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We believe that wherever possible conflict is most effectively resolved informally and by consensus.
Community mediation in the UK began to develop in the 1980s as a response to a startling rise in the incidence of reported neighbourhood disputes. Scotland’s first community mediation service was launched in Edinburgh in 1995. The next 10 years saw a period of rapid and sustained growth which was well beyond that experienced in the rest of the UK. Community Mediation services in Scotland now cover almost the whole of the country from large cities to small islands, and assist with the resolution of over 3,000 community conflicts every year.
Community mediation is a voluntary and confidential process of conflict resolution. It has no formal links to legal processes, civil or criminal, and people in situations of conflict either elect to undertake mediation themselves, or have mediation suggested to them by a wide range of agencies including housing workers, health workers and police.
Community mediators work to help resolve issues between neighbours, tensions between young people and their families, conflict in schools, workplace disputes, and differences between groups in the community. They provide a safe, structured and positive environment for people in dispute to come to agreement and better understanding.
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