National Confidential Forum

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National Confidential Forum

What is the National Confidential Forum?

The National Confidential Forum aims to improve the health and well-being of children placed in institutional care in Scotland by learning from your experience.

The National Confidential Forum (NCF) has been set up as part of the Victims and Witnesses (Scotland) Act 2014. The Scottish Government has legislated for and funded the NCF to show the importance given to the experiences of adults who were in care as children. But the forum is independent from government and local authorities.

The Forum is about understanding and acknowledging your experiences as a child in institutional care in Scotland, whatever they were. You can tell the Members of the Forum about your experiences, including any abuse you suffered, how it was dealt with at the time and effect these experiences have had. This will be in your own words and at your own pace, and it is called your testimony. Please know that we will listen to any experiences you want to tell us about.

How does it work?

What is involved in taking part in the Forum?

By giving your testimony you will be providing a valuable service for people like you who were in care as children; for children today and in the future and for anyone who lives or has ever lived in care in Scotland.

To help you decide if you want to take part in the Forum there is an independent advice and guidance line you can call, see contact details below.

Am I eligible?

Find out if you are eligible to take part.

You can take part in the Forum if:

You lived in a care service or a health service as a child (under 18 years old) in Scotland. You must have been living away from home in institutional care and not in a private house. Some examples are a children's home, a hospital ward for children, a boarding school or some other institution.
You are over 16 now.
You have left institutional care. It does not matter how long you were in institutional care or when you left institutional care.

How to apply

Find out about the ways you can apply.

Sharing your experiences of institutional care as a child in Scotland, is not limited to attending a hearing. There are other options for you to do this. We will work to ensure that you can provide your testimony in the way that best suits you. If you would like some more information about any of these, or would like to discuss an alternatively way to share your testimony with the Forum, please do not hesitate to contact our support staff team using the details below.