OneRen - Six Monthly Monitoring Report Combined
Renfrewshire Council · 4 December 2024
Back to Leadership Board — 4 December 2024 and its agenda
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To: Leadership Board On: 4th December 2024 Report by: Chief Executive Heading: OneRen - Six Monthly Monitoring Report 1. Summary 1.1 On 1st May 2024, 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 One Ren 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 One Ren, and through six-monthly progress update reports to the Leadership Board. 1.2 This report provides a summary of progress achieved over the last 6 months, including performance information provided by One Ren in relation to the first two quarters of the current financial year 2024/25. 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 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 One Ren at Appendix 1. 3. Background 3.1 The Services Agreement with OneRen forms the basis of the funding arrangement with the charity and sets out the terms for OneRen to deliver culture, leisure and sport services within Renfrewshire. 3.2 One of the terms in the Services Agreement is for the development of an annual Business Plan. OneRen’s Business Plan for 2024/25 was approved by the
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Leadership Board in May 2024. OneRen’s Business Plan is closely aligned to the strategic priorities set out in the Council’s Plan and the Community Partnership Plan to support the regional priorities as set out by its main stakeholders. 3.3 OneRen is also required to provide quarterly monitoring reports submitted to the Council via the Monitoring Officer to provide a review of OneRen’s financial, operational and customer related performance each quarter, and to demonstrate how the services delivered by OneRen contribute to Council Plan and Community Planning Partnership priorities. 3.4 In preparing the business plan for 2024-25, OneRen has recognised the challenging economic environment in which the public sector 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.” It is based on the charity’s mission to improve the community’s health and wellbeing by working in partnership to design and deliver a range of life-enhancing and accessible culture, leisure and sporting opportunities that meet local needs and improve life chances across the population and is framed around four strategic objectives: a healthy community; a sustainable local economy; a great place to live, play and visit; a high performing, sustainable charity. 3.5 When the business plan was approved in May 2024, the plan acknowledged key influential factors, particularly the economic environment in terms of managing inflationary cost pressures, extended post pandemic income recovery period and the impact of the cost-of-living crisis on local communities, customers and employees; as well as new opportunities presented by the reopening of some of Renfrewshire’s major cultural venues – Paisley Town Hall, Paisley Central Library and Paisley Arts Centre. 3.6 Balancing increased community need with inflationary and budget pressures faced by all public sector organisations remains OneRen’s primary task. Exceptional energy costs continue to add an estimated £1million of additional expenditure for the charity alongside rising supply costs and pay pressures. These costs are being actively managed by OneRen to maintain a break-even financial position. 3.7 In 2024/25, 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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3.8 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 assessment of monitoring information provided, OneRen is making progress against its business plan objectives for 2024/25, despite the financial challenges stemming from cost-of-living increases and pressure on disposable income within local communities. 4.2 This year, OneRen’s Business Plan listed 58 high level activities to deliver against its strategic objectives. Each of these have an action plan that the functional directors are working collaboratively to deliver, with identified leads and performance indicators. All leads have provided updates against progress for the first 6 months and this is represented in the chart below: 4.3 Progress is largely positive with 74% of indicators assessed by One Ren at this time as being on track. Those behind target will continue to be discussed as part of the overall monitoring process, and relate to factors such to absence / capacity, or complexity relating to major infrastructure developments. 4.4 OneRen’s financial position to end of September is broadly in line with budget, before recognition of the impact of the national pay award. One Ren have confirmed that their financial strategy for 2024/25 aims to increase usable reserves to comply with external audit recommendations. Expenditure controls and vacancy management processes remain in operation to manage the charity’s financial position and financial risks. Leisure membership numbers and income have increased in the post pandemic period but are slightly behind target at the mid-point of the year. Marketing campaigns and promotional activities in the autumn/winter period aim to increase income over the remainder of the year, as One Ren moves towards what it considers to be its traditionally busier season. 0 10 20 30 40 50 60 On Track Ahead Behind Paused Complete Withdrawn Business Plan 24/25 Progress Update September 2024
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4.5 The attached report at Appendix 1 provides a summary of key highlights for members in terms of overall activity. This includes: • 18,000 performance tickets were sold April-September 2024. This compares with 4000 tickets sold during the same period in 2023 • Paisley Town Hall average income per event up by 98% over 2018 • Paisley Book Festival ticket sales up by 38% on previous year • 2,948 children attending Summer Reading Challenge events • +100 teachers attending development sessions in creative and cultural learning. • 100,000 attendances at OneRen sport and leisure events April- September 2024 • 1,000 more people signed up for Paisley 3k and 5k than 2023 • 22% year on year increase in swimming lessons for under 5s • 333 volunteers delivering 33% of Active Schools sessions • 561 Health and Wellbeing referrals funded by NHSGGC • 45% increase in Vitality classes attendance 4.6 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. 4.7 The main culture, leisure and sport performance indicators for OneRen are summarised in the table below: Performance indicator Q1 & 2 2021/22 Q1 & 2 2022/23 Q1 & 2 2023/24 Q1 & 2 2024/25 Change from 23/24 to 24/25 Number of attendances at indoor sports and leisure facilities excluding pools 187,338 345,763 372,756 445,221 19.44% Number of online attendances (digital fitness classes) in leisure services 3,886 1,375 286 0 -100.00% Number of attendances at pools 68,441 199,847 208,866 172,776 -17.28% Number of attendances at outdoor facilities 58,258 75,903 79,932 89,788 12.33%
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Performance indicator Q1 & 2 2021/22 Q1 & 2 2022/23 Q1 & 2 2023/24 Q1 & 2 2024/25 Change from 23/24 to 24/25 Number of people engaged with Sport Services (online and offline) 36,656 21,302 23,962 28,850 20.40% Number of people engaged in Health and Wellbeing service 11,356 4,156 6,108 7,791 27.55% Number of RENTV views 34,505 1,893 359 0 - Number of YouTube views 527 - Number of visits to museums – digital and social stats 506,412 227,143 358,377 210,800** excluding X/ Twitter stats in 2024/25, due to changes in their data analytics. Number of visits and engagements with libraries (includes digital) 1,438,185 1,167,637 1,173,326 1,202,547 2.49% Number of books and e- book issues 119,460 199,283 251,857 293,329 16.47% Total activity and engagement 2,464,497 2,244,302 2,475,829 2,525,840 2% before Twitter/X stats
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Explanation for the performance trends: 4.8 The trends show a continual post pandemic increase in attendances at indoor sports and leisure facilities as more people come back to enjoy our leisure services, programmes and sporting events. • Demand for online fitness classes reduced, once people were allowed to attend classes in person. To reflect the changes in customer preference, online digital fitness classes are no longer offered. • The number of attendances at pools reduced in the first half of 2024/25 and reflects challenges in retaining instructors for the learn to swim programme. Training was held over the summer period to improve our agility to recruit and develop our own cohort of instructors to improve delivery of the programme for the remainder of the year. • Outdoor services continue to show increases in attendances year on year. The data for the first half of 2024/25 reflects an increase in outdoor pitch usage and the launch of the three refurbished tennis courts in July. • The number of people engaging with Sport Services has increased by 20.40%, as we continue to encourage all forms of sport and physical activity. The team have undertaken a sector leading study over several years to understand sport activity preferences and reasons for participation in sport as well as to remove any perceived barriers. • Health and Wellbeing engagement has seen a 28% increase. Vitality classes remain very popular, and we offer other activities including healthy walks to support recovery, fitness and social connection. • RENTV is no longer being used to share video content in OneRen as OneRen now has a new YouTube channel. Future trends will report on YouTube stats instead of RENTV. • Although library engagement is reported here to have increased only by 2.49%, when we look at physical attendance only, physical book issues have increased by 8.1% to 64,783 in Q1 in comparison to 60,011 for Q1 in 2023/23. A drop in digital engagement has brought down the overall figure. The increase in attendance at libraries can mainly be attributed to the reopening of Paisley Central Library and the number of events being facilitated in our libraries. This increased engagement has also resulted in more book issues, an increase of 16.47% in comparison to the previous year. 4.9 Over the last few years, OneRen’s operating model has adapted and shifted to meet the changing needs of Renfrewshire Over communities in this post pandemic period. This makes typical comparisons of annual performance indicators difficult from 2021/22 onwards. In addition, over the last year, three key cultural venues have reopened and been successfully launched which is reflected in the positive trends reported in this report. 4.10 OneRen’s performance in 2024/25 to date shows an increased trend for physical attendance in its venues. The financial strategy recognises that the charity is not operating at identical capacity to pre-pandemic levels, and this is reflected in some of the performance data reported.
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4.11 The blending of digital and in-person services is also variable, with some service areas continuing to return to in-person attendance with a clear off-set against digital engagement, for example in leisure. For other service areas such as libraries, both forms of engagement remain strong. Changing work priorities continue to have an impact on OneRen’s performance data in some areas, for example, less digital engagement from the museums service as the service spends more time working on the new displays and public programme for Paisley Museum. 4.12 Overall, online engagement has changed how OneRen delivers services and understand customer preferences. Demand patterns have changed over the last few years and trends will continue to be considered and built into future business plan priorities. 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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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 2024 Author: Laura McIntyre, Head of Policy and Partnerships, Telephone: 0141 487 0242
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Key Highlights April-Sept 2024 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 2024/25. We are passionate about the part we play in improving life-long physical and mental health in every one of our communities. 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. We work across communities and audiences, listening to their needs and working with them to co-produce services and deliver positive outcomes. Our services cover arts, museums, sport and fitness, events, libraries and archives – designed to support cultural participation, physical activity, learning, volunteering and employability pathways. We offer health and wellbeing services and access to resources that build both individual and community wealth and strength, creating a more equitable and fairer Renfrewshire.
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Culture. Headline Achievements • 18,000 performance tickets were sold in April to September 2024 This compares with 4,000 tickets sold during the same period in 2023 • Paisley Town Hall average income per event up by 98% on 2018 • Paisley Book Festival ticket sales up by 38% on previous year • Paisley Museum now internationally recognized award winner • 2,948 children attending summer reading challenge events • +100 teachers attending development sessions in creative and cultural learning Performance Programme OneRen has focused on the development of relationships with key leaders in the arts and cultural sector, to deliver a diverse programme of activity, across genres, with the aim of engaging local audiences and attracting visitors to Renfrewshire. This has culminated in attracting internationally renowned artists and performers to Paisley Town Hall such as Paolo Nutini, John Bishop and Frankie Boyle, along with the development of recurring event brands such as Edinburgh Fringe Previews and Live at the Town Hall. The Festivals Programme continues to be an important strand of programming, linking OneRen’s portfolio of venues and animating Paisley Town Centre with carefully curated events and experiences. In April 2024, Paisley Book Festival returned to its home in OneRen venues, delivering over 40 literary events on a Pay What You Can tiered pricing model, as well as curating the festival’s first free family day, ensuring accessibility remains at the heart of the festival. Our successful schools programme went from strength to strength, delivering the majority of experiences in Paisley Town Hall, allowing the opportunity for young people in Renfrewshire to directly engage with cultural venues. The reopening of Paisley Arts Centre in late spring, allowed a further opportunity for OneRen to curate new strands of cultural programming for audiences. The opening weeks included a performance from Superfan, commissioned by a leader in Scottish children’s theatre, Imaginate, as well as touring fund recipient, When Mountains Meet. Music performances were delivered from contemporary Scottish artist, Rachel Sermanni and hot off the back of a performance at Glastonbury, Frankie Morrow. Paisley Arts Centre continues to go from strength to strength, with comedy shows from UK acts and challenging theatre such as Catafalque and Love the Sinner. The commitment of this venue to the development of the arts sector can be seen in the high-quality
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Summer Sessions for young people, heavily subsidised by OneRen and delivered by local professional organisations such as Sculpture House Collective, H2B and right2ance, as well as sector focused networking evenings and rehearsal space in our purpose built dance studio. 18,000 performance tickets were sold in April to September 2024. This compares with 4,000 tickets sold during the same period in 2023. Performances and attendances by individual paying customers are the main driver of footfall for Paisley Town Hall and Paisley Arts Centre. A strong spring / summer performance was complemented by the release of our first full season brochure for autumn / winter which can be accessed here. Paisley Town Hall has been open for a year and now welcomes performance hire as the largest percentage of business. Average income per event has increased by 98% in comparison to 2018. Continuing to work with nationally recognised promoters and production companies has begun to position Paisley Town Hall and Paisley Arts Centre as go to venues within the central belt, with Paisley Arts Centre the ideal venue to support the delivery of new work in Scotland via the Touring Fund. Performances cover a variety of genres and the public programme has remained diverse, appealing to a range of audiences, both local and visitors to Renfrewshire, and is also complemented by funded community events, for example Johnstone Town Hall tea dances, vinyl club, craft & chat club. Johnstone Town Hall continues to support theatre performance from a range of loyal local theatre groups and OneRen has also attracted the well-known Play, Pie, and a Pint production to sell-out shows. Since the reopening of cultural venues, post pandemic, we have noticed a continuing change in terms of how customers engage with our venues along with a decreased appetite from promoters and production companies to take risks on shows and events. Tweedie Hall, for example, has seen an increase in use from the local community for small events, gatherings and private hires but a decrease in performances due to location and historically lower ticket sales. Paisley Arts Centre’s reopening has enabled a partnership between OneRen and Blend Coffee to operate a café for the community four days per week, for a one year period. The community response has been incredibly positive and local suppliers are being championed. After Christmas we will review the offer based on spending patterns, customer experiences and consider any alterations to the operating model. Paisley Book Festival Our most successful edition of the Paisley Book Festival, the 2024 Paisley Book Festival took place from 25 to 28 April, coming back to its home in OneRen cultural venues, namely Paisley Town Hall and Paisley Central Library. OneRen introduced a Pay What You Can tiered pricing model in 2023 to increase accessibility for communities to high quality arts and performance activity. This model has continued to be applied to Paisley Book Festival events and OneRen’s Winter Programme. Over 25% of visitors to Paisley Book Festival opted for these tickets. The model does not require proof to opt for concession rates, customers can ‘Pay What You Can, no questions asked’.
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• 42 events took place as part of the public programme • A free family day took place in Paisley Town Hall on Saturday 27 April • The schools’ programme was further developed with authors to ensure the majority of school events were delivered on site in Paisley Town Hall, offering young people an opportunity to engage directly with cultural venues • A strategic decision to operate the festival at the same time as Paisley Food and Drink Festival was taken to pro-actively animate Paisley town centre and share audiences • The successful Pay What You Can model, for the majority of events, was continued with the focus on accessibility expanded to include the Free Family Day • 2,133 tickets were sold in 2024, a 38% increase on 2023 sales • Ticket income was £14,122, a 23% increase • 508 tickets were sold at tier 1 and 2 of Pay What You Can • 38 school events took place in Paisley Town Hall attended by 1,497 pupils from 23 primary schools and 11 secondary schools. A short film of the Book Festival can be accessed here. The festival has previously enjoyed a contribution towards its cost from Future Paisley. With the last such contribution provided for the 2024 festival, OneRen has successfully sought grant funding from Creative Scotland towards the 2025 and 2026 festival editions. Cultural programme developments Robert Tannahill’s 250th Anniversary In June, OneRen delivered events to celebrate the 250th anniversary of Paisley’s ‘weaver’s poet’ Robert Tannahill. Robert Tannahill wrote some of the most evocative poetry and song in Scotland’s history. The ‘weaver poet’ lost his life in tragic circumstances, by apparent suicide, but his name lives on and a range of activities, including new work by Renfrewshire Makar Shaun Moore, celebrated his incredible legacy of music, verse and highlight the ongoing need to provide support for men’s mental health today. Other events explored Robert Tannahill’s commitment to multiculturalism in Scotland and the poet’s unique body of anti-sectarian, abolitionist and anti-war songs and poems. The anniversary provided an opportunity to highlight new research on Tannahill’s health, made possible through the Paisley Museum Reimagined project in collaboration with the University of Glasgow’s Dr. Moira Hansen, who previously worked on a research project re-examining the mental health of Robert Burns. The research provides evidence that Tannahill was more mentally robust than he has often given credit for, and ultimately could have been suffering from a physical health condition that manifested with severe neurological symptoms in his final days and hours. In short, as much as it remains possible that he intentionally took his own life, based on what we know today about physical and mental health conditions and the links between them, it is equally possible that he may have suffered death by accidental drowning.
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St Mirren’s 150th Anniversary In June 2024 Renfrewshire Council supported a motion that called upon OneRen, with the support of the Council, to produce an exhibition to celebrate the 150th anniversary of St Mirren Football Club in 2027. OneRen’s social history curator has undertaken initial research into material held by the club and the civic collections. There is potential to re-define the significance of St Mirren FC with new and existing audiences and celebrate its ongoing successes as a prestigious Scottish Premier League football club. The story of St Mirren FC is itself the story of young people overcoming challenges to achieve something enduring and meaningful. There are many positive analogies with the Club’s past that may be drawn upon to engage young people, for example, with St Mirren’s history as a source of ongoing inspiration, aligning with the ethos the club already aspires to in its partnership with Kibble. Art Boss Young Producers Over the past six months, with OneRen’s arts team Art Boss young producers have actively participated in numerous workshops and events, collaborating with local partners and professional artists. During these sessions, the young participants have also been diligently working toward their Bronze and Silver Arts Awards. Particular highlights include: • Arts summer programme – including songwriting and performing workshops & DJ Workshops with DJ Wheelman • Four creative workshops with Sculpture House to produce a collaborative work • Partnering with RC Events Team for Halloween Arts Workshops / Participating in Parade • Cultural Theatre Trips at The Kings, Paisley Arts Centre and Paisley Abbey. Future plans include working with professional filmmaker Gary Hewitt on filmmaking, screenwriting and editing workshops. The group will concentrate on completing Arts Award booklets in December and into January 2025 they will be working with the National Theatre of Scotland ‘Caring Scotland’ project - to raise the profile, celebrate the achievements and foster empowerment of the care experienced community. Cultural Champions The Creative and Cultural Learning CLPL programme gives nursery and primary teachers in Renfrewshire the opportunity to take part in professional learning sessions in a variety of expressive arts and creative subjects to help deliver children’s cultural entitlement and facilitate access to a range of creative opportunities. Delivered by local creative practitioners and organisations including Sculpture House Collective and right2dance, the sessions explore practical techniques that can be taken back to the classroom. Over 100 teachers have attended the sessions in the period April to September 2024, which have received positive feedback, with many requiring a waitlist due to popular demand.
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Paisley Museum During April and May 2024, we hosted special briefings on Paisley Museum, a world-class museum with community at its core, Scotland’s biggest cultural heritage project, for the Council’s Economy and Regeneration Board, the National Lottery Heritage Fund (Scotland) and the UK Museums Association. The briefing for the Economy & Regeneration Board members was hosted at Paisley Town Hall, followed by a site visit, and insights from industry experts. Gordon Morrison, CEO, Association of Cultural Enterprises, reflected the UK wide interest in Paisley’s economic development through culture and the importance of the museum in building secondary spend in the wider economy through domestic and international visitation, while Mark O’Neill, former Head of Glasgow Museums, provided insights from research on the socio-economic case for renewal through culture and the benefits to population health. Both contributors applauded the ambition of the Council’s investment as part of a longer-term plan for Renfrewshire. AL_A’s principal architect Amanda Levete MBE placed the Council’s plans and vision for the museum on a global stage, endorsed through the Museum’s first award, being internationally recognised for its design in delivering to Cultural Regeneration. Aileen Strachan, Content Delivery Manager for the project showcased the scale and impact of the life-changing work that has been going on while the museum has been closed and how people from across local and international communities are supporting the design of displays and programmes. Cultural Awards International Award for Cultural Regeneration Paisley Museum’s redesign has been recognised as internationally award-winning. Our Architect AL_A won the Cultural Regeneration category at the AR Future Projects 2024 Awards this spring, organised by the global architecture magazine The Architectural Review. The museum was on a shortlist of 13 projects including the Prado Museum in Madrid, the Shanghai Opera House and the Bilbao Fine Arts Museum. Smiley Charity Film Award, Paisley Museum One of the museum’s digital productions, The Guild film, which is a co-produced stop motion animation with Kairos Women+ Group, won Bronze in the People’s Choice category at the Smiley Charity Film Awards earlier this year. The film, about the suffragette Molly Mercer and the Scottish Cooperative Women’s Guild, was created with Media Co-op. The Guild film was also entered into the Paisley HB film Festival 2-6 October 2024, giving the group an opportunity to view the film in front of a public audience.
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Paisley Central Library Awards As well as numerous awards for its design, Paisley Central Library continues to be recognised for the impact it is having on local people. During the judges visit for the Herald Property Awards best regeneration category, a member of the public joined the conversation, describing the library as ‘a game changer’, highlighting that as a single parent, it provided a no-cost facility they can use throughout the holidays. School Library Service and Library Children’s Services Paisley Book Festival Schools Programme This year the schools programme ran from Monday 22 April to Friday 25 April, with 38 events taking place in libraries, schools and Paisley Town Hall. 35 schools participated with a total of 1,497 pupils between the ages of five and 14yrs. 56 teachers participated with 15 authors and artists supporting the programme, and sensory storytelling sessions accompanied by music delivered from pupils of Riverbrae School. The festival experience has helped to strengthen links between all schools (primary, secondary and ASN), the libraries and wider OneRen services, through curating a programme of activity that is providing positive cultural experiences for free. • Pupil Feedback: “It was a brilliant event and should happen every year and for every year group.” • Teacher Feedback: “Pupils were able to engage with a professional author in an exciting and engaging environment. Pupils left feeling ‘that could be me up there one day’.” • Author Feedback: “It was wonderful to participate in Paisley Book Festival. I felt incredibly welcomed and looked after by the team. It felt like a festival which truly had libraries and local communities at its heart, and in particular I appreciate how significantly the festival engaged local schools, ensuring that Paisley’s young people have access to, and benefit from, all the festival has to offer.” In addition to Paisley Book Festival events, author visits took place in school libraries as well as visits to the Edinburgh Book Festival for Johnstone High pupils.
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Bookbug Week Bookbug Week took place in May and the theme this year was Bookbug Says Hello, celebrating all the different languages spoken by families across Scotland. Special Bookbug Week events took place in all our libraries, supported by the children’s Libraries team. • Parent / Carer Feedback: “Had a great time at the special Bookbug Week session and party. Always love coming to Bookbug.” We distributed Bookbug bags to health centres and early years establishments to support early book sharing within families, supported by Bookbug sessions designed to develop language, literacy, social and emotional skills, giving families time to talk, sing & play together: • 313 Bookbug Toddler Bags distributed (ages 13-15 months) • 414 Bookbug Baby Bags distributed (ages three-five weeks) • 1,102 Bookbug Explorer Bags distributed (age three years) • 67 Tactile Books distributed for children who need additional support. • Marvellous Makers Summer Reading Challenge The theme for this year’s Summer Reading Challenge was all about creativity. We had a special launch event with award winning children’s author Lindsay Littleson at Paisley Central Library. Library staff got creative in generating ideas for fun free activities for families over the summer. We had free sessions from the Dogs Trust which were popular and Animal Man Mini Zoo sessions funded by Fairer Renfrewshire’s Summer of Fun programme. • 1,535 children participated in the Summer Reading Challenge • 741 children read 6 books or more • 175 new library members joined to take part in the Challenge • 249 activities and events took place in libraries over the summer • Children attending summer activities / events: 2,948 • Adults attending summer activities / events: 1,353 This year the prize to the school with the highest completion rate went to St Fillan’s Primary School, with 17% of all their pupils completing the Challenge. The “best improver” school prize went to Barsail Primary. School Library Service The school library service in the 11 secondary schools delivers schools-based learning, literacy and digital skills development, contributing to health literacy, social and mental wellbeing and providing a safe, trusted space for children and young people to be nurtured. In August the Renfrewshire School Library Service Annual Report 2023/24 was published which covered the 23/24 school term ending in June, highlighting many standout moments and can be accessed here.
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Between April and September 2024, School Library Service activity included: Libraries LYT Up Lives Project: engaging with senior pupils by inviting authors Graeme Armstrong, Alan Bissett and Brian Conaghan who have written about harm reduction and gang culture. This is a partnership project with Glasgow School Libraries and funded by the School Library Improvement Fund. Janet Coats Memorial Prize event: 67 entries were received from Renfrewshire pupils to this poetry prize and shortlisted poets from St Benedict’s, Castlehead, and Gryffe High attended a special event during Paisley Book Festival, at Paisley Town Hall. They all received certificates and their poems published, with the overall winner from St Benedict’s High receiving a £50 prize and £200 for books for their school library. In August, all new S1 pupils were issued with a library card they can use in their school and any public library, providing access to online library resources including e-books, e-magazines, e-audiobooks and digital study aids. Supported visits to Waterstones bookshop in Glasgow gave pupils the opportunity to select new book stock for their school library. School librarians report that some pupils attending these visits have never been to Glasgow. Gryffe High also organised bookshop visits to Wee Ginger Cat Bookshop in Bridge of Weir. Training took place for senior pupils on becoming Dolly Parton Imagination Library volunteers so that they can visit nurseries and read stories to the children there. Reading Buddies sessions with S2/3 pupils were also delivered to support them to read to primary children. Visits for senior pupils with the school librarian took place to University of Glasgow and University of Strathclyde libraries to provide access to study resources and act as a transition between school and university, building on research skills work delivered by school librarians. In August, St Andrew’s Academy started Research Hub – a project supported by the Scottish Library Improvement Fund. Research Hub is a designated space and time for senior pupils during which they receive support from the school librarian covering topics of bibliography and referencing, databases, plagiarism and research skills to help with writing their dissertations and folios. To support activities for Empathy Day, including Empathy Day Conference, students from Renfrew High School, Paisley Grammar and St. Andrews Academy met at the new Paisley Central Library. They talked about their favourite books and how reading has helped them become more empathetic people and improved their mental health. Students from different schools exchanged artwork and got to explore the new library and take out books. Further event-led reading promotions connected with National Poetry Day, Dyslexia Awareness Week, LGBT Book of the Month. St Andrew’s Academy Librarians worked with Art Department to deliver Children Book Unit – a large scale project where S1 pupils work towards creating a book for children, including writing the text and designing a book based on school charter and values. This ended with a school assembly during which judges from MILL Magazine announced the winning book.
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Skoobmobile children and families service The Skoobmobile service for children and families has been travelling across Renfrewshire promoting family learning, play and sharing stories and books, providing literacy and digital skills development opportunities. It contributes to Whole Family Wellbeing and Fairer Renfrewshire objectives. • “The Skoob is my favourite place and I love to read books” Skoobmobile visitor 6 July. From April to September, sessions took place in schools and pre-5 establishments across Renfrewshire and the Skoob team actively promoted the Summer Reading Challenge before the school holidays. Transition visits were also held at Inchinnan and West Primaries, highlighting the benefits of the library card to aid their studies in high school. The outreach service also delivered: Baby sensory sessions for Whole Family Wellbeing provision in Gallowhill; Bookbug sessions for Tots to Teens group in Gallowhill and Inchinnan Parish Church parent, carers / toddler group; and Star Project play sessions and teddy bears picnic, working with groups in Home Link and Home Start. Spring and summer holiday outreach included supporting ON-X summer camps and summer playschemes at Mary Russell and Riverbrae Schools, as well as visiting communities in Houston, Howwood, Shortroods, the Marshes and Gallowhill. The team also attended community events across Renfrewshire including Barshaw Gala Day, Sma’ Shot Day, St Peter’s Primary Family Fun Day, Glenburn ELCC Wellbeing Day, Dolly Parton Day at East Fulton Nursery, St Charles Primary Parent’s Morning. Community Libraries Renfrewshire’s Community Libraries teams have continued to tackle social exclusion and support families by providing 665 Bookbug sessions during the first few months of the year, incorporating 14,710 attendees. In addition to this, we have organised and delivered over 1,000 physical events incorporating author visits, activity clubs, Dungeons and Dragons groups for teenagers, quizzes, knitting groups as well as leading Renfrewshire in the main celebration of the life of Paisley poet Robert Tannahill on his 250th birthday in June of this year. In the first half of this year, we have seen 15,718 visits associated with these events, facilitating our local community to spend quality time together. We have stimulated local creativity with 164 Book/Writers group sessions attracting 1,032 visits from patrons within all our facilities. Our community libraries received a Green Libraries Scotland Grant Fund from the Chartered Institute of Library and Information Professionals in Scotland (CILIPS), enabling us to proudly launch our ‘Green Pages: Library workshops for a greener world’. The initiative aimed to promote environmental sustainability and raise awareness about the circular economy principles with activities such as basic bicycle maintenance, sewing skills, and repurposing textiles, and crafting seed bombs to enhance biodiversity.
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Our Home Delivery Service has supported inclusion through 311 visits to households inhabited by the elderly, people who find leaving their own home challenging, as well as families with pre-school or school age children. We have worked in partnership with groups such as 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 areas of Renfrewshire, and a wellbeing café that runs weekly in Renfrew Library. We look to support people and their economic wellbeing by continuing to provide all services for free, thus consolidating our position within Renfrewshire as a safe, non-judgemental place for all. This is enhanced by our partnership with Citizens Advice to provide weekly clinics in Johnstone and Renfrew Libraries, a fortnightly Job Club in Paisley Central Library as well as a Home Education Support group in Lochwinnoch Library. Our Iibrary teams worked with the Council and Citizens Advice to deliver the Multiply Money Management Engagement Project, with games relating to budgeting for adults (mainly where people were experiencing numeracy challenges) during July and August in Paisley Central, Glenburn, Johnstone, Linwood and Renfrew Libraries. An often-missed aspect of the vital services offered by Renfrewshire Libraries is the number of instances of general computer and digital support offered by our front-line staff on a day-to-day basis. Between April to September, our venues catered for 9,397 sessions of computer access, with a further 8,967 instances of WiFi interaction. Separately, our staff directly interacted with people over 9,000 times in this period, supporting them to pay bills, apply for jobs, send e-mails, and gain confidence using digital devices. We are, in many instances, the go-to service when people are overwhelmed by society’s move to digitisation. A further team of Volunteer Digital Champions provide 1-2-1 support sessions in five of our library branches, (Johnstone, Foxbar, Renfrew, Linwood and Paisley Central) which we are hoping to expand as demand increases. Basic digital skills drop-in sessions run in Johnstone and Paisley Central Libraries with over 261 engagements and 290 volunteer hours. Our libraries’ teams have also launched other projects to help tackle inequalities supporting low income and under-resourced families, including Chromebook Lending Service (supported by the Connecting Scotland Device Lending Libraries Fund). We have 12 Chromebooks and 12 MiFi devices (with data) for loan as part of the Digital Champions project. Library members aged 18 and over can request to borrow a Chromebook (and MiFi device if required) for a three-month loan period, if they meet our lending criteria. The service launched in August 2024 and all 12 Chromebooks are currently on loan. OneRen’s libraries are also working with the Good Things Foundation National Databank project to distribute free SIMs and mobile data to local people experiencing data poverty. Recipients are supported by a Digital Champion to activate their SIM, with further one-to-one digital skills support available if required.
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Renfrewshire Museums Service Renfrewshire Museums Service has been selected as one of four Scottish institutions to pilot a new, free learning source with schools called Marseum, designed to help young people develop transferable skills, while learning about museums and galleries. Developed by Museums Galleries Scotland, in collaboration with Daydream Believers, it is designed to support their strategic Workforce for the Future Project. Working with Castlehead School of Creativity, staff from the museums service Creative Learning Team engaged 120 S2 pupils, challenging them to create plans for their own exhibitions and displays for a future museum. The work was showcased at Castlehead’s Creativity week in May 2024, and teaching staff there are now planning to embed the resource in their Broad General Education Curriculum. On 7 September, the Secret Collection and Renfrewshire Heritage Centre participated in the annual Doors Open Day festival. Throughout the day over 200 people attended across both sites, with many visitors coming from outside the region. The event offered visitors the chance for a behind the scenes view of the work underway at the Secret Collection to support the Paisley Museum redevelopment, including a glimpse at newly conserved works, the preparations for packing and moving, and some highlights from the many stories and displays currently being prepared. We have been user testing prototypes as part of making the new Paisley Museum. This summer, we carried out digital interactives testing with members of the public at Paisley Central Library and at the Art Department. A similar session is planned with the Disability Resource Centre. We also continued our relationship with Renfrewshire Visual Impairment Forum by consulting them about audio interpretation for an art display. As part of co-designing the Introductory Gallery, we are working on an interactive display that will feature short films about culture and life in Renfrewshire. Since April, we have interviewed over 60 people of different ages and backgrounds who live and work in Renfrewshire, with key themes of community and care coming to the fore. We also held pop-up photo sessions at the Piazza to capture images of local people for use in a large-scale projection show within the Introductory Gallery. The museums service team has also been connecting with the Renfrewshire Climate Action Network to understand how the museum can play a role in valuable cross-community dialogues regarding the climate crisis and wider environmental issues. We also shared co-produced content developed over this period for this year’s national Black History Month programme and Paisley’s own HB film festival. Building on the success of our work during the co-creation of our Learning Programme, staff from Renfrewshire Museums Service have secured funding of £9,800 from the Eridge Trust to work with schools on new approaches to developing visual literacy in the classroom, promoting the development of Higher Order thinking skills and providing tools to support wider achievement and attainment.
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OneRen has been working with Children North East (CNE) since autumn 2023 to support Poverty Proofing methods for the new Paisley Museum, based on over 125 qualitative community consultation interviews and which will provide wider learning for OneRen as a whole. A poverty proofed activity/ service is one that does not identify, exclude, treat differently or make assumptions about those children whose household income or resources are lower than others. The main deliverables have been training and audience research involving a mixed team including those making financial and communication decisions.
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Leisure And Sport. Headline Achievements • 100,000 attendances at OneRen sport and leisure events • 1,000 more people signed up for Paisley 3k and 5k than last year • 22% year on year increase in swimming lessons for under 5s • 333 volunteers delivering 33% of Active Schools sessions • 561 Health and Wellbeing referrals funded by NHSGGC • 45% increase in Vitality classes attendance Outdoor Sport KGV Football Finals Days: over the weekend of the 1 and 2 June, the Paisley and Johnstone District Football League held its annual weekend cup final festival at KGV playing fields in Renfrew. The weekend saw 1,440 young players compete in 36 cup finals in front of more than 12,000 spectators, whilst a further 270 younger children played in non-competitive season finale small- sided games on the 3G pitch. Surrounded by this festival of football, Renfrew Cricket Club enjoyed record crowds as they played a league match alongside the footballers. Over the first six-months of the year, total spectator attendances have been 78,070 across Ferguslie SC, KGV Renfrew, Ralston SC and Seedhill SC. This figure does not include sports club attendances. Due to the success of the Scottish Athletics Celtic Nations Cross Country event at KGV Renfrew earlier in the year, Scottish Athletics recommended Renfrewshire to Scottish Disability Sport who have now booked St James’ for their national cross-country event in March 2025. St James’ playing fields upgrades continue, with expected handover in late November 2024. This will see eight new changing rooms around a courtyard to service four natural grass pitches. At Ferguslie Sports Centre, work continues on the refurbishment of the facility with the reconfiguration of changing areas, a new toilet block, and new heating system. Completion is expected in November 2024. The OneRen team based at Ferguslie have also managed to upgrade the dance studio with support from donations, which is now getting booked out on a regular basis. The new tennis courts at Robertson Park, Brodie Park and Johnstone opened in July 2024. To
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support the launch and to coincide with Wimbledon, free access was provided over the summer period. Later bookings are as follows: Robertson Park (469), Brodie Park (423) and Johnstone (548) and we anticipate more engagement when the season restarts next spring. Record-breaking Paisley 10k and 3k road races More than 4,500 people took part in the Paisley 10k and 3k Fun Run, an increase of 1,000 on last year’s numbers and a new record for the popular event organised by OneRen and supported by Renfrewshire Council and Kilbarchan Amateur Athletics Club. Whilst 76% of participants live within 20 miles of Paisley, many travelled from across the UK to take part. Aged from one to 81, people of all ability and experience were cheered on by thousands of supporters who lined the streets of Paisley, as participants enjoyed good weather as well as taking in the town’s famous landmarks. Spectators took advantage of key vantage points, local coffee shops opened for the morning and there was impromptu entertainment along the route, making for a fantastic community spirit. We were grateful to enjoy the company of two former Olympians and local heroes, Kieron Achara – also a OneRen Board member – and Derek Hawkins, as official race starters for the 10k and 3k respectively. A short film of the event can be accessed here. Derek, who won the race in 2012, said: “The Paisley 10k is one of the biggest in Scotland and it’s great to see record numbers out racing at various levels.” Indoor Leisure In addition to providing the regular programme for gym, swim and group exercise, between April and September, Leisure venues also hosted 50 indoor events enjoyed by 23618 spectators and 11666 participants contributing to income and sports tourism. Under five swim initiative – Renfrewshire Council’s funded initiative to encourage infant swimming by providing free access for parents/carers to swimming pools across Renfrewshire. Between the period of April to September 2024 – we have experienced a 22% increase in participation compared to the same period in 2023. Developing employment pathways – As a local employer, OneRen continues to create new employment pathways for the local aspiring workforce and help nurture new talent through pathways of training and employment. During the period April to September, we have onboarded 30 new employees and sessional workers within leisure. For 60% of the overall new intake, OneRen is their first employment. Of the new contracted staff, 55% have progressed from sessional work. Eight of the new employees will be trained to attain SVQ level 8 Pool Lifeguard / First Aid at Work qualification. We have initiated a new partnership with the Swimming Teachers’ Association, which will upskill a number of our existing team to become a trainer/examiner to deliver Pool Lifeguard / First Aid at
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Work and Swim Teacher qualifications. This will help mitigate gaps in our swim instructor workforce and enable OneRen to offer course spaces to other organisations. Sports Development Sports Pathway for Athletes with a Disability. We liaise with several partners to provide a comprehensive sports pathway for athletes with a disability. Our pathway links sporting activities in Renfrewshire schools to opportunities at club and National Governing Body level. This year, for example, OneRen has launched a fortnightly Disability Water Polo Community Club at the Lagoon in Paisley after a successful pilot. Sports and Health Services also support and promote our local hub clubs in the community. Clubs with disability specific activity include: • Strathgryffe Tennis Club • UKTC Twist & Hit • CheerRenfrew • Shitokai Karate The Renfrewshire School of Sport Education (RSSE) programme is an annual coach education programme which runs for 22 weeks from September each year. The programme targets aspiring sports coaches in S5 or S6 from across all high schools and ASN schools within Renfrewshire and can be adapted to support the needs of individuals. The 23/24 programme collaborated with eight sporting governing bodies including Scottish Handball, Scottish Disability Sport, Scottish Volleyball, the Scottish Football Association, Scottish Badminton, Basketball Scotland, Scottish Sport Futures and British Dodgeball. With the support of these partners the pupils gained entry level qualifications across a wide variety of sports. Using the skills and knowledge gained by these awards, the combined participants completed over 3,400 hours of voluntary coaching hours within schools and the wider Active Schools programme. In June 2024, 54 pupils graduated at Tweedie Town Hall. In August, a further 63 pupils were recruited into the 24/25 cohort. Many of our inactive young people are dealing with multiple barriers to participation and general wellbeing. The only way to address the barriers is to work collectively with other partners so that the layers can be addressed simultaneously. This year, we have benefited from additional funding to work with the Whole Family Wellbeing team to support families more effectively and efficiently through a programme called Upscaling Active Schools. 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. Some of the targeted areas include more opportunities for care experienced young people, families on low incomes and participants within the LGBTQ+ community. Targeted work has also been undertaken to support participants from ethnic minority groups and young people with a disability. It has also provided us with more opportunities to share what OneRen can offer to families that need additional support to access services. From library services to craft sessions, to fitness
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classes to walking groups to GP referral sessions. Many families have benefited from the joined- up approach which speaks to the development of the integrated service delivery approach being championed across OneRen. In 2024, OneRen has been awarded a sportscotland grant to invest in our local community sport hub clubs to develop and to maintain their members and volunteers. Each of the four sport hubs have an allocation of £1,250 each to support local clubs and sport. Currently, we have 68 affiliated and non-affiliated Hub Clubs across Renfrewshire. Sports representation includes athletics, basketball, bowls, badminton, cricket, football, golf, gymnastics, hockey, judo, karate, rugby, swimming, sailing, taekwondo, tennis, walking and weightlifting. OneRen’s Bikeability programme has continued delivery with 20 primary schools completing a block of Level 2 on-road training. This represents the highest delivery figure in terms of total schools of any local authority in the West of Scotland region and represents 40% of all of Renfrewshire schools that have delivered this course to either P6 or P7 children. A further 13 schools have delivered Bikeability Level 1 playground training to either P5 or P6 children in preparation for delivery of Level 2 in the second half of 2024. OneRen’s work on the Bikeability scheme was praised in Cycling Scotland’s annual report. Renfrewshire Aspiring Athletes Support Programme (RAASP) helps talented Renfrewshire athletes with access to OneRen training facilities, potential funding, and partner benefits. We currently have 50 athletes in receipt of a current RAASP card. Approximately 28 athletes have a Tier 1 card, and 22 Athletes have a tier 2 card. This is made up of 14 female and 36 male athletes representing 24 sports. Grants are available for RAASP card holders and this year we have 44 Athletes who have been successful with their application for funding, and to date we have distributed £31,248 to these Athletes. The remaining balance of funding is expected to be spent by March 2025. Health & Wellbeing Service Live Active is a referral scheme focusing on delivering health behaviour change support for inactive people with or at risk from long term conditions. From April to September we received 533 referrals, via a health professional within NHSGGC. Additionally, a new Health & Wellbeing Referral Support Assistant role, funded by NHSGGC, carries out initial triage consultations to make sure clients are referred to the most suitable range of activities that would support their health and wellbeing, making a significant difference to client benefits. From April to September, the assistant has triaged 561 Live Active referrals. This is slightly more than the number of referrals noted above due to a backlog prior to the introduction of this new role in April. OneRen offers free weekly led Health Walks delivered by staff or volunteers which last for 30- 60 minutes. Additionally, longer Themed Walks discover and explore Renfrewshire’s rich heritage and key cultural venues. From April 2024, we have delivered 147 walks (21 of which were themed), resulting in 969 attendances. With NHSGGC funding, we have managed to expand our walking offer further with the introduction of an indoor Functional Walking Class. This is to bridge the gap for those who don’t have the ability or confidence to walk outdoors. Since starting in the summer, we have delivered 14 classes for 127 attendances.
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Our Vitality exercise classes are specifically designed for people living with medical conditions or for those who have a fear of falling / find their strength and balance is impacting their daily life. There are four levels of class, ranging from chair-based up to a moderate intensity circuit. Instructors are required to have a higher level of qualifications for Vitality class delivery. OneRen has 11 classes available across Renfrewshire. Between April and September there have been 5,930 attendances, a 45% increase from the same period in 23/24. Our free, weekly Gentle Movement Class is delivered by volunteers and is suitable for those with cancer or other long-term conditions. It is based on the practice of Qigong and involves combinations of slow deliberate movements, focusing on breathing and mediations. Gentle Movement has supported 205 attendances from April to September. In partnership with Sporting Memories, we deliver a free weekly class in Renfrew, using the power of remembering and talking about sport – along with physical activity – to tackle loneliness, depression and dementia. The session attracts a variety of local people and has seen 267 attendances over the 15 classes that have taken place during April to September. Our Social Prescribing Coordinator receives Health and Wellbeing referrals and supports a range of people, many of whom are vulnerable, to improve or better self-manage their health and wellbeing by accessing a range of activities. From April to September, we have supported over 150 referred individuals through this scheme, which enables people to access a wider range of services without the need for a clinical referral, often those who feel lonely and isolated or who have mental health issues. Since April, 199 Live Active clients have taken out an Active Life Membership. It should be noted that these individuals are often people who wouldn’t usually have the knowledge, skills, or confidence to access services without support. Active Schools In August 2024, Scotland’s Active Schools initiative celebrated its 20th anniversary. The programme increases levels of participation and improves sport and physical activity opportunities across Renfrewshire. This year, we have focused on developing staff skillsets by participating in trauma informed training in partnership with Renfrewshire’s trauma informed programme lead. Training has also been delivered to all Active School core staff on the following subjects: • Healthy Minds NHSGCC • What’s the Harm - Self Harm (60mins) • What’s The Harm Full Day - Self Harm • Mentors in Violence Prevention • Child Exploitation Online Prevention Training • Who Cares Scotland • Development Coordination Disorder • LGBTQ+
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Active Schools continues to provide evidence-led extra-curricular and community club programmes using our pupil activity survey. The survey has been issued to every pupil annually since 2018, with this year’s 2024/25 survey achieving over 9,000 returns, equating to 36.8% of the pupil population. Active Schools continues to be supported by a strong network of volunteers. Currently, 333 volunteers deliver 80% of opportunities across Renfrewshire. Since April to date, there has been 1,498 hours of volunteer delivery recorded. We have successfully coordinated and delivered holiday camps for spring and summer 2024. The camps provided multi-sport activities, outdoor activities, football, dance and gymnastics supported by Active Schools. The camps had over 5,000 attendances between the two school holidays. In August 2024, Kirklandneuk Primary School won the Who Cares Scotland Award for Positive Partnerships category for their work with OneRen’s Active Schools Team. As part of The Promise, the aim of the programme was to encourage care experienced pupils to take part in physical activity and enhance their overall wellbeing. Feedback was overwhelmingly positive, resulting in other schools looking to offer a similar programme. Care Experienced pupils from seven local primary schools attended four weekly sports events delivered in partnership with West College Scotland students in May. Due to the success of this pilot, three sporting events planned for December to April will be inviting all care experienced pupils from all of Renfrewshire’s Primary Schools to attend. In partnership with children’s services, social work and the family wellbeing team, children and parents are being invited to take part in Family Clubs based around a sport and physical activity session provided by OneRen at a local establishment as well as receiving a small snack. These clubs have been taking place in Gallowhill, Renfrew, Johnstone Glenburn and Foxbar, with a total of 86 families attending. This year the Active Schools team have achieved the LGBTQ+ Bronze Charter Mark. The work includes delivering positive change in areas such as policy, visibility, marketing, facilities, and training. Our commitment to training has resulted in over 50 staff completing the online LGBTQ+ training, which includes all Active Schools Coordinators, Health, and Wellbeing Assistants and 75% of coaches who are working in the extra curriculum programme. Similar to the poverty proofing audit, the intention is to consider how this can be adopted across OneRen.
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Development Activities. Fundraising Over £300k of secured external funding (that is not Renfrewshire Council or Future Paisley) is currently in place and supporting a range of OneRen cultural programmes throughout 2024. We have a prospective funding pipeline of £400k of new funds being applied for during 2024/2025. To date, of the applications made so far, £55k has been awarded and £63k declined. Catering OneRen continues to work with local suppliers as part of our commitment to catering waste reduction. It includes a suite of local catering suppliers appointed to work in partnership with OneRen at Paisley Town Hall. A sole provider has been appointed at Paisley Arts Centre and also at leisure sites the Lagoon and On-X. These arrangements are working well as the local knowledge of the customer base is critical to developing the right offer in each venue. Tourism and travel trade OneRen is a member of the Renfrewshire Tourism Leadership group and the Renfrewshire Tourism Network Forum. Through this network, we have been awarded £30,000 to develop a collective heritage package (with Paisley Abbey and Coats Memorial) to cross-promote the combined offer to local and national tourism markets. A key focus is the work with partners and stakeholders to shape how we best promote and advertise Paisley as a key destination from which the wider Renfrewshire region can benefit. We have been working closely with Renfrewshire Chamber of Commerce, UWS, Renfrewshire Tourism Network, Visit Scotland and Paisley First to build and develop the Paisley profile as well as Glasgow Convention Bureau colleagues to support the development of travel trade requirements. Energy Reduction The OneRen Energy Savings Challenge set out to achieve a reduction of 5% across the winter months, with a £200 prize for the venue team which achieved the greatest reduction, year-on-year. A campaign was launched providing hints and tips on how to save energy both at work and within our homes. The venue which saved the most over the period was Renfrew Library, which saw a reduction of 17% in their energy usage.
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Keeping the Promise OneRen takes our role as a corporate parent seriously and actively promotes the principles of Keeping the Promise. In this period we have almost doubled the network of OneRen Promise Keepers to 13, with more colleagues scheduled to become Promise Keepers in 2025 including members of OneRen’s Board of Directors who have shown a keen interest. Employability, Pathways and Volunteering OneRen continues to support the Renfrewshire Local Employability Partnership (LEP) and at the LEP Conference. OneRen staff showcased career roles and services across the organisation. OneRen continues to be a significant employer in Renfrewshire and positively contributes to the higher-than-average employment rates, between April and September we recruited 98 posts with a candidate attraction rate of 1,783. We have been proactively networking with partners, colleges, schools and universities to support skills development and employability pathways. We have successfully conducted five placements during the first part of the year and one of the students from Action for Children is now in full time employment with OneRen’s indoor leisure team. Our volunteering programmes engage with a number of OneRen events or projects such as The Paisley Book Festival, Active Schools, Digital Champions, Paisley Museum, Health & Wellbeing, the 10K and 3k road races where an army of volunteers dedicate their time to support OneRen and the wider community. UWS Strategic Partnership Following the signing of OneRen’s strategic partnership with the University of the West of Scotland. In September 2024 staff from museums, arts and libraries attended the Freshers Week Fayre at UWS Paisley Campus to provide information on OneRen activities and services. There were opportunities to feed into the development of the Museum’s new Introductory Gallery and public programme and to sign up to the library services. Over 40 students signed up for OneRen library cards. Partnership work is now being planned for 2025 including: • Collaboration on Equality, Diversity and Inclusion work • Joint activities as part of Glasgow Science Festival • Joint activities as part of OneRen 10K • UWS student involvement in developing the visitor experience for the reopening of the Museum