Our network

Respitality operates as a ‘social franchise’. It brings together a network of passionate stakeholders who deliver the initiative at both a local level and national level. The stakeholders in the network can be presented in five categories:

• Shared Care Scotland, via its dedicated Respitality team, coordinates and promotes the project by soliciting donations from hospitality businesses, liaising with local carers support organisations and generating media coverage.
• The local carer organisations, also referred to as carer centres or Respitality delivery partners, administer and deliver the programme in their area. They communicate the Respitality short break offer and facilitate the booking and feedback process. Many carer organisations also source short breaks in their area under the Respitality banner: these complement the national offer sourced by the Respitality team. Carer centres each have their own approaches for communicating, facilitating and administrating breaks: this freedom for each carer centre to develop their own delivery system is a central aspect of the social franchise model.
• Donors of breaks from the hospitality, tourism and leisure sectors donate breaks to the project, free of charge. Examples of donors include accommodation providers, cultural attractions, entertainment attractions, restaurants, and wellness facilities. The donors decide what, when and how often they would like to donate.
• Tourism champions of Respitality have a background in the hospitality, tourism, and leisure sectors, and encourage donations from businesses in their networks.
• The unpaid carers in Scotland who make use of the Respitality breaks. Carers can be of any age, and the breaks can be short (e.g., coffee and cake) or long in duration (e.g., multiple night stays). They can also be taken with or without the cared-for person.