People's Vote - Self Management in the Community award

The People's Vote for the winner of the Self Management in the Community award is open until 11 am on Wednesday 3 September.

Self management is about working in partnership with services that can support individuals to be in the driving seat and have a meaningful role in decisions affecting them. This award highlights projects, local communities or individuals who have worked to create improvements to support people to live well within their community. This can be initiatives or activities that encourage community empowerment, grow community capacity or encourage local communities to adopt self management approaches.

The five finalist nominations are below. Each person has one vote which can be made by ticking the box to the left of your choice of winner, adding an email address and clicking submit. Email addresses are used solely to ensure duplicate votes can be removed and will be deleted as soon as the winner is determined.

1. Please select your choice for the Self Management in the Community award *

Next Steps – A Pathway to Purpose - Capella Charity’s Teens+ service
Next Steps – A Pathway to Purpose is a transformative project by Capella Charity’s Teens+ service, empowering young adults with learning disabilities, autism, and complex needs to lead confident, purposeful lives. Co-designed with participants and rooted in community life, it supports self management through personalised timetables, volunteering, microbusinesses, and social events. Learners gain independence, build relationships, and shape their futures with dignity. With over 200 participants engaged and growing demand, the project is expanding across Edinburgh. This award would spotlight a scalable, inclusive model that redefines empowerment and belonging for young people often excluded from traditional support systems.
Castlemilk Wellbeing Hub CIC
Castlemilk Well-being Hub (CWH) is a grassroots powerhouse transforming how health and well-being support is delivered in the heart of our community. We offer therapies, workshops, and classes that help people manage their mental and physical health with confidence. In an area often overlooked, we fill a vital gap through compassion, lived experience, and person-centred care. This is more than a service, it’s a movement built on connection, purpose, and belief in what’s possible. And at the heart of it all is our founder, Tracey whose passion, dedication, and lived experience has created a space where real healing and hope within this community can thrive.
Castlemilk Youth Complex
Castlemilk Youth Complex is a vital part of the community. They offer a safe place to young people who are at times in vulnerable situations. They treat all young people as individuals, listen without judgement and are well respected in the community. The staff team work in partnership with many organisations and at times are the gateway for young people, offering many self-management supports and strategies. Everyone is treated as an individual and supported to learn the relevant skills to self-manage. The Youth Complex prides itself in supporting young people to recognise, raise and achieve their aspirations. #youthworkmatters
Food Solidarity ‘Soup’erheroes
The group is well known in the area for providing free soup packs and having food solidarity events for free food for the most vulnerable, to ensure local people did not go hungry. They handed out the ingredients and the recipe so people could feel good about making the meal themselves. They recently opened a hub in Castlemilk 2 days a week. This hub promotes self management by having a venue for people to meet others to improve mental health. They provide workshops that are fun & bring people together such as cooking classes and arts and crafts.
Talking is Mental CIC
Talking is Mental CIC was established by Jack Glass and Billi Allen-Mandeville to combat social isolation and loneliness in Glasgow. They found that there were multiple barriers to finding connection and building community including location, cost, and cuts to local services. They wanted to change this and provide inclusive, non-clinical and accessible spaces for all. In 6 months, Talking is Mental is now a CIC which delivers activity groups across the city, encouraging dialogue around the physical and mental health impacts of these issues, and enabling attendees to begin the journey to live well in the way they choose.

2. Please enter your email address. This is used to ensure only one vote per person and will be deleted from ALLIANCE systems once the vote has closed at 11am on Wednesday 3 September 2025 *