Guest blog by Martin Crewe, Director of Barnardo’s Scotland
This morning I was lucky enough to attend the launch of Scotland’s Fire Starter Festival: ‘a series of collaborative learning events, illuminating creative, disruptive and innovative ways in which we can all transform ourselves, our organisations and the wider system’. Although still a relatively new event, it has grown rapidly in content and profile. This was underlined when Nicola Sturgeon gave the opening speech, emphasising high quality public services and community engagement.
The event then took an unusual turn as we were invited to put on headphones for the ‘silent launch’. As someone who has watched W1A, my first thoughts were of the creative PR agency Perfect Curve. However, my anxiety was unjustified and it was a refreshingly different experience to listen to inspiring speakers whilst wandering around the exhibits of Kelvingrove museum.
We are lucky to have passionate leaders like Kate Polson, chief executive of Rock Trust. She spoke of the aim to end youth homelessness in Scotland within the next 10 years – not just a vague ambition but a concrete plan to do herself out of a job. Other contributors spoke movingly of their own struggles to overcome adversity and their subsequent determination to give something back so today’s young people have better chances than they did.
The final thought-provoking input was from Fiona Duncan, CEO of Corra Foundation and independent chair of the Care Review. She considered how the perception of a ‘fire starter’ shifts with age. A middle aged fire starter is someone who challenges the system and hasn’t lost the spark of youth but a young fire starter might simply be viewed as idealistic or abrasive.
Fiona talked explicitly about power and how we need to challenge the established rules, systems and language if we really want to shift the balance in favour of the people we are aiming to support. In the Year of Young People these are powerful messages for all of us to continually challenge ourselves if we are to truly transform the lives of Scotland’s most disadvantaged children.
This blog was originally published on Barnardo’s website.