Community-led action - Outside the Box

Sustainable, community-led action

Lots of people have ideas for making the world work better.

They identify a need – a local gap, something they can’t access – and with some creativity and care it turns into a flourishing local community garden, bus, meeting centre, food network, wild swimming group, human rights organisation or social enterprise.

Outside the Box exists to help good ideas grow into reality. In community-led projects we support people to welcome and listen to everyone, imagine the future they want and create a plan, find creative ways to spread the word, make connections, and use their skills to create what their community needs.

Community-led action: Outside the Box

A network of New Scots inclusion

The Moments of Freedom group started so New Scots Syrian women in Clydebank have space to get together for peer support. Driven by the women’s priorities, it evolved to create opportunities to enhance skills around language, digital communication, and community mapping and development too. In the group they’re recognising the value in their skills and experiences, and using them to build support networks in their community.

In 2022 they held a welcoming event for Afghan families who are new to the community, using their experience of being new to Scotland to help them feel included and connected. Through Moments of Freedom the women are practicing inclusive leadership, connecting people, and sharing their learning with other New Scots groups and wider communities.

Small actions for a good place to live

People in Newton St Boswalls got together through our Connecting Equalities work, to identify changes they want to see and take on small actions. The actions included phoning the local council for the dog bins to be emptied, taking down the village Christmas lights so they wouldn’t harm anyone, and asking for a bench near the co-op to be mended.

The impact of these small local activities – as well as the concrete changes – has been the group continuing to meet themselves. They take on actions to improve where they live, and get together for activities like curling and afternoon tea. We’ve also helped local people learn skills around newsletters and storytelling, to keep the village connected.

LGBTQ+ families supporting each other

First, a gap was identified – not enough space for LGBTQ+ parents and families to get together. Families were talking about feeling like the ‘odd ones out’ in most groups they attended. So the Queer Families group was set up to create a safe, welcoming space for connecting around the unique challenges and joys of LGBTQ+ perinatal, adoption and parenting experiences.

Once it got going, families started suggesting and leading sessions (from arts to outdoor exploration). And, importantly, collecting their deep shared knowledge about LGBTQ+ access to health, fertility and family services and activities. The group created a guide for services that work with LGBTQ+ families, and a guide for families themselves. Recently we’ve also had online sessions around perinatal wellbeing and access – with families connecting through their experiences and building skills to support themselves and each other.

Mums building good perinatal wellbeing at work

The vast majority (70%+) of working mums experience some kind of discrimination or negativity when pregnant or returning to work. It’s a big issue for mums, and for organisations whose experienced team members end up leaving.

We worked with pregnant women and mums who experienced pregnancy discrimination to explore the Fair Work Framework, and how workplaces can better support their needs. Together with these women, and 3^rd sector and care sector employers, we developed a Mum Friendly Workplaces toolkit for creating ways of working that support perinatal wellbeing, equality, and workplace participation and leadership. By taking an experience-based, intersectional approach, it’s possible to combine what we need as workers, carers, women and parents, with what organisations need and can do. The impact for Indigo Nursery, ACE Place, MILK Café, Support Choices and us at Outside the Box has been a culture of worker wellbeing, improved retention, sustainability, and policies and practices designed to support mums’ needs equally.

Communities using human rights

Neighbourhood Networks members were on a journey to build their capacity as positive agents of change, supporting each other and their communities. We did virtual Human Rights training with the whole organisation: members, staff, and volunteers. Over four sessions, we supported Neighbourhood Networks to deepen their awareness of human rights, and how rights play out in our everyday lives in communities.

Discussion covered access to healthcare, dealing with discrimination as members of equalities groups, and using human rights in different ways to influence how things work. We worked with members to develop Action Plans for taking the learning forward and using networks and experiences to address issues impacting human rights in their communities. Neighbourhood Networks members across Scotland are now developing their own rights sessions to raise awareness and have influence.