Creating Hope - Conference 2026
Welcome to our hub for Suicide Prevention Scotland's annual conference, which took place in Glasgow in May 2026.
Growing Capacity for Hope through Action
Our conference took place in Glasgow on Wednesday 27 May
This year’s Creating Hope Conference brought people together from sectors, communities and lived experience networks to focus on how we grow capacity for hope through collective action.
Over the last year, organisations and communities across Scotland have developed powerful work that demonstrates how hope can flourish when people collaborate, share learning and take action rooted in compassion.
We came together to celebrate that work, explore what helps to turn ideas into impact, and create space for participants to shape what comes next.
On this page you can learn more about the conference and watch the keynote speech from Iain Corbett.
Watch Iain Corbett deliver our keynote address
Iain's full speech, "I hope, I think, I know" from our conference
Who's spoke at our conference 2026?
Some of the key people who presented on the day
Scott Thomson
Co-host & suicide prevention advocate
Scott is a suicide prevention advocate and researcher who brings both lived and living experience and professional perspectives to his work.
Over the past six years, he has contributed to suicide prevention research, strategy development and lived experience engagement across Scotland, including supporting the development of the University of Strathclyde's sector-leading suicide prevention strategy.
He is also a member of Samaritans Scotland's Lived Experience Advisory Group, and was an ambassador for our latest national campaign.
Scott believes compassion, connection and lived and living experience should sit at the heart of suicide prevention and support for those affected by suicide.
Iain Corbett
Keynote speaker & youth worker
Iain is a youth worker and community development practitioner who is passionate about amplifying the voice of young people in processes, policy and decision making in which they are regularly overlooked.
He works with young people deprived of their liberty in his roles as Participation, Policy and Engagement Advisor at the Children and Young People’s Centre for Justice and as Senior Practitioner at Fearless Scotland – the youth arm of Crimestoppers Trust.
Iain’s work focusses on ensuring young people are supported to understand the drivers to their behaviour, equips them with the tools to regulate and supports them to develop plans to work beyond their current situation.
Iain delivered our keynote address, which you can watch on this page.
Jane O'Donnell
CEO, COSLA
Jane O’Donnell was appointed the Chief Executive of COSLA, the voice of local government in Scotland, in March 2023.
She has over 25 years’ experience working in and with councils and, prior to her appointment, spent two years in senior roles in Scottish Government.
Jane has a particular interest in ensuring a whole system approach to public policy and public services.
She has held senior trustee roles in several third sector organisations supporting women and girls.
Jane was a founder member of the National Suicide Prevention Leadership Group and is a strong advocate for the role of local government in wellbeing.
Neil Rennick
Director-General Education and Justice
Neil Rennick was appointed Director-General Education and Justice in September 2023.
He was previously Director of Justice.
Prior to this, Neil was Deputy Director of Criminal Law and Licensing Division.
He was previously Executive Director of Strategy and Infrastructure for the Scottish Court Service (SCS).
Before joining the SCS he worked in a variety of roles within the Civil Service, including as private secretary to the Permanent Secretary and Head of Public Bodies Division.
He studied at the University of Glasgow and is also co-chair of the Justice Board for Scotland.
Anna Wroblewska
Community Language Support
Anna Wroblewska is a Project Coordinator at Community Language Support (CLS), the social enterprise of the West of Scotland Regional Equality Council.
She oversees the delivery of ethical translation and interpreting services, leads training programmes for organisations to strengthen inclusive and accessible communication, and support advocacy work for individuals experiencing language barriers in accessing services.
Anna also coordinates the MEHRP project, working in partnership with organisations and public bodies to improve access and reduce inequalities for minority ethnic communities. She is a trained translator and interpreter with almost two decades of experience.
She brings expertise across legal, community, and public service contexts, with a strong commitment to accessibility, quality, and culturally responsive practice.
And who else?
Suicide Prevention Scotland
A number of colleagues from across our Suicide Prevention Scotland community took part or led key sessions.
Delegates met members of our Lived & Living Experience Panel. This group plays a central role in the development of policy and practice. Members have their own deeply personal experience of suicide.
We'll were also joined by our National Delivery Lead Haylis Smith, who co-hosted the conference.
Maddy Kirkman, development manager at United to Prevent Suicide joined us for a unique connection activity.
Linda Hunter, who works across our Time Space Compassion agenda, was part of our session on 'Translating Hope Into Action' with Anna Wroblewska and Haylis.
"A great example of how to make events accessible"
As a lived-experience voice at these events, there are always so many 'close to home' moments that can make the day feel quite intense. I found myself teary-eyed more often than not. Suicide Prevention Scotland do an excellent job of keeping attendees safe; offering listening volunteers throughout the day and encouraging an open door policy where people can step out of the agenda for as long as they need. They are a great example of how to make events accessible for us, as people with lived-experience.
Charlotte, Suicide Prevention Scotland Lived & Living Experience Panel
Watch: Jane O'Donnell & Neil Rennick
COSLA chief executive Jane O'Donnell and Neil Rennick, director-general for education and justice at the Scottish Government joined the conference for a panel discussion with our Lived & Living Experience Panel.
Afterwards they sat down to discuss the conference, and wider role of local and national government working together to deliver Creating Hope Together.
Our workshop programme
Resources, where available, will be downloadable here soon
#AndysManClub – Immersive Experience
Alex McClintock & Kenny Armour
Immersive peer-led session showing how safe spaces help men open up.
Growing Capacity for Hope with Children and Young People
Chris Ross & Jenny Ferguson
Evidence-led session with group activities on youth suicide prevention.
HopeBox – Connecting with Hope Through Sensory Stimulus
Matt Connelly & Will Deacon
Interactive session building a HopeBox through sensory exploration.
Keep Talking: Turning Connection into Action across Rural Scotland
Josie Barclay & Katie Bryan
Focus on rural isolation and community-led solutions.
Scottish Firearms Mental Health Partnership
CI Bruce Crawford
Partnership approach addressing stigma and early intervention.
Tracing (Un) Liveability
University of Edinburgh team
Exploring qualitative data to understand social drivers of suicide.
Multi-agency collab in times of scarcity
Susie Heywood, Gail McAndrew, Stacey McIntosh, Diane Stewart
Interactive session exploring collaborative partnerships.
Service Design Taster Session
Chamithri Greru, Benjamin McElwee & Linda Hunter
Exploring service design methods for lived experience led change.
Images from the day
Photos from the conference and workshops in Glasgow
Visit our Creating Hope Conference 2025 hub for loads of brilliant information and insight - click here.
Go social with us!
Join us on #SuicidePreventionScotland channels and find more pictures, film and information from our conference
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