Aberdeen and Aberdeenshire chosen as some of Scotland's first Bairns Hoose test sites

Aberdeen and Aberdeenshire have been chosen as two of the first Bairns Hoose test sites in Scotland.

They are two of six locations across the country, with the other test sites in Tayside, Fife, North Strathclyde and the Outer Hebridies.

Bairns Hoose is a Scottish Government policy to transform the lives of children and young people who are victims of crime.

It will allow them to get all of the help and support they need in one place, including from the local health and social care partnership, council and the police, at what can be a very difficult time for them.

Services include child protection, recovery, healthcare, theraputic support and justice.

The test will be used to help blueprint a full pilot in 2025.

Natalie Don, minister for keeping the promise, visited Glenrothes today to make the announcement. 

She says a service like this will stop children being re-traumatised from re-telling their story to multiple people.

She added: “Establishing this network is a major step forward in our aim to transform the care and justice systems for children and young people, many of whom will have been through serious trauma. The creation of these pathfinders will also help us to collectively uphold the rights of children and their families to compassionate and effective support in line with the United Nations Convention on the Rights of the Child (UNCRC).

“This is a key action in Keeping the Promise and I’m pleased to have marked Care Experienced Week by meeting representatives of this vital project to hear about their vision for the future as one of the first Bairns’ Hoose Pathfinder Partnerships.”

Bairns' Hoose is supported by £6million in Scottish Government funding.

More information is available online.