can flourish and thrive.

When UNCRC was enshrined in Scot’s law, it inspired me as a youth worker, and I started thinking about how I could support young people to better understand their rights.

I started a new project with a group of young people in the East of Scotland who are passionate about fairness. The group understood that all rights were universal and equal, however, they wanted to highlight the rights of LGBTQ+ people and look at each article through a queer lens.

They selected the rights that felt most relevant to their experience as LGBTQ+ young people in Scotland, and made posters that illustrated them.

Article 2: The right to non-discrimination

Shockingly, every young person in the group had experienced discrimination based on someone’s perception of their sexual orientation and/or gender identity. They want to change that, and let young people know that the people around them are responsible for keeping them safe.

Article 12: The right to be listened to  

LGBTQ+ young people know how to use their voice, but they often don’t feel listened to – this is especially true for the trans and non-binary community. The group felt it was important that they conveyed all young people have the right not just to be heard, but also to be taken seriously.

LGBT-Youth-Scotland-poster-project

Article 19: The right to protection from violence, abuse and neglect

Young LGBTQ+ people often face abuse, harassment and violence for simply being true to themselves and existing. This has a real impact on mental health, and one young person in our Life in Scotland for LGBT young people (click here for more) research said: “I endured misgendering, verbal abuse and physical assaults from classmates. I felt incredibly alone, to the point where I began to self-harm for being this way.”The young people wanted to highlight that nobody should experience violence, abuse and/or neglect.

Article 28: The right to education

The young people were all aged 14-16 and they recognised that school didn’t always feel safe and inclusive. Despite all the improvement of recent years, the young people described their friends leaving school because of bullying and not feeling supported.

This experience is reflected across Scotland, and our Life in Scotland for LGBT Young People research found that only 10% of participants thought that their experience of school was “good”. We have to do better for our young people.

Working alongside the young people who participated was a joy! Hearing them talk about their rights as young LGBTQ+ people and the passion they felt about making sure other LGBTQ+ people were aware of their rights made it clear that this project was greatly needed.

Everyone can get involved in protecting LGBTQ+ young people, whether that is by challenging homophobia, biphobia or transphobia or advocating for a policy change in your workplace.

Find out more about rights and view the posters on LGBT Youth Scotland's website: lgbtyouth.org.uk/uncrc-know-your-rights

If you want to find out more about how to make your organisation, school or workplace accessible to LGBTQ+ young people, find out more about the LGBT Charter scheme: lgbtyouth.org.uk/lgbt-charter-home

About the Author

Alan Massie is Digital Youth Work Officer at LGBT Youth Scotland

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10 deserving winter appeals to support today

2 Dec 2024

With Christmas fast approaching and so many winter appeals now seeking your support, Julie Thomson, Communications & Marketing Manager at Children in Scotland has pulled together just a small selection of the current campaigns from deserving children’s sector charities. Please use our social media threads to let us know about your campaign and how we can support you.

As the Christmas lights go up, and the Black Friday deals hit our screens and inboxes, it’s easy to forget that not everyone gets to enjoy a winter of magic and sparkle. For many families, the financial pressure of the season is unimaginable, as they balance Christmas expectations and the need for basic necessities. We continue to be in awe of our member and sector network, who are working hard to relieve this pressure on families and give children, in Scotland and beyond, a festive season to remember.  Here’s just a few of the great campaigns that have come our way this week.

One Parent Families Scotland: Give a child #ABrighterChristmas

One Parent Families Scotland (OPFS) is a fantastic charity that supports single parents and campaigns for solutions to the disadvantages and barriers that they and their children face. Christmas time can be particularly hard for single-income families, and OPFS’s Christmas appeal aims to make sure families keep warm and children don't go hungry or without presents.

Learn more: Give a child a brighter Christmas

Cyrenians: Festive organic fruit and veg bag

Image of a colourful fruit and vegetables selection, with a christmas wreath and baubles above

It’s the time of year when many of us are Christmas meal planning, and if you’re anything like me, it’s all about the trimmings. Why not make your next fruit and veg order go further by picking up a bag from Cyrenians, whose work tackles the causes and consequences of homelessness in Scotland.

Learn more: Cyrenians Festive Fruit and Veg Bag

Fife Gingerbread: Heat and Eat Appeal

We recently put a spotlight on Fife Gingerbread's winter appeal (click here for more). Fife Gingerbread are another of our wonderful members who are supporting families to build safe, warm and healthy homes this winter. Their annual Heat and Eat campaign supports families in crisis, providing critical support for everything from the cost of energy bills to ingredients for healthy meals – and due to the cost of living crisis, the charity says donations have never been more vital.

Learn more: Heat and Eat Appeal

Dundee Bairns: Help us to help Dundee Bairns this Christmas

This winter, Dundee Bairns is highlighting the stark reality that one in three children in Dundee live below the poverty line – and they need your help to provide the basics to families this festive season. The charity is on a mission to raise £15,000 to provide food vouchers and essential home supplies to families in need across Dundee.

While cash is always king when it comes to charity appeals, there are other ways you can support Dundee Bairns’ work – including the donation of household items, like food, cleaning products, toiletries and bedding.

Learn more: Dundee Bairns

Edinburgh Children's Hospital Charity: Home for Christmas?

Edinburgh Children’s Hospital Charity (ECHC) do fantastic work year-round to support seriously ill children visiting hospital in Edinburgh and beyond. Christmas time is no exception, as they strive to create some magic moments, comfort and distraction for those who find themselves unwell in the festive period.

Learn more: ECHC Charity

Scottish Book Trust: Christmas appeal

A drawing of Eric Cardle's Very Hungry caterpillar with the words 'Sophie is very hungry for stories, but doesn't have any books at home'

The parents and carers among us will be familiar with the work of the Scottish Book Trust and the lovely resources they provide throughout the year to support children and young people’s reading. The Trust is passionate about the positive impact of books on lifelong learning and being a key driver of breaking the poverty cycle.

Their Christmas appeal seeks to raise funds for specialised kits to support families to share stories, songs and rhymes with their children, tactile books for children with additional support needs, and gift books for families who need them most through food banks and community hubs.

Learn more: Scottish Book Trust

Save the Children: Middle East appeal

Save the Children’s Middle East appeal focuses on supporting children in Lebanon and Gaza, as well as other areas affected by the current conflict there, including the West Bank and Syria. Donations to their appeal will be used to purchase school kits, family hygiene packs, food and emergency first aid provisions.

Learn more: Middle East appeal

ALLMEP

ALLMEP is a coalition of over 160 organizations—and hundreds of thousands of Palestinians and Israelis—building cooperation, justice, equality, self-determination, shared society, mutual understanding, and peace among their communities. They seek support for their advocacy work and peace-building programmes via their website.

Learn more: ALLMEP

Sense Scotland: Christmas shop

'Christmas Winterland' cover of Christmas card depicts a winter town scene with a church, park and people skating on a frozen pond.

There are many ways to support this incredible charity this winter, but we have particularly been enjoying the lovely selection of gifts available to purchase on their website. From candles to Christmas cards, purchases will support Sense Scotland’s work with children and young people with communication support needs associated with complex and sensory disabilities.

Learn more: Sense Scotland Christmas Shop

Children in Scotland

And finally, if you can this Christmas, please consider a gift to Children in Scotland. Our wide-ranging work supports, informs and amplifies voices in the children’s sector, allowing children across the country to flourish and meet their potential. We need your support to continue to tackle important topics like child poverty, mental health, additional support for learning, and other children’s rights issues. We would be incredibly grateful for any donations this winter on our Give As You Live page.

Donate now

About the Author

Julie Thomson is Communications & Marketing Manager at Children in Scotland.

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Making Sense of Scotland – a creative approach to engaging young people with their heritage

28 Nov 2024

Did you know that Scottish residents can visit selected Historic Scotland properties for free on the first Sunday of each month up until March 2025? The Historic Sundays initiative is particularly aimed at encouraging those who have never visited a site before, whether due to perceived cost or feeling heritage may not be for them, with the opportunity to visit a historic site for free and experience all of the wellbeing benefits that engaging with the historic environment provides.

Here, Craig Fletcher, Head of Learning and Inclusion at Historic Environment Scotland, shares why it's so important to engage our children and young people with Scotland's historic heritage.

Scotland’s historic environment is all around us. It connects the physical evidence of human activity such as buildings, landscapes and artefacts with the events and stories associated with them and the records that reveal how it has changed over time.

Wherever you live in Scotland, you have access to the local historic environment. This could be a church or castle, standing stones, a changing high street, objects in your local museum, photographs in your local gallery or archives in your local library, your home or even your school.

Viewed as a rich national learning resource, it can be used to support a wide range of initiatives for children and young people including education, developing skills for life and work and wellbeing. As a source of inspiration, it is an inspiring and varied medium for project work and supporting creativity. Many historic sites sit within rich natural environments providing opportunities for exploration, discovery, outdoor and play based learning.

It provides access to our shared culture and heritage. For example:

  • Visiting a historic site lets young people experience the places where events in history really happened.
  • Having a go at a traditional skill provides hands-on experience of how buildings were built and are conserved.
  • Investigating archives can help in understanding how places and people have changed over time.

But it’s about much more than history. Places, objects, stories and records can provide creative inspiration, unique experiences and multi-sensory environments to support all types of subjects, themes, programmes and outcomes. Getting our children and young people inspired by Scotland’s past helps them learn more about themselves. It’s about making sense of the world and making sense of Scotland.

Outdoor learning – investigating a historic site (Kinneil House)
Outdoor learning – investigating a historic site (Kinneil House)

As the lead organisation for Scotland's historic environment, we are dedicated to promoting inclusive access and engagement. This includes collaborating with education, youth work, and other organisations that support children and young people. This includes:

Engaging a broader and more diverse group of young people supports Historic Environment Scotland’s (HES) strategic goal of 'Heritage for All' and enhances the social and cultural value of Scotland's historic environment.

Our new Making Sense of Scotland (click here for more) framework for outreach and learning outlines how we aim to make Scotland's historic environment a treasured resource for learners of all ages and abilities and build positive relationships with our future visitors, workers, and decision-makers.

HES offers additional direct support to young people and families through admission discounts. Young Scot card holders can get £1 entry to all of our ticketed sites, year-round, at historyawaits.scot

Additionally, Scottish residents have the opportunity to access Historic Scotland winter ticketed properties for free on the first Sunday of each month up until March 2025 – visit historicsundays.scot for tickets.

To find out more about what resources are available, how to book a learning visit, or just to find some inspiration, head to historicenvironment.scot/learn

About the Author

Craig Fletcher is Head of Learning and Inclusion at Historic Environment Scotland

Click here for more

Our membership offer

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

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Annual Conference 2025

Making Space for Voices: Join our Annual Conference in Glasgow on 28 and 29 May 2025

Find out more

Learn with us online and in-person

Browse our range of training and events

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Find out more about the work of the Suicide Prevention Youth Advisory Group

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Enquire

Find out more about Enquire, the national advice and information service for additional support for learning

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Reach

The website for young people offers advice and support on accessing their rights

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Open Kindergarten project - the importance of holistic, person-centred support for parents and carers

Member blog

27 Nov 2024

Earlier this month, the third phase of the Open Kindergarten project was launched in Scotland. In this new phase of the project, the Open Kindergarten model – which offers parents and carers the opportunity to develop parenting skills, confidence and knowledge – will be tested in different settings in central Scotland. As the new phase begins, Amy Woodhouse, Chief Executive of Parenting across Scotland, discusses how the project has evolved over the past six years and shares her hopes as the project partners begin work on the next stage.  

I’ve been involved in quite a few projects over the years that had great potential but couldn’t continue after their initial funding period ended. I’m sure I’m not alone in that experience. It can be a frustrating and demoralising business to feel like you need to keep reinventing the wheel.

How nice therefore to be able to share with Children in Scotland members that our new Open Kindergarten project has just entered its third phase of funding and its sixth year of activity in Scotland!

In essence Open Kindergarten is a model of parenting support where groups of parents, carers and their young children meet regularly in family centres and are supported by highly-qualified early years staff who work alongside specialists to develop parents’ skills, confidence and knowledge. The origins of Open Kindergartens go back much further than six years of course. Widespread in Nordic countries, they’ve been in operation for 50 years or more and are very well known and understood there.

Scotland’s journey with Open Kindergartens began in 2015 when Clare Simpson, then Manager of Parenting across Scotland, visited Sweden, Norway and Denmark to explore those countries approaches to supporting families in the early years. A key feature of the study visit was understanding how they used the Open Kindergarten approach.

In 2018 Children in Scotland, Parenting across Scotland and the University of Stirling were able to secure funding for a feasibility study to explore whether the Open Kindergarten model could be adapted to Scotland to improve outcomes for children in the early years. It concluded that Open Kindergartens had lots of potential and would be worth exploring further.

Between 2019 and 2020 the project partnership began piloting Open Kindergartens in Midlothian and Edinburgh, bringing in Midlothian Sure Start and Granton Early Years Centre as delivery partners. Fifty-one families took part in Open Kindergarten sessions. The evaluation identified the key components that defined the Open Kindergarten approach in Scotland:

  • It is person-centred, relaxed and informal.
  • It is parent-led.
  • The open-door policy means that you can drop in without a referral.
  • It is free.
  • The practitioner’s approach focuses on warmth, authenticity and receptiveness.

The report concluded that Open Kindergartens filled a gap in early years services and had a positive impact for both parents and children. Parents were very positive about their experiences – for some it was their only source of support.

“I feel like when I come here, I can just feel relaxed and be normal and she can just play away and I can talk to other mums about how I feel, what’s went on, and it’s like we share different things, different techniques, and it’s like, okay, I’ll give that a try. Yes, and it’s good to have other support other than my partner, which is nice.” — Parent

After the pilot project finished, Midlothian Sure Start mainstreamed the Open Kindergarten approach within their services, offering Open Kindergarten sessions to parents across multiple sites in the area. Five years after they started delivering, they are still convinced that the approach offers something distinct and valuable to families.

Now the partners are back together with funding from the Scottish Government’s Whole Family Wellbeing Fund. We’re going to be testing the Open Kindergarten model further to see how it works in different settings, times and venues. We want to be able to get the model to a stage where it is defined enough to be rolled out across Scotland. Parenting across Scotland will be leading the project this time and Children in Scotland will be focused on developing the elearning resource, to support wider uptake. Midlothian Sure Start will be working with delivery partners to extend the model across East Lothian, West Lothian and Edinburgh. The Open University will evaluate this expansion.

We’re excited for this new phase and regularly reminded of how important holistic, non stigmatising parent-led support is. It should be something that is freely available to every family and embedded within local service infrastructures – not subject to the whims of short-term funding. We are proud to help Open Kindergartens become part of the mainstream support system.

Please click here to find out more about the Open Kindergarten project

 

About the Author

Amy Woodhouse is Chief Executive of Parenting across Scotland, a project partner of the Open Kindergarten project

Click here for more

Celebrating Connection and Community

Victoria Galloway is Learning and Development Manager at Befriending Networks.

Click here for more

We must delay making alcohol-free childhoods a reality

Amy Smith, Senior Coordinator (Policy) at Alcohol Focus Scotland

Click here for more

Making brave choices to keep the promise

Paul Henderson is Project Worker at Harmeny

Click here for more

Keeping children safe

Simon Massey, Head of Engagement & Learning at Children in Scotland

Click here for more

Today a 'quiet' childcare revolution is taking place

Douglas Guest is Development Manager - The Promise at Circle

Click here for more

We can all be allies

Alexis Wright (top) and Lorna New (bottom) are Wellbeing Coordinators with the Guardianship Scotland

Click here for more

Developing our next Manifesto: “Together, we have a powerful voice”

19 Nov 2024

As we develop our next Children in Scotland Manifesto, our Head of Policy, Projects and Participation, David Mackay, discusses the importance of harnessing our collective voices to create a fairer Scotland where all children and young people can flourish.

It’s almost four years to the day since we published the last Children in Scotland Manifesto ahead of the 2021 Scottish Parliament elections. At the time, we were in the midst of the second national lockdown enforced to protect public health during the coronavirus pandemic – a pandemic that shined a light on some of the starkest inequalities in our society.

Our 2021-2026 Children in Scotland Manifesto aimed to bring hope in those hard times, outlining both the short- and long-term policy and legislative changes that would help us achieve our vision of Scotland where all children have an equal chance to flourish. We consulted with our members, partners and children and young people to create a manifesto that reflected their policy priorities and assured them that Scotland’s children’s sector was united in our efforts to create lasting change.

Since 2021, we’ve achieved important milestones in creating a better Scotland for children, young people and families. Perhaps most notably is the incorporation of the United Nations Convention on the Rights of the Child into Scots Law, enshrining children’s rights in all devolved legislation.

We have also seen key steps taken by the Scottish Government to Keep The Promise to Scotland’s care experienced children and young people as well as a renewed commitment from Scottish Ministers to reduce child poverty and the introduction of the Scottish Child Payment.

We know, however, there is still much to do to match rhetoric with reality.

Our members bring a wealth of experience in supporting Scotland’s children, young people and families. They do this by providing life-changing frontline public services, support and advocacy, policy expertise and legal knowledge. As we develop our next Children in Scotland Manifesto, we want to take this opportunity to hear directly from our members about what issues matter most to them and what they believe needs to change to improve outcomes for children and young people.

We know our members work in a variety of fields with unique strategic aims and ambitions. Our intention with the Children in Scotland Manifesto is to identify where these aims align and harness the power of our collective voice so we can create a fairer Scotland where all children and young people have the chance to thrive.

At this early stage in our Manifesto development, we’re inviting children’s sector organisations to share their views. This autumn, we are hosting two online Voices Forum discussion sessions with our members, and we currently have a live online survey supporting Children in Scotland members and our wider partners to contribute ideas.

This activity is part of wider conversations with children and young people, our staff and board and other key partners. We are also reviewing recent evidence from across the children’s sector.

In the new year, we’ll start to analyse these contributions and begin to write up the Manifesto. This won’t be an easy task, so we’ll be back in touch with our members as the Manifesto takes shape to ensure it reflects their views and experiences. We want to create a Children in Scotland Manifesto for 2026 – 31 that is clear and direct in our expectations of the Scottish Government. At Children in Scotland, our members are our greatest asset and it’s vital that they see themselves in our Manifesto.

We encourage all our members and sector partners to join us as we set out our stall for the next parliamentary term, to build on the progress we’ve achieved so far and continue to work towards a Scotland where all children have an equal chance to flourish. Together, we have a very powerful voice.

Share your views in through our online survey:

You can submit your views to our online survey by clicking here. The survey will remain open until 23 December 2024

Join our Voices Forum:

If you would like to attend the Voices Forum session on 28 November, 10am – 12pm, please email our Policy, Projects and Participation Officer, David Yule, on dyule@childreninscotland.org.uk

About the author

David Mackay is Children in Scotland's Head of Policy, Projects and Participation

Meet our team

Have your say on our next Manifesto

Complete our short survey to help shape our priorities for the 2026-2031 Manifesto

Click here to access

Join our Voices Forum

Our members are invited to share priorities at our next Voices Forum on 28 November, 10am

Register to attend

Participation and engagement work

Find out more about how we embed the inclusion and participation of children and young people in our work

Click here for more

Wellbeing in the workplace – can training help promote self-care?

7 Nov 2024

In both our professional and personal lives, we spend a lot of time thinking about and caring for others – so much so, it can be hard to prioritise our own wellbeing.

Here at Children in Scotland, we believe that in order to care for others, we must start by taking care of ourselves and, to practice what we preach, we recently held an all staff training day that focused on ways to improve self-care.

Led by expert therapist Jan Montgomery – who is set to host another of her popular 'person-centred planning' sessions with us in January – the training looked at ways to encourage positive mental health in the workplace, using hands-on activities and group exercises.

From the benefits of journaling to drawing your own labyrinth map, here’s what Children in Scotland staff took away from Jan’s workshop.

1. The importance of 'me time'

“I already knew lots of things that are good for creating positive mental health, but I don’t always prioritise 'me time'. After Jan’s session, I realised I had to make more time every day to do something I love and I know is good for me. Things like walking on the beach with the dog, not spending hours scrolling on my phone at bedtime, and enjoying the beauty in everyday things. Oh, and accepting compliments and being thankful for them!” – Jemma

2. Building boundaries

“Jan’s delivery approach is thought-provoking and interactive, but also incredibly sensitive. Jan has helped me to reflect on the importance of creating not only professional boundaries, but boundaries in my personal life as well that support my mental health. I loved how solution-focused and positive Jan’s approach is. The training session helped me reframe my thinking through her many brilliant practical ideas and activities.” – Lizz

3. Finding time for small activities every day

“Jan has such a calming presence. Sometimes, finding the time for self-care feels like yet another thing to add to my to-do list, but Jan provided so many simple yet effective suggestions that I can now try every day – from journaling to drawing my own labyrinth.” – Alice

4. Caring for each other

“It feels as if the workshop offered different things to different people throughout the day. For me, it is so important for us to be able to come together as an organisation and think about how we can care for ourselves and therefore better care for others.” – Judith

5. Simple pleasures

“It might sound silly but I really appreciated receiving positive ‘endorsement’ from Jan that simple pleasures like a good walk, getting some time in the sun or bathing in birdsong aren’t only enjoyable but of critical importance to my wellbeing. Jan gently encourages us to discover our best, happiest selves.” – Angus

Join Jan Montgomery on her upcoming training session, Person-centred planning: helping children determine their own futures (click here for more), which explores brain development, functions and emotional regulation, and how these link to goal attainment, and shares practical tools to support young people with their goals, as well as your own professional development.

Learn with us online and in-person

Browse our range of training and events

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Our membership offer

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

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Annual Conference 2025

Making Space for Voices: Join our Annual Conference in Glasgow on 28 and 29 May 2025

Find out more

Read more like this

Check out our blog for more commentary, membership news and more!

Click here to read

Enquire

Find out more about Enquire, the national advice and information service for additional support for learning

Visit the website

Reach

The website for young people offers advice and support on accessing their rights

Visit the website

Celebrating Connection and Community: Befriending Week 2024

Member blog

31 Oct 2024

Taking place from 1-7 November, Befriending Week is an annual campaign celebrating the importance of befriending. Here, Victoria Galloway, Learning and Development Manager at Befriending Networks, highlights why, with so many of the network’s members often working alone, Befriending Week offers an important opportunity to celebrate achievements, renew confidence and advocate for the meaningful work of befriending organisations.

As Learning and Development Manager at Befriending Networks for over six years, I have witnessed our team evolve and work diligently to support the delivery of befriending initiatives globally. Currently, our network includes 323 members, 85 of which are small projects with an annual turnover of less than £100,000. With 26% of our members being small organisations, we strive to provide a variety of support that can be accessed without financial concerns.

Established in 1994, Befriending Networks has over thirty years of experience in supporting and connecting communities. Our vision is of a society where quality befriending support is available to everyone who needs it and the importance of meaningful connection is recognised.

We offer free resources, sample policies and procedures, and exclusive free events for members to help all our constituents, regardless of their financial situation. In my role, I develop training courses, events, and materials to support staff development, good governance, and best practices within befriending (click here for more). I also conduct free consultancy sessions for projects (click here for more), enabling them to explore their needs and receive tailored advice or signposting to our services and external opportunities that may be beneficial.

Befriending Week 2024

Each year, we coordinate Befriending Week (click here for more). Taking place 1-7 November this year, the annual campaign highlights the importance of befriending and positively influencing volunteer recruitment for our member organisations.

When I joined Befriending Networks in 2018, my first Befriending Week was spent listening intently to those in the sector. This experience deepened my understanding of the variety of services available, the incredible impact of dedicated volunteers and teams, and the heartfelt testimonials from service users in the UK and beyond. It ignited my passion for community work, and each year, I hope our annual campaign can inspire others in the same way.

Befriending Week is a chance to celebrate community efforts, and the profound difference one person can make by fostering meaningful connections. During the week, we invite those in the befriending sector to reflect on their achievements over the previous year, thank volunteers and staff for their dedication, celebrate their service users, and share their meaningful connections with their stakeholders, government and the public.

The week presents organisations with an opportunity to advocate for their work, their positive impact, and their place in society. Befriending Networks supplies certificates, bunting, party packs and a range of resources that anyone can use for their celebrations (click here to access Befriending Week resources).

We will also host our Annual Conference and AGM on Thursday 7 November. It is open to the entire network and offers an opportunity for collaboration. Keynote speakers will share relevant research and practical examples to support community projects. With years of experience organising this event, I enjoyed our fresh approach in 2024. A steering group of our members has helped us identify their needs and expectations, shaping the framework and themes for the day.

Given the funding cuts impacting the Third Sector, the future of befriending feels uncertain for many. Therefore, our focus for the day will be on the Future of Befriending. We will provide keynotes on Leadership Skills, Innovation and Collaboration, and Volunteer Recruitment, with the hope that every attendee gains useful information and renewed confidence in their current efforts.

Helping befriending organisations to stay informed

Our team of nine supports over 300 befriending organisations through various methods, including 40 popular networking sessions held annually since 2020. For many members, often working alone, these sessions provide comfort and an opportunity to share challenges. They also help us address specific support needs directly, shaping our resources and training initiatives.

Befriending Networks offers a training programme with twenty courses, including eight specialized ones requested by the network. Unfortunately, we’ve created resources for service closure, which is increasingly necessary. Staying informed about the network's challenges allows us to offer relevant support, highlighting the importance of collaboration in our work.

Click here for more about Befriending Networks

About the Author

Victoria Galloway is Learning and Development Manager at Befriending Networks.

Click here for more

We must delay making alcohol-free childhoods a reality

Amy Smith, Senior Coordinator (Policy) at Alcohol Focus Scotland

Click here for more

Making brave choices to keep the promise

Paul Henderson is Project Worker at Harmeny

Click here for more

Keeping children safe

Simon Massey, Head of Engagement & Learning at Children in Scotland

Click here for more

Today a 'quiet' childcare revolution is taking place

Douglas Guest is Development Manager - The Promise at Circle

Click here for more

We can all be allies

Alexis Wright (top) and Lorna New (bottom) are Wellbeing Coordinators with the Guardianship Scotland

Click here for more

Preventing gambling harms for Scotland's young people

Fran Howard is Programme Manager at Fast Forward

Click here for more

Girls’ rights are human rights

24 Oct 2024

Designed to protect and advance human rights, United Nations conventions such as the United Nations Convention on the Rights of the Child (UNCRC) and the Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination against Women (CEDAW) are a vital part of helping countries around the world build a more equal, inclusive and free society for all.

However, while championing and celebrating such landmark legislations, it's also important to examine the areas where they can still be improved. 

Here, Katie Horsburgh, Policy and Practice Officer: Children and Young People at Zero Tolerance, explores why a gender-neutral approach in legislation means girls are falling between the cracks and not having their rights fully realised.

At the heart of Scotland’s landmark decision to incorporate the UNCRC (click here for more) into Scots law is the belief that all children deserve to have their human rights realised and respected.

However, despite the Government’s commendable investment in children’s rights as a whole, research and evidence shows that girls are still not accessing their rights equally.

Girls can face significant challenges in realising their rights – especially when they are affected by further structural inequalities such as racism, poverty, ableism, homophobia, and transphobia – and if we want to make Scotland the best place in the world for all children togrow up, we must avoid a gender-neutral approach, instead addressing girls’ specific needs and experiences, while tackling the discriminations they face on a daily basis.

UNCRC becoming law in Scotland is a really exciting moment, but as a gender-neutral convention, it inadvertently prioritises the rights of boys and the issues that predominantly affect them. By talking about children as a homogenous group, girls continue to get left behind.

Similarly, the CEDAW convention – part of the proposed Human Rights Bill – only mentions girls in related to education, despite violence and harassment affecting women of all ages. Girls experience extremely high levels of domestic abuse, sexual assault, rape, and stalking, and according to Scottish Government figures, one in three 13 to 17-year-olds have experienced some form of sexual violence. So why have girls’ needs been left out of this legislation?

By not doing enough to address the rights of girls and young women specifically, we are leaving them to fall between the cracks in legislation that should be designed to ensure they grow up safe and supported – something which Zero Tolerance explored in detail throughour recent report, 'Girls’ rights are human rights' (click here for more).

Documenting research and exploring different pools of evidence from many fantastic organisations working directly with girls and young women, the report outlines thesubstantial barriers that prevent girls from realising their rights, and argues that emerging and evolving legislation, policy and practice are doing little to address the negative and often harmful experiences of girls.

Given the fact that human rights are a helpful measure of equality or inequality, providing a framework for improvement and a way to focus our efforts, it makes sense that we should create a link between the two.

We need to further explore ways to understand girls’ rights as human rights.

At Zero Tolerance, our focus is on tackling the root cause of gender equality, eradicating men’s violence against women and girls. To do this, we need to create the right environments and cultures that will allow children and young people to grow and develop equally, and thatstarts with gender-sensitive approaches and considerations.

Our message for anyone working on children’s rights in Scotland – and on women’s rights, too – is to explicitly name girls’ specific requirements when doing human rights work. By doing this, we can create a Scotland where all girls can thrive. 

This excerpt was taken from Issue 6 of Insight, the bi-annual publication for Children in Scotland members.

To read the full interview, you'll need a digital subscription, which costs just £10 per year and provides access to two issues. For more information, contact Alice Hinds: ahinds@childreninscotland.org.uk

Already a member? Click here to read Insight Issue 6

Zero Tolerance

Learn more about the charity working to end men's violence against women

Click here for more

Our membership offer

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

Click here for more

Learn with us online and in-person

Browse our range of training and events

Click to find out more

Annual Conference 2025

Making Space for Voices: Join our Annual Conference in Glasgow on 28 and 29 May 2025

Find out more

Read more like this

Check out our blog for more commentary, membership news and more!

Click here to read

Enquire

Find out more about Enquire, the national advice and information service for additional support for learning

Visit the website

Reach

The website for young people offers advice and support on accessing their rights

Visit the website