Unlocking the potential of short breaks together

Back in early 2024 when we started planning in earnest for our conference ‘Shaping the future of short breaks’ we set out our hopes to:   

And thanks to our fantastic chair, contributors, workshop hosts, and enthusiastic and passionate delegates, we did just that.  

Our ‘Early Bird’ Rupa Bishnoi, gave a fantastic overview of the work of the Latika Foundation in Dehradun in India, inspiring delegates with her infectious positivity and warmth.  

Don Williamson, our Chief Executive, started the day by acknowledging the significant challenges faced by the sector at this time and the hope that the conference would be a welcome opportunity to focus on the positive, exchange ideas, and explore possibilities.  

With this in mind conference chair Mairi Damer guided us through the day with her trademark wit and wisdom, and Joette Thomas book-ended our day by encouraging delegates to think about their intentions at the start of the day, and return to these at the end to focus on forward action.  

Our fantastic panellists Gill White, Maggie Chiwanza, Lana Bambridge and Ron Culley were thought provoking. Gill spoke incredibly movingly about her son Leo and her hopes for a more inclusive society. Maggie talked about the experiences of carers with protected characteristics, and had a standout quote about the challenges of identifying carers: “I didn’t think I was a carer. I thought I was just a really fabulous daughter.’ And Lana and Ron brought the valuable perspectives of short breaks providers to the room.  

Our trailblazing workshops covered a wide range of topics from Dementia Walking buddies; Gypsy Traveller carers’ experiences of short breaks; taking a whole family approach to breaks; and innovation for the future of respite.  

We finished our day with two plenary sessions. This first was an insightful input from Sian Lockwood who tapped into the themes of the day – recognising and harnessing the resources to empower communities to develop grassroots-driven solutions. This echoed the thoughts of panellist Gill White who had spoken about the role of community in inclusion.  

Finally, Andy Lowdnes from Playlist for Life wowed us all with the power of music: helping us create our very own Shared Care Scotland conference playlist.  

And now, a few weeks of post-conference, the Shared Care Scotland team have been reflecting on our takeaways from the event:  

We came away with a strong sense of the potential to tap into local strengths, talents, and initiatives, to use the existing energy and resources within our communities.  

We feel more than ever that collaboration across sectors with shared decision making will bring more inclusive, innovative and responsive solutions to short breaks.  

We recognise that as we pursue equality and inclusivity, we must prioritise actively considering the needs of the everyone in short breaks, regardless of background, location and circumstances.  

We want to see flexibility in breaks fully embraced: making sure that breaks are tailored to individual preferences and giving people real choice and control over what matters to them.  

We want to continue the discussion on effective commissioning as essential to the sustainability and flexibility of the third sector.  We need commissioning practices that do not stifle the ability of third sector organisations to respond creatively and flexibly to the demand for short breaks. 

As one of our attendees put it so well: 

“It is such an empowering event for organisations to hear success stories and have the motivation to go back to their organisations to influence positive change and progression. Your conferences take a different approach by genuinely listening to the sector and caring about their responses. A huge thank you to you and your team for this.”