Posts by Ruth Cape

A small but enthusiastic group of local community organisers came along to the first of our ‘Visioning for Change’ events at the Inglis Memorial Hall recently.  This provided myself and Nicky, as Rural Wisdom Development Workers, the opportunity to feedback what we heard from older people over the summer months (using our ‘Potting Shed’ consultation…

All of us at Outside the Box are now settling happily in to our new home at The Whisky Bond. We said goodbye to Brand Street, which had hosted us for 6 years, and have moved northwards to the old whisky warehouse which sits by the side of the canal overlooking Glasgow, and which now…

As part of our Rural Wisdom project to support Scotland’s rural communities to work better for older people, we’re holding a series of Get-Togethers across the country which we hope will help build a nation-wide network to share ideas, enthusiasm and inspiration about age-friendly rural communities. They provide a space to come together, talk about what’s…

In his radio series which looks at all sorts of elements of the English language, Stephen Fry – language enthusiast who famously experiences bipolar disorder – dedicates the most recent episode to the way that we talk about mental ill health, the importance of the way language is used to refer to people and conditions,…

We are very happy to be involved with the ‘Conversation Cafes’ organised by NHS Grampian’s Wellbeing Network. One of our Community Development Advisors, Caroline Peter, has connected with these as part of our families work in which we hope to create opportunities for grandparents to connect with each other and offer peer support; the cafes are…

A few years ago, a friend and I cycled across Europe. We covered over 4,500km and passed through 11 different countries. Struck by the genuine human kindness which followed us the whole way, we kept a ‘Heroes List’ – noting down the moments where someone, somewhere had gone out of their way to help and…

We are working with families and other organisations across Scotland to develop peer support for families (the project is funded by the Scottish Government through the Children, Young People and Families Early Intervention Fund). We’re developing a series of notes to start off discussions about what can help families, especially when people welcome some additional…

Rural Wisdom is our partnership project which is working to make rural areas work better for older people. We have been talking to people in the Rural Wisdom local areas and hearing from people in other parts of Scotland.  This is what we have noticed over the past few months: Older people in rural areas…

Bring in control of your own life and situation is something many of us take for granted, but not a right which is recognised for everyone. We love this new video from Open Future Learning highlighting the importance of this. Enjoy and share the video below! Much of the work that we do falls under the key…

The Badenoch & Strathspey Community Transport Company (BSCTC) has reason to celebrate this Summer 2017 and Outside the Box are very happy to congratulate them and share this guest blog from Ros Munro, social development & recruitment officer for the company. Our Community Car Scheme is turning 20 years old, a great milestone to reach!…