Hannah Martin

In our work with Quarriers, Epilepsy Scotland and Epilepsy Connections, we’ve been talking with people who are living with epilepsy. We’ve heard how it impacts them, and what they need to support them to manage the condition. Epilepsy is a condition that impacts around 58 000 people in Scotland. It is one of the most common neurological conditions, and is lifelong.

If you’re familiar with Iriss work, you will know that we have had projects running for a year in three thematic areas - Space to Practice, Day-to-Day Dignity and Foundations for Change. Last week, we ran an Ideas Lab event, that brought together new organisations and teams that had submitted an expression of interest in working with us as partners in 2024/2025.

Throughout our work with Passion4Fusion, we’ve been incredibly motivated by the optimism and drive of our partners. They are knowledgeable, dedicated and passionate about supporting the children and families they work with.

Where you find P4F, you find enthusiasm. 

Earlier this week, we launched our toolkit for social work and social care practitioners, ‘Working with African Diaspora Families.’ We have been working in partnership with Passion4Fusion since April 2023, to imagine and create this resource. Along the design process, we’ve had invaluable input from social workers, to inform and shape the resource.

Since April last year, we have been working with a collaborative of organisations supporting people in Scotland with epilepsy; Quarriers, Epilepsy Connections and Epilepsy Scotland. With 2023 just behind us, we’re reflecting on what we’ve learned through our work building a tool to inform and support commissioners about the need for social support for people with epilepsy. 

Abbotsford Care partnered with Iriss to explore how their paperwork can prompt and record the dignity that care home staff provide everyday to their residents. They recognise that paperwork is better at recording the quantifiable elements of support; and doesn’t always capture the deeper ways that staff support residents, and the team at Abbotsford want to consider this challenge.

At Iriss, we’ve been partnered with Passion4Fusion for nearly six months, working on the creation of a toolkit to equip the social care workforce with the understanding they need to best support black and ethnic minority families. Working with predominantly African diaspora in Edinburgh and the Lothians, this is an area that P4F know inside and out.