contactSCOTLAND-BSL – What is it?  Can my service/business use it?  Is it free?  How can I make my service accessible?

We have set up a series of webinar-style information sessions to answer these and many more questions.

Check out our webpage for more information and to book a place: Webinars - Contact Scotland BSL (contactscotland-bsl.org) There’s one a month for the next 6 months.

ContactSCOTLAND-BSL: Scotland’s national online British Sign Language Interpreting Video Relay Service (VRS) – bridging the gap between sign language users and hearing service providers. (Scottish Government funded)

NESS Sensory Awareness Training

Designed to replicate as much of our one day, face-to-face training as possible, our Sensory Awareness Training (or sight loss and hearing loss awareness training), raises awareness of the practical and emotional impact of sight loss and/or hearing loss, while introducing some of the ways that someone with a sight and/or hearing loss might maintain their independence.  It provides a comprehensive overview of sight loss and hearing loss, including Deafness and deafblindness, giving you the knowledge and the confidence to be supportive and inclusive of people with a sensory impairment.  More information is on our website (opens in a new window).

Involvement in the Mental Health and Substance Use Pathfinder Project – Phase 1

What we are doing

Over the next few weeks we will be listening to how people who provide support and/or services to people who have mental health and drug/alcohol support needs.  This may include NHS, Primary care, voluntary services, community services, or other types of community supports in Dundee. 

NHS Tayside and Dundee City Health and Social Care Partnership (HSCP), together with Healthcare Improvement Scotland and local third sector organisations will then work with people who deliver these services and community supports, and the people who use them to design new pathways that improve the outcomes, access and experience for people.

What we are asking of you / how you can get involved

We would like to find out more about your experiences of delivering these services. This includes-

·       How you experience the services you are involved in delivering

·       the ways in which the outcomes for people are supported or impacted by how services are structured

·       the connections they have with other services or supports, and

·       any gaps or challenges you experience in being able to access other services or in connecting people with the right support for them.

If you choose to take part, one or two members of the Healthcare Improvement Scotland team will have a conversation with you.  The conversation will take no longer than 50 minutes and will be recorded either by note taking or by audio recording.

You can have the conversation by online video chat or by telephone call.

Who can take part

We would like to speak with anyone who has current experience of delivering services or support to people who have mental health and alcohol/drug support needs in Dundee.

How what you tell us will be used

We will use the information you give us to anonymously inform the work of NHS Tayside and Dundee City HSCP who are working to develop a new integrated support pathway (or multiple pathways) for people that will improve the experience for people who need both mental health and alcohol or drug support services.

The information you provide will be used to develop a range of materials that will help illustrate both how people use and journey through services and supports currently and the experience of people who deliver the services. We will use this to identify where there are opportunities to make improvements to the experience of these.

Anything you tell us will be anonymised unless you give us permission to use your personal details.  We may use your anonymised comments in full or in part at workshops to help in the development of new ways of delivering these services. We may also use your comments in reports or documents about the project and as part of future education.

How the information will be stored and for how long

We will store any personal information you provide in a secure electronic location and hold it for a maximum of 12 months. Following that it will be deleted.

This opportunity is entirely voluntary, so you do not have to take part and you do not have to give us a reason why if you would prefer not to.

How to contact us to take part

Let us know you would like to take part by telling the person who invited you, or by contacting us at:

Healthcare Improvement Scotland

MHSU Pathfinder Project

Email: his.transformationalredesign@nhs.scot

Tel: Diane Graham on 0797 2773 994

Regional Transport Strategy Consultation

Tactran, the regional transport partnership covering the Angus, Dundee, Perth & Kinross and Stirling Council areas, has started work on a new Regional Transport Strategy (RTS) and would welcome your views to inform its development. The RTS provides a complementary role to the Council’s Local Transport Strategy, helping identify and bring forward regionally significant transport developments, for example, those transport issues that apply across local authority boundaries.

The process will be ongoing for over a year, with three principal consultation phases planned (i.e. issues, options, strategy). The first stage of this work is to seek views on the problems, opportunities, issues and constraints that should be considered, and we would be grateful if you could assist by answering the questions posed at the end of the Main Issues Consultation Report. 

Input will be captured from stakeholders throughout the whole process, so if your group or organisation is willing to provide input collectively, please advise by contacting info@dvva.scot, and we can discuss how and when we can best help capture your input during the process

For any further information, please contact: jonathanpadmore@tactran.gov.uk.

Social enterprise awarded Scottish Government funding to provide subsidised places on social entrepreneurship training programme 

The Circle, a multi-award-winning social enterprise, has received Scottish Government funding to provide 25 subsidised places, aimed at giving business and social entrepreneurship training to young people under-30, people in rural communities, and those working in the environmental space.

The training, given by The Circle Academy, is a 12-week online programme for individuals, start-ups and organisations, who want their business to have a social impact, while operating in a commercially sustainable way. 

The Circle Academy is an accredited programme focused on developing skills in business planning, governance, finance, marketing, funding and pitching - with social impact.

Participants will graduate with a business plan and a marketing strategy.  They will also have the chance to receive an SCQF level 7 qualification in social entrepreneurship, and the opportunity to pitch for investment for their business.

The groups targeted by the funding, are in line with key areas identified in Scotland’s Social Enterprise Action Plan. 

The Circle’s Academy Manager, Jenny McCarthy said: 

“We’re delighted to be able to offer these free spaces thanks to the support of The Scottish Government. This is a great opportunity for us to help people build organisations that can make a long-lasting impact and to support with the recovery and rebuilding of the third sector.” 

Academy graduate and Dundee gallery owner, Kathryn Rattray (of Kathryn Rattray Gallery) said:

 "The Circle Academy changed my thinking, in fact, I would go so far as to say it changed my life." 

Social Justice Secretary Shona Robison said:

“The Circle Academy has a reputation for developing the skills and experiences of our social entrepreneurs and we look forward to seeing them progress as their businesses and enterprises launch and grow.”

The Circle are now accepting applications online.

You can find out more about the programme by contacting The Circle’s Academy Manager at academy@thecircledundee.org.uk   

Trail Therapy Project

Are you a third sector organisation supporting people recovering from a period of mental ill health or reduced wellbeing and are looking for a nature-based, complementary therapy that could really benefit those within your care?

We would like to draw your attention to an innovative and exciting new project utilising mountain biking as a tool to help individuals in their recovery, Trail Therapy.  Developing Mountain Biking in Scotland and Scottish Cycling, with support from Nature Scot through their Natural Health Service, Green Health Partnership have recently launched this programme with a dedicated Trail Therapy Mountain Bike Leader in post and a cohort of volunteers waiting in the wings to support delivery.  They are now in the position to roll out their trail Therapy Project ( https://www.dmbins.com/developing/news/new-mtb-mental-health-%E2%80%98trail-therapy%E2%80%99-project-%E2%80%93-ready-to-ride ) to include Trail Prescription and are looking for clients that would benefit from this type of support.

This project follows on from an extremely successful pilot project in the Tweed Valley in 2018.  The team continued to press forward to ensure that the benefits of this type of complementary intervention can be adopted to help more people across Scotland and are delighted to be currently focussing on Dundee.  No MTB skills are necessary and all equipment including bikes are provided to the clients involved.

Please get in touch with christine.fox@scottishcycling.org.uk if you are interested in this. We do have limited capacity in this first year but please don’t let that put you off expressing an interest, we’d love to hear from you.

Dundee Access Group: Get in Touch 

The primary aim of Dundee Access Group is to ensure that people with disabilities can enjoy as many of the facilities of Dundee as possible.

To do this

• we suggest ways in which shops and public buildings can be altered to ensure that, wherever possible, people with disabilities can gain access to them.
• we liaise with Dundee Council when new buildings are planned and when existing buildings are altered.
• we give advice on disability issues when consulted.
• we are affiliated to Disability Equality Scotland (previously known as Scottish Disability Equality Forum) which has a mission of making Scotland fully accessible.

Who Cares Scotland April 2021

What is independent advocacy?

Independent advocacy is about speaking up for an individual or group. It is a way to help young people have a stronger voice and as much control as possible over their own lives. We can help them speak to their social worker, Children’s Panel members, carers, or teachers.

Who do we work with in Dundee?

We work alongside children and young people who are:

Looked after away from home, Looked after at home, In kinship care, In foster care or a Care leaver up to the age of 26.

Referrals may come from:

Young people who are looked after at home or away from home, Care leavers up to the age of 26, Any professional or carer or a parent. You can make a referral through our website, https://www.whocaresscotland.org/get-involved/get-advocacy/ or you can contact our Dundee Admin Assistant Andrew Lorimer on 07864727988 or our National Office on 0141 226 4441

Contact the Dundee Team


Leah Strachan
Advocacy & Participation Worker
07976 738 663
lstrachan@whocaresscotland.org

Paul Lamont
Advocacy & Participation Worker
07787 436 681
plamont@whocaresscotland.org

Kelly Laing
Advocacy & Participation Worker
07748 494 341
klaing@whocaresscotland.org

A Young Person’s Testimonial:
The support I have received from Who Cares? Scotland, even in my worst days and best days has been unmatched. They are a consistent support for me to always be able to turn to, I have never been denied support, I have always been guided to the right person for the right support. I have been involved with Who Cares? Scotland for 7-8 years now and it is developing so much over the years. The one thing that will stay with me is my very last panel as a looked after young person, Leah attended it and fought for me to get off my Compulsory Supervision Order in order for me to follow my dreams into higher education in music in England, I got my dream and that’s thanks to the advocacy I received from Who Cares? Scotland. 😊

Community Capacity & Resilience Fund

• How they will help bring organisations together in partnership to support people
• How they will develop people’s ability to prevent themselves from reaching crisis point
• Who will be supported by the activity
• What impact the activity will have on people locally in mitigating welfare reform, and on the way in which the organisation operates 

• £300,000 fund, split over 2 rounds.
• Applicants must be an organisation or group working with communities, who are not for profit and are formally constituted with a bank account.
• Delivered as a partnership between VisitScotland and Museums Galleries Scotland with support from the National Lottery Heritage Fund.
• Applications are through the Museums Galleries Scotland website, and applicants must first register online to create an account before making an application.

• community cafes
• community hubs
• faith buildings
• public halls
• community halls and centres.

• free advice and support to develop renewable energy schemes, or to secure and manage income from renewables
• advice on funding streams
• support to access CARES funding
• support to access the Energy Investment Fund (post-consent loans).

Volunteering Support Fund 2021-2024

The Scottish Government’s Volunteering Support Fund is now open for applications.  The £3.3 million Fund will be delivered on its behalf by Impact Funding Partners over the next 3 years.  Organisations can apply for up to £30,000 to March 2024.

The fund is geared towards organisations in Scotland with an annual income of under £250,000.  It will enable Scotland’s small to medium sized third sector organisations to recruit additional volunteers who will contribute towards delivering a new volunteering project, or extending/expanding an existing one, and improve how volunteers are supported in their role.

The fund will support organisations to deliver on four key outcomes:

-       Increase diversity in the third sector’s volunteer pool, to particularly include people who experience disadvantage or would traditionally experience barriers to volunteering

-       Improve governance, leadership and financial knowledge of organisations through the recruitment of skilled volunteers to enhance the third sector's capacity

-       Improve organisational capacity to provide opportunities for skills and personal development through volunteering

-       Enhance services delivered by organisations to better meet the needs of the communities they serve

 A full overview of the fund plus information on how to apply can be found on Impact Funding Partners website:  https://bit.ly/3AAqcaT