Spotlight on COPE Scotland
In our latest member spotlight, we’re happy to be joined by Hilda Campbell MBE CEO of COPE Scotland.
What does your social enterprise do?
The core mission of COPE Scotland is to explore ways to improve mental wellbeing, helping to build communities and a culture where both people and the planet suffer less. Our motivation was never to build an empire, but an idea. Over the years we have moved from a direct one-to-one service to a wider population-based approach, which offers self-care strategies. These assist in overcoming the life challenges which can lead to mental or emotional distress, or can find ways or mitigate their impact.
Our history is based on working with communities and people with lived experience of mental health challenges to co-design materials and workshops. These materials reflect real-world tangible solutions, which can be adopted into people’s lives, even when experiencing financial challenges.
Our future lies in curating the materials we have designed over 34 years into 4 suites of resources and to provide training on how to use the materials. Ultimately, allowing for us to then wind down all together, having played our part in building a kinder world.
How do you do it?
Generating income from social enterprise enables us to offer things to those who would be unable to pay for free. It offers us opportunities to be even more creative in our ambitions, and to curate a necessary suite of resources that reflect the challenges faced by people, families and communities. These resources are available via our website (click here to access) and are free to use. We also create active learning spaces through events, networks and workshops as helping share and build capacity is also core to our mission.
COPE Scotland are leaders in network weaving in Scotland and beyond, offering skills and insights into ways that support meaningful collaboration which can lead to real change.
Our innovative approach to climate action offers a simple way to have meaningful conversations about being kind to the environment, while not succumbing to despair.
Why should someone buy/use your product/services? What are the benefits and what makes your organisation unique?
It is funny, we all need to promote what makes us unique, but this actually makes us uncomfortable – probably not best for business when self-marketing is a skill we should be developing!
Perhaps some of what makes us COPE is because we have been listening to and working with communities before co-design and production had become the ‘new thing.’ That we are motivated by the difference that we can make, as opposed to the income we can generate. It matters to us that what we do has meaning for people, and while we know we cannot offer all that people may need, the bit that we do offer has value.
This also applies to those seeking to purchase services from us, in the areas of training, learning and consultancy. It matters that what we offer is good value, that we listen to what people tell us they want, and are realistic around what we can offer to help them achieve meaningful outcomes.
What is your personal motivation?
My own motivation is hard to pin down – I care. I have often been told I care too much. I am a great admirer of the late Sir Terry Pratchett and love the Discworld novels. One of my favourite characters is Granny Weatherwax, this is a quote from the book Equal Rites:
“If you know good from bad, you can’t choose wrong.”
I guess it’s just I see all the suffering in the world. And while I know I alone cannot reduce it all, if there is something I can do even in a small way, then my moral compass compels me to do it. I don’t know if it’s totally accurate to say that doing this all the time makes me happy, as sometimes it is not easy, but it does make me content and gives a feeling of satisfaction.
As I say to my colleagues frequently, “in a world beset with problems its good to remember we are part of the solution’’.
What is the current focus for your social enterprise?
Our current focus and a challenge is trying to make the shift between finding funds to offer learning opportunities for free, or responding to requests to deliver where we are paid, to having the confidence to take some of our learning to market and charge.
This would help us generate income to take forward ideas. For example, we would like to invest in creating our Jigsaw Lid Engagement tool as an actual toolkit with accompanying materials and prompt cards, so it could also be used as a game with younger people.
What exciting things do you have coming up?
We are really excited about the work we are doing around the impact of life satisfaction on wellbeing, and how people can experience a greater sense of satisfaction against the odds.
We are looking forward to community learning exchanges during Challenge Poverty week, sharing learning about how to keep ‘Coorie, in winter, even when money is tight.
Also, we are excited about some training courses we plan to launch on: climate action without despair; creating psychologically safe spaces in networks including peer led and informal groups; and developing your leadership skills to support networks and collaboration. For more information on these, please get in touch.
We are really excited about work we are doing just now around the impact of life satisfaction on wellbeing, and how people can experience a greater sense of satisfaction against the odds.
Who do you want to work with more?
We are enjoying working with many new colleagues and networks – weaving the amazing work already happening to improve the health and wellbeing of the people of MAKI (Mid Argyll, Kintyre and the Islands) (find out more here). We are keen to continue building these networks, and learning and sharing together.
Where do you see your organisation in 5 years?
In five years, COPE Scotland as it stands will have achieved its mission and be no more. What evolves from that, well, is still a work in progress. Success is not only what you do, but what you leave behind.
What top tips would you give to other social enterprises?
Things I have learned over the years, which may be of interest to others includes:
- Yes, it matters you care, that is what keeps you going when it looks as if its time to stop. However, you are not a robot. It matters we build a kinder, fairer, healthier world for others, but not at the expense of our own health.
- Build a support network of peers you can trust to be vulnerable with. There are times when feeling vulnerable is the natural response to what is happening.
- Have a sense of humour and keep perspective. Things can all feel a bit overwhelming at times, find a ground technique that works for you and focus on the now.
- Ditch the myth of multitasking. We cannot do umpteen things at the same time, we may have a lot to do, but we do it one thing at a time, give that our full attention then move on to the next.
- Check your boundaries, if the world says jump and you say how high, you will do a lot of jumping. There is a balance between being accommodation, and helpful and trying to please everyone, we never please everyone no matter how hard we try.
- Protect your team and make sure they feel valued. It is tough if you carry most of the responsibility, this is why you need peers to turn to as your wellbeing matters too. Teams morale can be impacted on by how we are responding to situations, be honest, keep communication channels open, and even when things are challenging e.g. redundancies make sure as much compassion can be brought to the situation as possible. It is the teams who make the magic happen, look after them.
- If you are a one person show, find colleagues who share similar aims and create informal teams as being a team of one can be lonely, but it does not need to be this way.
- Learn to manage risk and not avoid it.
- Listen to those who use your services and those who have experience of the issues you seek to address as their wisdom is priceless.
- Invest time where it makes a difference and don’t get caught up in the ‘need to be seen there’ but actually it makes no difference at all to the bigger picture.
- Be good at saying yes, we can do that, don’t be afraid to say no we cannot.
- Have patience as often it takes time.
- Be authentic, AI has its place, but it cannot replace our humanity. So, apologies for any typos I have missed and my idea of punctuation. This was written by me!
For more information about COPE Scotland, please visit their website and make sure to follow them on LinkedIn, BlueSky and YouTube.
Want to read more Member Spotlights? Visit our blog. If you’d like to be featured, please email membership@socialenterprise.scot.