Rob's Weekly Round-Up

02 June 2023

Dear colleagues,

June is Pride month and as we do each year the Council is using this as an opportunity to show our support for the LGBTQ+ community.

We are committed to campaigning for equality, inclusivity, and acceptance of diversity within our communities. Ours is a Council that recognises and celebrates the contributions made by LGBTQ+ people and works to bring these communities and their allies together.

The Council’s GLAM network is always at the centre of our work in this area. The new Chair of GLAM is Lee Boyland and the vice-chair is Carl Culverwell. Along with other members of the network Lee and Carl will be hosting a session on Tuesday to plan for the Council’s presence at Pride Cymru later this month and give colleagues who’d like to know more about the network the chance to say hello.

This is the first of a number of Pride activities this month. As in previous years, colleagues will be flying the flag for the Vale at Pride Cymru on 17 and 18 June. This will then kick off our Pride information week. Starting on 19 June the GLAM network will be explaining the history of Pride month, the significance of Stonewall Day on 28 June, and busting some myths about the LGBTQ+ community. Pride month will end with Pride in the Vale on 30 June, when GLAM will be encouraging teams from across the Council to dress up their workspaces in Pride Flags, banners and bunting to close the celebration.

As always, the Council is publicly demonstrating its support by flying the Pride flag at the Civic offices, and using our communications channels to promote inclusivity, allyship, and awareness. A new Pride bench was also installed yesterday in Cowbridge Town Centre, just in time for the Cowbridge Provide Coffee Morning at the Town Hall, Cowbridge on Saturday 3 June.  It’s free to attend and if free, why not drop in to show your support.  It runs from 10.00 in the morning until 12.00 in the afternoon. For those of you who’d like to show your support while working remotely, new GLAM teams backgrounds have also been added to our corporate selection.

On Wednesday morning I was lucky to be able to attend the official opening of the reimagined Victorian shelter at Cliff Hill in Penarth. Although much loved by the Penarth community the original shelter had become unsalvageable. Thanks to the innovative use of some S106 funding from the nearby Penarth Heights development, colleagues in our Place put in motion a project which has now seen it rebuilt for new generations to enjoy. With the support of the Council’s Arts Development Officer, Tracy Harding, a call out went to local artists and architects to reimagine the shelter for the 21^st century. An extensive public consultation was undertaken to inform the design and the shelter that was opened to the public this week is both true to its former self while also a clearly modern piece of public infrastructure which offers people of all ages a place to rest, meet and enjoy the views.

We should always strive for our public spaces to be more than simply functional. They should be places that residents can enjoy and that leave an impression on visitors to the Vale. Thanks to the excellent work of many colleagues the new shelter is just that and is a great demonstration of how working innovatively still allows us to deliver a first-class public realm for our communities to enjoy. Thanks to colleagues across the Council and across different teams who played a role in the project – Da iawn, well done.

Similarly, our public spaces and buildings should be designed to support communities and in a great example of work to do just this I was delighted to learn this week that a new defibrillator with 24/7 access has been installed outside Rondel House.

The lifesaving electrical device has been installed on the exterior of the Council’s day centre for older people due to its proximity to nearby schools, Central Park, and a well populated residential area. The idea was developed by Miles Utting, Resource Centre Manager for Rondel House, who worked with partners at Cardiff and Vale UHB and Save a Life Cymru to bring the defibrillator to the centre. Rondel House applied for funding for the defibrillator from Welsh Government’s Free Defibrillator Scheme 2022 and the heated storage cabinet and installation costs were raised by residents of Rondel House. An excellent idea and I’d like to thank Miles and the rest of the team at Rondel House for thinking of the community around them.

Looking ahead to next week, Monday will see the return to school for pupils and school staff following the half term break. Not everyone will be in attendance, however. Since the Covid-19 pandemic schools across Wales have seen a drop in attendance. In the Vale of Glamorgan attendance levels have decreased on average by 5% in primary schools and 10% in secondary schools.

Our schools are some of the best, if not the best in the country and offer so many opportunities to meet young people’s social, emotional and educational needs. Poor attendance can ultimately reduce opportunities for children and young people in the future and so next week we will be launching a campaign to drive improved attendance. Building on a design by pupils at Llantwit Major Comprehensive School the ‘Miss School Miss Out’ campaign will be highly visible across the Vale and will have a simple message: strong attendance for a bright future. Look out for it and the resources we’ll be making available online to help everyone.  A special thanks to all colleagues who have been central to bringing this important campaign to life. Great work.

This week, our Regeneration team was once again urging shoppers across the Vale to “show love and shop local” as part of the Council’s strategy to stimulate local spending. Funded through the Shared Prosperity Scheme the Vale Town Centres campaign is calling on people to head to their local town centres in Barry, Cowbridge, Penarth and Llantwit Major in a bid to support the Vale’s independent businesses. High streets across the Vale have seen their trade seriously impacted in recent years for a wide range of reasons and if you are shopping this weekend please consider what the Vale has to offer.

I’ve been told that this week marks 30 years since Steve Green, one of our Animal Wardens first became a Warden.  During that time Steve will have picked up thousands of stray dogs enabling them to be re-united with worried owners or else re-homed to a better life. He has also carried out hundreds of licensed home boarding inspections, ensuring that dogs are correctly looked after when their owners are away. Every day he protects the welfare of animals and the safety of the public, not least by promoting responsible animal ownership and changing behaviours for the future. Steve is always there to help out in any situation, he is a great team player and an absolute asset to have. Diolch yn fawr for your all work over the years Steve. 

And finally, and as I close this message, I was delighted to receive an e-mail from Abi Warburton, the Council’s Armed Forces Officer to confirm that the Council has been shortlisted  for the Employer of the Year category in the Welsh Veterans Awards. Brilliant news, well done Abi and more information to follow. 

Thanks as always for your efforts this week. Diolch yn fawr pawb,

Rob