Weekly round up with Paula

14 June 2024

Dear colleagues,

Rob Thomas is taking a well-earned break at the moment so has asked me to pick up end-of-week update duties in his absence.

That’s something I’m only too happy to do after another seven days of fantastic achievements and much to celebrate across the Council.

I’d like to start this Friday’s round-up by congratulating Welsh Education Officer Jeremy Morgan and Stanwell School teacher Ian Spilsbury on successfully completing their charity cycle ride.

Ian recently turned 60, making it even more of a special achievement!

The pair were part of a group from Wenvoe Wheelers that travelled the length of Wales, from Caernarfon Castle to Cardiff Castle, in just one day.

They covered a distance of 300 kilometers (186 miles), climbing 4000 metres along a route that takes most cyclists two to four days to complete.

To put the challenge into perspective, a Tour de France stage is usually up to 200 kilometres in distance with between 2500 metres and 5000 metres of climbing.

In total, more than £4,000 was raised for Velindre Cancer Centre in Cardiff.

The ride itself was very tough as expected, though the riders did benefit from fine weather and good conditions.

After a 5.17am departure, they reached Cardiff Castle 14-and-a-half hours later at 7:45pm.

Well done to all involved. That’s a fantastic effort that generated a lot of money for a very worthy cause.

Sticking with two wheels, we are now nearing the end of Bike Week, which is a good opportunity to remind staff of the Council’s Cycle to Work Scheme, open until July 19.

Bike Week is the UK’s biggest cycle awareness-raising event of the year, highlighting the benefits that riding a bike can bring, both to our own health and wellbeing, as well as our communities and the planet.

The Cycle to Work Scheme is run in partnership with Cyclesolutions and supported by UK Government, it offers staff the opportunity to save on a new bike and cycling equipment, keep fit and protect the environment.

Cyclesolutions will be visiting the Civic Offices for a roadshow event between 10am and 1pm on Thursday, June 27 when staff will have an opportunity to view the bikes and accessories available.

This is a hire arrangement, with the cost of the bike and equipment taken from a person’s monthly salary before National Insurance and income tax contributions are deducted.

Further details about costs and purchase options can be found on Staffnet.

On the subject of protecting the environment, we are now nearing the end of Big Green Week, the UK’s biggest ever celebration of community action to tackle climate change and protect nature.

With that in mind, I’d like to point you towards the Project Zero hub.

Project Zero is the Council’s response to the Climate and Nature Emergencies we declared, with a target to make the organisation carbon neutral by 2030.

The hub brings together the wide range of work undertaken to tackle climate change and looks at further opportunities to achieve this.

Since it launched in February last year, the organisation has done a huge amount of work to become more environmentally friendly and to support communities to do the same.

The refreshed hub showcases some examples of this work under the 'what are we doing' section, to raise awareness of the Council's Change Challenge Plan.

New for 2024, the 'What's happening in our communities' page aims to highlight some of the amazing community-led work helping to make the Vale a greener place to live, visit, and work.

The page invites groups to tell us a bit about their work and will eventually map out community projects across the Vale.

If you work with any community groups in your role, please encourage them to complete the short form.

The hub will be refreshed regularly with new case studies and examples of work. If you or your team are involved with a project that aligns with Project Zero, let Susannah McWilliam know so it can feature.

The 'What can you do' section of the hub details some simple changes people can make to reduce their waste and carbon footprint, increase their energy efficiency and enhance their local environment.

The last five days have proved popular for awareness raising as we have also been marking Global Inclusion Week.

Running from Monday until today, that is designed to shine a light on this topic in a world context, helping organisations do more to cater for staff of all ethnic backgrounds.

Organised by Inclusive Employers, this year’s theme is Cultural Intelligence: Inclusion Across Cultures. 

Twelve Vale Schools participating in the Anti-Racist Action Research Project presented their findings.

They were: Whitmore High, Stanwell, Romilly Primary, Holton Primary, Cadoxton Primary, Oakfield Primary, Sant Baruc, Dinas Powys Primary, Fairfield Primary, Rhws Primary, St Illtyd Primary and St Joseph's RC Primary.

The project, led by Rachel Clarke from apex-educate.co.uk, tackles the tough conversations surrounding race and ways we can make a conscious effort to become actively anti-racist.

Finally, I wanted to mention Linda Harding who is retiring on Tuesday after more than 32 years volunteering at New Horizons Day Service.

Linda has been giving up her time to help out at the centre ever since it opened in 1991 and will be sorely missed by colleagues and those that use the service.

Day Services Officer Faye Harding said: “Nothing has been too much trouble for Linda. In addition to her normal duties within the centre and on the buses in all weather, she went above and beyond for everyone training to run Tai Chi classes.

“She supported run and relaxation sessions, was a strong team member in the music group where lots of singing and laughter was to be heard on a Monday afternoon.

“Linda has a big heart and a good sense of humour, she was always ready with a smile, a strong cup of tea and a listening ear for those who needed it.

“We will all remember the wonderful cakes she would bake for people’s birthdays.  

“Linda is part of the foundation of New Horizons and we all wish her the very best for the future.”

I would also like to echo those sentiments.

Linda, thank you very much for your many years of service. You have helped a large number of people and clearly mean a great deal to all at New Horizons.

Enjoy your retirement, it is very much deserved.

Lastly, I wanted to thank everyone for their efforts this week – Rob, I and all of the Senior Leadership Team are extremely grateful for your ongoing hard work.

Please have a relaxing and enjoyable weekend.

Hopefully the weather will pick up!

Paula