October 2022

5 October - Cost of living support website launched - everything you need in the one place!

The cost of living crisis presents an ongoing challenge to people and families across Scotland, with many struggling to make ends meet. As part of its response to this situation, the Scottish Government has launched a marketing campaign promoting a new website that brings together in one place information on support, grants, benefits and advice, in order to help people find what support they may be entitled to.

• Household expenses, rents and travel costs are increasing and many people are finding it difficult to pay their bills. In some cases you may be eligible for benefits or schemes that could help.
• Energy bills are rising, but in many cases help and financial support may be available to help heat homes more efficiently and reduce heating bills. It's important to reach out for support if it's needed. 
• Many people are worried about money just now. There are benefits, grants, and free services available which may help you increase your income.
• Parenting is hard at the best of times, but when money worries hit it can be overwhelming. From free school meals or help with day-to-day costs, you could be eligible for support.
• If you're worried about money or how to deal with debt, you're not alone. Anyone can find themselves overwhelmed by financial worries, but there's support and advice available to help you.
• Rising costs can have a bigger impact on some people including older people, disabled people and those who care for them. Make sure you're getting all the assistance you're entitled to.
• If you rent your home, you have rights such as being protected from unfair evictions or rent increases.

For help and advice visit https://costofliving.campaign.gov.scot/

5 October - A final farewell - NRS support Her Majesty The Queen as she departs Scotland

Members of staff from Neighbourhoods, Regeneration and Sustainability have been thanked after they answered a call to help support the safe and timely procession of Her Majesty Queen Elizabeth II's final Scottish journey from St Giles Cathedral on the Royal Mile to Edinburgh Airport.

The hour long procession of the Royal cortege was an enormous logisitical effort and over 100 members of staff from our Neighbourhoods, Regeneration and Sustainability Service provided invaluable support to marshal the procession safely.

The procession to the airport was watched by thousands of people in addition to the 33,000 people who viewed Her Majesty's coffin when lying in state at St Giles.

Alex Colquhoun, Group Manager said "It was a privilege to jointly lead a group of over 100 personnel from Glasgow City Council to assist with the volunteer marshalling at the ceremonial events for thousands of people to pay their respects and commemorate the life of Her Majesty The Queen, in the City of Edinburgh.

The event was a great success and the volunteers played an integral role in ensuring visitors felt welcome and safe during this historic time. I would like to thank everyone that took part and ensured the delivery of required service was seamless."

5 October - 2023 UCI Cycling Worlds set for stunning road races 

The world's best cyclists will savour some of Scotland's most spectacular scenery next year with the men's and women's road races taking in Edinburgh Castle and Arthur's Seat in the capital, the Wallace Monument and The Kelpies, and the bonnie banks of Loch Lomond en route to the finish line at Glasgow's George Square.

For the first time ever, this unique Cycling Worlds - bringing together 13 existing UCI World Championships into a new mega event held in Glasgow and across Scotland - will also close with the Women Elite road race on Sunday 13 August 2023.

Edinburgh and Loch Lomond were unveiled on Friday 23 September as official venues and starting locations for the Elite and Under 23 categories of the road races at the 2023 UCI Cycling World Championships. The announcement was made at the 2022 UCI Road World Championships in Wollongong, Australia.

Routes

Click here for more details on the routes including the Glasogw Circuit.

Volunteer
There are volunteering opportunities at all venues, including the newly announced venues of Edinburgh and Loch Lomond. For more information, click here

Leader of the Council, Councillor Susan Aitken, said: "The road race events at the 2023 UCI Cycling World Championships will be a real highlight of our sporting calendar with stars from across the continent competing. The great road races of France, Spain and Italy all showcase their cities and countryside to massive audiences, and I am sure these events will do the same for Glasgow and our neighbours.  Including these events as part of the competition schedule gives sports fans a fantastic opportunity to see elite riders race past their doorsteps, this summer - for free."

Full schedule

The full schedule of events for the 2023 UCI Cycling World Championships, including all 13 UCI World Championships can be found here.

Event

The 2023 UCI Cycling World Championships will take place across 11 days from 3 to 13 August 2023 in venues and locations in Glasgow and across Scotland. This is the first time all 13 UCI World Championships will be combined into one mega-event, making it a cycling event unmatched in size and scale. More than a million spectators are anticipated as well as a global television audience in nore than 160 markets, making it one of the most significant events in the UK next summer.

For further information on the UCI Cycling World Championships, visit www.cyclingworldchamps.com

5 October - Our Food for Life Ambassadors championing good food in our schools

In June 2021, the council successfully achieved the Food for Life Served Here Bronze Award, accredited by the Soil Association, for our work to get fresh, local and sustainable food onto the plates of the young people in our schools

Gillian Pagani, Operations Support Manager and Jean Millar, Schools Project Co-ordinator from Financial Services were part of the team who led on this initiative.  This year, the Soil Association contacted them about getting involved in an inaugural programme to create ambassadors to promote the Food for Life message - Ambassadors were selected from the 18 local authorities in Scotland who hold the Food for Life Served Here Award, for them to push forward the 'good food' movement. 

In May, and along with catering staff from these other Local Authorities Gillian and Jean attended a ceremony in Edinburgh to receive an Award in recognition of them becoming Food for Life Scotland Ambassadors.

Gillian Pagani said:"We were keen to participate in the ambassadors programme to continue our Food for Life journey and spread the word in schools about healthy eating to all the catering teams in the school meals service across the council."

"After taking part in a number of workshops and to become recognised as Ambassadors, we had to create and set out our own individual action plans and this includes Glasgow working towards the Silver Award accreditation. We are also supporting a number of different initiatives and one of those is working with the children in Ibrox primary to look at plastic reduction."

Jean Millar said:"What really motivated me to become an Ambassador is to ensure we continue to get more nutritional meals on the table for the children.  A benefit of being part of the programme was being able to share ideas and best practice with Ambassadors from other Local Authorities about what they were doing to support and promote health eating in their schools and communities."

Stephen Sawers, Head of Catering and Facilities Management, Financial Services said: "Well done to our Ambassadors and our wider team and I am also grateful to the Soil Association and our colleagues in Education Services who have supported us in achieving our objective to provide good food on the plate for all our young people. A great example of collaboration and partnership working that will continue to provide our school children with healthy meals from local sustainable sources.

More Information

You can watch a short video about how the Food for Life Ambassadors are driving change here:

The 'Food for Life Served Here Award' is a nationally recognised mark of food quality for school meals accredited by Soil Association Scotland. 

5 October - It's just so quick and easy to use - MY IT

Self-service portal 'My IT' launched last November, to empower staff to manage their own IT issues and requests without the need to call the Service Desk.

Denise Hay, Eclipse Training Lead at Glasgow Health and Social Care Partnership started using the portal earlier this year and has been impressed. She said "Tickets get picked up really quickly, they seem to be processed faster than when submitted via email which is what I did prior to using My IT.

"I also like being able to monitor the status of my tickets on the dashboard without the need to call CGI for updates. We can both add comments to existing tickets so it's a quick and easy way to communicate and stay informed about a ticket.

"The portal is straightforward and intuitive to use, I would also recommend that users turn on their 'notifications'. This means you will get email updates about jobs in real time without having to log in and check. To do this you just go into 'notification settings' and under 'requests' tick the 'email' box.

"I've used the portal for everything from requesting new user accounts to purchase requests and application issues. It's really efficient and makes issues and requests much easier to manage and track."

For more information see the My IT Manager's Briefing.

5 October - Hybrid meeting rooms delivering for the city

Each year in Glasgow, over 400 parents or guardians make placing requests appeals to the council. A placing request is made to a local authority to place a child in a school that is either outwith a local catchment area or a school recommended by professionals.

In Glasgow, placing request appeals are heard by the Education Appeals Committee (EAC). This committee can sit daily for up to three weeks in June each year to hear placement requests. The board is chaired by a parent representative and is made up of two representatives and one elected member. Support is given by a clerk and a legal advisor.

Before the covid pandemic, the EAC met in person in the City Chambers. When the pandemic hit, a solution had to be found to enable the process to go ahead in a safe way.

Committee Services staff, working with the SIIT (Strategic Information, Innovation and Technology) team, created a makeshift Microsoft Teams solution in 2020. This solution used existing TVs, hardware, and a few long cables to get the board up and running. The same solution worked well in 2021.

This year, the 2022 EAC used one of our new hybrid Teams rooms. These rooms allow a Microsoft Team meeting to be held in person with others who can join on MS Teams from home or any other location.

A high-definition video camera and two large screens allow everyone to see each other, and documents can be shared and viewed as normal. Multiple desktop microphones provide excellent quality sound for everyone in the meeting.

For the EACs held since COVID, all parents making an appeal have joined virtually, with the EAC members and support staff based physically together in the hybrid room.

Anne Marie Carr, Assistant Committee Services Manager said: "It was a daunting task to change the way the EAC was run, especially with the focus moving towards innovative technology. However, the new system worked well, and we know we have efficient ways to process requests. It can particularly help parents as, in the past, they could be waiting outside the committee room for a prolonged period. Now, we send them a text when there is around 10 mins before they will be called."

Book a hybrid room

The hybrid rooms are part of the hybrid working pilot and they will be tested and reviewed as part of the programme with a view to understanding the requirement for any future investment in this technology.

For now, there are two rooms, our aim is to invest in increasing the number of rooms once we know that this technology can support the way we work between home and office and justify

The hybrid rooms which can now be booked are room 2.09 in City Chambers East and room G22 in Exchange House, 231 George St. Read the guide on how to book and use a hybrid room

For more information: https://techcommunity.microsoft.com/t5/microsoft-teams-blog/introducing-microsoft-teams-rooms-updated/ba-p/323848

5 October - Spotlight on money management - financial enterprise at St Martha's Primary

Over the past two years, pupils at St. Martha's Primary School in Balornock have been working towards being recognised as a 'Centre of Excellence in Financial Education'.

Danielle McGrory, Challenge Leader of Learning said "The school have been championing the programme since October 2020 with the aim of providing high quality learning experiences for pupils relating to financial and enterprise education. As well as being led by their teachers, pupils have benefited from working with external agencies such as MyBnk and Money Advice Scotland.

"Some barriers were faced along the way due to the Covid-19 pandemic, however this has meant it's more important than ever before to equip children with the knowledge and skills relating to financial education.

"To celebrate all of their hard work, pupils held a 'Financial and Enterprise Education Showcase' on 21 June. They were extremely enthusiastic to share their learning with visitors including Quality Improvement Officer, Stephen Watters, and children from nearby Balornock Primary School. Pupils from primary 1 right up to primary 7 confidently showcased their work and answered questions about their different projects.

"Participating in the Young Enterprise Centres of Excellence programme has allowed our pupils not only to take part in high quality Financial Education lessons but has also given them the opportunity to develop their entrepreneurial skills by taking part in a range of exciting projects. It has been wonderful for all staff involved to see the children's enthusiasm when learning about money management topics which will not only benefit them now, but also in the future. We are hopeful to be recognised soon by Young Enterprise and Young Money as a 'Centre of Excellence."

5 October - Your feedback is helping data make a difference

Earlier this year with the support of the Scottish Government, we took part in an important Data Maturity Assessment. Nearly 700 of you took part in this survey and we would like to thank you for your participation. Your valuable feedback is helping to develop our Data Maturity Action Plan putting data at the heart of everything we do.

Data maturity can be defined as our journey towards improving and making better use of our data to help improve services and future outcomes.

Kimberley Hose, Head of Business Intelligence, SIIT said: "The feedback we received from staff has been fundamental in helping us to identify what we need to do next.  Staff from each Service attended a series of project workshops to discuss the survey results and look at what we could be doing better."

"Our action plan will help us to deliver on a number of key priorities so that we can work towards becoming a more data mature organisation.  Based on your feedback, we have identified a series of key data actions.  One of our first priorities is to recruit data champions in each Service who can help to support the delivery of our action plan within their local area and help teams make the best use of data to support service delivery." 

"We all 'use data' every day, no matter our role. To help staff understand the value and importance of using quality data we are also starting to look at developing our own online data awareness staff training - to demonstrate the value that data has in our decision making to help improve the services we deliver."

Based on your feedback our action plan includes:

• Continued use and creation of staff data awareness campaigns using case studies to showcase and promote how we all use data everyday across the council.
• Introduction of Service data champions who can work with colleagues to help support and assist teams with any data activity requirements - helping you to source quality data as required.
• Running a series of events to introduce the importance of using quality data - for example how your project/Service can benefit from using the right data.
• Improving data quality across the organisationby identifying how we can improve data collection and cleanse our existing data.
• Creating support materialsand guidance documents to help you to source the right data that will benefit you and your work.
• Delivering corporate training which is accessible to all staff - to demonstrate how data can help you get the best results in your role no matter what role you have in the council.

More Information

You can find out more about why Data Makes a Difference here 

5 October - Smart move with game-changing device to halt traffic for a school bike bus

A bike bus route in the southside of Glasgow has been made safer thanks to an innovative, bike-mounted, remote-controlled device that holds traffic to let the children cross, in good time.

In what is believed to be a first of its kind in the UK, new, smart technology from a wireless transmitter, developed for the council, sends a signal to hold traffic at an extremely busy junction, allowing the large group of children on bikes and scooters, to cross safely, on their journey to school.

The Ultra-Smart Cycle System, mounted on the Shawlands Bus Bike lead rider's bike, uses a military-grade encrypted signal that, when pressed on approach to the junction, sets a specially timed traffic light cycle in motion to hold traffic for 45 seconds, enough time to get all of the riders through.

The signal is only accepted by the control unit, mounted on a traffic pole, on a pre-programmed day, during an agreed period - so it is perfect for the once-a-week bike ride that passes through the junction between 8:30am and 9:00am, on Fridays.

Read the full story on this innovative technology and how it works here

5 October - Start the conversation today!

National Power of Attorney (PoA) Day was 29 September and we're encouraging everyone to start the conversation about PoA.

Having a PoA in place means you can nominate someone you trust to make the important decisions about your future if ill health meant you couldn't do it for yourself. Even if you have a next of kin, you still need a PoA to make sure your wishes are followed if you become incapacitated - it doesn't automatically fall to your next of kin.

Every day in Glasgow, many people are having to stay in hospital after they're fit for discharge because they don't have a PoA in place, causing distress and delays for them and their loved ones, and having an impact on the number of beds available for other patients.

This short information leaflet can be printed and given to people you support to read through in their own time or when you're talking with them about PoA. 

Find out more about PoA at mypowerofattorney.co.uk, where you'll find some great short videos with all the key facts, as well as information and resources. And you can follow what's happening at @StartTalkingPoA #poa2022 #mypoa."

5 October - Are you a parent of a young person?

If you know a young person in Glasgow, aged 16 - 24 years old who is feeling overwhelmed, struggling socially, or just doesn't feel like themselves. Please tell them about Togetherall -  a safe, anonymous online community to support their mental health.

Commissioned by Education Services, Togetherall, is a peer to peer mental health community, supported by Wall Guides -trained mental health professionals, which is available free to all young people aged 16-24 in Glasgow.

They can register here

Members join the community anonymously for support with a wide range of mental health and wellbeing issues, from anxiety, depression, and isolation, to relationship issues and lifestyle challenges.

Togetherall supports immediate and longer-term mental health or situational distress, enabling members to feel more in control of their emotional health. Their philosophy of early intervention aims to improve the mental wellbeing of our members, providing them with the necessary tools and resources to manage their own journey to improving their mental health.

In addition to the community, Members have the safety and accessibility of Wall Guides who are all trained mental health professionals and are there to make sure everyone remains safe and supported.

They are available 24/7and 365 days a year.