A Year Like No Other – C-Change Annual Report 2020-2021

Introduction
By Sam Smith, CEO
This years annual report is called ‘A Year Like No Other’.
We thought it was important to acknowledge that the year 2020/2021 was nothing like any
other we have experienced. The impact of a global pandemic was not something we had
planned for. We had to adapt and change as circumstances evolved rapidly around us.
And so, in recognition that it was not business as usual, we have produced a not business as
usual annual report. Instead this report takes the form of reflection, appreciation and offer of
thanks for all those who helped us make it through the most difficult time.
We offer thanks to the people we work for and their families. We also give thanks and show
appreciation for colleagues who ensured that people continued to stay healthy, safe and well
and lead good lives, despite the circumstances. We acknowledge that we could not have
continued to do our vital work without the support of volunteers, our local and online
communities, local businesses and public sector organisations. Together we made it through
‘A Year Like No Other’.
We really hope you appreciate and enjoy the report. We also hope that you will work with us
to ensure the hard lessons learned through this time provide a solid foundation to build a
better future we can all be proud of.
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C-Change Scotland

Thanks And Recognition
To The People We Work For
Background and Context
In a year like no other, we give thanks and recognition to the people we work for. We also
give thanks for their resilience and tenacity in the face of adversity - it gave us all strength.
When the pandemic hit, our initial thoughts were, “How would people cope? How would we
cope? How could we support each other to cope?”
We worked with individuals and their families to ensure each person’s support was tailored to
their individual needs, preferences and risk status.
We supported people we work for to develop COVID-19 safe ways of maintaining
relationships, valued social roles and keeping active. You will be able to read more about this
in the stories that follow.
We proactively sought ways of remaining as healthy, safe and well as possible, supporting
people we work for to seek letters of comfort from GP’s and campaigning against ‘Do Not
Resuscitate’ notices. We supported people we work for to update hospital and
communication passports in the event of any unplanned admissions.
Through all of this, people we work for adapted, adjusted and thrived, completely
extinguishing any fears we had about coping. For that, we give our appreciation, our
gratitude and a heartfelt ‘Thank You’ for always leading the way.
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C-Change Scotland

Thanks And Recognition
To The People We Work For
Aidan’s Story
By Ian Saunders - Personal Development Worker
Aidan is a great observer, and a people person, he likes
to be around people. Just prior to lockdown, Aidan
was really enjoying quite a good social life. Aidan gets
enormous pleasure from meeting up and socialising with
people. He was going to nightclubs in Glasgow, then two
weeks later, it all changes. So instead of Aidan's life
revolving around what he wanted to do, Aidan's life
started to revolve around what he couldn't do. He was
limited to how far he could go out and who he could
meet.
“Aidan gets enormous
pleasure from meeting
up and socialising
with people
“
Aidan just took it in his stride, spent time on his tablet, face-time his friends and his parents.
He'd go in the hot tub and sometimes would be in his hot tub until 11 o'clock at night. He just
seemed completely unaffected by everything that was going on. He would do gardening
and wood work at home rather than at a college. That's been really good for Aidan.
We started to involve in Aidan's life things like social stories, just to help him understand what
was going on in the world with Covid. We also sometimes switched the news on and watched
some of the conferences that either Nicola Sturgeon or Boris Johnston was doing, just to gain a
little bit of his interest, and being Aidan, he started wanting Nicola Sturgeon and Boris
Johnston face-masks, which he now has…and he does the impressions of them.
Aidan is quite understanding of COVID. Only last night he was chanting “There's only
one covid vaccine, one covid vaccine”.
In this year like no other, Aidan’s incredible resilience, adaptability and inner strength
got us through.
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C-Change Scotland

Thanks And Recognition
To The People We Work For
Caroline’s COVID-19 Story
By Margaret Pickering - Support Advisor
The team had been vigilant for symptoms in following all the guidance being shared across
Yammer (internal communications platform) so they knew the things to look out for and had
been regularly checking temperatures. So, when Caroline became lethargic and had a cough, the
team knew to support her to get a test. When the result came back positive, everything all
happened so fast.
Getting additional PPE, full gowns, masks, visors and reaching out for additional advice from
Heath Protection Scotland. The advice and guidelines were all really helpful and needed, but we
were still scared; it was a really scary time. We all knew it could be potentially life-threatening for
Caroline and team members, but that didn't stop everyone from going in each day to provide
the daily support. Her specific requirements mean at regular points throughout the day, the 2
metres rule made it really challenging to support her to eat, wash and dress. There was a slight
panic in the beginning as we all faced the unknown together. I took calls from the team, day and
night and at weekends.
It’s me that has the relationship with Caroline and every team member, so I didn’t want it going
to the on-call Support Advisor or Area Lead. I know the team felt more at ease opening up about
their anxieties to me than to the on-call rep. Caroline needed her team more than ever and I
think the team needed the support from me and my managers more than ever.
That’s how we got through it, supporting each other. Giving reassurance when it was needed,
lending a listening ear when it was needed. When the team had questions I didn’t know the
answers for, I raised them with my area team, of other Support Advisors, our Area Lead Anita
and Gina our link from the senior management team. I think it’s fair to say that we didn’t always
have the answers, but Gina would go off, perhaps contact Health Protection Scotland or our link
commissioner and come back promptly with information we needed - that Caroline’s team
needed.
It was a really difficult time for everyone, through people testing positive, isolating,
shielding; I was living alone and unable to see my grandson. At times life was
miserable but there were always moments to be thankful for.
In the end, Caroline’s tremendous inner strength shone through.
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C-Change Scotland

Thanks And Recognition
To The People We Work For
Kieran’s Story
By Kieran N and Ross Dougall
If he wasn’t so shy at times, Kieran would tell you himself that over the last year with lockdown
restrictions, it did get a bit boring, a bit repetitive.
But we were all experiencing it together. For Kieran himself, he maybe didn’t realise it, but
through Lockdown he really flourished.
When restrictions started to ease, he started volunteering for Scottish Canals by doing
gardening work, graffiti removal and litter picking. By doing this, Kieran’s confidence grew as
well as his network of people.
He went out cycling and running with his team member Louise and was really encouraged to
keep active. Even doing workouts indoors - it was amazing to see how engaged he was with it.
To keep busy we also supported Kieran to do things he hadn’t done before. He created his own
cookbook and recorded short videos to share online. As I said, he can be a bit shy, so although
he wasn’t always in the videos, he was definitely directing them.
Lockdown really gave Kieran time to develop new skills. As well as cookery, he also became a DJ
and that came about from the Zoom (online) C-Change Christmas party. Kieran was slagging off
the music and he was given a challenge to put his money where his mouth is, so to speak, and he
did... A few weeks later, as we went into lockdown again, Kieran was the DJ at the first Zoom
‘Feel-good Friday’ get-together. It was a huge success and he got such a buzz from it. Because
of that, he was invited to DJ at a Dates-n-Mates event, which, on the back of the team having
supported him to apply for funding to buy his own DJ equipment, he was a roaring success.
As his confidence grew, so too did his willingness to get involved with other things, like popping
into online meetings and forums.
Kieran also used video calling to keep in touch with his family - which is really
important to him. It’s been a real honour for all the team to be part of Kieran’s life in
‘a year like no other’ and we have all said that although we are here to support
Kieran, he’s definitely supported us too. Keeping us going, getting through the last
year together, and for that we are thankful.
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A Parent’s Perspective
Sarah and Stephen Ward’s Story
We first dealt with C-Change when our 16 year old daughter, who who was diagnosed as
autistic and having a borderline personality disorder (EUPD), was getting ready to leave an
adolescent psychiatric ward that had been home to her for over two years. We were full of fear
and apprehensive about the future. We knew we couldn't manage to keep her safe by
ourselves and we needed help, but how do you trust strangers to look after your daughter? It
was a slow process for us all getting to know and trust each other, as my daughter was moving
into our self contained annexe which was beside our house. We hoped for the best and
worried that Covid would add more anxiety to an already big life transition for our daughter.
We have to say, for us, it has been life saving for our
daughter. The entire team have worked hard to get to
know her ways, in sometimes very trying conditions. We
have had many obstacles to come through, with positive
COVID tests, self-isolation and admission into hospital
for a short stay which have all been very challenging.
Our daughter is thankfully doing better in a more
challenging world than the one she knew before
hospital. She is now beginning to realise that ‘having
a life’ is possible.
“
It has been
life saving for
our daughter
“
We all have more hope and if anyone had told me a year ago that this was even possible, I
would have struggled to believe it. So, although the world seems to have turned upside
down and crazy this year, for us, it has also made progress for our girl, who
struggled to think there was any life waiting for her.
In a ‘year like no other’, we give thanks and recognition to the amazing team
who have been looking after our daughter. We all work well together and
that’s what makes it work so well.
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Life During Lockdown
My feelings towards living in Lockdown
By Andrew Moodie - Person we work for
My morning routine normally goes something like this: exercise, shower and breakfast. Maybe
listen to the radio. Then I would head out to wherever I was going to be spending the day. But
since multiple places seemingly closed at once, followed by the imposing of the lockdown, the
routine now stops with the radio. Now I have unlimited amount of time to do things, but they
have to be within the house or local area.
I feel I have a clear understanding of the situation - it’s either stay near your home or risk
contracting this virus. Under the circumstances, I would have to say that I am taking this quite
well. I try to take daily walks with my dad, and I still manage to get the foods and medicines that
I need.
I don’t feel that affected by all the cafés, restaurants and shops being closed. But with the
cinemas closed as well and me being a film critic, this seems to be the only downside that I can
think of. I’m also prone to coming across articles that predict doom for cinemas. But I would
rather side with those that value the cinema experience, and try to remain as optimistic as
possible. Worst case scenario - cinemas have a hard time restarting, but eventually find their
footing again.
I think another reason for me finding it so easy to remain calm at a time like this could be that
despite the limitations I have found ways to keep myself busy while indoors. I have written a lot
of media-related articles (like this one) and all of them received favourable responses. I have also
learned some things that I previously did not know, such as some names of plants we see on our
walks. I have walked 45 miles and I under- took an Open University course to develop my writing
that was meant to last eight weeks, I finished it in four days. But then again I did find it very easy.
Good luck with your new ‘normal’ - however you may be handling it better or
worse than others, and I know if you’re like me you are getting tired of hearing
about it every two minutes. But even though it may seem like nothing more than
unrealistic expectations, there will be a day where we can start to put this behind
us and things will get better.
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C-Change Scotland

Thank You To Our Colleagues
We would like to use this opportunity to give thanks and
recognition to our colleagues.
As the lockdown started, along with all the uncertainty, one thing that was a constant was
the unwavering dedication and commitment of our colleagues in supporting every person
we work for.
We have always been really proud of our colleagues, however, In This Year Like No Other,
the challenges we ALL faced really have been unique.
Despite the various issues being faced on a daily basis, the flexibility and resolve of our Team
was never more apparent.
Whether it was juggling homeschooling, support for parents, or even the fear of going outside,
our colleagues were constantly engaged in ensuring the people we work for stayed as healthy,
safe and well as possible. Our colleagues demonstrated amazing flexibility while supporting the
people we work for. This was no easy task given the range of difficulties encountered.
This included supporting the people we work for and colleagues who were isolating. Various
other new routines that emerged had to problem solved as well.
When supporting people we work for to recruit, we often try to gauge a candidate’s ‘stickability
factor’. We always try to seek out new colleagues who will be there through thick and thin, for
the ups and downs of life. This last year has proved that each and every colleague has that
stickability factor after being present for every twist and turn of the pandemic rollercoaster.
We have always been proud of our colleagues and this year in particular, that pride over the
pandemic was palpable as we stood on our doorsteps and in our windows clapping for our
colleagues and peers across health and social care.
We clapped for colleagues who delivered and more often than not, we didn't even have to ask
them.
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A Colleague’s Perspective
We would like to use this opportunity to give
thanks and recognition to our colleagues.
By Robyn Andrew - Area Finance and Business Administrator
The year has impacted on individuals personally and
professionally. For some, working environments
changed overnight. We went from meeting colleagues
and the people we work for face to face in the base and
having blether in the kitchen, to making a cuppa in our
own kitchens at home while talking to a colleague on
the phone. Zoom calls and Teams calls became part of
everyday life.
At times working from home made me feel alone but
supportive colleagues were always at the other end of
the phone. When I couldn't see the light at the end of
the tunnel colleagues were there to help me in my struggles. Through the year there were
tears but the laughter and banter from colleagues was music to my ears.
“The laughter and
banter from
colleagues was
music to my ears
The resistance with technology seems to be a thing of the past and some of us are now
Yammer enthusiasts. Pets snuck into our rooms and gate crashed Zoom. In a year we are more
appreciative of the small things in life especially the pictures of wildlife in the Robert Carr
garden. Yammer and Zoom allowed us to have good blether which brought us closer together.
“
“
The resistance with technology
seems to be a thing of the past
“
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Working Together
By Marianne Meehan - Projects and FaB Team
In February 2020, the impact of the virus we had first heard about in January 2020 was starting
to filter through and we could not have envisaged how life was about to change both
personally and in our workplace.
At one of the first announcements by the Prime Minister reference was made to ‘furlough’ –
what did that even mean and how do we pronounce it correctly? Working from home...sounds
great, no more commuting...but how can we mobilise our colleagues quickly without
compromising our support to the People We Work For and colleagues.
And so the fun (and a few challenges!) began for all Finance and Business (FaB) and practice
colleagues to navigate our way through this; always acting in line with our guiding principles.
Every month the rules were changing and its no wonder when we look back now we can’t
remember what happened when – just look at this snapshot of the lockdown timeline showing
33 events that relate to restriction being introduced, eased, lifted, government announcement
and legislation changes (see below. Click here for large version)
A gallant effort was made by all, our sickness levels were lower than the trending average in
the sector, we sourced phones and laptops quickly and with the help of our trusted IT business
partner Cloud Cover we mobilised our support.
With team spirit and collaborative working
we all worked through it, trying our best
at all times, not always getting things
right first time or on time but we got
there. We are still adapting to changes as
new waves of the virus impact us and we
continue to embrace and work together
through the challenges that we face.
We’ve got this!
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Thanks And Recognition
To Our Colleagues
By Lesley Sharkey - Finance and Business Team
In March 2020, when we entered the first lockdown, the Finance and Business Team (FaB)
team went from working as a team in an office environment to working from our homes.
Since then, we have invited colleagues into our kitchens, bedrooms and living rooms -
virtually of course!
Our need to communicate has meant that Zoom and Teams have become necessary tools.
We needed to reassess the work we were doing and
how we did it. Some of our priorities were put on hold
as others took over. We worked hard to ensure that we
were able to keep things going as normally and
smoothly as possible for everyone. We have adapted
and modified the way we work (since the start of
lockdown) where necessary to achieve this.
Although it has been a strange, difficult and challenging
time for us all, there are definitely things to celebrate in
amongst all the upheaval and change.
“
We have achieved
lots in a short
space of time
“
Despite the challenges we still moved forward on various projects. We updated some of our
systems and processes for people we work for and colleagues. This included easier access to
information online, an online desk and training booking system, virtual ID badges and
digital versions of our colleague handbook, policies and forms,
among many others.
Some of these had to be done quickly as was unique to the
circumstances we now found ourselves in…though working
remotely as a team we got it done!
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When The Going Gets Tough
COVID-19 hit like a lightening bolt. We all had to manage this pandemic on a
personal and professional level.
Our goal was for the people we work for to continue
to live their best lives, and for our colleagues to
continue to do the job they loved.
I felt I had almost a personal responsibility to ensure
that everyone in C-Change kept safe and well.
Ensuring we had the most up to date information and
equipment was important and a pressure at times,
but every one of us took up that baton and shared
experiences, information and thoughts.
“
I feel very privileged
to be part of an
organisation that stood
strong together
“
As Billy Ocean sang, “When the going gets
tough......the tough get going” and boy didn’t we just!
Communication became key. We were all faces on a computer, but it worked. I had the
opportunity to speak with so many people I may never had the opportunity to chat to if we
worked as before.
I feel very privileged to be part of an organisation that stood strong together through a year
like no other.
Lynn Watson - Director Of Performance, Innovation and Compliance
“
COVID-19 hit like a
lightening bolt
“
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C-Change Scotland

My Year Like No Other
By Laura Walsh - Personal Development Worker
I would never have thought a year or so ago that I would have lived through a pandemic –
me, the eager viewer of ‘The Walking Dead’ and all things apocalyptic! - let alone work
through one.
In that year I’ve discovered that whereas movies depict mass chaos and person-on-person
crimes, instead we’ve seen the people we work for, and us as organisation, overcome major
obstacles with a tenacity and dignity that are worthy of any silver screen nomination.
Adapt. Overcome. Survive. - is a mantra I like to use and
I feel we’ve done just that, from the people we work for
to the line managers, the FaB (Finance and Business)
teams and Personal Development Workers (PDW’s).
We’ve all supported each other to do things like:
maintain a work / life balance as we work from home; a
PDW assisting a person we work for to do an online
course; a team member giving a socially distanced lift
home due to the reduced transport services; or posting
a good news story on Yammer to make someone's
lockdown life a bit brighter that day.
“
We overcame, we
adapted
and we definitely
survived
“
We adapted to all of this. We overcame major routine changes, restriction changes and
uncertainty. We felt our liberty was restricted, which helped us to empathise with the people
we work for as they’ve faced this level of restriction most of their lives - we only suffered for a
year! We survived long Tesco queues, no toilet rolls and the odd anti-masker.
So I believe that we, as colleagues, friends (some of us family), but most importantly
as human beings, have learned where the inconceivable is conceivable and the
conceivable becomes inconceivable – we overcame, we adapted and we most
definitely survived.
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C-Change Scotland

Community
In a ‘Year Like No Other’ we give thanks and recognition to the communities
in which we live, work, contribute to and serve.
Through Lockdowns with distractions of busy lives
removed, we found a renewed appreciation for our
local communities. Such as Peter and his neighbours
forming new relationships in their communal garden. Or
Alastair who collected prescriptions and shopping for
neighbours and friends.
Restricted by travel other than for essential reasons, we
explored nooks and crannies of our local areas, rediscovering
the beauty of parks and open spaces. We
cycled, we ran, we strolled and rolled.
“
It became a
place of hope
and positivity
“
In a year like no other we give thanks and recognition to our tech champions who helped us
forge ahead to really make ‘tech connect’ and helped us build our own online community.
Through this we have created a safe space for people we work for and colleagues to engage
in conversation, a place to keep up to date with the ever-changing face of Covid and all that
it threw at us. Through the lens of ‘Is it true?, ’Is it helpful?’ and ‘Is it“kind?’, it became a
place of hope and of positivity.
Team members swapped information about online shopping slots, training dates and ‘how to’
guides. People we work for have become digitally included and our banner is ‘no-one will be
left behind’. People we work for got together for ‘tea and tech’ sessions and many gathered
for regular #FeelGoodFriday online evening extravaganzas. Kieran DJ’d, Dougie chanted,
Sandy sung and Katrina quizzed us. Abby shared her craft work and Tony and Ian danced for
us. A small sample from our online community, a community that connects us, a community to
inspire and be inspired by.
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C-Change Scotland

Dates-n-Mates
Staying connected throughout a pandemic
Dates-n-Mates Scotland is a project of C-Change that support
love and friendship for adults with a learning disability.
This year we helped people connect, socialise, and feel
included, with a full year of online activities. A new way for many of our members to interact and
develop their friendships and relationships. And a new way for us to facilitate these
opportunities. We would like to say thank you and well done to everyone who embraced this
change and to those who supported us and our Dates-n-Mates members along the way.
As a project focused on bringing people together, this year has been challenging. However, with
the passion and commitment from our staff, volunteers, members, funders, and other supporters
we continued providing opportunities to tackle social isolation throughout a pandemic.
Friendships continued to grow. The quick shift from in-person events to online activities involved
a lot of effort from everyone to build digital skills and confidence.
Thank you to Connecting Scotland for providing digital resource packages to help us with this.
Thank you to members for showing up online with a smile and to the volunteers and other
individuals who helped us create new engaging activities.
Online interaction brought with it many benefits alongside the struggles… Dates-n-Mates’
members have been able to connect with a wider community across Scotland and meet members
from different branches. One member said “Dates-n-Mates has helped me throughout the
lockdown… given me company and let me meet new people”.
This virtual way of working allowed Dates-n-Mates branches to more closely work together,
overcoming the challenges as a united team, creating the best possible opportunities for
members. It also offered a moment of reflection to look to the future, strengthen our offering
and work on a rebrand. We welcomed new staff, new volunteers, and new members.
We facilitated fun at many online events, workshops, and friendship matches. Our directors
launched a podcast championing the voices of people with learning disabilities.
Many new connections and friendships were made while existing ones blossomed from afar.
And each and every one of our staff and members showed their resilience and their desire to stay
connected, meet new people, try new things and show
the world that friendships and relationships really do
matter.
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Conclusion
We weathered a storm during the Year Like No Other. A storm that no one had really planned
for. One without recent precedent against which to chart our voyage.
Instead, we held fast to those things that matter most, to relationships, to human decency, to
honour, dignity and courage. And we found we had these resources in abundance, among the
people we work for and in our communities. Amongst our colleagues who stepped out and did,
whilst others locked down. Colleagues who were resourceful and generous. Who were rightly
recognised as essential key workers, holding the very fabric of society together, during the
most of difficult of times.
So now, as we move on from the Year Like No Other, we need to draw lessons from our
response to the storm. The strengths that people we work for, families, communities and
colleagues showed during times of adversity need to be cultivated. Challenging old ways of
working, we should ensure individuals flourish as we continue to innovate and learn together.
Technology played a vital role connecting us when we were cast asunder. However, we
innovated in a rush; needs must. We now need to reflect and ensure that technology works for
people, not the other way around, and that no one is left behind as we grow our knowledge
and develop our skills.
We also need to acknowledge that we do not fully understand the full impact this pandemic has
had upon us. So, we will approach the year to come with cautious consideration and vigilance
for our mutual wellbeing. We recognise that people have drawn deep on their human reserves
just to keep going.
So, in this year to come we will pay particular attention to the wellbeing of the people we work
for, their families and our colleagues. People will be our focus and we will try to ensure
kindness informs everything we do.
In a year like no other, thank you.
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Thank
You