The 'go to' organisation for Local Government improvement in Scotland

I’ve always been inspired by how quickly third sector organisations respond to local community needs and their commitment to tackling inequalities.  The wide range of direct services provided by the third sector in response to local needs is impressive in itself (from community transport to mental health services and so much more) but when accompanied by activities to strengthen communities and places by building on community assets to act and bring about change - this is a powerful force.  So, when joining the Shaping Places for Wellbeing Team in 2022, I was excited to explore the role that the third sector, along with the public and private sectors could play in addressing the social determinants of health through system change.

Based on my previous experience with the third sector, I was confident there would be a willingness to engage with the Programme and explore the development of new approaches.   I was certain that this enthusiasm, along with the third sector’s strategic understanding and involvement in a broad range of policy areas would provide a valuable contribution too.

Sure enough, the third sector has indeed played an important part in the Programme, both at a national level and across the local Project Towns.

At a national level, the Programme’s Local Learning Cohort sessions benefited from the valuable insight brought by a range of national third sector bodies, including Scottish Community Development Centre (SCDC), Social Enterprise Scotland, Social Enterprise Academy, Planning Aid Scotland, Scottish Empty Homes Partnership and Paths for All. This enabled an honest exchange of learning and perspectives and ultimately increased the Programme’s understanding on how a wide range of factors could assist in delivering the Place and Wellbeing Outcomes.

Within local Project Towns, the third sector was represented (largely through Third Sector Interface involvement) in the majority of Project Town Steering Groups. As part of this local level governance structure they also contributed towards the development of quantitative data profiles.

However, for me, the standout third sector contribution in all of the Project Towns is the crucial role they played in enabling the Project Town’s Community Link Leads to identify and review qualitative data and to engage with local stakeholders and community groups on how inequalities are experienced by the local communities. This information is essential to add meaning and increase understanding to the quantitative data and the stark statistics of growing inequality amongst Scotland’s population.

Community Link Leads benefited from tapping into invaluable local insights and connections established through years of local third sector involvement, including:

• An extensive reach and trusted relationships with local groups and communities
• Community informed knowledge of local issues
• An understanding on the importance of lived experience

From this, Community Link Leads subsequently pulled together comprehensive qualitative data profiles for each Project Town.

With Place and Wellbeing Assessments forming a key element of the Shaping Places for Wellbeing approach, this presented an opportunity for third sector organisations to provide a unique and valuable contribution which offered a local voice, not always heard, in decision making. In addition to Third Sector Interfaces, a range of community groups, development trusts and social enterprises participated in Place and Wellbeing Assessment sessions carried out within Project Towns, providing community informed insight to key local documents, ranging from Health and Social Care Partnership Strategic Plans to Economic Strategies to a Local Policing Plan.

The Place and Wellbeing Assessment carried out on a local Neighbourhood Plan provided an inspiring example of a local community group inviting local statutory partners to share thoughts and input ideas on their community and priorities. The input was welcomed and the emerging Place and Wellbeing Assessment report was highlighted as a valuable resource to be used for funding applications.

For me, this represents just one of many community groups’ commitment to engage in open, honest and respectful dialogue with public sector colleagues with the aim of improving their local community.  I have no doubt there are thousands of community groups and third sector organisations across Scotland who would readily commit to similar conversations in pursuit of this aim.

However, faced with multiple competing and urgent demands, to justify this allocation of their time, there needs to be a clear commitment from the public sector that creating opportunities for and bringing about change is a priority.  From potentially challenging, yet constructive discussion, positive action must emerge that acknowledges and overcomes (or at least finds a way round) the currently entrenched obstacles.

If during the Covid crisis we relied on the third sector and communities to lead us through much of that unchartered water, why on earth would we not now involve this same source of inspiration and expertise as an equal partner in navigating us through the growing public health and fiscal challenges referred to every day?

Without a commitment and determination for change, and a recognition of the need for strategic and operational involvement of the third sector and local communities, we’re never going to achieve the ‘system change’ we desperately need to tackle inequalities.