CLDSC Member Bulletin – 01 December 2021

CLDSC Members Conference – 2 and 3 December

LAST CHANCE TO REGISTER! Come along to our conference on 2 December (1pm-4.30pm) and 3 December (9.30am-1pm) to focus on Covid Recovery in the CLD Sector: what wider elements must be considered; how can your health and wellbeing be supported; and what can CLDSC do to assist? Don’t delay, book your place at the CLDSC Member Conference today! #CLDSCConf2021


Education Reform Consultation Response

The Scottish Government issued a consultation on the replacement of the Scottish Qualifications Authority and the reform of Education Scotland following on from the OECD report of June 2021. The CLD Standards Council has submitted a response to the Scottish Government based on contributions gathered from members of the CLD Standards Council Scotland at a range of events.

Read the CLDSC response


Share, Sustain, Shape Professional Learning Programme

The Share, Sustain, Shape programme of professional learning is in its final week and has been a huge success with over 20 free professional learning events taking place during November and December. If you missed any of the events, check out the Share, Sustain, Shape events page  where materials and recordings will be uploaded soon.


University of Dundee Community Education Research

The University of Dundee Community Education (CE) staff are asking Community Learning and Development practitioners to participate in a survey on the sorts of research practitioners are undertaking. The research is an important consultation exercise for the teaching on the CE programmes at the University of Dundee. Through the survey, they hope to get a range of views about what approaches to research within CE look like, and intend to use these insights to make informed improvements in the design and delivery of research methods and analysis across all CE programmes at the University of Dundee. Additionally, a summary report will outline the trends in the data, along with making a number of recommendations. This will be made freely available online.  

Access the survey


SCVO – The Scottish Third Sector Tracker: Wave One Findings

SCVO has partnered with a range of stakeholders to build a Scotland-focused third sector research community called the Scottish Third Sector Tracker. The Scottish Third Sector Tracker is a longitudinal research project that collects data and information each quarter from a representative panel of third sector organisations. The first (baseline) wave was conducted by SCVO in Summer 2021. The report outlines the findings of this initial research.  Access the report.

Further project resources are available on the ‘Evidence Library’ section of the SCVO website.


Communities Mental Health and Wellbeing Funding Opportunity

A £15 million Communities Mental Health and Wellbeing Fund has been established to support mental health and well-being in communities across Scotland. The fund aims to support adult community-based initiatives to help address the impact of distress and mental ill health caused by social isolation and loneliness, as well as addressing the mental health inequalities exacerbated by the Covid-19 pandemic.

Grassroots community organisations will be able to benefit from the funds to deliver activities and programmes to people to re-connect and revitalise communities – building on examples of good practice which have emerged throughout the pandemic.

Third sector interfaces (TSIs) are managing the fund at a local level, in partnership with local integrated health authorities and other partners including Community Planning Partnerships and local authority mental health leads. 

Applications can be made via your local TSI, as there are likely to be different approaches across the TSIs. Contact them to find out what is happening in your area. You can find the directory of TSI’s  on the TSI Network website.