Humans of Scotland is the ALLIANCE’s story sharing project that puts a spotlight on lived experience. The aim is to provide a snapshot into the lives of our members through sharing stories from disabled people, people living with long term conditions, unpaid carers and staff working in health and social care support and services. Our ambition is to give a platform to people who are marginalised, whose voices are seldom heard, and to try and raise awareness of their experiences whilst informing our policy work at the ALLIANCE.

We have published three story collection books. The first in the series shares powerful and thought provoking short stories, giving an insight into the challenges faced, and battles won, by people living with long term conditions. It also shines a light on unpaid carers and the people working in health and social care services.

The second book is a collection of stories from disabled people, people living with long term conditions and unpaid carers across Scotland, highlighting the realities they faced in the first few months of the Covid-19 pandemic. We also captured stories from staff working in the NHS in Scotland and in the country’s health and social care third sector This book creates a permanent record of life during COVID-19.

The latest book, H is for Human, has been published in partnership with the Peer Support Scotland project at Terrence Higgins Trust. It is a special edition, sharing a diverse range of perspectives on HIV, from people across Scotland living with the virus and health professionals who have worked with those effected.

You can access all the Humans of Scotland books below.

The Scotland Reducing Gambling Harm programme’s activities are best documented in our reports. By browsing the resources below you can find out about our roundtable events, each focused on a gambling-related topic that our lived experience forum found high priority, for example the interconnectedness of mental health and gambling harm.

Other reports highlight our partnership work in Scotland, applying a specific lens on gambling harm, be it place-based (Glasgow), or demographic (young people’s views on gambling).

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The Scotland Reducing Gambling Harm programme puts the voice of people affected by gambling at the heart of action to reduce those harms. This work involves making our voices heard when government bodies ask for evidence and opinions on questions related to gambling. The programme is active in the Gambling Related Harms Working Group, established by Scottish Government and Public Health Scotland.

Following the publication of the Gambling Act Review White Paper in April 2023, the way gambling is regulated in the UK will change. Our team has been committed to take an active part in this process and highlight crucial priorities for Scotland through consultations that further investigate certain elements of the White Paper’s proposal.

Our consultation responses make the position of the ALLIANCE clear on certain issues such as minimum stake limits or the statutory gambling operator levy and are always grounded in the opinions of the Scottish Gambling Harm Lived Experience Forum. Have a look at our recent responses below.

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