Ewords september 2014 web

keeping you informed

Kay Park play event is runaway success

SEPTEMBER 14

welcome

contents

In this issue of ewords we are pleased to bring you a wide range of news from all across the Council. It’s been a busy few months, as many employees make the headlines for both work and personal achievements. We take a fond look back at a special summer filled with Commonwealth and community celebrations, as part of the Queen’s Baton Relay; and we look forward to the launch of our new Community Plan, which is currently in preparation, and the Provost’s new charity – the Samaritans.

A day in the life of…

Employee News…

Review of the Community Plan 2014/15 Reaching Higher still Long service recognised Grange Academy welcomes new head Housing minister shown progress on new sites Alex leads Local Government Directors of Finance Community led action plan community conference Grave documentary for Radio 4 Excellence recognised for a second year Innovative HGV project launches The Queen’s Baton Relay A summer to remember CARS team in line for planning award Website update Provost’s Charity 2014 With thanks…

Dark twist on a short story Appointment of Health and Safety Manager Corporate Health and Safety Policy Sensible approach to health and safety in schools Lifesaving defibrillators installed in Council buildings The Helpdesk Human Resources

And just for fun, we’d like to introduce you to some of our well loved mutts.

If you have news to share with your colleagues, please get in touch – the next issue will be out November/December.

Email: communications.pr@east-ayrshire.gov.uk

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… f o e f i l e h t n i y a d a

n o s t r e b o R e i g u o D d Officer ea tection L Child Pro

Ewords caught up with Dougie Robertson to find out a bit more about his new role.

Could you describe your job?

for As the Child Protection Lead Officer a on role, lead a take East Ayrshire I n multi-agency basis, on child protectio egic arrangements. I support the strat ent planning and continuous improvem n, ectio prot child to ive of services relat l loca with en ertak und is work ensuring and ies and national legislation, polic procedures in mind.

Community planning and partnership arrangements are crucial to the work of the Child Protection Committee (CPC), I ensure that all relevant work is reported to the CPC and then n is progressed, and that child protectio ter grea a ide prov to gly promoted stron n ectio prot child of g ndin ersta und through public information and engagement initiatives.

I have responsibility for reviewing and for developing policies and procedures, on CPC the to rting repo and g monitorin for and es issu ance orm perf and ity qual g planning, preparing and implementin wing follo Plan s the CPC Busines approval by the CPC. or Part of my role entails undertaking and ws revie case l initia g ionin commiss significant case reviews as directed by the CPC, as well as ensuring the governance structure of the CPC is adhered to.

n A key part of my role is the evaluatio of ect resp in en ertak of work und child protection, which includes self evaluation activity and support of the multi-agency partnership during in inspection activities. I am involved cts, proje ific spec on lead and arch rese ensuring high quality services are provided to children and their families at all times.

What does an average day look like?

An average day involves fielding a variety of emails, juggling the e progression of work relative to the thre lity, sub-groups: Performance & Qua Public Engagement & Information and Children’s Services Learning & Development as well as linking in with ing partners across all the agencies mak keep to up the CPC partnership, the work of the Committee moving forward.

more foster East Ayrshire Council is eager to recruit temporary or carers who can provide respite care, of all ages. We permanent foster care for children sibling groups and particularly need foster carers for six. of age the individual children over all carers are fully We are committed to ensuring that to develop their caring supported and given the opportunity and equipment is skills. Training, support, supervision g, carers are paid as part provided. On completing their trainin fee and allowance scheme. of a generous and highly competitive left the nest and are wondering what So if you have children who have a change in career, are a good you’ll do with your time, or you’d like on n and young people, give us a call listener and enjoy caring for childre

0800 434 6633

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What did you accomplish yesterday?

I attended the National CPC Lead re Officer’s meeting in Edinburgh whe es issu tice prac new legislative matters, fully were es them and emerging debated and discussed.

When was the last time something at work surprised you?

It is not exactly relative to Child Protection but the thing that surprised me most recently at work was the huge variety and scope of jobs undertaken across East Ayrshire by Council employees.

What did you listen to on the way to work?

Chris Evans on Radio 2 - playing Don McLean’s American Pie.

Coffee or tea?

Coffee first thing, then tea the rest of the day.

Brown or red sauce?

Definitely red sauce.

Any interests?

I go to the gym, walk the dog and occasionally hill walk.

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Employee News…Employee News…Employee News Congratulations to Graphic Designer Rhona Arosi, who is now Rhona Connolly, after marrying The Lovely John.

Among her many gifts, she received a present to treasure from Communications Manager, Lynne Buchanan, who knitted a replica Rhona and John to mark their big day.

Lynne also completed Tough Mudder back in June, raising £477 for Myeloma UK, the only charity in the UK which focuses on myeloma cancer.

On Saturday 28 June, 13 IT team members cycled 55 hilly miles around the entire perimeter of the Isle of Arran to raise money for the charity YoungMinds, the UK’s leading charity committed to improving the emotional wellbeing and mental health of children and young people.

It might not look it from the photo, but Lynne had the time of her life fundraising for this very worthwhile charity. A huge thank you to everyone who donated.

They raised a whopping £4035 and would like to thank everyone who made a donation.

Congratulations to Sam McVie, Estates Manager from Corporate Infrastructure, who celebrated 40 years as a Council employee recently.

Employee News…Employee News…Employee News SEPTEMBER 14

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Review of the Community Plan 2014/15 Economy and Skills: Alex McPhee, Executive Director of Finance and Corporate Support Community Safety: Chief Superintendent Gillian MacDonald, Police Scotland Wellbeing: Eddie Fraser, Director of Health and Social Care

The Community Plan is the overarching policy and strategic framework for the delivery of services by all partner agencies across East Ayrshire. It also acts as the Council’s Corporate Plan.

Our first Community Plan covered the period 2003 to 2015. As it comes to an end, work is currently being taken forward to develop a new Plan which will take us through to 2030.

This work has involved an extensive round of consultation with a range of stakeholders across our communities and each of our partner agencies. Thank you to everyone who has participated in our surveys, seminars and engagement events.

As a result of the feedback from this consultation, it has been recommended that the new Community Plan vision will be as follows: ‘East Ayrshire will be a place with strong, safe and vibrant communities where everyone has a good quality of life and access to opportunities, choices and high quality services which are sustainable, accessible and meet people’s needs.’

The new Plan will be based around three themes: • Economy and Skills • Community Safety • Wellbeing Lifelong Learning will remain as a cross cutting strand, underpinning each of these themes.

The next stage of the review is the development of a delivery plan for each of these three themes. Multi-agency Delivery Groups have been established to develop these delivery plans, led by the following Strategic Lead Officers:

From a Council perspective, the review will provide an opportunity for further alignment of the Community Plan, related delivery plans and Departmental Service Plans within the Council.

The development of the new Community Plan, and related delivery plans, will be ongoing over the next few months and there will be further opportunities for employees across Council services to inform this work.

The new Community Plan and associated delivery plans will be in place for implementation from 1 April 2015.

For more information, please contact Gwen Barker, Policy, Planning and Performance Manager on: 01563 (55) 4602 or email: gwen.barker@east-ayrshire.gov.uk

Reaching Higher still Congratulations to our pupils, and their teachers, for achieving the best Higher and Advanced Higher results so far.

The rest of the country experienced a slight drop in performance this year but East Ayrshire’s pupils bucked the national trend achieving a significant improvement in attainment figures.

Graham Short, Executive Director of Educational and Social Services said: “I’m really pleased with this year’s results, particularly in the Higher Grades and wish to congratulate the young people on their hard work and express my thanks to the staff who have supported them.”

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Long service recognised Employees from Educational and Social Services with over 20 years’ service were recognised at two special events recently, at the Burns Monument Centre in Kilmarnock and at Rothesay House, Cumnock.

40 years’ service William Wilson, Mary Woods.

35 years’ service Francis McCrossan, Elizabeth Anderson, Laura Hainey, Claire O’Shea.

30 years’ service Douglas Dick, Morag Ferguson, John McStay, Lesley Mitchell, Nora McCrorie, Jean Zerebiec, Ann McCrorie.

25 years’ service Bernadette McNaught, Shona Lawson, Helen Currie, Fiona Cameron, Rita VanRensburg, John Reid, Colin Barbour, Lesley Watson, Lynne McLean, Jemima Robertson, Elaine Main, Alison Milroy, Diane Hunter.

20 years’ service Lindsay Bull, Carol Campbell, Alison Bryson, Elizabeth Bilby, Julie Muir, Calum Maxwell, Clare McKellar, Gail Allan, Petra Hainey, Pauline Hardie, Sandra Irvine, Alison Wright, James Faulds, Edward McCormick, Iain Wilson, Alison MacVicar, Sheila Fyffe, Kirsta Donnelly, Antony Tobia, Gerald Deeney, Alan McQuiston, Susanne Singleton, Linda Carten, Alison Hair, Mary McCluskie, Alan Friel.

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A right Royal affair Six lucky employees were delighted to attend the Royal Garden Party at the Palace of Holyrood House, Edinburgh back in July.

Nominated by Provost Jim Todd for their services to the Council and the community, the party-goers were Yvonne Kerr, Bernard Shepherd, Julie Parker, Fiona Nicolson, Sheryl Wilcox and Sharon Hodgson.

Some of the group gathered at the Dower House at Dean Castle, with friends and family, for a photograph with the Provost before heading off to Edinburgh for their Royal Encounter.

Former Grange Academy headteacher Fred Wildridge, who had received a special invite to the garden party from the First Minister in recognition of his significant achievements, also attended the photocall to be congratulated by the Provost.

Grange Academy welcomes new head computer networking equipment, before making the decision to pursue a career in education.

Robert’s first teaching post was at Queen Margaret Academy in Ayr in 1991. He spent four years at the school developing his skills as a classroom teacher in Mathematics.

Robert is passionate about his subject and is adamant that Maths isn’t the big mystery that many people say it is. His equation for success is small steps with plenty of practice, hard work and determination.

Kilmarnock’s Grange Academy has warmly welcomed new headteacher, Robert Johnston who took up the reins at the 1200-pupil school at the start of the new term.

Kilmarnock born and bred, Robert attended primary and secondary schools in the town before studying Mathematics at Glasgow University. After graduating he worked for a year as an area sales rep specialising in

In 1995, Robert was appointed as Assistant Principal Teacher of Maths at St Ninian’s High School, Eastwood where he later went on to become Principal Teacher in 2001 following a brief period working in South Lanarkshire. His career in senior management began in 2004 when he returned to Ayrshire as Depute Head Teacher in St Michael’s, Kilwinning and later at St Matthew’s Academy, Saltcoats.

Working in Kilmarnock and serving the community in which he lives has always

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been an ambition for Robert, so when the Grange job came up he jumped at the chance. Although very happy working as a headteacher for the past four years at St Benedict’s High School in Linwood, Renfrewshire, Robert is delighted to be at Grange.

In his first week in his new post, he said: “It’s been hectic, but I’m loving it!

“I’m delighted to join the community here at Grange Academy as headteacher and I am looking forward to working with the young people, staff, parents, community and partner agencies to bring about the continuous improvement of this excellent school.”

Graham Short, Executive Director of Educational and Social Services said: “I am delighted to welcome Robert to the East Ayrshire team, where he has already made a very positive contribution to discussions.

Grange Academy can look forward to continued success under his leadership.”

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Greenmill strings take London by storm

Nicola Benedetti with pupils of Greenmill Primary

Pupils and teachers from Greenmill Primary enjoyed the trip of a lifetime recently when they visited London to play music in the Houses of Parliament on the invitation of Lord Foulkes of Cumnock and Lord Griffiths of Fforestfach.

The youngsters are part of a unique musical project which has been running in Greenmill for the last four years. This is the only school in Scotland where all P4 – P7 pupils receive weekly whole class strings lessons as part of their curriculum.

Teachers also learn to play instruments along with the children and mums, dads and grandparents have even taken part.

The school has been supported throughout by world famous composer James MacMillan CBE and top percussionist Colin Currie, who played alongside the pupils in London.

The Greenmill Strings Orchestra’s performance was extremely well received and was the perfect way to promote The Cumnock Tryst which will take place

from Thursday 2 October to Sunday 5 October and will include some of the finest international classical artists.

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Tickets are available from the Palace Theatre box office – 01563 554900.

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Housing minister shown progress on new sites Minister for Housing and Welfare, Margaret Burgess visited Kilmarnock and Stewarton recently to view the progress being made on the new housing developments which are being built for Housing Services and project managed by Simon Bell’s team in Corporate Infrastructure.

The first stop on the tour was Rennie Street, where work commenced in April on the construction of ten new affordable homes for rent. This development is scheduled for completion in January 2015.

Next stop was West Langlands Street where the former cattle market site is being transformed to accommodate 39 new affordable homes featuring a mix of accessible accommodation and larger family homes.

The Minster was then shown the development at Portland Street, which will feature a mix of one and two bedroom houses and two homes specifically for wheelchair users. This site will be completed in spring 2015.

The development on Witch Road, which will offer 13 assisted living flats for tenants with a range of support needs, was the final stop in the town centre before the group moved to Robertland Square in Stewarton.

This site will include two two-bed homes for wheelchair users, with integral car ports, and six two-bed homes specially designed for older people.

Alex leads Local Government Community led Directors of Finance action plan community Alex McPhee, the Council’s Executive Director of Finance and conference Corporate Support, has been elected to the prestigious post of Chair of Scottish Local Authority Directors of Finance.

Alex said: “It is an honour and a privilege for me to head the group which has been in existence since 1964. The names engraved on the chain of office include some of the most famous individuals in local government finance over the years.”

The organisation meets quarterly to discuss, share views and agree approaches to current national issues such as Pensions, Welfare Reform, Health and Social Care and the overall financial settlement. This means that good practice can be developed and shared and a consistent and authoritative position can be presented to the Scottish Government, COSLA and other bodies on the financial matters of the day.

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Vibrant Communities held a two day inspirational conference at Dumfries House recently for 50 representatives from local community led action plan steering groups.

During the first day, motivational workshops were presented by Elandria Williams from the Highlander Education Centre in Tennessee and Paul Macey from Nurture Development.

The second day focused on funding opportunities with presentations from the Big Lottery, Lloyds TSB Scotland, East Ayrshire Leisure Countryside Development and Greggs.

The feedback from the event has been extremely positive and Vibrant Communities will continue to build on this success by facilitating further networking opportunities for the steering groups.

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Grave documentary for Radio 4

Excellence recognised for a second year

Documentary maker Dr Cathy FitzGerald was in East Ayrshire recently to interview Stevie Baird and his team for a BBC Radio 4 programme about gravediggers.

For the second year running Transport Services has been awarded the Freight Transport Association’s Van Excellence Award.

Dr FitzGerald spent a day working with Stevie, who was recommended to her by the Institute of Cemetery and Crematorium Management for his high level of professionalism. She tried her hand at grave digging, under his expert guidance, and chatted to his team recording their thoughts and views of their profession.

East Ayrshire is one of only three councils in the UK to receive the Certificate of Excellence, which is the result of an extensive audit by the Freight Transport

Association of our van fleet operations Scott Blyth, Transport Services Manager, and members of his team were quizzed on a range of topics including vehicle maintenance systems; vehicle administration; driver licensing; securing the load, method of restraint and overloading; speed limits; towing equipment and driver identification, behaviour and competence.

The documentary, to be aired on Wednesday 8 October at 11am, will focus on the key, but often overlooked, role of gravediggers in the funeral process and the important place employees like Stevie fill within the wider community.

Innovative HGV project launches The Ayrshire Roads Alliance’s Road Safety team and the Council’s Transport and Waste Management teams have been working on an innovative new project which highlights the dangers of HGV and larger vehicles to young people.

Behind all the fun was a very serious message which was reinforced through a booklet issued to each child.

The feedback has been so positive that there are now plans to develop this initiative further and an HGV road safety competition will be running in schools shortly.

Nine primary schools took part in a successful pilot and they got hands on experience by working with one of the new recycling vehicles.

The children took part in fun activities including working out the blind spot on large vehicles and guessing their stopping distance.

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The Queen’s Baton Relay Sunshine, big breakfasts, picnic lunches, gala days and action packed community events were the order of the day as the whole of East Ayrshire came out onto the streets to cheer on our batonbearers as they carried the Queen’s Baton through East Ayrshire from Dalmellington to Kilmarnock.

The team behind East Ayrshire’s very successful leg of the relay, namely Angie Bennett, Katie Kelly, Barbara McNaughton, Adam Strain, Nicola McCormack and Keith Stewart, worked very closely with members of the community, colleagues across the Council, the Leisure Trust, Police Scotland, Scottish Fire and Rescue, the NHS, the Scottish Ambulance Service, SPT and traffic management company Contraflow, on detailed event plans ensuring communities, and importantly the batonbearers, enjoyed a wonderful day.

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A summer to remember Janice McAvoy, Essential Skills Support Worker from Vibrant Communities, has had the summer of her life after volunteering for the XX Commonwealth Games in Glasgow.

Janice’s journey started back in November 2007 when she avidly followed Glasgow’s bid to host the games and she decided then that she would love to be involved.

When the volunteering opportunities were announced, Janice, who works term time hours, jumped at the chance to apply to be a volunteer, along with 50,000 other people.

She had an interview in May 2013 and received confirmation in December 2013 that she would be a volunteer driver. Much to Janice’s surprise, she discovered that she had been chosen as a T1 driver for the duration of the Games, meaning that she would be assigned to VVIPs. To put it in perspective, Sir Chris Hoy was only a T2!

After two days of intensive training in Glasgow, and some time familiarising herself with the roads and the various venues throughout the city, Janice received her first assignment.

Director of Coaching for Team Scotland who was based there at the time.

Her expert care of the couple led to one of the best experiences of the Commonwealth Games for Janice: a ticket to the opening ceremony.

a letter of thanks from the First Minister and beautiful thank you gifts including a special edition print of all the Games venues. It was the best experience of her life.

She has already signed up to volunteer at the Gold Coast Commonwealth Games in Australia in 2018, and there is absolutely no stopping her now!

Janice said: “Syed gave me a spare ticket for the opening ceremony. The Prime Minister of Bangladesh’s son was unable to attend so the seat was going to be unoccupied. I was so excited to be at Celtic Park for the big night, but it was only when I sat in my seat that it hit me how incredible it really was.

“I was only a couple of rows away from the Queen, Sir Chris Hoy walked past me with the baton and I was high fiving the Prime Minister of Barbados when their team came into the stadium. For me, a lassie from Galston in the middle of it all, it was completely surreal.”

Meeting Games CEO,David Grevemberg

The list of people Janice met is stellar; a highlight though was David Wilkie and Sir Roger Moore, who of course, was being driven in car A007.

Janice’s hard work and dedication to her clients didn’t go unnoticed and she got a call to work at the closing ceremony; only five drivers were picked as Glasgow was in shut down that evening.

Janice makes friends for life

Janice with her car – A061

She was to look after the Secretary General of the National Olympic Committee, Syed Reza and his wife (above) and take them everywhere they needed to go. She accompanied them at some of the sporting venues to watch the action and she even brought them to Kilmarnock to visit the Ayrshire Athletics Arena, where she introduced Mr Reza to Stephen Maguire,

Her gold accreditation meant that she had the rule of the road and could travel from the Hilton in Glasgow, where all the VIPs would gather to be collected by their drivers, to Hampden in just five minutes.

The days were long, 10 to 12 hours a day for almost a month, but this didn’t put Janice off.

She has made new friends for life, received

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With swimmer David Wilkie

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Kay Park play event is runaway success Not even heavy rain could stop more than 7,000 people visiting Playday at the Kay Park this year.

And among the visitors was Minister for Children and Young People, Aileen Campbell.

Allison Young and the Vibrant Communities Play and Early Intervention team, in partnership with the East Ayrshire Community Play Forum, impressed the Minister with the number of free activities on offer, the level of support from the local community and how well they had organised this complex event.

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CARS team in line for planning award Kilmarnock’s Conservation Area Regeneration Scheme and Townscape Heritage Initiative have been shortlisted for a Scottish Award for Quality in Planning 2014 in the Development on the Ground category.

The team behind both projects has been working closely with conservation bodies, building owners and the Scottish Government, to renovate the beautiful Victorian sandstone architecture around John Finnie Street and Bank Street. Thanks to the hard work of the team, the town centre has benefitted from almost £19m of funding.

Karl Doroszenko, Development Planning and Regeneration Manager, said: “The immediate physical success is apparent, however, equally important is the legacy which it leaves. Kilmarnock town centre now has large scale heritage properties fit to survive another 100 years, many occupied with new or relocated businesses, some with town centre residents, and all contributing to the day to day life and vibrancy of the town.”

Website update Every month there are on average 65,000 visits to the Council website by over 40,000 people.

Monthly statistics for the website can be found internally on the East Ayrshire Digital blog here - www.eac.eu/digitalblog.

Although usage of the Council website is consistently high, many visitors to the website are only skimming the surface of the content available on the site.

Consistently popular content includes rubbish and recycling, schools, Council vacancies and online payments. After surveying the public and using our website analytics, it was discovered that users found the website difficult to navigate and sometimes struggled to find what they were looking for.

The public are also now accessing the website using different devices than they did a few years ago. Between April 2012 and December 2013, visits to the website using a mobile phone grew by 172% and visits using a tablet (iPad, Kindle) grew by 224%.

In turn, visits to the website on desktop computers went down 34% over the same timeframe. Now over 50% of all visits to the website are on a mobile phone or tablet.

To react to these findings you’ll notice that some changes have been made to the website: • the site has been made more responsive and easier to use on mobile phones and tablets • a lot of our information has been re-categorised to make it easier for people to find what they’re looking for • easy links have been added on our homepage to the information the public are most interested in The team will continue working on the website over the coming months to find ways of making it even better. They will be regularly surveying the public to get feedback on different aspects like accessibility and how easily they can find what they’re looking for.

If you have any feedback or questions about the website, please email digital@eastayrshire.gov.uk.

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Provost’s Charity 2014

With thanks… Dark twist Douglas Gardiner from Waste Management received a lovely letter from Primary 5 pupils at Greenmill Primary for providing the school with a compost bin. The pupils were very excited about making their own compost.

An email was sent to the Council congratulating the team who clean the public toilets in the Burns Mall for ‘the outstanding level of cleanliness and tidiness’ and for the pride our employees take in their work.

AYRSHIRE

Provost Jim Todd has selected Ayrshire Samaritans as his chosen charity for the next two years.

First opened in Ayrshire in 1965, the charity now operates with 36 trained Samaritans who, together with more than 22,000 volunteers across the UK, make the Samaritans the country’s leading suicide reduction charity.

Based in Kilmarnock’s Titchfield Street, the volunteers offer round the clock support to anyone struggling to cope. Last year, they received over 9000 calls for help.

The volunteers also support the Samaritans Prison Listener Scheme at Kilmarnock prison; work closely with the suicide prevention programme, Choose Life and deliver wide ranging school and college outreach programmes.

For this life saving work to continue, the branch relies on donations from the public and the fundraising efforts of volunteers.

Next year Ayrshire Samaritans will celebrate their 50th anniversary. The Provost and his charity team will be supporting them to raise awareness, funds and to help recruit volunteers.

For more information about the Ayrshire Samaritans email Chair Cathy Gibson gibson668@aol.com

Stewarton Bonnet Guild wrote thanking East Ayrshire Council, the Provost, Depute Provost, Chief Executive and the Vibrant Communities team for all their help and guidance in staging one of the most successful Bonnet Guild festivals ever.

Barbara McNaughton from Vibrant Communities was thanked by Neighbourhood Networks for ensuring the group had an information stall on the day of the Queen’s Baton Relay. They found it very beneficial and, through the contacts they made on the day, now hope to hold their own event next year. Charles Sims from Fairtrade East Ayrshire also found the event very worthwhile and thanked Babs for the opportunity to spread the word locally about Fairtrade.

on a short story

If you hear your colleagues discussing the best way to get away with murder don’t be alarmed, they are only planning their next short story!

Fiona Atchison, Health and Social Care Partnership, and Janice Johnston, Customer Service Advisor, have teamed up with a group of friends to publish their own books.

So far, under the name LiterEight, they have produced two collections of short stories A Literary Confection and Dark Twists - with a third book in the planning stages.

The books are available on Kindle and in paperback from Amazon. To find out more about Fiona, Janice and their books, check out LiterEight’s facebook page or web page at www.LiterEight.co.uk

Local choir, A Choired Taste, were very grateful for the help they received from the Council, which ensured their Queen’s Baton Relay singathon went ahead without a hitch. Special thanks went to Michelle Laats, East Ayrshire Leisure, for all her work on this project.

We received great feedback from Playday with lots of people taking to social media to thank the Vibrant Communities team for another successful event. One parent wrote: ‘well done EAC another fab day’, while another wrote: ‘excellent day again, my boys particularly liked the dinosaur toothbrushing and Gruffalo section.’

You can contact the Samaritans, round the clock, by calling 08457 909090 or Ayrshire Samaritans on 01563 531313 or email jo@samaritans.org

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Teamwork is the key to a safer workplace

Appointment of Health and Safety Manager David Doran has been appointed Health and Safety Manager and will lead the Health and Safety Section in providing competent health and safety advice across all Council Services, as required under Regulation 7 of the Management of Health and Safety at Work Regulations 1999.

Corporate Health and Safety Policy The Health and Safety Policy has been revised and is now available on the Intranet at: http://eacintranet/ ChiefExecutiveOffice/HealthandSafety/ CorporateHealthandSafetyPolicy.aspx The Policy Statement should be displayed on all health and safety notice boards.

Sensible approach to health and safety in schools David said: “Protecting our employees and service users is our absolute priority and we will work in partnership with managers and employees to raise health and safety awareness and promote a positive safety culture.”

Congratulations to Michelle Stokes and Laura Rinaldi on successfully completing their degrees and becoming fully qualified Health and Safety Advisors.

Lifesaving defibrillators installed in Council buildings 100,000 people die every year in the UK from sudden cardiac arrest.

The automated external defibrillator (AED) is critically important in the successful treatment of sudden cardiac arrest and the faster the response, the higher the chance of survival – seconds really do count.

In recognition of this, the Council is in the process of installing lifesaving defibrillators in all major buildings, depots, secondary schools and adult resource centres.

AEDs are very effective and simple to use, in fact they can be used by people with little or no training. They prompt the operator on what to do and do not give a shock unless the heart needs it.

The Health and Safety team, with the support of HeartStart and Stewarts First Aid, aim to raise awareness and provide training to as many employees as possible on these lifesaving devices.

The Health and Safety Executive (HSE) has launched a web based resource, designed to support school managers in adopting a sensible and proportionate approach to health and safety risks and to encourage risk awareness rather than risk avoidance.

For more information go to the bulletins page http://eacintranet/ChiefExecutiveOffice/ HealthandSafety/Bulletins.aspx

The Helpdesk

answer health and safety queries and provide advice and information across the Council.

Remember, the Helpdesk is available to

Call 01563 554825 or email Health&Safety@east-ayrshire.gov.uk

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Human Resources Credit Unions

Bentley McGarry

There are currently three Credit Unions operating within East Ayrshire: Scotwest Credit Union Ayrshire Credit Union and Sovereign Credit Union

Isla & Millie Paton

Something to make you smile…

Unlike banks, Credit Unions are cooperatives. They are self-help organisations owned and democratically controlled by their members, offering low rate loans and a range of savings accounts.

Employees who are members of a Credit Union can make payments to their account directly from their salaries.

The Council recognises that local Credit Unions provide a valuable service; however the Council does not endorse or encourage employees to take out any loans.

More information is available from per circular 8/14

Flexible working New legislation has come into force which means that all employees with more than 26 weeks’ service have the right to request flexible working.

Alfie Rennix

More information is available from per circular 9/14

Electronic checking of driving licences The Council is introducing a new electronic system which will check employee’s driving licences. Manual checks will continue to take place until the new system has been fully rolled out.

Bronwen Short

Maisie Buchanan

More information is available from per circular 7/14

Revised mileage form The new Mileage and Subsistence Claim Form is available to download here: eacintranet/FinanceandCorporateSupport/ HumanResources/EmployeeRelations/ Policies-and-Procedures/Forms.aspx More information is available from per circular 4/14

Harry R Hodgson

Toffee Rae

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Linnhe Cochrane

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