Partnership Working
Developing and maintaining strong partnerships can improve outcomes for services and their community. The Scottish Churches China Group (SCCG) are an ecumenical group of representative from the main Christian churches and fellowships in Scotland, working in close partnership with the China Forum of Churches Together in Britain and Ireland. They work with partners in China to improve the development and harmony of citizens in need, and to help those serving others there.
In 2013 SCCG approached me to ask about presenting at an international Autism conference in Nanjing with the Amity Foundation. This was a fantastic opportunity to share the work of my school team and learn about the Children’s Development Centre and Home of Blessings which supports the children and adults with a variety of learning needs in China.
In 2014 I was delighted to welcome a reciprocal visit from Ms Kong Chan Ning and Ms Wang Wanxin who work at the Amity centre for Children. They were interested to see how we supported the children and young people as there was no support for children with autism in mainstream schools in Western China at that time. As a result of this, parents often struggle to support their child with their education and many leave their own jobs to put this support in place. Ms Kong and Ms Wanxin learnt a lot from their visit and in particular reflected on different communication strategies that they would introduce back in China.
This partnership has continued to develop and included coaching sessions with managers over Skype and more recently on a trip to China to work with services on self-evaluation processes to inform strategic planning. It was very humbling to lead this work and a privilege to engage with teams of committed, aspirational and resourceful staff who aim to provide outstanding services to children, young people and adults with Autism and other learning difficulties.
All partnerships are based on mutual trust and respect for the particular contribution that each partner brings. Partnerships are integral to the way a highly effective service works. Get in touch to find out more.
