We are deeply saddened and concerned to learn that 1,185 people died from an alcohol-specific death in 2024. This number is not enough to fully capture the harm alcohol does in our society – not just to the person, but to their families and communities. Unlike other drugs, alcohol is [...]
People with disabilities are protected by a framework of international and domestic legislation, a framework that acknowledges that historically, they have been marginalised, discriminated against and denied their human rights. As a society we have repeatedly committed to doing better, to ensuring that people have the support that they need [...]
We talk a good game on social care in Scotland. Our Government have made bold commitments, passed solid legislation, but what we haven’t done is follow through on delivering the promised change in people’s lives. Our implementation gap is huge. The Keys to Life Learning Disability Strategy made strong commitments on what [...]
Next week we will mark Scottish Learning Disability Week in the way we always do – by showcasing and celebrating the people we support, the lives they lead and the part they play in our communities. But this year, we also need to take this opportunity to talk about how [...]
Last year, when Scotland’s drug related death statistics were published, we shared our frustration, our disappointment, that despite three years of a National Mission, an unprecedented investment and the declaration of a public health emergency, people were still dying. Now we’re another year on, and more lives have been lost. It [...]
Turning Point Scotland and Fife Council today released the Whole System Approach (WSA) Fife Learning Partner Inception Report detailing the first quarterly Learning Cycle of our innovative ‘test of change’. Our organisation has been working in partnership with Fife Council over the past two years on housing and homelessness. Together [...]
The consultation on the Scottish Government’s proposed Learning Disability, Autism and Neurodiversity Bill has just closed, and I have mixed feelings. The first thing to say is that this is a good thing, an important thing to be happening. By working on this Bill the Scottish Government are giving voice [...]
Our social media recently featured Service Manager’s from our Homelessness and Prevention services detailing what makes their service successful and challenging the stigma around Homelessness. At Turning Point Scotland, we are known for our ability to develop and deliver services based on best practice, policy and legislation. However, we are [...]
At Turning Point Scotland, we have led by example to engage and influence our sector in tackling stigmatising language associated with all of our areas of support in social care. But we realised that some of the language we used to describe our Homelessness services needed careful updating. At Turning [...]
Today, on International Overdose Awareness Day, the Home Affairs Committee (HAC) at the House of Commons has called for drug law reform and a public health approach to drug use. In July the Scottish Government published ‘A Caring, Compassionate and Human Rights Informed Drug Policy for Scotland’, calling for decriminalisation [...]