News

Digital lifelines, voices and stories, celebrated at Scottish Parliament Reception

Published on: 01/04/2025

Digital lifelines, voices and stories, celebrated at Scottish Parliament Reception

On Thursday, 13 March 2025, the Digital Health & Care Innovation Centre (DHI), alongside partners the Scottish Council for Voluntary Organisations (SCVO) and Simon Community Scotland, proudly hosted a Scottish Parliament reception to celebrate the impact of the Digital Lifelines Scotland programme.

The event was sponsored by Clare Haughey MSP and supported by a range of third-sector organisations. Held at the Scottish Parliament, the event brought together around 100 guests – including Cabinet Secretary for Health and Social Care, Mr Neil Gray, and a number of ministers and MSPs – for an evening of discussion, learning, and shared ambition.

Scotland
Success Stories
Member News

On Thursday, 13 March 2025, the Digital Health & Care Innovation Centre (DHI), alongside partners the Scottish Council for Voluntary Organisations (SCVO) and Simon Community Scotland, proudly hosted a Scottish Parliament reception to celebrate the impact of the Digital Lifelines Scotland programme. The event was sponsored by Clare Haughey MSP and supported by a range of third-sector organisations.

The evening followed a timely mention of Digital Lifelines Scotland in a parliamentary debate on Health and Social Care Innovation. During the debate, Ms Haughey praised the programme as “a fantastic example of the powerful manner in which digital inclusion and digital services can be enabled to support individuals.”

Held at the Scottish Parliament, the event brought together around 100 guests for an evening of discussion, learning, and shared ambition. DHI was honoured by the attendance of Cabinet Secretary for Health and Social Care, Mr Neil Gray, who offered encouraging remarks and showed strong interest in the work being done. Ministers and MSPs in attendance also engaged with the stories and statistics shared throughout the evening.

Following opening remarks from Ms Haughey, attendees heard from DHI’s Moira Mackenzie and Margaret Whoriskey, who presented the background and progress of Digital Lifelines. To date, the programme has supported over 5,500 people, distributing over 3,200 devices and 3,800 data packages. Crucially, more than 500 staff and volunteers have been trained as Digital Champions to offer continued support in their communities.

The second half of the evening highlighted the programme’s real-world impact. Vari MacFadzean from Harbour Ayrshire shared a powerful personal story of transformation, representing the work of 35 organisations that received Digital Lifelines Scotland funding. Claire Longmuir of Simon Community Scotland spoke passionately about placing lived experience at the heart of service design, while David McNeill (SCVO) reflected on the wider system-level influence of the initiative and the vision for future growth.

Exhibitions during the event further showcased the creativity and impact of the programme. SCVO presented creative works from participants, and Simon Community Scotland demonstrated the By My Side app, now supporting hundreds of people daily with access to vital services and information.

DHI also welcomed NHS Fife and partners involved in the Chief Scientist Office’s Reducing Drug Deaths Innovation Challenge, highlighting the ongoing role of digital innovation in harm reduction.

As the evening concluded, DHI and its partners reaffirmed their commitment to growing and sustaining Digital Lifelines Scotland, with hopes to expand its reach and continue supporting some of Scotland’s most vulnerable individuals through digital inclusion.

Discover more about the Digital Health & Care Innovation Centre (DHI):

The Digital Health & Care Innovation Centre (DHI) is a national resource, key enabler and catalyst for change, occupying a unique and visible position at the heart of the Scottish innovation ecosystem for digital health and social care. We are a world-leading collaboration between the University of Strathclyde and the Glasgow School of Art, publicly funded by the Scottish Funding Council (SFC) and the Scottish Government. We are a not-for-profit organisation. Our expertise and influence allow us to play a pivotal role in building a fairer, inclusive, accessible, and equitable health and social care system by harnessing the power of Scotland’s academic, public, private, and third sectors.

NEWS​

Related News

InnoHSupport Open Calls

1 Jul 2025
Welcome to the InnoHSupport Open Calls!

Transformative Health Instrument Call 2025

1 Jul 2025
Apply to the Transformative Health Instrument (THI) Call 2025 if you are a growing and innovative healthcare start-up working on solutions that have s...

Longitude Prize on ALS

1 Jul 2025
The £7.5 million (~$10 million) Longitude Prize on ALS incentivises the use of AI-based approaches to transform drug discovery for amyotrophic lateral...

Applications Now Open: Spread & Scale Academy

1 Jul 2025
Do you have an innovation or solution that’s working well in one place and could make a difference elsewhere?

Securing funding for your innovation: The bid lifecycle

1 Jul 2025
This blog is the second instalment in our Bid Lifecycle series, where we explore the key stages involved in securing funding for innovative healthcare...

HLTH Brought the Energy to Amsterdam. Now It’s Vegas’ Turn.

26 Jun 2025
Next up: HLTH USA, October 19–22 in Las Vegas.

Become a member

Join ECHAlliance to amplify your organisation’s message, grow your networks, connect with innovators and collaborate globally.
 
First name *
Last Name *
Email Address *
Country *
Position *
First name *
Last Name *
Email Address *
Country *
Position *