Shared Parenting Scotland

21/08/2026

SHARED PARENTING SCOTLAND
ABERDEEN SUPPORT GROUP MEETING
- WEDNESDAY 26 AUGUST 2026
- 6PM-8PM
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If you want to take part on Wednesday, please email: [email protected] so that we have a good handle on the numbers planning to attend.

Our in-person group meeting in Aberdeen is on Wednesday 26th August 2026, starting at 6 pm and running till 8 pm at Fountainhall Church at the Cross (Garden Room), Queens Cross, Albyn Place, AB10 1YN. The doors will be open from 5.45 pm, so please do come along early, get yourself a free cuppa and a biscuit and a good seat.

We look forward to having local solicitor Sarah McPherson of Stronachs supporting us this month. Solicitors offer general legal information and clarification on points of Scottish Family Law.

This meeting will be hosted by Eunice Owusu-Afriyie, local volunteer, Lay Supporter and sessional worker at Shared Parenting Scotland.

Wednesday’s in-person venue-based meeting gives you the ability to put your own legal questions to our supporting solicitors. Depending on the numbers who sign up to attend, you’ll usually get 10/15 minutes, maybe more, discussing your points with the solicitor around the table.

Our staff are working as normal, so if you need to talk to us about issues you are facing, please ring 0131 557 2440 from Monday to Friday 9am – 5pm, or email : [email protected]

Thank you.

21/08/2026

Please note this month’s Dundee group meeting scheduled for 25th August 2026 will not go ahead. However, we are planning a meeting in Aberdeen on the 26th August for anyone in the North East requiring to attend a group meeting. Our helpline is also open Mon-Friday to speak to a member of our team. The next meeting in Dundee will go ahead on the 22nd of September.

17/08/2026

* THE KILTWALK IS COMING TO EDINBURGH ON SUNDAY 13 SEPTEMBER *
* WILL YOU WALK 4½ MILES FOR SHARED PARENTING SCOTLAND ? *
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We are looking for participants to join our team to take part in this year's Kiltwalk in Edinburgh on Sunday 13th September 2026.

Taking part in the Kiltwalk is good for the profile of Shared Parenting and is a morale boost for everyone who seeks our help.

If you are a UK tax-payer we can recover an additional 25p for every £1 you raise by way of sponsorship from friends and family.

If you can raise £50, you’ll join our team. We’ll pay your registration fee, provide you with a T-shirt and post photos of your fundraising activity.

For more information, please call the helpline on 0131 557 2440 or send an email to : [email protected]

14/08/2026

📦We’re moving offices! And we need your help...

On Wednesday 19 August we’re moving our main office from 10 Palmerston Place offices in Edinburgh to 51 Cadagon Square in Glasgow.

We need a few people at both ends to help with moving boxes and furniture.

This involves a few flights of stairs in Edinburgh; in Glasgow we’re on the 7th floor but have access to a lift

We’ll need help from around 10am in Edinburgh and from around 3pm onwards in Glasgow

If able to help, please get in touch at 0131 557 2440 or email [email protected]

Our Edinburgh group meetings will continue to be held in Palmerston Place as normal

📆 Wed 19 August

📍10 Palmerston Place, Edinburgh - 10am
📍51 Cadogan Street, Glasgow - 3pm

13/08/2026

SHARED PARENTING SCOTLAND
GLASGOW SUPPORT GROUP MEETING
- TUESDAY 18 AUGUST 2026
- 6 PM – 8 PM
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If you want to take part on Tuesday, please email: [email protected] so that we have a good handle on the numbers planning to attend.

Our next Support Group Meeting in Glasgow is in person this coming Tuesday 18th August 2026, starting at 6pm and running till 8pm at the Shared Parenting Scotland Office at One Cadogan Square, 51 Cadogan Street, Anderston, Glasgow G2 7HF. We are on the 7th floor of the multi-storey building above the former Anderston Bus Station. You are welcome to arrive any time after 5.30 pm

We look forward to having supporting solicitors Emma Letham of Anderson Strathern and Judith Higson of Scullion Law with us to offer general legal information and clarification on points of Scottish Family Law.

This meeting will be hosted by Alastair Williamson and Fraser Wilson of Shared Parenting Scotland.

Tuesday’s in-person office-based meeting gives you the ability to put your own legal questions to our supporting solicitors. Depending on the numbers who sign up to attend, you’ll usually get 10 minutes, maybe more, discussing your points with the solicitor around the table.

Also, with 2 solicitors available to us, we will look to offer some private 1-to-1 meetings away from the main group. These will be prioritised for those who request a 1-to-1 in advance ; for those with matters maybe too personal to discuss around the group table ; for those with pending court dates ; for other urgent legal matters.

Our staff are working as normal, so if you need to talk to us about issues you are facing, please ring 0131 557 2440 from Monday to Friday 9am – 5pm, or email : [email protected]

Thank you.

12/08/2026

We’re delighted to announce that Kirsten Oswald MSP, Scottish government Minister for Victims and Community Safety, will be a keynote speaker at the International Council on Shared Parenting’s 2027 international conference in Glasgow

The conference, hosted by Shared Parenting Scotland, will bring the International Council on Shared Parenting (ICSP) to Scotland for the first time and will be the first ICSP international conference to be held anywhere in the UK.

Taking place in Glasgow in 2027, the conference will focus on “Children’s Rights and Shared Parenting”, bringing together leading academic researchers, practitioners, policymakers, legal professionals and parents and grandparents from around the world.

Kevin Kane, Chief Executive of Shared Parenting Scotland, said:

“We are delighted to welcome the Minister for Victims and Community Safety, Kirsten Oswald MSP to what promises to be a landmark event for Scotland and for the wider children’s sector and parenting community.

Bringing the International Council on Shared Parenting to Glasgow is an important opportunity to put Scotland at the heart of an international conversation about children’s rights, family relationships and the future of family justice”.

For more information and to learn more, please visit our website

07/08/2026

SHARED PARENTING SCOTLAND
ONLINE/ZOOM SUPPORT GROUP MEETING
- WEDNESDAY 12 AUGUST 2026
- 6 PM – 8 PM
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Please email: [email protected] and we’ll send you the joining instructions on the afternoon of the meeting next week .

Our Online/Zoom Support Group Meeting is next week on Wednesday 12h August 2026, starting sharp at 6 pm and running till 8 pm aimed at those of you around the country who can’t make it to our in-person city-based meetings.

Places at this Zoom meeting will be issued on a first-come, first-served basis. Acknowledgments and joining instructions will be sent on Wednesday afternoon for those of you who request to take part.

We look forward to having with us supporting solicitors Emily Deans of Balfour + Manson in Edinburgh and Faye Lipton of Gibson Kerr in Glasgow. Solicitors offer general legal information and clarification on points of Scottish Family Law.

This meeting will be hosted by Kevin Kane, Alastair Williamson and Megan Hutcheon from Shared Parenting Scotland.

This meeting gives you the ability to put your own legal questions to our supporting solicitor(s). Depending on the numbers who sign up to attend, you’ll get 10/15 minutes, maybe more, discussing your points with the solicitor around the table.

Things work roughly the same as our in-person face-to-face meetings, starting with an introduction and conflict of interest check, a Shared Parenting Scotland news update and then giving each person in turn a chance to talk to a solicitor.

If the quality of the online connection is poor, we will ask people to join in sound only to make best use of the available bandwidth. To minimise background noise, we’ll ask you to mute your microphone when not talking.

You can take part in the Zoom meeting on a computer, tablet or smartphone or by dialling in by phone to an Edinburgh (0131) number. More info on Zoom can be found here : https://zoom.us/

Our staff are working as normal, so if you need to talk to us about issues you are facing, please ring 0131 557 2440 from Monday to Friday 9am – 5pm, or email : [email protected]

Thank you.

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04/08/2026

Please note that our helpline will be closed tomorrow. This is in order to support staff wellbeing across the team, with the first Wednesday of each month being a wellbeing day to let our staff recharge.

Normal business will resume on Thursday.

29/07/2026

SHARED PARENTING SCOTLAND
EDINBURGH SUPPORT GROUP MEETING
- TUESDAY 4 AUGUST 2026
- 6 PM – 8 PM
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If you want to take part on Tuesday, please email: [email protected] so that we have a good handle on the numbers planning to attend.

Our next meeting in Edinburgh is in person on Tuesday 4th August, starting sharp at 6 pm and running till 8 pm at our office in 10 Palmerston Place, Haymarket EH12 5AA.

*** Please note if you are late for the 6pm meeting start and miss the introduction and conflict of interest checks, you will need to wait to speak with one of our hosts when you arrive before we can admit you to the meeting. ***

We look forward to having local supporting solicitors Jennifer Broatch of Thorntons, Hannah Wilson of Turcan Connell and Katie Fulton of BTO with us. Solicitors offer general legal information and clarification on points of Scottish Family Law.

This meeting will be hosted by Mark Downie and David Maclean of Shared Parenting Scotland. The chair of our board of Trustees Sumit Ghosh will join us too.

Tuesday’s in-person office-based meeting gives you the ability to put your own legal questions to our supporting solicitors. Depending on the numbers who sign up to attend, you’ll usually get 10/15 minutes, maybe more, discussing your points with the solicitor around the table.

Also, with 3 solicitors available to us, we will look to offer some private 1-to-1 meetings away from the main group. These will be prioritised for those who request a 1-to-1 in advance and for those with pending court dates or other urgent legal matters. We will look to offer 20 minutes for each of these sessions.

Our staff are working as normal, so if you need to talk to us about issues you are facing, please ring 0131 557 2440 from Monday to Friday 9am – 5pm, or email : [email protected]

Thank you.

27/07/2026

Child Welfare Reporters: do you really know how to listen to children?

A new apparatus is being set up in Scotland to overhaul the system of Child Welfare Reporters.

Child Welfare Reporters are independent professionals who are instructed by a court to gather the views of children whose parents are separating and who have not been able to agree arrangements for their future care.

The views of children are expected to carry weight in a sheriff or judge’s decisions. The reform was ordered in the Children (Scotland) Act 2020 but has not yet been implemented.

John Forsyth writes that he wishes that those currently charged with creating the new organisation will be required to listen to the story of Donna Ockenden, whose step by step story of the break-up of her parents’ marriage and the horror of her encounter with her local family court is seared in my memory.

You can read the full article on our website