Emotional and Participant Support
This page is here to give you information about the ways in which you can access emotional support to assist you with your engagement with the Inquiry.
We want to make people aware that there are emotional support services you can trust and which can help you, if you need them.
The Chair of the Inquiry has appointed The Spark to provide emotional support and participant support for those who are engaged with the Inquiry, including during our public hearings.
The Spark is a charity that provides counselling and mental health support for people across Scotland and the UK.
The support which you can access will be provided by trained counsellors who have experience in dealing with people who need help, in particular people who have suffered trauma in the past.
There are two distinct types of support available from The Spark for those involved in the Inquiry: emotional support and participant support.
Both types of support sessions with The Spark are designed to help you manage your wellbeing during the process of engagement with, or participation in, the Inquiry.
Emotional Support Sessions
These sessions are for anyone watching or participating in the Inquiry hearings.
For those attending hearings in person
Counsellors from The Spark will be onsite during Inquiry hearings. Anyone in attendance who is distressed or emotionally impacted by the hearing can approach The Spark counsellors and request a confidential emotional support session. There will be a dedicated room onsite for sessions to take place in private, if you wish.
For those watching on the live feed via YouTube.
Counsellors from The Spark are also available online. Anyone who is distressed or emotionally impacted by their engagement with an Inquiry hearing can book a confidential emotional support session directly with The Spark.
These 25-minute sessions can be booked online or by telephone, on 0300 180 0444. They are available on days the Inquiry is holding hearings only, plus the day after the final hearing day in any section of the Inquiry’s evidential hearings.
Participant Support Sessions
This is a separate service, also offered by The Spark.
Participant support sessions can be made available for witnesses and other people who are engaging directly with the Inquiry, beyond the Inquiry hearings.
For example, witnesses may need to seek specialist emotional support when they are drafting a written statement which has been requested by the Inquiry.
Witnesses who are called to give oral evidence may need to access emotional support when preparing in the lead up to the hearing.
Oral witnesses may need emotional support to help debrief after their evidence session has concluded.
There may be other situations where this type of support is would be of assistance.
The Inquiry calls this type of support participant support.
Typically, up to three one-hour sessions of participant support can be provided by The Spark for individuals who feel they would benefit from it.
Anyone interested getting participant support from The Spark can do so via the Inquiry team.
If you would like more information about these sessions or to book one, you can contact a trauma-informed trained Inquiry team member by email at: enquiries@eljamelinquiry.scot or by telephone on 0808 196 1508
An Important Note about this Support
The support provided by The Spark is completely independent of the Inquiry. Any information you share with The Spark is confidential and will not be shared with the Inquiry team, unless you would like it to be.
The only exception to this is The Spark’s Confidentiality Promise. This means The Spark will not disclose anything you discuss with them to a third party unless your own, another person’s or a child’s safety is at risk.
The Spark is an independent charitable organisation with no links to NHS Tayside, Scottish Government, or any other Core Participant of the Inquiry or other body involved in the Inquiry’s work.