Rob's Weekly Round-up

14 April 2022

Dear colleagues, 

On the eve of the Easter bank holiday weekend I would like to thank all staff for their work so far this year. As we enter the new financial year I feel we are on a stronger footing than ever to deliver on what matters for Vale residents. 

Our recently agreed Annual Delivery Plan sets ambitious targets for the next twelve months but with the newly confirmed changes to our senior management structure now in place and the commitment of staff across the organisation I believe we are now in a position to direct our resources to the areas where they will make the most difference.

I’d also like to give a shout out to all of those colleagues working to prepare for the upcoming local government elections. Nominations was an extremely busy period and i’d particularly like to thank Matt Swindell, Mark Thomas and Cath Lindsey from Democratic Services who worked alongside Rachel Starr-Wood and Hayley Hanman in processing all the forms on a daily basis throughout the nomination period.  Although the nominations window has now closed, there remains a huge amount of work underway, being led by our Electoral Services team, to prepare for election day (and night!). I will be acting as Returning Officer for the first time on 05 May and the amount of work that is involved in preparing is clear to me. Thank you to the entire team for all your ongoing efforts.  Diolch!

Back in December I highlighted some great work at Rhws Primary School in one of my messages. I was contacted this week by Jacqui, the school’s business manager, with information about another new development– the Nurture Pod.

Parent group, Friends of Rhws Primary, raised the funds needed and have converted a shipping container into a safe and warm environment in which to support children with social, emotional and behavioural needs. It will give a space for drawing and talking, art therapy, puppet work, and trauma informed schools sessions, and I am sure will make a massive difference to the lives of those who use it.  Da iawn Rhws primary…Great work.

Sticking with our schools, I mentioned briefly last week the huge contribution of schools in the Vale to our Miles for Ukraine campaign and would urge you all to read the write-up of their efforts on StaffNet. It has also attracted some press interest in our fundraising and I am delighted to see the work of our colleagues getting some public recognition. 

I’d also like to share another message I had this week. It is from Tina Champ in our Resource Management team and I think really speaks for itself. 

Hi Rob - I work quite closely with the homelessness team (I keep track of individual payments for the homeless) and I wanted to acknowledge the fact that throughout the pandemic they have more than doubled their workload (believe me I see it on my spreadsheets) and have still continued to deliver a brilliant service, is there any chance you could look at it and put it in one of your weekly updates please? 
Yes, Tina. I certainly can. I never tire of reading about the good work of our colleagues and I know the same is true of everyone reading this message so if you know of something great happening in your area please do get in touch. 

And on this theme, I was pleased to receive another message from Charlotte Raine, who works in Regeneration and Planning who wanted to reference the excellent work undertaken by a colleague.  Charlotte said:

“I just wanted to say Christine Smith, Landscape, has done some amazing work in 2021/22. We have just had our regular monthly meeting and in this meeting we reflected upon schemes completed in 2021/22, and schemes forecast for 22/23, and Christine has been central to the majority. Examples include: Belle Vue Park, Central Park, Clos Peiriant, Comprehensive Tree planting scheme at Pencoedtre & the Knap Gardens biodiversity scheme.

I recognise it is a team approach, but she is just such a hardworking employee who works really hard to get the briefs right, and manages the play area contractors in a great way, to get the most out of every scheme. She is always asking for extra money for biodiversity and tree planting and has some great ideas for greening places up. Great asset to the Council.“

Thanks Charlotte and thanks for contacting me – it’s great to receive such positive feedback…and in particular, thanks to Christine – very well done, and keep up the great work which is of significant relevance in the context of the nature emergency, Project zero and the increased emphasis on health and wellbeing.

There will be the chance to get your colleagues more formal recognition for their achievements at this years Employee Awards night. The awards categories have been announced this week and the window for submission will open later this month. You can read more about this on StaffNet+. 

I’d like to close with a thank you to all of those who will be working over the bank holiday weekend. While many of us will be enjoying an extended break, this is one of the busiest times of year for those teams than help bring so many visitors to our resorts, and ensure they have a great time while they are here. For anyone looking for ideas on how to entertain their family why not check out the information on our Visit the Vale website and the Easter events programme being run by the Family Information Service. 

Diolch yn fawr pawb.

Rob.