Partnership seems to have been the theme of the last few months for Circle in West Lothian. We are consolidating our partnership with West Lothian Drug and Alcohol Service (WLDAS) and delivering good results as part of the Family Recovery Service. We have joined up with the Health Improvement Team and WLDAS to deliver a ‘Living Life to the Full’ course which was attended by several of our families. This course helps people look at their emotional well-being and helps them to cope differently with the stresses and strains of everyday life. The course was well evaluated by the participants and a few of them have set up a walking group from it. We have committed to delivering two to three courses a year with one starting after the schools return after the summer holidays which has been well subscribed and sits with a waiting list. We are currently training up two more of our staff to be able to help with the delivery of this course.

Our other partnership in West Lothian with Cyrenians, offering group support to parents of very young children, came to the end of the pilot period in May and we are reviewing how we take this forward in the future. We learned a lot from the pilot and are working together with Cyrenians at their new Hub to develop this area further.