I believe in me, I believe in you, and you know I believe in love

The ‘Supporting Mental Health & Wellbeing In Our Communities: Emerging Practice’ held in Perth this week was a remarkable success - showcasing the commendable efforts underway throughout Scotland to champion the importance of good mental health. I was delighted to attend with a number of colleagues and I think we all enjoyed the experience.

The aim of the event was to consider the insights gleaned from various community-based mental health supports for children, young people, and adults, particularly through initiatives like the Communities Mental Health and Wellbeing Fund for Adults, local authority Community Supports for Children and Young People, and broader community interventions backed by national partners. The event offered a platform to highlight project outcomes and effective delivery strategies as well as the opportunity to exchange best practice among the various stakeholders.

Numerous organisations have made great impacts by utilising the Communities Mental Health and Wellbeing Fund for Adults, as evidenced by the plethora of presentations witnessed during the event. From a personal perspective it’s been pleasure to witness Alice McBride’s adept coordination of the fund for Engage Renfrewshire over the past three years – Ms. McBride, you're a star! And it was brilliant to see Katy and Annie from Kairos Women+ delivering an outstanding presentation, underscoring the impactful work they’re doing in Renfrewshire, and inspring groups across the country with their creation of "a culture of love" within their approach. The Renfrewshire Wellbeing Network was also showcased through their Renfrewshire Wellbeing exhibition, captured by Lochwinnoch based cic Open Aye and first displayed at our AGM last year. 

Hopefully, we'll continue to see increased funding around this agenda in the future. Momentum has been gained in the realm of intervention, and it’s so important that we keep it going.

Congratulations to all who were involved in making the conference a memorable and impactful event. On the evidence it's clear that your contributions are truly making a difference in the lives of many – and I especially extend my gratitude to everyone in Renfrewshire’s Third Sector Network who has been awarded funding from the programme over the years – in my opinion it’s been a resounding success!

Year three funding is now out in the community, you can see which groups and projects received funding over on the webpage

All the best,

Alan