News from the CLD Standards Council

Many thanks to everyone who has signed up or taken part in recent members meet ups, surveys and focus groups. Your engagement and voice is critical to enable us to keep raising the profile of the CLD sector to support you and your professional practice. So thank you from the CLD Standards Council to all our members and supporters who practise, promote and advocate for our professional values and competences that impact on our learners and communities every day.

In this bulletin, you will discover new and interesting opportunities to get involved with and links to useful resources and information to help support your CLD practice. 

---

Alan Sherry OBE, Reappointed as Chair of CLD Standards Council

Alan continues to champion the CLD Standards Council and the wider sector in a number of areas ranging from CLD career pathways and learner pathways to the essential role that CLD practitioners play in the positive advancement of young people, adult learners and communities.

Congratulations to Alan on his reappointment!

---

Family Learning National Occupational Standards (NOS) – online survey now open!

Following two rounds of focus groups, we have now prepared draft NOS and have changes available to comment on.

Please make your views known by completing our Family Learning NOS online survey and please also share with your colleagues.  

The survey will be open until 6pm on Tuesday, 21st February. Information on the review process can be found on the Family Learning NOS webpage.

---

CLD Standards Council: Equality, Diversity and Inclusion Members Forum, 17 February, 3pm

This Friday, come along to our first meeting for 2023. Join us in discussions at the new CLD Standards Council members forum on Equality, Diversity and Inclusion. We aim to co-create a designated space for CLD practitioners to come together, ask questions and develop an understanding of the issues impacting the CLD Sector across Scotland, as well as share solutions.

All members and potential members welcome so join us online on 17th February at 3pm to find out more.

Register for the Equality, Diversity and Inclusion Members Forum on Eventbrite.

---

Scottish Education Awards – Nominate Now

There are only 2 weeks left to nominate your amazing CLD programmes and practitioners for a Scottish Education Award. Let’s highlight all the good CLD practice that happens across Scotland. There is there a CLD Award which recognises CLD’s contribution to improving life chances for people of all ages.  There are also Digital, Lifelong Achievement, Parent and Family Engagement Awards, so get nominating on the Scottish Education Awards website. #BecauseOfCLD #ScotEdAwards2023

---

News from the CLD Sector

Community Wealth Building

Community Wealth Building is focused on growing the influence communities have on the economy and ensuring communities receive more of the benefits from the wealth they help to generate. The Scottish Government are currently consulting on their plans for a community wealth building approach to economic development. This should improve the influence and involvement of local communities in creating both wealth and wellbeing. The consultation outlines 5 pillars of community wealth building: spending, workforce, land and property, inclusive ownership and finance. CLD Standards Council will be hosting an online focus group to gather members views to form a response, so watch this space for more information.

Volunteer Scotland Training and Workshops

Join Volunteer Scotland’s wide range of interactive learning bites to update your knowledge of volunteer practice and discover the latest best practices in volunteer management.

Children’s Rights and Wellbeing Impact Assessment

This is a process through which you can identify, research, analyse and record the anticipated impact of any proposed law, policy or measure on children’s human rights and wellbeing. It should be used on all new legislation and policy that impacts on children. This guidance includes links to useful resources for gathering evidence, involving children and young people in the development of policy/measure and ensuring decisions are necessary and proportionate.

PB Scotland Network

PB Scotland Network is free and open to anyone who is interested in participatory budgeting. Network members are invited to contribute their ideas, learning and enthusiasm to advancing PB in Scotland.

Safe Space Alliance

An LGBTQI+ led non-profit organisation that aims to help people identify, navigate and create safe spaces for LGBTQI+ communities worldwide and a global and collaborative safe space community. There is no cost for listing your space and place so let’s get Scotland’s safe spaces on the map!

Ready Scotland

Ready Scotland’s learning hub provides learning resources to help individuals, community groups and voluntary sector organisations to prepare for, respond to, and recover from a range of emergencies and to better understand how to work with responder organisations.

---

News from the CLD Standards Council

Social Media Survey

A huge thank you to everyone who completed the communications survey. We had a fabulous response and are busy updating emails and inputting your responses into our communications strategy developments. It’s not too late to complete our communications survey and it literally takes 2 minutes.

Modern Apprenticeship Framework Review

We are currently seeking views from CLD Youth Workers, Youth Work Providers, Training Organisations and Educational Institutions to inform the review of the Modern Apprenticeship Framework based on the Scottish Vocational Qualifications (SVQs) in CLD Youth Work. The Modern Apprenticeship and SVQs in CLD Youth Work are an important part of the network of Community Learning and Development qualifications that support the professional learning and development of CLD youth workers in Scotland. 

Please share your views by completing our Modern Apprenticeship CLD Youth Work survey, which closes on 27 February 2023.

---

Upcoming CLD Events

CLD Standards Council: Equality, Diversity and Inclusion Members Forum, 17 February, 3pm

Come along to our first meeting for 2023 and join us in discussion at a new CLD Standards Council members forum on Equality, Diversity and Inclusion. We aim to co-create a designated space for CLD practitioners to come together, ask questions and develop an understanding of the issues impacting the CLD Sector across Scotland, as well as share solutions.

All members and potential members welcome so join us online on 17th February at 3 pm to find out more.

Register for the Equality, Diversity and Inclusion Members Forum on Eventbrite.

---

Have Your Say: Post-School Education, Research and Skills

This Scottish Government consultation on Post-school education, research and skills ecosystem includes colleges, universities, community learning and development, apprenticeships and employer-led training, along with the research that develops the new thinking, systems and products. 

This consultation is an opportunity for the CLD workforce across Scotland to inform what does and does not work in the current ecosystem. All four online focus groups will discuss the purpose and five principles, from the lens of specific sectors where CLD practitioners practice or engage with professional learning. Our response will inform Ministers, and other decision makers to shape and deliver the reform we believe necessary to secure a sustainable future for our learners, communities and economy. 

You can sign up using the Eventbrite links below for a focus group specifically aimed at your sector: FE/HE, Local Authority, Third Sector and Students.

• FE/HE Focus Group – Friday, 24th February, 10.00-12.30
• Local Authority Focus Group – Wednesday, 1st March, 09.30-12.00
• Third Sector Focus Group – Thursday, 2nd March, 13.00-15.30
• Student Focus Group – Friday, 3rd March, 11.00-13.30

---

Scottish Education Awards 2023 – now open

---

News from the CLD Sector

LGBT+ History Month – Life in Scotland for LGBT Young People (PDF)

LGBT+ communities and individuals have experienced and continue to face discrimination, particularly in schools. The recent LGBT Youth Scotland report states that only 10% of participants rated the experience of school for LGBT people as ‘good’ and 70% of gay/lesbian participants report experiencing bullying due to their sexual orientation at school.

Scottish Community Development Centre (SCDC) Participation Resource Pack

This SCDC participation resource pack contains a range of guides, tools and templates to help you understand the Participation Request process, the language and terms that are used, and the process involved.  

Scottish Recovery Network (SRN) Conversation Cafes

SRN are holding a series of recovery conversation cafés to help develop the Scottish Government’s new Self-Harm Strategy. They are looking for people who are willing to share their experiences of self-harm support and would also like to hear from people, services and organisations that provide support.

Defining Gypsies and Travellers

The Scottish Government wants to ensure planning authorities properly involve the Gypsy/Traveller community and are seeking views on a proposed definition of ‘Gypsies and Travellers’ for the specific purposes of the planning legislation. They want to hear from the Gypsy/Traveller community and other travelling communities, as well as CLD teams who are working closely with them. This consultation closes on 15th February 2023.

Almost three in five Scots’ mental health has been hit by cost of living crisis

The cost of living crisis is going beyond affecting finance – with 59 per cent of Scots saying it has had an impact on their mental health, according to new research. Published on 2 February 2023, it was released to mark Time to Talk Day, a national day of conversations about mental health that seeks to tackle the stigma which so many people continue to face.

Electoral Reform Consultation

This consultation considers possible improvements to electoral law such as: how to increase voter registration, how to improve accessibility in elections, the small number of people resident in Scotland without voting rights (such as asylum seekers and people detained under mental health legislation), as well as rights for young people who can vote but cannot stand for election.  Can you support communities to have their say and inform decisions?

Supporting CLD Workforce Wellbeing

Scottish Government funded wellbeing programmes currently on offer provide support for individuals working within schools, Community Learning and Development (CLD), and Early Learning and Childcare (ELC). Fully funded and delivered online, there is a range of courses, from supervision spaces to coaching, all designed to help you look after your own wellbeing and the wellbeing of those you work with.

---

CLD Standards Council Conference – videos now available to watch

---

News from the CLD Standards Council

In other news, the team held the first of the Higher Education & Further Education working group meetings for 2023 this week when they met online with College and University representatives from across Scotland. This productive meeting enabled training providers and the CLD Standards Council to discuss current issues, including recruitment onto CLD programmes, as well as the number of CLD programmes at various SCQF levels available to practitioners and students.

The main key action points the group agreed to focus on were:

• The need to raise awareness of CLD as a profession along with the training opportunities and career pathways available for people
• Improvements required regarding data gathering and sharing
• Articulation pathways

We will provide further updates as work develops.

Ross and Marion held a valuable meeting with representatives from third sector and uniformed youth work organisations at the Scottish Council For Voluntary Organisations (SCVO) offices in Edinburgh on Friday. Lots of positive and constructive feedback was had regarding membership and registration, as well as the value of the CLD Standards Council for both CLD practitioners and organisations. All involved fully endorsed the importance and strength of youth work being a part of CLD across Scotland.

We need your help!

Just a wee reminder that we are working on the development of the CLD Standards Council Communications Strategy and we would like to hear from you. Tell us about which social media platforms you use and how you would like your CLD Standards Council to communicate with you?  We have a very short and simple social media survey which will only take 2 to 3 minutes of your time. Your responses will be really helpful, so thank you in advance. 😊👍

---

CLD Standards Council: Member Meet-up – Gaelic CLD Cèilidh, 8 February, 1pm

---

News from the CLD Sector

Scottish Women’s Aid

An information guide is available on how to help someone who might be experiencing domestic abuse.  It can be difficult to know what to do and how to do it in a way that is safe and supportive.

CLD Talks

CLD Talks are back with the first CLD Talk of 2023 going live on Wednesday, 1st February. You can access this and the back catalogue of podcasts from CLD Talks from all the major streaming platforms or just search for “CLD Talks”.

Cyber Accessibility and Security Webinars

As part of Cyber Scotland week 2023, LEAD Scotland are offering a number of FREE public webinars, such as making your online presence accessible and staying safe online. Open to everyone. Got a question? Contact cyberproject@lead.org.uk.

Are you #ShareRepairAware?

Supporting local sharing and repairing projects is an amazing way to change the way we consume, make less waste and support your local community – but what exactly is sharing and repairing? Where are the local projects in Scotland and what does it mean to get involved?

UK Turing Scheme Programme Guide for 2023-24 (PDF)

The Turing Scheme provides grants to fund individuals undertaking education and training in the UK to go on study or work placements across the world. They have widened out the scope in regard to the kinds of organisations which can be involved in bids. This may create potential opportunities for CLD organisations to apply as part of partnerships with schools or colleges. Please get in touch with Dehra.Macdonald@gov.scot if you want to chat through any potential bids in more detail. 

Dyslexia Scotland Downloadable Information Leaflets

These bitesize chunks of information are for people with dyslexia as well as families and for changemakers in different settings. You can download general dyslexia information leaflets, information specific for children, parents and educators, for employment and the workplace, as well as for study skills. 

---

News from the CLD Standards Council

Burns Night Celebrations

The CLD Standards Council would like to join in the celebrations for the life and creations of Robert Burns, the man who has contributed to the literature of Scotland and the World. Let us all express our gratitude and enjoy his writings that will continue to influence generations to come. 

Best wishes to you all on Burns’ Night and enjoy your haggis, neeps and tatties!

CLD Standards Council and Social Media – We want your views!

This week the whole team has been working together on the development of the CLD Standards Council Communications Strategy and we would like to hear from you! Which social media platforms do you use and in what way would you like your CLD Standards Council to communicate with you? We have a very short social media survey which will only take 2 to 3 minutes of your time. Your responses will be really helpful, so thank you in advance 😊👍

Community Development National Occupational Standards (NOS) – online survey now open!

Following two rounds of focus groups and a short questionnaire specifically looking at the Purpose and Values of Community Development, we have now prepared draft NOS and have changes available to comment on. 

Please make your views known by completing our Community Development NOS online survey and please also share with your colleagues.   

The survey will be open until 6pm on Monday 6 February.  Information on the review process can be found on the Community Development NOS webpage. 

---

CLD Standards Council: Member Meet-up – Gaelic CLD Cèilidh, 8 February, 1pm

---

CLD Numeracy Practitioners National Network Meeting, 2 March, 10am

Booking is now open for the National Network Meeting for CLD Numeracy Practitioners which will take place on MS Teams 10am-11.30am on Thursday, 2 March 2023.

The agenda will include: 

• Sharing resources  
• Dyscalculia update  
• National Numeracy Day update 
• Training needs  
• Evaluation of the network  

Book your place at the CLD Numeracy Practitioners network meeting on Eventbrite.

---

Supporting Workforce Wellbeing Coaching Offer

Education Scotland are providing a range of workforce wellbeing support programmes.  These include:

• Aspiring to Middle Leadership
• Building Racial Literacy
• Educator Leadership Programme

For more information on all courses available explore the professional learning page on the Education Scotland website and filter by community learning and development.

---

News from the CLD Sector

CLD Talks Podcast

CLD Talks was set up to raise the profile of Community Learning Development across Scotland.  It is by practitioners and for practitioners and is all about sharing practice and learning from each other. Check out their new logo and their back catalogue.

Public Participation Inquiry

The Scottish Parliament are currently asking for views on the Citizens Panel Interim Report which makes recommendations on the priorities and actions that should be taken in regard to making sure that the views and opinions of everyone in Scotland is included in the work of the Parliament. 

e-Sgoil

Languages Day is on Monday, 30th January 2023 and e-Sgoil are providing four online sessions about the benefits that a second language can have on your future career.

What is Green Participatory Budgeting?

The Scottish Government recently highlighted participatory budgeting as a way to support community-led responses to the climate emergency. Find out more about the benefits of Green Participatory budgeting.

Ask Them About Suicide

Ask Them About Suicide

Shaped by people who have been affected by suicide, this SAMH campaign aims to create a culture where people can talk openly and honestly about suicide and find support when they need it including useful resources and training.

CyberScotland

CyberScotland aim to improve cyber resilience across Scotland in a coordinated and coherent way through partnership working. There are lots of useful resources, training and opportunities, including a really informative bulletin with a Community Learning and Development section.

---

News from the CLD Standards Council

🤗 Hello and welcome to this week’s bulletin. We hope this finds you all well and recovered from any festive celebrations and raring to go #2023ForCLD

Kirsty and Steven are currently busy with the National Occupations Standards (NOS) review of Community Development and Family Learning NOS, as well as creating a brand new Adult Learning NOS suite. They have been hosting the last few focus groups and online surveys will be available soon – watch this space! 

Vikki has been responding to Professor Hayward’s Independent Review of Qualifications and Assessment consultation as well as the Scottish Government Withers review of skills delivery across Scotland.  Thank you to all who contributed, you can see our responses to these consultations on our website.

Vikki has also been working on our Equalities, Diversity and Inclusion policies and promotions, and will be looking for some of you lovely members to come and join a working group soon, so keep you eyes peeled in future bulletins for more information.

Robbie is in the midst of organising the next members meet up session which is about Gaelic in CLD and you can read more about that below and we hope to see a lot of your faces online at the session.

If you would like to host a Members Meet Up session on a CLD topic you are passionate about, or have any suggestions about a topic that you would like to learn more about then please get in touch contact@cldstandardscouncil.org.uk.

---

CLD Standards Council: Member Meet-up – Gaelic CLD Cèilidh, 8 February, 1pm

Join this cèilidh/meet-up to explore how Gaelic is already being used, meet up with colleagues already working in Gaelic CLD and shares tools and resources widely, and freely, available and accessible to those with no Gaelic, yet!

Register for the Member Meet-up Gaelic CLD Cèilidh on Eventbrite.

---

Have Your Say: Mental Health and Wellbeing Strategy Update

From all the responses and data gathered, we submitted a response to the Mental Health and Wellbeing Strategy consultation in September 2022. You can read the full response report on our website.

We recently contacted the Scottish Government policy team working on the strategy and requested an update and enquired if there was a timeline regarding publishing a draft for final review. They said:

“We received a broad range of feedback to consider, and are keen to ensure there is ample opportunity to engage further on the important issues that have been raised. In light of this, we have decided to delay the publication of the strategy to Spring 2023. This will allow more time for detailed work to take place to shape the Strategy and Delivery Plan; and we will use this opportunity to work directly with stakeholders to develop and co-design the final documents.”

We have reminded the team we hope to be one of the stakeholders that help shape the final strategy and we will keep you posted on any further developments. Thank you again for sharing your views and experiences which allowed us to submit a balanced, honest and informative response to this consultation.

---

News from the CLD Sector

Concept Journal

A new edition of Concept (the Journal of Contemporary Community Education Practice Theory) has been published with a focus on a generalised ‘care crisis’. This has steadily gained momentum in public discourse over the last 15 years, often acting as an index of other crises and this special issue of Concept explores critical questions by providing a space for practitioners, academics and activists to explore different ways of thinking about and practising care.

YouthLink Scotland, Digital Youth Work Conference

This in-person event at Abertay University, Dundee on 7 February 2023 (UK Safer Internet Day) is aimed at CLD youth workers, CLD managers working in the sector and anyone interested in using digital effectively in their work with young people.  

Volunteer Scotland: Cost of Living Crisis Bulletin (PDF)

Volunteer Scotland has produced the first of three bulletins which will track the impact of the cost of living crisis on people and Third Sector Organisations in Scotland. The research builds upon Volunteer Scotland’s Testing our Resilience (PDF) report published in autumn 2022. Their blog Cost of Living Crisis – The Hard Facts discusses some of the headline data and the volunteering issues arising from the research.

Cost of Living: Effect on the Nation’s Mental Health

Rehab Recovery UK have designed an informative infographic outlining how the cost of living crisis is impacting particular groups’ mental health, including people of working age, retired people, disabled people, and people with dependents. 

Age Scotland’s Warm and Well Guide

This downloadable guide explains how to make your home energy efficient, manage your bills, keep your home warm, benefit the environment and stay as well as you can over winter. A great resource for learners and community groups, as well as lots of information and signposting links on their website.

---

News from the CLD Standards Council

Happy New Year and best wishes to all our members for 2023 😀

Congratulations to Mr and Mrs Fisher
A warm welcome to the CLD Standards Council team, Mrs Fisher! (AKA Kirsty Gemmell 😂). Huge congratulations to our very own Kirsty and her lovely husband Gordon who were married during the festive break 💓. We had a wonderful time celebrating with them and wish them both love and happiness for their future together as “Mr & Mrs”.

New Year Honours: MBE for Sue Briggs

We are absolutely delighted that another member of the CLD Standards Council is being recognised for their dedication and commitment to community learning and development in Scotland, in the King’s New Year Honours. Congratulations Sue! 

Conference Evaluation – we need your views!

Don’t forget to complete your Conference Evaluation if you attended online or in person. We’re keen to get your views on what worked and what we can do better next time!

CLD Talks Teaser

And speaking of our conference, our friends @CLDTalks have been busy editing the podcast and vlog footage they captured on the day – look out for the big reveals over the coming weeks!

---

Upcoming CLD Events

The Winter Learning Festival for CLD restarts this month

If you’re still thinking about your new year’s resolutions, how about resolving to make time in your busy workload in 2023 for your own professional learning and development? The Winter Learning Festival for CLD – organised by the regional CLD professional learning networks – restarts this month and runs until the end of February.

In January, join Education Scotland for either of these 2 online sessions, focused on supporting CLD staff wellbeing.  Register for the events at the links below:

Monday, 16 January 3-4pm – Beating Blue Monday!

Thursday, 19th January, 2-3pm – Supporting staff wellbeing through coaching conversations

In February, there are a range of sessions on offer from the West Alliance, The Tayside and Fife Professional Learning Alliance and the South West Network. You can sign up now through i-Develop:

Course: Winter Learning Festival 2022-23 (i-develop-cld.org.uk)

Course: Winter Learning Festival 2022-23, Topic: South West Network 20-24 Feb 23 (i-develop-cld.org.uk)

How Good is our Community Learning and Development? 4th Edition

The CLD HMIE Team from Education Scotland are running seven webinars between January to March 2023 aimed at CLD and third sector practitioners, to support all CLD practitioners to become familiar with the framework. Dates and times, with links to register are below.

• Improvements in Equality, Diversity & Inclusion: Friday 27th January 10-11am
• Improving Gender Equality using Quality Indicators: Tuesday 7th February 10-11am
• Improving the CLD Workforce: Wednesday 15th February 2-3pm
• Improving Partnership Working in CLD: Monday 27th February 11-12pm
• Leadership & Vision: Thursday 2nd March 10-11am
• Community Development & Empowerment: Monday 13th March 2-3pm
• Improving CLD Management & Sustainability: Monday 20th March 10-11am

---

News from the CLD Sector

SCVO: Supporting Community Groups with Governance

SCVO are offering a free Good Governance Check-up tool to assess how good an organisation’s governance is. Once it’s completed, they give the group a personalised action plan with 1-2-1 support for any areas that need improvement! A great tool to support our community groups.

See Me: Time to Talk Day

Time to Talk Day is run by See Me, with SAMH (Scottish Association for Mental Health) in Scotland. Thursday, 2nd February 2023, is a day that friends, families, communities, and workplaces come together to talk, listen and change lives. Can you make space in your day for a conversation about mental health? See Me have resource packs available to order and loads of resources available to download. Talking about mental health reduces stigma helping to create supportive communities where we can talk openly about mental health and feel empowered to seek help when we need it.

Citizens Advice Scotland

Have you checked out their website recently? Some great information, which may be useful to support our CLD learners and the communities we work in, about getting help with the cost of living, grants, benefits and what to do if you are struggling. 

Local development plan evidence report – defining Gypsies and Travellers: consultation

The Scottish Government is committed to ensuring equality of opportunity for all of Scotland’s Gypsy/Travellers, and wants to ensure planning authorities properly involve the Gypsy/Traveller community in planning the future of their places. They want to establish the most appropriate definition of ‘Gypsies and Travellers’ to enable planning authorities implementing the legislation to have a better understanding of who the Gypsy/Traveller community are and how their needs can be met. Can you get involved in this consultation? Perhaps you support members of a Gypsy/Travellers community to have their say?

IACD Call for Contributions

The next issue of Practice Insights will focus on the central place of culture in community development processes and practice. Community development practitioners, researchers and academicians are invited to submit an abstract or a contribution for publication in this issue. If you’re interested, you should submit a note of interest describing your article in 500 words or less by February 28, 2023.

Scottish Refugee Council Connect Map and Forum

New Scots Connect is a national project, led by Scottish Refugee Council, which aims to build New Scots’ social connections and enhance Scotland’s welcome to refugees. The Map provides information about communities and organisations supporting refugees, for example, their location, activities, and how to get in touch with them. You can also add your organisation to the map.

The Forum enables communities and organisations supporting refugees to work more closely with each other, to share experiences and knowledge, and to access training and funding opportunities. Completing the New Scots Connect (Forum) form will give you access to the Forum to post and receive updates from other groups. 

---

Happy Christmas and Festive Best Wishes from the CLD Standards Council Staff Team 🎅🎄

The CLD Standards Council office will be closed for the festive break from Wednesday 28 December and will reopen on Wednesday 4th January 2022.

We look forward to seeing you all in 2023 😊

---

Christmas Message from Dr Marion Allison, Director, CLD Standards Council Scotland

Winter solstice, the shortest day of the year, when the northern hemisphere is furthest away from the sun. That time of year when we think about what has gone before and look forward to brighter days ahead.   

The CLD Standards Council has much to reflect upon this year and the resourcefulness of the sector remains unrivalled. Members continue to rise to the challenge of change. From managing the COVID recovery (yes, it’s still a thing), to supporting Ukrainian refugees and challenging the cost of living crises (sadly, there is more than one). Members regularly share examples work such as heat banks with adult learning provision, youth club budgeting initiatives and mental health community projects.

Against a backdrop of budget restrictions and major national policy reviews, the collective voice of CLD Standards Council members are heard. Representation of CLD practitioners across all parts of our sector have been key in shaping thought pieces such as our micro-credentials paper and leading consultation responses to education, skills, assessment, mental health and workforce reform.

Advocating for the CLD sector has been welcomed by partners at Scottish Government, COSLA, the Scottish Education Council, Scottish Council for Voluntary Organisations and so many more. It remains essential to collaborate, challenge, support and bring about change for young people, learners and communities.

For Members, we were delighted to see CLD workforce development embedded into the Adult Learning Strategy for Scotland. This work commenced by strengthening the digital aspect of the CLD competences, the launch of the CLD Standards Council induction programme and the development of adult learning national occupational standards and the review of others. 

For the team it’s been also been a year of change. From the reappointment of our Chair, Mr Alan Sherry O.B.E., to the appointment of Robbie Crow, Vikki Carpenter, Ross Martin and Steven McLennan as new members of the team. Together with Susie Bisset, Grant Garrett, Kirsty Gemmell, Lorna Renton, Ruth Washbrook they work tirelessly, with passion with and for Members all year long and I cannot thank them enough. 

However, no progress would be possible without the dedicated members of the CLD Standards Council. Partners agencies, committee members, meet-up participants, conference attendees, consultation respondents, every single person who engages in our work is a much needed proponent of the CLD values and competences. My heartfelt thanks goes to you all.

So whilst we anticipate the return of sunlight, and here’s to 2023 for CLD!  I hope you all take time out for your own relaxation and reflection and wish you all peace, joy and light.

Marion

---

News from the CLD Standards Council

Brrrr 🥶⛄. It is a winter wonderland for most of us at the moment and we hope you are all keeping safe and warm 😊

Annual Member Lecture and Conference 2022 – Evaluation

Don’t forget to complete your Conference Evaluation if you attended online or in person. We’re keen to get your views on what worked and what we can do better next time!

All materials from the event will be available on an i-develop space soon – we’re just waiting for the tech folks to work their magic with the videos!

Cost of Living Crisis Members Meet-up

Thanks to those of you who came along last week to give us some insight into how the Cost of Living Crisis is affecting CLD. We had lots of great feedback but it’s not too late – if you’d like to tell us how the crisis is affecting you, your learners, or your organisation please get in touch with us at contact@cldstandardscouncil.org.uk and we’ll add your feedback in. 

---

CLD Standards Council: Member Meet-up – Christmas Blether, 22 December, 1pm

There may even be a quick quiz if you’re lucky – Ho, Ho, Ho…! 🎅
(Mince pies and mulled wine optional)

Register for the Member Meet-Up Christmas Blether on Eventbrite

---

National Occupational Standards

Work is continuing on the reviews of Community Development and Family Learning NOS, alongside the creation of a new suite of NOS for Adult Learning.

So far, over 130 stakeholders (practitioners, training providers, employers and more) have taken part in focus groups across the UK. But we still want to hear more!

From January – March 2023, we’d appreciate it if you can spare some time to get involved. Here’s what’s coming up: 

Adult Learning

The second round focus group for Scotland is being held on Friday, 13 January 2023, 1pm-3.30pm.

Register for the Adult Learning Scotland Session on 13 January at 1pm Eventbrite.

This will be followed up by an online survey which will bring together feedback from the two rounds of focus groups and allow a final chance for input to the creation process.

A sector feedback session has been scheduled for 27 February 2023, 10am-12pm where stakeholders from all nations will be updated on how feedback gathered through focus groups and surveys has informed the creation of the NOS.

Register for the Adult Learning All Nations Feedback Session on 27 February, at 10am on Eventbrite.

Community Development

An online survey which brings together feedback from the two rounds of focus groups and the short Purpose and Values survey, will be open for two weeks from 23 January 2023.  Watch this space for the link!

A sector feedback session has been scheduled for 2 March 2023, 10am-12pm where stakeholders from all nations will be updated on how feedback gathered through focus groups and surveys has informed the revisions to the NOS.  

Register for the Community Development All Nations Feedback Session on 2 March at 10am on Eventbrite.

Family Learning

The second round focus group for Scotland is being held on Wednesday, 18 January 2023, 3.30-5.30pm.

Register for the Family Learning Scotland Session on 18 January at 3.30pm on Eventbrite.

This will be followed up by an online survey which will bring together feedback from the two rounds of focus groups and allow a final chance for input to the review process. 

A sector feedback session has been scheduled for 24 February 2023, 10am-12pm where stakeholders from all nations will be updated on how feedback gathered through focus groups and surveys has informed the revisions to the NOS.  

Register for the Family Learning All Nations Feedback Session on 24 February at 10am on Eventbrite. 

All information about the NOS reviews is available on our NOS webpage.  

---

Have Your Say Update for 2022

In 2022, through supporting members to have a voice by hosting focus groups, delivering surveys and facilitating ‘Have Your Say‘ sessions, we have made informed responses to consultations and policy developments such as The Adult Learning Strategy, The Youth Work Strategy, The National Improvement Framework, Mental Health and Wellbeing Strategy and National Discussion on Scottish Education.

We are currently delving deep into Skills Delivery Independent Review, Professor Haywards Independent Review of Qualifications and Assessment, and Post School Education, Research and Skills consultation. Watch this space for 2023 so you can get involved and together we can continue to inform and support the continuing development of CLD sector in Scotland.

---

News from the CLD Sector

National Youth Work Awards 2023 Nominations – now open

The nominations for YouthLink Scotland’s National Youth Work Awards are now open! The National Youth Work Awards celebrates youth work and the youth workers who make a difference every year in the lives of young people. The awards are a mixture of universal, targeted and specialist youth work provision.

Community-led health SCDC – We believe communities matter

Community-led health is a way of improving health and wellbeing that starts with what people say is important to them. It supports communities experiencing disadvantage and poor health to identify what they find important, and to take the lead in developing solutions. Visit Scottish Community Development Centre’s (SCDC) website to find out more on Community Health Exchange (CHEX).

New easy mapping tool to give communities a voice – Improvement Service

The Parish Online tool, which is already used widely across England and Wales, has been adapted for Scotland and will be useful in enabling communities to easily create Local Place Plans. It could also be a useful way for community groups to engage with their citizens and highlight specific areas of interest or concern in their local areas.

Cost of living & the #RunningCostsCrisis

SCVO are continuing to update information, news and resources on  their #RunningCostsCrisis hub. It’s a worrying time, but remember that their team is there to provide practical support and to help individuals, families and communities.

International Standards for Community Development 

International Association for Community Development (IACD) is committed to the continued promotion and development of the Standards as a key resource for community development as a global discipline. They would like your views on what would make them work better for you, as well as help to promote the Standards, share experiences of using them and develop the support they provide to community development practice and education.

The My Place Awards: Open For Entries

Celebrating community-led built environment projects that have transformed their locality. Organised by the Scottish Civic Trust, with the support of the Scottish Government, the My Place Awards are open to community-led built environment projects in Scotland. Closing date is 12 February.

---

CLD Standards Council Annual Lecture and Conference – Were you there?

The day included a keynote from Sara Thiam from the Scottish Council for Development and Industry (SCDI) and interactive workshops (see below).

Don’t know about you but the CLD Standards Council team had a blast! It was just superb to see so many of you in person, catch up properly in the reconnections sessions or just blether over a cuppa!

Thanks also to those far and wide who joined online for the lecture and keynote. Vikki and Steven enjoyed posing your questions as well as getting chat with those of you who could not attend in person.

Recordings of the key-note speeches will be available on-i-develop soon along with slides from the presentations and workshops.

Did you share your thoughts about CLD with CLD Talks?  We will be sharing those vox pops soon too, so keep an eye on the members bulletin.

Conference Workshops

Professional Learning for you from CLD Standards Council and Education Scotland

Showcasing a variety of opportunities available to CLD Standards Council members, Education Scotland highlighted its opportunities in Supporting Workforce Wellbeing, the United Nations Convention on the Rights of the Child (UNCRC) and Improving Gender Balance and Equalities, and participants were asked to contact Nicola Sykes at nicola.sykes@educationscotland.gov.uk if they’d like more information on Self-Evaluation for Continuous Improvement. Our CLD Standards Council Professional Induction Course and the Buddying and Mentoring offer available to members were also highlighted. 

National Occupational Standards

The CLD Standards Council are currently reviewing the Community Development & Family Learning NOS and creating a brand new Adult Learning NOS. Kirsty & Steven ran three sessions asking practitioners, “How do you currently use National Occupational Standards in your workplace”, “How else could you use National Occupational Standards” and “What support do you need from the CLD Standards Council”. Looking at existing functional maps that make up the current standards, we gave a brief overview of their importance and “why NOS matter”. In Scotland the National Occupational Standards form a key part in the development of SVQs (Scottish Vocational Qualifications) which was of interest to some of the students and participants in the session. 

If you haven’t yet managed to feed into the National Occupational Standards consultations, there’s still time – please look at our dedicated NOS I-develop page where you can find our more information on how to get involved.

CLD Plans Workforce Development – What’s in it for you?

Vikki and Grant delivered this workshop on the 32 regional CLD Plans, with a specific lens on the workforce development sections within the plans. It was really interesting to take time to review and note the variation, as well as give participants time to reflect and discuss how their CLD plan does or could support them as practitioners and as a CLD workforce. Viewing them as a tool, and as something that belongs to every practitioner in that area, changed our perspectives on the plans and how we could use them personally, organisationally, regionally and nationwide. A phenomenal number of interesting “Pledges” were made by participants regarding how to use their plans moving forward…… We are excited to see what happens next!  

Supporting the Voluntary Workforce in CLD

Sarah Latto from Volunteer Scotland delivered an interactive and interesting workshop, exploring the relationship between volunteering and CLD, and how CLD practitioners can ensure that volunteers have a positive experience. Participants took a dive into current context that affects volunteering, particularly the ongoing recovery from Covid-19 and the cost-of-living crisis.

Sustainability – Global Citizens, Local Actions

Carolyn Wills from the West of Scotland Development Education Centre (WOSDEC) looked into how their centres support educators in CLD to promote global citizenship. Critical discussions were had around how global citizenship should be part of everyday life but with acknowledgement of the complexity of global issues and the importance of social justice both locally and globally to ensure we all have an ultimate goal of shaping a just and sustainable future for all.

Key Learning and Conference Feedback

What’s the key piece of learning you are taking away from #CLDSCConf2022?

• Linking global competences to what we do
• CLD plans and the need for more awareness of these ‘on the ground’ with local people
• How closely linked CLD practice and volunteering are
• Thinking about how we prepare practitioners for roles that are delivered differently 
• That our sector – the CLD family, is more powerful together

We are gathering evaluations right now so if you have not done so yet, please share your views via our conference survey.

In the evaluation we ask for you to “Share one word to describe the #CLDSCConf2022“.  The word cloud below shows what we have been told so far: 

And don’t forget to keep an eye out on upcoming bulletins for links to the recordings and presentations.

---

News from the CLD Standards Council

Whilst we are all busy doing last minute preparations for our CLD Standards Council Members Annual Lecture and Conference (Yes, it’s this week!) we have still been out, meeting with folk and talking all things CLD.

Marion and our Chair, Alan, had a productive meeting with senior civil servants to discuss support and promotion of the CLD sector in Scotland. 

Steven and Kirsty, along with Laura Starkey and Nicola Sykes from Education Scotland CLD, met with managers from North Ayrshire Council and Highlife Highland to share practice around “Grow Your Own” CLD Practitioners. North Ayrshire gave an enthusiastic presentation on how they developed CLD career pathways using professional learning opportunities along with work-based learning to enrich the practitioners’ experiences, knowledge and skills.  

Ross met with National Voluntary Youth Work Managers Scotland to talk about enhancing partnership links to best support staff and volunteers within CLD. 

A number of members joined us this week when we met with Professor Alma Harris, one of the independent consultants working on the National Discussion for Scottish Education, and really positive, critical and impactful discussions were had. This session gave the research team a wider lens regarding the Scottish Education landscape and promoting the need for parity of esteem and equity among all professions working within life long and life wide learning across Scotland. We are now analysing all the data gathered from the previous two fabulous online sessions and are excited about the insightful and positive ideas and opinions given which will form our response on behalf of the CLD sector and our members.

Watch This Space and look out for next week’s bumper edition Conference Special 😍

---

CLD Standards Council: Member Meet-up – December: Cost of Living Crisis, 8 December, 1pm

We’re really keen to know if you’ve had to adapt what you do and how, as well as if the crisis as a whole is having a negative impact on participation in CLD services. Come along, tell us what you’re doing and how it’s affecting CLD in your area! 

Register for the December Member Meet-up on Eventbrite.

---

News from the CLD Sector

YouthLink Scotland

There are a number of online digital learning events available in December, as well as a digital conference next February.

Democratic Society

Take a look at this informative and interesting blog about ways in which people with lived experience have previously been meaningfully engaged in decision-making and/or policymaking processes. 

International Day of Disabled People

Held on December 3, this annual event acknowledges and highlights the human rights of disabled people. The theme for this year is “Building Back Better: toward a disability-inclusive, accessible and sustainable post COVID-19 World”. Can you get involved?

Change Mental Health: 50th Anniversary

Celebrating their 50th anniversary and partnered with NHS 24 Breathing Space, the 50th Breathing Space bench in Scotland was unveiled. The Breathing Space Bench Initiative is about welcoming spaces, encouraging people to sit and take some breathing space, share a bit of time for listening and talking, reach out and show kindness and compassion.

---