- EVOC

Past, Present and Future: My journey along EVOC’s 150 year-old road

20 September 2018

As I approach my three-month anniversary at EVOC, I’ve decided it’s important to pause for a moment to reflect on what we have achieved so far with the EVOC 150 project and what’s in store over the next six months.

What is EVOC 150?

EVOC turned 150 years-old in March 2018 and was awarded funding by the Heritage Lottery Fund to deliver a programme of events, communications and initiatives to celebrate this milestone.
Originally established as the catchily-named Edinburgh Association for Improving the Condition of the Poor, the organisation has morphed and developed over the last century-and-a-half to what it is today. You can find out more on our website.

Through the EVOC 150 project we will excavate the heritage of Edinburgh’s voluntary sector, celebrate the work and individuals involved so far, and look ahead to what could or will be in store for the sector over the next 150 years. No mean feat! Our project is focused on four themes: organising, tackling inequality, protest and campaigning, and working together.

This project has the exciting potential to make a major contribution to the profile of the third sector in Edinburgh and beyond, and as we face a period of transition and uncertainty in the UK it is a fantastic opportunity to research and document the importance of the sector. Sometimes the opportunity to simply explain what the third sector actually is, is enough, but I have bigger dreams than that!

What have we been working on?

Media Education has a team of young filmmakers creating a documentary on the history of EVOC. I’ll say no more on that as I don’t want to spoil the surprise, but it’s going to be fantastic! Young people from their Friday film club produced two short, silent films about the life of Elsie Inglis (see below).

The Living Memory Association have digitised thousands of archive photos and are recording an oral history of EVOC and community/civic action in Edinburgh.

We have been attending events and meeting individuals across the city to spread the EVOC 150 word, and to consider ways to collaborate. We celebrated International Day of Charity by touring a small number of the thousands of charities based in Edinburgh to deliver thank you cards and profile their work with short videos on social media. We have also recently appointed three professional researchers who are soon to say goodbye to loved ones as they venture deep into various archives to interrogate the history of the organisation. They hope to be allowed to surface before Christmas to share some initial findings.

What are we planning?

We will focus on some of the causes central to EVOC’s mission by making a splash on various awareness days. I say this with a full appreciation that for anyone involved with: older people, young people, mental health, volunteers, eradication of poverty, human rights…to name a few, every day/year is their day.

We will present the research mentioned above in a public format early next year. This might be a touring exhibition, an interpretive dance or a projection onto the castle (some of these suggestions are definitely in jest). Watch this space! We are busy planning for the EVOC conference in November and are hoping to deliver an event as part of the Fire Starter Festival 2019.

We are also working with a volunteer storyteller who is deeply passionate about the importance of the third sector and the transformative potential of volunteering. I am delighted he found us and can’t wait to schedule his first engagements.

How can you get involved?

We would love to hear from anyone with an interest in this project and are open to all ideas and possible collaborations, creativity is encouraged! If this is too broad, below are some suggestions of who this might appeal to.
• You are involved with a school in Edinburgh looking for an interdisciplinary learning project
• You are involved with a youth group, community centre, care home, sports club, art group or similar and would like to host our storyteller at one of your meetings/events
• You would like to run an event for a relevant awareness day but would like some support
• You have a story of volunteering, fundraising, campaigning or similar that you would like to contribute to our Memory Box
• You would like us to feature your organisation or community in a case study
• You have a noticeboard we could display an A4 poster on, or a space to host some promotional postcards.

Get in touch by emailing me at lucy.ridley@evoc.org.uk and follow our hashtag, #EVOC150, on social media.

VOCAL Reacts to Scottish Government’s new Carers Allowance Supplement

19 September 2018

Eligible carers are now entitled to a Carer’s Allowance Supplement of £221 paid out as a lump sum twice a year. The supplement is a much needed and welcomed benefit to carers who often struggle to earn an income alongside their caring duties.

The Edinburgh based charity VOCAL has been supporting carers since 1994 and offers advice on carers’ rights. Sebastian Fisher, Chief Executive of VOCAL said: “VOCAL works with over 9,000 carers each year and can evidence the widespread and growing impact of caring on people’s economic wellbeing, with women most badly affected. For many, caring means a spiral into isolation and poverty.

“In a recent VOCAL survey of 1,228 carers, 48% agreed that being a carer had made managing money and finances more difficult with a third paying for care out of their own savings. A quarter have had to reduce their working hours to care and a further quarter have had to give up work altogether.”

Carer’s Allowance Supplement

Carers who live in Scotland and have been receiving the DWP Carer’s Allowance, will be notified on Monday 16th April if they are entitled to the supplement. The supplement will equate to an extra £8.50 per week and will be paid out automatically.

Shirley Morris who leads VOCAL’s ‘Money Matters’ support for carers credits the supplement as not only a financial aid but also a boost in recognition of the carers’ work.

She said: “Carers are very encouraged by the increase in the carers allowance supplement. It is a very welcome boost to carers’ income and recognition by the Scottish government of the vital role they undertake.”

“Dignity, fairness and respect”

The sum is paid out by Social Security Scotland, a recently founded public service by the Scottish Government as a result of a public consultation on what benefits are needed and how these benefits meet people’s demands.

The consultation revealed that the people felt their individual needs were lost in the system. Social Security Scotland states that its aim is to approach issues surrounding benefits with dignity, fairness and respect. The transition of the other benefits delivered by Social Security Scotland will be gradually released over this parliamentary term.

To find out if you are eligible for the Carer’s Allowance Supplement click here.

For more information on Social Security Scotland, click here.

Dr Pauline Nolan from Inclusion Scotland responds to Judith Proctor Interview

13 September 2018

We read with interest EVOC’s article ‘Edinburgh Health and Social Care Partnership’s new Chief Officer, Never Afraid to Challenge: Interview with Judith Proctor (15 August 2018)’ and were heartened by some of her commitments ensuring that local third sector organisations would play a key role in helping to address some of the current challenges faced.

This we would say is crucial throughout Scotland at local levels. Equally so is the involvement of those who use the services,as social care users have, until recently, had very little say in decisions about the local delivery of integrated services.

We agree it is important to invest locally in a wide range of services, including those to support the various Self-Directed Support options, advocacy for decision making, and so on. One way is to commission local Disabled People’s Organisations such as LCIL who provide a range of helpful services and are run by disabled people themselves.

Good social care has many functions other than merely “keeping people safe” – what about supported risk taking? When thinking about ‘reducing loneliness’, we also need to look at quality of life and having enough to live on (charging for social care should be abolished to this end). Going further than involving people in the community there need to be real opportunities to participate in local decision making.

Users of social care services may also find the phrase “hospital at home” alarming. It is reminiscent of the Scottish Government’s ill-advised “There’s no ward like home” advert that included the image of the older man, Mr McCluskey, surrounded by health and social care workers on an elongated sofa.

We have seen a generalised focus at all levels on health outcomes for individuals throughout the integration process. Getting social care packages in place for people already discharged – to prevent ‘bed blocking’ – is important, but so too is their wider integration back into their family, community, and so on. Social care has much wider implications which merely include the preventative well-being agenda to improve lives; it must also realise people’s human right to Independent Living.

Later in the interview Judith expresses the need to think about ‘how we are supporting older people and [disabled people] to link into their community and be active citizens’. Revitalising the local third sector is one way of ensuring this.

The legislation applying to social care includes the duty to engage with those who use the services. Yet we know there are still barriers to adult social care users having true choice and control, partly because of the tensions between local procurement and Self-Directed Support. Involving them in how Partnerships plan might prevent such tensions occurring.

Our 2015-16 Health and Social Care Integration Engagement Project, which worked with disabled people and Third Sector Interfaces (including EVOC), recommended:

“Disabled people have the lived experience of the consequences of other people’s decisions about their health and social care, so their perspectives should be one of the primary sources of evidence when designing and implementing health and social care services.”

Inclusion Scotland are running a national, Scottish Government funded People-led Policy Project, a policy panel and core group of adult health and social care service users who will actively use their lived experience and expertise to influence policy going forward.

This project will gladly engage with CEOs of local Health and Social Care Partnerships. Indeed, we believe this kind of ambitious, radical change to involving people in decision making – People-led Policy- needs to be happening at local levels too.

Dr Pauline Nolan

Policy and Localisation manager, Inclusion Scotland.

Inclusion Scotland is a ‘Disabled People’s Organisation’ (DPO) – led by disabled people ourselves. Inclusion Scotland works to achieve positive changes to policy and practice, so that we disabled people are fully included throughout all Scottish society as equal citizens.

Sources: “Health and Social Care Integration Engagement: Opportunities missed and challenges to be met” Inclusion Scotland

David Hunter on Community Transport

30 August 2018

When a voluntary group hears that someone is coming to talk about their transport, the first reaction is often “please don’t take our bus away!” So I’ve been privileged to spend six months at EVOC supporting an innovative project to improve transport for third sector day centres and lunch clubs. Ageing populations and increasing expectations for community-based support mean growing transport needs and the Council is keen to find alternatives to simply paying more for expensive private minibus and taxi services or adding to the Council’s own Passenger Operations – the ‘white bus fleet’ which, with 73 vehicles is a substantial enterprise.

Increasing Demand

The Council therefore asked Edinburgh’s Community Transport (CT) providers for proposals to help meet this increasing demand for transport. Edinburgh has some of the best respected CT providers in Scotland (and the UK), several started as EVOC initiatives. Four groups – HcL (Handicabs), Lothian Community Transport Services, Pilton Equalities Project, and South Edinburgh Amenities Group (SEAG) – entered into a Public Social Partnership (PSP) with the Council in 2016 to work together to identify ways of improving efficiency, effectiveness and service quality.

My role at EVOC was mainly to facilitate the CT groups arriving at an agreed business case to meet the Council’s transport requirements. The proposed initiative, to be considered by Council Committee in October, may see new transport provision by CT groups beginning next year for a number of third sector day care services, lunch clubs and summer play schemes; A few personal reflections….

A Varying Appetite for Risk

No one doubts the benefits of partnership working; but because it requires a consensus, partnership can lead to low-risk options being favoured. Different partners invariably have a varying appetite for risk – this can mean that it is hard to get agreement for more ambitious, but more risky options. It may be easier to generate really innovative solutions where there is no need to keep a range of partners on-side.

While the project was conducted in the spirit of co-production, power in a co-production environment is rarely equally shared. The dynamics of co-production where one party has more power, influence – and yes, money! – than the others can be challenging.

Before I became involved in the project, a lot of effort had been put into establishing PSP governance. Although this created a sound platform for collaboration, limited progress had been made in actually extending the role of the CT groups on the ground, while a lot of energy and goodwill had been consumed. Too much emphasis on ‘process’ and not enough on ‘outcome’ can stifle creativity, enthusiasm and practical delivery.

Finally, the success of the PSP partners in reaching an agreed way forward is highly dependent on the willingness of the Council to positively review funding to the CT groups. It is much more difficult to achieve a successful outcome to a partnership change initiative where resources are reducing.

#EdinburghRemembers

21 August 2018

The Edinburgh City Archives are launching a consultation of 4 surveys that questions residents and visitors of the city on their engagement with the archives and what, in their opinion, should be preserved for future generations.

The More The Merrier

The Archives are interested to hear as many voices as possible. Organisations, communities and individuals can take part from 13th August – 26th October. The aim is to improve the archives and match them with the needs of its users. The outcome of the consultation will be drafted into an Archives Development Plan and proposed to the Culture & Communities Committee of the Council to be put into action.

Useful Links

Consultation hub – http://www.edinburgh.gov.uk/archivesurvey
Campaign website – http://www.edinburgh.gov.uk/edinburghremembers
Council Facebook – https://www.facebook.com/edinburghcouncil/
Council twitter – https://twitter.com/Edinburgh_CC
Youtube video – https://youtu.be/hWs3LxVu6Jg

EVOC attends Social in the Gardens 2018

21 August 2018

By Alea Ibrahim, Communications Intern for EVOC 150 Heritage Programme.

The EVOC150 team seized the tropical Edinburgh weather last Friday and visited Social in the Gardens, organised by Edinburgh Social Enterprise.

Locals and people from all over the world enjoyed a jam-packed entertainment programme of Highland dancing, storytelling and music until late in the evening.

Social enterprises are set up like other businesses but use the profits to reinvest into causes with a social impact. Some of Edinburgh’s social enterprises joined the event to showcase their work and volunteers from across the city were socialising with the visitors.

Cooking Classes with Cyrenians Good Food

Manning the Cyrenians stall Viki Fox, Cookery Tutor, of Cyrenians’ Good Food Programme said that since Prue Leith from the Great British Bake-Off opened the brand-new, purpose-built Good Food kitchen in Jane Street at the beginning of the year, they have had a busy programme.

Viki said: “We are teaching cooking classes funded by the council and we are doing evening classes for adults, the money made from that goes back into the service. We do kids classes during the summer holidays and there is a supper club for refugees trying to get a business going.” Cyrenians is currently celebrating their 50th anniversary of supporting Edinburgh’s vulnerable citizens with a large network of services.

Business Advice to Ice-Cream

Michelle Craig, from Citizens Advice Scotland attended the event to promote the organisation’s services, but also ended up giving some fairly unusual advice. She said: “Many were interested in advice and services on how to set up their own business but we give advice on anything really. Someone needed advice on where the nearest ice-cream was.”

Invisible Cities taking a stand

Invisible Cities trains homeless citizens as guides who create their own tours around the city while the organisation helps them back on their feet, into employment and housing.

Alice from Invisible Cities, explained how one of their trained guides had turned his situation around, she said: “ The guide and his son had been homeless and on benefits due to a range of unfortunate circumstances when they came to Invisible Cities but it was really important for him to come off benefits. He became a tour guide and recently started a new job as a chauffeur, he was working until 3 o’clock this morning before coming here. That’s dedication for you!”

In keeping with Edinburgh’s other festivals, this year’s Social in the Gardens had an international focus. Alice continued: “We receive inquiries from all over Europe, a lady from Australia approached us today and wants to do something similar there.”

A call for social justice

Edinburgh Social Enterprise has been organising this since 2014 but this year has been a remarkable success with over 30 stalls and 160% more visitors than in previous years.

Chatting to people on the stalls reflects that while a lot of organisations are working to tackle social inequality, poverty and homelessness, the problems still prevail. Edinburgh Voluntary Organisations’ Council grew out of concern over the health and social inequalities between people in the city. Founded in 1868, it is now celebrating its 150th year.

EVOC150 is marking this year with a series of collaborations and events, to strengthen the third sector and continue the fight for social justice

Follow our programme, find out how to be involved and spread the word. Twitter: @evoc_edinburgh and use the hashtag #EVOC150

Why Pride is the Essence of Community Powered Civic Action

19 June 2018

Saturday (16th June) marked Edinburgh’s celebration of Pride.

Thousands of LGBTQ+ people and their allies marched from Holyrood, up the Royal Mile, over George IV Bridge and out on to Bristo Square dressed to impress, wearing glitter and smiles.

Although Pride has become synonymous with glitter and rainbows, there is a deeper meaning to why people march and where Pride started. In the sea of rainbow flags and happy faces, people held up signs that read: ‘Trans Rights now’, ‘Support Trans Women of Colour’ and calls to have rights recognised and respected for all people no matter their ethnicity, gender or sexual orientation.

Pride started as a deeply political act of civil unrest against the systematic oppression of LGBT people. It has continued through to the present day, not only as a celebration of how far things have come, but also as a reminder that more work needs to be done for LGBTQI+ people to feel fully included in their communities and have their rights respected.

Tackling Inequality

EVOC has been campaigning for social justice and tackling inequality for 150 years, and although these efforts have been centred on issues like sanitation, housing conditions and health and social care – the ethos behind these campaigns is the same. That we must work together to make our environments and our communities a better place, for everyone.

Halfway up the Royal Mile, speeches were heard. They too focused on Pride as a celebration, but also on Pride as political, as an opportunity to take the time to be reminded of how far there is to go.

Patrick Harvie, Green MSP for Glasgow and co-convener of the Scottish Green Party, delivered his speech and commented that “Scotland was one of the worst places to be LGBT, but is now one of the best.”

Homosexuality (between men) was only decriminalised in Scotland in 1980, and the first Pride march was held in 1995.

After the crowd cheered, he reminded listeners of the gains still to be made for marginalised groups and joined the crowd in chants of ‘Trans Rights Now’, promising to work to push through legislation that would protect the rights of transgender people in the Scottish Parliament.

Intergenerational Learning

As well as political figures, the Third Sector was also represented which of course has been at the centre of fighting for equality in the city for generations. Tim Puntis of LGBT Age, a project that supports older LGBT people, gave an impassioned speech, outlining the issues of invisibility that this group face, whether that’s isolation or having to hide who they are to access essential care services.

Tim urged the younger generation to thank their elders in the community for their hard work and relentless pushes for progress, tolerance and acceptance paving the road for gains that once seemed unimaginable. He spoke about a spirit of intergenerational learning, and carrying on the fight for equality.

EVOC’s 150th Anniversary year, will not only be about uncovering the heritage of social justice but also be about inspiring young people to take action and to challenge the status quo for the betterment of their communities.

We will do this through an exciting programme of events and activities that will include people from all sections of society and exploring how we can learn from the history of our city’s third sector.

From civil disobedience, to protest, to celebration Pride embodies the essence of fighting for social justice through civic action, and this year’s event in Edinburgh was prudent to look to the past to inform what still needs to be achieved.

To find out more about EVOC at 150 years old visit the website – www.evoc150.org.uk

Guest Blog: Scottish Older People’s Assembly

30 April 2018

Glenda Watt from The Scottish Older People’s Assembly provides a guest blog on SOPA in Parliament

Clare Adamson MSP, Tom Berney Chair of Scottish Older People’s Assembly and Jeane Freeman OBE MSP and Minister for Social Security began the proceedings of our 9th Assembly in the Scottish Parliament on Monday 23 April 2018.

We had an overwhelming response to attend our event but sadly could not accommodate everyone who applied. However, amazingly, 130 people did participate in our four workshops dealing with: Funeral Poverty, Bevridge’s Giant Five Evils – where are we now?, Sustainability of Adult Social Care, the Prevention and Management of Falls, and Scams Towards Older People.

To celebrate 2018 as the Year of Young People, the afternoon session opened with a lively interactive discussion on Human Rights with members of the Children’s Parliament, Scottish Youth Parliament and Scottish Older People’s Assembly. Alison Johnstone MSP and Clare Adamson MSP closed the session with a Question Time.

It certainly appeared that the guests enjoyed the event and the following comment from Dundee Voluntary Action was a treat to receive -“We thoroughly enjoyed our first Scottish Older People’s Assembly yesterday. It was a fabulous day with great discussion. We look forward to working closer with you this year.”

What it’s like to be a Trustee

23 April 2018

My main motivation, initially, for getting involved in charities, was that I had recently moved to Edinburgh and didn’t know anyone in the City aside from my new work colleagues. I joined a charity as a volunteer and after finding out they were looking for a new treasurer, decided to join their board of trustees.

I hadn’t volunteered as a trustee before, but I had always been involved in students’ union work whilst at university, it seemed like a natural progression to go sit on a board after graduating. No one paid me to say this, but, going on EVOC’s training for charity trustees was hugely beneficial – I admit I was pretty clueless about charity rules and regulations, I had jumped into the role a bit head first!

New Responsibilities

Thankfully, I had supportive fellow board members beside me to help me learn about my new role and as I was working in a junior position at work, I enjoyed the new responsibilities that the role gave me. Working with the charity gave me invaluable experience; from grant writing, to writing business plans and understanding HR. I’m not going to lie and say it was plain sailing, it was an incredible learning curve, especially when I became co-chair with a fellow trustee.

Volunteering as a trustee gave me experience and examples of much higher level work than my paid job did, which helped me greatly when looking for new jobs and progressing my career. It also broadened my horizons outwith my career in admin. It gave me greater work-place resilience, made me realise my own capabilities and helped improve my own self-confidence. I volunteered with the charity for over two years as a trustee, and it was a difficult decision to step down when I did. I’ve since been volunteering in non-trustee roles, but I am currently looking into joining another board in the near future.

The Women Who Shaped Edinburgh’s Social Welfare

8 March 2018

Edinburgh Voluntary Organisations’ Council reaches the grand old age of 150 this year. From April, we intend to spend much of the next year researching the reason for EVOC’s formation, the social and civic context it operated within, and the extraordinary people that have been involved the Organisation in some way or another.

With that in mind, a couple of weeks ago I donned my heritage hat and headed down to Edinburgh Central Library with our Convenor to rummage around some of our archives. Admittedly, having glanced the titles of the documents on our inventory, I was a little concerned that my morning would consist of wading through 150 years of dry meeting minutes. I needn’t have worried however as one of the first documents to grab my attention was a personal letter from Octavia Hill* to Helen Louisa Kerr.

Helen Louisa Kerr was a formidable woman, a social worker and researcher she was at one time the Director of the Edinburgh Social Union. Her knowledge of social reform and housing lead her to become the only female member of the Royal Commission to enquire into Housing of the Industrial Population of Scotland in 1912. She conducted a series of lectures on poverty and wrote the preface for Dr Chalmers and the Poor Laws 1911. She was appointed a Manager of the Edinburgh Royal Infirmary, pushed for the establishment of a Scottish Board of Nursing, and worked to further the professionalisation of nurses.

In the correspondence Hill praises Kerr and the Edinburgh Social Union for their work on the regeneration of housing for the poor, stating “I know how, in your place, I should long to do the work; I know well how incomparably better done it would be by you and yours”.

Illustration by Katrine Lyck – HB Artivists – see link at the bottom of the article

In the Third Annual Report of the City of Edinburgh Charity Organisation Society 1909, the name by which EVOC was known at the time, Kerr is listed as an Honourable Secretary. This is a remarkable document, not only because it details the collaborative relationships between statutory, public, academic and charitable organisations, but also because it highlights the work of women in Edinburgh in their mission to improve the welfare of the City’s citizens. In a section titled ‘The Prevention of Infant Mortality’, which discusses the work to improve the health of new-born babies by voluntary organisations and the City Council, we learn that Dr Elsie Inglis arranged a series of lectures to health visitors and mothers.

Dr Elsie Inglis (1864 – 1917) was one of Scotland’s most influential suffragists, and was secretary of the Edinburgh National Society for Women’s Suffrage, and honorary acting secretary in the early years of the Scottish Federation of the National Union of Women’s Suffrage Societies. After studying at the Edinburgh School of Medicine for Women which was opened by Dr Sophia Jex-Blake (of Edinburgh Seven fame), Inglis went on to dedicate much of her medical career to improving the healthcare provision for female patients. She studied and qualified from a number of leading hospitals for the improvement of women’s health and returned to Edinburgh to set up a maternity hospital for poor women, a midwifery training centre, and used her connections in the suffrage movement to raise money for the Scottish Women’s Hospitals. During the First World War Inglis created a Medical Unit staffed by qualified women, and offered their services to the Royal Army Medical Corps. The offer was declined, rather condescendingly, by the War Office, yet the merit of the Unit was recognised by the French government and they were deployed in Serbia.

To see the names of these incredible women, amongst many others, mentioned in documents that relate to our Organisation’s history is humbling to say the least. While I feel as though we have only just scratched the surface, I hope through further research we find more out about the women that have fought for the welfare of our citizens, that we give them the recognition they deserve, and we celebrate the women today who continue their legacy.

Would you be interested in this supporting this research? Let us know by contacting comms@evoc.org.uk

While I would love to list every great organisation, movement and project that support and champion women in Scotland, I can’t, but here is a selection of links that I think are a good place to start:

Lothian Women’s Forum (who have a very helpful page on Helen Kerr): https://www.wealothianwomensforum.org.uk/
Engender Scotland: https://www.engender.org.uk/
Equate Scotland: https://www.equatescotland.org.uk/
Fearless Femme: https://www.fearlessfemme.co.uk

Finally – a big International Women’s Day shoutout to all of the charities and organisations working tirelessly for women’s rights, safety and wellbeing in our City. You know who you are!

For illustrations of great women follow HB Artivists on Instagram

*Octavia Hill (1838 – 1912) was credited with being the driving force behind the development of social housing, a founder of the National Trust and founding member of the Charities Organisation Society. Her approach to social housing, known as the Octavia Hill system, employed women to collect rent and care for the welfare of the residents as much as the condition of the buildings.