FOCUS: S COT L A N D
Summer 2015
THE MAGAZINE FOR VOLUNTEERING AND THE THIRD SECTOR IN SCOTLAND
HEALTH & WELLBEING
CITIZENSHIP
Change Lifestyle
PERSONAL DEVELOPMENT
Placement While Studying New Services
Helping Others Getting Recognised Retirement
Give Something Back
Into Employment Career Change
SOCIAL CHANGE
Use Spare Time
Stronger Communities
Peer Support
EMPLOYMENT
Broaden Horizons
VOLUNTEER
New Skills
Bringing Communities Together
Meeting New People Use Your Skills
Change Your Community
ENVIRONMENTAL ACTION
Volunteer - Choose your destination. Whatever you want to do, wherever you want to go....volunteering can get you there. To book your journey call 0141 941 0886, text the word volunteer free on 80800 or visit www.volunteerscotland.org.uk
FOCUS ON: WHATS INSIDE
Inside... 4
VOLUNTEERS WEEK
6
WHO CARES SCOTLAND?
21 26 30
EDITOR Selina Ross DESIGN Ritchie Marshall PHOTOGRAPHY Daren Borzynski NEWS TEAM Ritchie Marshall Daren Borzynski
… celebrating our volunteers
… corporate parenting, what does it mean?
NATIONAL TRANSPLANT WEEK … Scarred for Life exhibition
FRONTLINE
… Focus on Brian Polding Clyde of Scottish Care
DITTO
… promoting social entrepreneurship
ADVERTiSING T: 0141 280 0115 E: ritchie@wdcvs.com PRINT
Stephens & George
Focus Scotland is a service of WDCVS Scottish Charity No: SC032003 T: 0141 941 0886 E: media@wdcvs.com W: www.wdcvs.com
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FOCUS ON: VOLUNTEERING
Focus on: Ryan Miller Volunteers are always needed, and young volunteers can really make a difference.
I
’m Ryan Miller. I’m 18 and currently preparing for my final exams at school. Actually I’m stressing a little bit about them as I have received conditional acceptances from University; so I need to make sure that I pass them. I’m sitting Higher exams in English, Maths, Design & Manufacturing and Health & Food Technology. Last year, I didn’t know what I wanted to do when I left school, and then I started thinking about teaching. Geography has been my favourite subject, so I decided to apply to study it at university, and I have received 4 conditionals. When I was in 2nd year at school I was attending the Tullochan Trust. Then CAOS (Community Arts Open Space) came along one night to ask if anyone would like to volunteer with them. At the time I didn’t see it as volunteering, I just went along to some of their afterschool groups to do activities with them, including games and art. I did that for over a year before I started volunteering with the after school care autistic group twice a week; I 4 | FOCUS SCOTLAND
volunteered with them for over a year too. We did lots of different activities each week and also through the school holidays to keep the kids active. I also did some work around the No Knives Better Lives initiative with the Tullochan Trust as a peer educator promoting the campaign. Over the last 2 years I have been volunteering at the Cancer Research shop in Clydebank. A friend at school had been volunteering there and suggested that I should give it a try. Every Saturday morning I’m volunteering there, helping to take in donations, working on the shop floor, pricing the items, helping to tidy up, and also helping customers find what they want. This last year has been my busiest for volunteering, I have continued at the shop, and through my school I have also been involved in Caritas. This is where we have been helping out with trips for the elderly, visiting the Glasgow Homeless shelters, and I also helped out at Mary’s Meals for a few weeks. We have been collecting donations for the homeless shelter, and every second Saturday some of us would go along to the shelter to
FOCUS ON: VOLUNTEERING distribute what we have collected. That has been a life changing experience for us. We are only giving a few hours of our time but the people at the homeless shelter see it as so much more and they are really appreciative of what we are doing. We try our best to always have a conversation with them, and some of them really seem to enjoy that part of it. We talk to all kinds of different people all the time and hear their stories. It makes me think that I’m very lucky for what I have and to appreciate it. Volunteering has giving me more confidence to talk to different people. Even in larger groups now I feel more comfortable. It has also given me experiences and life skills that gave me the idea to try teaching, and that has put me on the right path.
I have just received a Provost Civic Award in the Youth Champion category for my volunteering in West Dunbartonshire. It was quite a shock to receive it; I didn’t know anything about the award, one of my teachers at school announced that I was shortlisted. The event itself was one of the best nights of my life; it’s amazing to be acknowledged by the school and for them to put me in for the award. They say that our help in the charity shops has made a difference to the other staff; they see us as the young guys and it makes them happy that we have fun and enjoy our volunteering. There are 4 of us and we are all good friends, one of them, Jordan Murray, has done as much volunteering as me and I’m surprised he hasn’t received any awards yet. Both Jordan and myself are also Saltire Ambassadors and we help to promote the Saltire Awards for volunteers aged 12-25. We meet regularly with Gemma at WDCVS who is the lead for Saltire locally. We help to put posters up around school, promoting the awards to teachers, and getting fellow pupils to sign up at meetings and careers fairs. It feels good to see others sign up and receive their certificates for volunteering, and that I have played a big part in that. When I start university, I will still volunteer as much as I can and time permits. Volunteers are always needed, and young volunteers can really make a difference.
VOLUNTEERING MATTERS
T
he national volunteering charity Community Service Volunteers, commonly known as CSV, has changed its name to Volunteering Matters to make its mission clearer to the public. A spokeswoman said that not enough people understood what CSV did and it hoped the new name would change that at a time when the need for the charity’s work was increasing. “We believe Volunteering Matters describes what we do better, will be easier to find and access and therefore will inspire more people and change more communities,” she added. “We believe in the transformative role we play in people’s lives and their communities through the power of social action and volunteering. We want to increase our impact – we believe that Volunteering Matters clearly states what we do and positions us as a modern and relevant charity.” The rebrand cost about £50,000 and was regarded by the charity as an investment in its future, the spokeswoman said. “The trustees and directors made provision for a rebrand,” she said. “This strand of work was part of the strategic plan. Our existing website was no longer truly fit for purpose, so we needed to invest in that anyway, as many organisations do periodically.” Oonagh Aitken, the charity’s chief executive, said the new name marked the beginning of an exciting future for the organisation, which has been operating for more than 50 years. “We will continue to build on our consistent delivery of high-quality volunteering programmes that positively affect the lives of people all over the UK,” she said. “Through social action volunteering, we enable people of all ages, backgrounds and abilities to contribute to their local communities, enhance their wellbeing and gain important new skills. We believe that, as Volunteering Matters, we will be better placed to reach new audiences of people who either want to volunteer or could benefit from one of our many bespoke programmes.
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FOCUS ON: VOLUNTEERING
CORPORATE PARENTING
A
s of 1st April 2015, some parts of The Children and Young People (Scotland) Act 2014 is now in force. This date marks the beginning of potentially life changing legislative provision for care experienced young people. The Act now enables some young people, depending on where the type of care they stay in, to stay in care until they are 21 and receive support after they leave care until the age of 26. Crucially, the Act names 24 public bodies as corporate parents, which means that around 40% of the Scottish workforce now have a legal duty to improve what their services do for Scotland’s looked after children and care leavers. These new responsibilities might seem like a big change for Scotland to grapple with, but they have the potential to deliver much bigger, brighter outcomes for Scotland’s care experienced population. Corporate parenting has actually existed for some time in various policies, but its meaning has often been subject to misinterpretation and therefore its implementation has been patchy. Unfortunately, the reality is that Scotland’s young people still face 6 | FOCUS SCOTLAND
significant inequality and are over-represented in Scotland’s prison system, and in statistics on homelessness and mental health, whilst they are under-represented in further and higher education. It goes without saying that no parent would want these experiences for their own child, and symbolically, the Act calls on us to recognise that all of Scotland’s care experienced young people are our children. With the new Act in place, many public sector workers are likely to be asking ‘what exactly are we required to do for looked after young people’? Part 9 in the Children and Young People (Scotland) Act 2014 outlines these responsibilities quite clearly. At the core of the Act is the principle that all of Scotland’s corporate parents must give consideration to a child’s well-being and assess their needs. Each corporate parent must also promote the interests of young people and provide opportunities for them to participate in wider society. Of course, strategic guidance is crucial in ensuring these duties are met, and as such, all local authorities in Scotland are required to create a corporate parenting strategy and
FOCUS ON: VOLUNTEERING to share information on their practice. Beyond strategy, corporate parents now have a duty to jointly provide opportunities for care experienced children and young people, and publish their plans to help looked after young people engage with the corporate parenting community. Finally, in order to ensure these duties and responsibilities are being met, all corporate parents must report to Scottish Ministers on what they are doing for our care experienced population. Who Cares? Scotland offers training to corporate parents to help them understand their duties and provide crucial insight into what life can be like for someone growing up in care. Connor Chalmers is an Ambassador with Who Cares? Scotland, and is one of several care experienced young people who helps to deliver this training. He believes this new Act will help improve the life chances for future young people growing up in the care system: “One of the most important parts of the training is the fact that it features young people like me who have grown up in the care system. Although a lot of corporate parents might have an understanding of the system to a certain degree, they can often dwell too much on the statistics rather than the real, lived experiences.” Reflecting on his own experiences of corporate parenting as a looked after young person, Connor is able to offer a unique and vital insight into the importance for corporate parents to recognise care experienced young people as individuals: “When I was younger, I was moved from mainstream education to a school for young people with behavioural issues. I’d never really thought about my potential until one day the Head Teacher called me in and told me he thought I was capable enough of doing work at a mainstream level. That was pretty amazing, and thinking back, it is probably the reason I am where I am now. Being able to go to that mainstream school let me sit the exams I needed to get into college and get vital qualifications. The support I had throughout was consistent, and I was given dedicated time alone to focus on my work in mainstream school. Sadly, I think a lot of the time in the care system there is wasted potential. But looking at my own experience proves when people do take the time to get to know a young person and what they’re capable of, that young person can end up going on to do amazing things - things far more amazing than they might have otherwise done, or expected of themselves.”
Connor’s own journey has strongly informed his sense of what corporate parenting means, and importantly, what good corporate parenting is capable of achieving. As Connor goes on to describe, corporate parents might do well to consider their role less in ‘corporate’ terms, but more as parents. “If you take away the ‘corporate’ part of corporate parenting it is really just basic parenting. Any good parent would try to give their children the best opportunities so that they can go on and live a fulfilling life. Now that these opportunities are going to be given to care experienced young people by these public bodies, it gives us a chance to change the negative perception that some people have of children in care and create a more positive, giving and accepting society.” For Connor, and many other care experienced young people in Scotland, the Children and Young People (Scotland) Act 2014 represents a positive shift in public thinking towards young people in care. With new duties placed on Scotland’s corporate parents, young people will now be afforded platforms to inform change at a local level, and to have a greater say in how they would like to be cared for. To paraphrase many of the young people Who Cares? Scotland comes into contact with, those with care experience want care to be done with them, not to them. Who Cares? Scotland consulted with 87 young people on their interpretation of the duties within the Children and Young People Act. If you want to find out what they said, you can access the report on the Who Cares? Scotland website. FOCUS SCOTLAND | 7
FOCUS ON: VOLUNTEERING
Focus on: Alan Gardner
B
orn and bred in Balloch, Alan has an impressive track record of volunteering across a range of organisations. Always on the go, we managed to persuade Alan to share his experiences with us. This is his volunteering story... My name is Alan. I’m 72 years of age, and Balloch born and bred. I left school at 15 with no qualifications. I wasn’t interested in an apprenticeship so I joined the British Army in 1958 and was posted to Devon where I served on the Royal Signals for 12 years. During my time in the Army, I saw service in the West Indies, Germany, Malaysia, Borneo and my final posting was in London. In between all that I married a local girl! When I came out of the Army in 1970 I started working for petroleum company Esso, in an office. I worked my way up to becoming distribution manager for Scotland and Northern Ireland. The company was doing well, but they decided to centralise distribution for the whole of the UK to the one spot, so I was sent down to London again. 8 | FOCUS SCOTLAND
When I came out of the Army I was a Boy Brigade officer. I used my Army training to teach the boys communications. That was with 1st Jamestown Company and I served with them for nearly 20 years until Esso sent me south. We were all volunteers with the Boys Brigade; although they are not a church organisation they tended to be linked to churches, I think mainly due to having access to church halls. Every second year we went out to summer camps, wives and families would trail along with us. It was good fun. I taught the communications and drill, and as I was keen on sport we would also have football and athletics. Back then we were still at the Morse code and
FOCUS ON: VOLUNTEERING teleprinter stage. There were no i-phones or mobile phones… actually very few homes had phones at all! I enjoyed teaching the kids Morse code and signaling and they seemed to enjoy it too… all those things that people just wouldn’t understand today. Back then, if you wanted to send a message in a hurry, you would get down to the post office and they would send a telegram out, and a boy would go out on a bike, or if he was old enough a motorbike.
very different if it wasn’t for the community council. We made sure it was widened out and proper pedestrian ways were put in place. We can’t actually instruct, but we can influence. We are in the unique situation
In the signals, we didn’t have satellites; it was all HF and VHF. Anyone using Morse code now, does it for the love of it. I had a wonderful Army life, and a good Esso life as well. When I left Esso they gave me the ‘golden handshake’, and so I started working for a contractor that had a contract with Esso. This meant I was posted to Grangemouth. After retiring, I returned to Balloch and with having some time on my hands I felt that I just wanted to put a little back into the community by helping out and I decided to become a community councilor. When I was in the Boys Brigade, Murdoch Cameron was the Captain of our group and I was sort of his right hand man when I was still living and working up here. Gradually as the years went on, the boys lost interest, foreign holidays took over and holiday camps were of no fun or interest to them, peeling spuds, wasn’t something they wanted to know about. Over time Murdoch had lost his Boy Brigade Company, 4 – 5 of the companies in the area got so small, the amalgamated to call themselves 1st Vale Of Leven. We had over 100 boys in the 1st Jamestown; you are lucky now to have 30 in the whole of the Vale of Leven Company. Ironically, it was Murdoch that got me interested in the community council. When I joined, I became the treasurer by default as our previous one had moved out of the country. We don’t have a lot of money to deal with; community councils get grant funding from West Dunbartonshire Council. We can try some money earning projects, but most of it has to go back to the council, we would technically only be able to hold onto 10%. We are an active community council in Balloch and Haldane. We want to keep Balloch clean and tidy, we don’t want it to become a dormitory town. One of the things we are responsible for is the hanging baskets around Balloch. They make the place look smarter, but we get involved in a whole range of things. The bridge in the centre of Balloch, for example, would have been
COMMUNITY ACTION PLAN
2014-2019
Balloch& Haldane where our community council area is partly in West Dunbartonshire and the other half is in the National Park Authority area, so many times we are dealing with 2 different planning authorities. We have to get along with these people…and some causes we win, some causes we lose. We stood up and ‘fought’ at a public meeting to have the Children’s Hospice allowed to site in there park because there were objections from some people to it being built there. To show local support we did surveys, we spoke to the local people and we never found anyone against it so we stood up at the meeting to tell planning that and they allowed it to be built. We lost on a decision for a block of flats to be built next to the bridge though; 2 of us had gone up to a public meeting to object to a building of that size going in there, but we lost that time. Balloch is the Gateway to the Highlands. Located at the foot of Loch Lomond, it is a nice place…and should remain a nice place. In my young days, thousands of people used to come down on the train to visit Balloch Park or go right down to the pier for a trip on the Maid of The Loch. We’re all very active as community councilors. Within our committee, we have people on the boards of the local Environment Trust, Care & FOCUS SCOTLAND | 9
FOCUS ON: VOLUNTEERING
Balloch & Moss O’Balloch Parks
Repair, Community Futures Networks, the Maid of The Loch, and the Highland Games committee - we are interested and support all these things. We listen to the public if they have a complaint, and if they want to bring it to us, we will discuss it and either say ‘yes’ we will support it or ‘no’ we don’t think it is worth pursuing. When I started off in the Community Council I really didn’t know what I was doing, even now I’m still learning. Half of it is knowing people, and I’m not terribly good at remembering names but others on the community council are. If someone comes to us with a problem or an issue, we identify whom we should be talking to and take up the issue on their behalf. It’s a real eye opener. A lot of things go on that the public doesn’t appreciate; some are legal things and we can’t change or do anything about. I’ve learned about brown field sites and how land is allocated for certain things - even the council can’t change some of these unless they go through the necessary channels. As I’ve said, we get on well with both the National Park and West Dunbartonshire Council. As well as the flower baskets, we now have a Christmas tree every year that we didn’t have before the Community Council pushed for it. We received another small grant to buy the lights for the tree. We meet once a month and then in Corries Restaurant once a week, but we are all on the phone to each other and emailing. 10 | FOCUS SCOTLAND
Physically, I keep quite active too. At the moment my wife doesn’t keep too well so I’m head cook and bottle washer at home. I play bowls on a Monday and indoors through winter; I go swimming on a Wednesday; play golf on a Friday and I go to the local library a lot, as I like to read quite a bit. I also have a garden to take care of. I’ve had 2 hip replacements, so I’ve got to watch what I’m doing. I retired young, so I feel as if I still have my energy. The community council gives me friendship, involvement; I also like to know what is going on in my area. I like doing the accounts, so that is a bit of a hobby. As well as being the treasurer for the Balloch & Haldane Community Council, I am also treasurer for the Bowls; I was also the treasurer for the Dumbarton forum of Community Councils…. and I also sing in the church choir. I’ve found that if you become a treasurer in any organisation, nobody really ‘fights’ you for that position….no one seems desperate to get your job, but I enjoy it. Community councillors are unpaid servants of the community, although they might not even know that we are doing anything. More people should get involved within community councils. At the moment there are a few areas in West Dunbartonshire that don’t have one and we would like them to have one. I know that I would help anyone interested to form their own community council and I wouldn’t be alone.
15 (from July 2015) Summerston
New South Glasgow Hospitals A
B
Arrivals Square
16 (from July 2015) Drumchapel Knightswood
4 17.34A.77.90 1
towards Braehead
21.23/23A 26.77
89 15 89 90
towards City Centre
3
23/23A.F1.X1 2 17.21.26 25.90 89
Anniesland
77 F1 Buchanan Bus Station
Jordanhill 25.90 5 minute walk to Langlands Road/ Skipness Drive
25.90
Western/Yorkhill Hospitals Partick
(also train/bus links to East Glasgow, Bishopbriggs and Kirkintilloch)
15.16.17.77 89 .90
Bridgewater Shopping Centre
17 77 3 (continues to Partick and
Thornwood Roundabout
Renfrew
21.23/23A 26.77 Moorpark, Paisley Road
Newmains Road 21
26 77
Glasgow Airport
3
21 23/23A
26 77 90
A
C
21 25 34/34A Govan
Govan Road
Paisley Road Toll
89 90 90
Bridge Street 3 and Short walk for
23/23A.26
23/23A.26.89 90 .90.F1.X1
B
New South D Glasgow Hospitals
26 34A 90
Arkleston
Pacific Drive
Renfrew Road
90 Braehead
23/23A 26
River Clyde
23/23A Inchinnan
Drumchapel via City Centre)
F1 X1 Clyde Arc Bridge
CLYDE TUNNEL
23/23A Erskine
Charing Cross
(also train/bus links to Clydebank, Bearsden and Milngavie)
15 16 17 77 89 90
see inset top left for stopping details with South Glasgow Hospitals
17
5 minute walk to Langlands Drive entrance
89 90 90
3 34 34A
26 89 90
Langlands Road
Drumoyne
3
Shields Road
Eglinton Toll
77 Langlands Road/ Skipness Drive
Shieldhall Road 21 26
26 34A 89 Renfrew Road
90 Cardonald Station
25 Fifty Pitches Road
Pollokshields West Station
3.17.25 34/34A
17 17.26
continues to Parkhead, Springburn and Partick
89 90 90
Kingsland Drive
21 Paisley
Pollokshaws Road
17 Paisley Road West
(also train/bus links to Renfrewshire and Inverclyde)
Royal Infirmary
17 23/23A 26 X1 Glasgow City Centre, Central Station/Queen Street Station
LANGLANDS DRIVE
DRIVE
ANDS LANGL
90
Glasgow City Centre
Hillhead
Gartnavel Hospital
16
C
continues to Springburn and Govan
Ruchill
towards Partick 15/16 (from July 2015)
D
15
Maryhill
25.90
90
3 Halfway
Crookston Station 3
25
Glenburn 26 Leverndale Hospital
(from July 2015)
34/34A
(evening and Sunday 34A journeys to/from Govan are shown with a diamond )
Stagecoach
77 90 X1
(evenings only)
Skyline
Crossmyloof Station
Mosspark Drive
34/34A 89 .90 .90
25 Silverburn
Key to Bus Services (by operator) 3 15/16
34 34A
F1 (SGH Flyer) 17 21 23/23A 26 89 /90
Bus route terminus
Nethercraigs
Interchange Hubs providing connections with: Local buses SPT Subway
25
26
34/34A
Shawlands 3.34/34A 89 .90 .90 (also bus links to Eastwood Toll, Giffnock and Newton Mearns)
Victoria Infirmary (Battlefield) 34/34A 89 .90 .90
Lyoncross Road
Nethercraigs 26
McGills
Rutherglen
Hampden Park
Paisley Canal 17
First
89 90
3
3
Newlands Morrison’s
Kings Park Station 34/34A
Castlemilk 34/34A
Rail services Š Copyright
15.5.15
www.fwt.co.uk
FOCUS ON: VOLUNTEERING
Focus on: Megan Harrison
I gain a lot of self worth from volunteering on the Link-Up service, feel as if I’m doing something important.
A
resident of Faifley, Megan is very active in her local community, finding volunteering a great way to socialise and help others.
This is her volunteering story... I previously volunteered with the WRVS (Woman’s Royal Voluntary Service) for 6 years, until I had an accident damaging my ankle and I could no longer volunteer there. I started with them in the year 2000, volunteering in the canteen, but I wasn’t as mobile after 12 | FOCUS SCOTLAND
the accident so couldn’t go back after my accident. I was really sad about that because I really enjoyed it; I loved it up there at Gartnavel Hospital. My accident was just really bad luck. I was playing bowls with friends, actually I had only started to play with them in the previous four months to get out a bit more and take some more exercise. We were playing a game and enjoying a good conversation and banter, and I didn’t notice I was walking into the ditch at the end. Trying to regain my balance, I twisted my foot in
FOCUS ON: VOLUNTEERING the ditch and the bone in my ankle came out! It wasn’t very pleasant. After the accident I just sat in my flat. I couldn’t move my leg for eight months as it was in a cast. The little bit of walking I did was with the aid of a zimmer, helping me get to the bathroom and my bedroom. I couldn’t even balance myself to boil a kettle and pour out a hot drink. If it weren’t for the help of some of my neighbours, I wouldn’t have eaten or drank anything. I did so many jigsaws and read so many books in those eight months waiting for my ankle to heal. It was a very boring time in my life. After the cast came off, I started rehabilitation with support from some fantastic people from the COPT team (Community Older People’s Team) based in Hardgate, near where I live. It was the staff there that taught me how to walk again. First on 2 crutches...then how to go up and down stairs until I eventually got outside on the 2 crutches. After a while I was down to one with their support. It took a while after the plaster came off to get down to one crutch. I like my flat but it wasn’t easy living there, and that year it was a beautiful summer where you don’t want to be stuck at home!
As a widow, I spent lots of time at home driving my daughter mad. She suggested to me that I needed something to do again. She was right. I had got myself into one of those ruts, and she pushed me into looking at volunteering again. When I heard about the Link-Up service with WDCVS, I thought that would suit me. I had already met some of the staff from WDCVS previously, so I felt I knew them and a bit about the service. It’s a great service, it just need to be recognized more by Health Clinics and Home Helps and for them to raise awareness of it with their clients. I gain a lot of self worth from volunteering on the LinkUp service, I feel as if I’m doing something important. I
like it and I feel really confident in the role and it keeps my mind going. It’s nice to be able to say, that I’m helping out with an important service. The service has been recognised nationally and I’ve been videoed and interviewed quite a few times now. We have won some important awards and I have attended the presentation events including one at the Scottish Parliament where we won the Self Management Project of the Year award from the Alliance. Being around other people is really important, and I feel like I’m part of a family there and it’s a great atmosphere to be in. There is always someone to help you and no one ever passes by without saying hello or having a quick chat. They also really supported me when I decided to go for the SQA Award in Volunteering Skills. I really enjoyed the experience and would never had thought I could get a recognised qualification from doing things I enjoy so much. With the Link-Up service, it’s people just like myself that gain from it. I hate when you are trying to find information about a service, and you have to listen to an automated voice asking you to press 1 for this and 2 for that. It’s great just to pick up a phone and find a helpful voice at the other end. We know the people that they want to speak to, so we can assist them much quicker and I think friendlier. As for volunteering, I have now started befriending too and I want to continue here for a good while yet. FOCUS SCOTLAND | 13
FOCUS ON: VOLUNTEERING
Focus on: Susanne Hall
Retirement opened up all these new doors of different things
F
rom West Lothian to West Dunbartonshire… Susanne’s travels have brought her to retirement in Old Kilpatrick, but she remains as active as ever and determined to support others to stay active too. This is her volunteering story... I’m Susanne Hall, and I am now 61 years of age. I’ve been retired for two and a half years. I previously worked as a radiographer, where I spent half my career in hospitals and the other half in the teaching side as a radiography lecturer; diagnostic imaging as it’s called now. I’m not originally from West Dunbartonshire, I’m a Bathgate person born and bred. I came to Glasgow met Jim, got married and never left and have now retired to Old Kilpatrick.
I wasn’t working for about 3 years, and then I started back on 2 evenings a week and gradually worked my way up as a radiographer. Then the chance came for me to become a clinical tutor and that’s when I went into the teaching side of it still in the clinical environment, and then came full time lecturing. I was in my full time lecturing job for 14 years - I really had no time to for volunteering and no time for hobbies.
I didn’t know much about volunteering, certainly not in the early days of being a practicing radiographer. It was about setting up home, getting to know my job. Then I was 7 years qualified when my first baby came along, I have 2 daughters now, and at that time I gave up work, as there wasn’t really any maternity leave or even paternity leave.
Retirement opened up all these new doors of different things that I could either revisit or explore for the first time. The first thing I volunteered for was with Sustrans as a ranger. I learned about this as an opportunity through my husband Jim who is a much more avid cyclist than I am. Of course Sustrans isn’t just about cycling, it’s also about sustainable transport in whatever
14 | FOCUS SCOTLAND
FOCUS ON: VOLUNTEERING
Volunteering gets me out of the house; I meet lots of nice people and like-minded people. There is a bit of learning, particularly with the wildlife, and there is also the social element and having the time that I can now give something back. I don’t go out to volunteer to receive a pat on the back, I do it because I like the outdoors and the wildlife corridors and I like to see them look nice. I feel that we shouldn’t disrespect the wildlife areas, and I feel as if there are other like-minded people who are not volunteers but like to see people do something to keep things looking nice. The Forth and Clyde Canal is beautiful, and the disused railway line running through, and it’s about enhancing that. We also help with The Saltings litter pick once a month, and we are part of a small group that are Lusset Glen litter pickers. I think its about setting a quiet example… we’re not banging any drums or giving folk a row, but litter attracts litter and if you can clear up an area we hope it will detract some people from just dumping rubbish.
form it comes, walking or cycling or public transport and we had been hill walkers from when we were younger. Jim had retired a year ahead of me, and had volunteered as a ranger in West Dunbartonshire, covering a stretch from Clydebank to Dumbarton. So when I retired, I quite quickly volunteered as well. So the two of us would go out to do a little bit of litter picking, and we would report any vandalism, damage or fallen trees. We would trim back brambles and that kind of thing, and it was just the 2 of us. Within a few months Sustrans received funding for a biodiversity project for greener greenways, and we both trained as wildlife champions to survey certain things. That started a couple of years ago, and we have attended different training now to cover winter twigs, bees, butterflies, flies, amphibians and wild flowers. We would monitor a 1-mile stretch each; of what is National Cycle Network 7. My stretch is from Erskine Ferry Road in Old Kilpatrick to Bowling, and Jim has from the Bowling Basin to Dunglass roundabout on the road to Dumbarton. 1 mile each, it’s not all that long but when you are going out to survey and you are looking for certain things it can take up a bit of time. It’s fascinating; I’ve loved learning about wildlife.
It hard to measure what people gain from my volunteering, if you can only gauge it by the number of people that stop to talk to you and ask who you are, why are you doing it, thanking you or just asking why we don’t have enough litter bins. So we always have feedback directly from the public. I would recommend volunteering, but I do wonder if you have to be a certain type of person that wants to volunteer, I also believe that it depends on what you are looking for in your life. All I can really say is, try it and see. FOCUS SCOTLAND | 15
FOCUS ON: SOCIETY
CARER POSITIVE – SUPPORTING WORKING CARERS
F
or carers, having access to employment can help provide financial stability, as well as the wider benefits of a fulfilling career, positive mental health and social interaction. It can also offer a life outside of caring and enables carers to subsequently be in a better position to provide care for their loved ones. However, juggling work with caring responsibilities can be challenging, tiring, and extremely stressful, and without the right support many carers find it difficult to sustain their careers. Research shows that as many as 1 in 5 carers give up work to care. Having a supportive and flexible working environment can help carers remain in employment and progress their career opportunities. Carer Positive was launched by the Scottish Government in June 2014 to help raise awareness of the growing number of carers in the workforce and to award recognition to those employers with good practice in this area. This might be through flexible working policies or with simple practical measures which can make a big difference to carers. It also highlights the business benefits to employers of recruiting and retaining skilled and experienced members of staff. Why become Carer Positive? Fostering an environment where each and every member of staff feels supported in the workplace is good employment practice. It helps to enhance the reputation of organisations who want to be seen as ‘employers of choice’ for the growing numbers of people who value a better work-life balance. The benefits to employers of having ‘carer friendly’ 16 | FOCUS SCOTLAND
policies and working practices can include reduced levels of stress and sickness absence, lower recruitment and training costs, increased staff retention, morale and productivity levels. What’s involved The Carer Positive process is aimed to be clear and straightforward, based on a simple self-assessment process. There is no cost associated with participating. Employers submit an application form describing how they meet criteria in 5 key areas at each level of the kitemark. The kitemark incorporates 3 levels, from ‘Engaged’, to Established’, through to ‘Exemplary’. If they wish, employers can progress from one stage to the next, building from an initial level of commitment to embedding a culture of support for carers within the organisation. Organisations are encouraged to identify and develop their own actions as appropriate to their size and structure. The intention is that all employers, across all sectors, whether small or large, can achieve each level of the kitemark. Just over 40 organisations in Scotland are currently participating in the initiative, with local employers WDCVS and West Dunbartonshire Council amongst those to have recently been awarded Carer Positive Engaged certificates of award. For more information visit: www.carerpositive.org or contact Sue McLintock on 0141 445 3070 or by email at sue.mclintock@carerscotland.org
TRAINING PROGRAMME 2015/16
W
DCVS run a programme of practical courses focused on helping you and your organisations do what you do just a little better. Our training team have years of experience and all of our courses give you practical examples and exercises to make sure you get the maximum from your time with us. All our courses are run at the WDCVS training centre in Clydebank, just five minutes from Clydebank Railway station and Chalmers Street Transport Hub. Course costs include tea, coffee and a sandwich lunch. Courses are run for a maximum of 16 people per session. A minimum of 8 attendees will be required for a session to go ahead. This ensures that everyone gets the maximum benefit from your investment of time. All courses are charged at £30 for a half day session and £50 for a full day course. Organisations sending two representatives to any one session will receive a discounted price of £50 per half day session and £80 for a full day course. A bursary scheme is available for small organisations with a turnover of less than £5,000 per annum. Please contact us for a form to apply.
Training Courses
(all courses run 10am - 2pm unless otherwise shown)
23rd Jun 30th Jun 7th Jul 14th Jul 4th Aug 11th Aug 18th Aug 25th Aug 1st Sept 8th Sep 15th Sep 22nd Sep 29th Sep 6th Oct 13th Oct 20th Oct 27th Oct 3rd Nov 10th Nov 17th Nov 24th Nov 1st Dec 8th Dec 12th Jan 19th Jan 26th Jan 2nd Feb 9th Feb 23rd feb 1st Mar 8th Mar
Recruiting Volunteers Social Media Becoming a Treasurer Supporting and Supervising Volunteers Keeping the Books PVG Awareness Dealing with Difficult People Motivating and Retaining Volunteers Minute Taking Fundraising for Yourself Introduction to Data Protection Exits and Endings Volunteer Policy Packing your Case (9.30-3.30) Recruiting Volunteers Trustee Awareness Managing Change Report writing Committee Skills Supporting and Supervising Volunteers Time Management Motivating and Retaining Vols Customer Care Exits and Endings PVG Awareness Dealing with Difficult People Working Safely Becoming a Treasure Volunteer Policy Managing Change Keeping the Books
To book a course: Call Gordon on 0141 941 0886 or email inspire@wdcvs.com Can’t find what you need? West Dunbartonshire CVS can provide a broad range of training courses covering charity management and organisation effectiveness. We would be happy to discuss your individual requirements with you. Please contact Gordon on 0141 941 0886 for more details. Timing of the courses doesn’t suit? We can provide courses at alternative times if there is sufficient demand. Please contact Gordon for more information. Terms and Conditions Payment In order to maintain our low prices, we have to insist on payment in advance of the course. If payment has not been received by the course start date, we may not be able to allow you to join the course. When booking, you will be sent an invoice – to avoid any disappointment please pay promptly. All cheques should be made payable to West Dunbartonshire CVS. Transferring or cancelling courses If for some reason you cannot attend a course, you may transfer your place to a substitute delegate free of charge. In the event that you need to cancel or change course dates, the following charges will apply in all instances: • • •
Cancellation 14+ days before the course – free of charge 7-13 days before the course – 50% of fees payable Cancellation 0-6 days before the course – 100% of fees payable
FOCUS ON: SOCIETY
Picture by Peter Sandground
M
ay saw a special photo exhibition of adults with Congenital Heart Disease (CHD) held at the Golden Jubilee National Hospital.
The Scarred FOR Life exhibition came straight to Scotland’s National Hospital – home to the Scottish Adult Congenital Cardiac Service (SACCS) – following its debut at Kelvingrove Art Gallery and Museum in February 2015. Fashion and portrait photographer Kirsty Anderson – who has photographed Annie Lennox and Robbie Williams – captured portraits of eight SACCS patients to help change the perception that scars should be hidden away: Scott Burrell, Liza Morton, Caroline Wilson, Heather McDougall, Maggie Ross, Roderick Skinner, David Magennis* and Karen Maclachlan.
Jubilee is dedicated to raising awareness of heart disease in its many forms. “We were delighted to welcome the Scarred FOR Life exhibition, which allowed patients, staff and members of the public to hear directly about the experiences of congenital heart disease patients.” The Scarred FOR Life exhibition was organised by three CHD volunteers on behalf of The Somerville Foundation – a charity which provides a national support network for adolescent and adult congenital heart patients. Friends Dr Liza Morton, Jenny Kumar and Caroline Wilson wanted to raise awareness of how the often invisible condition, which affects 1 in 125 babies born each year, impacts on adult life.
As well as telling the story of a population hidden in plain sight, the portrait exhibition aims to empower patients living in Scotland and raise awareness of the unique needs of adults with CHD.
For further information about National Transplant Week and to register your organ donation decision go to www.transplantweek.co.uk.
Mike Higgins, Medical Director at the Golden Jubilee National Hospital, commented: “As home to regional and national heart and lung services, including the Scottish Adult Congenital Cardiac Service, the Golden
Pictured: Caroline Wilson, Maggie Ross, Scott Burrell, (David Magennis and Roderick Skinner portraits) Karen Maclachlan, Liza Morton and Heather McDougall. * Sadly David Magennis passed away in February following complications after his heart transplant. Thoughts are with his family and friends.
FOCUS SCOTLAND | 21
FOCUS ON: VOLUNTEERING
Focus on:
Jeanette & Willie Crawford Most people who have joined the group regularly return.
Residents of Johnstone, Jeanette and Willie are spending their retirement years getting out and about, helping their own wellbeing and that of their local community at the same time. This is their volunteering stories... I am Jeanette Crawford and I was 69 on the 24th May. I’ve been retired for 9 years now and when I did take that step to retirement I was sure of one things - I wanted to get out and about because for all my working life I had been stuck in an office. It didn’t take me long to make my mind up what would be right for me and I joined a group after just 4 weeks of retirement. One of my friends was a member of one of the 22 | FOCUS SCOTLAND
community walking groups in Renfrewshire, and I started going to them. 6 months into the walks and there was a discussion that the walking group was looking for a secretary and was anyone interested. I had worked in building societies and insurance brokers for 35 years giving me that skills and experience, so I decided to help and I became the secretary of the Renfrewshire Walking Network. At that point I hadn’t thought about being a walk leader, I was just enjoying the walking as a participant. We have a great group of
FOCUS ON: VOLUNTEERING people that come to the community walks. 4 months after taking up the role of secretary I decided to volunteer as a Health Walk Leader and went along to a Paths for All training course. Now, I have been secretary for 8.5 years, a walk leader for 8 years, and I’ve never looked back. I thoroughly enjoy it. I never want to give it up and it keeps me healthy. We have just less than 600 people registered on our walks. We hold monthly walk leaders meetings where I take the minutes and also send out all the booklets that we have printed twice a year. The booklets list all the walks we will hold for the following six months, and everyone registered will receive a copy. They are also distributed to libraries, town halls and doctors surgeries from where we receive quite a few referrals. The referrals are normally for walkers that are recovering from an operation or an illness, and we have various levels of walks that they join and build up their health and strength on. I didn’t really know much about volunteering before I joined the walking groups. But I am an elder in my local church. Through this I take on various pastoral duties including visiting people in hospital. I hadn’t really considered myself as a volunteer until I became the secretary and then a walk leader. I have since also started to volunteer with St Vincent’s Hospice in Howwood, driving day care patients to and from the hospice.
didn’t do anything for those 2 years, until my wife suggested that I should go out walking with her and we went down to Portencross near West Kilbride. It’s a walk that is still talked about after all this time, because it must have been one of the worst days of weather we have ever had while walking. We couldn’t find a dry spot to sit down for our lunch, and we had to eat it while standing. Why I ever came back to the walks after that, I do not know! Every one of us was soaked right through… but that still gave me a taste of a health walk. I retired from work when I was 58 because I had heart problems, and after retiring I had to have stents fitted. Over the following 2 years I didn’t do anything other than sit in the house. My wife would come home from work and I would still be sitting in my pyjamas. I feel now my health has greatly improved by taking regular walk with the groups. It’s given me a new life, it’s the best thing I have ever done. Not long after joining the walks, Renfrewshire Walking Network held a special meeting because they couldn’t get a Chairman. I went along to the meeting and now seven and half years later I am still the Chairman. I worked with Malcolm’s, the Haulage Company in credit control as a bookkeeper with them and the skills from my job have been very useful in my position of Chairman. I am now solely responsible for applying for grants and funding for the Walking Network, and I have been successful on several occasions. We have brought in funding for uniforms and the printed booklets. I also attend Renfrewshire Local Area Committees (LACs) meetings where I try to source future funding for the group as it takes over £2000 a year to run our organisation. We see people coming along to walks, meeting others, making new friends and enjoying their time on the walks. We also see improvements with some of the walker’s mental health and how it has built the confidence by being able to meet others and communicate with them. It had brought many of them out of their shells. Walking outdoors in the fresh air, meeting other walkers, seeing animals, wildlife and flowers, I can see their health blossoming. Most of the people the have joined the walking groups regularly return for the benefits.
My name is Willie Crawford, I will be 70 in November and I started volunteering with the walking group through my wife. I had taken early retirement 2 years before Jeanette did due to my health at the time. I
We would thoroughly recommend volunteer to others, it gives you a sense of purpose, a sense of wellbeing and achievement. FOCUS SCOTLAND | 23
FOCUS ON: VOLUNTEERING
Focus on: Walter Hamilton Being a volunteer has allowed me to give something back to my community
B
orn and bred in the village of Bowling, local connectedness has always been important to Walter.
This is his volunteering story... My name is Walter Hamilton and I was born and grew up in the village of Bowling. I will be 64 this year. My first job was also in this community, as I was a time served draughtsman at Scott’s of Bowling – a local small shipyard. In the 1970’s with Scott & Sons Bowling, you could reach 30 before you became time served, but by the time I was in my mid-twenties they had brought it down a bit and you could achieve it in 5 or 6 years. I had an uncle who was a carpenter shipwright, and my sister was the General Manager’s secretary it might seem a bit unusual to have so many in the family in the one place but it wasn’t nepotism; it was just what you did. The shipyard was the spine of the village in those days, through Scott’s and the Yarrows interface. Looking back, there was hardly an interaction, even 24 | FOCUS SCOTLAND
between the staff in the yard, that wasn’t family orientated. People were all of the same ilk, there was not a lot to do beyond the yard. There was nothing for the kids in the village to do. So I pulled a few of the lads together and wrote up a constitution. We put it all together and started a wee club for the men and boys called The Scott & Sons Bowling Social and Welfare Club. I had to present the managing director, Mr Livesey at the time, with our proposal before we could go ahead and Scott’s approved it. In the club, we had indoor bowls, table tennis and we would also invite the women’s club around and prepare dinner for them at Christmas and have a family night.
FOCUS ON: VOLUNTEERING The welfare club also had good connections with a local travel agent in Dumbarton at the time, and we used to hire the Maid of the Loch to take all the retired people and the employees from the yard for just 25p a head out onto the loch. We used to take trips up to Loch Katrine onto the Sir Walter Scott, and in the summer months we hired coaches, had a high tea and toured around the Trossachs.
and the difference my contribution makes. I enjoy the interaction with people in the community and I think that is a key part of volunteering. Communication is a really important thing and respecting that everybody has their worth. Not everybody can repair a gearbox but everybody has a slot to do his or her part. I was always brought up to respect people; it has always been that way and community values are very important to me.
We also planned our Christmas parties for just after the New Year, to be sure that we could get everyone together. We would hire one of the larger halls, normally in Old Kilpatrick, and before the party we used any money we raised to visit the warehouses in Glasgow to buy a gift for each of the children. It was really fantastic, and it would bring everyone together. I was there for 11 years before I moved on through the industry in the marine world. I worked for a couple of years in Cork as a managing director. Then I came back here to the area and took up a job as a General Manager in 2 yards across the water in Greenock, until I was made unemployed by arrangement. From an early age, I’ve always wanted to help people in the community and to try and make a difference to their lives. In my earlier years, I was also a community councillor for Bowling and Milton. It was something that I thoroughly enjoyed. The pressures of work put an end to that when I started my own business and I had to give that up, and also to pay attention to my family growing up. Since becoming unemployed in 2013, and after my 45 years in the marine industry I found that my life was at a standstill. I was lost. I felt as if I was getting quite depressed because I had been busy all my life. I loved what I was doing, then all of a sudden it was like the shutters were brought down on that part of my life and I didn’t know what to do. I was very active, I did a lot of fly-fishing, but all of that was put aside. Then nothing. That’s when I decided to contact West Dunbartonshire CVS to see what I could do productively with my time. I’m glad I did. Since I went along to see them, I’ve trained to become a befriender. Being a volunteer has allowed me to give something back to the community and it has also helped promote my personal growth and rekindled my self-esteem. From the point I was made unemployed I became very introverted. I wouldn’t go out. Volunteering has helped me, since I’m out communicating with people and I also see people progress through my befriending
I get on great with my befriendee, and it’s down to us sharing our life experiences. When I go out with my befriendee, I find it very refreshing; and a true two-way relationship. I get a lot of benefits from it as I’m not sitting around the house or getting under my wife’s feet! And I feel I can offer help to others. It’s important not to impose on people but if you can offer assistance and respect them for who they are, that’s all a lot of people need, even for 30 minutes or a couple of hours a week. You can feel and see the real difference that makes; people have commented on how my befriendee is after our meetings, and that’s good to hear. If we as volunteers can assist in any way to improve someone’s life, I think that’s a great thing to have done. There are a lot of rewards for anyone that wishes to take up volunteering and I would highly recommend it. FOCUS SCOTLAND | 25
FOCUS ON: FRONTLINE
FRONTLINE: Brian Polding-Clyde, Scottish Care 26 | FOCUS SCOTLAND
FOCUS ON: FRONTLINE
I
am the face of Scottish Care within West Dunbartonshire; an integral partner within the local Community Health and Care Partnership and developing Health and Social Care Partnership (HSCP). The independent sector, which I represent, consists of care home and care at home services provided by private sector companies and some of the larger voluntary organisations. In my role, I provide the opportunity to ensure joinedup working across the sector, which can only benefit service users, their carers and families. Over the last year I have been involved in developing the Partnership Agreement to support the delivery of the expectations of the Joint Bodies Act in April 2015. This Act brings into place the new Health and Social Care Partnerships and the integration of services across social work and health across Scotland. In West Dunbartonshire, there has been integration since 2010, but the Partnership Agreement cements the relationships I have helped to build up over the last few years. This will meet the expectations of both the local Council and NHS Board from the Scottish Government for the developing the Integrated Joint Board and the Strategic Plan. My role, started in the main in the area of care for older adults, but with the changes is now expanding to reflect the needs of adults of any age living within all our communities. In an average day, I work closely with local providers to support the development of their knowledge of the Reshaping Care for Older People (RCOP) agenda; highlight the work of other RCOP workstreams and support providers to embed practice congruent with the RCOP agenda. I am expected to be involved in enhancing effective communication, joint working and better outcomes for those using services by supporting connectivity between the independent sector and the CHCP. As a part of my role I have also established links with potential new providers and offered my assistance and expertise to support them to establish communication with CHCP managers and practitioners. Some days, in order that I can maximise my contribution to the RCOP agenda I attend workshops, conferences and seminars and to share the knowledge gained alongside CHCP and Third sector partners; in doing that I work closely with WDCVS both in terms of the services it provides and in its role as the Third
Sector interface. This has helped me to facilitate relationships between the independent sector, 3rd sector and statutory partners; as well as being able to support the delivery of a diverse training agenda across the independent sector. Through my role, I have been able to deliver effective communication between the CHCP and independent sector especially where there have been local quality improvement issues raised; helping services to meet the expectations of both the CHCP and Care Inspectorate. My role is working across older people’s services; however this is diverse group of people who may have additional needs as a result of a range of complex conditions including dementia and sensory impairment. This means I work closely with care at home colleagues to promote the use of Telecare and raise awareness of the options available for people. Alongside the CHCP I have developed a robust Providers’ Forum for Care Home managers within CHCP and independent sector services; using this forum to deliver the My Home Life programme across independent sector and CHCP services. Currently I am supporting the development of a Providers’ Forum for Care at Home providers in partnership with CHCP Care at Home services; and hoping to see the same successful results as the Care Home Providers forum. Scottish Care are one of the lead partners within the delivery of Dementia Friendly West Dunbartonshire in partnership with WDCVS, CHCP, Police Scotland, WDC, West College Scotland and other local third sector partners. We were recently awarded funding from Life Changes Trust to implement our “good citizens” approach to dementia and I look forward to being involved directly in the roll-out of this over the next few years. I am most proud of the effective communication channels which have been established with independent sector care homes linked to the specific changes within the care homes medical practice; ensuring that residents have good and appropriate access to GP services. I have worked closely with the CHCP to achieve this. Within West Dunbartonshire I am part of an ethos which supports a “community planning in action” approach to partnership; ensuring that Scottish Care are represented and active partners within the Community Planning West Dunbartonshire planning structures and wider national forums the CHCP. FOCUS SCOTLAND | 27
FOCUS ON: VOLUNTEERING
Focus on: Jim Meehan If I can help people to look after others, it’s something I really want to be involved in.
A resident of Drumry, Jim has had a variety of working experiences. After an accident 7 years ago and a period of rehabilitation, he is finding new outlets for his skills. This is his volunteering story... My name is Jim Meehan and I’ve just turned 54 years of ago. I worked as a psychiatric nurse for quite a long time before I broke my back in a car accident around 7 years ago. Since then I haven’t been able to return to work. In my earlier years I worked in garages as a panel beater, but with each cold winter it was getting to the stage that I wanted to work indoors. I had a friend who was a nurse and she suggested that I should try a nursing assistant job. I did that for a year and a half, before I decided to go on to train as a psychiatric nurse. I did that for a long time and it was the best job I could ever have. I really had a lot of job satisfaction working with people in need of support. After my car accident, I was in the Southern General Spinal Unit for 3 months. Half of that time was spent lying flat on my back, which I can tell you is not a lot 28 | FOCUS SCOTLAND
of fun. I had been a nurse for a long time and now this was me on the other side of it. An experience like that really makes you think about how you were doing the job. It took me a long time to get around to volunteering. To be honest, I spent a lot of the 7 years since the accident just feeling sorry for myself with some days being flatter than others. I always wanted to do something. I had never been unemployed and it was driving me crazy. I would get up sit on the sofa and watch Sky Sports all day, it wasn’t much of a life really. My balance still isn’t great and my hands don’t work properly, but in that ward I met people that will never
FOCUS ON: VOLUNTEERING walk again, even through freak accidents. I met a woman who stood on a dogs tail. The dog bolted and she fell over and broke her back leaving her confined to a wheel chair for the rest of her life.
WORLD BLOOD DONOR DAY JUNE 14TH 2015
There were times when I thought about volunteering, and times when I didn’t want to do anything at all. When I finally decided to do something again, I was looking for similar jobs, but with different health and safety issues now I couldn’t do my previous job because of moving and handling. Since I have been off, I have had contact with someone in the job centre every six months, I think it’s just to make sure I’m still here! She contacts me just to say that they’re not trying to chase me out to get a job, and every time I asked them if they know of anything that I can do. It was the job centre advisor that suggested that I try volunteering. I didn’t know where to go for volunteering, and she gave me the number for West Dunbartonshire CVS. I made the appointment, came down and met with one of the advisors. I knew a bit about volunteering; when I worked in the hospital we had volunteers coming in to befriend some of the patients. So I knew there are more opportunities available than working in a charity shop. I know that they need volunteers and that the opportunity is good for some people but just isn’t for me. With years and years of nursing experience behind me, the knowledge is still there even if my body can’t physically do my old job. I wanted to find an opportunity that would use my skills, get my mind working and keep me busy. If I’m helping someone else, then that is helping me. That’s the way I look at it and I’m happy to take part in more and more opportunities.
E
very year on June 14th countries around the world celebrate World Blood Donor Day; the event was established to raise awareness of the need for safe blood and blood products and to thank those unpaid voluntary blood donors for taking the time to donate such a lifesaving gift. Transfusions of Blood and Blood products help save Millions of lives every year, helping those suffering from life threatening conditions live longer, as well as supporting complex medical and surgical procedures. Every blood donation is a gift of life.
I started with the Link-Up service and I’m starting befriending soon. I’ve also trained to be a Dementia Ambassador recently. The Dementia Ambassador opportunity is good for me, as that is along the line of work I was in, being in the mental health field for over 20 years. I will be linking in the development of Dementia Friendly Communities across West Dunbartonshire. If I can do something in that line, it will be so much better. This will allow me to bring my skills I’ve learned from my job into volunteering, and this will probably be the closest I will ever get to work again.
Donating blood is safe, simple and takes only an hour. Every minute of every day someone in Scotland is receiving blood as part of a life-saving or life-enhancing treatment. Yet, only 5% of the population are active blood donors.
If I can help people to look after others, it’s something I really want to be involved in.
For details of how to donate check out the website www.scotblood.co.uk
The Scottish National Blood Transfusion Service (SNBTS) must welcome 5000 blood donors every week to meet the needs of patients in Scotland. Go on, give it a try.
FOCUS SCOTLAND | 29
FOCUS ON: SOCIETY
How sharing a business model can create suceess for start-ups Eddie Wilkinson Programme Manager, Ditto
S
haring business models is one way of making the start-up journey easier. And for some aspiring social entrepreneurs this is already happening through Scottish social enterprise development agency Firstport’s replication product ‘Ditto’. Funded by Resilient Scotland, Ditto is an off-the-shelf package that helps people set up social enterprises using tried and tested business models. Launched in February 2013, it brings together a valuable package of practical guidelines, industry knowledge and financial advice as well as business advice and support. One of the many advantages of setting up a social enterprise is that people instinctively appreciate what the business stands for. And with consumers increasingly preferring to buy ‘social’, social entrepreneurship is on the rise. But turning a passion into a successful and sustainable business can be challenging. The Ditto concept takes franchising principles from the private sector and applies a softer form of replication in a very localised way. This takes the best from both 30 | FOCUS SCOTLAND
worlds – the private sector’s ability to scale up and replicate business models that work and the ability of social enterprise to respond to the pressing social and economic needs of local communities. By identifying people who have achieved success with their own business models and are willing to share the secrets of their business success, we can offer budding entrepreneurs an advantage. So future entrepreneurs will know which questions to ask before starting out, have realistic expectations of what can be achieved and will understand the resources required to survive. So far Ditto has worked with ten successful social entrepreneurs (model contributors):
FOCUS ON: VOLUNTEERING
• • • • • • • • • •
Café, Home help Service Bakery Child care service Baby goods boutique Bike repair and maintenance service Thrift or charity shop Gardening and landscaping service Craft retailer Community transport service
Since January 2014 Ditto has helped nine social entrepreneurs set up new businesses in Edinburgh, Glasgow, Fife and Dundee. These social enterprises have created local jobs, volunteering places and encouraged people to use and develop local assets. Social entrepreneur Sarah Bolland, who owns Coffee and Craic, Glasgow’s first Gaelic cafe received funding and support from Ditto last year. Sarah said: “Getting onto Firstport’s Ditto programme meant that I received the support, guidance and funding I needed to see my plans become a reality. Coffee and Craic is going from strength to strength and I couldn’t have done it without Firstport’s help.”
SOCIAL ENTERPRISE CENSUS SCOTLAND 2015 A consortium of support bodies and government agencies have come together to launch a high profile and ambitious study. This large-scale Social Enterprise Census will take an official count of the entire population of nonprofit-distributing organisations that are carrying out some level of trading for the good of Scotland. The findings will be made widely available to ensure that this type of enterprising activity is better understood and better supported, and its contribution evident to all. You can take the survey, and get more information at https://www.surveymonkey.com/r/SECensus
SCDC ANTI-SECTARIAN MENTORING/ CO-INQUIRY PROGRAMME
As a result of its success, Ditto has received a funding boost to continue offering tried and tested business models to aspiring social entrepreneurs. The funding will enable Firstport to roll out Ditto to nine more local authority areas, including;
SCDC is offering organisations running, or intending to run, anti-sectarian initiatives the opportunity to be supported by a mentor experienced in the anti-sectarianism field.
• • • • • • • •
Working in the sectarianism field can be tough and many workers involved in this programme are “lone workers” on sectarianism within their organisations. This project looks to share learning, experience and practice ideas between projects by providing mentoring support from experienced practitioners combined with opportunities for learning and practice development.
Clackmannanshire East Ayrshire, Inverclyde, North Ayrshire, Renfrewshire, Lanarkshire, West Dunbartonshire West Lothian
Ditto has a vital role in creating employment opportunities by promoting a low-risk route to starting a social enterprise. Most importantly it will continue to strive to encourage social entrepreneurs to contribute their experience and expertise to empower others to make a difference in their communities. After all, if we’re going to help bring about economic, social and environmental benefits and create more sustainable communities, we need to learn from one another.
SCDC would particularly like to work with projects that are interested in collaboratively developing community-led approaches to tackling sectarianism.
For more information on Ditto visit http://www. firstport.org.uk/ditto
Interest must be registered no later than 12th June.
If you are interested in the mentoring opportunity please visit http://www.scdc.org.uk/news/ article/scdc-anti-sectarian-mentoringco-inquiryprogramme/.
FOCUS SCOTLAND | 31
FOCUS ON: VOLUNTEERING
Focus on: Sophie Warner Volunteering has been a great way to meet other people and gain new skills. I’d recommend it to anyone.
A resident of Yoker, Sophie is 18 and looking forward to a career in fashion and design. This is her volunteering story... I left school in May 2014 and went straight to the training provider Rathbone. They work with young people leaving school and I was there for 3 days a week. They helped me by giving me some training in Health & Safety and helped me to get some work experience. I had hoped that I would get a job at the end of it, but I never got one. On the other days I really didn’t do anything exciting apart from looking for jobs. I hadn’t really thought about volunteering until one day my mum suggested it. She thought it would help me to get out of the house a bit more and that the experience I got would give me something that I could put onto my C.V. since I didn’t really got anything else that I can put on it. I didn’t know much about volunteering; I thought people only volunteered in charity shops. But, I soon realised that there were lots of different kinds of opportunities out there. When I came into the office I wasn’t too sure what to expect, I thought I would be sitting at a desk writing on a computer. I’m not really an office person; I don’t think I could sit at a desk all day, so 32 | FOCUS SCOTLAND
I was surprised by what I have been doing. I decided to volunteer using my creative ideas to help promote the Saltire Awards scheme to other young people like myself in the area. Saltire Awards are a national award scheme, operated in West Dunbartonshire by West Dunbartonshire CVS. It’s been quite different. I’ve been in planning meetings and then meeting with the Saltire Ambassadors, looking into what we can do to promote the Saltire Award further. I’ve found it beneficial because I’ve had the chance to talk to more people and increase my people skills. I’ve always been very quiet. I wouldn’t just walk up to someone and start a conversation. It was also easier to talk to the Saltire Ambassadors as they were all around my own age.
FOCUS ON: VOLUNTEERING We have also been looking into media and promotion with Twitter and flyers. As well as being my volunteering, this will also help with my college work, if I create a design and I want to try and promote it I can use what I have learned. I’m planning to go to Cardonald College in August to study fashion design & manufacturing.
WOMEN’S FUND FOR SCOTLAND
The Women’s Fund for Scotland is calling on all charities and community groups, helping women across Scotland to apply now for grants worth up to £2,000! Organisations eligible to apply for funding from the Women’s Fund for Scotland will be working to improve the health, well-being, employability and self-esteem of women across the country. Telephone - 0141 941 0886 Email - volunteering@wdcvs.com Twitter - SaltireAwardWD
I wasn’t sure what I wanted to do for a career, that’s why I went to Rathbone. I had some work experience in a bridal shop were they designed their own dresses, that’s were I picked up the idea. I have also been interested in Art as well. In the meantime, as well as my volunteering I have recently found a job working in a local restaurant. I hadn’t got round to adding my volunteering to my C.V. when I went for my interview, but I did tell them about it. They thought that it is a good thing, and I think it helped me to get the job. I’m going to be waitressing and doing bar work, so my volunteering has been good experience for all the talking to people I will have to do and has given me confidence. Volunteering has been a great way to meet other people and gain new skills that will be useful with my work and college course. I‘d recommend it to anyone.
The Fund focuses on four themes, building skills and confidence; improving health and well-being; building social networks and moving on from violence. So, if you feel your organisation is working hard to achieve these aims, then don’t hesitate to apply for funding. Shona Blakeley, Development Manager for the Women’s Fund for Scotland said: “It’s our mission to encourage and support women and girls in Scotland to be empowered and to reach their full potential. Organisations working to support women at the grassroots in Scotland should apply now for a chance to receive up to £2,000 worth of funding, because we believe that when we support women everyone will benefit!” For more information on how to apply for a grant simply visit www.womensfundscotland. org. ends For further information please contact: Fiona Dykes t: 0141 341 4960 or email: fionad@ foundationsscotland.org.uk FOCUS SCOTLAND | 33
FOCUS ON: SOCIETY co-ordinated working across agencies is important to ensure care is appropriately delivered and parent’s and carers can be assured they are receiving the help they need when they need it to support the child. A child or parent should not be telling their story over and over again to a range of professional, the process has to be more joined up as we recognise that the earlier we provide the support, and minimise the disruption to the lives of families, the more likely that the situation will not worsen.
What is GIRFEC? GIRFEC is an acronym of Getting it Right for Every Child a Scottish Government policy established in 2007 that seeks to improve outcomes for all children. The policy is expected to change agencies culture, systems and practice to ensure children, young people and their families receive support that is timely, appropriate and proportionate and that service work better together to achieve the best outcomes for children, young people and their families. Is it just about Child Protection? No, it includes Child Protection, however most children get the help and the support they need from their families, friends and communities but there are some children who need that extra help for many reason’s e.g. struggling at school, caring for a sick adult, involvement in gang crime and that additional support should be available. Only a very small minority of children are supported through our Child Protection processes and making sure children and young people get the help when it’s needed is an important step in trying to ensure that their needs are addressed early to stop them going on to become part of the Child Protection processes or the Criminal Justice system. That’s why the policy is termed Getting it Right for Every Child. In August 2016 parts of the GIRFEC policy will become a legal requirement and the Children and Young People (Scotland) Act 2014 will become law. How will it affect parents and carers locally? We are committed to involving parents and carers in decisions that are taken about their child’s care. Some of our processes will change particularly where a child’s needs are complex and a number of agencies require to provide support. This is a difficult time for parents and carers, and for the child themselves, so 34 | FOCUS SCOTLAND
What will the named person provision really mean for parents? Under the terms of the new Act a local authority or Health Board has a duty to provide a Named Person Service. Every Child in West Dunbartonshire will be allocated a Named Person. This is a professional person who is a point of contact for parents and carers who they can turn to for advice and guidance should they be concerned about their child. It also gives the child or young person a level of support and someone to turn to if they are struggling and need help as they might already do in a classroom situation where they may be finding learning difficult. Not all children and young people or parents or carers, will use their Named Person, same as most people only use their GP if they are unwell, but they will know who that person is expect to receive the support required. Parents and Carers should be assured that the focus is on supporting children and young people to be safe, healthy, active, nurtured, achieving, respected, responsible and included. This holistic approach to care is something to be welcomed and services are committed to supporting mums, dads and carers to achieve what is best for their children. If our organisation works with children, is there anything we should be doing? Organisations working with children, and also importantly working with parents or carers, need to be knowledgeable of the policy and the Act to ensure they are compliant. The need to look at their policies, processes and practice and ensure their service is delivered within the principles of GIRFEC and to ensure those they work with, other services, are aligned with GIRFEC to improve joint working when it is required. The service should be ‘child centred’ and holistic in its approach to care considering all the wellbeing factors where a child’s life chances may be compromised and not to focus on ‘what they can provide’ but ‘what the child needs are’ and to ensure they work, with others as necessary, to meet those needs. For more information see http://www.gov.scot/Topics/ People/Young-People/gettingitright
my boss
believedin me when I didn’t
For someone with a mental health problem, what you do makes a difference. Be there. Be yourself. People with mental health problems can sometimes be treated unfairly at work. By being supportive of colleagues with mental health problems, you can help change this. You can make a real difference.
LET’S STOP THE STIGMA OF MENTAL ILL HEALTH
www.seemescotland.org
JACKIE ROSS
Administration Volunteer
STAR APPEAL
Rolling out the red carpet for volunteers throughout Scotland If you would like to be a star in your community visit www.volunteerscotland.org .uk contact us on 0141 941 0886 or text Volunteer to 80800