National Leadership Network (NLN) which Staf are lead hosts of alongside our partners at CYCJ, Columba 1400, Resilience Learning Partnership and Who Cares? Scotland.
Steering Group
The newly formed Steering Group have recently met to discuss how they are going to meet, how meetings will run and consider how decisions will be made. They are also meeting with NLN staff for 1-1 sessions too. They decided that the NLN website that has been produced should be run for a year to see how effective it is and have set up a Website Working Group. They are keen to try and get together in person again to build relationships within the team too.
National Leadership Network Consultants
The 4 NLN Consultants are starting to work on the various specific tasks including supporting the Life Changes Trust legacy, supporting roadshow/national events, volunteering, and supporting the development of the Steering Group.The group are currently making the final decisions on the NLN hoodies.
Roadshows
The NLN were asked to attend the Columba 1400 East Lothian Care Fest this month (see more info below). A roadshow session in Fife should happen next month and we are still scoping out the possibility of engaging with children’s houses in Dundee.
Engagement
NLN staff had the pleasure of attending the Staf Summit this month. This was a great opportunity to engage with various partners in person which was a fantastic experience.
NLN staff met with staff from Glasgow City Council this month who are keen to develop a local Champs Board. One of the staff members has worked for the NLN and found out about the job she is doing via an email from the NLN distribution list!
National Leadership Network hosts
NLN staff have also taken part in a podcast recording with a leadership focus hosted by the Resilience Learning Partnership and Brigid Russell. Gary and Lisa were asked to give input into the Leaders with Lived Experience series. This links in with the two sessions that also featured 6 other people from Team NLN.
Gary and Lisa were also lucky enough to be asked to take part in another podcast hosted by RLP. This was part of their Authentic Voice Podcast focusing on embedding lived experience and how this can work with children, young people and families. This was a great opportunity to have a collective discussion with friends of the NLN Jacqui Dunbar, Gordon main and of course Shumela Ahmed.
Columba 1400 asked the NLN to be part of their East Lothian Care Fest this month. The NLN had an info stand which created an opportunity to engage a number of local school pupils of various ages.
Feedback
The NLN recently passed its first official birthday. To mark this a year one report is almost complete which details some of the impact and challenges of the last 12 months. A lengthy report has been produced for our funders but an easy to read, colourful, four-page report is nearly complete. This will be shared with friends, partners, and allies in due course. We have asked many of the people we have engaged with over the last year for their thoughts and snapshot of this is below:
“The biggest highlight was seeing the consultants contribute to the forming of NLN and steering us towards the path we are on, in addition to the forming of the oversight board. To achieve these things in a fairly short time has been a great success”. (Ross Gibson, CYCJ)
“It's hard to find information online about NLN - there's good links to other organisations such as CYCJ and STAF but a dedicated website that doesn't use the no longer active Life Changes Trust portal would be good to see.” (NLN ally)
“A wee bit more visibility would be amazing.” (NLN ally)
“Please include parents’, carers…and your impact and reach may widen.” (Parent)
"Keep up the good work! You are making an incredible difference to the lives of those who are involved in the care experienced community."(NLN ally)
For more information contact gary@thenln.org
