News
Welcome to our news section. Our latest news will appear here.
First podcast published
Today we’re delighted to launch our first podcast. In this series, we look at the origins of community mediation in Scotland and the Scottish Community Mediation Centre and explore how both have evolved over the past few decades.
Speaking with Ian McDonough, our lead trainer and the person who created the Centre and oversaw its development for many years
2024 and beyond
2024 and beyond
Often this time of year is seen as providing a moment for reflection as well as a time to plan ahead, and this year is no exception. However, for us at the Scottish Community Mediation Centre some things are new this year. 2024 saw the launch of our new website, new LinkedIn and BlueSky accounts and a fresh perspective on the courses we offer. Feedback from learners makes our job so worthwhile and reinforces our belief that what we deliver in training matters to people.
“Ask what is strong, not what is wrong”
“Ask what is strong, not what is wrong”
A couple of Fridays ago I was lucky enough to attend the Restorative Justice Council annual conference in Cardiff. There I heard from experienced restorative practitioners across different sectors talk about changing the culture within their organisations from a punitive to a restorative one. A single phrase in particular stood out for me – “ask what is strong not what is wrong”. This has stayed with me since. It echoes my experience of delivering Outcomes Star™ training and of hearing the experiences of Sacro workers where they help those they support build on their strengths. It also has another meaning for me.
Being Impartial: A blog
One of the key principles of being a mediator is being impartial. This is something that in our training we spend some time exploring. We also provide participants time to practise being impartial. So why is it so important and perhaps so difficult to achieve?
Service Spotlight - September 2024: Scottish Borders Mediation Service
The population of Scottish Borders is 115,240. There are 5 localities in the Scottish Borders: Eildon, Tweeddale, Berwickshire, Cheviot, Teviot & Liddesdale.
Hawick and Galashiels are the most populated towns with 13,586 and 12,302 people respectively, followed by Peebles (8,581), Kelso (6,861) and Selkirk (5,458).
Being a rural community, the obvious challenge for maintaining services is the geographical spread of the area.
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