Making an impact at the COSLA Conference 2025

A woman is smiling at the camera. She is surrounded by Carr Gomm pop-up banners and there is a table with sweets and Carr Gomm branded items in front of her at the COSLA conference.

Shaping discussions and fostering positive change: Carr Gomm at the COSLA Conference 2025

 

Two men and one women are standing smiling at the camera. They are in a conference room with various stalls around them.We were delighted to have had the opportunity to attend the COSLA conference, held in St Andrews on the 13th and 14th of November.

The theme of this year’s conference was ‘The Future of Localism’. A variety of speakers, exhibitions, and fringe events explored the role of Councils in ensuring the provision of essential local services and recognised the importance of ‘place’ in an increasingly digital and virtual world.

A woman is smiling at the camera. She is surrounded by Carr Gomm pop-up banners and there is a table with sweets and Carr Gomm branded items in front of her at the COSLA conference.We embraced the opportunity to showcase our impact in communities across Scotland. Through our exhibition stall and our conversations with delegates, we demonstrated our ability and willingness to be solution-focused. By highlighting our Responder and Mental Health Pathways services and our approach to providing support that enables people to ‘Come Home’ to their communities, we celebrated our ability to work creatively to develop and deliver innovative community-based social care services.

A highlight of the Conference was hearing the positive messages from a group of Third Sector CEOs, including our own Chief Executive, Andrew Thomson. The group held a panel discussion and Q&A session on ‘Building a Brighter Future for Social Care’ as part of the fringe events programme of the conference – this session had the most sign-ups of these events. It was an inspiring session, challenging the usual negative messages and recognising that a better future for social care will build a better future for Scotland.

Andrew shared his thoughts and experience of attending the COSLA Conference:

Three men sit at a desk presenting to a group of people.“It was a pleasure to contribute to the COSLA conference and share thought on building a brighter future for social care.  The common tropes are well known – chronic underinvestment, routine undervaluing, and consistent prioritisation of acute intervention over community-based preventative supports that enable people to live good lives in their own homes – so it was good to highlight the added value and consistent excellence provided by not-for-profit organisations like Carr Gomm, and the innovative opportunities that exist for reform and collaboration, underpinned by resource transfer from acute settings into communities.

 

Our contribution to the conference enabled us to ask questions of the First Minister, connect with new statutory partners, and contribute to COSLA’s policies, including digital inclusion.”

 

Thank you to the COSLA Conference and everyone who took the time to stop by our stall, attend the panel discussion and connect with us. It was amazing to share about the important work we are doing. We are looking forward to continuing conversations to promote positive change in social care.

 

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