COPE Scotland: Building connections, leaving a legacy

“Taking time to build relationships is essential.”

For 35 years, COPE Scotland has worked alongside people, communities and partner organisations to support self-care and self-management, helping people strengthen their sense of personal agency and improve their wellbeing. At the heart of its approach has been a commitment to collaboration, bringing together lived experience, community voices, unpaid carers and third sector partners to find ways for people and communities to suffer less.

Partnership working has been central to the organisation’s mission. Rather than delivering support in isolation, COPE Scotland has focused on creating opportunities for people and organisations to work together around shared challenges. This has included work linked to primary care transformation, mental health and community support, involving a wide range of stakeholders and encouraging different perspectives to shape solutions.

A key figure in this work has been Hilda Campbell MBE, who is recognised for her network weaving approach and for helping build connections between individuals, communities and organisations. Through initiatives such as Weaving Networks in MAKI, COPE Scotland has sought to strengthen relationships and encourage more closely connected communities by creating spaces where people can learn from one another and work collectively towards change.

The organisation points to a wide range of benefits that have emerged from its work with individuals and communities over the years. While direct support has had a positive impact on many people, COPE Scotland has always seen itself as more than a charity delivering services. Instead, it describes itself as an idea and an approach that can be shared, adapted and sustained by others.

Recognising the challenges of long-term sustainability, the charity has been implementing an exit strategy that will conclude in December 2026, when COPE Scotland is expected to close. Rather than focusing on organisational growth, efforts have centred on building capacity within individuals and communities so that the learning, resources and relationships developed over the years can continue beyond the charity’s lifespan.

This legacy approach can be seen in several practical ways. Premises previously occupied by COPE Scotland are now home to Men Matter Scotland, while the organisation’s online resources and materials have been transferred to the Snowdrop Centre. This ensures that resources developed over the past 35 years remain available to support others and continue to be shared long into the future.

COPE Scotland has also worked extensively across non-traditional boundaries, including partnerships with health and social care organisations and participation in the Q community, a UK and Ireland-wide network focused on improving health and care. The organisation convenes two Q groups, one focused on staff wellbeing and another on networks for improvement. Through these relationships, it has helped bring attention to the experiences and needs of unpaid carers.

Working alongside unpaid carers, COPE Scotland co-designed resources covering topics including adjusting to a caring role, maintaining wellbeing while caring for others, managing transitions into residential care and coping with bereavement. It also helped create a poster encouraging health and social care professionals to consider what people newly entering an unpaid caring role may need most.

Like many organisations working collaboratively, COPE Scotland has faced challenges. Competing demands on people’s time, increasing pressures on services and communities, and the complexity of responding to multiple policies and priorities can make partnership working difficult. In response, the organisation has focused on understanding different stakeholder priorities and finding ways to bring people together around shared actions, including work on digital inclusion that has attracted interest beyond rural communities.

Taking time to build relationships has been one of COPE Scotland’s key lessons. The organisation recognises that building trust, understanding and respect takes time, but that these foundations are essential if voices are to be heard and listened to. Although there may be debate about the best way forward, COPE Scotland has found value in creating spaces where conversations help direct energy towards solutions rather than exhausting people through feelings of blame or misunderstanding. Network Weaving and Liberating Structures are among the approaches the organisation has used to support this work.

As COPE Scotland enters its final chapter, its hope is that the ideas, resources and connections developed over the past three and a half decades will continue to inspire others. Alongside this legacy, current work supported by the Glasgow Wellbeing Fund is exploring a “Glaswegian way to wellbeing”, shaped by the voices and experiences of people living and working in Glasgow.