Can we stabilise the 'jenga tower' of Scotland's health and wellbeing?
/This article was featured in the SCDC Weekly - 12th March 2025
This morning people from community-led health organisations from across the country are coming together for the CHEX Conference 2025.
The event, taking place in Stirling, is a chance for attendees to learn, reflect and support each other in their work to tackle Scotland's persistent health inequalities.
This year, the conference's focus is turning knowledge and learning into action on the most pressing issues facing the community sector. From a lack of funding to the impact of burnout, community organisations are facing huge pressures just to keep the doors open and the lights on.
This pressure across the system means it sometimes feels like we're playing Jenga with the building blocks supporting our health and wellbeing - hoping desperately that the leaning tower doesn’t completely collapse.
This zero-sum environment means there's a natural temptation to retreat into silos and protect our own team, sector or community - even as the tower becomes ever-more rickety.
But as hard as it is, there has never been a more critical time to talk honestly, and collectively, about how we can work better together to address the issues facing our communities.
Today's conference is a chance for those discussions to take place. CHEX will be sharing more outputs - and actions - from the day over the coming weeks, to help us stabilise the tower so we can see a healthier future for everyone in our communities.
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