Cultures of respect and inclusion

We all need inclusion and respect to live a good life.

When communities build strong relationships and a culture which respects everyone’s human rights, everyone’s better off. Since Outside the Box began, we’ve often worked with people who are less included, supporting them to challenge inequalities and promote equal, supportive ways of being together in community.

Respect and inclusion in action

Sharing our stories and experiences

Moments of Freedom, a group led by New Scots women in Clydebank, created ‘cultural sharing sessions’. It’s space for learning from each other, and valuing all our diversity. The group connected with older women in the Western Isles – learning from them about dementia, Gaelic, and living in supported accommodation, sharing their experiences of settling in Scotland, and connecting through food, music and history. The women’s work creating opportunities to celebrate the value of each other’s experiences builds understanding and respect, making our society richer.

Access and equality in community gardening

Community Gardens can also nourish equal, respectful connections. Co-operating on a garden needs all kinds of skills and knowledge, and can be an accessible space for getting together. In the Garden Buddies project, we worked with community gardens, disabled people, older people, and people living with dementia to build a toolkit for making gardening accessible. They pooled their knowledge to come up with simple, actionable tips any community garden can use to remove barriers. This work helped more people get involved in gardening in Newtown and Tweeddale, and the Garden Buddies tips have been used in community gardens across the country.

Building connections through kurling

When people decide what they want to do, whether it’s knitting or hiking, it’s a chance for great informal connections and inclusion. We worked with Neighbourhood Networks’ Musselburgh and Tranent networks, to help the members find a way to try out Kurling.

While kurling, we found the best kind of inclusion and respect - in every moment of how people treat each other, compete, banter and have fun. When a group tries new things outside its comfort zones, and puts ideas into action, it’s great for building a culture of genuine friendship and inclusion.

Equality and friendship in getting outdoors

Evaluating dementia-inclusive outdoors projects funded by the LCT’s Get Outdoors programme, we had a big focus on the relationships of respect and equality at the heart of each project. Instead of just looking at numbers, we collected participants’ snippets and stories of change, listening to what really mattered to everyone: being equally recognised and valued in their community.

The equal right of people living with dementia to access outdoor spaces and social inclusion was at the heart of the different projects. We met retired bowls players having their records from decades back remembered and celebrated, and being included in the bowling club community through Sporting Memories. And we helped groups share learning about the wellbeing impacts of having access to men’s sheds and creating a dementia-friendly woodland – from feeling better and more empowered, to building physical strength, to building lasting friendships. Being close to nature and people in our communities are core wellbeing needs, so creating equal access helps create social and wellbeing equality too.