News
Welcome to our news section. Our latest news will appear here.
Mediation training: six years on
It’s now just a month until our next Mediation Skills course. Perhaps it is a suitable moment to reflect on how far we have come since the pandemic. When spring 2020 arrived, we had to pause all training and rethink our delivery. Up until that time we had only ever delivered training in person, in venues across Scotland, from Lerwick to Dumfries. The pandemic made us think afresh and – somewhat reluctantly – move to online training. At the time we chose Zoom as the best platform for training and, I would argue, in 2026 that platform is still the most reliable and efficient.
Preparation, as is the case with any training, was key. We ran test sessions and train the trainer sessions before we could feel confident of offering a simple and stable space for learners to practice new skills and gain fresh learning. I introduced short Zoom introductions for each learner, covering what the training experience would include, how we would keep the technology ‘in the background’ and how we would deal with any technical issues on the day. This introduction offers a reassuring conversation and an opportunity for learners to ask any questions. It is something we do to this day, providing that check-in before day one. In the early days it also acted as a way to check that their Wi-Fi worked and the laptop operated seamlessly, something we almost take for granted in 2026!
Spotlight on our Service: Renfrewshire Council
Renfrewshire Council is situated in Central Scotland. Our office is based in Paisley town centre. The population of the area is 192,200.
Our mediation service has been running since 2002. The service comes under the Community Safety Team. We also have Anti-Social Investigators within the service although mediation is independent of this.
When the service was in its early years there were six members of staff, but over time this has been reduced to two. Some time ago two members of our team staff were seconded to the Homeless Service to carry out Mediation with Young People.
Summer Newsletter now out
With a mini-heatwave due to reach our shores in the next few days, it seems somehow appropriate that we rollout our Summer 2026 Newsletter. In it you can read about some of our recent training of staff within the farming and housing sectors, together with a couple of blogs. Information about future workshops and training can be found here.
Summer 2026 Newsletter from the Scottish Community Mediation Centre
SFHA: A year on
It is now over a year since we joined the Scottish Federation of Housing Associations (SFHA) as an Associate Member. Hearing the work that staff at housing associations across Scotland do to ensure safe, warm and affordable homes are provided for so many, whilst handling conflicts between tenants, is something that has coloured our work in the past few years. We have met staff from over 18 housing associations and cooperatives since 2020 and becoming a member of SFHA felt the natural next step. Both to engage more with that sector, but also to learn more.
A stupid question?
Image by Benzoic on Magnifi.com
During our mediation training course, I usually find myself saying “there’s no such thing as a stupid question”. The aim is to provide a safe space for questions and thoughts, helping people work through the complexities of mediation and build their understanding. For me, however, it has a deeper resonance.
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