to

BRING YOUR KID TO WORK DAY

BRING YOUR KID TO WORK DAY "but Dad, I wanted to be a rebel!"





to

VICTORY

VICTORY is a turn-on





to

Pilotlight Evaluation - Invite to Tender

Iriss is seeking to commission an independent Evaluator for its Pilotlight programme to support the continued development and delivery of self-directed support (SDS) in Scotland. 

Pilotlight works with co-design teams of people to design pathways to self-directed support.  Now in its fourth year, the Pilotlight programme uses a design approach to demonstrate how to design support for seldom heard groups, provide more personalised and appropriate services and increase the marketplace of support providers.

read more




to

Iriss and the Care Inspectorate explore risk and innovation

In 2015, Iriss launched a joint project with the Care Inspectorate to explore strategic innovation, resilience and risk in the context of the Care Inspectorate’s mandate of scrutiny and improvement.

The project has comprised of an internal staff survey with 108 responses, two workshops with 18 staff members, and has sought to engage the wider Care Inspectorate workforce through the findings. 

read more




to

The story of Relationships Matter

Today, we've published the story of the Relationships Matter project. The two-year project was facilitated by Iriss and led by the Relationships Matter Collective, a group of inspirational practitioners and young people who were brave enough to challenge, and confident enough to promote, continued relationships between practitioners and young people as they leave care.

read more




to

Interim Director appointed

Bob Parry, previously Associate Director at NHS Education for Scotland (NES), has taken up the post of interim Director at Iriss following Jackie McKenzie's departure in March 2016. Bob has held a number of senior positions latterly in the NHS in supporting workforce development and education, and leading work in supporting the integration of health and social care and in academia as Dean, Faculty of Health and Social at University of Hull. 

Bob took up post on 2 May 2016 and will be with us as plans for the recruitment of a new Iriss Director get underway. 





to

Ministerial visit to Iriss

On 20th July, Mark McDonald, the Minister for Childcare and Early Years paid us a visit at our offices in Glasgow.

read more





to

iamsocialwork SUPER:vision Tour Glasgow

iamsocialwork, is a concept that was created by Zoë Betts in 2012, as a newly qualified social worker. It started out as a small, local event in London and has grown into a series of UK-wide events, which offer opportunities for student, recently qualified and qualified social workers to come together to strengthen professional links, peer networks and practice.

read more




to

Learn about co-design tools

We would like to invite you to a free event on Monday, 3rd October to learn about co-design, and tools that can support it. We’ve run two recent co-design projects - one with older people and practitioners who worked together to improve the pathway from hospital to home; and the other with people who access (or may in the future access) self-directed support (SDS), and practitioners from the Pilotlight project.

read more




to

Staf to manage Relationships Matter website

Relationships Matter was a project led by the Relationships Matter Collective, a group of inspirational practitioners and young people who were brave enough to challenge, and confident enough to promote, continued relationships between practitioners and young people as they leave care.

read more



  • looked after children

to

It’s time to take firefighter health and wellness to the next level

  During the session Promoting A Culture Of Safety And Fitness To Prevent Cancer, Heart Disease, and Injuries in Boston Firefighters at NFPA’s Conference & Expo (C&E), Dr. Michael Hamrock, a former firefighter and medical




to

Every firefighter needs an annual physical: how to make it happen and why

John Sullivan, deputy chief of the Worcester Fire Department/vice chair of the IAFC health and safety section, discusses why it's so important for firefighters to get physical exams each year.  The average age of a first heart attack for the general




to

Newton Faulkner sings love songs to Ken

Newton Faulkner performed a selection of his hits way above the Swiss countryside
KENNETH Karlstrom is more used to piloting champagne balloon flights from a St Albans school than taking part in a radio sessions thousands of feet above the Swiss Alps.

As Virgin Balloon Flights'chief pilot, he flew the 100-foot-tall balloon in which singer-songwriter Newton Faulkner lived up to the title of his hit single Dream Catch Me while soaring near to the town of Greyere.

Kenneth normally pilots champagne flights from Nicholas Breakspear School in Colney Heath Lane but he found himself joining 13 lucky passengers to hear dreadlocked Newton play several tracks including his latest single Teardrop.

The performance was recorded for Virgin Radio and the gig was punctuated by the noise of father-of-two Kenneth firing the balloon's burners.

Kenneth and the singer enjoy an after-flight Champagne
The high altitude and cold temperatures meant Newton had to continually warm up his hands and retune his guitar in order to pull off his light-fingered guitar playing.

Unforgettable

It was the first time a radio session has ever been recorded in a hot-air balloon and Kenneth, who has flown balloons all over the world, said: "Every hot-air balloon flight is an unforgettable experience but this had to be in my top 10 and I've been flying for nearly 30 years."

After a 50-minute flight, a soft landing and a champagne toast, Newton continued the celebrations with an impromptu gig in a chalet among the mountains. He was then presented with a platinum gold disc marking half-a-million sales of his number one album Hand Built by Robots.

A video of the full Unplugged and Airborne session is available to watch online at www.virginradio. co.uk

Nice one Kenneth, wish I could have made the meet, for those that don't know, the Virgin Balloon guys were flying 6 balloons for a week at Chateaux Dex

G





to

Bank Opens Fund To Help Balloon Crash Victims

For the second year in a row, the Albuquerque Balloon Fiesta was marked by the tragic death of a person in a balloon. Now, Wells Fargo Bank is trying to help the families of those at the center of this year's accident.
Wells Fargo opened the account for the families of pilots Keith Sproul and Stephen Lachendro, who were in the "Wings Of Wind" balloon when it hit a power line last Friday morning.
The gondola caught fire and separated from the balloon envelope, crashing to the ground.

Thieves made off with radios, computers and other items.
Wells Fargo has already donated $1,000 into the account to help the families deal with expenses surrounding the funeral, medical care costs and the break-in .
Donors who want to give to the account can contact Wells Fargo and should ask about donating to the Debbie Sproul account.




to

‘I’ve been thinking’: How does completing life story work affect people with dementia?

This is a paper produced as part of the PROP2 (Practitioner Research: Outcomes and Partnership) programme, a partnership between the Centre for Research on Families and Relationships (CRFR) at the University of Edinburgh and IRISS that was about health and social care in Scotland. This paper was written by iain Houston from Alzeimer Scotland who participated in the PROP2 programme. What this research paper explores: An explorative case study investigating how completing a life story project affected a person with dementia.




to

How do we ensure that training and information support contributes to positive outcomes for carers?

This is a paper produced as part of the PROP2 (Practitioner Research: Outcomes and Partnership) programme, a partnership between the Centre for Research on Families and Relationships (CRFR) at the University of Edinburgh and Iriss that was about health and social care in Scotland. This paper was written by Alan Gilmour from Glasgow City Community Health Partnership who participated in the PROP2 programme. This research aimed to gain an understanding of how training and information support contributes to positive outcomes for carers. It provided a range of information to answer specific questions such as: • Do carers feel that their needs are identified appropriately at different stages of their journey? • Does training contribute to the carer’s outcomes? • What are the barriers to carers engaging in training?




to

SCIE report 68: SCIE learning together - reflections from the South West project

Report 68 published by the Social Care Institute for Excellence (SCIE) in November 2014. This report will help readers to understand the Learning Together methodology.




to

Resilience and wellbeing in people living with dementia in relation to perceived attitudes in their communities

This is a paper produced as part of the PROP2 (Practitioner Research: Outcomes and Partnership) programme, a partnership between the Centre for Research on Families and Relationships (CRFR) at the University of Edinburgh and Iriss that was about health and social care in Scotland. This paper was written by Geraldine Ditta from Alzheimer Scotland who participated in the PROP2 programme. People living with dementia are at risk of becoming socially isolated and disconnected from their local communities. Reactions from others on being told someone has dementia can have a significant impact on the person with dementia’s sense of self. This study sought to explore the perceptions of people with dementia in relation to attitudes within their communities and how they subsequently respond. Semi-structured interviews were carried out to examine how they feel about their lives with dementia.




to

Sharing practice to improve outcomes for care leavers. Evaluation report on an inter-authority learning exchange

Evaluation report for the inter-authority learning exchange between Shetland Islands, Falkirk and Glasgow Councils throughcare and aftercare teams. In February 2014 a member of the Throughcare and Aftercare team from Shetland, spent two weeks in each host authority as a means of developing and sharing practice, experience and learning. The report describes the planning process, in-situ experience, and post-exchange learning of participants, it also report highlights the positive learning outcomes and benefits achieved for all participating local authorities. The report identifies ideas for future applications of such a learning and practice exchange model to improve practice for looked after young people and care leavers.




to

Creative Breaks, A summary of projects funded between September 2014 and October 2015

The Short Breaks Fund helping to make breaks better and brighter for unpaid carers and cared-for people in Scotland. Launched in 2010 for one year, the fund has now been running for five years and has proved to be a lifeline for many carers. During the past five years the Scottish Government, through Shared Cared Scotland has distributed 12,547,409 to 697 projects to deliver innovative, tailor made breaks to groups and individuals.




to

Understanding and Responding to the Needs of Carers of People with Dementia in the UK, US and Beyond

This research compares the different approaches to supporting carers of people with dementia across the UK, US and beyond.  Carried out by the University of Birmingham, this work explores the role and experience of carers in different national contexts, highlighting good practice examples and making policy and practice recommendations.  Unsurprisingly perhaps, the report highlights just how much we have in common with other countries in trying to make available effective, personalised supports against a backdrop of increased demand and diminishing resource.  Interestingly, the report explores the language of ‘respite’ which it suggests has ‘negative overtones’ and proposes a more creative approache to service provision is needed.




to

Donald Trump's Awkward Water Moment Has Inspired A Hilarious Photoshop Battle

Donald Trump's amazingly awkward water swig is apparently the gift that keeps on giving. The Photoshop Battle subreddit tackled a funny snapshot of the moment, incorporating everything from panpipes to Harry Potter. We've included our favorites, but there are loads more on the official thread.

Lots to unpack here, so maybe ease into it by first starting off with some light Trump Memes, and then progressing to this list of "good stuff".







to

Trump Posts a Photo of Himself Working on His Inaugural Address and it Gives Spark to a New Meme

Yesterday Trump tweeted a photo of himself hard at work on his inauguration speech and the internet has been having a field day with it. 

It started on twitter with people guessing at what The Donald might be drawing. Shortly thereafter it got a small photoshop battle. 

'What's Donald Drawing' definitely has the potential to catch on.

Get More Trump Memes that are simply tremendous, people tell me how amazing these memes are all the time.





to

This Bizarre Instagram Account Inserts Donald Trump Into Your Favorite Movies

Trump In Cinema is dedicated to displaying some of movie history's best moments with Donald Trump at the center of them. Some of these photoshops are too perfect. Others as just... troubling.




to

The Internet Took the Opportunity to Photoshop Donald Trump With a Blank Sign and Ran With It

Has Trump seen people holding signs on the internet before? It never turns out well.




to

The Untouched Picture of Kim Jong-Un Started a Supreme Photoshop Battle

North Korea released a smiling picture of Kim Jong-Un and were VERY specific about pointing out the fact that the image was untouched. Obviously the first thing the internet did when they got a hold of the image was to touch it up a bit. The results were glorious.






to

Top Memes And Reactions To Last Night's Democratic Presidential Debate

Why do politics always make for the best meme material? We'll just let the politicians speak for themselves. 

In case you missed last night's democratic presidential debate, then we'll give you a little run down: Cory Booker accused Joe Biden of being high, Amy Klobuchar claimed she raised a crap-load of money from her ex-boyfriends, and Biden made an, uh, brain-dead comment about domestic violence. 

Scroll down to watch some of the highlights and view some of the internet's reactions!




to

Twitter Roasts Pete Buttigieg For His Staged 'Walk Back To Iowa'

Poor Mayor Pete just can't seem to catch a break on the internet. The presidential candidate from South Bend, Indiana tweeted a photo of himself walking down a hallway on Saturday with the caption, "On my way back to Iowa. It's phase 4. Let's do this." The tweet has been catching a fair amount of flack for appearing to be staged. 

Here are some of Twitter's most amusing reaction memes and tweets!




to

Roundup Of Democratic Debate Memes That Roast Last Night's Total Freak Show

Last night's democratic debate in Nevada got pretty damn spicy to say the least. So much so that many are calling it the most entertaining debate of the election cycle so far. Pete spoke Spanish, Warren (and every other candidate, for that matter) came out swinging against Bloomberg, and many, many other things that warranted a monumental cringe fest. 

So please enjoy the following roast-y memes from the night and you can watch a more in-depth recap of it here!




to

Internet Reacts To Trump's Comments About Injecting Disinfectant To Cure COVID-19

The internet is reacting to comments made by Donald Trump during a COVID-19-related press briefing held yesterday. Trump claimed that the virus could be treated by bringing "light inside the body" or injecting a disinfectant. Thankfully medical professionals were quick to denounce these claims, and people on the internet have since been creating some excellent memes on the matter. 

This should go without saying, but please don't inject yourself with disinfectant, y'all.




to

Welcome to Liberated Syndication

This default podcast has been automatically generated by the libsyn system. Feel free to delete it at any time. Welcome to Liberated Syndication, and happy casting




to

#26: Green as a Fresh-pickled Toad




to

#63: The Trailer According to Garth




to

#73: PotterCast Goes to FAO Schwarz




to

#123: This One Was Supposed to Be Easy




to

#132: Welcome to 2008




to

#149: A History




to

#160: The Last Show Before Tour!