SDS 2017 Reflections- Jess Wade, SDSS Manager.

2017 has been a busy one for us, and no doubt you too, and we hope it has also been productive for you!

Reflecting on the year and SDS 2017 we have had a very successful AGM in October, and welcomed two new Trustees, Ged Thompson (DICE) and Joanne McGee (Take Ctrl East Dunbartonshire), to our Management Committee, to ensure our members’ voice is even stronger at the highest level of our organisation. At their recent meeting, our Management Committee also co-opted Brenda Garrard, of PAMIS, to the committee. We have also welcomed our latest staff member, Anna Carr, as our new Communications and Events Officer, and no doubt you will all be hearing more from her in due course. Following all of this change, and coming to the end of our current funding streams, we have been doing a lot of thinking about our future, and have developed our new 2018-21 Strategy, building on feedback from our members, and other stakeholders, as well as our own working knowledge of the current SDS environment. We look forward to sharing this with you in the new year.

We have also been working with the Scottish Government and Inspiring Scotland to support the consultation around the future Support in the Right Direction fund; SiRD2021 and we know that many of you will have been involved in this process too.  If you still want to contribute your thoughts, please complete the survey by Friday 12th January 2018. That process has also been informed by the research on the value of Independent Support, carried out by Craigforth, that many of you took part in and we hope the final report on that will be published soon.

Looking to the year ahead, SDS Scotland have exciting plans for a national SDS event in spring, and we’d love to know want you would like to see as part of that event, so we have our own survey on that for you to also complete here (survey closed) so we can create an event that best meets your needs. We’re looking forward to bringing people together to discuss and learn about the key issues facing us all on our quest to make SDS a success throughout Scotland.

Wishing you all the best throughout the festive season and beyond.

Jess.