Tag: national strategy

£450,000 fund to spark innovation across Scotland’s public libraries

Public libraries across Scotland are set to benefit from a share of £450,000 as part of a fund which supports bold, community-focused projects that strengthen their role as trusted hubs for learning, wellbeing and inclusion.

The annual Public Library Improvement Fund (PLIF) awards grants to projects which align with the vision set out in FORWARD: Scotland’s Public Library Strategy 2021-2025, with the strategic aims grouped under the themes of ‘People’, ‘Place’ and ‘Partnership’.

This national strategy maps out an exciting future for Scotland’s public libraries with work set to continue into 2026 to ensure services are able to build on the groundbreaking work of the past four years.

The 2025/26 PLIF – administered by the Scottish Library and Information Council (SLIC) on behalf of the Scottish Government – has opened for applications (Monday 18 August) to promote innovation across Scotland’s public library sector.

This year’s funding priorities reflect the expanding role of libraries as a hub for trusted information, upskilling and guidance, with applications which address key societal challenges encouraged.

The 2025/26 PLIF will prioritise projects that support:

  • Tackling mis/dis information  
  • Supporting democracy  
  • Tackling child poverty through support for attainment  
  • Support for family wellbeing
  • Economic growth and co-production

As well as providing funding for innovative library projects across the country, PLIF also supports the delivery of Scotland’s national public library strategy (FORWARD), and allows SLIC to continue its valuable research work. This £450,000 investment takes the total to £5.5 million over the lifetime of the PLIF scheme.

Scotland’s Culture Secretary Angus Robertson said: “We believe libraries are at the heart of Scotland’s communities.

“That is why we provide annual funding to the Scottish Library and Information Council, including £450,000 towards the Public Library Improvement Fund, which exemplifies the transformative power of libraries, from introducing digital inclusiveness to teaching about economic wellbeing.”

Last year, 13 projects received a share of PLIF funding, supporting Gaelic and Scots language and new Scots languages, digital inclusion and sustainability initiatives.

One of the projects awarded an £11,000 grant was the Interactive Orcadian Flora Trail, an initiative created by Orkney Library and Archive to tackle social isolation while highlighting the diverse and varied plant life that can be found across the islands.

The trail, which officially launches later this week, also celebrates Orcadian culture by providing an opportunity to hear the Orcadian dialect, with flower poems created and recorded by Orkney Voices.

Alison Nolan, chief executive of SLIC, said: “PLIF has transformative power for public library services. Projects like Orkney Library’s Orcadian Flora Trail showcase libraries’ place at the heart of cultural, educational and social life.

“Over the years, we’ve seen inspiring PLIF projects which preserve heritage, spark creativity and serve local needs flourish long beyond the initial funding term, becoming lasting assets to the communities they serve.

“The thread running through all the PLIF applications we see is a clear commitment to delivering something meaningful and impactful for local people. PLIF gives services the opportunity to bring ambitious ideas to life, and I would strongly encourage libraries across the country to apply.

“We’re looking forward to receiving fresh applications that reflect the innovation, dedication and community pride that defines Scotland’s public library services and that bring this year’s themes into focus to ensure libraries continue to lead as trusted, inclusive spaces at the heart of every community.”

The PLIF 2025/26 is now open to applications and will close at 12pm on Friday 19 September 2025.

For more information on how to apply, visit: 

The Public Library Improvement Fund (scottishlibraries.org).

Campaigners call on Scottish Government to develop national strategy to prevent child sexual abuse

Stop It Now! Scotland and NSPCC Scotland are calling on the Scottish Government to develop a national strategy to tackle child sexual abuse that focuses on prevention to make the country a safer place to grow up.

The two charities hosted an event in partnership with the Scottish Parliament this week (Wednesday, March 15) with leading experts in the field.

They discussed the devastating harms and long-lasting impact that sexual abuse can have on victims, that punishment alone will not eradicate this problem and what we can do to prevent children being abused in the first place. They also talked about the next steps we need to take to guarantee Scotland is the safest country for children to grow up.

They are urging the Scottish Government to develop a comprehensive and coordinated national approachto prevent child sexual abuse, which involves health, police, education, community safety, children’s services, social services, housing and the wider community. The child protection charities say it is vital that everyone understands what child sexual abuse is and knows how they can be part of preventing it.

A review of UK data revealed that 15 per cent of females and 5 per cent of males will experience some form of sexual abuse before the age of 16.

This means at least 80,000 children in Scotland will have been affected by this issue before they leave high school. Although this is thought to be an under-representation of the scale of the problem and the actual number of children who have experienced sexual abuse in Scotland is not known.

The charities say that to understand the numbers of children in Scotland affected and the scale of the suffering it is crucial that a prevalence survey is conducted.

Professor Elizabeth Letourneau, Director of the Moore Centre for the Prevention of Child Sexual Abuse, School of Public Health, John Hopkins University, said: “Child sexual abuse affects about one in nine children – 12 per cent of all children – globally. Victims are at risk of immediate harms, such as fear, injury, and pregnancy, and a broad array of serious health problems can emerge and last across the lifespan.

“Only one in five cases of child sexual abuse are ever reported to the authorities. This means that we miss at least 80 per cent of cases, so punishment will never be enough if we are to effectively address this public health problem.

“I believe our failure to focus on prevention stems from a general misgiving that child sexual abuse really is not preventable. That people who are at risk of perpetrating abuse are monsters and their behaviour cannot be predicted or prevented, and they will only respond to punishment.

“But we know this is not true. We already have good evidence that we can effectively prevent child sexual abuse perpetration.”

Pat Branigan, Assistant Director of NSPCC’s Together for Childhood, said: “One of the most important messages from today is that child sexual abuse is preventable and not inevitable.

“The ultimate goal is to develop a framework, based on evidence of what we know already works, which can be used to support agencies and organisations to work together and prevent child sexual abuse in communities.

“We need to create strong local partnerships between social care, schools, health, voluntary groups, the police and communities that focus on preventing people from offending, and empower and educate children and adults to recognise the signs of abuse and how they can report their concerns.

“Ultimately it will not be governments, experts or professionals who eradicate child sexual abuse, it will be individuals, families and communities.”

Stuart Allardyce, Director, Lucy Faithfull Foundation / Stop It Now! Scotland, said: “Last year we helped 7,000 people across the UK through our Helpline.  Not all were adults worried about their own sexual thoughts, feelings and behaviour, but around half of them were.

“We also had adults who were worried about another adult, or because they had found evidence their partner has been seeking out child sexual abuse material online.

“We believe that if you build prevention initiatives, people will come – professionals, protective adults, but also those who worried about the risk that they may present to children. We can no longer say that people won’t use self-help prevention resources, because the evidence is that they can and do and that prevention works.”

Childlight, based at the University of Edinburgh, also launched the first comprehensive global data repository this week, which will look at all forms of child sexual exploitation and abuse (CSEA), with the aim of being able to show the scale and nature of this abuse. 

Children and young people can contact Childline for free, confidential support and advice 24 hours a day online at www.childline.org.uk or on the phone on 0800 1111

Anyone with concerns about a child’s wellbeing can contact the NSPCC Helpline on help@nspcc.org.uk. The NSPCC practitioners provide free and confidential help and advice and can take appropriate steps to help keep children safe. If a child is in immediate danger, please call 999.

The NSPCC also has advice and resources for parents, carers on how to have simple, age appropriate conversations with children to help prevent sexual abuse through their Talk PANTS campaign. This helps children understand that their body belongs to them and to recognise when something is not okay and how to tell someone.

Penumbra: Lived and living experience should be at the heart of self-harm strategy for Scotland

Pioneering mental health charity, Penumbra, has welcomed the announcement from the Scottish Government to introduce a national strategy on self-harm.

Penumbra is a leading mental health charity which supports 2500 adults and young people each week across Scotland through a range of compassionate, recovery focussed support services including in the areas of self-harm, distress support and suicide prevention.

The charity’s pioneering non-medical approach to mental health recovery support has seen it become the leading employer of peer support colleagues within the mental health field: 20% of the charity’s colleagues are employed in peer support roles.

Penumbra has dedicated self-harm support services across Scotland: Aberdeen; Edinburgh; Dundee; South Ayrshire; North Ayrshire; Fife, and operates the Edinburgh Crisis Centre.

Stephen Finlayson is the Head of Innovation and Improvement for Penumbra and has welcomed the news: “This is a welcome announcement from the Scottish Government on plans for Scotland to become the first country in the world with a dedicated strategy to supporting people who experience self-harm.

“Currently the national picture remains fragmented and many people continue to experience stigmatised attitudes. In addition to support, there’s an urgent need for more research to really understand the factors that lead people to feel the only way to manage their emotional distress is by causing harm to themselves.

“A coherent national approach will take this a long way forward. Key to this process will be listening to and working alongside people with lived and living experience of self-harm.

“At Penumbra, we support many people who self-harm in locations across Scotland each year and we know that with good, compassionate support, there is real hope for people who self-harm. Accessing the right support at the right time is critical.”