{"id":479,"date":"2015-04-01T17:01:49","date_gmt":"2015-04-01T16:01:49","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/blogs.iriss.org.uk\/innovate\/?p=479"},"modified":"2018-09-04T09:53:47","modified_gmt":"2018-09-04T08:53:47","slug":"creating-loving-relationships-parenting-across-scotland-2015-conference","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/blogs.iriss.org.uk\/innovate\/2015\/04\/01\/creating-loving-relationships-parenting-across-scotland-2015-conference\/","title":{"rendered":"Creating Loving Relationships – Parenting across Scotland 2015 conference"},"content":{"rendered":"

On 12th<\/sup> March I was fortunate enough to attend Parenting Across Scotland\u2019s 2015 Conference \u201cCreating Loving Relationships\u201d – don\u2019t you just love the title?! – alongside colleagues from Hot Chocolate<\/a> to present the Relationships Matter project<\/a> I had been co-leading with Gayle Rice [*]<\/a>.<\/p>\n

The PAS 2015 conference, Creating Loving Relationships, focused\u00a0on\u00a0<\/em>relationships.<\/em><\/p>\n

Increasingly, the importance of relationships within families\u00a0<\/em>is being recognised. Children don\u2019t come alone; they come as part of a\u00a0<\/em>family, with complex and intersecting relationships. We need to recognise\u00a0<\/em>this, and support the whole family.<\/em><\/p>\n

Being a parent isn\u2019t so much a job as a\u00a0<\/em>set of intersecting relationships. Like all relationships, being a parent has its\u00a0<\/em>good times and its bad times, and most families will have times when they\u00a0<\/em>need some help. It\u2019s important that the relationships between families and\u00a0<\/em>professionals are nurturing, and help families to forge loving relationships\u00a0<\/em>within the family.<\/em><\/p><\/blockquote>\n

**Charis Robertson<\/a> (Assistant Director, Hot Chocolate<\/a>) beautifully summarised the presentations throughout the day**<\/em><\/p>\n

When arriving at the conference I was welcomed by an array of stands displaying how we can all work together to support young people in and leaving care. There was a general buzz of happiness in the air as people discussed the inspiring conference theme.<\/p>\n

\"Screen<\/a>The conference was opened briefly by Clare Simpson (PAS Project Manager) before she handed over to Fiona McLeod (MSP, Acting Minister for Children and Young People) to welcome everyone\u00a0to the conference.<\/p>\n

Fiona focused her discussion on the need to support families (and Dads!) to provide loving relationships so that Scotland can become the best place to grow up for children.<\/p>\n

\"Screen<\/a><\/p>\n

“We\u00a0want Scotland to be the best place to grow up\u2026we’re gathering the evidence of what works so that children have the best chance” Fiona McLeod (MSP).<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

Following Fiona\u2019s welcome we were in for a wonderful and inspiring presentation from Dr Suzane Zeedyk (University of Dundee) about \u201cOur human need for love: why it\u2019s a the problem and why it\u2019s the solution.\u201d<\/p>\n

\"ScreenThis presentation was genuinely one of the most moving presentations I\u2019ve seen and I\u2019m sure I wasn\u2019t alone with many people wiping their eyes throughout.<\/p>\n

Suzanne spoke openly and honestly about the need for us to focus less on policy driven agendas and more on what matters to the young people that these policies are in place to support.<\/p>\n

“I’m worried, worried that we care more about policies than relationships”\u00a0Suzanne Zydeco<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

She raised concern for the \u2018second skin\u2019 developed by workers when working on difficult cases and the need for them\u00a0to remember why they got into their line of work in the first place.<\/p>\n

\u201cNurseries are scared to cuddle \u202achildren in their care for fear of inappropriate contact. This needs to change!” Suzanne Zeedyk<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

Next Dr John Coleman (OBE, Research Fellow, University of Oxford) spoke about \u201cNew knowledge about the adolescent brain\u201d and how, if we really want to be person-centred and meet the needs of young teenagers then we should start understanding what works best for them. For instance did you know that teenagers would actually function better at school and obtain better test scores if classes started at lunchtime and finished later? No – me neither!<\/p>\n

After this series of inspiring speakers it was time for a break and some reflections about all we had learnt so far before hearing from Dr Judy Corlyon about\u00a0“A reversal of misfortune: who are the poor relations now?\u201d<\/p>\n

\"Screen<\/a><\/p>\n

This presentation focused on the shift in recent years to grandparents having more money than parents and the struggles faced by young families as they work hard to support and care for their families.<\/p>\n

“It is not long ago since many retired parents relied on their adult children for financial\u00a0and practical help. Now it is the adult children who are more likely to find themselves<\/p>\n

needing help as they struggle with benefit cuts, low-paid employment and expensive childcare”\u00a0Judy Corlyon<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

Next we had a round table discussion to help us reflect on what we had heard so far.\u00a0\"Screen<\/p>\n

The table I was at focused on concerns that fear and policies were driving change when really we just need to think and act in more\u00a0caring ways towards the young people we work with and support.<\/p>\n

There was a focus on the need for evidence* to champion more person-centred approaches in practice and, of course, we thought hugs are great!<\/strong><\/p>\n

*there is a selection of evidence<\/a> available on the Relationships Matters Website.<\/em><\/p>\n

Then it was time for a quick (and super yummy!) lunch before setting up our workshop: \u201cWhere is the love? Thinking about what love looks like for professionals\u201d<\/strong><\/p>\n

During our workshop we discussed the JAM<\/a>\u00a0event we ran in January as part of the Relationships Matter project and what Hot Chocolate would be doing in 2015 to champion loving relationships with the young people they work with and support.<\/p>\n

We then asked our participants to reflect on this before completing prompt cards that questioned\u00a0how they would\u00a0translate \u2018love\u2019 into a professional context and what their\u00a0pledge would be\u00a0to make 2015 the year of love<\/strong>.<\/p>\n

\"IMG_1228\"<\/a><\/p>\n

Participants were very engaged in this activity and there\u00a0was a lot of group discussion about how they we could all\u00a0champion love in 2015:<\/strong><\/p>\n

\u201cbeing able to connect with others in a positive way\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cgive something of yourself\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cmore hugs and cuddles\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cI want to be courageous about making love my priority\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cnot being afraid to talk about love\u201d<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

Following the workshops Professor Phil Wilson (Centre for Rural Health, University of Aberdeen) gave a presentation about \u201cChallenging the inverse care law: Can\u00a0parenting support be fair for everyone?\u201d<\/p>\n

\"Screen<\/a><\/p>\n

This presentation focused on evidence which suggests that parenting support isn’t always\u00a0offered and taken up in proportion to need.<\/p>\n

“The\u00a0higher the risk\/need, the lower the likelihood to access it”\u00a0Phil Wilson<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

The conference concluded with an amazing presentation from John Carnochan OBE QPM (Independent consultant and expert on violence prevention) about \u201cIt’s relationships, that\u2019s all, relationships\u201d.<\/p>\n

\"Screen<\/a><\/p>\n

This presentation was especially moving and an inspiring way to end a great conference. John focused his discussion on the need for us to (re)connect with each other as fellow humans and to care for and protect children, young people and adults.<\/p>\n

“We are wired for connection\u2026sometimes it’s as simple as putting your arm around someone”\u00a0John Carnochan<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

He spoke of his concern that we focus on policies rather than care and support and asked a very thought provoking question that seemed to resonate with everyone in the room:<\/p>\n

“Why do we need a policy to ‘get it right for every child’ surely that should be obvious and we should just do it?Maybe we don’t really like kids, but simply tolerate them\u2026we’ve professionalised the whole bloody world and we’ve abdicated our responsibility as humans”\u00a0John Carnochan<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

I found this conference one of the best I’ve been to. The selection of speakers were inspiring and thought provoking and I am so pleased to see a conference that bravely focused it’s theme on love and loving relationships. I am hopeful for 2015 and a new focus on love over policy.<\/p>\n

The answer to fear is love\u2026this needs courage but we can do it together!”<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

\"Screen<\/a><\/p>\n

Thanks,\u00a0Fiona Munro<\/p>\n

[*]<\/a> This project is now being taken forward by Gayle and Ellen Daly<\/a> in 2015.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

On 12th March I was fortunate enough to attend Parenting Across Scotland\u2019s 2015 Conference \u201cCreating Loving Relationships\u201d – don\u2019t you just love the title?! – alongside colleagues from Hot Chocolate to present the Relationships Matter project I had been co-leading with Gayle Rice [*]. The PAS 2015 conference, Creating Loving Relationships, focused\u00a0on\u00a0relationships. Increasingly, the importance … <\/p>\n

Continue reading “Creating Loving Relationships – Parenting across Scotland 2015 conference”<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":63,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_coblocks_attr":"","_coblocks_dimensions":"","_coblocks_responsive_height":"","_coblocks_accordion_ie_support":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[14298,14314,100,13454,5074,2857,5048],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/blogs.iriss.org.uk\/innovate\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/479"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/blogs.iriss.org.uk\/innovate\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/blogs.iriss.org.uk\/innovate\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.iriss.org.uk\/innovate\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/63"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.iriss.org.uk\/innovate\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=479"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.iriss.org.uk\/innovate\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/479\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/blogs.iriss.org.uk\/innovate\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=479"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.iriss.org.uk\/innovate\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=479"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.iriss.org.uk\/innovate\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=479"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}