About

Outside the Box provides development support to groups and people across Scotland who want to make a difference in their communities.

We began in 2004. We are a small, independent charity and aim to work as a social enterprise.

We give practical support and enable people to learn the types of skills that are important both for establishing new ventures and for sustaining them.

We assist people to contribute on issues that are about how their community or how society works. For example, we support people to share their skills and experiences, work with others to develop community-based solutions to challenges they experience, and have their voices heard in policy.

We encourage people to think of themselves and other people as citizens, rather than as recipients of services or as people who are restricted by a particular description or label.

Over the years have learned about the issues that affect the thousands of people and hundreds of groups with whom we’ve worked, and about what kinds of community development support work best in different situations. Watch our short video sharing what we do:

Outside the Box’s vision is a society where communities are welcoming and inclusive, and where people can contribute to making their communities work well for them and for everyone.

We help achieve this by supporting people to make their communities work better.

Our values and approaches are:

• Promoting human rights in our communities and in the work we do.
• Creating a more equal society where people have opportunities to develop their skills and confidence and to contribute in ways that are right for them.
• Celebrating and valuing people’s strengths and supporting people and communities to think bigger and wider around what they could achieve.
• Encouraging and enabling people to have as much control as they want in their own lives and in their communities.
• Sharing and learning from other people and places.
• Recognising people’s experience of disadvantage and working alongside them to use that experience as part of making life better.

We work under the following key themes:

Having Different Conversations

Creating Inclusive Communities

People Having More Choice in their Lives

Building Strong Sustainable Organisations

Our diverse range of projects have impacts for individuals, groups and communities, and in society more widely. Watch our short video on the difference Outside the Box’s approach makes:

All our work is developed and delivered in partnership with people in local communities.  We also work in partnership with many other organisations on local and national matters.

Thank you to everyone we work alongside to make positive change happen.

Outside The Box is a recognised ‘Mum Friendly Workplace’, meaning we meet the standards identified by mums as being supportive and flexible for mums returning to work.

Outside The Box is a certified Living Wage employer.

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In 2020, Outside The Box received the Cyber Essentials accreditation.