The Big Scran: building community resilience through a volunteer movement in partnership with homelessness charity, Blue Triangle, and the Health and Social Care Partnership.&nbsp;
Authors: Andrew Mandy , Imrie Tricia , McFarlane Iain , McCurley Alison 
Published: January 2024

Ben View Community Resource Centre has been a leading community anchor organisation within the Greater Glasgow and Clyde Health Board Area for two decades, diligently uniting the community by co-designing and building volunteering movements to meet community needs in West Dunbartonshire, Scotland.

In partnership with homelessness charity, Blue Triangle, and the West Dunbartonshire Health and Social Care Partnership, a new volunteering movement, entitled ‘The Big Scran’, has been created to provide essential practical support, food, heat and social interaction. In tandem, the partnership has addressed wider needs, effecting generational change for individuals and families, such as maximising income or supporting delivery of health outcomes.

Ben View’s expertise in anticipating local needs and galvanising community resources positions them as expert.  Against the backdrop of the global financial crisis and complex public health challenges facing the community, such as gender-based violence, substance misuse, youth homelessness and other population health themes, the partnership, including Blue Triangle and West Dunbartonshire HSCP are a force for good. Their approach addresses immediate needs (hunger, heat and social interaction) and affects generational change, taking a person-centred and trauma informed approach, building individual relationships, leveraging the skills, talents and local knowledge of volunteers, supporting translation of needs assessment into meaningful interventions.

Against all the Social Determinants of Health, West Dunbartonshire fairs poorly internationally.  The burden of depression, anxiety, mental illness, substance misuse, alcohol dependency, smoking and interpersonal violence are key drivers contributing to our burden of disease, more so in West Dunbartonshire.  The impact of social isolation and loneliness on individual’s physical and mental wellbeing has been well documented. It increases the risk of stress, anxiety and depression and doubles the risk of dementia. 

The Health and Social Care Partnership understands that the status quo is no longer an option and that building a resilient and compassionate community of people, is essential to tackle the complex social justice challenges facing the population. The thought leadership from this initiative builds the compassionate community by creating and co-producing a new volunteering movement, in partnership with service delivery organisations and the Health and Social Care Partnership, which carries the statutory duty for health and social care.

The relational approach to health improvement by creating a volunteering movement of local people, supported by known and respected local organisations, builds the community resilience required during the harsh global financial crisis.  The success of this initiative has been such that other communities are now launching their own ‘Big Scran’.

‘The Big Scran’s’ processes and assets have been created to be transferable and scalable to all communities.  Other communities across Scotland are using this model and their assets and to build similar partnerships and volunteer movements in their own areas.  This fits with the policy landscape in Scotland and beyond and its desire to create and connect compassionate volunteering movements across Scotland and globe. The success and impact of the Big Scran movement is informed and sustained by people’s needs. All involved, recipients and volunteers positively gain from this replicable model.