ConnComm 6 Month Progress Report Oct 2025 201025 FINAL
Renfrewshire Council · 28 October 2025
Back to Communities and Housing Policy Board — 28 October 2025 and its agenda
Text extracted from the council's PDF. Layout and reading order may differ from the original.
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OFFICIAL-SENSITIVE _________________________________________________________________________ To: Communities and Housing Policy Board On: 28th October 2025 _________________________________________________________________________ Report by: Chief Executive _________________________________________________________________________ Heading: Connected Communities - Six Monthly Update _________________________________________________________________________ 1. Summary 1.1. The Council’s Connected Communities team delivers a range of services across Renfrewshire which aim to improve outcomes for local people and communities. These services are a core element of the work of our local Community Learning and Development Partnership, and in delivering on the priorities which are set out in our Community Learning and Development Partnership Plan. 1.2. Section 4 of the paper provides an overview of activity across the Connected Communities team over the past 6 months, aligned to the priorities of Renfrewshire’s Community Learning and Development Partnership Plan. 1.3. Section 5 of the paper provides an overview of progress within the “Good Vibes Only” initiative, including recommendations for the next phase to include a dedicated programme of creative social enterprise opportunities funded by Future Paisley, and the piloting of some locality- based youth activity in four areas in response to emerging demands and issues identified. 1.4. Section 6 of the paper highlights key priorities for the service over the course of the next 6 months. ________________________________________________________________________ 2. Recommendations 2.1 It is recommended that Elected Members: Note the content of the report
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OFFICIAL-SENSITIVE Award grant funding of £9,300 to Social Enterprise Academy and £5,000 to Create Paisley to pilot the delivery of targeted creative social enterprise opportunities to young people identified through the Good Vibes Only programme. ________________________________________________________________________ 3. Background 3.1 As reported to the Leadership Board in February 2025, a key transformation priority for the organisation over the next 3-5 years will be the development of the Connected Communities model and approach, which at its heart, will aim to strengthen the relationships that the Council has with local communities in Renfrewshire, including the ambition to make it easier for local people to access the support they need from different services, significantly aligned with the principles of early intervention and prevention. 3.2 In order to ensure a strong core central function is in place within the Council to support the delivery of the programme, a service redesign has recently been progressed to establish the Connected Communities function within the Chief Executive’s Service. This function brings together officers working together on our community empowerment, poverty and inequality programmes such as Fairer Renfrewshire and our community and learning and development teams, and will ensure that we have the right resources in place to build capacity across communities, encourage participation and involvement, and strengthen the relationships that our services have with communities and citizens. Completion of this internal service redesign is an important building block for the wider Connected Communities programme. 3.3 As noted in the Leadership Board paper, significant strides have been made in recent years in terms of supporting community capacity and participation, progressing innovative and inclusive new approaches such as participatory budgeting, Local Partnerships, new community grants, regeneration programmes, Lived Experience Panels and youth engagement initiatives. The COVID pandemic and cost of living crisis more recently have further strengthened our local approach, but our learning during this period has identified the opportunity to develop this further. 3.4 As previously reported to this board, the Community Learning and Development function now sits within the Connected Communities Service in the Chief Executive’s Service. This ensures community learning and development is closely aligned to wider strategic and community planning activities, which is very important given the role that the Council’s skilled and experienced team play in delivering positive outcomes for people and communities. 4. Six monthly progress update 4.1 The Connected Communities team delivers a range of services designed to support and nurture Renfrewshire’s communities:
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OFFICIAL-SENSITIVE Provide a programme of high-quality lifelong learning, accessible to all 4.2 A full programme of Adult and Family Learning classes has now resumed after the summer break. Classes include ESOL, Literacies, Personal Development, Family Learning, Mens’ Groups and IT. Recent developments in the Adult and Family Learning programme include: o The Literacies programme is offering the Talk, Learn, Do financial capacity programme which involves teaching parents basic budgeting and financial literacy skills to share with their young children through a range of activities which engage parents and children together. This Money and Pensions Advice Service programme is well evaluated. o A SafeTalk suicide awareness course was hosted in conjunction with the NHS for members of staff and other external agencies where participants were given tools to help support service users having suicidal thoughts. Fifteen participants attended across a range of Council services and partners. o A new Invent Your Future programme of adult learning classes was piloted with existing learners and a full programme launched to new learners in the new term. This programme is an update to the STEPS to Excellence programme which allows participants to explore barriers they have faced to learning and achievement. o Crafting Groups continue to be very popular as part of our Learning for Sustainability programme and run successfully at Johnstone, Bargarran and Foxlea locations. Many unused household articles have been re-purposed into new items and saved from landfill. o The crafting specialist organisation Re-mode facilitated a nature inspired embroidery workshop at Bargarran in October. This crafting session involves 12 people with an age range up to 90. o The ESOL partnership with the Resettlement Team has been expanded in response to demand. There are currently two groups running at Moorpark for complete beginners, with the ESOL programme overall currently providing 7 classes throughout Renfrewshire. 4.3 As part of Employability Month, three workshops were run for service users in conjunction with Skills Development Scotland. A presentation on ESOL provision to support asylum seekers and refugees was given at the Local Employability Partnership Conference. 4.4 The Duke of Edinburgh Award programme has seen strong activity across Renfrewshire during this period, particularly throughout the May to October ‘expedition season’. Key highlights include: o There are 545 young people currently taking part and working towards their award. (exceeding pre-Covid participation figures)
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OFFICIAL-SENSITIVE o 23% of participants come from areas where young people may face additional barriers to opportunities. o Overall there have been 42 expeditions taking place during 2025 - 32 Bronze and 10 Silver. o DofE Award participants in Renfrewshire spent 5,226 hours volunteering in their communities between April 2023-March 2024. o On 4 July 2025, Renfrewshire Gold Award recipients were invited to Holyrood Palace to celebrate their achievements. This year, we have supported the successful delivery of three bronze and two silver expeditions and provided technical advice and assistance for several High School expeditions across the authority. Build strong connected communities where people can participate and influence in their local area 4.5 Renfrewshire hosted the 83rd National Sitting of the Scottish Youth Parliament at Paisley Town Hall in early September 2025. o The event brought together approximately 160 young people from across Scotland for debates, workshops, and networking, showcasing the area’s commitment to youth voice and participation. As part of the programme, Renfrewshire staff delivered an Introduction to Gender Based Violence Training for support workers from across Scotland in response to the SYP national campaign calling for the end of Gender Based Violence. o The 83rd Sitting was opened by Janie O’Neill, Director of Children’s Services and Renfrewshire MSYPs welcoming everyone to Renfrewshire and highlighting the achievements of young people locally. o Renfrewshire hosted two social evenings with the first held on the Friday evening at UWS with an informal session promoting Community Learning & Development courses and the youth voice programme on offer for young people within Renfrewshire. Local youth voice groups were invited to attend the social evenings linking with other MSYPs from local authorities and national charities across Scotland. o Our MSYPs successfully hosted a social evening on the Saturday within Paisley Town Hall with a DJ, photo booth, food from a local caterer and a silent disco. 4.6 Renfrewshire Youth Voice successfully delivered a summer programme, including a free band night at The Bungalow attended by 175 young people. The group also met with the Provost to discuss opportunities for youth engagement with decision-makers. Upcoming highlights include a Youth Voice Expo in November and the Positive About Youth Awards on 12th November at Paisley Town Hall. 4.7 The Climate Change Champions programme continues and included:
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OFFICIAL-SENSITIVE o Outreach in local primaries in Glenburn led to the recruitment of P7 volunteers for the third year. The S1 group is working on a mural with The Promise, due for completion in October. o A well-established group in Erskine delivered a climate networking event in June which will conclude in September, with a focus on completing their Gold Duke of Edinburgh Awards by December. o Plans are in place for a Wednesday climate group (October–March) in partnership with Active Travel and Global Citizenship organisations, alongside a Saturday Eco Volunteers programme starting in October. 4.8 As a follow up to the annual Safekids programme delivered to P6 pupils across Renfrewshire the youth safety team continued delivering anti- social behaviour awareness sessions in 50 primary schools and 11 secondary schools, focusing on P7 and S1 pupils. Tailored sessions were also provided for Additional Support Needs schools to ensure inclusivity. The team also delivered Respect Days for S2 pupils in schools such as Paisley Grammar, Gleniffer High, Linwood High, and St Andrews Academy. These sessions were delivered in partnership with Police Scotland and the Scottish Fire and Rescue Service, addressing key issues including anti-social behaviour, fire-related offences, violence, and knife crime. 4.9 Daily operations for the youth safety team included responding to ASB complaints from Police Scotland and the public and engaging directly with young people. The team also attend Partnership Early Intervention Screening Group (EISG) meetings, conduct home visits and provide 12- week support plans where required. They also worked closely with Police Scotland to discuss and prevent issues impacting on Paisley town centre and surrounding areas. Deliver targeted opportunities across the CLD Partnership to reduce barriers and tackle inequalities 4.10 Over the summer period, officers from across the Connected Communities service worked together to coordinate and deliver another successful ‘Summer of Fun’ in Renfrewshire, funded through the Fairer Renfrewshire programme. It comprised a community programme, summer camps, a OneRen programme delivered through the library network and Skoobmobile and targeted programmes through Adult and Family Learning programme and the Promise Champs. It is estimated that 8,812 attendances were recorded across the programme in 2025. A full evaluation will be reported to the Fairer Renfrewshire Sub-Committee and to Leadership Board in November/December 2025. 4.11 Work is being progressed to explore the development and expansion of the Council’s English for Speakers of Other Languages (ESoL) provision, which is a key priority of Renfrewshire’s CLD Partnership Plan. Survey work has been undertaken with ESoL learners locally to inform the development of this work, with a view to offering a more flexible and responsive ESoL offer locally alongside partners. Further information on this will be provided at a future Communities and Housing Board.
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OFFICIAL-SENSITIVE 4.12 The Evolve New Scots group, made up of Ukrainian displaced persons aged 15–22, has recently constituted as Bring Unity to Communities (B.U.C.) in partnership with Renfrewshire’s Resettlement Team. The group has applied for funding through Engage Renfrewshire’s InRen network and is planning youth-led multicultural events across Renfrewshire to promote anti-racism through music, dance, and food. 4.13 Building on the Promise’s established work, the service continues to deliver a programme aimed at amplifying youth voices, promoting inclusion, and creating safe, welcoming spaces where young people feel loved, respected, and empowered. 4.14 With funding from the Corra Foundation, the team delivered a range of youth-led projects and supported care-experienced young people. Key achievements include: o Youth Spaces: Funding supported the redesign of two Youth Spaces, with work on two additional spaces currently underway. o Events & Activities: Delivered a range of mini youth events such as self-care sessions, fashion shows, and the popular Boo-Fest. o Community Art: Over 60 young people collaborated to design and install five vibrant murals across the Seedhill area. 4.15 In partnership with Children’s Services, a ‘Fund Your Fun’ scheme was launched for children and young people. This provides items and experiences for children and young people looked after at home. 4.16 Young and Equally Safe - in August, a girls’ group was launched in response to concerns raised in relation to behavioural trends and potentially harmful online interactions. The group aims to build confidence and encourage positive choices. A boys’ group at Renfrew High also continued, challenging misogynistic and homophobic attitudes while promoting respect and empathy. o The team also engaged with the Active Schools network to promote the upcoming 16 Days of Action campaign. The project expanded through school-based workshops and community sessions focused on gender-based respect, while detailed planning for the 16 Days of Action campaign is underway. o Young and Equally Safe takes a lead role in organising the Reclaim the Night march in Renfrewshire working in partnership with a range of different organisations such as Barnardo’s, Whole Family Wellbeing, The Soroptimists, Student Unions, Police and local businesses to ensure it is not only a visible protest, but a coordinated effort to support survivors, raise awareness, and push for lasting change. o 16 Days of Action begins on 25th November to the 10th December with the Reclaim the Night march taking place on Thursday 27th November 2025. 4.17 Children and young people aged 5–21 living in Scotland are entitled to free bus travel, but they need a National Entitlement Card (NEC) to use it. Children aged 5–10 receive a Junior NEC, and those aged 11 and over get a
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OFFICIAL-SENSITIVE Young Scot NEC, which also works as recognised proof of age and gives access to Young Scot discounts. Renfrewshire were recently audited on their processes for supporting the distribution of NEC cards for children and young people and received strong recognition for the processes and work undertaken locally. 4.18 The Street Stuff programme continues to be delivered as follows: o Community Sessions: Activities are run in the areas that have been identified as needing them most through analytical information, mainly in the evenings. These sessions focus on sports and games to give young people a safe and positive way to spend their time. New cheerleading classes are now being offered in the Southend Action Centre in Paisley with over 50 Young people participating. The cheerleaders will also form part of this year's Halloween Parade. o School Sessions: Work continues across the school network in Renfrewshire with 6 secondary schools and flexible learning bases, and 6 primary schools also being supported through Street to School. The team builds relationships with young people who need additional support with their learning, working with schools to plan activities to help close the attainment gap and maximise attendance. Opportunities are also provided to access experiences that young people might not normally get, helping to complement their school learning. Strengthening our partnership and developing the workforce 4.19 Officers have continued to support and develop the new governance arrangements agreed as part of the Community Learning and Development Partnership Plan and have been working closely with the CLD Partnership Executive Group and the Partnership Forum to report on Year 1 of our shared Renfrewshire CLD Plan and show evidence of joint working towards our shared priorities. The CLD Partnership Annual Report will be reported to the next Communities and Housing Policy Board cycle. 4.20 A shared calendar of events and meeting cycles has been developed, including opportunities for training and CLD workforce development. 4.21 Education Scotland is providing a programme of professional learning to CLD partners in Renfrewshire called ‘Self-Evaluation for Continuous Learning’ which covers outcomes-focused planning, data handling, interpretation, analysis, effective self-evaluation and using toolkits. The training has helped raise awareness and understanding of CLD across the partnership with partners having a clearer understanding on the role that they play, and the ‘train the trainer’ approach will allow this to be rolled out more broadly to practitioners across Renfrewshire. 4.22 Procurement is underway for a new Management Information System for Community Learning and Development, shared with Children’s Services. The system will enable the recording and tracking of relevant outcomes,
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OFFICIAL-SENSITIVE participation and achievements with the potential to extend usage to partner organisations to collate CLD activities across the Community Learning and Development Partnership and support reporting on the wider CLD Plan. 5 Good Vibes Only 5.1 Elected members will be aware that £100k of funding was allocated by Council in its budget in 2024 to support initiatives which support youth engagement and wellbeing in Renfrewshire, with a strong focus in getting young people involved in a positive way with things going on in their community. This led to the development of the “Good Vibes Only” youth engagement programme, which has built strong momentum following successful outreach from summer 2024 in Linwood, Gallowhill, Paisley Town Centre and surrounding areas. Delivered in partnership with Street Stuff, Police Scotland, Scottish Fire and Rescue Service and British Transport Police the initiative focuses on early intervention and prevention around risk taking behaviour and creating positive opportunities for young people. 5.2 Phase 1 Developments included: o Outreach work has continued 2 nights per week since the outset of the programme based on analytical information and intelligence from Police Scotland. Most young people advise that they are getting involved in risk taking behaviour and choose travelling to other areas in Renfrewshire because they feel that there is nothing affordable for them to do in their own neighbourhoods. o Safe Kids 2025 was delivered at St Mirren Football Stadium this year as part of the ‘Good Vibes Only’ programme with a range of community safety partners. Workshops covering issues such as antisocial behaviour, internet safety, alcohol and drugs awareness, environmental crime, rail safety and water safety. All Primary 6 pupils, approximately 1800 across Renfrewshire attended the workshops over a 3-week period and were given an information booklet reinforcing the learning that took place and can be shared with family members. Follow up activities in P7 and S1 will be provided on matters such as Water Safety in the lead up to the spring and summer holiday periods as well as Fire Safety in the lead up to Bonfire night. o The Community Learning and Development team lead coordination and monitoring to ensure the programme remains youth-led and responsive to local needs. 5.3 The next phase will build on three key pillars: Outreach: Engaging young people at risk and offering positive alternatives. Targeted Youth Work: Focused delivery in areas such as Paisley Town Centre, Linwood, Renfrew, Bishopton and Gallowhill to respond to feedback from young people through the outreach work.
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OFFICIAL-SENSITIVE Partnership Sessions: Multi-agency collaboration to provide education, support, and opportunities. 5.4 Additional funding has been secured from Future Paisley to support the Community Learning and Development Team to offer a range of targeted creative and cultural opportunities to young people across Renfrewshire through the Good Vibes programme. 5.5 Officers have been working with partners to develop options to deliver this element of the programme, and have identified and scoped an opportunity to work with a national organisation the Social Enterprise Academy and Create Paisley to give around 25 young people from across Renfrewshire, practical skills and creative outlets. Participants will also have the option to work towards a National Progress Award (NPA) in Enterprise and Employability (Level 4). 5.6 In order to progress this pilot within the Good Vibes programme, it is recommended that the Future Paisley funding is allocated as follows: o £9,300 of grant funding is awarded to Social Enterprise Academy to develop and progress entrepreneur activities turning risk taking behaviour into something more positive. o £5,000 of grant funding is awarded to Create Paisley to support young people with their ideas, development and progression into entrepreneur type activities or just to have fun. Locality based youth activity 5.7 As outlined above young people have highlighted as part of the Good Vibes outreach work as having fewer affordable activities available for them to do within their local neighbourhoods, resulting in them travelling to other areas and often tempted to get involved in risk taking behaviour. Officers from the service are keen to explore some new areas of development to be provided through the Council to complement existing activities being delivered by wider community groups and organisations in these areas as follows: o In terms of Council provision, Linwood already benefits from a strong arts and drama heritage through the CLD Class Acts group, which is a busy and well-established group focussed on dance and drama. Building on this, we will introduce cheerleading sessions in partnership with Street Stuff, as this activity has proven highly popular in other areas. This will also provide a free indoor activity in the area over the winter period. The aim is to create a vibrant, inclusive programme that combines physical activity with creative expression. Local young people will co-design the sessions, ensuring the offer reflects their interests and aspirations. o Gallowhill has limited youth provision beyond Street Stuff’s Sports Zone sessions and one Active Schools evening for families and younger children. Working with partners and local young people, we will explore demand for youth activities in the short term, and then
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OFFICIAL-SENSITIVE work to explore opportunities for a safe, structured environment for young people and reduce the need for them to travel into Paisley Town Centre, where risk taking behaviour is higher. o Whilst youth work opportunities are provided by well-established organisations such as Renfrew YMCA in the Renfrew area, potential gaps have been identified in terms of activities for older young people. Further work is required to identify the gaps in provision and work with young people to identify the most appropriate space for meaningful activities, helping to build confidence and community pride. o Bishopton has also been identified as an area where there are potentially limited current youth work opportunities available and there is strong interest from local parents in creating opportunities for children and young people. We will work with partners to develop options that can be delivered with the community. 5.8 Progress will be reported to the next Communities and Housing Policy Board. 6 Key priorities for the next six months 6.1 The following key priorities will be progressed over the next 6 months: Progressing the key actions detailed in the CLD Partnership Plan including mapping youth provision locally and wider engagement with local people, learners and partners. Implementing a new management information system in partnership with other key services. Continuing to work with the Resettlement Team and other partners to support New Scots, in particular developing Renfrewshire’s offer of learning and support for English for Speakers of other Languages. Finalisation of the new service structure as part of the overall Connected Communities programme. Implications of the Report 1. Financial – The report recommends the allocation of £14,300 of funding from existing Future Paisley allocation to pilot creative and social enterprise opportunities as part of the Good Vibes Only programme. 2. HR & Organisational Development – None 3. Community/Council Planning – The report details a range of activities which reflect local community and council planning themes. 4. Legal – None 5. Property/Assets – None
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OFFICIAL-SENSITIVE 6. Information Technology –None 7. Equality & Human Rights – The report details a number of activities carried out across the Connected Communities service which seek to tackle inequalities across a range of protected characteristics, and in particular advancing equality of opportunity for a number of equality groups who face additional barriers. 8. Health & Safety – None 9. Procurement – None 10. Risk – None 11. Privacy Impact – No ne 12. COSLA Policy Position – None 13. Children’s Rights – The activities of the service play an important role in terms of working with children and young people to understand their rights and to achieve positive outcomes in relation to these rights in practice. 14. Climate Risk – there are a range of actions and activities throughout the Service Update Report which support the Council’s Plan for Net Zero __________________________________________________________________ List of Background Papers: None