Relationships, rights, and solidarity: An outside perspective of 20 years of the ALLIANCE

Irene Mackintosh, CEO at Mhor Collective shares highlights and hopes for rights in a digital age.

Our work at Mhor Collective sits at the intersection of digital inequality, social inequality, inclusion, trauma‑aware practice, safeguarding, and lived‑experience leadership, and trust me, it’s a big intersection. 

I’ve spent my whole career working alongside people facing multiple forms of disadvantage and social injustice. This is our focus at Mhor. We work with people experiencing homelessness, living through addiction, poverty, or who are victims of violence; people who are seeking asylum and refugees; disabled people; and those with experience of the justice system or of care. In short, we work with people who are being let down by the systems designed to support them, and for whom digital exclusion just adds another burden to it all. Mhor Collective grew from the belief that digital inclusion, rights, and human dignity are inseparable belief: that digital inclusion, rights, and human dignity are inseparable. 

I have always been motivated by people, and the challenges they face. People who are navigating systems that weren’t designed with them in mind. People who are excluded from digital spaces that increasingly determine access to care, safety, and opportunity. And people whose lived experience holds the insight we need to build better systems. It’s what fuels me and Mhor.  

Mhor first connected with The ALLIANCE through our shared work on digital inclusion, trauma‑aware practice, and rights‑based approaches. Over time, that relationship has deepened into collaboration, shared learning, and joint advocacy, particularly around digital rights, safeguarding literacy, and lived‑experience leadership.  

Some of the most meaningful moments have been the ones where lived experience has shaped national conversations. The ALLIANCE’s commitment to meaningful involvement has created space for community researchers, peer mentors, and people facing digital exclusion to lead. Being part of work where those voices are centred has been a privilege. 

The ALLIANCE treats lived experience not as consultation but as leadership. It embeds human rights principles into everything it does, and champions prevention and long-term support. “Shifting Scotland’s systems toward prevention, early intervention, and sustained support across the life course.” That combination of rights, relationships, and long‑term thinking (and the warmth with which we’re all brought into the ALLIANCE family) is rare, but essential. The ALLIANCE has changed who gets to shape Scotland’s health and social care system. It has strengthened the third sector, amplified lived‑experience leadership, and pushed Scotland toward a more rights‑based, preventative, and inclusive approach. Its influence is visible in policy, in practice, and in the everyday experiences of people navigating care. It feels to me like everyone knows about the ALLIANCE, and values the huge contribution they make. 

I’m extra proud of the way the ALLIANCE has held the line on rights and inclusion, even when systems have been under pressure. I’m proud of its commitment to partnership and I am super thankful to be part of this. And I’m proud of the space you continue to create for organisations like Mhor to bring trauma‑aware digital inclusion into national conversations. 

I see the ALLIANCE continuing as the national backbone for rights‑based, community‑led transformation and as a leader in engagement, rights and safeguarding. I see them remaining a central partner in shaping Scotland’s future systems, from health and social care to participation and community resilience. And, hopefully, working with us forever. I see the ALLIANCE continuing as the national backbone for rights‑based, community‑led transformation. A wise convenor of lived‑experience networks. A leader in engagement, rights and safeguarding. And a central partner in shaping Scotland’s future systems, from health and social care to participation and community resilience. And hopefully working with us forever! 

I hope to see a fully rights-based system where people can safely navigate both care and digital environments, a shift to long-term capacity building, and a Scotland where digital inequality is recognised as structural and addressed through coordinated, (resourced!) cross sector action. 

Stand in solidarity. Keep lived experience at the centre. Treat digital inclusion as a human right. And continue building the kind of partnerships that make Scotland fairer, safer, and more inclusive.  

The next twenty years will be shaped by the choices we make now, and by the relationships we nurture along the way. We’re glad to have the ALLIANCE as a friend! And thank you for all you do. Stand in solidarity. Keep lived experience at the centre. Treat digital inclusion as a human right. And continue building the kind of partnerships that make Scotland fairer, safer, and more inclusive. The next twenty years will be shaped by the choices we make now… and by the relationships we nurture along the way. We’re glad you’re our friends! And thank you for all you do.  

You can find out more about our most recent research here.

Our partnership research with Scottish Council for Voluntary Organisations (SCVO), Good Things Foundation and University of Liverpool: Tackling child poverty through digital inclusion.

End of page.