Robs Weekly Round Up

17 November 2023

Dear colleagues,

I’d like to start my message this week with the announcement that our hugely worthwhile Santa’s Cause campaign has returned for 2023. 

The harsh reality of life in many of our communities is such that this year more children than ever face the prospect of having little or nothing to open on Christmas Day. This can be heart breaking for them and their families.

Our Social Services team estimate that hundreds of children who they support are likely to have nothing waiting for them on Christmas Day unless we are able to do something to help.

Last year, thanks to the incredible support of our staff, local community groups and businesses in the Vale our campaign provided more than 1000 gifts. Over recent months a lot of work has been done by the Santa’s Cause project team to enable us to go bigger and better for 2023 and help even more children and young people. 

Our Flying Start manager Kath Clarke told me earlier this week that staff from Social Services were met with tears of joy from parents when they delivered the gifts donated by staff last year. As well as the immediate relief from stress and anxiety that the donations bring I also think this is a hugely important gesture to some of the most vulnerable families in the Vale that we are here to support them.

To make collecting donations from staff and residents even easier this year, our Finance team have set up an online donation option which will launch shortly. The Santa’s Cause team has again negotiated a very significant discount with The Entertainer to allow us to stretch these financial contributions even further. Donations of gifts are also very welcome and the team have made some suggestions for toys and other gifts that would be appropriate.

I know that many colleagues are also feeling the impact of the cost-of-living crisis just as much as our residents are. There is absolutely no expectation on staff to donate. Any contribution that you can make will help give a child a Merry Christmas and relieve the pressure and anxiety that hangs over many families at this time of year.

The campaign is just one of many ways in which our Council supports residents each the year. Throughout December we will also be celebrating, both externally and internally, the difference our work and services have made in 2023.

We already have a (very) long list of ideas from work that has been highlighted in these weekly round-ups and elsewhere but I would really like to shine a light on those projects that may have gone under the radar, and give recognition to those individuals that deserve it. If you know of something or someone who you think we should feature in our Christmas countdown then please let me know, and we will do our best to feature the ideas that come through.

Mayor Julie Aviet is also searching for a budding artist from one of our primary schools to design her annual Christmas Card. The theme for this year’s design is Kindness at Christmas. The winning picture will be made into an e-card and will be sent to community grounds, civic leaders, and members of the council. The competition is open now.

This week is National Safeguarding Week. On Monday Lance Carver, our Director of Social Services and also Chair of the Cardiff and Vale Safeguarding Board, launched the National Safeguarding Standards Training, Learning and Development Framework.

A single set of safeguarding procedures for Wales was launched in 2019. This was a big step forward for safeguarding but only one of a number that are needed to improve practice. As public servants we all have a safeguarding responsibility and if we are to live up to that responsibility, organisation’s like the Council need to do more to train and develop our workforce. The framework gives us and organisations like ours a framework through which everyone can deliver training that supports consistent and high-quality practice across Wales.

The wider theme of this year’s National Safeguarding Week is exploitation. Many colleagues in Learning and Skills and Social Services will have been involved in sessions across the week which culminated today with the Cardiff and Vale Safeguarding Board’s conference. I’d like to thank all of those who’ve made time to support the week. Safeguarding is everyone’s responsibility and for those who haven’t been involved please do take the time to read how you can be more vigilant and help protect vulnerable children and young people.

The Vale was at the centre of the launch of another national campaign this week. The Restore the Thaw project based in Porthkerry Country Park was featured as a case study in best practice as part of the Cymru Can campaign this week. Cymru Can is the new strategy from the Wellbeing of Future Generations Commissioner Derek Walker. It is great to see the project being recognised as one of the best in Wales. I’d like to thank Mel Stewart and Jake Briscombe in particular for the role they have played in the Cymru Can launch film and being the face of the Vale on the national stage. Diolch both and diolch to all other colleagues involved in the launch and the wider project.

I know I talk a lot about new ways of working in these messages and I sincerely apologise to those colleagues who hear me talk about it more often than they would like!  But if we are to meet the challenges we currently face as an organisation and those faced in our communities, we must continue to think and work differently. Work such as that being done in our country parks is a perfect example of where working differently allows us to have an impact on major issues such as the climate and nature emergencies. There are projects like Restore the Thaw across the Council and what will be essential in order for us to meet the challenges ahead is getting better as an organisation in sharing how we are improving what we do.

To help with this the Learning Café relaunched on Monday. Nearly 80 people joined the first session of the Café. Eight themes were identified:

• Innovation and Creativity 
• Community Power 
• Project Zero 
• Leadership and Management 
• Wellbeing 
• Project / Transformation / Change 
• Personal Development 
• Digital 

These will now be explored by Learning Café members. Thanks to everyone who joined the session and contributed to the breakout groups. There is still a chance for colleagues to get involved, just get in touch with our OD and Learning team. Just because you may have missed the first session is no reason to get involved.

To follow on from this on Tuesday morning we held a special session of SLT where we were joined by colleagues who had recently taken part in training, development and mentorship programmes offered by SOLACE, New Local, and Infuse.

We heard reflections from colleagues and feedback from those who participated on how valuable they found the courses, how has it helped them in their roles, and crucially how they have been able to share their learning. There were some great examples of how colleagues had brought best practice from elsewhere back into our teams and similarly how our work is driving improvements elsewhere. Our OD and Learning team are now looking at how we can get better at sharing this across the organisation.

I’ll close this message by looking ahead to next week. 25 November is White Ribbon Day, the International Day for the Elimination of Violence against Women. On Friday our Community Safety team will be hosting a stall at the Civic offices between 10am - 3pm. A message will go out to all staff on Monday with information on how you can show your support. Thanks in advance to everyone who is able to join us. 

Thanks as always foryour work this week. Diolch yn fawr pawb.

Rob.