A Warm Reception: SCCR at the Scottish Parliament

Last Thursday we held a reception at the Scottish Parliament marking our first decade as a national centre for best practice in conflict resolution. The event was held almost exactly ten years after the ‘welcome reception’ held in the Parliament the day after we launched Cyrenians Scottish Centre for Conflict Resolution at our first national conference. It was a moment to take stock, connect with supporters, and look forward to our next ten years.

Sarah Boyack MSP kicked off proceedings. Sarah not only sponsored our annual reception this year and last; she sponsored the very first one in 2014 too. SCCR has been blessed since its inception to partner with people who come from or work in many different parts of our society – and for the most part they’ve kept the faith and continued to follow our journey. Sarah Boyack is a case in point, and we thank her for the continuity and depth of her support.

‘It’s fair to say,’ Sarah told an invited audience of supporters, ‘that SCCR has been at the forefront of change.’

The theme of change was picked up by our next speaker, CEO of Cyrenians Ewan Aitken. Ewan, like Sarah, attended the first reception in 2014, although he hadn’t quite started work at Cyrenians or been publicly announced as taking up that role. Ewan reminisced about that evening before speaking about early intervention and how it was key to reducing the number of young people who present as homeless every year.

‘We need to empty the crisis bath, but if we don’t turn the taps off, we never will.’

Ewan was followed by Minister for Children, Young People and Keeping the Promise Natalie Don. The Minister pointed out that since 2014, SCCR has played a key role in what you might call a ‘wave of change’ culturally, where we’ve seen parents and carers feel empowered to a greater degree to ask for help as the stigma around doing so has diminished. SCCR hasn’t done it alone, and we would like to take the opportunity of our anniversary to thank other organisations in the sector as well as the individuals and organisations we’ve worked with. Collaboration is the cornerstone of everything we’ve achieved – and will continue to do so.

‘Our efforts must be sustained and we must do better,’ the Minister said, a challenge SCCR accepts.

During the rest of the evening, SCCR’s team spoke, sharing achievements and memories. Our Events and Marketing Organiser Caroline took us on a trip down memory lane as she outlined the work SCCR has completed this past decade, much of which – such as our psychoeducational resources – is still available on our site and is free to use and download.

Service Manager Jim walked the audience through several questions he wanted us to think about such as ‘Is 10 the new 14?’ As an early intervention service, SCCR currently targets S3 as the age around which young people can first usefully engage with our resources – but should we be thinking about working with younger age groups?

Last but not least, SCCR Emotional Health and Wellbeing Lead Ellie talked us through a new part of our work which we’ll be saying a whole lot more very soon, but which for now we shall call The Learning Zone, a new section of the website that builds on previous psychoeducational digital resources, partnering information on the role adolescent brain development plays in family conflict with practical coping strategies young people can use to enhance their emotional health and wellbeing. Watch this space for more details very soon.

So, after examining the past, present and future of SCCR, the audience departed with a firmer awareness of SCCR’s strategic vision and how its purpose aligns with the ambitions and policies of Scottish Government and the National Performance Framework. On a personal level, we saw again old friends and collaborators. It was a wonderful evening that reminded us why we do what we do. Join us as we work towards 2034 and further shrinking the homelessness figures for young people.