Harriet Baker, Author at Future Pathways - Scotland's In Care Support Fund

Being in nature can boost our wellbeing. Here, we share top tips from First Psychology.

Growing plants at home

Taking care of plants can help you feel peaceful and give you a sense of pride. You do not need to have a garden to feel the benefits of growing plants. There are lots of plants that you can grow in your own home to create your own little garden.

Choose a room in your house that gets a lot of sunlight coming in.

• Gather some pots, soil and seeds and you are ready to start.
• You could also go to your nearest plant shop and ask for advice on what to grow or buy a plant or two from there to start you off.
• The best plants to grow inside are leafy green plants or herbs. Or you could grow a cactus as they are easy to look after.
• You could even try growing basil, rosemary, sage, pea shoots, cress or even small chilli peppers.

Spend time with animals

Being around animals can help reduce stress. Even if you do not own a pet, you can still spend time with animals. For example, if a friend owns a pet, you could look after it for the day, or you could join them for a walk in the park. You could also visit an animal shelter or a nature reserve if you live near one.

Listen to the sounds of nature

We often do not notice all the natural sounds going on around us. Taking time to sit in nature and focus on these sounds can be a good way to relax. Try to find a quiet spot to sit. This could be a garden, a park or another place close to nature. Sit in silence and focus on each different sound you can hear, one at a time.

For example, the birds singing or wind in the trees. You could even write the sounds down. If you are not able to get out into nature, you could try listening to a recording of nature sounds instead, like birdsong or rain. You can find recordings of nature sounds online.

Take nature screen breaks

In our modern lives, we often spend a lot of time in front of screens, like our phones. If you use your phone a lot, you could try to create a new habit. For example, putting your screen down regularly to look out the window and up at the sky for few minutes, or by making sure you put your phone away when you are outside.

Taking breaks from our screens to enjoy nature and the outdoors is an easy way to find a more balanced lifestyle. We also get the positive impact that nature can have on our overall wellbeing.

Take part in activities that help look after nature

There are lots of things you can do to help protect and restore natural places. Taking part in these activities can help us feel connected to our natural world and feel a sense of purpose.

Find out what activities are going on in your local community. There are often group activities that anyone can get involved in. They are often run by volunteers and very happy for new people to come along and join in.

This article is adapted from a booklet called Eco Therapy and Wellbeing written by First Psychology. First Psychology are one of our Delivery Partners. They offer different kinds of therapy, like counselling, psychotherapy and coaching. They are based in Edinburgh but they have offices in lots of places.

You can find out more about them at www.firstpsychology.co.uk

You can see the full booklet at: www.firstpsychology.co.uk/booklets

Earlier this year, Future Pathways helped David to get a mountain bike to support him with his mental and physical health. Here, David shares his cycling stories and what the bike means to him.

David has always loved cycling and has done it all his life. He raced when he was younger, and cycled across Europe and America. It was important to him to keep up cycling as he got older.

Future Pathways supported David to get a pedal-assist bike. This type of bike has a motor to help you pedal more easily. This is very helpful when it comes to hills.

David goes to different places in Scotland and sees lots of scenery on his travels.

‘Where I live is ideal – I am surrounded by cycle paths and cycle networks, Edinburgh is great for it. I’m quite fortunate in that way.’

He has cycled in the Pentlands, Aberlady, North Berwick, Longniddrie, Glen Tress and the Cairngorms. He usually goes by train and then cycles back home. He recently went to Falkirk by train and then cycled all the way back. This was a 35-mile route along the canal and took about 4 and a half hours. His longest cycle was 105 miles, to Hawick and back.

‘You don’t think about the distance. you just carry on. I am out in hail or shine, it doesn’t bother me. Usually I am out every day.’

David looks at the cycle networks online to help him choose his routes. If he likes a route, he thinks about when he will go and for how long. He recently spent a weekend up in the Pentlands with his friend.

‘My favourite is up the Pentlands, it’s nice up there. It’s like being in the middle of nowhere even though you’re in a city. Me and my pal camped a couple of nights on Bonaly Hill and it was nice. Having that freedom to go where you want. Me and my pal do quite a few cycle trips. We are both bike mad.’

There are lots of things David enjoys about cycling and he knows a lot about bikes.

‘I like the mechanics, physical exercise and just getting out. It is a mixture of things. I volunteer at the bike station in Edinburgh fixing bikes for people or taking parts for new ones.’

Cycling means a lot to David. A couple of years ago, he had to sell his bike and this was difficult for him. Having a bike again has made a big difference.

‘It has been absolutely massive to my physical and mental health. I go everywhere on the bike. I’ve got a bus pass but I’d rather cycle. I don’t have to worry about anyone else.’

One of David’s most memorable routes was going out to Aberlady and cycling along a path that goes all the way to North Berwick. And for the best scenery, David’s favourite places are further north.

‘It has to be the Cairngorms and the Highlands. They are my favourite places any time of year. It is just so brilliant up there, it is spectacular.’

Having the bike means David can connect with local places too. He often cycles to Fresh Start, a charity that he volunteers with in Edinburgh. Fresh Start helps people who have been homeless.

‘Sometimes I’ll go down to Fresh Start and give them a hand or help with the soup kitchen. I worked for Fresh Start in the past and now I volunteer. It is good for the soul.’

What trips are ahead for David? Next year, he is going to Australia to see some of his family. He will see his sister who he has not seen for 20 years and he will meet his nephews too. David is going to take his bike with him.

‘There is some amazing cycling to do out there in Australia. I’m looking forward to the openness, the wild open country, it’s such a big place.’

In the meantime, David will use his bike to support his physical health, boost his wellbeing and to see more places in Scotland.

‘Cycling helps with my mental health. If I’m feeling under the weather, I’ll go on my bike for an hour and I’ll feel OK after it. The bike is everything to me. I wouldn’t be without it.’

The National Cycle Network is a UK-wide network of signed paths and routes for walking, wheeling, cycling and exploring outdoors. Find your route here:
www.sustrans.org.uk/national-cycle-network

We are pleased to share our latest report, Identity, Equality and Access: Learning about people we support. The report focuses on the demographics and life experiences of people supported by Future Pathways.

Through this research, we aimed to learn more about whether the population of people we support is representative of the wider population of people who have experienced childhood abuse and neglect. We believe that by learning more about this, we can make our support more accessible, both to people we support and people who have not yet registered with us.

Limited research has been undertaken about the demographics or life experiences of people who were abused or neglected in the Scottish care system. Future Pathways is one of the few services in Scotland exclusively supporting people with lived experience of in-care abuse and neglect. Although there are obvious limitations to our data set, we believe that this research is a valuable contribution to a currently under-represented area of research.

Identity, Equality and Access offers a starting point for services, including our own, to improve awareness about people who experienced in-care abuse and neglect. In addition, we hope this work prompts reflection from Future Pathways, our Delivery Partners and colleagues across the wider sector in how we can enhance access to support by considering people’s specific needs.

We are keen to consider how information people share can be leveraged to influence wider positive change in response to the impacts and inequalities of childhood trauma. Many people we support are keen to effect change, not just at Future Pathways but also to services and policies beyond. Gathering data and sharing our learning can help improve our own service and other services, enabling people to enact their rights to access the resources, care and support that is right for them.

This project has given us the opportunity to consider how we gather and record data, and how we can do this in a way that best suits the people we support. We encourage services to take a trauma-informed approach to data gathering and recording, acknowledging the specific needs or concerns that people with lived experience of in-care abuse and neglect might have in relation to their information and identity.

This research is part of a learning journey. We will continue to analyse the demographic and life experience data shared by people we support, and we will share our learning as our collective data increases. We remain committed to raising awareness and contributing to research that can benefit people with lived experience of abuse and neglect in the Scottish care system.

WHAT WE LEARNED

For example, we might not be reaching people who are transgender, people who are bisexual, gay, or lesbian, and people who belong to Black, Asian and mixed ethnic groups.

At least 15% of our respondents had difficulties with literacy. 74% of people registered with Future Pathways living in Scotland, were living in some of the most deprived areas. In the wider population, over a third of people who experienced childhood abuse by a family member were also abused by a partner as an adult.

People registered at Future Pathways were aged between 19 and 93 years old, and the average age of people registered with Future Pathways was 52. In the wider population, more older people disclose childhood abuse than younger people.

At least 48% of our respondents had a disability. In the wider population, people who experienced childhood abuse are at higher risk of anxiety, depression and psychiatric conditions.

You can read the full report Identity, Quality and Access: Learning about people we support here.

You can read the summary report here.

Fiona Sharp founded F Sharp Music in 2013. It provides individually designed music sessions for people of all ages and disabilities. F Sharp Music are one of our Delivery Partners. Here, we chat to Fiona about her work.

When did your love of music start, and how?

Music was very much part of my upbringing, and I was always interested in it.

As a teenager I was very keen on drama and music and I was a member of the National Youth Music Theatre as well as local drama groups in Edinburgh.

Classical music has always been a big part of my life. I learned classical violin from the age of seven, and piano when I was three thanks to my mum being a piano teacher. Singing was also a big part of my childhood.

What gave you the idea to use music as therapy?

In my final year at school, I ended up shadowing the music therapist at The Royal Blind School in Edinburgh. That’s really what inspired me to go down this path and I ended up studying music down in London: it was a general music degree, but I was able to do a course in music therapy, and that inspired me further to look at taking it forward as a career.

I moved back to up Scotland, to Fife, and I ended up working as a Music Practitioner for a charity called Sense Scotland. I worked in their residential services across the east coast of Scotland providing one-to-one and group music sessions.

At that time, they predominantly supported people who are Deafblind. The majority of clients I worked with at that time had been in long-stay hospitals most of their lives, and had only recently moved into the community. I absolutely loved this work, mainly because the participants communication skills were fairly nonexistent at that stage, and I found that music and vibration really helped develop those skills. It was amazing to see the developments made through music however big or small they were. Following this I ended up doing a diploma in Deafblind Studies.

I worked with Sense Scotland for over six years and loved it. But by that point I was nearly 30 and felt I needed to move on and explore other opportunities within the sector. So that’s when I decided to take the big jump and set up F-Sharp Music.

So you started F Sharp in 2013: how has it developed since then?

It’s grown a huge amount, and I have to admit the growth in the business has been partly thanks to the pandemic. Before the pandemic I was working entirely on my own. Due to the high demand in music sessions over the past two years I have had to bring in four music specialists to help take on referrals. This has also meant that we are now covering many regions of Scotland rather than just Fife and Edinburgh as well as supporting people with a wide range of learning and physical disabilities, and all ages.

Over the past two years we have also set up an online shop selling F Sharp Music resources, sensory instruments and merchandise. We have a YouTube channel and social media pages.

What sorts of things do you do?

It very much depends on the person as we structure our music sessions around the individual we are supporting. We can do something as basic as sing songs together or interact with some percussive instruments, or we have some participants that want to learn to play an instrument, record themselves or be in a band.

We can use the conventional way of learning to play an instrument and learning to read music. But also, for those participants who may struggle to understand music notation, we use a system called Figurenotes. This is a system that uses colour and shape to help you learn to read music. So, for example, if you’re learning to play the piano or the guitar, you put stickers on your instrument – in different shapes and colours – and then the music is also portrayed in the same range of colours and the shapes, and you literally play what you see. So straightaway, you can play a song.

It was devised in Helsinki by two music teachers at the Resonaari Music Centre, who provide music lessons for children and adults with learning and physical disabilities. Originally Figurenotes was designed for people on the Autistic Spectrum, but it is now a music notation system which anyone can access.

The organisation Drake Music Scotland brought the concept over to Scotland in the mid 2000s, and it has just exploded as a music notation system throughout Scotland and the rest of the UK. Schools use it across the country and the BBC’s Ten Pieces school program also has adopted the system. It’s an amazing concept which works in three stages allowing the musician to eventually learn conventional music notation.

What are some of the ways that music can help people, beyond simply being an enjoyable experience?

There are many, many ways music can help people. It obviously depends on the person and their specific needs. For example, for people with more profound disabilities, who may have difficulties with communication, music can really help develop those skills through call and response work and choice making. You can also build up a conversation through instrumental playing.

For people who may have anxiety or depression, music can really help with self-expression and creativity as well as helping to build up confidence and social skills.

It can also develop counting skills, motor skills, listening skills and concentration. If you use Figurenotes notation system, you’ve got colour matching and pattern recognition as well as counting and rhythm.

Music can also just be a ‘feel-good’ activity.

Above: Fiona Sharp

Where do you want to take F Sharp Music in the near future?

Well here’s the thing, when I was at school I was told by my careers advisor that music to me was a hobby not a talent and I should consider working in a shop instead of studying music…I didn’t listen to her! When I did go and study music at university I was then told that being a music specialist/therapist would always be a part time job as it’s very difficult to get work in this field. Somehow over the past 17 years I have built up my own music practice and now have a team of amazing music specialists covering large parts of the country, which I never thought would be possible given what I was told in the past.

I suppose that’s a lesson for all of us: go with your gut instinct and your love and passion for what you enjoy doing, and don’t let anyone stop you or put you off achieving your dreams. With that said, I can only wish for a future for F Sharp Music which is as successful as it has been over the past 11 years. I am always looking at ways of expanding the business and bringing in new ideas and interests. Our latest project which we are aiming to start launching next year is our Music Wellness sessions and resources.

This will hopefully include sound therapy/sound baths, music relaxation, sensory music and nutrition and wellbeing which is another area I am very passionate about.

Sound therapy/sound bathing uses different tones and pitches to help relaxation. The person is in a comfortable and relaxed position either lying down or in a comfortable chair. The sound therapist will then play a selection of instruments (crystal singing bowls, Tibetan singing bowls, ocean drums, rain sticks, gongs, finger cymbals) which produce very pure tones and relaxing sounds, and can completely relax you and help you process some of the emotions you might be experiencing. For some people it can put them into a meditative, trance state. I actually tried it myself a few weeks ago, and it was unbelievable. Until you experience it, you can’t really explain it, but you feel so relaxed at the end of the session, as if you’re walking on air. This is a great activity for people who may have anxiety, depression, Autism, or sleep insomnia. I personally think it’s a wonderful thing to experience and I very much want to introduce it as an activity to F Sharp Music over the next year.

5 skills that can be developed through music

Motor skills – by learning to play an instrument.

Language and communication – both through singing and by stimulating the necessary parts of the brain.

Collaboration skills – by singing and playing with other people.

Maths and counting – from beats in a bar to patterns within a piece, numbers are a fundamental component of music.

Self-expression and creativity – music is the perfect medium in which to explore and experiment.

View our Delivery Partners page to find out more about how Future Pathways works with practitioners and organisations.

We are looking forward to attending Trauma Summit 2024. At this year’s event, we will have an exhibitor stand and virtual booth where professionals and services can find out more about who we are and what we do.

At Future Pathways, we take a trauma-informed approach across all our work. We are therefore pleased to be able to access Trauma Summit’s diverse and inspiring programme so that our staff can deepen their understanding of psychological trauma and trauma recovery from leading world experts.

By participating as an exhibitor at the Trauma Summit, we can make new connections and share our work with delegates from across a range of services and professional backgrounds. We look forward to highlighting the ways in which our trauma-informed approach is crucial in contributing to positive changes in the lives of people we support.

We are committed to our learning journey. We seek to strengthen our own individual and collective knowledge through events such as Trauma Summit. We are also keen to share our own learning with peers and demonstrate how compassionate, flexible support can make a real difference.

“Future Pathways exists to enable people who experienced childhood abuse or neglect in care to live well, supporting people to achieve their life goals. Many people face significant barriers when services and professionals are not able to offer a trauma-informed response. Each person’s needs are unique, and we are determined to keep learning how we can offer individualised support of the highest quality. By participating in the 2024 Trauma Summit, we can develop our own practice and share our own learning about delivering psychologically informed support.”

– Flora Henderson, Alliance Manager, In Care Survivors Alliance

Attending Trauma Summit 2024? Find us at Stand 2 and discover more about our work.

Delivered by Action Trauma Network, the Trauma Summit takes place in Belfast on 17 and 18 June 2024. Action Trauma is a not-for-profit organisation dedicated to changing lives for the better by promoting awareness of trauma and trauma recovery throughout the world. Discover more about their work at: www.actiontrauma.com/traumasummit

You can find out more about the story of Future Pathways, from our early development to our work up to 2023, in our impact report Stepping Stones. Read more here.

Our latest Quarterly Report is now available to view. It covers our work from January to March 2024. It shows what we’ve learnt, and includes key stats and feedback from those who access Future Pathways.

What happened in Q4

53 people registered with Future Pathways.

14 people started working with a Support Coordinator.

157 people accessed support from 47 Delivery Partners.

Who we worked with

The average age of people who registered with us was 52.

83% of people registered with us live in Scotland’s most populated areas.

How people felt

We received positive feedback from people we support, and we also received suggestions for how we could improve.

People shared that they felt Future Pathwyas understood and cared about them.

People also told us that waiting for support and not being able to access material support can be very difficult.

What people gained

People accessed a mix of different types of support in Q4.

Many people accessed support such as trauma support work and psychological assessment from our Delivery Partners.

And many people accessed support through our Discretionary Fund such as support to make home improvements and explore hobbies.

People also accessed support to link up with existing services such as social work and healthcare.

What changed for people

People shared what changed in their life after accessing support from Future Pathways.

“I went from […] not looking after myself to someone who enjoyed getting up in the morning […] Instead of wasting my life away […] I am able to live a life once again.”

What difference we made

People shared the impact of their work with Future Pathways. For some people, this was lifechanging.

“[Future Pathways] made my life totally on a better path that I never thought possible.”

Our full report features further infographics, feedback and a breakdown of our financial spend. Read our full report here.

We are delighted to share our latest report, Co-designing peer support at Future Pathways. Created in collaboration with Voices for a Better Future, Iriss and Scottish Recovery Network, this report shares what we have learned from our recent co-design project.

In 2023, Future Pathways undertook a project to look at how we might develop peer support. We took a collaborative approach, working alongside people with lived experience who have accessed support from Future Pathways, as well as partners with expertise in co-design and peer support.

At Future Pathways, one of our strategic objectives is to support people to improve their own lives and achieve their personal goals. Through this co-design project, we aimed to explore the peer support and engagement opportunities sought by people who access Future Pathways and identify what these opportunities could look like. This would then give us a strong starting point to develop, explore and test ideas in future.

The project was underpinned by the principles of trauma-informed practice, and we took an appreciative approach which valued individual insights and group contributions. From this foundation, participants took part in a range of activities which uncovered key areas for potential development.

Through the project, we learned that people we support seek opportunities for people with lived experience to learn together, share interests, support each other, influence wider positive change and advocate for themselves and for others. Running throughout these ideas was the importance of creating the space and time to listen and be heard, promote hope and understanding, and generate connection, community and a sense of purpose.

In many ways, the collaborative approach of the co-design group mirrored the very support that people identified as being needed. For example, this project involved creating and taking part in opportunities to share perspective and knowledge, create connection and influence change.

We thank all those who took part in the project. Participants were deeply motivated to contribute meaningfully to developments that would benefit people with lived experience of abuse and neglect. By listening to the voices of people with lived experience and those of our partners and staff, we are all given the opportunity to learn, reflect and improve. We will take time to reflect on what has been shared and what we have learned, and look at how we can use this as the foundation for future activity.

This report has provided a strong starting point for Future Pathways. We recognise that interests and needs are diverse, and we will test options in order to build on what works for people registered with us. We will encourage community and inclusion, and aim to reach as many people as we can through any new activity.

Collaboration is key: we will continue to work together in co-creating projects that meet the needs of people registered with us, and share what we are learning along the way.

Above: Members of the co-design group at their last meeting in Dundee, 2024

“We were very motivated to take part in this project, because we believe that developing peer support at Future Pathways will make a big difference to people accessing the service. Through this project, we shared our ideas and got to know each other better. We are looking forward to continuing to work together to make sure the needs of people accessing Future Pathways are met.”

– Voices for a Better Future

“It was a real inspiration to work with such motivated colleagues, from both Voices for a Better Future and our partners. We learned a lot about what people felt would be most important in introducing peer support. This year’s plan was a direct result of this co-design process which included people registered with Future Pathways, staff, the Scottish Recovery Network and led by Iriss. It is hugely exciting to start work in this area and even more exciting to do so in ongoing partnership with Voices for a Better Future.’’

– Flora Henderson, Manager, In Care Survivors Alliance

‘Scottish Recovery Network values this opportunity to work with Future Pathways, Voices for a Better Future and Iriss to explore peer support and how it can be developed in Future Pathways. This collaboration meant that we could share our lived and learned experiences and bring a range of perspectives together to look at things in new ways. It may have been the start of a longer process but it has been one full of learning and potential.’

– Louise Christie, Director, Scottish Recovery Network

‘This project shows the importance of people having an active role in their own recovery and working alongside others connected by similar experiences. It was an inspirational experience to work with the Voices group who expressed a strong desire to make a difference to future generations. We are delighted that our partners Future Pathways and Scottish Recovery Network, are taking forward ideas from the co-design work and are passionate and committed to peer support for those accessing Future Pathways.’

– Ellen Daly and Kerry Musselbrook, Development Leads, Iriss

You can read Co-designing peer support at Future Pathways here.

You can read a summary of Co-designing peer support here.

We are delighted to share the news that Voices for a Better Future has now been working together for two years.

The group was set up 25 May 2022 and since then, they have gone from strength to strength. They have met online and in-person to work on some interesting and inspirational projects.

Voices for a Better Future is a lived experience voice group. The group is made up of people who have accessed support from Future Pathways. It is a safe space where people can draw on their lived experience to offer guidance to the Leadership Team at Future Pathways.

Over the past two years, the group have taken part in many projects.

They have given updates via the Future Pathways newsletter to share their work with other people supported by Future Pathways.
They worked with Iriss and Scottish Recovery Network on a project about co-designing peer support.
Some members of the group are working with the Procurator Fiscal’s office. They aim to improve processes for people who take part in the National Abuse Inquiry or who are involved in court cases against perpetrators.
Two members of the group have taken up roles as Alliance Leadership Team representatives.
The group is working on record search guidance. They want to help people who are trying to find records from their time in care. The group is using their own personal experience to help others.

To mark their two year anniversary as a group, we asked members to share their feelings about the group:

“One thing we have in common is when one of the group is missing we all make sure that person is okay.”

“I myself want one thing – to make sure that sure that the work we are doing will help and benefit people from past, present and future.”

“I would like to use a quote from Helen Keller who said: ‘Alone we can do so little; Together we can do so much.’ This sums up Voices for a Better Future group for me.”

Future updates around current projects the group are working on will be shared via Future Pathways’ newsletter and their dedicated space on the website. You can view this here.

There are currently 13 active members in the group. Membership of the group changes each year to give new people the chance to take part. If you are interested in joining, you can:

Let your Support Coordinator know if you are interested
Email Future Pathways at engagement@future-pathways.co.uk

As the group is quite small, it may not always be possible for everyone to join at the same time.

This information was updated September 2024.

A lot of people register with us for support. Because of the number of people registered, it is not possible for us to work with everyone at the same time. This means that, for now, people are waiting longer than we would like for their support to start.

We understand that waiting for support can be difficult. We are working hard to make sure you can access the service as soon as possible.

Can you tell me how long I will have to wait for support to start?

It is not always possible for us to say how long people will have to wait. This is because timeframes can change. However, at the moment, people are waiting up to 24 months.

We know it can be hard to wait a long time for support. We still hope that you register with us. We will start your support as soon as we can.

I was told that it was not possible to say how long I would be waiting for support. Why was this?

Before now, we did not give people a timeframe for when support would start. This was because our timeframes can change. We wanted to prevent people feeling let down if the waiting time ended up being longer than what we had told them. However, feedback from people registered with us told us that it was important to have information about when support might start, even if that information might change.

The waiting time may still go up or down. We will be checking it every month and will update this page on our website if anything changes.

Can I get any other support from Future Pathways while I wait?

At the moment, while you are waiting, we are not able to offer any other support.

But we can point you to other services that may be able to offer support while you wait. This includes statutory services, like the NHS or housing services. It is also important to know that Future Pathways does not replace statutory services and cannot offer the same type of support that those services provide.

Are some people able to get support before others?

Older adults (people 65 and over) and people living with a terminal illness have priority when accessing support from Future Pathways. For everyone else, we offer support in the order that they registered with us.

How will I know if I am registered?

Once you have registered with us, we will send you an Information Pack within 2 weeks. The pack will confirm that you have been registered. It will also give you more information about Future Pathways and how we work.

The Information Pack will also include a Support Agreement. It is important you sign the Support Agreement and send it back to us.

A copy of the Information Pack is also on our website. You can view it at:

www.future-pathways.co.uk/how-we-help/information-pack

How can I connect with Future Pathways while I wait for support?

You can stay connected with us through our newsletter, Facebook and X/Twitter where we share updates about the service, plus features and articles. Any events we may be having will also be shared through our newsletter and social media.

Where can I find out more information about Future Pathways?

Our FAQs (Frequently Asked Questions) answer a range of different questions about the service. You can view the FAQs at www.future-pathways.co.uk/faqs

Can I give feedback about Future Pathways?

Yes. You can give us feedback at any time by completing the feedback form on our website: www.future-pathways.co.uk/feedback

If you would like to get a copy of the feedback form by post instead, you can let us know by:  

emailing engagement@future-pathways.co.uk 
writing to us at Future Pathways, 40 Shandwick Place, Edinburgh EH2 4RT
calling our Registration Line on 0808 164 2005

FURTHER HELP

Your GP and NHS services 

During normal working hours always contact your GP for urgent advice and treatment.  

When your GP or Dental Practice is closed and you cannot wait until they are open, you should phone NHS 111 service for out-of-hours advice. The service provides urgent care advice and mental health support.

Call 999 or go to A&E now if you do not feel you can keep yourself or someone else safe. 

The Samaritans  

The Samaritans offer a safe place for you to talk any time you like. You can talk in your own way about whatever is going on. They have a helpline, email service, letter service and a self-help app.  Helpline open 24 hours a day, 365 days a year. 

Phone for free 116123

www.samaritans.org

Breathing Space 

Breathing Space is a free phone and webchat service. It is confidential. It is for anyone in Scotland over the age of 16. You can contact them if you are experiencing low mood,  depression or anxiety. Open 6pm to 2am Monday to Thursday, and 6pm to 6am Friday to Sunday.

Phone for free 0800 83 85 87

breathingspace.scot

Shout 

Shout is a free, confidential, 24/7 text messaging support service for anyone who is struggling to cope.  

Text SHOUT to 85258

giveusashout.org

Our latest Quarterly Report is now available to view. It covers our work from October to December 2023. It shows what we’ve learnt, and includes key stats and feedback from those who access Future Pathways.

What happened in Q3

67 people registered with Future Pathways.

28 people started working with a Support Coordinator.

109 people accessed support from 37 Delivery Partners.