Renfrewshire Community Learning and Development Partnership Plan 2024-2027
Renfrewshire Council · 29 October 2024
Back to Communities and Housing Policy Board — 29 October 2024 and its agenda
Text extracted from the council's PDF. Layout and reading order may differ from the original.
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To: Communities and Housing Policy Board On: 29 October 2024 _______________________________________________________________________ Report by: Chief Executive _______________________________________________________________________ Heading: Renfrewshire Community Learning and Development Partnership Plan 2024-2027 _______________________________________________________________________ 1. Summary 1.1 On 20 August 2024, members of the board received an update on the development of Renfrewshire’s Community Learning and Development Partnership Plan. It is a statutory requirement for the Council to co-ordinate and publish a plan every 3 years, which sets out how partners in Renfrewshire will seek to ensure that community learning and development activities meet the needs of local people and communities. 1.2 At the meeting of the Board, an early consultation draft was shared following an extensive programme of engagement with local partners. This had also been informed through an assessment of local data, information and consultation feedback from organisations including in relation to the Council’s own community learning and development services. 1.3 As agreed by the Board at that time, the draft plan was then subject to a period of wider consultation and has now been agreed in principle by the Community Learning and Development Partnership Executive Group, comprising of all key agencies and representative organisations in Renfrewshire. 1.4 Members are asked to endorse the final plan for submission to the Scottish Government, which is attached as Appendix 1 to this report. It is intended that the Partnership Plan will be a “live” document subject to regular updating, in order that partners can respond flexibly to emerging needs that are identified through regular engagement with all stakeholders, particularly people who would benefit from these supports.
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1.5 Section 4 of the report provides an overview of the Plan and the key priorities that have been identified. It also provides an overview of governance arrangements relating to the Plan and outlines how partners intend to continue to engage with local people and communities to identify and respond to local needs and barriers to access. 1.6 Section 5 of the report provides a closing summary of the current CLD Plan for information, with a more detailed summary of activities completed by the inhouse CLD team over the course of the last 6 months in particular attached at Appendix 2. 2 Recommendations 2.1 It is recommended that members: a) Endorse the Community Learning and Development Partnership Plan at Appendix 1 for submission to Scottish Government b) Note the closing summary in relation to the previous CLD Plan (2021-24) as outlined in Section 5 and Appendix 2. c) Note that an annual report will be provided to the Board in terms of delivery of the Partnership Plan 2024 – 2027 in 2025. 3. Background 3.1 Under the Requirements for Community Learning and Development (Scotland) Regulations 2013, local authorities in Scotland are required to consult on and publish a plan every three years which sets out how the local authority will co-ordinate provision of CLD across the area, what will be provided by the local authority and by partners, and any unmet CLD needs within the period of the plan. Each three year plan should be based on an assessment of need which has included consultation and engagement with service users and communities as well as analysis of data. There is an expectation of regular review of evidence to assess the impact of CLD activity and inform future planning. 3.2 The requirements also place an obligation on local authorities to ensure that: communities have access to the CLD support they need; that communities are enabled to express their needs for CLD provision and; that Community Planning Partnerships, local authorities and public service providers more generally respond appropriately to the expectations set out by CLD Strategic Guidance. 3.3 Partners in Renfrewshire have been working on the development of a new CLD Partnership Plan since early 2024 in line with the national guidance, and have also reflected the recommendations from the recently published national review of CLD delivery in Scotland.
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3.4 It has also been important to ensure that the Plan builds on key strengths but also areas for improvement identified by Education Scotland as part of their inspection progress visit which was undertaken early in 2024 for Renfrewshire. As previously reported to elected members, the inspection highlighted operational strengths such as the contribution of Street Stuff to reducing anti-social behaviour; the strong volunteering culture; effective safeguarding processes; success in removing barriers to participation in learning through a number of projects; and the role of Renfrewshire Youth Voice in helping young people have a say in issues affecting them. However, inspectors also found that the CLD strategy was focused on the delivery of council- led activity and needed to be wider in focus and ambition. They highlighted that partners were not sufficiently involved in the development of the strategy and there was no strategic partnership group in place. The strategy did not have a performance framework which could be used to measure progress. 3.5 In practice this has led to the development of new governance and partnership arrangements for community learning and development across Renfrewshire, with a new steering group and partnership forum being put into place. This has allowed the Plan to be shaped and agreed in principle by key partners and stakeholders in Renfrewshire. 3.6 Partners have worked together to consider all of the information that we currently have about provision in Renfrewshire, including data on specific needs relating to our communities and consultation feedback from people that have used community learning and development services locally. 3.7 Partners have consulted widely on the priorities that we need to work on together and have identified a number of actions for progressing this work going forward. This includes strengthening our approach to consultation and engagement, promoting more opportunities for voice and influence, to closer partnership working and monitoring the impact of what we are doing together. 3.8 A draft plan was shared with the Board in August 2024, which was then opened out to further final engagement ahead of the Plan being finalised in October 2024 by partners. 4. Renfrewshire’s Community Learning and Development Partnership Plan (2024- 27) 4.1 The Community Learning and Development Partnership Plan sets out the following vision for partners in Renfrewshire: “Working together to ensure our communities, people and families living in Renfrewshire have the capacity, support, resilience and opportunities they need to thrive” 4.2 Partners have identified 4 Priorities which are aligned to our 4 Community Planning Themes:
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Priority 1: Providing a programme of high-quality lifelong learning, accessible to all Priority 2: Building strong, connected communities where people can participate and influence in their local area Priority 3: Delivering targeted opportunities to reduce barriers and tackle inequalities Priority 4: Strengthening our CLD Partnership and developing our local workforce 4.3 The Partnership Plan contains a detailed action plan which sets out the key actions partners intend to progress to deliver on these priorities. Specific performance measures have also been included to allow impact to be tracked more robustly. This action plan is flexible and will continually evolve as partnership working strengthens further. 4.4 Partners recognise that they want to do more collectively to understand and assess need, and to listen to the voices of people throughout their life long learner journey. Partners agreed to embed this approach into our ongoing processes, and committed to jointly formally reviewing and reporting on progress at least once a year, and adding and updating actions and planned activities as required through the CLD Partnership Executive Group. 4.5 Partners also agreed a shared commitment to the Promise in the Plan, signalling a collective ambition for promoting the voice of care experienced young people in Renfrewshire. 4.6 It is intended that progress reports will be provided to the Renfrewshire Community Planning Partnership, and summaries also provided to learners, communities and wider stakeholders including through reports to the Communities and Housing Policy Board. Subject to the Plan being endorsed by the Communities and Housing Board, it will then be submitted to Scottish Government and published on partner websites including that of the Council. 4.7 Whilst the Council has the co-ordinating role to play, it would not have been possible to develop this Partnership Plan without the input of all key partners in Renfrewshire, and officers are grateful to everyone who played a part in shaping our local Plan. 5. Final Update - CLD Strategy 2021-2024 5.1 The submission of the new CLD Partnership Plan 2024-27 represents the next stage in the development of community learning and development activities and support in Renfrewshire. It is therefore appropriate for oversight and scrutiny purposes to “close off” or provide a final update on the previous CLD Strategy 21-24, which as highlighted in Section 3 above was much more focused on internal Council provision.
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5.2 The last update provided to elected members on the implementation of these services was provided in May 2024, and a detailed update covering the period to end October 2024 is provided for elected members as at Appendix 2 of this report. Implications of this report 1. Financial – None 2. HR and Organisational Development – The report includes updates on training and development activity of staff. 3. Community/Council Planning – the work of CLAD is aligned to Community Plan themes. 4. Legal – The Council has statutory duties in relation to the planning of community learning and development. The report details work underway to establish partnership governance arrangements. 5. Property/Assets – None 6. Information Technology – None 7. Equality & Human Rights – Renfrewshire’s CLD framework has equality and equitable access at its heart, with CLD services across Renfrewshire focused on narrowing the inequalities that exist locally. The data, intelligence and insight from the Equality Impact Assessment have informed the areas of priority within the Plan itself, as well as the action plan and performance framework. The Impact Assessment has identified that there are gaps in understanding around the demographic profile of people accessing CLD services across the partnership and a number of actions have therefore been identified to strengthen this information so it can inform the design of services moving forward, and to provide further confidence in the reach of available opportunities. A number of actions have also been identified to be reflected within CLD workforce planning arrangements moving forward. 8. Health and Safety – None 9. Procurement – None 10. Risk – The areas for improvement highlighted in the recent inspection report are risks; corrective actions are being delivered to address these risks. 11. Privacy Impact – None
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12 Climate Risk –.None 13. Children’s Rights - this report demonstrates compliance with Articles 2 (no discrimination), 5 (family guidance as children develop), 12 (respect for children’s views), 13 (sharing thoughts freely), 15 (setting up or joining groups), 17 (access to information), 19 (be safe from violence), 21 (best care if you are adopted, fostered or living in care), 31 (rest, play, culture and arts) and 42 (right to know about your rights). 14. COSLA Policy Position – None List of Background Papers: None Contact: - Laura McIntyre, Head of Policy and Partnerships
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Renfrewshire Community Learning and Development Partnership Plan 2024‐2027 “Working together to ensure our communities, people and families living in Renfrewshire have the capacity, support, resilience and opportunities they need to thrive” Appendix 1
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1 Foreword Thank you for taking the time to read this Community and Learning Development Plan, which covers the period 2024- 2027. This is the first plan we have written since we set up our new partnership arrangements and it is only the first step in our new approach. As our partnership working gets stronger, we will update this plan. Community learning and development work in Renfrewshire has many strands and reaches many people. We recognise that our learners and our communities are at the heart of what we do, and as an initial priority, we will be looking at how we further strengthen local voice and lived experience in developing and shaping future activities and programmes of work. Our plan supports Renfrewshire’s four Community Plan themes - Thriving, Well, Fair and Safe – and reflects the priorities of our Community Learning and Development Partnership Forum. This plan sets out what we want to achieve as a partnership in the next three years, and details some of the shared actions we will take to support people to live their best possible lives. We are committed as partners to building on the strengths and brilliant examples of great partnership working we see in Renfrewshire every day. On behalf of Renfrewshire CLD Partnership Executive Group Alan Mc Niven Chair Chief Executive, Engage Renfrewshire
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2 Contents Foreword .......................................................................................................................................................................................................................................... 1 What is Community Learning and Development? .......................................................................................................................................................................... 3 Why do we need a Community Learning and Development Plan? ............................................................................................................................................... 3 How have we developed our local Community Learning and Development Plan? ...................................................................................................................... 4 What does Community Learning and Development look like in Renfrewshire? ........................................................................................................................... 5 Governance and Partnership working ............................................................................................................................................................................................ 6 Understanding local need ................................................................................................................................................................................................................ 7 In summary: ................................................................................................................................................................................................................................... 10 Our CLD Partnership Plan – Our Shared Priorities ....................................................................................................................................................................... 11 Priority 1: Provide a programme of high-quality lifelong learning, accessible to all ......................................................................................................... 12 Priority 2: Build strong, connected communities where people can participate and influence in their local area ......................................................... 14 Priority 3: Deliver targeted opportunities to reduce barriers and tackle inequalities ....................................................................................................... 16 Priority 4: Strengthening our CLD Partnership and developing our workforce .................................................................................................................. 18 Our Partnership commitment to The Promise ............................................................................................................................................................................. 20 How will we know what difference we are making?..................................................................................................................................................................... 21 Appendix 1 ‐ Our Partnership AcƟon Plan ..................................................................................................................................................................................... 22 Appendix 2 – More informaƟon about the role of partners in Renfrewshire ................................................................................................................................ 30 Appendix 3 ‐ Our local and naƟonal policy context ...................................................................................................................................................................... 33
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3 What is Community Learning and Development? Community Learning and Development (CLD) is an approach to lifelong learning which aims to empower people and communities to take part in, and help shape, their own learning and development at all stages of life and in ways that suit a person’s needs. The identification of local priorities and the delivery of activity to meet those priorities should be an inclusive and collaborative process involving stakeholders including learners, young people, community members, community volunteers, local authorities, voluntary and charity sector organisations, educational institutions, and other organisations across the public and third sectors. The key principles of Community Learning and Development recognised nationally are: Inclusion and equality Empowerment Partnership and collaboration Lifelong learning Participation and engagement Inclusive learning Assets-based approach Why do we need a Community Learning and Development Plan? It’s important that all local partners involved in delivering community learning and development activities work together to understand the opportunities, challenges and barriers which exist to access these. It is a legal requirement for each local authority in Scotland to consult on and publish a plan every 3 years. This must set out how community learning and development activities will be organised and delivered within a local authority area (see Requirements for Community Learning and Development (Scotland) Regulations 2013). Whilst a local authority co-ordinates the development and monitoring of any Plan, many different partners are responsible for supporting and delivering community learning and development activities to local people and communities. As partners we need to be focused on supporting a Life-Long Learning Journey, ensuring that we work together to meet the specific needs of our communities and involve local people and partners in shaping this provision on an ongoing basis.
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4 How have we developed our local Community Learning and Development Plan? Our local Partnership Plan has been developed in line with national guidance published by the Scottish Government, and has also been informed by the recent national review of Community Learning and Development in Scotland. The local and national strategic context which we have also considered is set out in Appendix 3 of this Plan. Partners have worked together to consider all of the information that we currently have about provision in Renfrewshire, including data on specific needs relating to our communities, and consultation feedback from people that have used community learning and development services locally. Partners have consulted widely on the priorities that we need to work on together and have identified a number of actions for progressing this work going forward. This includes strengthening our approach to consultation and engagement, promoting more opportunities for voice and influence, to closer partnership working and monitoring the impact of what we are doing together. There is much ambition for the future of Community Learning and Development in Renfrewshire. Our Education Scotland CLD Progress Visit - Feb 2024 Our approach to developing this Partnership Plan has also been shaped by the feedback partners received from Education Scotland earlier this year. Inspectors asked us to focus on strengthening our partnership working, making sure that all partners involved in supporting or delivering CLD activities have been involved in shaping this plan and have ownership of local agreed priorities. We have put into place new partnership working structures to support this going forward which all partners have actively supported. We also have identified initial actions and indicators that will demonstrate the impact that our joint work is having, and this is something that we will continue to work on together. You can read more about the inspection findings here.
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5 What does Community Learning and Development look like in Renfrewshire? In Renfrewshire a range of different partners support community learning and development activities. Some of these may be direct services or supports whilst other partners contribute to support for a person or community as part of their lifelong learner journey. Renfrewshire also has mature partnership working arrangements, driven by partners who have a shared agenda and purpose. You can read more about what this will mean in our action plan at Appendix 1, or in Appendix 2 which provides further information about key partners and their roles. Renfrewshire has a rich landscape of third and voluntary sector community development organisations. Some of these are place based, like Tannahill Centre, Active Communities, Star Project or Erskine Arts, and some of these are community of interest, for example youth work such as Create Paisley, or supporting New Scots like Pachedu. There are also a whole network of community led groups such as parent groups, senior forums, growing grounds, community development trusts and community councils. Some of these organisations have professional CLD practice and approaches at their core, while others may not even consider themselves to be CLD providers – we recognise that all have an important role to play in shaping and delivering Renfrewshire’s CLD priorities, and should feel their contribution is reflected in this plan now and going forward. Lifelong learner journey HSCP Local Employability Partnership Voluntary and community sector Community Safety Partnership One Ren University of West of Scotland West College Scotland Childrens Services Partnership Connected Communities Service Engage Renfrewshire DigiRen
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6 Governance and Partnership working In mid-2024, more formal partnership arrangements were introduced for CLD in Renfrewshire. It was recognised that this new approach would create new opportunities to collaborate, to share information, to understand gaps in provision or where there may be duplication. This has led to two new groups being established. Our CLD Partnership Executive Group is made up of local strategic partners and is currently chaired by the Chief Executive of Engage Renfrewshire. Its role is to provide strategic co-ordination of community learning and development activity across Renfrewshire, to agree shared priorities, improvement actions and performance measures, and to oversee the planning, delivery and monitoring of these. It will report into the Community Planning Partnership on the progress being achieved. Our Renfrewshire CLD Partnership Forum is made up of groups and organisations who deliver some form of CLD activity in Renfrewshire. Its role is to inform the Plan on an ongoing basis, to ensure the voice of service providers and service users is reflected in the work of the CLD Partnership in Renfrewshire, and to strengthen local partnership working. As partners we have identified that we need to continue to strengthen the role that voice and listening to lived experience plays in terms of shaping what we do locally. This will be a key priority going forward. Community Planning Partnership Executive Group CLD Partnership Executive Group CLD Partnership Forum V O I C E
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7 Understanding local need In developing our shared priorities and action plan, partners have reviewed local data sources and information and considered consultation feedback gathered through the CLD Partnership Forum and other consultation mechanisms. We highlight some of the key factors driving our priorities in the infographics below:
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9 What learners and partners told us were emerging or continued priorities: Adult Literacies helping children with homework, practical support for things like driving theory tests, writing skills Personal and Social Development support around health and wellbeing, arts and crafts and confidence building Digital Skills job seeking, internet safety, social media ESOL and support for resettlement BSL Neurodiversity The Promise Skills for learning developing the young workforce Support for Volunteers Gaelic Education Young people told us there were key priorities about health and wellbeing, personal safety, alcohol and drugs, climate change and mental health Young people wanted to see more sports, outdoor and creative activities, trips and experiences, and youth groups being provided locally
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10 In summary: Partners have increasing evidence in Renfrewshire that there is a real deepening or widening of inequalities locally in Renfrewshire, as households continue to be impacted by the cost-of-living crisis. Renfrewshire’s population is growing; becoming more ethnically diverse and the age profile is changing too. One in 6 people live alone and may have less social connection. Child poverty remains a concern in Renfrewshire, as is the poverty-related gap in terms of educational attainment. Our economic profile confirms that Renfrewshire performs well compared with regional and national data on some key economic indicators but there are concerns about levels of economic inactivity in Renfrewshire. Local health and wellbeing survey data indicates that health inequalities in Renfrewshire are also deepening. There are high level of people experiencing challenges with their mental and physical health, which impacts wider wellbeing and activity. One in 4 people report that they provide care to someone on a regular basis. Alcohol and drug issues remain a concern for local partners with increasing levels of drug and alcohol related deaths in Renfrewshire. Feedback from people who use our services and from the wider CLD Partner Forum have identified a range of different areas of priority in response to the changing needs of Renfrewshire’s communities which are covered in the next few sections of this Plan.
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11 Our CLD Partnership Plan – Our Shared Priorities Through our engagement process we have identified four priorities which are aligned to our existing Community Planning Themes: Priority 1: Provide a programme of high-quality lifelong learning, accessible to all. Priority 2: Build strong, connected communities where people can participate and influence in their local area. Priority 3: Deliver targeted opportunities to reduce barriers and tackle inequalities. Priority 4: Strengthening our CLD Partnership and developing our local workforce.
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12 Priority 1: Provide a programme of high-quality lifelong learning, accessible to all Community Learning and Development builds on people’s existing skills and strengths, as well as supporting people at any point in their life to learn new skills - for work and for life. We know there are people in our communities who face barriers to economic activity, whether that’s because they are caring for children or another adult, because of their own health needs, or because they feel they don’t have the right mix of skills for the work they would be interested in. We want to continue to build our work across CLD and employability partnerships to provide a cohesive partnership offer that supports people facing these barriers. Case study: Caroline’s Adult Learning Journey Caroline has been taking part in Adult Learning groups for over 10 years. She originally sought out support with her literacies so she could help her grandchildren with their learning. Overtime with support from her tutor her goals have shifted and expanded. Caroline has said that thanks to coming to the group she has done things that she “never thought she would be able to learn or do.” For example, driving theory and negative numbers. Through attending the adult literacies group Caroline has built her confidence and has sought out other learning opportunities both within Adult Learning and beyond. She has joined the Talking Heads group in Southend, participated in various college course, including: Understanding Mental Health, Sewing and Knitting. She is now starting a psychology course with the Open University. Partners will focus on activities which: Help citizens to develop skills for work and life, enhancing employability and opportunities for anyone at any stage of the lifelong learner journey Engage and provide opportunities for young people to achieve the best possible learning outcomes Promote digital inclusion, providing opportunities to use digital in every aspect of day-to-day life safely. Provide safe, welcoming spaces for the delivery of CLD activity, making them accessible, stigma-free and trauma-informed.
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13 Children and young people remain a priority, and at the heart of our strategic partnership plans locally. We work hard through programmes such as Developing the Young Workforce, through attainment challenge initiatives and other vocational and extra-curricular opportunities. We will continue to offer community based youth work opportunities that build strength and capacity amongst young people, as well as offering Duke of Edinburgh and other wider achievement programmes to help every young person to achieve success and reach their potential.Digital developments have brought many benefits to society, but as more and more services move online, the risk of some people being left behind increases. Partners work very closely in Renfrewshire to promote digital inclusion – our DigiRen partnership continues to go from strength to strength and is making a real difference. We recognise the need for digital inclusion to be a golden thread through all our programmes, as well as continuing to work collectively on projects such as DigiZones. Finally – for all partners, we recognise that we need to ensure that people accessing CLD opportunities feel that these are safe, welcoming and supportive. This may mean working to make our spaces more inclusive, but also working with communities to make it better to move around and access things within their local area. Launch of DigiZones in Renfrewshire
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14 Priority 2: Build strong, connected communities where people can participate and influence in their local area We have a great track record locally of encouraging and supporting volunteering opportunities, and in providing community-based personal and social development opportunities for local people who want to be more active in their communities. As partners we want to do more to build community capacity and wider community connections – making it easier for people to get involved in things going on in their communities, shaping new ideas and plans, and taking part in decision making at all different types of levels. We’ve worked on a range of opportunities for people to contribute to decision-making, from participatory budgeting exercises to a range of fora dedicated to amplifying the voice, influence and lived experience of different communities. There are brilliant local organisations and often life changing opportunities available for people to get outdoors, meet new people and improve wellbeing, or to participate in a wide range of arts and cultural opportunities. We want to do more as partners to promote access to these and to make great links between all the great work that people are taking forward. This will ensure we make the best possible use of the resources that are available in Renfrewshire. Partners will focus on activities which: Support people to engage and participate in things taking place within their communities Provide mechanisms for citizens to contribute to decision-making; Promote opportunities for personal and social development through the rich network of opportunities across Renfrewshire Build capacity by facilitating and increasing access to arts, cultural and health and wellbeing opportunities
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15 Case Study: Community Capacity Building from HSCP As part of Renfrewshire's Community Food Framework, the Health Improvement team has committed to creating training opportunities for 24 local community chefs within the locality. To date, two "Train the Trainer" Community Cookery sessions have been held, resulting in 12 new Community Chefs who are now equipped to cook and work at local food events, such as those hosted at Winter Connections venues. The framework also aims to provide support and training opportunities to enhance potential employment options for local community members. Additionally, a Food & Health training session was held, providing individuals from five different community organisations with foundational knowledge on food and health and allows them to safely handle and prepare food at community events. The Community Food Framework is also focused on supporting organisations that work with people from ethnic minority backgrounds by targeting local organisations and initiatives to improve health and food access within these communities. Furthermore, the framework has a provision for exclusive training opportunities for the local voluntary sector, such as a Community Chef course, aimed at enhancing employability skills. Case Study: Friends of Howwood Park After the installation of a new park in Howwood, the Friends of Howwood Park group was set up hoping to make the park more relevant to village life. The group have organised regular fitness classes, an Easter Egg hunt, outdoor bingo, a mini library, a Halloween Scavenger Hunt and a Christmas Tinsel Walk. The group have also taken on ownership of the Pavilion within the park and use it to host a breakfast club, a children’s library, and provide changing facilities and storage for football and other events in the park. Through the Green Spaces, Parks and Villages Investment Fund, the group secured £21,000 to create a large shelter in the park, which now provides a space for park users to meet and socialise regardless of the weather. The group has also received funding for tools which help them keep the park clean and tidy. The Chair of the Friends of Howwood Park said: “The Parks and Villages Investment Fund really has changed the landscape of Howwood Park, offering an exciting experience for users of all ages. Footfall has without a doubt increased; we are all so proud of what we have collectively achieved, especially with the new group looking specifically after the interests of the Park! With our new shelter, and new seating and benches in the village, the Green Spaces and Village Investment Fund has been a great catalyst for bringing our communities together.”
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16 Priority 3: Deliver targeted opportunities to reduce barriers and tackle inequalitiesWe are committed to actively promoting CLD services to diverse communities in Renfrewshire. Our goal is to ensure that all individuals and communities can access these services without facing additional barriers, providing targeted support where needed to support those who experience inequality and disadvantage. We know that some groups face greater barriers in accessing learning and other opportunities, and this could be about health needs, about poverty, about being care-experienced, or about being perceived by others as different. In recent years, we have welcomed growing numbers of New Scots to Renfrewshire, and our engagement in the development in this plan has demonstrated this needs to be a real priority for local partners. We are building partnerships with support agencies to understand the specific needs of the communities they serve and to raise awareness of available CLD resources. Part of this work will include developing culturally inclusive communications, ensuring that information about CLD services is accessible in languages and formats suitable for all. We will regularly assess the effectiveness of our efforts to promote access and use feedback from local community-led organisations to continually improve our approach. A key priority will be to review youth work activities across the partnership and exploring gaps for some geographical communities or communities of interest, as well as the need for further targeted support for young people who may become involved in high-risk behaviours. Partners will focus on activities which: Remove barriers for people accessing learning and development opportunities Specifically target communities of interest or localities where specific needs have been identified. This includes in relation to BSL, neurodiversity, disability or caring responsibilities. Recognise the increased diversity of our local communities, welcoming and supporting new Scots to settle in the local area. Support young people to participate and engage in their local community – ensuring they are safe, well and supported to access opportunities which support them to thrive and develop.
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17 Case Study: Summer of Fun In May 2024, funding of £100,000 was allocated through the Fairer Renfrewshire programme to support the development of a summer holiday programme, with a focus on providing support over the holiday period to low-income families. A programme of multi-agency, universal and targeted work delivered across Renfrewshire throughout the summer holidays as part of the 2024 Summer of Fun. This included: Summer camps for young people aged 5-14 delivered by Youth Services and Street Stuff Summer ASN provision in Mary Russell and Riverbrae schools, as well as through KLAS Care funded by Whole Family Wellbeing Fund Evening activities delivered by Street Stuff A family programme delivered by Adult and Family Learning and funded by Multiply A small grants fund funding 21 community and voluntary organisations to deliver activities in their local area A libraries summer programme delivered by OneRen, including a programme of mobile library activities delivered from the Skoobmobile Family fun days, delivered by Adult and Family Learning
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18 Priority 4: Strengthening our CLD Partnership and developing our workforce We think it is important for the CLD Plan to have a cross-cutting priority focussed on strengthening our partnership working in relation to Community Learning and Development. Stronger partnerships will allow us to maximise opportunities to make a difference, to enhance our information sharing, reduce duplication and help us make the best use of our resources. It will help with identifying unmet need and gaps in provision and target resources in a joined-up way. We have recently established a CLD Partnership Executive Group to provide collective strategic leadership, and a Partnership Forum to facilitate information sharing and delivery of joint priorities. As these are new governance structures, there will be a strong focus in Year 1 of this plan in developing these groups and ensuring that the right mechanisms are in place to deliver community learning and development activity as a true partnership. This will include agreeing how we represent learner and citizen voice within our governance structures, and how our third sector and community partners are best represented on the Executive Group. We will also agree a communications approach and establish arrangements for enhanced information sharing and joint working. This would also include identifying ways to raise the profile of CLD and generate wider awareness of what’s available. We consider workforce development to be a key component in strong partnership working. Training is already shared for some practice elements, including Renfrewshire’s inter-agency child protection training, and CPD delivered with one other council and local CLD partners. It is important that CLD practitioners are supported to undertake training, and that there are clear pathways to progress through the profession. As we embed our governance arrangements, we will look for opportunities to share learning and development opportunities. By amplifying the voices of partners, learners and citizens within our governance structures, we will also create development opportunities for staff and volunteers looking to work in different ways.
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19 We will also raise awareness of the CLD services available by exploiting existing networks, online platforms and publications. We will leverage the existing influence of the various partnerships and boards we are involved in to reach a broad spectrum of the community. For example: Health & Social Care: We will promote CLD activities that enhance well-being, resilience, or offer educational components tied to health and social care. Alcohol & Drugs Partnership: We will highlight recovery-based learning opportunities, targeting those with lived experience and their families. INVEST/Developing Young Workforce: We will focus on youth-targeted opportunities like skills development and career readiness programs. To further promote the CLD service locally we will collate stories that showcase the benefits of participating in CLD activities — including testimonials and case studies from local community members. We will also where possible develop short videos showing how CLD activities have benefited individuals and communities. We will seek to co-opt our partners’ newsletters to include updates on upcoming CLD learning opportunities, key service developments, and successes.
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20 Our Partnership commitment to The Promise Renfrewshire is committed to keeping The Promise and listening to the voices and needs of our care-experienced community. The delivery of The Promise in Renfrewshire requires a strongly committed multi-agency partnership working approach and demonstration of a collective understanding, commitment, and activity in relation to The Promise across all the partners. Our Partnership recognises our key role to deliver on The Promise and are a key active partner in Keeping The Promise in Renfrewshire. Delivering The Promise in Renfrewshire is part of a wider vision on improving outcomes for Children and Young People who are more likely to face poorer outcomes because of experience of child poverty, other inequalities, trauma and adversity. The Promise approach in Renfrewshire is clearly aligned with significant other policy areas and part of a wider ambition that Renfrewshire’s children and young people are happy, healthy, safe and thriving. The Promise aligned policy areas include United Nations Convention on the Rights of the Child, Getting it right for every child, National Trauma Transformation Programme and wider equalities strategies and legislation. As partners we will ensure that we make every effort as Community Learning and Development professionals or wider delivery partners to adopt a loving, nurturing approach that encourages a culture where our service users are empowered to ask us about any aspect of our services. Central to our approach to The Promise and our wider policy development work is actively listening to our Children, Young People and Families. In all our Community Learning and Development activities we are ambitious for our Care Experienced children and The Promise is a key priority for us to ensure children who are Care Experienced have all they need to thrive, while recognising that they may experience unique challenges. Case Study: Promise Arts and Culture Programme The Promise Arts and Culture Programme aims to build social and cultural capital amongst Renfrewshire’s Care Experienced young people and Young Carers, ultimately improving outcomes for these disadvantaged and marginalised groups in the short and longer-term. Since its beginning in March 2022, the Promise arts and Culture programme has brought Care Experience young people from across Renfrewshire to work with artists from different disciplines such as Film Making, Animation, Graffiti and Street Art, Design, Photography and Fashion and Textiles in order to create dynamic creative environments where young people could explore their creative voices. The success in engaging Care Experienced young people and Young Carers across Renfrewshire in diverse creative projects has already resulted these young people moving onto the Youth Services project Art Boss. Here these young people will continue to have creative and artistic experiences that respond directly to their needs.
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21 How will we know what difference we are making? Partners have developed an action plan which sets out the key actions we intend to progress to deliver on the priorities which have been identified in this Partnership Plan. We are developing a set of indicators to measure the effectiveness and inclusivity of our approach. These indicators are designed to help us track progress as well as identify areas for improvement. At this stage, these indicators remain under review, allowing for feedback and input from key stakeholders, including community organisations, partner agencies, and service users. The proposed indicators may evolve over time to reflect emerging needs and challenges. While individual Community Learning and Development services across Renfrewshire use the How Good is our Community Learning and Development framework, we will explore how we can use this at a partnership level to more fully understand our strengths and any areas for improvement. We recognise as a partnership that we want to do more to understand and assess need, and to listen to the voices of people throughout their lifelong learner journey. We need to embed this into our ongoing processes, and we therefore commit as partners to formally reviewing and reporting on progress at least once a year and adding and updating actions and planned activities as required. This process will be overseen by the CLD Partnership Executive Group. We will also report our progress into the Renfrewshire Community Planning Partnership Executive Board, and provide summaries to learners, communities, and wider stakeholders.
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22 Appendix 1 ‐ Our Partnership AcƟon Plan Ref What do we want to do Actions Due Who is responsible? How will we measure? Priority 1 - Provide a programme of high-quality lifelong learning, accessible to all 1.1 Help citizens to develop skills for work and life, enhancing employability and opportunities for anyone at any stage of the life long learner journey 1.Review support and opportunities for volunteering across Renfrewshire as part of our wider employability pipeline 2.Explore opportunities for closer joint working with Local Employability Partnership, particularly around supporting parental employability and supporting NOLB approaches 3.Development of a collaborative family learning offer with CLD partners Year 1 Year 1 Year 2 Engage Renfrewshire Connected Communities – CLD Local Employability Partnership Invest in Renfrewshire Number of adults receiving completed nationally recognised awards through CLD activity (SCQF levelled and awards such as Adult Achievement Award including sectional certificates) Number of adults gaining wider achievement awards, local awards and those not nationally recognised, through CLD activity (e.g., Health Issues in the Community and Keystone Award)
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23 Number of children and young people receiving completed nationally recognised awards through CLD activity Number of adults engaged in family learning through CLD activity Number of children and young people engaged in family learning through CLD activity 1.2 Engage and provide opportunities for young people to achieve the best possible learning outcomes 4.Partners to work together to increase the number of opportunities available for young people to access appropriate curricular pathways 5.Develop a strengthened framework of support with SDS and Invest Renfrewshire to ensure pupils are supported to enter and sustain positive destinations Year 1 Year 1 Childrens Services Connected Communities – CLD Skills Development Scotland Invest in Renfrewshire Percentage of school leavers in a positive destination Number of children and young people engaged in CLD activity Number of children and young people received completed nationally recognised awards through CLD activity
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24 West College Scotland University of West of Scotland Number of young people gaining wider achievement awards, local awards and those not nationally recognised, through CLD activity 1.3 Promote digital inclusion, providing opportunities to use digital in every aspect of day-to-day life safely. 6.Consider opportunities for all partners to promote digital inclusion and the work of the wider DigiRen Partnership 7.Support the roll out of Digizones, particularly across community venues Year 1 Year 1 DigiRen Network Connected Communities Number of people supporting around digital Number of digital courses delivered Number of devices / connectivity issued 1.4 Provide safe, welcoming spaces for the delivery of CLD activity, making them accessible, stigma-free and trauma-informed. 8.Partners to commit to delivery of trauma informed awareness raising and training across respective organisations 9.Explore provision of Safe spaces to access support through further engagement with learners and the wider community Year 1 Year 2 Renfrewshire Trauma Champion Connected Communities Childrens Services New indicators as part of annual stakeholder survey
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25 Priority 2 - Build strong, connected communities where people can participate and influence in their local area 2.1 Support people to engage and participate in things taking place within their communities 10.Develop community capacity and resilience by supporting community groups to form, grow and connect 11.Support the development of local place plans as these emerge across local communities Year 1 Year 2 and 3 Engage Renfrewshire Connected Communities – Community Partnerships RC Economy and Development Local Partnerships Number of adults and young people taking part in influence and engagement activity through CLD Number of community groups receiving capacity building support through CLD activity Percentage of adults who have done formal volunteering in last 12 months (SHS) 2.2 Promote opportunities for personal and social development through the rich network of opportunities across Renfrewshire 14.Work with partners to review existing information and advice sources for people in Renfrewshire, to ensure that information on local and national support is available to people when they need it and in the format they need. 15.Through our CAHSC (Culture, Arts, Health and Social Care) group, One Ren will lead work with colleagues and Year 1 and 2 Year 1 HSCP OneRen Culture Arts Health and Social Care Group Engage Renfrewshire Develop indicators around improved health and wellbeing relating to CLD support through survey
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26 partners involved in the Future Paisley programme, to develop a range of arts and culture-based activities in a variety of settings to improve health and wellbeing 16.We will provide a tailored range of health and wellbeing programmes for older people; people with a disability; and identified excluded groups with health improvement needs. Year 1 and 2 Future Paisley 2.3 Provide mechanisms for citizens to contribute to decision- making; 17.Explore options to develop a CLD Voice Forum / forum arrangements to inform future planning 18.Explore options for further roll-out of participatory budgeting and decision making opportunities in Renfrewshire 19.Progress the Local Plans, Local Voices, Local Priorities campaign through Local Partnerships Year 1 Year 2 Year 1 Connected Communities Local Partnerships Number of adults and young people reached and engaged with through one off promotional events / drop-ins / community events / engagements / etc. Total budgets allocated using Participatory Budgeting and other participatory approaches
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27 Priority 3 - Deliver targeted opportunities across the CLD Partnership to reduce barriers and tackle inequalities 3.1 Promoting equity and equality by removing barriers to access 20.Support delivery of BSL action plan, including opportunities for delivery of activities in Renfrewshire for targeted groups such as young people 21.Ensuring greater representation of the Care Experienced Community in all activity concerned in delivering The Promise 22.Carry out a mapping exercise of youth work activity across Renfrewshire to identify gaps in provision either geographically or for communities of interest Year 1 and 2 Year 1 Year 1 Connected Communities Promise Oversight Group Our Children Forum for Empowering Communities Street Stuff Develop indicators around improved health and wellbeing relating to CLD support through survey 3.2 Delivering targeted support to address disadvantage linked to poverty in our communities 23.Review school holiday provision to ensure it reaches target groups 24.Support development of Whole Family Wellbeing / Locality development approach to provide appropriate family supports and focussing on early intervention, providing opportunities for children, young people, parents and carers to shape the services that impact them Year 1 Year 2 and 3 Connected Communities Children Services Whole Family Wellbeing HSCP Uptake of school holiday provision from families from target groups
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28 25.Support community led needs assessment process in Gallowhill including any subsequent development activity Year 1 3.3 Ensure there is a co- ordinated approach to welcoming and supporting new Scots in Renfrewshire 26.Undertake a partnership review of ESOL activity as part of our wider New Scots plan Year 1 Connected Communities IN-Ren West College Scotland Number of people accessing ESOL provision across Renfrewshire 3.4 Exploring options for outreach work that engages with young people who may become involved in high-risk behaviours 27.Undertake outreach pilot exercise and develop proposals for additional supports and activities for young people Year 1 Community Safety Partnership Connected Communities Childrens Services Street Stuff Measures to be developed as part of development of proposals
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29 Priority 4 - Strengthening our partnership and developing the workforce 4.1 Strengthening the way we work 28.Progress of Connected Communities model in Renfrewshire Year 1 CLD Partnership Executive Group 4.2 Develop shared framework for understanding impact of CLD activities across the partnership 29.Undertake an annual partnership survey of stakeholders and service users 30.Review how partners evaluate performance and use this data, and explore shared evaluation tools 31.Explore opportunities to share information on the reach and value of CLD approaches locally 32.Undertake an annual needs assessment exercise to inform any changes to the Partnership Plan including targeting of needs/communities Year 1,2 and 3 Year 1,2 and 3 Year 1,2 and 3 Year 1,2 and 3 CLD Partnership Forum Survey results and action plan Self-evaluation against quality indicators in How Good is our Community Learning and Development? framework 4.3 Develop opportunities for CLD workforce and volunteers to develop their skills and confidence 33.Develop local CLD Partnership workforce planning priorities 34.Partners to identify opportunities for local people to gain work experience and career progression opportunities across respective organisations. Year 1 Year 1 CLD Partnership Executive Group CLD Partnership Forum
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30 Appendix 2 – More informaƟon about the role of partners in Renfrewshire In Renfrewshire, community learning and development work is delivered by a range of partners including a wide range of third sector and community groups. We provide some further information on these organisations below: Renfrewshire Council In Renfrewshire, the Council is leading on the Connected Communities programme. The aim of the programme is to strengthen partnership working with communities and the third sector, to have a locality model where services are closer to their community and are more joined- up. As part of this, the Council will establish its Connected Communities Service in late 2024, which will include the Council’s Community Learning and Development function (including adult and family learning and youth services), the Fairer Renfrewshire programme, and bring together a range of Council functions which support communities including community capacity building, volunteering, participatory budgeting, Local Partnerships, and a range of activities carried out as part of community planning and partnerships. Engage are particularly able to support volunteering, help groups get constituted, and provide a community hub which can host training and networking and provide a shared space for other third sector groups. Engage has, since 2022, delivered over £1.5 million worth of funding to the third sector via Scottish Government's Communities Mental Health and Wellbeing Fund. This funding has supported a range of programmes and community groups in developing community learning and increasing capacity within the sector. Some examples of funded work include: a participatory photography project with New Scots, learning photography and language skills in a relaxed environment; an outdoor learning school for adults in Inchinnan, learning foraging skills, basket weaving, and bushcraft; woodworking skills for men at new Men’s Sheds in Renfrew and Lochwinnoch; personal development courses for women with experience of domestic violence and a creative programme of arts and crafts for older adults across sheltered housing complexes in Renfrewshire. In tandem with this funded work Engage have also delivered or co-ordinated training in relation to the fund and its associated work, including Outcomes Training, Application Writing, Mental Health First Aid and Self-Harm Awareness.
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31 Employability in Renfrewshire is delivered via the Local Employability Partnership, a strategic group of 10-12 key partner agencies and services supported by 6 thematic groups with around 50 additional partner staff working collectively to ensure that services meet local needs, that the participant voice is at the centre of service design and that services are genuinely joined up and offer a place-based, person- centred employability support in Renfrewshire. Services are aimed at those with additional disadvantages or barriers to work and our current priority groups are unemployed or low-income parents, those with long term health issues or disabilities, care experienced young people, BAME groups, those with criminal justice backgrounds. Renfrewshire Children’s Services Partnership launched its Whole Family Wellbeing service in 2024, with several aims, including reducing inequalities in relation to family wellbeing, reducing the number of families needing crisis interventions, and increasing the number of families accessing wider support services. A Family Wellbeing Hub will be developed as a central, physical, location for joined-up supports and services; this creates an opportunity to align with the Connected Communities work and generate more opportunities for partnership delivery as well as reducing duplication. One Ren delivers positive outcomes for the people and communities they serve. OneRen is the local charity established by Renfrewshire Council to provide culture, leisure and sporting opportunities to help people enjoy active and healthy lives. The charity provides a range of affordable, accessible and ambitious services that are open to all and designed to improve personal, social and economic outcomes. Renfrewshire Health and Social Care Partnership deliver adult social care services and all community health services for adults and children, with a core objective of shifting the balance of care from acute settings to supporting people in their communities and closer to home wherever possible. The HSCP works closely with partners to ensure that services are planned and delivered collaboratively and on a ‘whole system’ basis. This includes, for example, the Renfrewshire Alcohol and Drug Partnership, Integrated Children’s Partnership and working closely with Housing Services. This helps to ensure that adults and young people are able to access support that is joined up and shaped around them rather than by organisational structures.
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32 University of the West of Scotland has five campuses across the UK, including one in Paisley. The University is committed to inclusive higher education, providing learning opportunities to students from a wide range of backgrounds. The University offers a significant choice of access, degree, CPD, postgraduate, full-time and part-time courses and applies a contextualised admissions approach to ensure students with varied learning experiences are provided with the opportunity to join UWS courses. The University of the West of Scotland works particularly closely with West College Scotland and can support learners who wish to articulate between the organisations as part of a seamless tertiary education experience. This approach could extend to creating pathways based on CLD activities. West College Scotland is a community-based College committed to providing educational opportunities to anyone who wants to learn. You don't have to come to a College building to study! West College Scotland's Ferguslie Learning Centre has earned a reputation as a focal point in the Renfrewshire community. Today, it is an important contributor in providing for, guiding, and assisting learners in Renfrewshire to seek qualifications, acquire employability and life skills, and gain personal and professional confidence. This extends to helping vulnerable individuals to overcome social and professional barriers as well as personal challenges, including unemployment, addiction, low self-esteem, stigma, lack of social connections, isolation, or –in case of international learners – cultural restraints. Our long-running partnership approach to digital inclusion – through our DigiRen group jointly chaired by the Council and Engage Renfrewshire – showcases the benefits of partnership working to tackle inequality. The DigiRen group has focused on low-cost internet tariffs, digital banking, online safety, intergenerational work and the promotion of digital skills training. Through this partnership working, over 800 digital-related courses have been delivered, 50 businesses have been supported, and almost 700 devices or connectivity have been provided to tackle digital poverty.
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33 Appendix 3 ‐ Our local and naƟonal policy context As set out above, partners are operating within a complex environment with a range of local and national policy considerations which we need to consider and deliver on as required. We have highlighted these within the diagram below: Legislative Community Empowerment (Scotland) Act 2015 UNCRC (Incorporation) (Scotland) Act 2024 Requirements for Community Learning and Development (Scotland) Regulations 2013 Fairer Scotland Duty National National Youth Work Strategy 2023-2028 The Case for Change: Adult Learning Strategy 2022-2027 National Improvement Framework Community Wealth Building The Promise Developing the Young Workforce New Scots Refugee Integration Strategy No-one Left Behind Volunteering Action Plan Getting It Right For Every Child Local
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34 Renfrewshire Community Plan 2017-2027 Renfrewshire Children's Services Partnership Plan 2023-2026 Renfrewshire Council Council Plan 2022-2027 Renfrewshire's Plan for Net Zero Local Employability Partnership Plans Trauma Informed and Responsive Renfrewshire Annual Education Improvement Plans Fairer Renfrewshire Renfrewshire Council Digital Strategy Shaping our Future: Renfrewshire Health and Social Care Partnership Strategic Plan 2022-2025 Renfrewshire Council British Sign Language Plan Renfrewshire's Gaelic Language Plan Local Child Poverty Action Plan
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Appendix 2 – Final Progress Update on CLD Strategy 2021-24 ( 6 month period to end October 2024) 1. The Community Learning and Development (CLD) team offers a variety of services to support and nurture Renfrewshire’s communities: Youth Services: Encourages participation in initiatives like the Duke of Edinburgh, Young Scot, and Renfrewshire Youth Voice, helping young people build confidence, experience, and knowledge. Street Stuff Programme: An award-winning initiative providing free activities for young people during evenings, weekends, and holidays, aimed at reducing youth antisocial behaviour. Adult and Family Learning: Helps individuals improve their reading, writing, numeracy, and English language skills with adult literacy and English for Speakers of Other Languages (ESOL) classes and the Multiply programme, supports digital inclusion through IT upskilling, and builds skills and confidence through personal and social development activities. Community Capacity: Focuses on supporting council participatory budgeting projects, particularly the Celebrating Renfrewshire fund, and manages other funds like the Green Spaces and Villages Investment Fund. 2. Service Achievements 2.1 A summary of progress in the last six months is presented below, under each of the three focus areas. Children and Young People 2.2 The findings from the Youth Consultation and survey which was carried out over the Autumn/Winter 2023 have been presented and now form the next steps from the data collected. Young people have identified 8 priorities which are being used as the basis for future development of Youth Voice and the response to these. 496 young people completed the online survey and through community consultation we reached a total of 1243 young people across Renfrewshire. The priorities identified by young people are Safety, Substance Use including vaping and tobacco products, Health & Wellbeing, Cost of Living, Life Skills, Transport, Violence & Sustainability. 2.3 Support for the rollout of free travel for 11–22-year-olds continues, and a process is in place to ensure that the next cohort becoming eligible are signed up. Around 87% of young people in Renfrewshire have their cards which is above the national average of 83%. 86% of those using the Young Scot Card have the free travel element enabled. 2.4 Duke of Edinburgh programmes continue to run in schools and the community including ASN Groups in Mary Russell School and open groups. A total number of 192 young people completed their practice and qualifying expeditions over the expedition season. Since August 123 young people recently signed up for Duke of Edinburgh following on from a record year which was completed in March 2023.
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2.5 Renfrewshire Youth Voice (RYV) are now planning this year's Positive About Youth Awards which will take place on Thursday7th November. Positive About Youth (PAY) Awards celebrates the achievements of young and youth groups across Renfrewshire and is designed and delivered by RYV. These awards were set up to respond and to the negative press and stereotypes young people receive and show the positives about being a young person. PAY Awards are now in its 12th year and young people can be nominated in the following categories, Young Fundraiser, Eco, Forging Your Own Path, Youth Group of the Year, Ferran Hart Young Artist, Eilish Herron Young Sports Person and Unsung Hero Award. Renfrewshire Youth Voice (RYV) are well in the planning stages with nominations now open and information sent across our networks and youth organisations in Renfrewshire. RYV will be in touch with those who have nominated once the nomination period has closed on 17th October 2024. 2.6 There has been specific work focused on promoting gender equality and the prevention of violence against women. This has included participation in this year’s Reclaim the Night and 16 Days of Action, workshop-based learning in schools on tackling misogyny, an ongoing groupwork project to develop a social media resource intended to influence positive attitudes and reduce targeting of women and girls, and two pilots delivering group work to young men in two schools which looks at coercive behaviour and attitudes towards women and girls. In addition to the Mentors in Violence Prevention work undertaken across Renfrewshire secondary schools, CLAD have also established a Young and Equally Safe in Renfrewshire pilot groupwork programme, with two groups of young men focussing on positive masculinity. This is intended to tackle attitudes and be an earlier intervention than the MVP programme. 2.7 Training and professional development remains a focus for the team, and staff have recently undertaken training that includes Bookbug, digital champion refresher, trauma informed practice, the impact of trauma, Partnership Intelligence Portal training, Tobacco & Vaping, Promoting Positive Behaviour, VR in use for Youth Work and Mentors in Violence Prevention. 2.8 The Jupiter+ programme is powered in partnership with Future Paisley by the belief that everyone regardless of socio-economic circumstance should have access to the wellbeing benefits of culture at their doorstep. Alongside the artwork, JUPITER+ Creative Learning Programmes open pathways to young people into creative industries, especially those adversely affected by the pandemic and by changing labour demands in Scotland. We have recruited 18 young people, 16-to-18 years of age, from across Renfrewshire to join the JUPITER+ ORBIT Youth Council. 2.9 In April, our first Promise Champs residential took take place during Spring break at Lapwing Lodge, on Tuesday 2nd April until Wednesday 3rd April and was attended by 24 young people. Our Promise Champs youth clubs ran from April to June with 38 young people attending. Our Promise Champs summer programme was co-designed with care experienced young people, young people who are on the edges of care and young carers to tackle feelings of social isolation, holiday hunger and to promote positive wellbeing during the summer holiday period. Our Promise Champs Programme delivered on 8 weekly themed youth club sessions with 29 attendances. We also facilitated 5 Promise Champs summer trips with 61 attendances and held a Sunshine Vibez event for young people and community members at Gallowhill Community centre with 24 attendances The Promise Champions Present Drive will run again this year with more information nearer the time.
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2.10 The Summer of Fun camps ran over a 5-week period initially targeted at families who receive the school clothing grant. They were delivered by Street Stuff with the support of CLD Youth Services staff with a total of 2,776 children and young people engaging. These camps, held at Gleniffer High, West Johnstone Campus, Glencoats Primary, St. Catherine’s Primary, Linwood High, and St. James’s Primary (Renfrew), offered a variety of activities including multi-sports, dance, and outdoor play. Each day participants were offered a free lunch. Additionally, the children and young people were consulted on local development plans, and the Fire & Rescue service conducted water safety workshops. 2.11 Renfrewshire Council’s Youth Participatory budgeting fund, Celebrating Renfrewshire, had another successful year. The funding themes chosen by the youth steering group this year were mental and physical wellbeing, cost of living, employability, and life skills, staying safe, substance use and addiction, violence-diversionary projects for young people. There were 58 applications from 56 different organisations, leading to 174 possible choices across 7 Local Partnership areas. A total of 1161 young people participated in the voting process, casting 1120 valid votes. In total, 3360 choices were made by the participants. This demonstrates a significant level of involvement from young people in the decision-making process for their communities. 2.12 The Renfrewshire Council Youth Team delivered the annual Safe Kids event held at St Mirren Stadium over a period of 3 weeks in May and June. Close to 2000 Primary 6 aged children took part in the community safety workshops delivered by The Council’s Youth Team, Warden Service, Road Safety, Civil Contingencies and RADAR Police Scotland British Transport Police Scottish Fire & Rescue Service Themes covered this year included, water safety, internet safety, how to ride your bike safely, anti-social behaviour in the community, littering, what to do in an emergency, impact of drug taking and playing on the railway tracks. Children rated the event 4 out of 5 with 57% of those who filled in the evaluation saying they learned something new. Street Stuff 2.13 Street Stuff have recently received de-escalation training, Mentors in Violence Prevention training and are participating in the PDA for Youth work course in partnership with Youthlink Scotland and Youth Services. 2.14 Street Stuff has been delivering activities in areas most in need including the provision of healthy food in evenings across Renfrewshire. They are also working across a number of schools as part of the Street to School programme with a view to closing the attainment gap and improving attendance at school. The demand from schools for this work has grown since the new term has begun. 2.15 Street Stuff participated in the recent Care Inspection for children at risk of harm in Renfrewshire. Whilst the final report has still to be published the work delivered by Street
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Stuff was welcomed in respect of the partnership approach to contextual safeguarding working with some of the most vulnerable young people in our communities. Adult and family learning 2.16 Adult learning has had a strong focus on numeracy and digital skills. There have been 16 Multiply courses delivered, and 15 ICT courses targeted at those with little or no digital experience. There has also been ongoing delivery of family learning activities in 3 primary schools and 4 nurseries that increase parental engagement with children’s numeracy learning, including Fun with Numbers and Talk, Learn, Do both funded by the Multiply programme. 2.17 There continues to be high demand for ESOL courses, and several learners have taken up volunteer opportunities within CLD. Renfrewshire’s New Scots community have accessed learning programmes that increase language skills, reduce social isolation and support wellbeing. English language classes are available in Paisley, Renfrew and Johnstone in partnership with the Resettlement Team. A conversation-based group focusing on the integration and wellbeing of Resettlement Team service users has grown considerably in Gallowhill and is now known as the “Chatty Café”. One Ukrainian Displaced Person and one Arabic speaker joined the team as Invest Trainees for 26 weeks and helped with the facilitation of language groupwork. 2.18 A new ESOL with Numeracy group is being established in Williamsburgh PS to encourage language practice and parental engagement with the school community. Funding has been applied for to allow them to visit the Glasgow Science Centre, which will not only help with their numeracy skills but also help with integration and social skills. 2.19 A second evening group for autistic adults called “Creative Minds” has been established in Paisley as a partnership between CLAD and Renfrewshire Health and Social Care Partnership. Participants are working on producing artworks for the upcoming Through the Autism Lens exhibition which is part of the Renfrewshire Mental Health Arts Festival in October. 2.20 Support for employability has included supporting two Invest trainees with work experience on the ESOL programme and providing a weekly adult literacies session within Invest premises in the Russell Institute, Paisley as well as 3 trainees in Youth Services and 2 in Community Capacity. Plans are also underway for engaging with Justice-experienced people currently in HMP Low Moss who are due for imminent release back into Renfrewshire to identify and address literacy issues. 2.21 A family learning programme took place over the summer across 5 learning centres and reached 54 families: 58 adults and 137 children. This provided fun activities and ideas for parents to encourage children’s numeracy learning as well as prepare and share healthy lunches. Community Capacity
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2.22 Team Up to Clean Up, launched in 2017, has evolved to become so much more than a litter campaign. Feedback from volunteers offers evidence of greater positive outcomes such as combatting social isolation, bringing communities together, offering purpose, improved physical health and mental wellbeing. The initiative has also encouraged and nurtured individuals to take the next steps in creating new community groups benefitting local people and neighbourhoods. 2.23 The Campaign has many umbrella projects with young people identified as a target audience for behaviour change; presentations are delivered in school’s linking litter to climate change, wildlife and civic pride; increased bin provision offered, and wrapping bins to ensure they are more noticeable, as well as stencilling “The Sea Starts Here” at gulleys near schools. The Bin to Win project launched in in June 2024 with the awarding of vouchers to schools and young people for their action in putting their litter into the bin and logging it on the Bin to Win portal. An awareness raising campaign is to be launched to further the message of the chance to win and a video explaining the process of how to do it. 2.24 The Environmental Taskforce has been actively working to reduce fly tipping. Key actions include: Proactive visits to hotspots: 428 Reports investigated: 343 Fly tipping removed: 51 tonnes Sites secured: 0 Letters to private landowners: 9 Business visits for waste disposal checks: 17 Fixed Penalty Notices issued: 16 2.25 Taskforce cameras have been relocated to hotspot areas to gather visual evidence, proving effective as a deterrent. However, securing sites remains the most effective prevention method. Measures like soil bunding, bollards, hoarding, fencing, and CCTV have been implemented at 12 hotspot locations. 2.26 Since October 2018, the Green Spaces, Parks and Play Areas Fund has supported 58 community projects. The remaining funding is divided into three streams: general improvements, school-based developments, and Team Up to Clean Up initiatives. Currently, the fund has £13,000 for community projects, £20,000 for school projects, and £13,000 for Team Up to Clean Up. 2.27 The Villages Investment Fund has supported 81 projects since 2018, with 11 new projects funded since May 2024. 3. Next 6 Months 3.1 Over the next 6 months CLD will deliver a number of projects for the benefit of Renfrewshire’s communities:
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October holiday activities will again be delivered as part of a wider programme activity in collaboration with Street Stuff. The Community Learning & Development Team will build on Phase 1 of the CLD Partnership Youth Development Initiative. The Big Spring Clean and the Bin to Win programme will be delivered by the Team Up To Clean Up team. The Community Safety Youth Team will be in secondary schools delivering talks to S1 young people on the implications of negative behaviour and choices in the community. Multiply will offer Family Learning STEM Activities for families after school as part of the Fun with Maths programme to support adults in their children’s learning improving numeracy skills. Collaboration will take place with Invest about adult learning targeting groups and individuals with criminal records. A full programme of adult learning will take place across its 6 centres and outreach points including: literacies, ESOL, personal development and IT. Continue Youth Voice Development for Care Experienced young people through the Promise Champions and include them in the new format of delivering care experienced engagement in communities. Youth Voice themes will be taken to a Youth Assembly being held on Tuesday 26th November, planned, and facilitated by young people, supported by Youth Services. This will link to the delivery under UNCRC (United Nations Convention of the Rights of the Child) and include young people in democratic empowerment processes. Street Stuff will review activities being delivered in the evenings, weekends and during the school day to explore wider learning opportunities to enhance current service delivery with CLD Partners.