On April 29, 2025, stakeholders from across Scotland gathered at the Civic Hall in Perth for the Bairns’ Hoose Collaborative Learning Event, focused on advancing Scotland’s implementation of the Barnahus model and testing of the Bairns’ Hoose Standards. The event brought together approximately 80 participants representing six Pathfinder partnerships (Aberdeen City, Aberdeenshire, Fife, North Strathclyde, Outer Hebrides, and Tayside), four Affiliate partnerships (Ayrshire, Dumfries & Galloway, Sycamore Partnership, and Highland), and areas supported through the Development Fund. The event was also attended by colleagues from key national organisations supporting the development of Bairns’ Hoose in Scotland.
Six months on from the anniversary event in Aberdeen, which featured Bragi Gudbrandsson, Deputy Chair for the United Nations Committee on the Rights of the Child and founder of the Barnahus model, the Perth event marked another important milestone in Scotland’s Bairns’ Hoose journey. The Minister for Children, Young People and The Promise, Natalie Don-Innes MSP, addressed attendees, highlighting the significant progress made across the partnerships and confirming up to £10.5 million of further investment for 2025-26.
“When a child suffers trauma, they carry that burden into every room they enter,” said Ms Don-Innes. “But through Bairns’ Hoose, we are creating spaces where that burden becomes lighter, where justice does not mean more trauma, where healing begins the moment they walk through our doors, and where their voices shape not only their own futures but the future of Scotland itself.”
Focus on Justice and Health
The event focused on two critical aspects of the Bairns’ Hoose model: Justice System, and Health and Recovery Services.
Appreciative interview
The morning session featured an appreciative interview with key figures who have been instrumental in testing live court links in North Strathclyde. The panel included Anne Marie Hicks, Assistant Procurator Fiscal for the sheriffdom of North Strathclyde; Julie Paterson, Locality Reporter Manager for the Scottish Children’s Reporter Administration (SCRA); Danielle McLaughlin, who leads implementation of the Lord Justice Clerk’s Review into Improving the Management of Sexual Offence Cases for the Scottish Courts and Tribunals Service; and Anna O’Reilly from Children First, who led the development of the first Bairns’ Hoose in Scotland.
The interviewees shared their collective experience in establishing North Strathclyde’s Bairns’ Hoose as the preferred location for Joint Investigative Interviews in their area, discussing both the successes and challenges of balancing justice processes with protecting children from retraumatisation. Their insights provided valuable learning for other partnerships at different stages of implementing Standard 7 (Support through the court and legal process) of the Bairns’ Hoose framework, which focuses on justice connections.
Following the appreciative interview, participants engaged in facilitated roundtable discussions addressing myths and practical questions about justice processes within Bairns’ Hoose, with specialist facilitators from Crown Office and Procurator Fiscal Service, Scottish Courts and Tribunals Service, and Scottish Children’s Reporter Administration supporting the conversations.
Health Integration and Therapeutic Support
The afternoon centred on health integration, with presentations from Dr Laura Smith and Dr Najette Ayadi O’Donnell of The Lighthouse, a Barnahus model service in London. Dr Smith, a Consultant Clinical Psychologist and Clinical Lead for the Lighthouse, and Dr Ayadi O’Donnell, a Consultant Paediatrician specialising in adolescent health and complex safeguarding at University College London Hospital, shared their expertise on developing holistic health and therapeutic recovery services essential to meeting Standards 8 (Health and wellbeing) and 9 (Therapeutic recovery services) of the Bairns’ Hoose Standards.
Following this, an expert panel, chaired by Dr Edward Doyle, Senior Medical Adviser for Paediatrics at the Scottish Government, concluded the day. The panel brought together diverse clinical expertise with Dr Marianne Forrester, Lead Paediatrician for Child Protection in NHS Grampian and recently appointed Clinical Lead for the Interim National Child Protection Network; Grace Gilling, Associate Nurse Director (Public Protection) within NHS Tayside; Moira Shulman, Consultant Child and Adolescent Psychotherapist and Head of Child Psychotherapy in NHS Fife Child and Adolescent Mental Health Service (CAMHS); and Fiona Wardell, Team Lead for the Standards and Indicators Team at Healthcare Improvement Scotland who led on the development of the Bairns’ Hoose Standards.
The panel addressed key questions around developing sustainable models for health integration within different local contexts, the essential role of therapeutic recovery services in the Barnahus model, workforce development needs, and approaches to supporting children and young people from initial investigation through to recovery.
Collaborative Learning Approach
The event exemplified Scotland’s commitment to evidence-based implementation, with each partnership contributing towards valuable testing of the Bairns’ Hoose Standards to inform the national blueprint ahead of incremental rollout from 2027. An innovative “unconference” format during the lunch period allowed participants to drive discussions on topics most relevant to their work, including support for healing and recovery, children’s rights and voice, data and learning, and sustainability.
“One of the most encouraging aspects of our Bairns’ Hoose journey has been the genuine collaboration between partners,” noted Ms Don-Innes. “Your willingness to work across traditional organisational boundaries, to share challenges and solutions, and to put children’s needs at the centre of everything you do is truly inspirational.”
Looking Ahead
The Perth event came at an important time for the Bairns’ Hoose Pathfinder programme, following recent funding announcements for 2025-26, with partnerships having received decisions on their applications in early April. This funding will allow partnerships to focus on embedding sustainable practices and developing their approaches as they work toward the national rollout phase.
The Bairns’ Hoose Collaborative Learning Event in Perth was positively received, with participants particularly valuing the networking opportunities, cross-sector conversations, and the mixed-table format. Looking ahead, stakeholders expressed interest in future events focusing on sustainability and long-term planning, therapeutic recovery’s intersection with justice, data use and outcome measurement, and more in-depth updates about challenges and successes from partnerships.
This collaborative learning session represented the first of two planned in-person learning events for 2025, complemented by ongoing virtual Knowledge Exchange sessions, reinforcing Scotland’s commitment to providing trauma-informed recovery, support, and justice for all children who have been victims or witnesses of abuse or violence.