Last week I attended The Gathering, a third sector exhibition run by SCVO (Scottish Council for Voluntary Organisations) with the Blackwood Foundation to promote the bespoken site content and some of our projects. Besides ourselves manning the stand by the entrance (and repeatedly getting mistaken for a welcome committee) there was a strong presence from charities and related businesses from across Scotland. Seeing as most of our members probably missed attending in person (unless you’re reading this as one of the 100 new members who joined at the event) I thought I could show you a few picks from the two days which may be of interest.

C-Change Scotland

C-Change Scotland run a number of services for people with disabilities and their families, including employment support, supported living and counselling and advice. At The Gathering they were promoting ‘Dates-N-Mates’, a dating and friendship service for adults with learning disabilities. At the moment they are based in Glasgow, but are expanding into Aberdeen. Dates-N-Mates run a number of one-to-one dating services as well as regular social events.

Glasgow Centre for Inclusive Living

The Glasgow Centre for Inclusive Living is an organisation run by disabled people for disabled people, offering a range of services which allow people with disabilities to pursue better options for independent living. The GCIL offers services to people living in Glasgow, and through Take Control, people in East Dunbartonshire and South Lanarkshire.

Support for Ordinary Living

Support for Ordinary Living is based in North Lanarkshire and covering the whole Central Belt is an organisation which seeks to support people with assisted and independent living. They also provide touchscreen computers in homes through SOL Connect which allow the service-user to contact support staff at any time to get them the assistance they need when they need it.

It was an interesting event and certainly worth going to if you have an interest in charities around Scotland as there is a far broader variety than I have managed to capture with people from a wide range of causes and organisations. From the Blackwood Foundation’s perspective it was a good chance to meet some like-minded people and also to prepare for the Naidex exhibition at the end of April.