Come see me in the mornin', Can't you see I'm tellin' stories?

Come see me in the mornin', Can't you see I'm tellin' stories?

I had the pleasure this week to meet with other Third Sector Interface CEOs and Scottish Government officials regarding the Scottish COVID-19 Inquiry. The meeting was looking at the roles played by Third Sector Interfaces during the pandemic as well as the impact that the pandemic had on local communities in Scotland as seen by third sector organisations.  While you go into all of these things with a list of points you want to raise, there was from my point of view a little fogginess to begin with because revisiting a time like the pandemic is without doubt a difficult thing to do.  But once we began to discuss the activity that took place the stories and practice memories began to flow.

As to be expected many of the speakers spoke about some of the difficulties during the period, however my ultimate take away from the meeting was one of positivity regards what we can achieve when we work together. The discussion reminded me of some of the astonishing efforts of the third sector, working in partnership with the statutory sector and sometimes private services, to come up with solutions to the problems created by the pandemic as they emerged. It also reminded me of the pace – this was not a time to have long debates – it was a time for working flexibly, innovatively and, most of all, quickly. 

Here in Renfrewshire third sector organisations continue to regularly demonstrate that they are best placed to provide services that are flexible and designed for speed of response. Also, from a partnership perspective, I believe we have seen a commitment to maintaining the innovation that emerged during that time; even though resources are perhaps even more limited than before.

From my point of view it’s only by continuing to work in partnership that we will be able to develop solutions that help deliver positive change.

And remember to tell your story!

Let's Be Heard – Sharing Scotland's COVID Experience

This is a platform where people can share their experiences with the Scottish COVID-19 Inquiry.

Below are tools and resources to help you to do this, including: forms, guidance for groups, Easy Read resources, materials for children, and translations into different languages.

This stage of Let’s Be Heard will run until 20 December 2023.

https://lbh.covid19inquiry.scot/

All the best

Alan