• Ewen’s Room - The Building Natural Capital Project will engage young people in Lochaber with the mental well-being benefits of the outdoors through workshops and youth-led research, and will be working with Dr Sara Bradley and Dr Steve Taylor.

• Lucky2BHere - Wellbeing of ‘survivors’ and ‘rescuers’ following Out Of Hospital Cardiac Arrest in the Highlands & Islands will help those who have experienced out of hospital cardiac arrest with post-event wellbeing in the Highlands and Islands. They will use action research to find ways to help those in ways they need the most with the Resuscitation Research Group (University of Edinburgh)

• Green Tree Arts Studio - Arts & Nature Connections will explore the creative experience of engaging nature and art within changing landscapes - including digital, outdoor and indoor environments. To look at ways to enhance and engage wellbeing in the community of Moray “This project is a real opportunity to build on our existing understanding of how creativity and wellbeing can benefit our communities. We are delighted to be able to continue working with a group of Carers based in Moray who have shown such a genuine interest and commitment to building on their experiences further with a focus on the natural world and how this can inspire and influence both our engagement in creativity but also enhance our wellbeing”

• Stronsay Development Trust - North Isles Natural Wellbeing Project will identify resources in the natural environment which support the mental wellbeing of community members individually and together as a whole with researcher Andy Harrod.

• LEAP Sports Scotland - OUT and About in the Highlands is a new community project to help improve the health, wellbeing and social connectedness of LGBTIQ+ people in the Highlands through encouraging physical activity and sport participation; working directly with LGBTIQ+ communities and with local sport and physical activity providers. “This is an exciting opportunity for LEAP Sports and we are looking forward to working more closely with LGBTIQ+ community members in Highlands, and to working collaboratively to explore ways of working that improve our wellbeing.”

• Lyth Arts Centre - Out of the Blue will develop an arts and blue health toolkit that uses culture and creativity to encourage our communities to access their incredible blue spaces to support mental wellbeing with Jamie Marshall (Edinburgh Napier University) and Dr Ania Zubala (UHI). “We're excited about the opportunity to work with world-class researchers and our Caithness community to develop new and creative, place-based methods for exploring mental wellbeing.”

• OPEN Project, Voluntary Action Scotland - OPEN Space Project is a youth-led community action research project to develop ideas for a safe space for young people, where they can come together, feel a sense of belonging and ownership, supported by researchers who will offer expertise, knowledge and training. They will be working with Dr Amy Calder (Youth Link Scotland) and Dr Jennifer Russell. “The exciting part of the OPEN “Space” initiative is that young people will lead and undertake the research, planning and project delivery, supported by the researchers” - Una Murray

• Scottish Ballet will be delivering Elevate™, a dance programme for people living with MS in Orkney, in partnership with MS Society Orkney, The Pickaquoy Centre, NHS Orkney with research led by Dr Bethany Whiteside (The Royal Conservatoire Scotland). ‘We can’t wait to take part in Scottish Ballet’s Elevate classes again, the live music lifted everyone to another level. Whilst MS may connect us, it doesn’t define us. This will be a chance for many of us to try out an activity that we might not normally be able to due to our location’. – MS Society, Orkney

• North Lands Creative - Introducing the Young People & Fire project, at Scotland’s national glass making centre, North Lands Creative, empowering and connecting young people in Caithness through the healing practice of glassblowing. “Glassblowing is an exciting artform requiring heat, teamwork, focus and motivation that yield amazing results. We are very excited to be supported by The Ideas Fund to co-design a project with young people and offer glassblowing instruction to help them work through challenges, an opportunity to pour their feelings into a piece and to learn from and connect with one another”

• Individual, Isle of Gigha - Our Gigha and Me is an exciting new project to encourage children and families to explore their Island; discovering the benefits of connecting with the outdoors and with self; offering a safe space to nurture and develop whilst promoting opportunities to support health and wellbeing. “​So grateful to the Idea's fund for supporting this grassroots project and very excited to get started, engaging with children, their families and the wider community to maximise the potential of what Gigha has to offer, supporting positive health and wellbeing.” - Maggie Wilkinson

• Aultbea Community Council - Aultbea Stories is a coastal audio trail linking Isle View Care Home to Aultbea Nursery, and Bualnaluib Primary School. Populated by stories created through inclusive nature-based wellbeing activities that celebrate our crofting coastal community landscape. They will be working with GALE, Wester Ross UNESCO Biosphere, and Zoe Russell (University of Stirling) “We're really excited to see what develops in collaboration with our researcher, this is something totally new for us. The anticipation is like opening a beautiful new notebook with smooth empty pages, we can't wait to put pen to paper and let our stories flow!”

• Individual – Great Glen Cattle Ranch - A Space to Be will explore what it means to provide a safe, accessible, outdoor natural woodland space and opportunities for outdoor activities for a community of young people with severe and complex needs, and their families, to support their mental wellbeing in partnership with Dr Alexia Barrable & Dr Daryll Archibald from the University of Dundee.

• Moray Wellbeing Hub - Supporting Moray voices with lived experience of perinatal and infant mental ill-health, and engaging them in action research, project ‘What works in peer support and strength-based social modelling for positive perinatal and infant mental health in Moray.’ is a hosted by Moray Wellbeing Hub CIC with Partners Children 1st and UHI Rural Health. “We know peer-support is key around pregnancy, birth and early life. This project is great chance to highlight what is working well in Moray and grow ideas of how it can be better by empowering peers.”

• We are also pleased to be working with Comann Eachdraidh Uibhist a Tuath (CEUT, North Uist Historical Society) and HighAbility Voices of Inclusion as part of our Incubator model to further develop their ideas..

Shared Learning and Community of Practice

We are currently working with the current portfolio on our monthly Community of Practice meetings inviting project leads, researchers, partners and participants themselves to share learning as we go along. We are keen to share this wider with stakeholders and others interested in wellbeing, public engagement with research and genuinely community-led projects, and deciding with our portfolio how best to do this. This may include public discussions, and links with our Culture & Wellbeing Community Network Scotland sessions. If you would like to be updated about this and wider work, you can join our mailing list here.

Round 1 Resources

Science Ceilidh also led on the design and development of a series of webinars with linked reflection sheets for community-researcher partnerships. These included conversations with community members and researchers and reflection tools which were designed to be useful for anyone interested in these types of equitable partnerships, not just for The Ideas Fund. You can access these resources here and you may be interested in our wider resources.