Welcome to the November Network Newsletter!

Welcome to the October edition of the newsletter which as always brings together news, stories and events relevant to the Network. In this month's edition, you can read the report on the first year of Shetland's Community Link Worker Programme and also hear about NHS Highland's expansion of their Community Link Worker programme.

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. Finally let Roisin know if you have new CLWs in post so that she can add them to the Network's updates.

Events, Workshops and Training

Scottish CLW Network Events

Don't forget that you can find details, presentations and key messages from all of our events on the events page.

Save the Date - Knowledge Exchange - 29 January 2025,10am-12noon
Our 9th Knowledge Exchange will feature speakers from Breast Cancer Now, The Music Network and Palliative Care Scotland. Find out more information and book your place here.

Scottish Community Link Worker Network Conference - 7 May 2025
Our 2025 Annual Conference will take place on Wednesday 7 May at the Radisson Blu Hotel in Glasgow. We will be introducing awards in the lead up to next year's conference and will provide more details in early 2025 about the categories and the nomination process.  Save the date for now!

Peer Support Event: Trauma - Key Messages
Our CLW peer support event took place on 5 November and was led by Fiona Douglas from the Health Promoting Health Service team at NHS Lanarkshire. You can read the key messages and download the presentation and resources here.

Knowledge Exchange - presentations and key messages
Our 8th Knowledge Exchange event took place on 21 November and featured speakers from Paths for All and Scottish Families Affected by Drugs and Alcohol. You will be able to download the presentations and key messages shortly on our events page.

Other Events, Training and Resources

Cross Party Group on Health Inequalities - 11 December 2024
The next CPG on Health Inequalities will take place on 11 December. The meeting will be chaired by Brian Whittle, MSP and he will be joined by the team from the Scottish Health Equity Research Unit (SHERU). For more information and to book your place, please click here.

The Gathering - 4 & 5 February 2025
The Gathering is back at the EICC in Edinburgh in 2025! Organised by SCVO, the Gathering is the largest free voluntary sector event in the UK. It's an opportunity for all the amazing people working in and with the voluntary sector to network, showcase what they do and learn from each other. You can pre-register on their website to ensure you receive all the latest information.

Scotland’s Bookbug Programme
Bookbug, funded by the Scottish Government and delivered by The Scottish Book Trust, seeks to promote the importance of books and a love of reading. Bookbug is delivered through book gifting, storytelling & rhyme sessions and assertive outreach. Bookbug sessions help encourage an early love of books among children whilst providing great opportunities for parents and their wee ones to spend time together, having fun and learning.  Around 400 free Bookbug Sessions happen across Scotland every week. To find out more about Bookbug and where to find local sessions click here.

VHS - Population Health Framework event
Voluntary Health Scotland recently hosted an event to discuss the Scottish Government's planned Population Health Framework which is due to be published in early 2025. Find out more and read the key messages from the discussions.

Social Prescribing courses on TURAS
Don't forget we have a dedicated courses page for social prescribers on the TURAS website which you can access here. You just need to set up a TURAS account which is very easy to do.  If there are courses you would like to see on the page, please contact Roisin .

Tackling Poverty Locally Directory 
Managed by the Scottish Poverty and Inequality Research Unit (SPIRU) at Glasgow Caledonian University, the Tackling Poverty Locally Directory provides a searchable database of local anti-poverty initiatives from communities across Scotland and beyond. Content is peer-reviewed and designed to inform policymakers, service users and practitioners.  

Highlights from across the Network

Community Link Working in Highland - Where are we now?
VHS and NHS Highland recently co-hosted an event to celebrate the expansion of NHS Highland CLW programme. The event was an opportunity for existing GP practices to share learning about the CLW programme with GP practices new to the programme. Roisin welcomed participants, which included GPs, Practice Managers, CLWs and CLW leads to the event which was officially opened by Tim Allison, Director of Public Health at NHS Highland. You can watch the event recording here 

Shetland CLW programme report
NHS Shetland has produced an evaluation report of its first year CLW programme.  The report was extremely positive about the impact of the CLW service in the community, with one person commenting, 'having community link workers is a value asset for the whole community'. Congratulations to everyone involved and you can read the report here. 

Getting the inactive active: analysing existent cultural, social and economic barriers to physical inactivity and potential policy solutions
David Meir from the University of the West of Scotland and David Scott from Abertay University are undertaking a SPICe academic fellowship exploring barriers to physical activity. The researchers are looking to conduct interviews with CLWs who can speak to them about the issues affecting participation in physical activity. If you are interesting in contributing to this important research, please contact David Meir.

Health Equity Network Scotland Conference
Roisin Hurst, Project Manager for the SCLWN and VHS Chief Executive, Tejesh Mistry, were speakers at the first Health Equity Network Conference in Scotland. Roisin welcomed delegates to this inaugural event and her expectation of hearing about 'evidence-based hopefulness' during the day and the impact that a collective movement can have on support health equity in Scotland.  In his afternoon keynote presentation, Tejesh highlighted the role of the voluntary sector, emphasising the importance of community link workers in their communities. It was great to see some of Scotland's CLWs at the event too.  We look forward to hearing more about the progress of the work of Public Health Scotland and the Institute of Health Equity's in supporting Aberdeen city, South Lanarkshire and North Ayrshire to become Scotland's first Marmot places.

Other News

National Academy of Social Prescribing publishes social prescribing impact report
NASP has published a report looking at the impact of social prescribing on health service use and costs. In some areas, there was over a 40% reduction in GP appointments where social prescribing was being used.

PhD research on the relationship between deprivation, community infrastructure and social prescribing in Glasgow and Edinburgh
Social prescribing connects people to community resources – but what happens when those resources are affected by deprivation and austerity?
This is the focus of PhD research by Emilie McSwiggan from the University of Edinburgh who is looking at the relationship between deprivation, community infrastructure and social prescribing. Her case study research will focus on deprived urban areas in Edinburgh and Glasgow and you can read more about her research here. Alongside this, she’ll be analysing how policy-makers have framed social prescribing in Scotland, and comparing this to the reality of social prescribing in practice. This research addresses an under-studied but important element of social prescribing –  the importance of the places or communities where people live, and how unequal variation between places affects what is available for social prescribing. Please email Emilie McSwiggan if you want to find out more.

MSPs seeks update from government on multi-year third sector funding
The Social Justice and Social Security Committee has published a report on third sector funding principles as part of its pre-budget scrutiny work.

Scottish Government publishes Transport to Health Delivery Plan
The Scottish Government has published the Transport to Health Delivery Plan which sets out planned commitments to improve transport to health and social care through cross-portfolio action to bring transport planning and health planning together.

Scottish Government stresses continued commitment to National Care Service
Maree Todd’s letter to the Health, Social Care and Sport Committee has been published, confirming the Scottish Government is not seeking to start Stage 2 consideration of the National Care Service (Scotland) Bill on Tuesday 26 November and that it will work with the committee and parliamentary bureau to agree a revised timetable for 2025.

NCD Alliance calls for reduction on the impact of health-harming products
The Non-Communicable Disease (NCD) Alliance Scotland, a coalition of 24 health organisations, has published out a report which calls for action to reduce the impact of health-harming products. The report warns Scotland is in the grip of an alcohol emergency, a new generation is threatened by addictive nicotine products and an unhealthy food and drink culture is being fuelled by marketing tactics.

Homelessness annual report published
The Scottish Government has published 'Ending homelessness together: annual report', which sets out progress made by national government, local government and third sectors over the last 12 months.

Carer Support Payment now available in every local authority
The Scottish Government has highlighted that the Carer Support Payment is now available in every local authority, marking the completion of the roll-out of Scotland’s 14^th benefit and meaning tens of thousands more unpaid carers can apply for the benefit.

Scottish Government - final report on Women’s Health Plan 2021-24
The Scottish Government has published the final report on the Women’s Health Plan 2021-24 and a review of the data landscape relating to the health of women and girls in Scotland. The final report is set out by priority and details the progress made against the 66 short, medium and long-term actions.

Scottish Government launches Right Care Right Place awareness campaign
The Scottish Government has launched the Right Care Right Place awareness campaign to ensure people know the best place to access healthcare this winter.