Welcome to the April Network Newsletter!

​​​​Welcome to the April edition of the Network newsletter and a big hello and welcome to any new subscribers! We only have just over a week to go before our annual conference and awards. Congratulations to our 6 finalists and we are really looking forward to seeing everyone in Glasgow on Wednesday 7 May.

The Scottish Community Link Worker Network is the national network, developed and facilitated by Voluntary Health Scotland for primary care community link working in Scotland.

Please visit our webpage for the latest blogs, reports and information about the Network. You can follow us on Twitter @ScotCLWnetwork and don't forget to share your news and updates with us. 

Events, Workshops and Training

Scottish Community Link Worker Network Events

Don't forget that you can find booking details, presentations and key messages from all of our SCLWN events on our events page. We will be putting together our programme of events for 2025-6 in the next few weeks, so please watch this space!

Introduction to Neurodiversity Workshop - key messages and resources
It was great to see so many CLWs at our Introduction to Neurodiversity Workshop earlier this month which was led by Nelly Whaley from Salvesen Mindroom.   If you missed out, you can find all the key messages, resources and presentations here.

SCLWN Annual Conference and Awards - 7 May - limited spaces
Our 2025 Annual Conference will take place on Wednesday 7 May at the Radisson Blu Hotel in Glasgow featuring keynote speakers Neil Gray, Cabinet Secretary for Health and Social Care and Gordon MacRae, Assistant Director, Shelter Scotland.  We only have a small number of places still available. If you are not a member of the Network and are interested in finding out more about the Conference or taking up one of our exhibition places, please email Roisin or Lauren.

SCLWN Knowledge Exchange - 29 May
Our next Knowledge Exchange will take place on 29 May and feature speakers from Bowel Cancer UK, Action Against Stalking and The Palliative Care Alliance. You can find out more information and book your place here.

YGam - Gaming and Gambling Harm Prevention Training - 24 June
The Scottish Community Link Worker Network is working with award-winning charity Ygam to offer CLWs City and Guilds Gaming and Gambling Harm Prevention Training in June.  The timing of this training is particularly pertinent with the recent release of the Public Health Scotland Healthcare Needs Assessment of Gambling Harm in Scotland. This document also recommends the new NICE Guidelines on this topic, which say the following:

“Health and social care professionals should consider asking people about gambling (even if they have no obvious risk factors for gambling-related harm) when asking them about smoking, alcohol consumption or use of other substances (for example, as part of a holistic assessment or health check, when registering for a service such as with a GP or in contacts with social services).”

In addition, 83% of 8-25-year-olds game at least three times a week (with 58% gaming every single day), and there was a 3-fold increase in referrals for support for gaming disorder between 2019 and 2020.

Ygam’s workshop will help CLWs to open up conversations on these topics (which can be tricky to do due to the shame and stigma associated with them), as well as providing guidance on how to support and signpost a patient who is experiencing gaming or gambling harm.

Book your place here: Healthcare Professionals Ygam Workshops for SLWN – 24.06.2025 – 09:30 – 12:00

Other Events, Training and Resources

Public Health Scotland Strategy Consultation - 13 May
Voluntary Health Scotland (VHS) in collaboration with Public Health Scotland is hosting an event for its members to enable them to directly influence the direction of Public Health Scotland's next strategy. Book your place here.

Voices of Health Creation: Garden Lobby Reception - 14 May
VHS and the Cross Party Group for Health Inequalities will be hosting an evening reception at the Scottish Parliament, sponsored by Emma Harper MSP.  The event is designed to bring together health experts and leaders to recognise the role we play as Health Creators. The guest speaker will be Jenni Minto, Minister for Public Health and Women’s Health. Find out more information and book your place here.

Cerebral Palsy Information Session - 14 May
Cerebral palsy information sessions are educational CPD events offered for those working with children, young people or adults who have cerebral palsy. The session will give an overview of the different types of cerebral palsy and principles for treatment using the Bobath Concept. Click here for more information and to register.

Children in Scotland’s Annual Conference - 28-29 May
The Children in Scotland Annual Conference will once again bring together diverse voices from across the children’s sector to share best practice, explore innovative ideas and build on our collective aim of creating a country where children and young people have an equal chance to flourish.  Click here to book.

Cross Party Group on Health Inequalities Meeting - 4 June
The next hybrid meeting of the Cross Party Group on Health Inequalities will take place on 4 June from 1-2.30 pm.  The meeting will be chaired by Co-convenor Brian Whittle MSP and its focus will be Barriers to Physical Activity and Health Inequalities. We are delighted to be joined by guest speakers Dr David Meir from the University of the West of Scotland and Dr David Scott from Abertay University.  More information here.

NHS Lothian Bereavement Support Awareness Event - 5 June
Come along on 5 June to learn more about bereavement support organisations in Edinburgh and the Lothians. This NHS event is aimed at anyone who may come into contact with someone who has been bereaved, such as healthcare workers, frontline workers, line managers, HR departments and volunteer organisations. This is a free ticketed event - book your place here.

NHS Scotland Conference - 9 June - save the date!
This year’s NHS Scotland Event will take place on Monday 9 June at the
Technology & Innovation Centre at the University of Strathclyde.  The programme will be delivered in a hybrid format, giving delegates the option to attend in-person or remotely.  More information here.

Obesity Action Scotland Conference - 10 June
Obesity Action Scotland and Scottish Obesity Alliance are holding an in-person conference on 10 June in Glasgow. The theme of the conference is 'Healthy Food Environment: Time to Deliver'. Find out more about the day here.

Getting Bereavement Right Every Time - 11 June
NHS Education Scotland is hosting a free virtual online session which aims to provide coverage of a range of bereavement topics, at entry level. The session will be relevant to staff working across health and social care, including those who are in a non-client/patient-facing role.  Find out more information and book your place.

Scottish Families Affected by Alcohol and Drugs
Rebecca Bradley has written a blog about the support that Scottish Families can provide to those families who are affected by a loved one's substance misuse. The blog also includes some information specifically for CLWs. Read Rebecca's blog here.

Pregnant Then Screwed - Support and Resources
Pregnant Then Screwed is an organisation that fights to end the Motherhood Penalty by campaigning for improved childcare, ending maternity and pregnancy discrimination, improved shared parental leave and flexible working, and allowing women access to justice. In October 2023 the charity launched Pregnant Then Screwed Scotland, and it works alongside parents across Scotland to end the gender pay gap. They campaign for better childcare, and give a voice and support to mothers who feel they need it.

MS Awareness Week 2025
The theme for this year’s MS Awareness Week which takes place from 28 April to 4 May is #MSConversations. Talking about multiple sclerosis (MS) isn’t always easy. That’s why eight charities are working with members of the MS community and will be sharing resources, tips and real life stories to make those conversations easier. 

Mental Health Awareness Week 
Imagine a world where everyone feels supported with their mental health at home, school, and work. During this year's Mental Health Awareness Week, which takes place from 12-18 May, Mental Health UK is working to make that vision a reality by showcasing the power of community in helping everyone take care of our mental health.  More here.

National Walking Month
Living Streets is inviting you to discover the #MagicOfWalking and celebrate the many health and happiness benefits of walking and wheeling. National Walking Month will take place in May and will also host Living Streets' Walk to School Week, when hundreds of thousands of children discover the #MagicOfWalking to school. More here.

News from across the Network

SCLWN Awards 2025 - finalists announced!
Thank you to everyone who submitted a nomination for our first annual awards. Our judges, Justina Murray, Chief Executive of Scottish Families Affected by Alcohol and Drugs, and Christine Carlin, Chair of VHS, were really impressed with the entries. We now have our three finalists for both categories:

Scottish CLW Team of the Year

• Aberdeenshire Mental Health and Wellbeing Improvement CLW Team
• CVS Inverclyde CLW Team
• Stirling & Clackmannanshire CLW Team

Outstanding Community Link Worker of the Year

• Sophie Carmichael, Pilton Community Health Project (Edinburgh CLW Network)
• Dawn Craig, Carr Gomm (Edinburgh CLW Network)
• Liam McGinlay, Sources of Support (Dundee)

We will be sharing more information about our finalists in the lead up to our conference and on the day itself.  You can see photos of a couple of our finalists - Sophie and the Stirling and Clacks team (above) and the team from CVS Inverclyde (below) Our winners will be announced at the Conference next week.

Stirling Community Link Worker Team launches new patient video
The Stirling CLW team has launched another powerful patient video, demonstrating the impact that CLWs have on patients' lives. Watch Emma's CLW story and please do share with colleagues.

Roisin's blog for CHEX highlights the role of CLWs in early intervention
Roisin has written a blog for the Community Health Exchange (CHEX) newsletter, highlighting the importance of community link workers as the essential connectors between patients, communities and primary care. However, even as early intervention remains a key policy driver in Scotland, she stresses that the funding landscape for CLW remains uncertain. In her blog she states. "A recurrent theme we hear from CLWs, has been in relation to the lack of a clear national strategy for community link working and social prescribing."

Network Teams Channel
We now have two Teams channels, one for CLWs and one for programme leads to enable everyone to ask questions and share resources. If you want to be added to one of the Teams channel, please contact Roisin.

SPICe Blog on Community Link Working in Scotland
The Parliament's SPICe team has published a blog on Scotland's community link workers. The blog will awareness of the role of community link workers among their readership, which is mainly MSPs and their staff.

Other News

SAMH launches walk-in Mental Health Support Hubs programme
Scottish Action for Mental Health (SAMH) has announced the launch of the first ever network of walk-in mental health support hubs in Scotland through a £10m project called the Nook. The project aims to remove the need for people to book an appointment, obtain NHS referrals or be put on waiting lists. The first Nook will be based at SAMH headquarters in Glasgow with further Nooks planned for Aberdeen, Edinburgh, Inverclyde and Lanarkshire.  

Pension Age Disability Payment opens for applications
The Scottish Government has highlighted that Pension Age Disability Payment is now open for applications across Scotland. Pension Age Disability Payment is for disabled people or those with a long-term health condition which means they need help looking after themselves or supervision to stay safe. It is available to people of State Pension age and is also available to pensioners who are terminally ill. Those currently receiving Attendance Allowance do not need to take any action as the transfer will happen automatically.

Auditor General details pressures facing general practice in Scotland
The Auditor General has published a report on general practice and progress since the 2018 General Medical Services (GMS) contract. The report stresses the Government has not been transparent enough about the progress made since 2018 and has not set out whether or when it will implement the outstanding GMS contract commitments. Additionally, it notes the data the Government needs to make informed decisions on general practice planning and investment is inadequate, which is described as a long-standing issue. CLWs from the Network met with Audit Scotland last year in two workshops to feed their thoughts into the report.

Social Prescribing Academy launches European Project
The Social Prescribing Academy has joined 21 other health and research organisations to launch the Social Prescribing EU Programme. The programme will be funded by a €6.9 million grant from Horizon Europe and the European Commission, and led by Charité in Berlin. The five-year programme aims to improve access to health and care services for LGBTIQ people, refugees and first-generation immigrants and older adults who live on their own. 

Scottish Government NHS Scotland operational improvement plan
The Scottish Government has published the operational improvement plan for NHS Scotland, detailing actions to improve specific aspects of NHS Scotland delivery to build on NHS board planning for 2025-26. Neil Gray has noted the plan focuses on four critical aspects of: improving access to treatment, shifting the balance of care, digital and technological innovation and prevention.