Equally Valued: Equally Connected – Mid week recap

The ALLIANCE Annual Conference has challenged key speakers and topics throughout the week.

The conference opened with an introduction from ALLIANCE Chief Executive Professor Ian Welsh, welcoming delegates and recognising our 3,000 strong membership, the new Cabinet Secretary Humza Yousaf announced the 49 projects funded through the Self Management Fund for Scotland and we heard from members and well known faces including actor and director Peter Mullan and Professor Jason Leitch on music that has helped them through the pandemic. You can watch the full conference welcome on the ALLIANCE YouTube channel (this link will take you away from our website).

Member organisations then joined in a discussion on Scotland’s third sector sharing the challenges faced in terms of capacity, short-term funding, putting people at the centre of services and the crucial grassroots response during COVID-19. The session was expertly chaired by John Macgill from Health and Care Scotland (this link will take you away from our website), our media partner.

After a networking event, delegates explored and discussed ‘putting people at the centre of the Scottish economy’. The Health and Social Care Academy created a series of short animations to explore different types of budgeting. Media partners Health and Care Scotland interviewed Sara Cowan from the Scottish Women’s Budget Group (this link will take you away from our website) a week before the event to explain more, “I think the COVID recovery process is a really crucial time to look at how to do things differently and how to tackle inequalities through the investments that are made.”

Day one closed off with an ALLIANCE Live interview with Chief Medical Officer Gregor Smith.  You can watch the full interview on the ALLIANCE YouTube channel (this link will take you away from our website) and read the report on the session by Health and Care Scotland (this link will take you away from our website).

Day two opened with a session of laughter yoga to get delegates invigorated for a jam packed day.  “I feel energised for the rest of the day” a delegate commented.

A UK and European panel of experts then discussed the role of civil society and the third sector in UK-EU relation, Chris Whitmore, Cardiff University said we need to “press forward and reenvisage the future.”

Next up was ‘A sense of communication’ a new documentary created during the pandemic, exploring Sensory Loss in Scotland and beyond. A graphic facilitator sketched along to the podcast to make it accessible for all.

In the afternoon we explored digital technology with a series of expert panels, Colin Cook Digital Director at the Scottish Government said “Digital infrastructure is critical to the infrastructure of Scotland. Digital should be about openness, and accessibility is at the heart of everything we do”.

The event closed with the Inaugural Joan Whitelaw lecture highlighting the importance of person-centred care with our keynote speakers Henry Simmons, Alzheimer Scotland and Maureen Bisognanno, Institute for Healthcare Improvement.

With lots more to come for the rest of the week, there is something for everyone. So please join us at further sessions during the event, you can register your place through our website. Join us in conversation throughout the week on social media through #ALLIANCEConf21. We look forward to seeing you at the remaining sessions.

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