Kibble's SAFE Project expands to cover 22 council areas

17 Jun 2025

Kibble has announced that their free support service for children and young people affected by crime now covers 22 local authority areas.

The SAFE Project provides trauma-informed, therapeutic, and advocacy support to young people and their families affected by crime, whether as victims, witnesses, or those impacted by violence and abuse in the home.

The service also provides advice and support to organisations who work with children and young people impacted by crime but may not have expertise in trauma, mental health, and intervention, including educators and social workers, in order to promote system change and collaboration between organisations.

An evaluation report of the service found that over 68% of referrals received direct therapeutic intervention; young people who received advocacy support reported an improved experience of the criminal justice process; and 88% of young people have reported that the service has helped them work towards their goals.

The SAFE Project was funded by the Scottish Government Victim Centred Approach fund and has provided support for over 400 children and young people and their families since its origin in 2021. The service is currently funded through 2025/2026 with plans to continue beyond this.

Dan Johnson, Executive Director and Forensic Psychologist at Kibble said:

“The trauma caused by crime in childhood can affect every part of a young person’s life, from relationships and learning to their long-term mental health. The SAFE Project is designed to wrap around the whole family, offering therapy, advocacy and practical support when it’s needed most.

“By equipping those on the frontline with psychological insight and practical advice, we’re building a more joined-up, trauma-informed system that can respond more effectively and compassionately to the needs of young victims and witnesses.”

To learn more about Kibble’s SAFE Project, visit their website here.

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Whizz Kidz announce new education report

17 Jun 2025

Whizz Kids, a leading charity for young wheelchair users, has announced the launch of Making the Grade, a new education report developed by the charity’s Youth Board.

The report, launched on Thursday 6 June, was designed to help schools become inclusive environments for wheelchair users by outlining the findings of original research undertaken by the Youth Board through evidence-gathering and lived experience. The report also presents recommendations based on these findings which focus on Accessibility, Best Practice, and Change.

Among the top recommendations are:

mandatory annual physical accessibility audits in all UK schools
improved teacher training on inclusion
better support for wheelchair users during work experience placements.

The report was launched at an event held at Portcullis House in Westminster and was attended by education professionals, disability advocates, and MPs from across various parties.

Along with the report, the Youth Board stated:

“We believe inclusive education isn’t just a moral obligation — it’s a social and economic imperative.

“Better access now means more disabled young people progressing into higher education, employment, and active citizenship. We can help make that happen.”

Chief Executive of Whizz Kids Sarah Pugh said:

“Every young person has the right to a fair and equal education.

“We are incredibly proud of our Youth Board for leading this important work and demonstrating that young people’s voices can drive real change.”

For more information, visit the Whizz Kidz website here.

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Children in Scotland celebrates Carers Week

10 Jun 2025

This week we are supporting Carers Week, an annual campaign to highlight the challenges faced by unpaid carers - including the impact of caring on health, relationships, and finances - and to celebrate everything that carers contribute to our communities and families.

This year’s theme is ‘Caring About Equality’, and focuses on creating an equal society where carers are valued, recognised, and supported.

Each day has a specific focus, including work and employment on Wednesday, younger carers on Thursday, and mental health and wellbeing on Saturday.

There are many ways to get involved, with events occurring all across the country including barbeques, wellbeing & mindfulness sessions, and informative lectures. Organisations and individuals can also host their own events and post them to the Carers Week website activity board.

Carers Week also asks you to get involved by contacting your MSPs/MP and asking them to commit to supporting equality for carers, with specific calls for addressing the financial hardship many carers face, support for young carers and young adult carers, and improving identification and recognition of carers in all aspects of their lives.

Find more information about events and access useful resources by visiting the Carers Week website.

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Scottish libraries ‘endangered’ by years of cuts, new report finds

10 Jun 2025

A new report showing the crucial role public libraries play in Scottish life, has also warned of the toll decades of funding cuts and closures are taking on both the library service and the communities they serve.

Published by the Scottish Book Trust, The value and impact of Scotland’s public libraries report shares the findings from extensive independent research based on surveys of 2,000 library users and 300 staff from across Scotland.

Evidence from the research has highlighted the ‘profound, wide-ranging’ impact that public libraries offer their communities helping to remove inequity and bridge gaps for those facing increased poverty, digital inequality, the cost-of-living crisis and the ongoing consequences of the Covid pandemic.

The majority of survey respondents reported that their library not only inspired their love of reading and saved them money but also offered a safe ‘haven’ in their community.

Further evidence demonstrated how libraries are filling their communities’ ‘unmet needs’, tackling literacy issues among children and young people, providing further education and learning opportunities for users at all stages of life and helping improve digital poverty, with users referring to their libraries as a ‘lifeline for digital access’.

Describing libraries as ‘endangered’, the report stressed the impact of funding cuts and closures with 1 in 8 libraries closing to the public since 2008.

The report concludes with six recommendations including calling on the Scottish Government to publish a ‘clear legal definition’ of what an ‘adequate’ public library service should be and empowering local authorities with sufficient funding and resource to ‘uphold the standard’.

To read the The value and impact of Scotland’s public libraries report, please visit the Scottish Book Trust’s website

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£26m funding boost for Cashback for Communities

Sector News

27 May 2025

Projects supporting young people at risk of being drawn into criminal activities are to receive up to £26 million over the next three years.

The Scottish Government’s CashBack for Communities programme uses money recovered from seized criminal assets to provide crucial support to young people who may be at risk of becoming involved in offending or antisocial behaviour.

Successful projects in the programme’s next stage (2026-2029) will deliver a range of activities and support for those aged 10 to 25, to help tackle some of the underlying causes of antisocial behaviour and criminal activity. Projects will also provide access to trusted adults who young people can confide in.

Since 2008 CashBack for Communities has invested £156 million and supported around 1.4 million young people across all 32 local authorities in Scotland.

Visiting a project based at Glasgow’s Easterhouse Sports Centre, Minister for Victims and Community Safety Siobhian Brown said:

“CashBack for Communities is inspiring. It turns the proceeds of crime into life-changing opportunities for the thousands of young people who take part in projects across Scotland every year.

“Over the course of the next three years of the programme, we are providing £26 million to organisations to deliver diversionary and support work with children and young people. By learning new skills and boosting their confidence, it helps young people in our communities who are at risk of becoming involved in crime be diverted from that path and realise their potential.

“Since its inception more than a million young people have received support to turn their lives around, with opportunities provided into employment, education or volunteering. CashBack’s success is also testament to the work of law enforcement partners in disrupting organised crime groups – bringing them to justice and seizing their ill-gotten gains, using them to deliver a successful programme across the country.”

More information on the Cashback for Communities programme is available here. Applications for funding open on 12 June 2025.

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Programme for Government 2025-26: How it impacts the children’s sector

13 May 2025

On Tuesday 6 May, the Scottish Government released its 2025-26 Programme for Government (PfG), detailing its priorities and plans for the coming year. For reasons why this years’ is particularly important for the children’s sector, read our PfG introduction article; read Children in Scotland’s Chief Executive’s response to the PfG; and for an additional support for learning focused summary, read Enquire’s response here.

This year’s Programme for Government contained the same four core priorities as the 2024-25 PfG: Growing the Economy, Eradicating Child Poverty, Tackling the Climate Emergency, and High Quality and Delivering Sustainable Public Services. As there was only a nine month gap between the two programmes, a continuation of priorities is not altogether surprising.

Growing the Economy

The section detailing the government’s plans for the economy concentrates largely on creating jobs and investment in the country’s economy in order to counteract the ‘economic shocks’ resulting from global economic uncertainty.

It does make mention of the intended impact on children and young people, including the government’s intention to deliver free childcare for all 3- and 4-year-olds, and to keep 40,000 children out of poverty by providing the Scottish Child Payment.

Eradicating Child Poverty

In this section, the PfG described eradicating child poverty as a ‘national mission.’ Of note for the third sector is the mention of a Fairer Funding pilot project intended to trial the effect providing multi-year funding will have on third sector organisations. Along with many other third sector organisations, Children in Scotland has argued the importance of this change to funding. To ensure that third sector organisations have the security needed to invest in babies, children and young people across Scotland, we look forward to this to being promptly built upon.

Additionally, with the bringing forward of The Children and Young People (Care) (Scotland) Bill to support The Promise, we look forward to seeing how the legislation delivers the change promised to care experienced children and young people across Scotland.

Regarding social security changes, the PfG claims the government will ‘effectively scrap the impact’ of the two-child benefit cap imposed by the UK Government; this would likely involve introducing alternative payments designed specifically for families impacted by the cap. This is a welcome addition, but there is little further clarity given in addition to the announcement of this measure in the December budget; in order to meet current child poverty targets, this policy should be introduced as soon as possible, and a detailed timeline included in this PfG would have been a good first step.

Further changes to social security funding included plans for a new Care Leavers Payment of £2000 to improve the financial security of young people leaving care, and an expansion of free school meals alongside funding for breakfast clubs throughout the country.

Also welcome was a commitment to drafting legislation and policy to end conversion practices to protect LGBTQ+ children and young people from this abusive practice. The Scottish Government has committed to working on this alongside the UK Government to create a Bill covering England, Wales and Scotland, but has stated if an agreement cannot be made, a Scotland specific Bill will be introduced in the next parliamentary cycle. Primarily, this raises the question of why the Scottish Government doesn’t begin work on a separate Bill for Scotland without first attempting to align with the UK Government in order to shorten the timeline on this incredibly important piece of legislation, and to distance itself from the UK Government whose recent stance of LGBTQ+ rights leaves much to be desired.

Tackling the Climate Emergency

The document talked extensively of the government’s plans to address the climate emergency whose inclusion is of course highly positive, but none were in relation to issues particular to children and young people other than the broad importance of ensuring a safe and secure future for children and young people.

Delivering High Quality and Sustainable Public Services

The most relevant aspect of this section relates to education reform, especially talk of commitment to recruitment, development and retainment of ASN workforce, which is vital to improving the delivery of additional support for learning in schools. Additionally, the intention to pass the Education (Scotland) Bill is a commendable inclusion and will be an opportunity for the Scottish Government to demonstrate their commitment to the United Nations Conventions on the Rights of the Child (UNCRC). Particularly, we hope the promises of new models of transparency and decision-making will reflect the Scottish Government’s commitment to Article 12 of the UNCRC and allow for the voices of children and young people to be heard and to effect decisions made.

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Foster Care Fortnight commences with a new recruitment campaign to find more foster carers

13 May 2025

To mark the start of Foster Care Fortnight, which runs from 12 – 25 May and is led by The Fostering Network, the Scottish Government has launched a new recruitment campaign to help find more foster carers.

Launched by the First Minister in Edinburgh yesterday, the campaign aims to encourage more people to consider becoming a foster carer. It builds on the work the Scottish Government is doing to Keep the Promise by 2030, ensuring care-experienced children and young people in Scotland grow up loved, safe and respected.

Speaking ahead of the launch, the First Minister said:

“We have committed to Keeping The Promise to care-experienced children so that they grow up safe, loved and respected.

“To help us do this we need more foster carers across Scotland, so that’s why my government is launching a new campaign to encourage more people to consider fostering.

“Too many people don’t know what foster care involves or how to become a foster carer.

"This campaign will raise awareness, build empathy, and challenge outdated assumptions about who can foster, educating people on the transformational effect that fostering can have both on young people and foster carers alike.”

The theme of Foster Care Fortnight 2025 is the power of relationships. To find out how to get involved, visit The Fostering Network’s website.

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Phone-free policy to be piloted in two secondary schools in Edinburgh

8 May 2025

Portobello High School and Queensferry High School will be the first secondary schools in Scotland to pilot a zero-phone policy, with Portobello High School becoming phone-free from 7 May and Queensferry High School introducing the policy on 14 May - with young people required to store their phones in pouches at the start of each school day.

All learners from S1 to S6 will be responsible for storing mobile phones in secure and lockable Yondr pouches during the school day. The storage pouches are locked and un-locked magnetically, with phones remaining in the pupils’ possession throughout the school day.

The phone-free policy has been introduced following extensive engagement with pupils and parents and carers over a six-month period, with focus groups meeting to discuss the policy and 86% of parents and carers of children attending Portobello High School positively supported the introduction of the policy.

It is hoped that the new phone-free policy will protect the learning environment, encouraging young people to stay in class and focused on learning without the distraction of checking or responding to a notification on a phone. Research shows that a phone free school environment positively impacts young people’s mental health and wellbeing, both in school and at-home, encouraging a healthier approach to managing time online and increasing face-to-face interaction.

Councillor Joan Griffiths, Education, Children and Families Convener, said:

“I’m pleased to see Edinburgh schools leading the way in introducing a mobile-phone free school environment. Mobile phones in classroom settings are increasingly competing with the teachers for learners’ attention and limiting access to mobile phones during the school day is only a positive thing for our young people.

“I know that schools across Edinburgh, and indeed the country, are exploring ways to manage mobile phone use, including restricting phone use during the school day. The new pouches provide an innovative way for our young people to have distance from their devices while having the reassurance that they are still in their possession. We hope that this new policy will increase focus on learning, reduce classroom distractions and help improve wellbeing.”

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Programme for Government: what does it mean for the children’s sector?

1 May 2025

The Scottish Government will release its Programme for Government on 6 May 2025 which will lay out its priorities for the coming year.

The Programme for Government (PfG) is a written document published every year by the Scottish Government outlining the actions the government plans to carry out in the coming year. In previous years, this has included announcing the government’s core priorities, as well as the Legislative Programme which sets out the bills due to be introduced over the next year.

Previous PfG’s, including last year’s, have been released in September; this year’s release was brought forward to, as stated in an announcement from First Minister John Swinney, ensure Scotland is prepared as possible for an uncertain future. It will also give the current Scottish Government a full year to deliver on their promises ahead of the Scottish Parliament elections in May 2026.

Why is this one important for the children’s sector?

In his address, the First Minister acknowledged the country (and the world at large) is facing extremely arduous times, mentioning in particular Brexit, Covid, the energy price spike following Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, and inflation. The First Minister stressed the importance of responding to the challenges Scotland faces on the global stage, and the urgency with which it must do so.

Pertaining particularly to the children’s sector, it is anticipated that the long expected Promise bill will be included in the Legislative Programme. The bill is extremely important to the sector, and to Scotland’s children and young people, as it will lay into law the plans and policies already introduced, and will simplify and conflate existing laws that currently clash, thereby streamlining the process of keeping the promise.

What do we expect to be included?

Last year’s PfG had the eradication of child poverty front and centre, and we expect that the Scottish Government will continue to treat this as one of its core priorities. The other previous priorities were tackling the climate emergency, ensuring high quality sustainable public services, and growing the Scottish economy; it is reasonably probable this year’s core priorities will be similar in theme.

The First Minister’s announcement placed a spotlight on economic issues, therefore the PfG will likely address the current tumultuous global economic situation. This may well include the sundry tariffs put in place by the current US president, which The First Minister described as ‘economic headwinds… blowing strong across the Atlantic’, and declared the need for an ‘immediate and measured’ response. The tempestuous economic situation has certainly had an impact on Scotland’s children sector, with the Scottish Government thus far responding with debilitating funding cuts for the third sector, so the First Minister’s hope that Scotland will ‘come out of that storm a great deal stronger’ will very much depend on a restructuring of the current budget priorities.

Potential challenges

While the PfG does outline the government’s plans and ambitions, it should be read with thoughts of realistic delivery in mind. For instance, while the children’s sector would undoubtedly welcome seeing the Promise bill featured in the Legislative Programme section of the PfG, the challenges being created by inadequate government funding across the sector would blunt the effectiveness of any legislative change.

And while a reprise of some of the priorities from last year’s PfG is possible, a mercurial global state makes it difficult to say for certain what ultimately will be necessary to be included. The First Minister said he intends to ensure Scotland is as prepared as possible for an uncertain future, and stated his ambition for a Scotland that is ‘wealthier, fairer, and more resilient’, and ‘united, prepared, and determined.’ How exactly the Scottish Government intends to meet these ambitions, Children in Scotland, along with the rest of the children’s sector and Scottish society as a whole, looks forward to finding out on Tuesday 6 May.

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Stories of friendship: Scottish Book Trust invites submissions to national storytelling project

Sector News

22 Apr 2025

Scottish Book Trust has called for submissions to ‘Scotland’s Stories’, their annual writing project, encouraging submissions from writers of all ages across Scotland on the theme of Friendship. The project is intended to help writers grow in confidence and to encourage enthusiasm for reading and writing.

Stories of any form are accepted, including prose, verse, or script, and can be written in English, Scots, or Gaelic. No prior writing experience is necessary, with the only requirement being the story comes from the writer’s own experiences.

Writers of any age can submit their work to be published on the Scottish Book Trust website; over 16’s can also submit their work with the potential to be published in a printed anthology book which will be distributed during Scottish Book Trust's Book Week Scotland in November 2025.

Scottish Book Trust have also put together resources to help with inspiration, including a series of free writing workshops run by professional writers, as well as some writing prompts to help potential writers get started.

Submissions are open until Friday 6 June. To find out more about how to apply, please visit the Scottish Book Trust’s website.