Some of you from the ASP Community will know Jamie Aarons. Previously she was the Senior Officer for Adult Support and Protection in Renfrewshire and she subsequently became the Professional Social Work Adviser for Adult Support and Protection within the Mental Wellbeing and Social Care Directorate of the Scottish Government.
When Jamie told me she had a period of extended leave coming up, I imagined she was looking forward to a long beach holiday or visiting family. Oh, no – Jamie had set her sights on trying to break the record for climbing all 282 Scottish mountains which meet the criteria (over 3,000 feet) and are known collectively as the Munros. Turns out that modest Jamie, is an ultra-runner and does this sort of thing for fun! Jamie completed the challenge last week and finished it in 31 days 10 hours and 27 minutes, breaking the previous record by more than 12 hours. She also ran, cycled and kayaked between the Munros. The Challenge saw Jamie climbing the equivalent of scaling Mount Everest 16 times!
As well as breaking the record, Jamie has raised £14,000 for World Bicycle Relief. Read more about her totally awe inspiring journey here
https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-66027099
Well done, Jamie!
Towards Trauma Responsive Practice
Last week I joined a cohort of colleagues from various different organisations across the Sectors to experience the Understanding and Working with Complex Trauma training pilot, being delivered by colleagues from The Social Work Implementation and Learning Team within the Office of the Chief Social Work Adviser of Scottish Government
The training is intended to be delivered to the Social Work Workforce and the pilot provided the opportunity of colleagues from a strategic perspective, to experience the training and comment on the content and delivery. I think the delivery of this training will be a really interesting and exciting way forward for the Social Work Workforce, providing both theory and practical applications to support safety and stabilisation for those people they come into contact with and who have experienced trauma. Those who will undertake the course will have the opportunity to develop a range of skills, including supporting people to move towards safe coping, identifying and managing emotions, supporting connections for safe and healthy relationships and developing a compassionate sense of self.
As the Training moves towards becoming ready to being facilitated directly with the Social Work Workforce, I hope I will be able to provide an update on this work and how it is being received – watch this space!
Criminal exploitation: practitioner guidance
The new Criminal Exploitation Practitioner Guidance Document was published on 19th June 2023. This document aims to maximise Scotland’s coordinated and joined up response to all exploited individuals, making it easier for practitioners across Scotland to support children, young people and vulnerable adults who have been victims of exploitation.
It was really encouraging to see the explicit links to Adult Support and Protection highlighted within this document – not something that is always as joined up as it could be in relation to policy and guidance. The Guidance directs readers to relevant areas of the ASP Code of Practice and provided links to the Act Against Harm Website: https://www.actagainstharm.org This is helpful, as this website includes ASP contacts for all the Local Authority areas across Scotland, should an ASP referral be required.
Read the Guidance here: https://www.gov.scot/publications/practitioner-guidance-criminal-exploitation/