‘Can’t, Not Won’t’: SCCR Online Festival 2025

Throughout March, Cyrenians Scottish Centre for Conflict Resolution will run an online conference for professionals who work with families in conflict. Reserving a place for one of the talks, discussions and workshops is free.

This year’s conference’s theme is ‘Can’t, not Won’t’.

We ask a lot of children and young people, and when some act in a manner that society might encourage parents and carers to interpret as ‘bad’, we tend to blame the young person. It’s an easy answer, and in a world as hectic as ours, easy answers save time.

Only look a little deeper, though, and we can see other factors influencing young people’s behaviour. Perhaps they’re struggling with the changes to their body and brain that adolescence brings. Or their struggle is with the online world, where social media pressure and influencers can lead young people into behaviours that concern their parents and carers. Perhaps the young person suffered trauma in their early years which is affecting their ability to understand where their parents and carers are coming from.

This year’s SCCR online conference theme ‘Can’t, not Won’t’ brings together several speakers who, together, offer professionals (and parents and carers who want to learn more) a reset of expectations of young people.

For many young people, it’s not a case of ‘won’t’ but of ‘can’t’: life has limited their ability to make progress. The conference will examine what these barriers are, how they came to be – and what we can do to help them overcome these obstacles.

The four speakers confirmed so far reflect the conference’s theme.

On Thursday, 13 March, at 4pm, Billy Burke, a former headteacher who is now Head of Service at Scottish Action for Mental Health, will deliver a talk on ‘Status Quo or Status No: Rethinking Mental Health in Education’. We are in a mental health crisis, and the status quo isn’t good enough for Scotland’s young people. Billy’s event will explore what needs to change and how can the education system help. The event will be followed by a Q&A. To reserve a place at this event, click here. 

For our event on Tuesday, 18 March, 11am, Lorna Gibson, Young Carer Network Coordinator at Carers Trust Scotland, will give an oversite of who young carers are and the challenges they may face. You will also hear about some of Carers Trust Scotland’s national work, as well as about legislation and support available for young carers and their families. To reserve a place at this event, click here.

Nelly Whaley, Training Manager at Salvesen Mindroom Centre, leads ‘It Takes all Kind of Minds: Neurodiversity Workshop’ on Thursday, 20 March, 2pm. This virtual workshop which explores how you can begin to take a more holistic, strengths-based approach to supporting neurodivergent individuals. Participants will be encouraged to reflect on how their practice can promote inclusion and acceptance. To reserve a place at this event, click here. 

On Wednesday, 26 March, 10am to 11am, Sheena Peckham, Content Lead at Internet Matters, a non-profit organization that helps parents and professionals keep children safe online, will speak on ‘Balancing Screen Time’. Understanding children’s and young peoples relationship with digital is key to finding common ground when it comes to managing screen time. In this session, we’ll explore the digital landscape, what ‘screen time’ actually means and what balanced screen time looks like along with tools to support children and young people’s wellbeing when it comes to screens. To reserve a place at this event, click here. 

Four more events will be added to our programme over the coming weeks. Updates will appear on our website’s conference page, our social media platforms, and our newsletter, which you can subscribe to by emailing sccr@cyrenians.scot.