OneRen - Six Monthly Monitoring Report
Renfrewshire Council · 3 December 2025
Back to Leadership Board — 3 December 2025 and its agenda
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PUBLIC To: Leadership Board On: 3rd December 2025 Report by: Chief Executive Heading: OneRen - Six Monthly Monitoring Report 1. Summary 1.1 On 23rd April 2025, the Leadership Board approved OneRen’s annual business plan priorities. As noted at that time, progress in terms of implementing the business plan and in relation to OneRen performance overall, is monitored on a quarterly basis by the Head of Policy and Partnerships, who acts as the Council’s appointed monitoring officer for OneRen. Six-monthly progress update reports are also provided to the Leadership Board. 1.2 This report provides a summary of progress achieved over the last 6 months, including performance information provided by OneRen in relation to the first two quarters of the current financial year 2025/26. It also provides a summary of the context in which the organisation is currently operating. 1.3 A more detailed overview of activity is provided within Appendix 1 to this report which has also been provided by One Ren for information. 2. Recommendations 2.1 It is recommended that the Leadership Board: • Notes the update on performance provided within this report, with additional information on activities delivered provided by OneRen at Appendix 1. 3. Background 3.1 The Services Agreement with OneRen forms the basis of the funding
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PUBLIC arrangement between the Council and One Ren, and sets out the terms for OneRen to deliver culture, leisure and sport services within Renfrewshire. 3.2 One Ren develop an annual business plan which is closely aligned to the strategic priorities set out in the Council and Community Plan. OneRen is also required to provide quarterly monitoring reports to provide an overview of its financial, operational and customer related performance each quarter. 3.3 In preparing the business plan for 2025/26, OneRen recognised the challenging economic environment in which the organisation is operating and identified a range of activities to achieve its vision of ensuring that “everyone locally is living lives that are healthy, happy and fulfilled”. The plan acknowledged key influential factors particularly the economic environment; inflationary cost pressures; changed customer behaviours post pandemic affecting income; and the impact of the cost-of-living crisis on local communities, customers and employees. 3.4 At the same time, the plan noted OneRen’s continuing role in supporting Renfrewshire’s regeneration ambitions through building brand new performance and festival programmes as part of the operational return of key cultural venues. During 2025, £300,000 of funding was awarded from Creative Scotland to One Ren to support this work. 3.5 Officers regularly discuss the ongoing challenges being managed by One Ren through the quarterly monitoring discussions that are undertaken. These challenges specifically include ongoing energy cost pressures which One Ren estimate have added up to £1m in additional cost pressures being faced in year. One Ren report that these costs along with other cost pressures, have been actively managed in recent years through internal efficiencies. 3.6 In 2025/26, the charity’s Business Plan set out the following areas of focus: • Support Renfrewshire’s priorities for children and young people. • Ongoing organisational development, supported by enhanced data. • Increase participation opportunities through an integrated approach to programming. • Strengthen communications framework and brand profiles. • Strengthen income generation to ensure service running costs are covered. • Provide quality visitor experience and consistent audience profiles.
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PUBLIC 3.7 The Head of Policy and Partnerships is the Council officer nominated to monitor OneRen and along with the Head of Finance is also an observer at OneRen’s Board meetings. 4. Six-month Progress Report 4.1 Based on the monitoring information provided, OneRen is making progress against its business plan objectives for 2025/26, despite the financial challenges stemming from cost-of-living increases and pressure on disposable income within local communities. 4.2 The One Ren Board agreed its budget for 25/26, which anticipated a small deficit of 69k, with a view to a break-even position being delivered by the end of the financial year, to be achieved through expenditure controls and vacancy management. The budget agreed included a small number of spend to save initiatives which are intended to generate financial savings in future years. 4.3 In terms of income and growth opportunities, data confirms that leisure membership trends are now stabilising, with work being undertaken to grow membership by improving facilities, and enhanced programming. New equipment will be launched across targeted centres over the winter period. 4.4 The attached report at Appendix 1 provides a summary of key highlights for Elected Members in terms of overall activity. In terms of the key elements of the activity information provided, it should be noted that this growth must be viewed in the context of specific cultural and leisure venues coming back into operation over the past 12-24 months including, Paisley Arts Centre, Paisley Central Library and Paisley Town Hall. Highlights include: • Festival Audience Growth and Regional Impact: The festivals programme saw a 67% increase in audience numbers in 2025, with a 42% of attendees travelling from beyond the region, demonstrating national scale and elevating Renfrewshire’s profile as a cultural destination. • Performance Ticket Sales: Performance ticket sales significantly increased, with 28,423 tickets sold between April and September 2025, compared with 18,000 during the same period in 2024. • Significant increase in Library Visits through Event Programming: An increase of almost 28% on the previous year’s attendances to author events, activity clubs, quizzes, and knitting groups, creating a sense of belonging and social connection. • Record Participation in Flagship Road Races: The Paisley 10k and 3k Road Races achieved record participation, with 5,569 runners in the 10k (a 22% increase) and 2,201 runners in the 3k (a 37% increase). • Substantial Increase in Leisure Centre Events: The number of events hosted at major leisure centres increased by 38% over the six-month period, which also resulted in a 30% increase in spectators, highlighting their growing role as community and regional event hubs. • Investment in Ferguslie Delivering Results: attendances up by 42% from Q1 2024/25 with the improvements to changing areas increasing bookings and participation from younger and female players.
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PUBLIC • Supporting More People through Vitality Classes: Tailored for individuals living with medical conditions, or for those who experience reduced strength, balance issues, or a fear of falling - the six-month period saw an 18% increase in clients. 4.5 OneRen reports on approximately 70 operational performance indicators to meet the terms of the services agreement; five of which are reported nationally on behalf of the Council through the Local Government Benchmarking Framework. 4.6 The main culture, leisure and sport performance indicators for OneRen are summarised in the table below: Performance indicator Q1 & 2 2023/24 Q1 & 2 2024/25 Q1 & 2 2025/26 Change from 2024/25 to 2025/26 Number of attendances at indoor sports and leisure facilities excluding pools 372,756 445,221 462,693 4% Number of online attendances (digital fitness classes) in leisure services 286 0 0 Please note this indicator was added during COVID and is no longer collected. This will be removed from the reporting schedule going forward. Number of attendances at pools 208,866 172,776 159,764 -8% Number of attendances at outdoor facilities 79,932 89,788 96,505 7% Number of people engaged with Sport Services (online and offline) 23,962 28,850 18,582 -36% Number of people engaged in Health and Wellbeing service 6,108 7,791 9,475 22% Number of OneRen YouTube channel views (switched from 359 9,469* 17,581 86%
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PUBLIC in Q3 23-24) Number of visits to museums – 358,377 210,800 588,788 179% Number of visits and engagements with libraries (inc. digital) 1,173,303 1,202,547 3,516,468 192% Number of books and e- book issues 251,857 293,329 321,036 9% Total activity and engagement 2,475,829 2,661,473 5,817,938 119% Explanation for the performance trends: 4.7 One Ren report that during the first half of 2025/26 there has been overall growth in total activity engagement in OneRen services. The organization believes that strategic changes, including onboarding new swim instructors, streamlining digital services have facilitated greater capacity and continued improvement moving into 2026. • Outdoor services continue to show increases in attendances year on year. The data for the first half of 2025/26 reflects an increase in outdoor pitch usage and significant investment in the Ferguslie site. • The number of attendances at pools reduced in the first half of 2025/26 and reflects challenges in retaining instructors for the learn to swim programme. 12 new swim instructors are now onboarded and undertook their qualification 22nd-25th Oct. This will increase the capacity in swimming lessons from this winter. A second wave of prospective teachers will be interviewed in the coming weeks and will increase capacity of swimming lessons again in early 2026. • Health and Wellbeing engagement has seen a 22% increase. Vitality classes remain very popular increasing by 18% year on year. We offer other activities including healthy walks to support recovery, fitness and social connection. Our referrals programme continues to go from strength to strength, with new referral form on the webpage is supporting more people to self-refer. • Library engagement figures have increased by 192%, this is mainly due to an increase in website views from 996,202 to 3,314,641 year on year. In February we updated our Library Management System, the software now sends automatic emails to members. This has resulted in library members using our digital services more often, to renew books, update membership and access online Library and information services. Physical visits to libraries have remained steady, reducing slightly to 201,827 for the first half of this year compared to 206,345 last year. • OneRen YouTube channel has been available since Q3 2023-24 and RENTV is no longer being used to share video content. • Online fitness classes were put in place during the pandemic, however numbers reduced to zero once people were allowed to attend classes in person. To reflect the changes in customer behaviours, online digital fitness classes are no longer offered. Therefore, this indicator will no longer be monitored in future reports.
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PUBLIC Implications of the Report 1. Financial – as detailed in the report. 2. HR & Organisational Development – not applicable 3. Community/Council Planning – • Our Renfrewshire is thriving – One Ren recruits and trains volunteers and creates a pathway into employment; • Our Renfrewshire is well – One Ren’s cultural, leisure and sport services and programmes help to maintain positive physical and mental health and well-being; • Our Renfrewshire is fair – One Ren’s and programmes are accessible to all our citizens; • Reshaping our place, our economy and our future – development and delivery of the cultural infrastructure investment programme supports the regeneration aspirations for the area; • Building strong, safe and resilient communities – Tackling inequality, ensuring opportunities for all – One Ren’s services and activities are accessible to all our citizens; • Creating a sustainable Renfrewshire for all to enjoy – One Ren’s programmes build sustainability through volunteer and community development; • Working together to improve outcomes – partnership working to deliver shared outcomes remains a key priority in One Ren’s company strategy. 4. Legal – not applicable 5. Property/Assets – not applicable 6. Information Technology – not applicable 7. Equality & Human Rights (a) The Recommendations contained within this report have been assessed in relation to their impact on equalities and human rights. No negative impacts on equality groups or potential for infringement of individuals’ human rights have been identified arising from the
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PUBLIC recommendations contained in the report because for example it is for noting only. If required following implementation, the actual impact of the recommendations and the mitigating actions will be reviewed and monitored, and the results of the assessment will be published on the Council’s website. 8. Health & Safety – not applicable. 9. Procurement – not applicable. 10. Risk – not applicable. 11. Privacy Impact – not applicable. 12. Children’s Rights –not applicable. 13. Climate Risk – not applicable. 14. COSLA Policy position - none List of Background Papers (a) OneRen Key Highlights April to September 2025 Author: Laura McIntyre, Head of Policy and Partnerships, Telephone:
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PUBLIC Overview. OneRen is the local charitable organisation providing culture, leisure and sporting opportunities to help people enjoy active and healthy lives across Renfrewshire and beyond. This report provides an overview of OneRen’s key highlights during the first six months of 2025/26. We are passionate about the part we play in improving life-long physical and mental health in every one of our communities, as well as playing a lead role in developing Renfrewshire’s tourism ambitions through our strategic objective A Great Place to Live, Play and Visit. Our charity provides a range of affordable, accessible and ambitious services that are open to all to improve personal, social and economic outcomes. Our goal is to improve the people’s health and wellbeing by working in partnership to design and deliver a range of life-enhancing and accessible cultural, leisure and sporting opportunities that meet local needs and improve life chances across the population. Renfrewshire Council provides an annual management fee towards the cost of delivery - approximately 55% of our operating costs. The rest of OneRen’s costs have to be met through a combination of commercial income and fundraising activities to deliver our full range of important community services. We do this by offering a range of paid-for services such as leisure memberships, charged for events, and external hires. OneRen recognises the impact of the cost-of-living crisis and while the charity needs to charge for some services, we have introduced ‘pay what you can’ models to ensure low, or no cost access, to programmes such as the annual Paisley Book Festival. Culture. Headline Achievements • Festival Audience Growth and Regional Impact: The festivals programme saw a 67% increase in audience numbers in 2025, with a staggering 42% of attendees travelling from beyond the region, demonstrating national scale and elevating Renfrewshire’s profile as a cultural destination. • Outstanding Performance Ticket Sales: Performance ticket sales significantly increased, with 28,423 tickets sold between April and September 2025, compared with 18,000 during the same period in 2024.
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PUBLIC • Significant increase in Library visits through event programming: An increase of almost 28% on the previous year’s event attendances to author events, activity clubs, quizzes, and knitting groups, supporting a sense of belonging and social connection. Festivals Programme The development of OneRen’s festival portfolio is having a transformative impact on Renfrewshire as a tourism destination. Paisley Book Festival and Paisley Comedy Festival are not just standout events, they are cultural crown jewels for a region undergoing bold, ambitious regeneration. Anchored in the transformed Paisley Town Hall and Paisley Central Library - flagship projects of Renfrewshire’s ambitious cultural investment - these festivals have redefined what’s possible for our region. The festivals programme has attracted nationally and internationally renowned writers and comedians who, in turn, have broadcast their experiences to their millions of followers, amplifying the message that Renfrewshire is a serious player on the UK’s cultural map. With a 67% increase in audience numbers in 2025 and a staggering 42% of attendees coming from beyond the region, these are not ‘just’ local festivals, they are national in scale, ambition, and impact. They are game changers, elevating the region’s profile and delivering a experience offering that rivals anything found in other major cultural hubs across the UK. Our festivals programme is an annual celebration of the region’s rich stories, culture, and distinctive locations. It brings the town to life through a dynamic programme of unique events that animate the town centre and showcase newly transformed cultural venues including Paisley Town Hall, Paisley Arts Centre and Paisley Central Library. This year marked the successful launch of the first-ever Paisley Comedy Festival, which received an overwhelmingly positive response and laid strong foundations for future growth. We also continue to develop the Paisley Book Festival, supported by Creative Scotland’s Extended Open Fund. This vital funding enables us to sustain and evolve this brilliant literary event, which has become a staple of Scotland’s national festival calendar. Paisley Book Festival
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PUBLIC Paisley Book Festival 2025 continued its rise as one of Scotland’s significant literary events, celebrating both established and emerging literary voices with energy and inclusivity. Held over three vibrant days in April, the festival took place across Renfrewshire including iconic venues Paisley Town Hall and Paisley Central Library. A short film can be watched here. Over 4000 people enjoyed 42 events across the main programme, including 8 interactive workshops, 3 live streamed events via the festival’s official YouTube page, 13 free of charge events for families. The festival was supported by a team of 18 dedicated volunteers recruited, trained and supported by our Volunteer, Placement and Employability Coordinator. A dedicated school's programme brought the festival spirit to young readers and writers across Renfrewshire through 18 events: 4 in Paisley Town Hall (1 x live streamed) and 14 in our school libraries and public libraries including Bishopton, Erskine, Ferguslie, Foxbar, Glenburn, Johnstone, Linwood, Lochwinnoch and Renfrew. For the first time, the festival received support from Creative Scotland’s Extended Open Fund, alongside a contribution from the Glasgow Airport FlightPath Fund, helping to expand its reach and impact. The 2025 theme, “The Lives We Live,” inspired a rich and diverse programme. Writers, audiences, and participants came together to explore the stories, experiences, and joys that shape our lives. Highlights included appearances by Irvine Welsh, The Hebridean Baker, Julie Lin, and Michael Pedersen, among others and once again offered a Pay What You Can A standout moment was Irvine Welsh’s headline event, which drew a record- breaking crowd – marking a major milestone in the festival’s history. “Wonderful event, pricing makes it accessible. Great venue - wonderfully staffed. An amazing event for the community and creatives.” “Everything was brilliant, such a great well organised event, interesting talks and people. Lovely staff and choice of books. Fantastic premises, clean, tidy.” Paisley Comedy Festival April 2025 saw the first edition of OneRen’s newest festival taking place across Paisley Town Hall and Paisley Arts Centre attracting audiences of over 1800 over three days.
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PUBLIC The festival featured sell out performances from Mhairi Black and Stuart Mitchell as well as local emerging comedians at the open mic. Feedback has been extremely positive showing the festival is contributing to Paisley being a great place to live, play and visit. “I was born in Paisley and it was nice to come back for a night out, the centre is lovely and will definitely be attending more events here.” “The town hall looks fantastic and is very welcoming and comfortable. Staff friendly and helpful too. The show itself was excellent.” Our festival survey showed that: • 80% of survey respondents knew they were attending a Paisley Comedy Festival event. • 25% of survey respondents hadn’t attended PAC or PTH previously. • 83% of survey respondents would like to come to more Comedy events at PTH and PAC • 66% of survey respondents went out for a meal • 54% of survey respondents went out for a drink • Audiences were drawn from across West and South Scotland postcodes (see chart) • 30% were from Greater Glasgow Performance Programme Our Performance Programming team is dedicated to bringing high-quality cultural experiences to Renfrewshire, positioning the town as a vibrant destination for exceptional events. We achieve this by collaborating with national companies, promoters, and agents to curate a programme of outstanding artists and performances that resonate with our existing audiences, while also attracting new ones. Through innovative initiatives such as The Hangar and Paisley Comedy Club, we strive to offer a distinctive and exciting cultural programme. Our team also ensures that visiting artists and companies actively engage with local organisations, helping to grow audiences and broaden access to the programme. This includes facilitating creative learning opportunities such as workshops and post-show discussions, delivered in partnership with local groups and aligned with the interests and expertise of visiting creatives.
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PUBLIC 28,423 performance tickets were sold in April to September 2025. This compares with 18,000 tickets sold during the same period in 2024. Full details of our spring / summer performance brochure can be accessed here. This year a particular highlight has been to re-establish Paisley Arts Centre, which has long been established as one of Scotland’s most vibrant and exciting venues for comedy, dance, drama, music, theatre, and family events. It is an intimate and special place where unique performances happen and where audiences get to experience culture up close. 91.5% of Paisley Arts Centre audience attendees rated their experience as ‘Very Good’ and 94% of customers said yes, they would return to the venue. Several companies have noted the venue’s flexibility and commitment to artist development, with Paisley Arts Centre regularly cited as an “ideal space for new Scottish work”. Paisley Arts Centre Performance highlights Theatre When Billy Met Alasdair (Alan Bissett): A sell-out performance following a highly successful Edinburgh Fringe run, reinforcing Bissett’s connection to Renfrewshire audiences and demonstrating local appetite for contemporary Scottish storytelling. Stuntman (Superfan): Opening its national tour at Paisley Arts Centre following a week-long residency in the venue, the company’s engagement officer worked with local organisations including Create Paisley, Star Project, and Right2Dance, creating opportunities between the artists and community participants. Wee Man (Barrowland Ballet): An ambitious dance-theatre production exploring masculinity across generations, featuring a community cast of local men and teenagers. Music The Hangar: A bold new addition to Paisley Art Centre’s music programme, The Hangar is a multi-arts night that has quickly established itself as a hub for Scotland’s indie community, showcasing Scotland’s alternative arts scene through music, art, film, and unique collaborations. Curated with Sushil K Dade (The Soup Dragons / Future Pilot AKA), the series has featured intimate and
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PUBLIC genre-defining performances including BMX Bandits’ Duglas T Stewart, Stuart Braithwaite (Mogwai), rising post-rock duo Cloth and Teenage Fanclub’s Norman Blake. Each event combines live music, DJ sets, film screenings, and artist Q&As to create immersive, cross-disciplinary experiences that connect audiences with the creative spirit of Scotland’s independent music community. “It was very well curated – I couldn’t believe we saw two bands, a film and a book reading in the time, and it felt short! The quality of the acts was excellent” Horse: An unforgettable sell-out performance from Scotland’s legendary singer-songwriter, celebrating the 25th anniversary of her iconic album The Same Sky. A deeply moving evening that resonated with both long-time fans and new audiences Siobhan Miller: Four-time Scots Trad Music Awards Best Singer brought her powerful vocals and heartfelt contemporary folk to Paisley Arts Centre. A spellbinding performance that combined tradition with warmth and emotional depth, reaffirming Paisley Arts Centre’s reputation for hosting leading Scottish folk artists. Comedy Paisley Comedy Club: A standout strand in our programme, the Comedy Club continues to attract strong audiences and high-quality acts. Highlights this season included Gary Delaney, Marc Jennings and John Gavin, delivering a brilliant night of stand-up that rounded off with a fantastic set. Earlier in the season, Hal Cruttenden brought his sharp observational humour to a sold-out audience. The Club remains a cornerstone of our live entertainment offer, providing regular opportunities for audiences to experience top-tier comedy in an intimate local setting. Grado & Purdon: Hilarious, heartfelt, and full of local flavour, this dynamic duo packed the house with a sell-out show of their trademark mix of banter and storytelling. A post-show meet and greet was warmly received, reinforcing their strong connection with Renfrewshire audiences. Comedy Sneak Peeks: Craig Hill & Connor Burns: Two special sell-out preview nights delighted audiences with high-energy performances and sharp wit. Both acts return to Paisley Arts Centre for headline shows in the 2025 Autumn Season, following enthusiastic audience response.
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PUBLIC Johnstone Town Hall continues to offer a varied programme of events and activities to a diverse range of audiences, including high quality performances aimed at families such as Elmer Adventure and The Unlikely Friendship of Feather Boy & Tentacle Girls. Performances dealing with difficult themes have also been incorporated into the programme, including Barrowland Ballet’s Wee Man, When we were Young and Provy Wummin’. Johnstone Town Hall continues to be a venue of choice for returning companies with Right 2 Dance and MacDougalls booking multiple shows annually. The daytime café by Bianco Nero in Johnstone Town Hall, introduced in 2025, continues to go from strength to strength with a marked increase in gross sales and the street area once again being animated with local audiences. The permanent sole supplier in the venue has allowed for the development of a range of new packages and offers for venue hire that aim to attract new business to the venue. This has been well received by the market with bookings already being taken for this financial year and next. Community Libraries Bookbug Early Years Development Within the scope of supporting healthier communities, Renfrewshire Libraries have provided 635 Bookbug sessions, supporting families to read, sing, and play, sharing stories, songs and rhymes with their little ones from birth. During this period our teams served 14,149 Bookbug attendees. Social Connection and Participation In addition to this our Libraries and Information Services teams have organised and run 1,719 physical events, incorporating author visits, activity clubs, quizzes, and knitting groups, supporting a sense of belonging and social connection. In the first half of this year, we have seen 21,769 event visits to our Libraries, an increase of almost 28% on the previous year’s event attendances for the first 2 quarters of the year. These events help to facilitate the community of Renfrewshire, and particularly those who may be socially excluded, to come together, for free, in recognised safe places. We have stimulated local creativity with 141 Book/Writers group sessions attracting 861 visits across all our facilities. Our Home Delivery service has provided 417 visits to households inhabited by older people, people who find leaving their own home challenging, as well as
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PUBLIC families with pre-school or school age children. This is an increase of 106 visits over the same period last year. Community wellbeing Throughout this period we have continued to work in partnership with local groups across Renfrewshire, for example: a breast-feeding support group that meets weekly in Johnstone Library; a domestic abuse support service called Ask Crystal in Paisley Central Library; monthly hearing aid clinics in our libraries in the Erskine, Johnstone and Renfrew as well as providing 12 locations for the pick-up of replacement hearing aid batteries; a wellbeing café that runs weekly in Renfrew Library; Dementia ‘cuppa and activity’ afternoon sessions in Johnstone Library; Talk Together book collections in many of our libraries and the ‘Near Me’ video health consultancy service to name a few. Community capacity Throughout this period we have continued to support people and their economic wellbeing striving to create libraries as safe, non-judgemental spaces. We work to achieve this in partnership with Citizens Advice to provide weekly clinics in Johnstone and Renfrew Libraries, a fortnightly Job Club in our new flagship Library on Paisley High Street as well as a Home Education Support group in Lochwinnoch Library, continuing to provide validation points in all of our libraries for National Entitlement Cards, the introduction of film clubs within Paisley Central and Ferguslie Park libraries and we will be entering into a partnership within the next couple of months for free musical instrument lending within selected areas of Renfrewshire. Digital Support Libraries and Information Services also assist the public with challenges they may be experiencing using digital devices, such as mobile phones, tablets and laptops. Our teams are, in many instances, the go-to service when people require support in the wake of society’s continued advance towards digital interaction and AI. Our facilities catered for 16,399 sessions of computer access during the first 6 months of 2025/26, accompanied by 21,040 WiFi interaction sessions more than double the instances of the equivalent period in 2024/25. Our staff also provided further digital support on 19,611 occasions, again, almost doubling the instances of the equivalent period in 2024/25, supporting people to pay bills, apply for jobs, become informed about issues relevant to them, help them with everyday digital tasks.
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PUBLIC Our Digital Champions Coordinator continues to expand the Digital Champions network across Renfrewshire, strengthening support for digital inclusion in local communities. To enhance our offer, we’ve introduced regular additional digital skills drop-in sessions and Databank drop-in sessions Mondays 2-4pm in Ferguslie Library and Fridays 2-4pm in Renfrew Library. Over the summer, we also piloted outreach sessions on-board the Skoobmobile, targeting families in areas with limited access to local libraries. These sessions aimed to bring digital support and connectivity (via the on- board public WiFi) directly into communities and explore new ways of engaging residents. Between April and October 2025, the project delivered 333 digital skills sessions, supported by 557 hours of Digital Champion time. We distributed 97 Databank SIM cards to individuals experiencing data poverty, providing a total of 665 months of free calls, texts and mobile data to Renfrewshire residents. We also loaned 20 Chromebooks, with MiFi devices provided where needed, to help bridge the digital access gap. School Libraries Between April and September, the school library service continued to provide a busy and varied programme of events including both curricular and extra- curricular events. In April, Paisley Book festival school’s programme organised by the library service involved 18 events. Events were held by 6 authors with total physical attendees as 1,163 from both primary and secondary schools. 42 primary and secondary schools also signed up to watch the live stream of the Joseph Coelho session at Paisley Town Hall which was very well received. In May, an event to award the Janet Coats Memorial Poetry Prize was held as part of the festival with 5 pupils from 4 schools being shortlisted. An S1 pupil from Gryffe High School won the 2025 young people’s prize with her poem ‘Now it’s a Memory’ winning £200 in poetry books. In June, Johnstone High School achieved Reading School Gold status with a significant amount of work led by the school librarian. This is now the 5th secondary school in Renfrewshire to achieve this top award which solidifies the school librarian’s role in creating a positive reading culture.
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PUBLIC Activities days in June took place across all schools allowing school librarians to support both in-school and out of school trips including bookshop trips to choose books for the library as well as running their own activities in the libraries. The Japanese pen-pal project at Renfrew High finished in June. Over the last year pupils had been paired with a school in Japan with pupils had been recommending books to each other as well as finding out about each other’s schools. Schools across Renfrewshire took part in an Empathy Day conference in June. This was organised by school librarians and was held in Paisley Central Library with pupils and school librarians attending from 5 schools. Pupils had a chance to speak about their favourite books and delivered creative presentations. £15,840 grant funding was awarded by the Scottish Government’s School library improvement fund for an empathy project to take place across all secondary school libraries and some cluster primary schools. This will involve 10 schools becoming accredited empathy schools as well as work taking place across the academic year on storytelling sessions with cluster primary schools. Transition work continued with school librarians visiting P7s, hosting sessions in the school libraries and pupils visiting cluster primaries to do storytelling sessions. Enhanced transition activities also took place at Paisley Grammar and Park Mains High School with Scottish comic artist Neil Slorance visiting to run comic sessions with pupils. All school librarians took part in training by Renfrewshire Council on de- escalation of challenging behaviour to better support the pupils they work with. St Benedict’s library piloted a summer programme opening the library up twice weekly to a group of targeted pupils. The club was created after several pupils who frequent the library asked if there was any way it could be made accessible during the summer. After meeting with the senior management team at the school and completing a risk assessment to ensure pupil safety, the club was approved. 5 school libraries organised visits to Edinburgh Book Festival in August to attend author sessions with Trinity and St Benedict’s running a joint trip for the first time. All pupils were gifted books by Edinburgh Book Festival. These sessions only took place due to the school librarians successfully bidding for transport funding.
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PUBLIC Johnstone High was awarded a competitive author residency which was granted to only 8 schools in Scotland and was worth approximately £5000. Pupils will undertake poetry sessions and visits to Lochwinnoch’s RSPB nature reserve to get inspiration to write their own poetry. The author Katharine Macfarlane was appointed to be part of this residency with work starting in September. Leisure & Sport. Headline Achievements • Record Participation in Flagship Road Races: The Paisley 10k and 3k Road Races achieved record participation, with 5,569 runners in the 10k (a 22% increase) and 2,201 runners in the 3k (a 37% increase), showcasing a massive surge in community fitness and engagement. • Substantial Increase in Leisure Centre Events: The number of events hosted at major leisure centres increased by 38% over the six-month period, which also resulted in a 30% increase in spectators, highlighting their growing role as community and regional event hubs. • Investment in Ferguslie is delivering results, with attendances up by 42% from Q1 2024/25. The improvements to changing areas have increased bookings and participation from younger and female players. • Supporting more people through Vitality Classes: Tailored for individuals living with medical conditions, or for those who experience reduced strength, balance issues, or a fear of falling, the six month period saw an 18% increase. Record-breaking Paisley 10k and 3k Road Races This year’s Paisley 10k saw record participation with 5,569 runners – a 22% increase on 2024. The 2025 3k Fun Run saw a fantastic surge in community participation, with 2,201 runners taking part, a 37% increase on 2024. A short film of the event can be watched here. Local sports clubs rallied behind the event in impressive numbers, turning the run into a celebration of teamwork, fitness, and fundraising. Johnstone Burgh led the charge with 228 runners, followed by Renfrew FC (178), Gleniffer Thistle FC
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PUBLIC (163), and St Peter’s Netball Club (94). Each club using the event to strengthen team bonding and raise important finds for grassroots teams. The race also made a major splash online, with 205,652 video views and a reach of nearly 49,000 in just 24 hours, alongside a 341% increase in Facebook impressions (354,332 total). The event not only showcased local pride and participation but also delivered powerful digital and social impact for Renfrewshire. On the weekend of the race, local, regional and national press coverage was achieved reaching an audience of 134,000. “Got to say the whole thing was amazing, Paisley did it proud, as it was heavin’, well done to all involved.” - Spectator. “Congratulations to the OneRen team for organising such a tremendous event! Paisley is now undoubtedly the 'go to' 10K in the Scottish road racing calendar, with the event going from strength to strength.” - Graham Anderson, event commentator. “I think the tone of the event is great, I think that its positioning as a community- based run that uplifts local people and stories is part of its draw to locals and beyond.” - Runner. “It's the best 10k & the friendliest!” - Runner. Leisure Our leisure offer remains a key driver across OneRen activity. Total indoor fitness and exercise attendances saw a modest increase of 2.53%. We recognise the ongoing challenges of maintenance as well as being agile enough to keep pace with fitness trends. Therefore, this winter period we will move to a new style of gym equipment and maintenance arrangements launching at On-X in November, followed by The Lagoon in February 2026. We also hosted 69 events at our major leisure centres during the first 6 months of this year, an increase of 38% on last year. For the same period we have also seen an increase in spectators of 30%. Events ranged from the facilitation of a Pentathlon event (a first) hosted at On-X Linwood in June and Scotland’s premier Muay Thai competition event at the Lagoon in May. Also in May, The Lagoon welcomed more than 500 spectators to enjoy the family-friendly Blockbuster Pro Wrestling Show. A karate event at the same venue saw 250 participants compete in front of an audience of 350 spectators. Renfrew Victory Baths supported the local amateur swimming club’s league event.
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PUBLIC The 2nd Paisley Comic Con was a stand-out success, with The Lagoon welcoming more than 2,400 visitors to this year’s event – up 20%. Visitors were immersed in a vibrant atmosphere filled with talented creators, stunning costumes and displays of props from beloved movies and TV shows. Swimming Across Scotland, many Learn To Swim Programmes have found challenges in retaining swim coaches as the labour market changed following the pandemic. We have previously reported we are taking a new approach to the provision of swim coaches and this year, an initial cohort of 12 new swimming instructors has been onboarded as part of a 1st phase of a new contracted recruitment approach to enhance the existing programme by over 1000 new spaces. Within this change, we offered our existing session swim instructors the opportunity to become contracted employees within this 1st cohort. This approach means all new swim instructors receive enhanced terms and conditions. A 2nd phase is underway with a further 12 candidates being onboarded and a further training course being arranged. All successful candidates will be supported to participate in a fully funded STA swim teacher course qualification. Under 5s access to swimming initiative. We have introduced a discounted access offer of “2 for £2” effective 1st September 2025. 313 families have taken up this new initiative for under 5s with 626 attendances during September. Outdoor Community Sports Across KGV Renfrew, Ralston Sports Centre, Ferguslie Sports Centre, Seedhill Community Sports Complex, this year’s first six months attendance figures are 96,167 and spectator figures are 49,186 (please note this figure takes in the close season of June, July and start of August). The Council’s investment in Ferguslie is delivering results, with attendances up by 42% from Q1 2024/25. The improvements to changing areas have increased bookings and participation from younger and female players. St James’ playing fields opened for the start of the new 2025/26 season and has been well received by teams. In addition, both Mossvale and St James Primary Schools held their school sports days at St James. The team pulled out all the stops to support Mossvale Primary to host their annual sports day after their own facility was vandalised. About 200 parents and guardians cheered on
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PUBLIC as pupils took part in various events. The school’s head teacher, Jane Houston, said: “Thank you so much for all of your help. We were a bit anxious about how it would all go but you made it so easy.” The School of African Cultures booked Ferguslie Sports Centre for their Spring week football camp. This was well received with the organisers thanking the staff for their support throughout the week. In June, the Nepalese Community of Scotland held their annual football tournament and gala day at Ralston Sports Centre. The event organisers thanked the staff for their support and how well they supported the day’s events. KGV Renfrew once again hosted the Paisley, Johnstone and District Youth Football League finals on the 30th May and 1st June 2025 which attracted more than 1,500 participants and over 6,500 spectators. It continues to be a huge event for teams and players from Renfrewshire and surrounding areas, including Inverclyde, Ayrshire, West and East Dunbartonshire and Glasgow. The refurbished tennis courts at Robertson Park, Brodie Park and Johnstone opened in July 2024. OneRen operate the booking system on behalf of Renfrewshire Council. From April 2025 bookings are as follows: Robertson Park (831), Brodie Park (1,062) and Johnstone (705). Licence to Occupy (LTO) Agreements have increased with Inchinnan Playing Fields (Parkmoor FC), Bishoptop FC (Newton Road), Glenpatrick Playing Fields (Johnstone Burgh Community Club), Moredun (Paisley Community Sports HUB), Thomas Shanks Playing Fields (Thorn Athletic), Millar Street (Kilbarchan Thistle), The Marshes (Gleniffer Thistle FC). Calderglen FC continues to have a LTO for the Lochwinnoch Annex football pitch whilst they pursue a Community Asset Transfer (CAT). Renfrew Vics FC successfully applied for a CAT for the Kirklandkneuk pavilion. During August the Ralston Community Council Gala Day took place at Ralston Sports Centre. A Community Council member said, “Thanks for the lovely helpful staff, everyone enjoyed the day so that makes all the planning worth it.” And at Ferguslie Sports Centre, St Mirren Charitable Foundation held their Fit and Fed Camp. St Mirren Charitable Foundation Development Manager said, “Thank you to all the staff for your support over the camp, it helped make it the great success it was.” Lochfield Ladies Bowling Club celebrated their 90th Anniversary on the 26th July 2025, which was attended by the Provost, Councillors, MSPs and MPs.
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PUBLIC Sports Development The Upscaling Active Schools programme provides a more targeted approach towards those groups who experience barriers to sport. Equality, Diversity and Inclusion is the key driving force of this project. We are continuing to address challenges like sustaining engagement and managing logistical barriers to participation through partnerships to achieve local successes with clubs for care experienced young people and families on low incomes. These clubs were set up throughout Renfrewshire to boost confidence and involved many families through inclusive spaces and person-centred activities. Despite funding from Sportscotland concluding in March 2026, the aim of the project is to embedded the practice into the core Active Schools programme, maintaining targeted efforts whilst ensuring an inclusive culture. The OneRen Activity Camps across Spring and Summer breaks deliver an exciting and diverse programme, attracting 1,639 bookings as well as disability sport provision which, while smaller in scale, maintained consistent attendance and remains a vital part of our inclusive programming. Overall, while we saw lower numbers than last year, young people enjoyed a wide range of outdoor adventures including kayaking, gorge walking, cycling, and climbing, alongside energetic indoor sessions like dance, gymnastics, football, and multi-sports. The camps created a fun, inclusive environment where young people could stay active, build confidence, and make lasting memories. The Renfrewshire School of Sport Education Graduation in August at Paisley Town Hall celebrated the achievements of a remarkable group of young leaders who embraced challenges, built lasting friendships, and made a real impact in their schools and communities. Highlights included organising a dodgeball festival, volunteering in PE departments, and leading extracurricular activities like netball and basketball. The evening also showcased the 60 pupils’ exceptional dedication to coaching, their personal growth, and between them volunteering over 3,000 hrs to other young people across Renfrewshire. The event concluded with an inspiring address from guest speaker Kieron Achara, former Olympian and OneRen board member. The Bikeability programme continues to be successfully delivered across schools and communities, with strong engagement at multiple levels:
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PUBLIC Programme Level Number of schools Number of participants Bikeability level 1 23 610 Bikeability level 2 31 961 Bikeability level 3 2 12 Adult training courses 4 31 These figures reflect a continued commitment to promoting cycling skills and safety across age groups, with a notable increase in Level 2 participation. Further development of Level 3 and adult training opportunities will be explored to enhance community-wide cycling confidence and capability. Health & Wellbeing The Live Active Referral Scheme is a health behaviour change initiative designed to support inactive individuals – many of whom live with long-term health conditions – to become more physically active. Between April and September 2025, we received 519 referrals from a range of health professionals across NHSGGC. Each referral is followed up with a triage call from our Health and Wellbeing Referral Support Assistant, a role funded by NHSGGC, to assess suitability for the programme and identify the level of support required. During this period, Live Active Advisors delivered 397 baseline consultations across Renfrewshire, with sessions taking place in Paisley, Renfrew, Linwood, Johnstone, and Erskine. Our Health & Wellbeing Active Life membership is a 12-month leisure membership available to individuals referred through the Live Active Referral Scheme. It is specifically designed to support and encourage participants as they begin their physical activity journey and explore new opportunities. Between April and September 2025, 183 Live Active clients have taken out an Active Life membership. Notably, many of these individuals may have previously lacked the confidence, knowledge, or support to access leisure services independently. This highlights the significant impact of the programme in empowering people to take positive steps toward improving their health and wellbeing. Our Vitality Classes are tailored for individuals living with medical conditions, or for those who experience reduced strength, balance issues, or a fear of falling
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PUBLIC — factors that may impact their daily lives. The programme offers four progressive levels, ranging from chair-based sessions to moderate-intensity circuits. To ensure safe and effective delivery, instructors are required to hold advanced qualifications. Currently, OneRen delivers 11 classes across Renfrewshire, with growing demand for additional sessions. Between April and September, these classes recorded an impressive 6,991 attendances, representing an 18% increase compared to the same period in 2024/25. Our free walking programme recorded 1,147 attendances between April and September – 123 more than the same period last year. While our health walks are designed to include individuals with disabilities and long-term health conditions, we have recognised the need to expand our offer to include those with lower functional ability. As a result, new ‘entry-level’ health walks have recently been introduced in Johnstone, Linwood, and Paisley. These shorter walks last 20–30 minutes, compared to the standard 30–60 minute sessions. We have also continued to deliver an indoor Functional Walking Class in Paisley, providing a supportive environment for individuals who may not yet feel confident walking outdoors. Since April, 20 classes have been delivered, with a total of 223 attendances (staff to participant ratios are in place). In addition, our 5-week First Steps Programme remains a valuable resource for individuals looking to improve their strength, balance, and walking ability. A recent block was delivered in Johnstone, and our Activities Coordinator is eager to expand this programme to other areas across Renfrewshire, enabling more communities to benefit. We continue to offer a weekly Gentle Movement class in Renfrew, free of charge and delivered by dedicated volunteers. This class is designed for individuals living with cancer or other long-term health conditions. Rooted in the practice of Qigong, it combines slow, intentional movements with a focus on breathing and meditation to support physical and mental wellbeing. Between April and September, the class has welcomed 146 attendances. For the same client group, we also offer a weekly Move More circuit class. This class provides a moderate cardiovascular workout for those who can manage. Over the six-month period, 26 classes were delivered, with a total of 380 attendances. Between April and September, our Social Prescribing Coordinator received 137 referrals through the Health and Wellbeing referral form. Taking a person- centred approach, the coordinator shares information to help individuals access
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PUBLIC a wide variety of opportunities both within OneRen and across the wider community. These include health and cultural walks, Sporting Memories sessions, knitting and crochet groups, singing groups, Men’s Sheds, local gardening initiatives, and many other activities offered by community organisations. In collaboration with Renfrewshire HSCP, OneRen’s Health & Wellbeing team has developed a new programme called ‘6 Weeks to Wellbeing’. Blocks of these free sessions have already been delivered at Linwood Library and Johnstone Town Hall. The aim is to encourage people to try new activities, connect with others, and learn about local opportunities for ongoing participation. Staff are committed to building confidence and supporting individuals to continue engaging with activities beyond the initial six weeks. Sessions have included arts and crafts, reminiscence activities, quizzes, photography walks, games and chair yoga. Alongside this, the Social Prescribing Coordinator has also co- delivered a weekly gardening session at Paterson Park Allotments in Renfrew, contributing to a combined total of 199 attendances across these initiatives since April. As part of our wider Health & Wellbeing offer, the weekly Sporting Memories class in Renfrew – delivered in partnership with the Sporting Memories Foundation – is now led by a dedicated group of volunteers. This volunteer-led model has enabled us to expand our overall delivery. The class has welcomed 356 attendances across 23 sessions, highlighting both its popularity and the ongoing need for such opportunities. The Health & Wellbeing Hub at the Lagoon Leisure Centre serves as a key venue for delivering some of the above cited appointments and group activities. We continue to host NHSGGC’s Quit Your Way service once a week, offering local residents access to expert advice and support to stop smoking. The Health & wellbeing hub is available for partners and community groups to book out space on a half day, full day or weekly basis. Development Activities Delivering Change Programme As we have previously reported, through the course of 2025 we have been participating in Delivering Change: Museum Transformers, an anti-oppression programme that aims to empower the workforce to make changes to help all
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PUBLIC people to access culture. It has been developed by Museums Galleries Scotland and an Expert Advisory Group. It is funded by The National Lottery Heritage Fund and the Scottish Government. The programme aimed to help us to: • Understand how race and racism show up, specifically at work • Understand our current position; as an institution, as a team and as individuals • Develop tools and action plans that identify, counteract and dismantle racism • Enhance and embed anti-racist practices within our team, institution and wider communities • Commit to continuous improvement in anti-racism together Staff from across OneRen, from frontline colleagues to Board members, are participating and in August, we participated in our last session of anti-racism training, with this quote from a member of our staff echoing the reflections of many: “It has been a profound experience and I’m really grateful to have been part of it.” Volunteers, Placements and Employability As part of a programme to help S5 and S6 pupils on their journey into work, Career Ready in Scotland is designed to support every young person to a positive post-school destination and prosper in the world of work. We were very pleased to welcome two, month-long placements where the students took part in a number of office-based tasks, culminating in a presentation to staff. One of the students said “I was really scared when I first arrived, but once I got here, all the nervousness went away because everyone was so nice, welcoming and kind to me. I’ve gained insight into professional life, how meetings work, how you talk to your colleagues – it’s not like school where you can just talk to your friends”. The second student said that she was very shy, naturally, but had gained a real confidence boost from the placement. She added “I met so many very welcoming, very kind people and it didn’t feel like I was out of place – I felt like an equal, rather than a child. I’s a lot more confident and my communication skills are so much better and that’s a very big win for me.”
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PUBLIC More broadly we continue to maintain ongoing liaison with school coordinators, supporting careers events and offering student placements for those with no positive destinations. We established a Coproduction Volunteer Group with partners from University of the West of Scotland, West College Scotland and Community Learning. We led the group taken through Failspace training, which looks at how to talk honestly about failure and see it as an opportunity for growth. The group is exploring pilot coproduction models for welcome host and tour guide volunteers, research and workshop volunteers. During this period we have formalised the process for “academic” (further and higher education or employment partner) placements within OneRen. We also finalised a formal arrangement with West College Scotland Health & Fitness Students who are all now offered a 6 week placement. In September we participated in two Employability Month events: The Value of Volunteering hosted by Engage and Skills Careers Awareness as part of the Public Sector day hosted by Renfrewshire Local Employability Partnership at Paisley Town Hall, attended by 5 Renfrewshire high schools and adults, which included a hugely popular Virtual Live Broadcast from the Secret Collection museum store. Travel Trade Travel trade represents a significant new opportunity for OneRen, particularly with the international interest anticipated from Paisley Museum's opening. To be market-ready, OneRen has been actively developing and promoting high quality travel trade product for Paisley Museum, building strong, collaborative relationships VisitScotland and major Destination Management Companies who will provide global reach for the museum, for Paisley and for Renfrewshire. This is a deliberate and forward-thinking move, one that positions Renfrewshire to be able to welcome international visitors at a scale previously unseen.