Lauchlan, who is registered with us, shares these two reflective poems.
Talking to myself

Write go on write I’m talking to my pen

Oh what a clever writer to write when I say when.

The crimson skies the rushing waves I’m thinking in my head

Oh what a clever thinker to think what I just said.

It is really such a lovely life it’s me who’s telling you

I know it’s me who’s talking but to whom am I talking to.

I’m really just a splendid chap rich in thought and health

but guess what I discovered I am talking to myself.

Thoughts

A thought a thought it’s just a thought my mind will think again to think of all the thoughts
I’ve had would cast me out in shame.

I thought I was a rock star my mind was running wild selfish thought’s all for myself sometimes
I’m like a child.

I thought I was a Christian to the world I’d be so good but it’s to the devil my soul I gave and
the words I speak are rude.

I thought I was a politician I’d save the world’s cries but I’m not different from the rest
I’m a liar in disguise.

I’ve thought in many ways of folk

But it’s just a shot in the dark life is good and bad at times.
What do you think well there’s a thought.

Chris, who works with us, has been drawing for many years, using charcoal and, more recently, coloured pencil. Some of his work was recently shown in an exhibition in Glasgow. He told us about the exhibition, and about another way that he sometimes shares his work with others…

Chris has been working with Future Pathways for several years. He has been keen on drawing for as long as he can remember, and it has developed over the years. Chris told us: 

“I used to mostly draw with a charcoal pencil – so that’s in black and white. But during lockdown I started coming out of my comfort zone a bit, and started doing colour drawings with graphite pencils. My friends often told me that they like them when I shared them on Facebook, and that the colour drawings cheered them up.”

Chris mentioned all of this to his Support Coordinator, and this started a discussion which ended up with them arranging an exhibition of Chris’s work in the Woodlands Community Meeting Room in Glasgow.

A man smiling at the viewer. He is pointing to pictures on a wall

Above: Chris’s with his artwork on display at the Woodlands Community Meeting Room in Glasgow

Many of Chris’s drawings are of people, but they’re not all real people. Chris says: “I draw lots of stuff. I do things from TV shows or movie characters, or I’ll do cartoon characters or I’ll do superheroes. Things along those lines.”

But not all of Chris’s work is of made-up characters: “I sometimes draw bands of musicians and things like that.” And Chris uses this as a chance to share his work in a really lovely way.

“I go along to shows – plays or concerts – and I’ll pick a member of the band or the cast. Obviously I can’t draw them all, but I’ll draw someone. And then after the show, I’ll go to the stage door and I’ll present them with the drawing. Just as a little gift for them. People almost always ask if they are allowed to keep it! And I say, ‘Of course, that’s what I’ve done it for, it’s for you to take away.’ And they’re delighted. People giving me hugs and sometimes they’re nearly crying. It’s just very nice to see someone happy with something that I’ve done for them, and to see how much it means to them.”

A table with postcards laid out on it and three framed comic pages standing upright on the table.

Above: Chris’s work in the Woodlands Community Meeting Room in Glasgow

At SCVO’s The Gathering 2023 we’ll be telling people more about who we are and what we do, as well as what we learned through creating our most recent impact report, Stepping Stones. 

We will be sharing how we went about understanding our impact, especially the impact of our relationships with people. Created in collaboration with Matter of Focus, the report shines a light on the difference we make and how we make it.

We’ll also be highlighting key words from our work. Each of the words below is one of the themes we noticed from our conversations with people we support. At Future Pathways, we ask people how it feels to work with us. It helps us to improve our service and to learn. 

We want to be here for you. We are working hard to make sure you can access the service as soon as possible.   

A lot of people register with us for support. This means that currently people are waiting longer than we would like. It is not always possible for us to say how long you will have to wait. We understand that this can be frustrating. 

We look forward to providing support for you as soon as we can.  

Why is there a waiting list? 

Many people register with us to get support. But we are not able to support everyone at the same time. This means we cannot offer support right away and so we have a waiting list.  

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

No, we are not able to tell you how long you will have to wait. We do not want to give you a waiting time that might change as we know people can feel let down by that. We support people for different lengths of time, depending on their goals and needs. Because of this, it is difficult to know when we can start working with people on the waitlist.    

What is Future Pathways doing to reduce the waiting time? 

We have increased the number of Support Coordinators. We now have more than 35. 

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

At the moment, we cannot offer direct support while you are waiting.   

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. Future Pathways does not replace statutory services and cannot offer the same support that those services provide. 

Do you prioritise support for some people?

We prioritise older adults (people over 65) and people living with a terminal illness. For everyone else, we offer support in the order they registered with us.   

How will I know I am registered? 

Once you have registered with us, we will send you an Information Pack. The pack will confirm you have been registered. It will also give you more information about Future Pathways. It will include a Support Agreement for you to sign and send back to us. We will send you an Information Pack within 2 weeks of you registering. The Information Pack is also on our website and you can view it here.

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 upcoming events will also be shared through our newsletter and social media.  

Where can I find more information about the service? 

Our FAQs (Frequently Asked Questions) cover a range of different topics. You can view the FAQs here.

How can I give feedback about Future Pathways? 

You can give us feedback at any time through 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

31st October 2023
 
Please note: this update replaces the communication we issued on 23rd October.  

This is a further update about Future Pathways’ fund. The fund is used to help support the people we work with. We call this our Discretionary Fund or DF for short. However, below, we will simply refer to it as ‘the fund’.  

The fund is one of the different types of support that people can access from Future Pathways. It is used to support people to work towards their goals. 

We wrote to everyone in active support on 23rd October about two changes to fund. Since then, the Scottish Government has offered us extra support

This means that we do not need to make changes to the fund anymore.  

Ministers are keen to sustain support for people who are registered with Future Pathways. They have listened to the views of survivors and the Alliance Leadership Team.

The Discretionary Fund is one of the types of support that can be used to help people work towards the goals in their individual support plan. 

The fund will not change. It will continue like it did before. This means that:
  • There will not be a limit on how much you can access for purchasing items in a 12-month period.
  • There will not be a limit on the amount you can request in a single application for purchasing items. 

If you have any questions, you can: 

  • email us at engagement@future-pathways.co.uk  
  • write to us at Future Pathways, 40 Shandwick Place, Edinburgh EH2 4RT 
The role of Future Pathways remains the same. We are here to support people with their goals and to help people work towards them. 
Our latest Meet the Partner series continues with June Jeffrey, Head of Health and Social Care Community Services at Centred. With around 150 staff and working across the entire Highland region, the charity helps people with mental ill-health who live in their own homes and in Centred’s Recovery Centre in Inverness.
What does Centred do, and what is its ethos?

We work with adults who are experiencing mental ill-health and, in some cases, additional issues that impact on their ability to live a meaningful and fulfilling lives. We are a progressive charity, and continue to maintain a position at the leading edge of mental health recovery within the Highlands of Scotland. 

We work within the Recovery ethos, which supports people to live productive lives even if symptoms persist. We have a 23-bed Recovery Centre in Inverness, which provides support to supported people in 12 self-contained flats and 11 single rooms. The Recovery Centre was the first facility of this kind in Scotland.

In the community we provide Support and Care at Home services to people living in their own homes within local environs from Inverness, Invergordon, Lochaber and Caithness. Within the Inverness and Easter Ross services we also facilitate supported accommodation services covering 24 hours each day 7 days each week.

How did Centred get started?

It was founded as Birchwood Highland 1987, to support the closure of Craig Dunain – one of the old-fashioned asylums outside of Inverness. The Community Care Act was looking to close these huge institutions located on the outskirts of towns and cities across Britain. The Not for Profit organisation was founded as a response to this government legislation. We started as a community-based service, moving people that had spent lots of their adult life – if not all of their adult life – in old-fashioned asylums, and moving them back into properties in the Inverness area where they could be supported in a more homelyand person-centred way aimed at enabling them to become part of their own communities.

We quickly realised how big the Highland area is! And how far people had travelled to Craig Dunain. When they were leaving, they wanted to go back to areas that they were more familiar with and may have some family connections. In response, we opened a service in Easter Ross, and then one in Lochaber.

We also opened Birchwood House at that time, which was set up to offer people who still needed 24-hour care and support with the added skills and knowledge provided by qualified nursing staff. The hope was that either they would later be able to move on to supported accommodation, or if not that they would be able to live there, but in a much smaller, more person-focused environment than the big institution. Birchwood House was updated and reopened in 2017 as The Recovery Centre, offering the opportunity for people to work toward their own personal goals by managing the symptoms they may be experiencing.

Now, we also work in Caithness offering both Support Services and Care at Home to people living in the County. We cover a huge area of the Highlands, but there are still a few gaps, just because of the size and geography of the Highlands. We continue to lobby for equality of access to services.

How do people come to you these days?

In Highland it’s a bit different from other areas: adult services are commissioned by NHS Highland, they are our biggest commissioners of services.

It’s usually either because someone has been or is being discharged from hospital and will need ongoing support to live as independently as possible at home. People and families come to their notice for other reasons, not necessarily just through hospital. So social work often make referrals directly.

The Highlands area is exceptionally large and sparsely populated. How does that affect the way that you work?

As a service, we have to realise that people do live quite isolated lives, and access to services is hugely challenging. Over the years, living in these communities has actually become even more of a challenge, especially right now due to the cost of living crisis. Having supported staff and people using our services through covid – further isolating people – we now face the cost of living crisis. And, of course, accessing services in the Highlands comes at an additional cost.

The cost of providing services in remote areas is not really considered by Scottish Government and therefore our commissioners.

Can technology be part of the solution, now or in the future?

It is right now. A big project at the moment is to reach out to people in the community and find ways of how to support them, whether that be on a one-to-one basis in their own home, or as part of group, or using new technology. I guess one of the positives from covid was that we all got used to communicating using Zoom and Teams and those types of things.

NHS, of course, use a lot of these technologies for appointments, especially in remote areas. However, that does have challenges about internet access and the cost of that. It’s certainly becoming a preferred way for younger people. They have their mobile phones, but a small screen can be a challenge for older people.

What projects are you currently working on?

We’ve recently opened a Discovery College, which works with people in the community. (Not necessarily people who have been commissioned for support, but people that are out there and don’t know where to go, or how to access services.)

People will be able to drop in and see who we are and what we’re about, and they can work on their own objectives. We’ll provide some learning courses that will be certificated, but over and above that there’ll be help to prevent isolation. Being able to come along and have a chat and a cup of tea with people who are peers. We have three Peer Support Workers who all have lived experience.

What sorts of mental health problems are experienced by the people you work with?

The full range. However, people who have been referred through NHS partners tend to live with significant mental ill-health: schizophrenia, personality disorder, bipolar…. but I think that what’s missing there are people who have anxiety and depression and just live with it. They never come to notice of services. The aim of the Discovery College is for people to reach out and find us.

Does someone’s location affect their likelihood of experiencing mental health problems: do they occur more in cities and less in rural areas, or vice versa?

It’s probably impossible to say, because people who live in cities have access to more services, so they’re more likely to come to the notice of those services.

And looking at it the other way, the outcome of people living with mental ill-health, or trauma, or any of these type of challenges, is that they have less life opportunities and therefore often end up in areas of deprivation and poverty. So, I think it works both ways.

How did your connection with Future Pathways come about?

I got a call from Future Pathways last year. You were looking for a provider to work with a particular individual that was being supported by staff based outside the Highland area. The individual was then offered a number of services in the area, and chose Centred as their preferred support provider.

The person, very fortunately, lives centrally and close to services. So we were able to provide support reasonably quickly, without anyone having to do lots of travelling.

Since then we’ve become an approved provider. There’s a lot of information that’s needed! All our staff are trained, and we’re fully insured. We’re registered with the Care Inspectorate, all our workers are SSSC-registered.

We’re really looking forward to working more with Future Pathways, and hopefully across the Highlands. Inverness is the main hub of need, but don’t forget that we are available to provide support from Caithness to Lochaber.

The Gathering 2023 Event Host
We are looking forward to attending SCVO’s The Gathering 2023. At this year’s event, we will have an exhibitor stand where you can find out more about who we are and what we do, and make connections with staff from across the service. Join us at stand 29 on 7th and 8th November to discover more. 

We are delighted to also be hosting a partnership event with research company Matter of Focus at 9.30am on Wednesday 8 November. Titled “Opportunities and Challenges: evaluating relational services in a partnership context”, we will share what we have learned about evaluating the relationships we build as a service. 

We have found that developing trusting relationships with people we support and our partners means improved outcomes for people and services. Matter of Focus have helped us evaluate our relational approach to partnership working since 2018. This has helped us understand more about Future Pathways’ impact at scale. But it can also be challenging. Often, services have assumptions about partnership working that need to be considered and evidenced

At this event, we will share what we have learned about how to evidence and understand our relational approach, drawing on examples from our work with people we support and partners. We will explore how this evaluation has enabled us to make decisions about refining our model of support and enhance our impact.  

At this event and at our exhibition stand, we hope to highlight our work and our impact, and create connections with other services. 

Future Pathways is the first service of its kind, pioneering a relational approach to working with survivors of abuse and neglect in care. Embedding evaluation and learning into the service from the start means not only that Future Pathways are really clear that their service is effective and their work is making a difference to survivors, but has also allowed them to continually refine and innovate their approach to make the best difference possible. Matter of Focus are delighted to be working alongside an organisation with such a deep commitment to learning and improvement.’’  

Ailsa Cook, Director, Matter of Focus

We are looking forward to attending SCVO’s The Gathering 2023 as both exhibitor and as event host. Sharing our learning with others is an essential part of our work and we are delighted to be part of SCVO’s diverse and inspiring programme. We hope to spark discussion and reflection with those working across the sector, and look forward to sharing information about who we are and what we do.’’  

Flora Henderson, Alliance Manager, In Care Survivors Alliance

The Gathering is the largest free voluntary sector event in the UK and it is organised by the SCVO (Scottish Council for Voluntary Organisations). This is an opportunity for Future Pathways and many other services to showcase their work and learn from others. The Gathering will take place at the EICC in Edinburgh on Tuesday 7 November and Wednesday 8 November. 

This is an update about Future Pathways’ fund, used to help support the people we work with.

We call this our Discretionary Fund or DF for short. However, below, we will simply refer to it as ‘the fund’.   

The fund is one of the different types of support that people can access from Future Pathways. It is used to support people work towards their goals. 

It is important that we use the fund fairly, that the fund is available to everyone, and that we can make the fund stretch as far as possible. With that in mind, we are making two changes to the fund for the purchase of items 

  1. There will now be a limit on how much an individual can access the fund in a 12-month period. An individual will only be able to access up to £5,000 in 12 months for purchasing items. 
  2. There will now be a limit on the amount that an individual can request in a single application. For items and goods, we will accept single applications of no more than £3,000 

For requests of over £1,000, a Support Coordinator writes an application to the fund on a person’s behalf. Before these new changes take place, four weeks will be given for pending applications to be completed. ‘Pending’ means applications that have already been agreed with Support Coordinators. These must be completed before 1st December.  

For applications that have not already been agreed with Support Coordinators, the new limits will apply to all new requests from 1st November.  

Only in very special cases, where there is an immediate and clear need, requests outside the limits may be approved by members of the Alliance Leadership Team. The Alliance Leadership Team oversees Future Pathways.  

We would rather not have to add limits to how much you can access from the fund. We know that it is an important part of support from Future Pathways. But making these changes now, helps us to make sure that:  

  • the fund can be accessed by everyone supported by Future Pathways 
  • the changes affect as few people as possible 
  • we can continue to make the fund available  

The reason for needing to make these changes is due to a number of factors that have been impacting the fund: 

  • Many people we support are affected by the cost-of-living crisis. This has led to more requests being made to the fund.  
  • The cost of items and services has gone up which means the fund is stretched even further.  
  • We are trying to support a larger group of people as more people come forward for support from Future Pathways.  

Following the changes, we will review how much of the fund is spent each month. We hope that no further changes will be needed. But we might need to look again if costs continue to be higher than planned. 

We know that change can be difficult. We have taken the time to really consider these changes. Our hope is that we can maintain our service in the best possible way, and with as little disruption as possible to the people we support.   

The role of Future Pathways remains the same. We are here to support people with their goals and to help people work towards them. 

We issued further information on the Discretionary Fund in an information sheet. 
If you have any questions, you can:  

We have sent communication to all people in active support. The information about these changes were sent via letter and / or email (depending on their communication preference). Letters were dispatched on Monday 23 October and emails were sent the same day.

Our latest Quarterly Report is now available to view. It covers our work from April to June 2023. It shows what we’ve learnt, and includes key stats and feedback from those who access Future Pathways. 
What happened in Q1

57 people registered with Future Pathways.

15 people started working with a Support Coordinator.

80 people accessed support from 26 Delivery Partners.

Who we worked with

The average age of people who registered with us was 46.

77% of people who register with us live in the Central Belt of Scotland.

We learned that most of the people we support may have a disability or a health condition.

How people felt

Most of the feedback we received was positive.

Some people told us they felt listened to and able to trust the service.

On the other hand, waiting for support can make people feel frustrated, unable to progress and unimportant.

What people gained

People gained access to a wide range of supports.

Accessing mental health supports and exploring creative interests were most helpful.

What changed for people

Someone we supported shared what is different for them:

“It has given me a lot of confidence […] Now I want to give something back.”
What difference we made

Someone we supported shared the sense of purpose they now feel: 

“I know I am there for the right reason, to make people realise that they have a voice […] I feel passionate about Voices for a Better Future.”*
Our full report features further infographics, feedback and a breakdown of our financial spend. Read the full report.
A note that our Registration Line is closed Monday 16th October to Friday 20th October. The line will open again at 10am on Monday 23rd October.

If you’re finding things hard, it can be good to talk to someone.

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’s 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. Freephone 116123.
Breathing Space
Breathing Space is a free, confidential phone and webchat service. It is for anyone in Scotland over the age of 16 who is experiencing low mood, depression or anxiety.
 
Open 6pm to 2am Monday to Thursday, and 6pm to 6am Friday to Sunday.
Freephone 0800 83 85 87
Shout
Shout is a free, confidential, 24/7 text messaging support service for anyone who is struggling to cope. 
 
Text SHOUT to 85258