Welcome to the October Network Newsletter!

The Newsletter brings together news, stories and events which we hope will be of interest to the Network. 

In this month's edition we have exciting news about our first annual Network Conference. We also have some lovely news stories from across the Network.  

The Scottish Community Link Worker Network is the national network, developed and facilitated by VHS, for primary care community link working in Scotland. Please visit our webpage for the latest blogs, reports and information about the Network. And don't forget to follow us on Twitter @ScotCLWnetwork

Events, Workshops and Training

Scottish Community Link Worker Network Conference 2023 - save the date!

We now have a date booked in for our first Scottish Community Link Worker Network Conference which will take place on Wednesday 24th May 2023 at The Studio, Hope Street, Glasgow.  This will be a fantastic opportunity for the Network to come together in-person for the first time. We will be working with the Network's Advisory and Working Groups to plan an interesting and thought-provoking event. We want the conference to be a celebration of the achievements of community link workers in supporting their communities and working alongside primary care colleagues to address health inequalities. The event will also enable the exchange of good practice between community link workers from across the country. More information will follow, but please save the date in your diaries for now.

VHS Annual Conference Poster Winners

Congratulations to The Alliance Community Links Worker Programme who won our poster competition at our annual conference 'Fair Health - Who Gets It' yesterday. You can read their blog and see their poster and the other finalists here It was great to see so many people at the conference yesterday including a number of link workers from the Network. We will be writing up key messages from the day and will share this in next month's newsletter.

Audit Scotland: focus groups on mental health services review

Audit Scotland will be conducting two focus groups with the Scottish Community Link Worker Network on 10th and 15th November. The focus groups will be part of their audit which is looking across the wide range of services that aim to support and improve the mental health and wellbeing of adults in Scotland. The overall aim of their performance audit is to answer the following question: how effectively are adult mental health services across Scotland being delivered?

You can find out more information about the audit scope here. Places on the focus groups are limited to 15 to ensure maximum engagement. For more information about the focus groups, please go to our events page

Families Outside National Conference 2022 - Hidden in Plain Sight - The Cost of Imprisonment to Families

Families Outside which supports families impacted by imprisonment is hosting its national conference on 16th November. Hidden in Plain Sight - The Cost of Imprisonment to Families will allow delegates to: 

• Hear more about the cost of imprisonment to children and families
• Network and hear from other professionals working with families affected by imprisonment
• Learn more about the part they can play to support families

For more information about the conference and to book a place, please click here

Sarah Rogers from Families Outside has also written a blog for our Network's webpages which has lots more information about the support they can provide to families impacted by imprisonment, training resources which Community Link Workers can access and how Community Link Workers can refer people who may need their help. You can read it here

NES Bereavement Conference - exploring bereavement from a new perspective - 24th November 2022

Join NHS Education for Scotland for their third annual bereavement conference - a free, one-day virtual event for all health and social care staff. The Conference will be opened by Jason Leitch, Scotland's National Clinical Director and the keynote speaker will be Michael Rosen, author of ‘Many Different Kinds of Love: A story of life, death and the NHS.’   You can view the  Conference Programme and book a place.

Highlights from the Network

Edinburgh's Community Link Workers celebrate their 5th anniversary

Edinburgh's Community Link Worker Programme held an event recently to celebrate 5 years of their Network and to launch their Annual Review for 2021-22.The event which was chaired by the broadcaster and journalist Pennie Taylor featured presentations from Edinburgh's CLWs and programme leads as well as taster workshops. The photo above shows Alison Leitch, Assistant Service Manager talking about what they have achieved over the last 5 years. The event finished with a panel discussion on social prescribing which emphasised the importance of raising wider awareness of the impact of social prescribing and community link working and more sustainable funding for the third sector. Congratulations to Edinburgh on their fantastic achievements and you can follow the Edinburgh CLW programme on Twitter @Edinburgh_CLW 

'Tee'd off' - how one CLW is using golf to help people's wellbeing

Wullie Pearson is a Community Link Worker with we are with you and is based in Cairntoul Medical Practice in Glasgow. Wullie has recently set up the 'Tee'd Off' golf group to support people's mental health and wellbeing.  

“I was getting a lot of referrals for people living in isolation and struggling with their mental health. As a keen golfer for over 30 years I know the benefits this game can have on people's health and wellbeing. Golf can have a really positive impact on motivating people out of isolation and engaging with their community. It can improve people's mental health and physical health, helping to improve confidence, self-esteem and anxiety."

You can read more about Wullie's project and its impact as well as see some photos of the group in action on our Network's webpage here

The Power of Walking - Necropolis Walk in Glasgow

Kirsty McDonald and Lynsey Brodie who are Community Links Workers with the Alliance in Glasgow have written a blog about the health walks they organised in the city in September as part of self-management week.

September 2022 was Self Management Month for the Alliance and a series of events promoting self-management health and wellbeing was organised. The Links Worker Programme had a walking tour of Glasgow Necropolis to bring together the 15 Health Walk groups run by Links Workers in the city and to highlight the health and wellbeing benefits of walking.

The walk was attended by 58 people including walkers from the Health Walk groups, Walk Leaders, the Good Move Walking Team from Glasgow Life and our Paths for All Development Officer. We had a lovely day of end of summer sunshine for our walk on 21st September and enjoyed a buffet lunch together after the walk to regroup and have time to chat to other people.

The Links Worker Programme has an annual summer walk bringing together the various walking groups across the city. We weren’t able to do this since 2019 so it was a really special day for us, being able to bring our groups together again to encourage walking, talking and meeting new people to help us all self-manage our health and wellbeing. 

You can see some lovely photos from the walk and read some quotes from those that took part via the Network's webpages here

Link Life Fife - One Year On

Alison Beaty, Project Support Officer at Link Life Fife looks back on their first year

It has been twelve months since link workers across the 7 localities of Fife began supporting people to connect with a range of services in Fife.  Link Life Fife (LLF) assists those with mental ill health to connect with appropriate community-led support services through methods of enablement. The service accepts referrals from primary care workers based in GP surgeries for 18+ adults. Alongside improving wellbeing through relevant community connections, it aims to reduce pressure on GP services and cut down on unnecessary medical prescribing.

Referrals can be complex and multifaceted, with assistance needed for everything from housing and financial support to overcoming loneliness and isolation. The LLF service connects people with organisations and groups that can provide the support to make positive life changes, with particular emphasis on improving their mental health.

Over twelve months, LLF has seen a steady increase in referrals, particularly from the Mental Health Triage Nurses. LLF is now working through various ‘test for change’ conditions with specific GP surgeries to see how the service should further develop.

The link workers also spend time each week at The Well in their locality. The Well is a Fife Health and Social Care Partnership community led support programme and has recently employed two link workers to work across all nine Wells in Fife. The service is for anyone 16+ looking for advice and support and allows people to speak to a range of H&SC professionals to discuss enquiries in relation to their health and wellbeing.

As LLF reflects on its first year of service, one of the key concerns identified from service users, after emotional health concerns, is that loneliness and isolation are the next biggest stressors in people’s lives; perhaps a shadow still cast on society following the impacts of Covid. Physical health, housing, family relationships and financial worries follow on from there.

To stay safe and support each other, the link workers utilise TEAMS throughout their working day. If there are any concerns about a face-to-face meeting with a referral, they arrange to meet in a public location, organise to meet through near-me or phone calls, or work in pairs.

Moving forwards, LLF hopes to introduce a case management system to support the evaluation of the project, increase referrals by 45% and secure the future of the service.  Referrals to the service are growing daily, as it becomes more widely known about, and feedback from people referred is encouraging:

“You talk to me like a real person, not a person with mental [ill] health, that’s the difference.”

“The service has been brilliant. Interacting with yourself has helped me. Someone like you who gives options, you don’t get a clear picture online of what is out there, talking to you, you do.”

Scottish Community Link Worker Network Working Group - new members required!

Two of our working group members have had to step down recently, due to moving on to new roles and/or other commitments. So we are looking for some new CLWs to take their place on the group. We already have representation from CLWs from North Ayrshire, Arran, Edinburgh, Fife, Renfrewshire, Dumfries and Galloway and Forth Valley, so it would be good to get CLWs from other areas. The Working Group helps to plan the Network's activity for the year. Over the coming months it will also play an important role in helping us to plan our first Scottish Community Link Worker Network Conference which will take place next May in Glasgow. We normally meet online once every two months. If you would be interested in finding out more about the Working Group, then please contact Roisin for more information.