Staf

17/08/2026

Last chance to grab tickets with just 8 days until our next summit!

The implementation of the Children (Care, Care Experience and Services Planning) (Scotland) Act is around the corner. Are your services ready to translate this new legislation into practice?

Join Staf for an essential online summit on Rights, Relationships and Reform in Aftercare.

Direct Insights: Unpack the key legislative provisions impacting policy, planning, and service delivery across Scotland.
Practical Guidance: Learn directly from emerging aftercare practices and hear the lived experiences of young care leavers.
System Preparedness: Perfect for frontline staff, team managers, housing officers, health workers and strategic leaders preparing for sector-wide changes.

📅Tuesday 25 August
⏰9:30am - 12:30pm
🎟️£60 (Staf members) | £75 (non-members)

Remaining spaces are limited. Secure yours today to help shape the future of care experienced support in Scotland.

Tuesday 25 August 2026 | 9.30am - 12.30pm | Online [MS Teams]

31/07/2026

Did you know yesterday was World Friendship Day?

For care experienced young people and those who work alongside them, we know quality of relationships, continuity of support and sense of belonging are vital in shaping the journey into adulthood.

Friendships can be some of our most important relationships, but are not always prioritised when we plan support with young people.

Our Transforming Friendship Focused Support project developed lots of free resources to support you with this. You can find them at https://www.staf.scot/friendship-resources

17/07/2026

💬Join us at our next free Participation Practitioners' Forum

Are you passionate about supporting care and justice experienced young people to have their voices heard? Our free online forum is a welcoming space to connect with fellow practitioners, share ideas, reflect on challenges and celebrate what's working.

Whether you're looking for fresh inspiration, practical tips or simply the chance to connect with others doing similar work, we'd love to see you there. Please email [email protected] with any queries.

📅 Thursday 30 July
⏰ 10-11.30am
💻 Online [MS Teams]

Book your free place today at https://www.staf.scot/Event/participation-practitioners-forum-jul26

Please share with colleagues and networks who may be interested.

15/07/2026

📢Don't miss your chance to be part of the Staf National Conference 2026

Following last year's sell-out event, we're back on Tuesday 6 October with No Cliff Edges: Pathways to Adulthood, Connection and Opportunity – a day of learning, inspiration and connection for everyone committed to improving outcomes for care experienced young people.

🎟️Book now to secure your Early Bird ticket before prices increase.

💡Got a story, project or idea to share?
We're looking for interactive workshops, presentations, creative sessions and lived experience contributions that inspire, challenge and spark conversation.

⏰Workshop proposal deadline is this Friday 17 July so don't miss your opportunity to help shape this year's programme. Please email your proposals to [email protected].

Find out more and book your place at
https://www.staf.scot/Event/staf-national-conference-2026

03/07/2026

Our first online summit of the year may be over, but we're still thinking about the conversations it sparked.

A huge thank you to everyone who joined us for No Wrong Door: Improving Transitions into Adulthood. Whether you were sharing your expertise as a speaker, contributing your lived experience, or listening and asking questions from wherever you joined us, you helped make the event feel open, thoughtful and full of possibility.

It was encouraging to see so many people bringing different perspectives together around one important question: how do we make transitions into adulthood work better for young people?

We're proud that Staf could bring so many people together, and excited to keep building on the ideas and connections that came from the first summit.

There's still time to sign up for our next two summits, on Aftercare and Justice, at https://www.staf.scot/events.

22/06/2026

No Wrong Door:
Improving Transitions into Adult Services

Be part of a powerful conversation at our first Transitions Summit bringing together professionals, practitioners, policy leaders, people with lived experience and partners from across the sector.

Tuesday 30 June
9.30am to 12.30pm
Online

Our speakers

Thomas Carlton, Implementation Lead at The Promise Scotland, will be linking in what the Plan 24-30 Route Maps are calling on us to do to enable smooth transitions for care experienced young people.

Melanie Bridges, Improving Care Experiences Consultant at CELCIS, will discuss the work they are doing with the Transitions Wise Crowd, alongside colleagues from The Scottish Government.

We will hear from our very own Youth Justice Voices group, bringing their valuable insights gleaned from over 6 years of working to amplify voice, focused on what really matters for successful transitions to adulthood.

Rebecca Williams, Policy and Development Worker at the Scottish Transitions Forum (ARC Scotland), will be sharing their expertise around transitions for young people with additional and lifelong support needs.

Ruth Kerracher, Participation and Rights Manager at Staf, will share our work around creating new blueprints and standards & principles through the Moving On Change Programme, and how this can help you in your practice.

Who should attend?
This event is open to Staf members and non-members alike. As well as Throughcare and Aftercare teams, it will be beneficial for teams working in adult services, justice, housing, education and health.

How do I book?
Booking is now open for Staf members, who benefit from a special discounted rate, and non-members. Anyone who books a place at all 3 of our summits will also receive a great discount. Just click the link below.

Please ensure you have booked onto the event by 5pm on Friday 26 June.

We look forward to seeing you there.

https://www.staf.scot/Event/no-wrong-door-improving-transitions-into-adult-services

10/06/2026

Come along and take part in Gemma's presentation and Q&A session. We would love to see you there, everyone is welcome!

05/06/2026

⭐ Celebrating Volunteers' Week with a welcome

With volunteers at the heart of so much positive change across Scotland, this Volunteers' Week we're delighted to celebrate the people who generously give their time, expertise and leadership to support our mission.

We're especially pleased to welcome two outstanding new volunteer members to our Staf Board; Jasmin-Kasaya Pilling and Abbi Jackson.

Jasmin brings a wealth of insight, passion and commitment to creating better outcomes for children and young people, and we are excited to have her voice and experience helping shape Staf's future. Jasmin has already been involved in many of our projects, most recently as a Care Experienced Consultant for our Minimum Income Guarantee work.

Abbi joins us with almost 30 years of experience as a social work leader, consultant and educator across children's and adult services in Scotland. Her career has spanned foster care, secure care, residential childcare, quality improvement, workforce development and organisational leadership, including serving as an Interim Chief Executive in the third sector.

As Scotland's national membership organisation for all those involved in and impacted by the care experience, we know the importance of strong leadership and diverse perspectives. We are incredibly grateful that Jasmin and Abbi have chosen to volunteer their time, skills and expertise to support Staf's work, as well as to all our existing Board members.

📢 Interested in joining our Board?

As we continue to deliver our ambitious five-year strategy, we're recruiting new Board members to help strengthen support for the workforce that stands alongside care experienced young people as they move into adulthood.

We're particularly keen to hear from people with expertise in Housing, Employability & Education, Fundraising & Finance, Communications, Workforce Learning & Development/Community Education, those with lived experience of care, and professionals working within our throughcare and aftercare member community.

If you share our values and would like to make a difference, we'd love to hear from you. Contact [email protected] to set up an informal chat with our CEO.

04/06/2026

🏆 Huge congratulations to Team NLN on winning this year’s National Youth Work Award for Participation & Voice! At Staf, we’re already beyond proud to host the National Leadership Network. This award is well deserved recognition of the work the Steering Group and Consultants (past and present) have poured into the NLN since its inception. It is testament to the way in which they have gone about their work, funding superb projects and making real-life difference to young people with their individual grants - all with great attention to detail, love and a good dose of humour along the way. None of this happens on its own, and the way in which Gary and Susanne (and Barry and Lisa before) support the involvement of young people at their own pace is evidenced by the project’s success. The relationships they hold, and care and attention to the people (not just the work) is a huge part of why it works so well, delivering on genuine impact in only a short time. Well done to all of you from all of us! 💜💜

National Leadership Network - YPCE
YouthLink Scotland
Columba Leadership
Resilience Learning Partnership
Who Cares? Scotland
Children and Young People's Centre for Justice

28/05/2026

Our members tell us about the most important issues affecting care experienced young people across Scotland today...and we listen.

Get involved in our new series of online summits, open to everyone, and bringing together voices from policy, practice and lived experience to respond to these issues.

💜No Wrong Door: Improving Transitions into Adult Services – 30 June
A focus on breaking down barriers and creating smoother, more supportive transitions into adulthood.

💜Rights, Relationships and Reform in Aftercare – 25 August
Looking at aftercare practice, rights-based support and the opportunities presented by the Children (Care, Care Experience and Services Planning) (Scotland) Bill.

💜Care and Justice: Voices, Policy and Practice – 24 November
Exploring how lived experience is shaping national conversations and driving change across care and justice systems.

These summits are designed for anyone working across children’s services, justice, health, housing, education, social work, policy and third sector organisations, who wants to strengthen support for care experienced young people.

💬 Hear directly from lived experience voices
🤝 Connect with colleagues across sectors
💡 Explore emerging policy and practice
📢 Be part of shaping meaningful change

Enjoy special rates for Staf members PLUS a discount for booking all 3 events.

Find out more and book your place at https://www.staf.scot/Event/series-of-3-summits-justice-transitions-to-adult-services-and-aftercare.