Moving forward with honesty, hope, and persistence— Fraser McKinlay writes for Care Day

Fraser McKinlay speaking at The Promise Scotland's Stories for Change Conference. Image Copyright: Callum Bennetts, Maverick Photo Agency

Everyone at The Promise Scotland is sending love and solidarity to our friends and colleagues – in Scotland, the UK and around the world - on Care Day 2024. It is a day to celebrate lived experience of care and an opportunity to reaffirm our commitment to ending the stigma that still too often surrounds care and care experienced people.

It is now almost two weeks on from the Stories of Change Conference, Scotland’s first national promise conference, which marked four years since the publication of the Independent Care Review. On this day of all days, we must remember that the Care Review itself, and subsequently the promise that was made, was the result of years of dedicated campaigning by and for the care experienced community.

The Stories of Change Conference was an opportunity to reflect on what needs to happen to make a real difference in children's lives. Image Copyright: Callum Bennetts, Maverick Photo Agency

As the dust settles on the conference, and as I look ahead to a busy year, I find myself filled with a mixture of sometimes competing emotions. I am both optimistic about the future and realistic about how far Scotland still has to go. I am energised by the work ahead, and sometimes daunted by how big a job it is.

In that context, it was great to hear so many stories of change happening across the country. It was inspiring to be in the room with around 500 people who are working and campaigning for change, in different ways, day in and day out.

I also heard on the day, and afterwards, how far Scotland still has to go before change is being felt more consistently in the lives of families and care experienced people the length and breadth of the country. The recent Who Cares? Scotland report , published the same day, provides useful insights into some of the issues, the progress being made, and the distance still to travel.

Every child and young person in Scotland deserves to grow up loved, cared and respected. Image Copyright: Callum Bennetts, Maverick Photo Agency

Three reflections from the Stories of Change Conference

In my brief summing up at the close of the conference on the 5 ^th of February, I reflected on three things that I had heard throughout the day: the need for honesty; providing hope and expectation; and perseverance.

We need to be honest

We need to be searingly honest with ourselves, and with those in power, about how much still has to be done. On a recent visit to a local community enterprise that works with care experienced young people, I was given a stark reminder, if one were needed, about the ways in which the system still too often fails our children and young people. It is simply not good enough. We need to have those honest conversations in ways that generate action and change, not defensiveness and deflection.

We need to move forward with hope and expectation

In doing so, we need to move forward with hope and expectation . I know that hope isn’t enough - as someone once said to me early in my career, ‘Hope is not a strategy’! And of course we need effective planning, sufficient resources and clearer accountability. But it is also true that the changes already underway bring hope that more, bigger change is possible. And clear expectations of what needs to be done, and by when, will bring clearer accountability. The work being done to develop Plan 24-30 will help with that. In the end, the absence of hope brings hopelessness and, if that sets in, then change will not be delivered.

Scotland must be persistent

Finally, Scotland needs to be persistent, to stick with it. There will be times where it feels like the road ahead is simply overwhelming, too distant, too difficult. We need to have confidence that, in laying the foundations now, the meaningful, lasting change envisaged by the promise will be delivered. And I believe it will.

About the author

Photo credit: Sarah Maclean

Fraser McKinlay

Chief Executive

Fraser has been Chief Executive of The Promise Scotland since September 2022. Prior to that, he spent 16 years working for Audit Scotland, including ten years as Controller of Audit and Director of Performance Audit and Best Value.

Before joining Audit Scotland, Fraser was a public services consultant in Edinburgh and London. He specialised in leadership, change management, facilitation and process improvement.

Fraser is committed to systems change, focusing on how public money is spent more effectively to enable better lives for children, young people, care experienced adults, families, and communities.