People Know How in East Lothian

People Know How’s mission is to empower individuals to be socially innovative in their communities, by helping them transform their ideas into action. Using our Social Innovation Model, we listen to communities and deliver services that unlock their ideas through projects and collaborations directly addressing their current needs.

We have been delivering services developed using this approach for over 8 years, gradually growing to support more communities across East Lothian and Edinburgh through networking and collaborating with schools and community organisations.

Support for children and young people

The first service we delivered in East Lothian was Positive Transitions. The service was developed from a consultation of over 700 young people who identified the transition to secondary school as one of their biggest challenges. Six years later, it is now comprised of four core projects that aim to help young people feel valued and understood, while also improving their self-esteem and peer relationships.

Working closely with the East Lothian Council, local universities including Queen Margaret University, and our team of VIPs (volunteers, interns and placement students), we deliver support in more than 12 schools in East Lothian. From one-to-one Befriending to themed group sessions; from support through Arts Therapies to social work based Family Support; our projects provide holistic support for children and young people, and their parents, carers and families. Having adapted our projects during the pandemic, support is now also offered online with scope to develop a blended model of support moving forward.

Recently awarded a National Lottery grant, we are delighted to continue and grow this service further in East Lothian. We are now embarking on an action-research project on positive school transitions across East Lothian and Edinburgh in collaboration with the University of Edinburgh that will be used to create a model of practice for similar projects with the aim of improving pupil transitions across Scotland.

Support for adults and families

The coronavirus pandemic has been a big influence on the development of our Reconnect service over the past year as it has heightened isolation, loneliness and digital exclusion. To address this, in 2020 we expanded our provision in East Lothian to include Reconnect.

Reconnect offers support for adults and families to improve wellbeing by increasing digital and social inclusion. We believe that digital and social inclusion are intrinsically linked, and that this has been highlighted by the pandemic. The service takes a holistic approach to wellbeing support, providing a supportive environment to reduce social isolation through building digital skills and maintaining connections.

From providing digital devices through Computer Delivery to our operation of the national Connecting Scotland technical support helpline; from developing tailored digital support through Learn Digital to providing telephone befriending through Wellbeing Calls; Reconnect helps people to stay connected, improve financial health, increase employability, access resources and more. We have now also launched a national campaign to combat data poverty called Connectivity Now, which invites all organisations, community groups and individuals to pledge their support to achieve connectivity for all.

As our work in East Lothian continues we are delighted to be working in partnership with East Lothian Council, and have also recently obtained further funding for our projects in Musselburgh. We can’t wait to continue and grow our Reconnect support across all of East Lothian.