2022 End of Year Recap and Reflections

Its been a while since I have blogged but I wanted to post an end of 2022 one as so much has happened.

My Work at SCLD had a busy January month with Restraint Reduction Scotland Meetings, International Initiative for Disability Leadership Meetings (IIDL) , An Evaluation Workshop and a Stop Climate Chaos Scotland Cop26 Report Launch. All of these meetings took place online and it was great and really interesting to lear and develop new skills.

In January Outside of work, I attend the Craig Lodge Stronghold Festival Prayer Night in Glasgow.

At the start of February 22, I got to meet the Include for Good Rapporteurs after they got appointed by SCLD. You cab find out more about the Include for Good project and meet the Rapporteurs here - https://www.includeforgood.co.uk

Also in February I done some Learning Disability Awarensss Training for the Public Social Partnership and Employers who want to employ someone with a learning disability in the workplace. The training was online and is part of our Partnership agreement with the PSP and SUSE (Scottish union for supported employment). Also in February, I attended the Scottish Government Employability In Scotland Lived Experience Panel. At this meeting we talked about the Work to refresh the Employability in Scotland Website and to meet the Youth Leadership Panel ran by Young Scot and the Scottish Government.

In march, It was a bust month for SCLD and me.At the start of march, I ran a second Learning Disability Awarensss Training for the Public Social Partnership and Employers who want to employ someone with a learning disability in the workplace and this was followed that night of the 1st meeting of Changes Places Toilets Cross party group. It was great to represent SCLD there and I am now their rep moving forward on this group. I then had SCLD's Delyed Christmas Lunch (in March 22 I know, COVID-19 messed it up in December 2021). It was great to see most of my colleagues there as the team had not been together since March 2020. In the middle of March, I done a refresher for my Fire Safety course and I am pleased to say, I passed it YAYYY.

At the end of march A few exiting things happened. The 1st thing was that It was my Birthday, so I celebrated with my mum and dad In the pub and then I attended a Get2Gether Online Festival.

On the 31st of March, after months of hard work and late nights, I helped Launch, Scotland's Restraint Reduction Scotland Network. It was great as we had the Minister for Mental health and Wellbeing Mr Kevin Stewart there to Launch this. Despite the tech Issues to get the minister onto the event, It was well attend with over 100 people attending the online 1 hour launch.

In April, It was a busy Month of Planning Meetings for IIDl, SUSE, Include for good, Scottish Government and writing easy Read Documents.

This month, was a busy month in the lead up to Scottish learning Disability Week and Online event Planning as I was helping to run events during Scottish LD week. I also attended the Young Scot Awards in Edinburgh.

At the start of May, came Scottish LD Week. This was a really good but really busy week of events and I am proud of the SCLD team for Pulling off such amazing events to all of our partners and stakeholders for speaking and attending all of our events. During this week, I also was proud to attend ENABLE Scotland Annual Conference and this was in person. It was great to be back in person with the conference and I got to catch up with people I did not speak to because of COVID-19 and Lockdown.

The rest of may, was filled with meetings and SCLD attended the ASSIST FM Annual Conference I the Hilton hotel in Glasgow. It was great to speak along side DFN project Search and Values into Action Scotland on How to get people with Learning Disabilities into Employment. At the end of May, I ran SCLD's first Walk and Talk from St Enoch Centre to Glasgow Green and Back. This was a trial to see what SCLD could do for Staff Wellbeing. After that walk and talk was done, I went to South Newton with my Scout Group for our Annual Scout Camp. It was grate t have all of the sections together again and to work on badges.

The start of June, I had the second meeting of the CPG on Changes Places Toilets. It was a great meeting. I then had my 1st holiday for the year. I attend Craig Lodge Stronghold Festival in Dalmally. It was a great to relax and unwind and to see some old and m are some new friends.

At the end of June, I few to Oslo to attend the 14th European Union Supported Employment Congress. It was a bit off of a stressful time to get there as our flights were cancelled and me and my colleague had an unexpected detour to Copenhagen overnight. When we reached congress, it was great and we learned lots and done some networking with some International colleagues. It was also great to see a few folks from Scotland there.

In July, SCLD hosted our colleagues from Inspiring Scotland and International Initiative for Disability Leadership (IIDL) for a in person Planning Meeting. It was great to meet colleges in person for the 1st time, We talked about the SMHLR, Scotland’s Our Future leaders Course and the IIDL/IIMHL Leadership Exchange that was planned for October 22.

At thew start of August, I attended the Alliance Scotland Community of Practice Lived Experience Group. This was only their second meeting so I went there and Now I am SCLD’s Representative on this group. I also attended CELSIS Participation Network Event. This was a hybrid event so I attended the morning part in person at Strathclyde Uni. Also In August, I got to meet with Louise MacDonald who is the Interim Director-General Economy at the Scottish Government with SCLd’s CEO Charlie McMillian at St Andrews House in Edinburgh.

The rest of August, I got to attend a few other events and meetings. These took place in person. The 1st One was the Learning disability Cross Party group Development session. This session was chaired by Paul O’Kane MSP with the help of Jan Savage from ENABLE Scotland. The second event was a Roundtable Invitation - Scotland's Health Inequalities and our Implementation Gap ran my NESTA Scotland and finally I attend the online CELCIS Education Forum.

September was a busy month with meetings with the Scottish Government, PBS webinars, PSP Training Prep, RRS Network Meeting on the SG Physical Restraint Consultation and SCLD’s The Expert Group. September was also a bust month of Preparing for the IIDL/IIMHL leadership Exchange and I pre-recored some videos to show at some Virtual IIDL events as part of the Leadership Exchange.

October was the most busiest month I had in a while. At the start of this, I attended the National Care Service Forum which was hybrid from Perth. In attended this virtually from SCLD’s office in Glasgow. A few days later, I was delighted to Confer attend the Scottish Government Lived Experience board though in Edinburgh in person. It was great to hear the fantastic contributions from board members. At the end of October, I was pleased to attend the third meeting of the Alliance Community of Practice Lived Experience group.

I then along side 2 of my other colleagues from SCLD, attend the IDL/IIMHL leadership Exchange in person in Dublin. I chaired a workshop on the first day of the conference on leadership. On the panel was Inspiring Scotland and on of the Include for Good Rapporteurs and they were both talking about leadership the and on the second day of the conference, I spoke in a workshop with the Fraser if Allander Institute and DFN project search on Supported employment. Itr was grat to be at the Conference as in May, We got invited onto the organising committee for the conference. Two other conferences took place at the same time during the Dublin conference in New Zealand in America. There was lots of learning during the event and great to hear from members of the Irish parliament and the Irish Prime Minister. Itr was also great to hear contributions from America and new Zealand as there was a contribution sent from Ireland to America and New Zealand.

At the start of November, I done a 1 day Emergency 1st Aid Course with my Colleague from SCLD. We both passed the course. It was a bust month with conferences as I attended the CELSIS SIRRC online conference and was pleased to be invited to ENABLE Scotland’s Annual General Meeting taking place in Glasgow in person. I also attended with my CEO Charlie the ENABLE Scotland Parliamentary Reception taking place at the Scottish Parliament. It was great to be invited and thank you to ENABLE for the invite.

And finally in December was another busy month of meetings for me. I attended the 1st Scottish Assembly Hybrid Conference in Edinburgh. It was a great day with Workshops from NHS 24, A cost of living ran by The Scottish Assembly Staff, A workshop on Leadership ran by Inspiring Scotland and Scottish Government and finally a care charges workshop. It was great to learn a Lot more about the different services and there is going ti be a lot of follow up with the workshops so stay tuned. I got Covid-19 for the first time in two and a half year a few weeks ago so the roast of my December was me recovering and having my Staff Christmas lunch.

I know this has been a busy blog but I thank you for reading it and I thank all of the stakeholders and organisations events and workshops I have attended and bee invited to and thank you to SCLD for another awesome year. 2023 will be another busy year so stay tuned for monthly blogs (if I Remember).

Happy new year everyone.