COPE prepares to close it’s doors
COPE Scotland began in 1991 and will close December 2026. This is a planned exit strategy as we realised sometimes success is not only what you do but what you leave behind.
We were never about growing an empire but an idea. A model of community based mental health provision led by the voices of lived experience which we hoped would be adopted and adapted by statutory mental health services. When we began no one spoke of mental health, only of mental illness. The world has moved on significantly since then, and while there is still a way to go, the number of wellbeing services, peer support groups, resources and materials that now exist is something to celebrate and sometimes something needs to stop to create the space for other things to start, this was never a solo marathon for us but a relay race and it is time to pass on the baton.
In a funding environment where it is becoming harder to sustain services, we would rather collaborate than compete so have spent time as part of our exit building capacity where we could and sharing. For anyone wanting to know a little more about our approach this may be of interest https://evaluationsupportscotland.org.uk/resources/recognising-our-rich-tapestry-cope-scotland-case-study/
As this has been a planned wind down over a period of time, the main assets we have left is our website. This is going to be taken over by another organisation who shall make it their own but also have a section where the COPE Scotland resources can still be downloaded for free. We invite members of SCHW to visit the site and if they see resources they would find useful for their communities please feel free to download them. All we ask is that they are shared for free and any of the workshop materials we share, please make them free to the public. The website transfer will happen in June but our existing site www.copescotland.com will still be there to signpost on to the new site and share what we are doing as we move towards the end.
This newsletter offers more information https://us8.campaign-archive.com/?e=__test_email__&u=0ff7779cc81959b4d99c27c8b&id=fb9278cec5
In this climate 35 years is a good run and while part of us is sad, another part recognises we were only a wee stitch in the tapestry still being woven. We appreciate everyone working and volunteering in our sector who seeks to make a difference, and we hope in our time we were able to help play a small part in that.
If you would like more info, or ideas on how to use the materials please feel free to get in touch. hildac@copescotland.comwww.linkedin.com/in/hilda-campbell-0a5557329
For anyone who knows me and wonders what I may be doing next as COPE has been such a big part of my life for 35 years, well, working with others to help build a kinder world where people and the planet suffer less, wasn’t my job, it is who I am so I will find a way to continue doing that perhaps through writing! (always wanted to be an author) who knows?
Look after yourselves as well as everyone else as you matter too.
Hilda