Blog

The latest articles and ideas from Inspiring Scotland and our partners.

06.11.2020

Accessing the right kind of help can transform the lives of new parents

Pregnancy, birth and caring for a new baby can involve some of the most rewarding experiences in life. Yet being a new parent can also be difficult and isolating for mothers and families.

20.11.2019

Beyond play: community play charities are a vital support for struggling families

By Jill Fraser, Community Play Performance Advisor Inspiring Scotland exists to address poverty and disadvantage. The role of Play Rangers, our community play programme, in this work isn’t self-evident. Yet giving children the opportunity to play outside, in their own neighbourhood, can reveal the damaging effects and true extent of child poverty in Scotland and

21.09.2018

Collaborating with communities in Kilmarnock: “We want to lift people out of really dark places.”

This article was written by David McPhee and originally appeared in Positively Scottish in May 2017 Isolated. Cut-off. Islands. These are just a few of the new buzz words used to describe people who, often through no fault of their own, become disconnected from mainstream society. If the isolation lasts long enough, they can become

14.05.2018

Go2play is now Thrive Outdoors

At Inspiring Scotland, we want all of Scotland’s children to thrive. We have been working in outdoor play since 2010 and we know that by playing outdoors, children grow, learn and develop, emotionally and physically, in the best possible way. In short, growing playing and learning outdoors is how children thrive. That’s why, after eight

Make outdoor play the norm for our children

Rachel Cowper from our go2play fund urges us all to let children play outside in The Herald. With a sunny start to April and the longer days ahead, you might begin to see the streets and green spaces of Scotland filled with children and wonder: is it not always so? Sadly, like the rose-tinted memories

22.05.2020

Nurturing the ‘new normal’ through outdoor learning and play

As we move out of lockdown, embracing our outside spaces can help society recover and build resilience for the future, writes Thrive Outdoors Programme Manager Rachel Cowper. The online algorithms must be getting to know my reading habits of late, because I have come across many articles over the last few days discussing what the

26.02.2018

The importance of social connectedness for mental health and wellbeing

Mental Health has been a taboo for a long time. It is encouraging to see the topic going up the agenda and becoming a subject of lively conversation, not just amongst professionals but with family and friends too. It is slowly but surely becoming looked at for its universal relevance and central importance to our

04.11.2020

The Potential of our Relationships

Link Up worker Hannah Kirby reflects on Hilary Cottam’s book ‘Radical Help’ and the parallels with Inspiring Scotland’s community development and wellbeing programme.

There is so much to play for when we encourage young children to enjoy the outdoors

By Juliet Robertson, Outdoor learning and play specialist, Creative STAR Learning The image of children splashing in muddy puddles or running, carefree through the woods, giggling in the way only happy children can, might seem like a nostalgic rural idyll to city dwellers in this age of social media and easy-access tech. But it doesn’t have

19.03.2019

We owe it to our young people to build a better Scotland.

Inspiring Scotland Chief Executive Celia Tennant explains the motivation behind Our Future Now. Scotland’s future belongs to its young people. Today’s school children will be the community leaders, business people, teachers, politicians, entrepreneurs and innovators of tomorrow. But far too many young people are at risk of being excluded from that future because of circumstances

22.07.2020

We start with hope

We must take this moment to reappraise and reimagine how our systems of support for the most vulnerable should operate in future, writes Andrew Magowan. How we shape and control the world around us is the primary means by which we develop and express our place and role in this world. If we are unable

26.09.2019

Working together for wellbeing

I firmly believe that the wellbeing of people is paramount. It directs the work we do at Inspiring Scotland, as well as the work I do personally as a member of several community and advisory groups. It directs the work I do as a sports coach for children and young people. That’s why I was

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