To our volunteers

To mark Volunteer's Week 2019 the ALLIANCE would like to say a huge thank you to everyone who contributes to our work.

With it being Volunteer’s Week (1-7 June), and there being many stories related to volunteering in the news recently, we thought we should make the most of the opportunity to put together a thank you to our many volunteers at the ALLIANCE who help direct our projects and core activities, allowing us to ensure that the voice of lived experience is at the heart of all that we do.

151 members of our Involvement Network have been involved in various opportunities and give the ALLIANCE a broader insight of the challenges individuals face in terms of accessing support and services, thus enabling us to concentrate our core activities in the necessary direction. Thank you.

Some recent examples of what our volunteers have been up to include:

• Focus Group on Primary Care to share their views on accessing primary care services, to help shape the ALLIANCE’s response to the Health and Sport Committee.
• Workshop with the Scottish Government revising the Charter of Patient’s Rights and Responsibilities
• Working with Angela Millar to share their stories though the Humans of Scotland campaign
• Future Nurses of Our Global Village where our involvement network got the opportunity share their stories to help shape the future of nursing education. This event was hosted by the University of Edinburgh
• Shared their views on Scottish Parliament’s engagement with disabled people

Thank you to our board all of whom volunteer their time, and show a real commitment to involving the voice of lived experience whilst working towards the ALLIANCE’s vision for a Scotland where people of all ages who are disabled or living with long term conditions, and unpaid carers, have a strong voice and enjoy their right to live well, as equal and active citizens, free from discrimination, with support and services that put them at the centre.

They do a tremendous job of keeping us on track, and constantly steering us in the right direction. In addition, we are delighted to welcome four new board members to the ALLIANCE who are Janice Preston from Macmillan Cancer Support, Chris Grant from AbilityNet, Alan McGinley from Scotland Versus Arthritis and Emma Scott from Disability Equality Scotland.  We must also remember the powerful impact made by our outgoing board members Gerard Gahagan from Quarriers, Shaben Begum from Scottish Independent Advocacy Alliance, Janice Malone from Macmillan Cancer Support and Shona Sinclair from SKS Scotland who have stepped down. Thank you for contributing to the work of the ALLIANCE.

Thanks to everyone, your involvement and participation with us and our partners has proven invaluable in the journey towards transformational change, and your experiences and voices truly are the reason we exist. Thank you, thank you, thank you.

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