Empowering students with additional support needs in the Outer Hebrides

"Closely connected communities are integral and essential to operations in order to meet student needs."

Successful health and social care integration requires a collective leadership culture that emphasises collaboration, human rights, and shared power. In line with this, Macaulay College CIC are an exemplary third sector organisation championing a culture of shared decision-making, trusting relationships, transformations, and empowerment.

With students from both Lewis and Harris, Macaulay College empowers adults and young people with additional support needs by offering an innovative educational service that ensures students can become leaders in their own lives, with collaborative working and community involvement crucial to the learning of social skills and key life skills.

“The service meets a vital community need”, says Jo-Ann McConnachie, Development Worker at Macaulay College. “It provides a positive long-term destination for students with additional support needs, relieves pressure on public services, and provides jobs.”

Findings from a social impact project in October 2023 found that students at Macaulay College feel active, happy, appreciated, and part of the team, whilst learning new skills, engaging in community activities, and increasing levels of physical activity.  

“Our students engage in a variety of activities, such as animal care, horticulture, creating jams and chutney, selling our eggs and engaging in craft and artwork”, Jo-Ann says. “Alongside our daily programme, those who receive funding for one-to-one support complete activities and attend events they are interested in away from the farm, with a focus on health, wellbeing, and being part of the community.”

Macaulay College work in partnership with a variety of key stakeholders on the island to ensure the best possible service provision for their students, including Comhairle nan Eilean Siar, and local businesses such as Breedon’s, who donate materials to projects and activities.

“Closely connected communities are integral and essential to operations in order to meet student needs”, Jo-Ann adds. “One-to-one sessions are organised directly between staff members and parents, whilst we also support students to access their community and be seen as a valued, contributing individual – for example, every year we help to set up, and tidy up elements of the Stramash Music Festival.”

Macaulay College have a strong working relationship with the community learning disability nurses on the island, which has also proved invaluable for the wellbeing of the students. As a result, the fostering of strong and authentic relationships is truly at the heart of the organisation.

“Relationships with the students, their parents, and carers when we started were crucial”, Jo-Ann says. “They believed in what we were aiming to achieve, and the volunteer who worked with us for two years gave such valuable moral and hands on support, which was the springboard and key to get us going, to expand before we were generating enough income to do it ourselves.”

Going forward, Macaulay College are working hard to secure funding to extend their current building, including a planned funding drive through Crowdfunder, which will allow them to double student capacity, secure existing jobs, create more jobs, and meet more diverse needs by establishing the organisation as a wider community resource.

“It takes a long time to be accepted when you do something different from the norm”, Jo-Ann says. “But determination and a lot of hard work, along with the invaluable support of the parents, carers and the community, has ensured the long term sustainability of Macaulay College.”

You can find out more about Macaulay College on their website: https://www.macaulaycollege.com