Rob's Weekly Round-Up

16 June 2023

Dear colleagues,

On Wednesday afternoon I attended the launch of the Vale of Glamorgan Public Services Board’s (PSB) new Well-being Plan at Cadoxton Community Centre.

The PSB brings together senior leaders from public and third sector organisations across the Vale of Glamorgan to work in partnership for a better future. It is a statutory body and one through which partners have made a commitment to work together to improve services and well-being across the Vale of Glamorgan.

In the new Well-being Plan we set out a vision for the Vale of 'Happy and healthy communities working together to create a fair and sustainable Vale for everyone'.

Three new Well-being Objectives have been agreed to enable this:

· A more resilient and greener Vale

· A more active and healthier Vale

· A more equitable and connected Vale

These provide the framework for the PSB and reflect what our evidence – both the data and the views of the public - is telling us.

Within these objectives there are three priority workstreams:

· Responding to the climate and nature emergencies

· Working with people who live in our communities that experience higher levels of deprivation

· Becoming an Age Friendly Vale

Clearly, we need a healthy environment, healthy people and healthy communities. There is already a huge amount underway to ensure this and this work resonates with the priorities in the Council’s Corporate Plan and Annual Delivery Plan.

The venue for the launch was chosen so that all partners could see the excellent work of the Big Bocs Bwyd initiative pioneered by Cadoxton Primary School. There are few better examples of how public servants, volunteers and the wider community can work together than this. It was great to see the children so involved in this work. A huge thank you to Janet Hayward, Executive Head Teacher at the school and Hannah Cogbill who have both done so much to establish the Big Bocs Bwyd and other initiatives at the school. Diolch yn fawr iawn.

The venue is also a stone’s throw from where the Safer Vale team are based. There are many partners involved in the complex work that keeps us safe and that supports those who are often the most vulnerable in our communities and it was great to have the team with us at the event.

The event also highlighted the work of Food Vale and a partnership through which the local public health team work with organisations including the Council to raise the importance of food. Some of you may have seen the Food Trail that is helping to show people the importance of thinking about what we eat, where it comes from and the effect of food on our health and well-being.

This of course links neatly to the Move More Eat Well strategy being rolled out by partners and our wider work on amplifying prevention.

It is now more important than ever that we work together and with our partners and communities to focus on what matters. This is what the new Well-being Plan will help us achieve and I am very proud that this plan which will guide the work of organisations across the Vale was in large part developed by our colleagues in the Council.

I would like to thank Helen Moses, Lloyd Fisher and Jo Beynon in particular. Helen is the Council’s Strategy and Partnerships Manager and has been at the forefront of developing the PSB since inception and has done a brilliant job in doing so. Lloyd wrote the PSB’s Well-being Assessment which underpins this new plan. His work as Senior Policy and Data Officer is instrumental in shaping policy at all levels, and this now extends to the whole Cardiff and Vale region. Jo is our Policy Officer and her efforts to help coordinate the work of partners has been vital in driving forward initiatives such as the Llantwit Food Hub and many other aspects of our Cost of Living response.

It was great that so many colleagues across the Council were able to attend. This helped demonstrate that the delivery of the new Well-being Plan will be a real team approach with Lorna Cross leading on work around asset management, Lance Carver making links with the health and social care agenda, and Nicola Sumner Smith highlighting the connections to the work of the Regeneration Team.

After spending some time discussing the great work of Cadoxton Primary School at the PSB event, it was no surprise to see the school, and the team behind it, being showcased in the media once again as the news broke on Thursday that the school is one of only six in the UK to be shortlisted for a T4 Education World’s Best School prize.

The school has been shortlisted among the world’s best for overcoming adversity. Led by Janet Hayward and Hannah Cogbill the school set up a pay-what-you-can food shop in 2020 which is run jointly by pupils and parents. In the three years since, a community launderette and uniform shop have also been opened to support local families. The Big Bocs Bwyd project which I mentioned earlier has been developed into a model used so far by over 60 other schools across Wales and Hannah’s new role enables her to work across many more schools in Barry to build on their work to date.

The work that Janet and Hannah are doing with their team is an example of some of the amazing and vital work taking place across the Vale. A final shortlist will be announced in September followed by the winners in October. I wish all involved the very best of luck. Pob lwc i chi i gyd.

These were not the only colleagues to receive acclaim this week. Martine Coles, our Vulnerable Groups team manager, was invited to speak at a Diversity and Anti-Racist Professional Learning National Leadership Conference in Cardiff. Martine presented her work alongside eminent speakers including Professor Charlotte Williams and Welsh Government officials. As a result, Martine has been asked to share the work she has led and facilitated in schools across the Vale of Glamorgan with other local authorities in Wales so colleagues across the country can learn from our best practice. Gwaith gwych Martine.

Looking ahead to next week, there will be a number of events across the Vale to mark Armed Forces Week. The centrepiece of our celebrations will be the service held at the Civic Offices on Wednesday at 10.30am. The service will be led by the Mayor of the Vale of Glamorgan and all staff are welcome to attend.

Finally, a couple of reminders. 

I’d like to remind all colleagues about the staff travel survey which closes a week today (23 June). This is an important exercise even for staff who are working mainly from home. The information we gather will help us report on our emissions to Welsh Government and give us a bench mark for future carbon reduction work. Most importantly the survey will also help us to understand some of things preventing colleagues from using public transport and active travel for work and how we can address these.

This Saturday will see thousands fill the streets of Cardiff to celebrate Pride Cymru 2023. I am proud that many of our colleagues will be joining our GLAM network in flying the flag for the Vale in the parade march.

If you wish to join the team, you will be able to find them at the corner of St John St, opposite the castle from 10am before the march begins at 11am.

This is just one of the ways the Council will be marking Pride Month. Next week, 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.

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

Rob.