URSPACE URSPACE
ISSUE 7
THE THE FESTIVE FESTIVE ISSUE ISSUE
TRANSFORMING TRANSFORMING LIVES UPDATES LIVES UPDATES YOUR EXPERIENCES YOUR EXPERIENCES IN EDUCATION IN EDUCATION COMPETITIONS COMPETITIONS AND MORE... AND MORE...
CHILDREN, YOUNG PEOPLE, PARENTS, CARERS, FRIENDS AND WORKERS –FEEL FREE TO HAVE A LOOK INSIDE THIS MAGAZINE
includem.org
DECEMBER 2025
WINTER SUPPORT
Click on the logos to access their websites!
You can contact our helpline on the following: 0808 800 0409 includem.org The Children and Young People’s commissioner makes sure that children and young people have their rights respected. They can give you information about your rights, and let you know who might be able to help.
LGBT Youth Scotland is there to provide support to young LGBTQ+ across Scotland. lgbtyouth.org.uk
cyps.org.uk
YoungMinds is a website that has information about mental health. It also has helpful tips for supporting friends and dealing with emotions. youngminds.org.uk
Childline is a free and confidential helpline. You can speak to a trained counsellor via the phone, by email, or through 1-2-1 chat.
YoungScot is the go to place for information for young people in Scotland, including advice on Exam stress, travel and more. young.scot
Phone: 0800 1111 childline.org.uk
Brook.org.uk has a lot of useful information about sexual health & wellbeing.
Offers confidential, personalised support for young people aged 12-19 living in Glasgow City. nhsggc.scot
Our Fife has details of Cost of Living support available throughout Fife including foodbanks, warm spaces and more. our.fife.scot
Provides information and support for young people who are sitting their exams. sqa.org.uk
In this In this Issue Issue What We’ve Been Up To... Education Update Talking about Youth Justice Scottish Parliament Elections 2026 Festive Celebrations
Welcome to Issue 7 of URSPACE! I was delighted to be asked to write the introduction for this edition telling you more about our work in education, an issue close to the hearts of all includem staff in our support to young people and families.
Competition includem Recommends
Get in Get in Touch Touch There are There are different different ways ways to get to get in in touch touch with with us: us: You can You can click click here here to to tell us tell us what what you you think think Tell your Tell your includem includem worker what worker what your your thoughts are thoughts are on on any any of of the items the items in in this this issue. issue.
We know how important education is; practical skills, building relationships, peer support and academic learning all provide positive opportunities. I am representing includem at the Scottish Government working group who are refreshing the guidance on exclusions. What has been great to see is how the input from this working group also impacts on work across other Scottish Government working groups under the umbrella of Education. Armed with input from your workers across teams I have been able to share what we know from what you have told us and link this back into our Transforming lives campaign, amplifying your voices through education briefings. This joined up working allows us to reach far and wide, sharing information with decision-makers and challenging them to do better. Your education matters! In the words of B.B King 'The beautiful thing about learning is no one can take it away from you'.
Amanda You can read past editions of URSPACE here!
Interim Service Manager
URSPACE is created and edited by Lisa Weylandt and Martyn Walker, includem, 2025
MEET THE TEAM
Support Services Our Support Services team are like Santa’s Elves, always cheery, always helping and always bringing their own bit of magic. They help every team at includem and cover everything from health and safety, answering calls to our helpline, keeping our offices looking great and lots, lots, lots more. If you visit one of our offices in Glasgow, Fife, Dundee or Stirling you may have spotted them. Say hello to them the next time you visit!
🙂
Hi, My name is Quddsia, although I'm mostly knowns as Q and I'm the Team Leader for Support Services, I am based in the Glasgow Office and sometimes travel to the Fife and Stirling offices. My favourite festive tradition is spending time with family and eating nice food together.
I am Louise, I am based in the Fife office and live locally in Glenrothes. My hobbies and interest are the gym and some would say holidays abroad . My favourite festive tradition is having matching pjs with my mum! this year is extra special as it’s my nieces first Christmas
😊 ❤
Hi my name is Gary, I am part of the Support Services team. I am based in our Fife office but travel to our Stirling office on a weekly basis. My hobbies are football, golf & MMA. My favourite festive tradition is eating so much food on Christmas day!!
Hello, I am Jade and am based at the includem Head Office in Glasgow. My favourite things to do are playing bass guitar, drawing, painting and gaming. My favourite festive tradition is spending time with family.
What We’ve Been Up To... Scottish Parliament Visit In November, one half of the Comms & Public Affairs Team spent three days in the Scottish Parliament hosting an exhibition stall about includem. Our stall was located in the Members Lobby which all MSPs need to walk through to get to the Debating Chamber in the Scottish Parliament. The purpose of our exhibition was to tell more MSPs about the work includem is doing across Scotland to support children, young people, and families. In total, we spoke to 27 MSPs. We were especially happy to get a chance to speak to: Natalie Don-Innes MSP, the Minister for Children, Young People, and Keeping the Promise. Marie McAllan MSP, Cabinet Secretary for Housing. We also asked MSPs to vote for what they think the biggest issue facing children and young people in Scotland is. Most MSPs voted for Poverty. As we move towards the Scottish Parliament election we will be keeping a close eye on what the different parties are saying about tackling poverty in their manifestos.
Our Day of action This year the UK Government announced their Budget on 26th November. The UK Government Budget is an important day because it tells us how much money is going to be spent on different policies and programmes, and also how much money the Scottish Government will have available to spend in the next year. On Budget Day includem had a ‘Day of Action’ across our social media platforms. We shared the reports and briefings we have written this year, informed by your voices and experiences, about housing, education, and poverty. Our message to the UK and Scottish Government was that the time for investment and support is now!
NEW YOUNG PERSON’S ROOMs Over the past few months includem workers have been putting a lot of effort into decorating and organising the young person’s rooms in the Glasgow and Fife office. The Glasgow Young Person’s room were refreshed with support from a company called Cummins who donated materials and some of their time to help with the work. In Fife, Gillian Wood, a Support Worker from the Keeping Connected Team took the lead on creating three rooms for young people to enjoy with their worker. Have a look at our Instagram or Facebook profile to see the rooms!
Art COMPETITION:
THe Missing Piece Could your Art Be on our Official Jigsaw? Includem is working on an exciting new challenge called ‘The Missing Piece’... and we need YOUR help! We will be working with different companies and other organisations to challenge their teams to compete against each other to see who can complete a 100 jigsaw piece puzzle the quickest with all money raised going to includem’s fundraising appeal. And this is where you come in. We want the jigsaw to be designed by YOU! Your artwork can be about anything that makes you smile. You can draw, paint or any other style you want to do. What we do ask, is that your design is completed using the template like the one below - ask your includem worker for one. Oh and did we mention the artist of the winning design will win a prize? Once you’ve finished your design, ask your worker to drop it off to the Comms Team at our Glasgow or Fife Offices.
Winner gets a £50 voucher CLOSES 05.01.26
Transforming Lives
Whole Family Support Campaign
EDUCATION BRIEFINGS PART ONE We have heard from your workers, and from some of you, that it can be difficult to get enough support at school. Sometimes there is support available but it isn’t the right support. To find out more about this, we met with some of the includem teams and asked them about Additional Support for Learning. We heard that: there isn’t enough support in mainstream schools at the moment and that can make it difficult to enjoy school and to learn it can be tricky to get into specialist schools because there aren’t a lot of places available teachers are often trying their best but a lot is being asked of them it can be stressful for parents and carers to try and get the right support for you in schools. This is because there are lots of people to speak to and forms to fill out. school subjects don’t work for everyone. There should be more options available including practical courses and apprenticeships. The briefing makes recommendations about what should change and we are sharing this with the Scottish Government, schools, and Local Authorities.
Transforming Lives
Whole Family Support Campaign
EDUCATION BRIEFINGS PART TWO The second briefing we published on education is about part-time timetables and flexible learning. Part-time timetables and flexible learning are a great way to make education easier to manage for some children and young people. We have been concerned that in some cases children and young people are on a parttime timetable because the schools are not putting enough support in place to make sure a child or young person can be in school full-time. We are also concerned that for some children and young people there is no proper planning around how and when their hours will be increased. In some cases we heard that schools use part-time timetables to reduce the time children and young people spend in school when they find their behaviour difficult to manage. At the moment, schools don’t keep a record of how many children and young people are on part-time timetables or how often changes are made to flexible learning depending on the needs of the child or young person. This means the Scottish Government and Local Authorities don’t really know the how, when, and why of part-time timetables. Together with your includem workers we have been trying to collect more information about flexible learning and part-time timetables to get a clearer picture of what this looks like across Scotland. Based on this information we have made some recommendations to the Scottish Government and Local Authorities. We’ll be launching this briefing in the New Year so keep your eyes on our social media.
Transforming Lives
Whole Family Support Campaign
YOUTH JUSTICE PROJECT As part of our Transforming Lives Whole Family Support campaign we have written a report about your experiences of housing, and written briefings about Additional Support for Learning and Part-time timetables. Our next project is focused on Youth Justice. We want to know what challenges children and young people in conflict with the law, or at risk of being in conflict with the law are facing. Every time we do one of these projects it’s because we want those who make decisions, like the Scottish Government, to hear about your experiences and what needs to change to make life in Scotland better for you. This means that any report or briefing we write will include recommendations either for the Scottish Government, Social Work Departments, the Police, Local Authorities, or anyone else who has the power to make changes to the things that affect you. If you are a young person with experiences of the justice system and there is something you want to share with us - get in touch!
SCOTLAND
DECIDES
2026
YOUR VOICE. YOUR ISSUES. YOUR VOTE!
Next year, people all across Scotland
As well as our Transforming Lives campaigns
aged 16+ will get a chance to vote in the
we have also asked you to share your views
Scottish Parliament election.
when we have responded to Scottish Government consultations for example on the
In the last issue of URSPACE we told you a
Future of Foster Care and the Children’s
little more about the election and why it’s
Hearings System.
important to vote for the people and party that you think will make the changes you
Through all of this work we already have a list
want to see in Scotland.
of things that we want to see from the new Scottish Government but it’s important that you
As parties and MSPs are preparing for the
have your voice heard!
election next year it’s more important than ever that we know what you think needs
If there is one thing you would ask the next
priority attention from a new Scottish
Scottish Government to do urgently when they
Government.
come into power in May, let us know. It can be about anything that affects your life. Click on
Our Transforming Lives Whole Family
the button below to let us know or you can send
Support Campaign this year has focused
us a message on Instagram or TikTok and tell us
on Housing, Education and Youth Justice.
what should be on our Action Plan for the Scottish Government.
Last year, our Transforming Lives campaign heard your views about Mental Health, Poverty, and Children’s Rights as well as Education and Youth Justice.
Radha’s Little Helpers Help Give the Gift of Christmas This Year
Radha - our festive season mascot - is back for 2025! Radha has been busy asking businesses, our partners, and those who follow our work to donate to our Young Person’s Fund Winter Appeal. This is part of the work we are doing to ensure that for one day, the only difficult choice families we support need to make is how to enjoy Christmas Day together. On behalf of includem, Radha would like to say thank you to everyone who has donated to our campaign so far! Click on Radha if you’d like to make a small donation to the Winter Fund.
CALA West has chosen includem as their Festive Fundraising Partner for 2025, raising funds and collecting toys to support families across Scotland this holiday season. Our Director of Operations, Lucy, and Justine from our Glasgow Intensive Family Support Service visited CALA West to collect an incredible donation of gifts already!
We received a generous donation of 100 selection boxes from the Goldenfriendships club in Dalmuir.
We received an amazing haul from Stirling Observer.
Scran Scran Each edition we’ll bring you a new recipe for you to try and make either with your worker, friends or your family. This recipe was given to us by a young person supported by includem. Once you’ve created your masterpiece - snap a photo and ask your worker to send to the comms team! We’ll feature some of the best pictures in our next edition! Have a recipe to share? Click on the ‘SUBMIT’ button.
SNowman Treats
SNowman Treats 1. Melt
What You Need What You Need 200g Rice Krispies
(or any own-branded puffed rice)
200g Marshmallows 50g of margarine
In a large pan, melt the butter over low heat. Add the marshmallows and stir until smooth and sticky. 2. Mix Remove from heat. Stir in the Rice Krispies until fully coated. 3. Shape Let the mixture cool for 2–3 minutes so little hands can safely touch it.
Chocolate chips/raisins (a handful for eyes and buttons)
Smarties or Jelly Tots (for noses)
OPTional! OPTional! icing sugar for dusting! Serves 4-6 15 minutes - no baking required.
Rub hands with a tiny bit of oil or water. Roll into two different-sized balls to make snowmen (one big, one small). 4. Decorate Chocolate chips/raisins → eyes & buttons Smarties/jelly tots → noses A dusting of icing sugar → “snow” You can create scarf shapes with icing or sweets if you have any extras. 5. Set Place on a tray and leave to firm up for 10 minutes.
includem recommends includem recommends Movies Movies and TV and TV The Snowman (U) Channel 4
Books
songs
Children Friendly
Wonderful Christmastime Paul McCartney
The Snowman Raymond Briggs
Wham
A Muppets Christmas Carol (U)
The Chistmasaurus
Disney+
Tom Fletcher
The Polar Express (U) Sky Cinema
A Boy Called Christmas
Home alone (PG) Disney+
Elf (PG)
Matt Haig
Teenagers & Young Adults Dash & Lilly’s Book of Dares Rachel Cohn & David Levithan
Sky Cinema
The Nightmare Before Christmas (PG) Disney+
Klaus (PG) Netflix
The Holiday(12A) Prime
Last Christmas
The Penguin Book of Christmas Stories
Jinglebell Rock Bobby Helms
Bad Guy Billie Eilish
Feliz Navidad Jose Feliciano
I wish it was Christmas Today Julian Casablancas
Christmas is Coming Charlie Brown
Various
Stay Another Day
The Afterlife of Holly Chase
East 17
Cynthia Hand
Once Upon a Christmas Song Geraldine McQueen
Gremlins (15)
Let it Snow
Rental
John Green, Maureen Johnson & Lauren Myracle
It Feels Like Christmas Fall Out Boy
Die Hard (15) Disney+
Click me! Click here to access
Jigsaw Jams
A look back at 2025
Natalie Don-Innes MSP, Minister for Children and Young People and The Promise visits includem Glasgow
We held a stall at the Scottish Parliament where we spoke with MSPs including the new Cabinet Secertary for Housing. We attended a roundtable on child poverty organised by Kirsty Blackman MP (Aberdeen North)
Teams took part in the Glasgow, Aberdeen and Dundee Kiltwalk raising funds for includem.
With support from Cummins Plc, we were able to refresh our Glasgow Young Person’s rooms!
We met with MPs in London amplifying your voice on issues that matter to you.
We celebrated 25 years of includem with a parliamentary reception in the Scotland Office in Westminster.
Everyone at includem came together to celebrate our 25th birthday in Perth.
see you in 2026!
A charity A charity registered registered in in Scotland, Scotland, number number SCO30233 SCO30233 || Company Company registration registration number: number: 207985 207985
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