Outside the Box

Working Towards is a new community development project run by Outside the Box. It will support people across Scotland to develop new services that are led by the people who are going to be using the services. This will let people have more choices in the types of services they get, and let them have more choice in their lives.

Background

The project is part-funded through the Big Lottery Fund's Supporting 21st Century Life programme. The main development project will run for 4 years, from 2008 to 2012. But the new services that get started and the back-up support will continue beyond that. Outside the Box will give community development support to people and groups who have got ideas about what services would help them or people like them.

• You might want to check out what the need is and what other people think of your idea.
• You can find out if other people have done this – to learn from their experience.
• We can help you look at ways to get your idea started and to keep it going.

As well as support from our development workers, the project will be supporting a pool of mentors – people who have done this sort of thing before and are wiling to stand alongside groups and give them advice and encouragement.

There will be ideas and good practice advice for staff in organisations like local authorities and the NHS, and for other organisations that already provide services.

You might know of people who could take on this sort of activity if they had some support and practical help.

The project will include good practice examples and advice on how to work alongside user-led services, especially in the early stages, and on how this can fit with the wider policies aimed at giving people more choice and control around the services they use.

What can you do to help us?

This project is built around partnerships with lots of people, groups and networks. These are some of the ways people will be helping us to support the new user-led services and to raise awareness about what this approach can achieve.

• Tell other people about the project.
• Tell us of examples of user-led services that you know about.
• Work with us to hold events for the people you know or get information out to them.
• Tell us about your ideas for new services or the gaps you see in the existing services.
• Keep in touch with us.