Digital Lifelines Scotland (DLS) Newly Funded Locations

DLS announces 3 new partnerships for 2026-27

The Digital Lifelines team are excited to announce three new locations for the next year of the programme. Alcohol and Drugs Partnerships (ADP) in Aberdeenshire, Dundee and Moray have successfully applied for funding.

This next year will build on the achievements of Angus and East Ayrshire ADPs which were so powerfully shared at the DLS Conference in March 2026. Angus and East Ayrshire will remain with the programme until autumn this year as they continue to embed their experiences, acting as advisors and advocates for our new partnerships.

We will continue a place-based and person-led approach which will incorporate Digital Inclusion and Digital Products workstreams and seek to identify new ways of working to better integrate services for people who use drugs. Very much a collaboration with frontline services, working with people with lived and living experience, to ensure the programme remains relevant and impactful for beneficiaries.

DLS will be supporting the locations to deliver key Scottish Government priorities outlined in the recently published strategic plan for drugs and alcohol: Preventing Harm, Promoting Recovery. Implementation will align with the seven fundamental rights essential for recovery and wellbeing as determined by the Charter of Rights for People Affected by Substance Use.

Remaining at the core of the programme will be knowledge exchange through Communities of Learning and Shared Learning events, and the team intend engaging widely with previously funded partners, and other organisations and ADPs with a keen interest in embedding digital inclusion and digital services for people who use drugs. The DLS Conference will return in March 2027 too.

We are grateful to the other ADPs who submitted applications and made the selection of Aberdeenshire, Dundee and Moray so difficult. Our new partnerships will explore a variety of pathways from the significant challenges faced by women to residential and independent living; for prison to community support and other critical transition pathways; for harm reduction services and recovery and ongoing support. It will be an invigorating and dynamic mix of opportunities, and the team are especially delighted to engage with its first city-based ADP.

Please contact the team if you have any question about DLS or wish to be kept informed of future progress: digital.lifelines@dhi-scotland.com

Digital Lifelines Scotland is managed by the Digital Health & Care Innovation Centre (DHI) in conjunction with core partners SCVO and Simon Community Scotland and supported by Public Services Delivery Scotland. The third phase of

DLS is funded by The Alcohol and Drugs Support Division in the Scottish Government with previous phases also receiving funding from Digital Health and Care Division and the Drug Deaths Taskforce in the Scottish Government.