Publications

All health and social care services in Scotland have a duty of candour. This is a legal requirement which means that when things go wrong and mistakes happen, the people affected understand what has happened, receive an apology, and that organisations learn how to improve for the future.

An important part of this duty is that we provide an annual report about the duty of candour in our services. This short report describes how Aberlour Child Care Trust has operated the duty of candour during the time between 1 April 2021 and 31 March 2022. We hope you find this report useful.

At Aberlour we work with children, young people and families who have experience of care and many who come into contact with the justice system. Through our residential children’s houses and fostering service we provide safe, nurturing and loving homes for children who cannot live with their families. We know that children in care are disproportionately more likely to come into contact with the justice system and we aim to support and protect the rights of children and young people we support who do. We also support children looked after at home and their families, including families where children are at significant risk of being taken into care. We work with families to prevent and mitigate the challenges in their lives that can create and increase risk to children’s wellbeing and welfare.

Read our submission to the Scottish Government Children’s Care and Justice Bill Consultation.

As part of Together (Scottish Alliance for Children’s Rights) an alliance of almost 500 children’s organisations, academics and interested professionals, Aberlour young people took part in the Rights Right Now! pilot project. Rights Right Now! was established to support children and young people’s meaningful and inclusive participation in the Untied Nations Convention on the Rights of the Child (UNCRC) implementation programme in Scotland.

Find out what we learnt from the project in the Rights Right Now! report.

Our Sycamore Service provides residential childcare for children and young people who cannot live at home and are likely to have experienced distress and disruption in their childhoods. All of our children’s houses provide a stable home for children and young people as we believe they deserve stability, safety and our understanding. Read more in our brochure below.

Every child has a right to a decent standard of living that meets their physical and social needs and supports their development. We believe all children should be safe, warm, fed, and able to play and learn. Yet not all families have an adequate income to meet these needs. They are now acutely vulnerable to rising food and energy prices. Across Scotland one in four children are living in the grip of this poverty. Poverty is fundamentally about a lack of money. It excludes children from the everyday activities and opportunities that their better-off peers enjoy.

Aberlour Children’s Charity is a member of the End Child Poverty coalition. Read our 2022 Scottish Elections manifesto.

We are seeing an increasingly worrying picture of families trapped in toxic cycles of debt to public bodies (‘public debt’), such as local authorities, housing associations, DWP – and even schools. We anticipate the issue of public debt will only worsen and urge that there must be better support for families locked in persistent problem debt to public bodies. To date, Aberlour has provided financial support to more than 450 families experiencing problem debt to public bodies and who are trapped in financial hardship as a result.

Read our full submission to the Social Justice & Social Security Committee Inquiry.

Professor Morag Treanor from the Institute of Social Policy, Housing, Equalities Research (I-SPHERE) at Heriot-Watt University reports on the Freedom of Information requests looking at school meal debt which were sent to all authorities across Scotland in December 2021. The document does not as a general rule include those who are entitled to free school meals. Read more here: Summary of School Meal Debt processes June 2022

Professor Morag Treanor has reviewed literature setting the scene for the rest of the research project being carried out by Aberlour and Heriot-Watt University into the extent and experiences of public debt in Scotland. The review of the existing literature gives an overview of what is currently known about public debt in Scotland. It also references the situation of the UK, where pertinent, for wider context and because some of this debt arises from UK administered benefits and benefit deductions. Read more here:  A Literature review of Public debt 

Welcome to the Spring edition of Aberlour news! Read all about how we helped Brandon and Scott return home to their mum, Tracey, after four years in foster care and discover how the Aberlour Urgent Assistance Fund has been supporting families struggling to make ends meet.

Aberlour is committed to realising and fulfilling children and young people’s right to learn, by supporting their learning in ways that best respond to their individual circumstances, needs and interests. We aim to make sure children and young people are at the centre of decision making around what their education and learning looks like, and that their voices and views are elevated in ways that can influence and shape their own learning and education experiences.

We write as a group of organisations fully committed to ensuring that the rights of every child in Scotland are respected and protected.  Article 22 of the UN Convention on the Rights of the Child (UNCRC) is clear that asylum-seeking and refugee children have the same rights as those children born in Scotland, as well as the right to special protection and help.

This week we responded to the Scottish Government’s consultation on ending the need for foodbanks. Eradicating food insecurity can only be achieved by lifting people out of poverty, guaranteeing an adequate income for all, and taking a holistic approach that best responds to people’s needs. You can read our response below.

All health and social care services in Scotland have a duty of candour. This is a legal requirement which means that when things go wrong and mistakes happen, the people affected understand what has happened, receive an apology and that organisations learn how to improve for the future.

An important part of this duty is that we provide an annual report about the duty of candour in our services. This short report describes how Aberlour Child Care Trust has operated the duty of candour during the time between 1 April 2020 and 31 March 2021. We hope you find this report useful.

Scotland has committed to the incorporation of the UNCRC. The UNCRC insists that children and their families should get the help and support they need so children can grow up at home, and that this is best for all but a small number of children. This provides a legal duty to make sure all families get help and support when needed. For some families this will mean targeted and intensive support. For other families it will be less so.

Information for children and their families

From the 17th of December 2021, the age of criminal responsibility has been raised to
12 years old. This means that if you are under 12 years old and you get in conflict with
the law, you are not going to get charged. You will be offered some extra support to
help you avoid being involved with the law in the future.

Read more here:

Changes to the age of criminal responsibility in Scotland

Read our Annual Report and Financial Statements until 31 March 2021 below.

We are delighted to share our Volunteering Impact Report 2020/2021.  It is extremely uplifting and heart-warming to read the impact our volunteers and our teams have achieved throughout the COVID pandemic.  Our volunteers have maintained critical relationships with children, young people, adults, and families and we are so grateful for all of their time and dedication.

Welcome to the Autumn edition of Aberlour news! Find out how our new service has finally allowed Ashley to come back home, how we are providing support to families for the long haul and why Elizabeth told us that Aberlour saved her family.

20-21 An Extraordinary Year

This has been a year like no other. Read how together we made a difference to children, young people and families across Scotland in unprecedented times in our Annual Review 20-21.