This series delves into the theme of courageous leadership. In this first episode we ask Rami Okasha, Chief Executive of Children’s Hospices Across Scotland (CHAS), what this means to him, what the hallmarks of courageous leadership are and who and what has shaped him on his leadership journey. We will also touch on how COVID-19 has changed leadership and what the third sector needs from its leaders in this time.

CHAS offers a full family support for babies, children and young people with life-shortening conditions. This included palliative care, family respite and support through hospices, homecare services and hospital presence. Here Rami shares his views on Courageous Leadership.

In this first episode, six members of staff from the Community Links Practitioner programme provide input on, 'What is the Links Approach?' The episode will provide some context around the creation of the programme and its purpose. Listeners will then have the opportunity to hear directly from CLPs about the day to day aspects of their roles.

The Makes Links Podcast will showcase what it means to be a Community Links Practitioner and the myriad of tasks and skills that are required to perform the role. The podcast will also invite guests from GP practices and members of the communities where the CLPs are based to discuss how the presence of CLPs are making an impact on the delivery of community care and support.

The My World My Health project aims to shine a light on the things that contribute to our wellbeing, but aren't necessarily 'medical' in nature. For example, we might all think of medications, doctors and hospitals as having an obvious impact on our health. We might perhaps even consider diet and exercise. But what about our employment, home life and even the community or society that we live in?

We do not want to move the discussion away from clinical data completely. Instead, we want to broaden it by thinking about the wider factors that influence our wellbeing. Furthermore, we want to consider how we might better use information that is already known.

How do you feel about this type of data sharing? And if it seems like a good thing to explore in some contexts, how should it be designed so it gives you control and also helps you in practical ways? These are some of the questions we will be exploring with the public as part of this project, in partnership with the Digital Health and Care Innovation Centre.

To get involved, you can take part in one of our upcoming workshops or fill in the online survey. 

This project is commissioned by Nesta on behalf of the Scottish Government. 

Dr Sarah Fox from Manchester Metropolitan university on her research on supporting women with histories of substance use and domestic abuse.

Hame is a youth-led organisation based in Dundee supporting young people at risk of homelessness. The project has won support and funding to develop 30 new homes designed with and for young people in Dundee. Young tenants will be fully involved in decision making and will be able to gain skills and work experience in their own organisation.

Telling us more about the project and how a co-design methodology has helped the young people feel safe and call a house a hame is Allison Fyfe, Project Lead and Bobby, one of the Care Experienced Advisors.

This podcast has been recorded as part of Co-production Week Scotland. The week is about bringing people together to share ideas, learning and stories about how co-production puts people and communities at the heart of the support and services they’re a part of.

“Taking that time to sit by the seaside, or to wander through a forest, or whatever it is, absolutely it centres you, and it makes you feel at peace. And it does wonders for my condition and my wellbeing.”

For Self Care Week, listen to this podcast with Vicki Cloney, CVS Inverclyde Partnership Facilitator, interviewed by Carmen Paputa-Dutu, ALLIANCE Development Officer. Vicki talks about the benefits of getting out in nature to mental health. She also discusses the benefits of using her new power chair which allows her to get out for longer with her service dog Alina and prioritise her energy for work and family time, and the challenges of navigating town and country using the chair.

In this podcast, Martin shares his story of battling his addiction to gambling. Martin takes us through the years of his life in the grip of his addiction that included many painful losses most notably the tragic passing of his son. Listeners will also hear about the difficult journey of giving up gambling and, now in recovery, Martin shares his work in raising awareness of the addiction and why a publich health approach is needed to reduce gambling harm. 

This podcast is being published as part of Safer Gambling Week through the Scotland Reducing Gambling Harm programme. A Scotland-wide programme to put the voice of people affected by gambling harms at the heart of action to reduce those harms.

For World Kindness Day, Ben Thurman from the Carnegie UK Trust shares some of the learning from their work on kindness, including examples of or the impact of kindness from during the COVID-19 pandemic and some reflections on creating a ‘kindness culture’ in our workplaces.

Find out more about the Carnegie UK Trust’s Kinder Communities project: https://www.carnegieuktrust.org.uk/project/kinder-communities/

Read the recent kindness case study from North Ayrshire which Ben mentions: https://www.carnegieuktrust.org.uk/publications/north-ayrshire-a-case-study-on-kindness/

For World Stroke Day 2020, we are sharing some information from our members, Stroke Association, about their recent work and how you can get involved with their organisation or access support. Stroke Association have recently launched an online Stroke Café to facilitate peer support, have done research about the impact of the pandemic on stroke survivors and are working tirelessly to advocate for and support stroke survivors.

Useful links:

Open Letter in response to Recovery at Risk Report: https://www.stroke.org.uk/stroke-recoveries-at-risk-report

Stroke Association Helpline: 0303 3033 100

Get in touch with Stroke Association Scotland: [email protected]

For self management week we spoke to Heather McCartney, a volunteer at see me, Nick Jedrzejewski, also from see me and Angie Ferguson, CEO of Perth Autism Support.

For our discussion today we’ll be talking about the experience of those living with social anxiety during the pandemic, as well as looking at the impact of lockdown on people’s mental health more generally.

We hear how both See Me and Perth Autism Support have adapted their services throughout the pandemic to respond to the changing needs of those they support and looked to the future to talk about the long lasting effects of the changes to the way mental health and the stigma around it has been talked about during the pandemic.