News & Blog

Lead Scotland Evolves

From what I’ve read, in 1979, Edinburgh University Settlement and a passionate group of volunteers were worried that a lack of funding for REHAB Scotland was going to herald the loss of supported post school learning opportunities for disabled people. There was no Equality Act in 1979 – no rights or entitlements and some disabled […]

Posted: Tuesday, June 13th, 2023

Linking Cyber and Accessibility

OUR PROJECT We are trying to make it easy for people to learn how to stay safe and secure online with our award-winning project. We are doing this by providing accessible guidance, a range of ways to learn and by recruiting disabled people to help us extend the reach of our work. Contact cyberproject@lead.org.uk to […]

Posted: Thursday, June 9th, 2022

Linking Cyber and Accessibility Webinars

Trustee’s Week 2024 Cyber resilience for trustees 12:30 – 13:30, Monday 4th November Being a charity trustee is one of the most rewarding ways you can contribute to an area you care about. Whether you’re passionate about human rights, educational inclusion, environmental protection or cultural heritage, as a trustee you have an important role within your […]

Posted: Monday, May 30th, 2022

Board Director – Volunteer Vacancies

Are you passionate about equality? Interested in Education, Community Learning, Volunteering or the Charity sector? Looking for a new opportunity? We are looking for two new Directors to join our team to join our passionate and committed team of non-executive directors.  One of the vacancies is for a Treasurer. You don’t need to have had […]

Posted: Friday, April 8th, 2022

Spring Party

On Thursday 31st March, we hosted our first ever organisation-wide online celebration event. Our Spring Party was a chance to recognise the learners, befriendees and volunteers that work with us and celebrate their successes. We sent out a certificate and invite to everyone who had been involved with us in the past year. Emma Whitelock, […]

Posted: Wednesday, April 6th, 2022

Cyber Resilience and Accessible Formats Project

Last updated 10th January 2022. Click here for the online safety resources Click here for event details   In the past couple of years, we’ve directly supported over a thousand people to feel safer and more confident online through free in-person (before Covid-19) classes and online webinars. This new project aims to provide free, public […]

Posted: Friday, March 25th, 2022

Digital Accessibility Training for Employability: Webinar Series

As part of Lead Scotland’s Build Back Digital project, we are offering a series of free webinars via Zoom exploring accessibility within digital content. These webinars are suitable for people looking to improve their employability and gain transferable skills by enhancing their digital expertise. Many people are facing uncertainty in their employment due to the […]

Posted: Wednesday, January 5th, 2022

We won! Scottish Cyber Awards 2021

On Thursday 18th November, we were excited to attend the Scottish Cyber Awards at the Sheraton Hotel in Edinburgh. Hosted by the SBRC (Scottish Business Resilience Centre), the awards were attended by colleagues in the public, private and charity sectors. We came together to celebrate innovation and achievement in cyber security. We were thrilled to […]

Posted: Monday, November 22nd, 2021

Shortlisted at the Scottish Charity Awards 2021

20th August 2021 We are thrilled to have been shortlisted for a Digital Citizens award at the Scottish Charity Awards 2021! The nomination recognises our work in the past year and a half supporting members of the public with cyber resilience training and our OpenLearnCreate course ‘Everyday computer skills: a beginner’s guide to computers, tablets, […]

Posted: Friday, August 20th, 2021

Making Online Security Messaging Accessible

24th March 2021 Lead Scotland is proud to be working with a range of partners commissioning and developing new alternative formats of online safety and security messaging for people who might find current messaging inaccessible. The new formats will include text formats, braille, British Sign Language, captioned video, community languages and easy read formats. Accessible […]

Posted: Wednesday, March 24th, 2021

Accessibility Webinars for Employers

Only about 45% of disabled adults are employed. The Disability Employment Gap Public Social Partnership aims to work with employers to convey the benefits of employing disabled people and increasing employers’ confidence, awareness and capacity to do so. As part of this, Lead Scotland is holding 10 free webinars about online accessibility for employers. Each […]

Posted: Wednesday, March 10th, 2021

Online Safety Booklet- Easy Read

March 2021 As part of our recent cyber security activities, including our webinars, we’ve produced an Easy Read booklet to help people stay safe online. The booklet gives information about creating and remembering strong passwords, identifying email and website scams and what to do in the event of a cyber attack. What is Easy Read? […]

Posted: Thursday, March 4th, 2021

Everyday Computer Skills: course with the Open University

Updated 9th February 2023 We are very pleased to announce that the free course Everyday computer skills: a beginner’s guide to computers, tablets, mobile phones and accessibility has been refreshed and is ready for learners to sign up!  Over 200 learners have enrolled so far! The course has been designed with and for disabled learners, […]

Posted: Tuesday, August 18th, 2020

Post School Learning Options and Support – Webinar

We recently took part in the Scottish Transitions Forum’s series of webinars for parents and carers of young people with additional support needs who are leaving or have just left school. Rebecca Scarlett, our Senior Information and Policy Officer, led a webinar that looked at post school learning options and support. Check out a recording […]

Posted: Friday, July 3rd, 2020

Helpful links during the COVID-19 pandemic

We know this is a very difficult time for everyone right now, however elderly and disabled people and unpaid carers are at particularly high risk of not having their practical and emotional needs met during the coronavirus crisis. We have therefore collated a list of helpful contacts for you below, from national helplines to local […]

Posted: Friday, April 10th, 2020

Free Online Learning options during the Coronavirus

Due to current NHS and Government guidance on social distancing because of the coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic, we have changed our usual face-to-face learning and befriending services to be exclusively delivered by telephone and online platforms, such as video calling.  As a team, we’ve collected together websites, apps and information about how you can continue to […]

Posted: Friday, March 20th, 2020

Coronavirus Update Lead Scotland Services

Last updated 11/10/2022. We are offering remote, outdoor and indoor meetings, risk assessing our activity.  HELPLINE: Our helpline is open as usual. REMOTE: Staff members and volunteers can offer everyone remote support by phone, text, email, online and by post. OUTDOORS: Staff and volunteers can meet people outdoors, following these rules: If you feel unwell […]

Posted: Monday, March 16th, 2020

#CyberScotWeek2020 Blog Posts

As part of the Lead to Cyber Resilience Project, we have written 5 blog posts on different aspects of staying safe online and supporting others to be cyber resilient. Check them out below.

Posted: Monday, February 24th, 2020

What to do in the event of a cyber attack

What is a cyber attack? A cyber attack is an assault by cybercriminals on a computer or network. This can happen to businesses or organisations, like we saw with the 2016 Myspace data breach, where millions of passwords and email addresses were stolen and sold on to criminals. As well as big companies being attacked, […]

Posted: Monday, February 24th, 2020

Supporting others to be safe online

Do you worry about the cyber security of the person you care for? Would you like to help your disabled relative or friend access trusted digital support? Lead Scotland offers accessible digital learning opportunities and prepares disabled people and carers to use the internet and digital devices safely. But some people will need ongoing support […]

Posted: Thursday, February 20th, 2020