Return to flip book view

Message 2024-25ANNUALREPORT

Table of Contents1What is The Village? ................................................................................................1Why is The Village Needed? ..................................................................................2Team Member Support ..........................................................................................3Meetups & Events ....................................................................................................3New Offerings ..........................................................................................................4Expanding Our Reach .............................................................................................5Who Makes Up The Village? ..................................................................................6The Village’s Impact ...............................................................................................7Villager Surveys ......................................................................................................8Supporting the Sector ...........................................................................................9Looking Forward .....................................................................................................9Acknowledgements ................................................................................................

We aim to EmpowerWe aim to EmpowerWhat is The Village?Why is the village needed?The Why Not Trust originated from a community developed by Care Visions to ensure young people wereable to maintain safe, trusted relationships after moving on from care. Established as an independentcharity in 2018, The Why Not Trust still exists to develop and support communities for those who haveencountered the care system and currently have shared experiences. The Village is one such community, which aims to provide parents who have been impacted by the caresystem with a social network and informal, non-judgemental support from team members. In The Village,the control is always in the hands of the parent. Parents can engage as much or as little as they need andget support with what they choose, whether that be parenting advice, accessing financial support, orsocialising with other parents. The Village is primarily facilitated online, ensuring accessibility for all, withoptions for in-person meetups for those who prefer to engage face-to-face. Parents can engage throughwhatever format best suits them, whether that be social media accounts or WhatsApp. The Village maintains strong values and always puts the rights and needs of parents first. In addition tosupporting parents directly, we are constantly working to shift the wider narrative and reduce any stigmaaround care-experience and parenting. The key components of our approach are:Care-experienced parents typically face barriers and challenges above those of the average parent. Thetransition to parenthood in particular is a major identity shift for any new parent. Due to low socialsupport, this process may be even more stressful for those who are care-experienced. It is known that thecare system itself has a lasting impact on the social networks of care-experienced people, with those whohave been in care often having reduced social networks due to frequent moves, stigmatisation from peers,and institutional barriers. Becoming a parent, however, is a time when social support becomes crucial, asparents rely on friends and family for emotional, informational, appraisal (i.e. reassurance andencouragement), and instrumental (i.e. practical support with parenting duties) support. For care-experienced parents who are likely to have less help from friends and family, a community like The Villagecan become a lifeline. Longitudinal evidence shows that there is no difference between mothers with experience of care andthose without regarding their ability to provide a safe and stable home for their children. However, care-experienced mothers are less likely to perceive themselves as good parents. Many care-experiencedparents say that having a child of their own is their opportunity to “break the cycle” and provide a betterlife for their child than the upbringing they had themselves. Unfortunately, many professionals andservices view care-experienced parents as less capable of caring for their children than their non-care-experienced counterparts. This, combined with a lack of social support, and potentially lack of positiveparenting role models, can negatively affect care-experienced parents’ confidence. However, withappropriate non-judgemental support, care-experienced parents can and will be effective carers for theirchildren. Visit our website for a full literature review of the evidence base for The Village.1We aim to EmpowerWe MeetPeopleWhereThey ArePeople’sStoriesBelong To ThemNo Shaming,Blaming, OrJudgementWe developcommunitiesthat areindependentfromservices

Making and attendingappointments orsupport groupsTeam Member SupportEvery parent in The Village has access to informal one-to-one support from one of our knowledgeable andcompassionate team members. Team members are available to answer questions, give advice, and provideemotional support. Engagement with team members is parent-led, so parents decide what kind of supportthey would like. Support from team members is completely confidential - no records are kept or shared,unless there is a serious welfare concern. Team members further work to facilitate relationships betweenparents, arranging meetups and events or leading sessions with a particular focus, such as baby massage,sensory sessions, or Book Bug sessions. Although The Village does not keep individual records on parents, every week team members feed backwhat types of support they provided to parents that week. The main support themes and how frequentlythey came up in team member feedback are shown below: 2Psychological / emotional supportFinancial support /entitlementsParenting advicePhysical self-careRelationshipsAdvocacyYear 0-1HousingPregnancyChildren withASNSupport withcontacts (childrenno longer inparent’s care)Percentage of Total Support GivenWeekly Support Themes 2025The most frequently recordedsupport theme in thequantitative feedback providedby team members is that ofpsychological and emotionalsupport, accounting for nearlyone-quarter of the total supportprovided by team members.Assistance accessing financialsupport and entitlements, as wellas parenting advice, are alsocommon themes of 1:1 support.The frequency of each theme hasremained mostly stable sincelast year, however support withfinances has noticeablyincreased. Last year financesaccounted for 6% of totalsupport, and now stands at 13%. Additional Support ThemesCompleting forms andapplicationsAdvocacySourcing necessaryitemsEmployability#1 Benefits /entitlements#2 Housing#3 Financial grantsEx.) Applying for crisisfunding, Best StartGrants, disability buspass, and funding topay deposit on a newflat.#1 Mental health#2 Healthcare#3 Benefits /entitlementsEx.) Helping villager tofind and attend asupport group for post-natal depression.#1 Signposting toadvocacy support#2 Helping parent regaincustody or increasevisitation with child#3 Supporting parentto advocate forthemselvesEx.) Parent who wassupported by teammember through processof regaining custodylearned their child wouldbe returning home.#1 Items for child#2 Health-related items#3 FoodEx.) Getting a new pramfor a parent who didnot have one and wasunable to go out.#4 Technology#1 Accessing coursesor training#2 Connecting withwork experience /volunteering#3 Connecting withwork opportunitiesEx.) Parent who wantedto build up CV tobecome a supportworker was offered avolunteer placement.Below are the most common additional support themes reported by team members between August 2024 - May 2025,in order of amount of times mentioned (main theme frequency decreasing left to right; subtheme frequencydecreasing top to bottom). This list is not exhaustive - other common themes include building social networks, helpingparents support their child’s development, and navigating perceived stigmatisation by external services.

Meetups & EventsLast year, the most frequent suggestion that we got from parents on how to improveThe Village was to offer more in-person opportunities for villagers to connect witheach other. While parents value the accessibility and ease of engaging primarilythrough social media and WhatsApp, parents recognise that in-person meetups andevents are more conducive to building deeper relationships. Therefore, over the lastyear we have taken this suggestion on board and made greater efforts to ensureparents have the opportunities to meet up with each other in-person, if theychoose. We continue to regularly offer baby massage, sensory sessions, coffee catch-ups,and walk and talk to parents in different local areas. Recently, we have expanded ourmeetups to include more wellbeing-centred activities to align with what villagers aretelling us would make a difference to them. One such event that has been extremelywell-received by parents is Reconnect & Refresh. These retreat-style days allowparents to come together and reconnect with themselves after an intense period ofentering parenthood. Parents were able to form friendships, practice some self-care, and explore their own aspirations, such as returning to work.3New offeringsOver the last year, we have expanded the ways in which parents can engage with The Village and how wecan directly support parents with specific issues that frequently come up. The ways in which we helpparents connect with each other and access information to support their personal and parentaldevelopment are constantly adapting based on what villagers prefer and find the most useful. Health Visitor Online SessionsThis year we started holding weekly online sessionswith a health visitor where parents can drop-in andask questions regarding their own or their child’shealth. Parents also have the option of sendingquestions to team members to ask for them, and canget the answers from the recordings of the sessions.These have been a great opportunity for parents toask for advice from a qualified professional in a non-judgemental and relaxed setting. Having access tohealth visitor Laura through the sessions is especiallyuseful for parents who are having trouble with theircurrent health visitor, either due to lack of capacityor feeling stigmatised, to get knowledgable advice onhow to proceed.Why Not WellbeingBased on what parents have told us through formalfeedback and the support themes team members haverecorded, emotional and psychological support has beena key need for parents in The Village. Therefore, we startedcreating original resources and holding group drop-insessions on a variety of mental health and wellbeingthemes, including stress and anxiety, relationships andcommunication, self-esteem, and self-care. Theprogramme can be viewed here:whynottrust.org/resources/wellbeing-sessions/WhatsApp GroupsOver the last year, the number of parents engaging in VillageWhatsApp groups has greatly increased. WhatsApp groupsare typically set up for parents within the same localauthority to allow for deeper relationships between villagersin the same local community. These have been immenselybeneficial in helping parents to build their social supportnetworks. Parents use the groups to chat about everyday life,get parenting advice, vent, and share their struggles andsuccesses. Parents in the groups will often arrange outingsfor themselves and their children. Currently 46% of parentsare in a group. [Reconnect & Refresh] allowed me time to reflect onmyself and give myself much needed self care that I wasable to use on Saturday but also take away with me toimplement into my life regularly. I enjoyed being able toshare the space with the girls and share experiences andgoals. Overall the name lived up to the day.Meetups are usually attended by small groups ofparents (usually 3-5 at a time), allowing parents tohave in-depth conversations with each other andbuild friendships. Survey data shows that thosewho had attended events or meetups were morelikely to experience positive changes in socialwellbeing as a result of The Village.The [WhatsApp] chat has helped me somuch, I really appreciate everyone’sadvice. It has helped my mental health as Ihave found it a bit of a struggle ... but Iknow I am doing my best.

Expanding our reachAt the beginning of 2024, we started our focused work in Inverclyde, trialling how The Village could bedeveloped in a specific local authority. This approach proved to be successful, as we were able to deepenrelationships with services and organisations in the local community, which increased introductions ofparents to The Village. Since then, we have expanded to other areas and now have a strong local presencein Inverclyde, Renfrewshire, North Lanarkshire, and Aberdeenshire. What we offer in each area is suited tothe unique needs of the parents in that area. 4Work with Birth Parents inAberdeenshire & North LanarkshireIn addition to building our care-experienced community inAberdeenshire and North Lanarkshire, we have recentlyfurther expanded our support to include parents who nolonger have their children in their care. This encompassesthose whose children are going through child protectionprocesses, whose children have been permanently removed,and post-adoption support. This has proved to be a largelyunmet need not only in these local authorities, but nationally.While a portion of birth parents will be care-experiencedthemselves, it is not required to be supported by The Village,as we recognise that the care system impacts both thechildren brought into care and the families they have beenremoved from. In supporting birth parents to make positivechanges for themselves, we hope to ultimately help reducethe subsequent number of children who enter the caresystem.The Care-Experienced Community in RenfrewshireThe Village community in Renfrewshire hasbeen a great example of what is possible whenwe focus our work in a local area and ensurewe are meeting the unique needs of care-experienced parents who live there. Sincelaunching in Renfrewshire in August 2024, wehave seen significant growth in the area. Priorto this, Renfrewshire villagers made up 2% ofThe Village. Renfrewshire now accounts for15% of all villagers. Regular in-personmeetups and the local WhatsApp group havebeen integral to Renfrewshire villagersforming strong connections. Further,compared to The Village as a whole,Renfrewshire parents presented with moremental health and wellbeing needs, which wehave made directed efforts to address boththrough 1:1 team member support and in-person offerings in the local community. The Village has helpedwith my confidencemoving forward with thenext step of getting mychildren back into mycare. I never knewanything like this existed. -Birth parent, North LanarkshireI am really happy thereis work like this beingdone for the birthparents out there, it isso needed. -Professional, AberdeenshireWhile The Village’s focusedwork with birth parents isstill fairly new, we havealready seen positiveoutcomes of this type ofsupport, for both parentsand their children. Severalparents have been assistedby team members and/orsignposted to agencies,allowing them to makeprogress on increasingtheir visitation time orregaining permanency oftheir children. This new group of parentscomes with new kinds ofsupport that we are able tooffer. With villagers whodon’t have their childrencurrently in their care, theemphasis is on helpingthem work on themselvesand get to a place wherethey can have theirchildren returned, improvetheir relationships withtheir children in care,better care for futurechildren, or simply be ableto move forward and takecontrol of their lives.

Pregnant/Newborn 1 Year2-3 Years 4-5 Years0 20 40 60 80 100Age of Villager's Children (under 5) (%)1 2 3+0 20 40 60 80 100Number of Children (%)Under 18 18-25 26+0 20 40 60 80 100Age of Villagers (%)Female Male0 20 40 60 80 100Gender (%)Aberdeen CityAberdeenshireDumfries & GallowayEast DunbartonshireDundeeEdinburghFalkirkHighlandsGlasgowInverclydeMorayNorth AyrshireNorth LanarkshireRenfrewshireSouth LanarkshireStirlingWest DunbartonshireWest Lothian05101520Who makes up the village?The Village is open to all parents who identify with the term “care-experienced,” or for birth parents, havebeen impacted by the care system. Parents are never asked to provide proof of care-experience. Thecommunity is aimed at parents who have a child under 5, although many will also have older children. It is worth noting that The Village does not solely support those directly in the community. Often teammembers will provide support to partners and grandparents of villagers as well, so the number of peopleimpacted by The Village’s support is likely much higher. 5parents are currentlypart of The Village185(%)The majority of parents in The Village arewomen with a median age of 24 years old.However, a large portion - over 40% - ofvillagers are 26 or older. This attests to theneed to continue supporting care-experienced people after the usual cut-off ageof 26, especially as they enter new stages oflife with unique challenges, such asparenthood. Compared to one year ago, there is now alarger portion of parents to children between1-2 years old, and less parents with childrenunder 1. This may be because most of the parents who had children under 1last year have remained in TheVillage. It also indicates that in thelast year, more parents withchildren in the 1-3 years old rangehave joined.Most parents (62%) have been in The Village for less than a year, while about 30% have been part of thecommunity for up to 1.5 years. Approximately half of villagers self-identify as having a disability. Further,more than half have parenting support from a partner. 23% of villagers, care-experienced and birth parentsincluded, have at least one child who is not in their care. The Village represents parents from 18 local authorities across Scotland. Currently, most villagers areconcentrated within the central belt of Scotland, namely Glasgow and its surrounding areas. The map belowshows how villagers are distributed across the country, with darker shades indicating more parents.

The village’s impactParents consistently tell us how beneficial The Village has been and continues to be on various aspects oftheir emotional, social, and physical wellbeing, in addition to helping them to parent with more ease andconfidence. Perhaps the most overwhelming benefit that parents report is having a non-judgementallistening ear whenever they need it - knowing someone is at the other end of the phone if they have aquestion, need to talk about their struggles, or get reassurance. Many parents have commented on howrefreshing it is to have their team member check in with them regularly, some even saying it is the first timethat they felt like someone truly cared. Similarly, being able to connect with other parents who understandtheir unique experiences is something that villagers often shareis impactful for them, as they greatly appreciate being able to support and be supported by other care-experienced parents. 6Just a big thank you for having TheVillage to be a part of. Before I evenfell pregnant I was always worriedabout being lonely when I become amum because I don’t have familyand didn’t have any friends. Butwhen I had my son and found outabout The Village, I feel nowincluded in the community and feelthere is support out there if needed.I know without it my first year wouldhave been a whole lot different.Further, parents frequently express how lifechanging it can be toget support accessing entitlements and other instrumentalsupports that make the everyday demands of parenting less taxing.Having a go-to person to support them with navigating complexsystems and securing financial, legal, and housing support appearsto be a main benefit for parents in The Village. Parents share howthis aspect greatly reduces their stress, allowing them to focusmore fully on caring for themselves and their children. A massive thanks for sharing the [grant], I got approvedto get enough to get driving lessons. It’s going to make amassive difference because the industry I’m in hasstarted putting driving license as essential. Plus theobvious benefits like being able to take my wee one outto country parks that are only a 20 minute drive butabout 2 hours away by transit.£17,195 saved by or awarded to villagersbetween August 2024 and May 2025.Some powerful examples from over the lastyear of how The Village has been there forparents when they needed it most andcontributed to parents making positivechanges in their lives include:A team member used their connections toarrange and collect donations to fill aparent’s new flat with over £500 worth ofwhite goods.A parent had their baby removed from thechild protection register, with one of theprotective factors in the report being theparent’s support from The Village.A parent was able to access funds to stay ina hotel near the hospital where their babywas in the ICU. A parent whose child was having problemseating solids got useful advice from otherparents in a Village WhatsApp group.Two dads who connected through TheVillage had started taking their children onoutings together. A villager who was supported by The Villageto get clothes for a job interview wasoffered the position. Several parents were connected withopportunities for CV-building activities,including funding for training and volunteerplacements100% of parents say they know there isalways someone there if they need support. 115 parents welcomed into The Villageover the last year.Over half of parents say they have madenew friends through The Village. 87.5% of parents say they were connectedwith new supports or opportunities.30-40 parents / families are provided withone-to-one support each week.

villager surveysAlthough we never make assessments or require information regarding impact to be shared by villagers, weperiodically distribute voluntary surveys where parents can self-report the effect(s) that The Village hashad on different aspects of their wellbeing, share what was has been the most beneficial for them, andoffer suggestions for what else they would like to see offered. These surveys, along with the routine,informal feedback collated by team members, greatly influence how The Village grows and adapts to theneeds of the community. 7In December 2024, 23 parents (approximately 60% ofthose engaging weekly) completed a surveyconsisting of wellbeing measures (emotional, social,and physical wellbeing, and parenting confidence)and were asked to reflect on how these changed overthe previous six months. Parents were then asked torate to what extent The Village had contributed toany of these changes. The sample of parents whocompleted the survey was representative of TheVillage population as a whole regarding gender andlength of time in The Village, although age differedsignificantly with a higher proportion of parents 26and older completing the survey.Over half of the parents surveyed said that theirsocial wellbeing and parenting confidence improvedover the prior 6 months and attributed this changeto The Village. Nearly half (43.48%) reported thesame for emotional wellbeing. Notably, parents ranked measures of their parentingconfidence the highest, with the majority of scoresfalling between 26-30 out of a maximum score of 30. Of those who reported improvements in socialwellbeing, nearly all (86.7%) attributed this tothe connections they had made through TheVillage. Further, 75% of those who noted thattheir parenting confidence had increased overthe prior 6 months indicated that The Villagecreated this change.Based on wellbeing measures and writtenresponses on this survey, it was clear that moreemotional wellbeing support was needed byparents. This led to us increasing our wellbeingofferings, including the development of Why NotWellbeing sessions and wellbeing-themedevents such as Reconnect & Refresh. In May 2025, 24 parents submitted responses to a general feedbacksurvey. Every parent surveyed either agreed or strongly agreed thatbecause of The Village, they know that there is always someonethere if they need support. Further, over 80% agreed that TheVillage is an important part of their social network. Additionalwritten feedback further attested that the support from teammembers and sharing experiences with other parents are whatparents value the most about being part of The Village. Three-quarters of parents surveyed said that The Village haspositively impacted on their mental health. One parent even wrotethat making friends and having other parents to talk to has beencrucial to coping with postpartum depression. 75% of parents alsoagreed that being in The Village has positively impacted on theirparenting and increased their confidence. Finally, nearly all (87.5%) parents surveyed said that because of TheVillage, they were connected with supports or opportunities theywould not have been aware of otherwise. The most beneficial part hasbeen knowing I’m not alone inthis journey of parenthoodafter being through the caresystem and feeling like I’m nota bad mum due to maybe beingoverly cautious and worried.Having the support itself hashad a massive impact on me inboth my confidence as aperson and a parent. I am nowfinally in a place where I feelcapable of almost anything andThe Village has been a hugepart of that journey.Of improvements reported over the prior 6 months, the following weresaid to be a result of The Village.

Supporting the sector8Care-Experienced Parents’ CharterPublicationsThe Care-Experienced Parents’ Charter has now been completed and is ready to be implemented and tested inlocal authorities. The Care-Experienced Parents’ Charter is a practice guidance document for how work with care-experienced parents should be carried out at the local authority and individual professional level. This guide wasdeveloped through multiple consultations between 2023-2024 with care-experienced parents and theprofessionals who work with them. In September 2024, a peer-reviewed research article on The Village and its impact onparents was published in The Scottish Journal of Residential Child Care. This articlepositioned The Village as a model of supporting care-experienced parents and helpingthem to build their social networks. It also included a thematic analysis of interviewswith parents in The Village, highlighting the key benefits that parents expressed.We also completed a scoping review on the importance of friendships for young peopleleaving care, which was presented at the Scottish Throughcare and AftercareForum (STAF) annual conference in November 2024 and is available on our website. This summarised the evidence base on the benefits of having adequate social capital when transitioning out of care, and the gaps in the current literature.Finally, we write short articles for our website that bring together knowledge to comment on broader themes relevant to our mission, such as about how communities can support us through times of hardship.Parliamentary EventWhat Professionals are SayingOutside of directly supporting parents and building communities within The Village, we are always looking foropportunities to share our learning and contribute to the wider conversations around care-experience, supportingparents, and the importance of social networks. Our aim is that The Village can serve as an example of goodpractice across the sector. STAF Annual Conference 2024Last October we held a reception at The Scottish Parliamentwhere we welcomed supporters and colleagues to share ourwider learning, celebrate our impact and successes, and lookat future plans. The event was sponsored by FultonMacGregor MSP, and we were further delighted to welcomeSue Webber MSP, Neil Bibby MSP, and Bill Kidd MSP.Presentations were done by Cathy Jamieson (Why Not TrustTrustee/Chairperson), Diane Webb (Steering Group Member),and our Executive Director Moira Greentree. We also sharedcopies of our 2024 annual report, SJRCC publication, andfriendship scoping review protocol. This was an invaluableopportunity to spread the word about what The Village does,garner more support for our work, and advocate for improvedsupport for care-experienced parents nationally. Professionals who work with care-experiencedparents are typically impressed by how accessibleand flexible The Village is in meeting the needs ofparents. Many also note that The Village fills a gap intheir current services. Some notable feedback wehave received over the last year includes:“The Village appears to be a family-oriented, non-intrusive support with excellent opportunities and avery important peer aspect.” -Family wellbeing worker“I love the non-judgemental and non-invasiveapproach to support. Self-referral and self-disclosure are so important.” -Professional (anonymous)“The Village is a real nugget of gold for birth parentsas we can only do this for the short-term and untilnow there has no where else for them to reach out tofor support.” -Family Group Decision Making

acknowledgements9looking forwardWe have several plans for new and continuing projects and offerings that we are excited to share for the upcomingyear. Most importantly, we will continue developing our communities and help parents develop their networks. Opening upmore opportunities for parents to meetup with each other has been beneficial and we intend to continue expandingthis. In helping parents build their own social networks, they will be able to support each other, thus enhancing theirlife satisfaction and reducing reliance on statutory services.Moving forward, we will continue working to reach geographical areas that we have not yet reached, find out the needsof parents in those areas, and what gaps we can fill. We also hope to do more to engage minority ethnicities and non-native English speakers, as we have identified this to be a group of care-experienced parents needing more culturally-sensitive support options. We will continue to listen to what our communities say we can be of use with. For example, over the last year we haveseen a greater interest in employment support for those wanting to return to work. Therefore, we want to do more inthe coming year to connect parents with employment, work experience, or other CV building opportunities, bothwithin The Village and externally. As much as possible, we plan to increase our output of parenting hints and tips through podcasts, webinars, socialmedia, and our website. The Village team has been engaging in a lot of learning and professional developmentrecently, including attending seminars by experts in attachment and child development. We hope to share this expertknowledge with our communities in ways that are accessible and useful to parents. As we develop our work with birth parents in Aberdeenshire and North Lanarkshire, we will soon be partnering withSAMH to deliver mental health support groups for birth parents. We will continue to be involved with the Friendships Matter research project between the University of CentralLancashire, STAF, and ThemPra Social Pedagogy. This project centres on developing understanding of howprofessionals can support care-experienced young people to make and maintain friendships while in care, so that theyhave a social support network when they begin living independently.STV Children’s Appeal PartnershipWe are delighted to share that we have been chosen as an organisation to be supported by the STV Children’s Appeal.They will be supporting us over the next five years with significant funding that will support our core costs, allowing usto keep costs low for local authorities and others who want a specific geographical presence. We will further beafforded opportunities to spread awareness of The Village through the media and comment on some of the broadersocietal themes we hope to address. In the last year we have continued to receive support from many amazing people and organisations. Without theirsupport what we do would not be as easy or possible. Thank you to:Our Board of Trustees: Mike Reid, Cathy Jamieson, Sandy Cameron MBE, Paul Snell CBE, Sharon Boniface, and KarenStark. We would also like to welcome the addition of Alexis Jay CBE and Dr Linda De Caestecker during the year.Care Visions for their financial support, specialist business support, and providing office space as required. Catalyst for Impact for their financial and behind the scenes support in our future planning and their specialistexpertise in financial planning. The Promise, Corra, KPMG Foundation, Henry Duncan Grants, Changing Ideas, The Rank Foundation, AberdeenshireCouncil, Renfrewshire Council, and North Lanarkshire Council for their financial support for specific projects. Everyone in our communities and those who collaborate with us for providing valuable feedback and insight toensure we are the best we can be.

The VillageThe Why Not? Trust for Care-Experienced Young People whynottrust.org hello@whynottrust.orgthevillagescotlandthevillagescotlandThe Why Not Trustthevillagescotsupported by