Robs Weekly Round Up

27 January 2023

Dear colleagues,

I started this week reading an incredibly uplifting message from one of our colleagues in Social Services. Jenny Ringstead got in touch to share some of the compliments she’s received from carers in the Vale that she works to support. Jenny also wrote of how proud she is to be part of such an extensive support service.

“In my job as a Carer Support Officer, I am always so amazed at how much the Council try and do to support carers, those who look after their own loved ones and often don’t consider themselves carers. They feel it is their responsibility to be there for them despite the many challenges this can represent. The Council recognise the great work carers do in their own homes.”

Jenny is one of our Carer Support Officers, aligned with the mental health team. She went on to say “I am always overwhelmed at the beautiful kind words and ‘thank you’s’ from carers, due to the support I have been able to put in place for them. But it is because of the wonderful support the Council put in for carers, that I can do my job so well in supporting those carers most in need. I have never loved a job so much.  Although the waiting list is rising due to the amount of carers, and that our services are now more widely known, each day, even the exhausting ones, make me smile because of being able to help someone in need.  So once again, thank you for being a Council that cares for carers.”

This is a perfect example of the Team Vale ethic and shows how the whole service comes together to support those that need us. It also demonstrates Jenny’s commitment to her practice and what it means to her. I feel such great pride to work alongside people like Jenny and her colleagues. Thank you for being such an ambassador for the service and for our very valuable unpaid carers, ensuring they feel supported. Diolch yn fawr iawn.

It is often our most targeted support that makes the biggest difference. December saw the end of two European Social Fund projects which had been led by the Vale Youth Service. Inspire 2 Work and Inspire 2 Achieve both focused on supporting young people not in education, employment or training. Both projects smashed the targets set for them and together provided 23,850 hours of support to young people in the Vale.

Two short films have been made to document the success of the projects and feature some of those who were supported to achieve sharing their stories. The Inspire 2 Achieve Celebration Film  and Inspire 2 Work Celebration Film show just how valuable the work of our Youth Service is.

The team came together last month to celebrate this great success and launch the new Strive project. The successor to this great work is aimed at those under-16 and will combine three existing projects to create a wider team of support for those more vulnerable learners.

I would like to give a special thanks and well done to a number of the team, including Rhys Jones, Peter Williams, Annette Harrison, Helen Pereira, Michaela O’Neil, Tracy Mills, Gavin Packer, Nigel Bowie and other youth staff who have worked on the project over the years. Diolch pawb.

I must also give a shout out and apology to another of our teams who do phenomenal work to help residents. In December I shared some feedback from a family member of a resident at one of our residential homes. They are described the team as “loving, kind, thoughtful, respectful and genuine” and the family member who wrote in went as far as to say “I can’t possibly put into words the outstanding care and support that not only my dad received but myself also, at the hardest time of my life.”

This referred to the amazing work of staff at Ty Dyfan in Barry, not Ty Dewi Sant as I said at the time. I know all of our residential care teams provide first class care and support but it is only right that the Ty Dyfan team get the mention they deserve for making such a difference. Thank you all at Ty Dyfan – Diolch.

2023 will see the excellent support provided by out ICT Services team continue to develop at pace. Some of you may have already had chance to use the new Halo platform which now enables colleagues to submit service requests and track the status of their requests in real-time. The platform gives users more control to uses and allows any of us to access a knowledge base of common IT issues to solve simple issues quickly. I know a huge amount of work has been undertaken behind the scenes and would like to thank all those working hard each day to support the Council’s digital infrastructure.

The Council is today joining people across the world in marking Holocaust Memorial Day. Earlier this week I visited an exhibition at Art Central, along with the Cllr Lis Burnett. I was very proud to join the Leader in reading the Statement of Commitment which vows to remember the horrors of the holocaust and its victims and to educate and fight against discrimination.

The Council has marked this day each year since 2007, honouring the millions of victims of the Holocaust and subsequent genocides that have taken place. In 2023, the Council is commemorating Holocaust Memorial Day with a number of events and exhibitions. We are also marking the date by lighting Penarth Pier Pavilion, Barry Town Hall, and other locations purple until Monday 30 January.

The new year has seen a flurry of staff events and many of our internal networks coming together to plan activities for 2023. The new Vale Disability Support Group held their second ever meeting this week. The group is designed to provide support and a safe space to colleagues in the same way as the GLAM and Diverse groups do. They are open to new members and if you’d like any info please get in touch with Colin Davies.

You may have seen the article on Staffnet about the upcoming clothes swap event. This will be taking place next Wednesday, 1 February, in the Council Chamber at the Civic Offices between 12-2pm. With the Cost of Living Crisis in mind and concerns around the environmental impact of fast fashion Alison in our Strong Communities for Learning Team and Susannah McWilliam our Project Zero Programme Manager have organised this event so that staff can consider swapping some items of clothing that they will no longer use instead of buying something new. There will also be refreshments available.

For anyone thinking about reducing their environmental impact there is still time to take advantage of the cycle to work scheme which closes on 31 January. So far more than £50,000 of discounted bikes and equipment has been claimed.

Finally, I’d like to direct you all to the message from our Head of HR Tracy Dickinson on the options available to colleagues with children who will be affected by next week’s strike action. As always, we have tried to balance giving greater flexibility to colleagues, whilst supporting the needs of departments, our schools, and of course those who depend on our services.

As ever, thanks to you all for your efforts this week. Diolch yn fawr.

Rob.