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Colourful illustration of path winding across rolling hills

Bridging distance

Tuesday 8 July 2025

Disabilities – Pathways and Perspectives is a resource. The hope is that it becomes a prompt for reflection, in and out of work, whatever each reader’s responsibilities, beliefs, uncertainties, stage…

Standalone projects

A group of maps on a table

Maps and mountains

Monday 30 June 2025
The map is not the territory The last time I tried to climb a mountain I failed spectacularly. It was a warm August at the foot of the mountain, and a freezing January higher up.
Inside Iriss
A squirrel looking curious from behind a tree

Curiouser and curiouser

Tuesday 24 June 2025
Iriss is embarking on a new project to find out all about professional curiosity across the public protection agenda - and we’re looking for interested folk to help us out.
Projects
picture of person writing with a pen

Writing with, not about

Thursday 19 June 2025
A group of practitioners from the Transitions Team in Scottish Borders Council asked us if we could support them with a shift in writing culture.
Projects
Illustration of crowd of colourful figures

Wisdom in the difference 

Tuesday 17 June 2025
Over the past few weeks, we have had the chance to listen to practitioners from across Scotland reflect on safeguarding and child protection…
Big picture
This must be the place in neon writing

Call for Learning Partners

Tuesday 17 June 2025
We’re looking for third sector learning partners in using a new Iriss resource developed to supp
Voices and visions: collaborating for improved third sector social work student placements
Write right about me

Write Right About Me

Thursday 5 June 2025
Iriss are so pleased to share this guest piece, written by Mim Smith from Aberdeen City Council and Theresa Lillis from the Open University; sharing their work in supporting professionals to write
Big picture
Illustration of head made up of household items

Effects of Clutter or Hoarding on people affected by it

Thursday 15 May 2025
One current estimate is that 2-5% of the population has issues with clutter/hoarding, but this is hard to estimate as there is so much shame for someone admitting they have a clutter or hoarding is
Supporting people who hoard
Groups of people discussing the resource for TSOs

This Must Be The Place(ment)

Thursday 8 May 2025
After working on it for a year, our resource to support social work placements in third sector organisations is here!
Voices and visions: collaborating for improved third sector social work student placements
Light up sign reading 'FOCUS'

Finding a Focus

Monday 14 April 2025
Project planning is full of decisions to make. What partners do you need? What will success look like? How responsive can your plan be to new information?
Voices and visions: collaborating for improved third sector social work student placements
a leaf at the end of a branch in the sun

Practitioner Research with NQSWs: Inspiration from practice

Wednesday 2 April 2025
Recently we were invited back to North Ayrshire to meet some Newly Qualified Social Workers (NQSWs) and talk about practitioner research. This was a follow up to a session we ran in 2023 where we…
Reimagining social work practice
an ampitheatre audience

Launching a new resource for third sector social work student placements

Tuesday 18 March 2025
We’ve been quiet on the Voices & Visions blog updates recently while we’ve been working away on developing our new resource to support social work student placements in third sector organisations…
Voices and visions: collaborating for improved third sector social work student placements
a historic bridge in verdant settings reflected in the rivers surface

Reflections on the MHO Conference 2025

Tuesday 4 March 2025
On February 25th, we had the opportunity to attend and present at the Mental Health Officer (MHO) Conference, Reigniting Our Resilience: Informing and Future-Proofing the MHO Workforce, held at The
Big picture
an external view ofedinburgh flats

An update from the Hoarding Taskforce

Monday 17 February 2025
2025 has started at a fast pace with Hoarding Taskforce activities.
Supporting people who hoard
a white board behind a meeting table with chairs and stationary

What did we learn from our Learning Week?

Wednesday 12 February 2025
Learning Week is over at Iriss now.
Inside Iriss
an acoustic guitar

Evaluation - Invisible String

Tuesday 11 February 2025
As part of our learning week we had a day where we focused on our internal evaluation process, as well as how we can better use the data we already collect to show our impact to partners and…
Inside Iriss
a train crosses a river reflected in the waters seurface

Exploring the intersections of our work 

Tuesday 11 February 2025
In a fast-paced environment, the instinct can be to act quickly, but without a shared understanding of where we have been, we could move in directions that are not fully aligned or as effective as
Inside Iriss
bench

Making Time 

Tuesday 11 February 2025
As a Development Lead with Iriss, I spend a lot of time thinking about time.
Inside Iriss
danelion head

Ethical Commissioning Support for Commissioners Group

Wednesday 27 November 2024
Following the recommendations by the Independent Review of Adult Social Care, the Scottish Government
Ethical commissioning programme 2025–26
Image of a sparkler

Narratives, problem rehearsal and the implementation gap

Monday 25 November 2024
The social services and social care system is complex and we face enormous challenges including a lack of resources, squeezed budgets, burnt-out staff and moral distress.
Big picture
from acorns to trees

Developing peer support: from acorns to trees

Thursday 21 November 2024
Last year we worked with Future Pathways, Voices for a Better Future and the Scottish Recovery Network to look at how we might co-design peer support for care survivors supported by Future Pathways
Co-designing peer support: future pathways
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