Renfrewshire Council

“Social Work is about creating positive change and improving well-being. I like to believe as social workers we fight against unfair treatment and push for rules and policies that make society fairer and more equal for everyone,” says Eirinn Cassidy, who works with us. Eirinn started with us as a student social worker in August 2022 and got a permanent post in May 2023. Here, she tells us her experience. “Growing up, I was fortunate to have an incredible social worker by my side,” she explained. “Their support and guidance not only transformed my family's life but also sparked an interest within me. I knew then and there that I wanted to be a change-maker, a person who could offer the same level of compassion and support to others. I thrive on being pushed outside my comfort zone, facing obstacles head-on, and tapping into my full potential. Social work offers me just that—a platform to grow, to learn, and to make a real difference in people's lives. “I was fortunate enough to join Renfrewshire Council's Children Services for my final university placement. Throughout my journey from student to social worker, I was given numerous opportunities to expand my professional knowledge through training. Having a fantastic team and manager who assists me daily (especially when I ask 100 questions per day!) is invaluable. I'm supported through regular supervision meetings, but the support doesn't end there; every member of the team contributes to my growth. Having worked in various workplaces, I can confidently say that being part of the Paisley Area Team has been the best decision I've made. “One of my favourite work memories is when I was asked to attend a young child's Christmas Concert at school. Despite his usual appearance of being too cool for school, he approached me and eagerly invited me to watch him perform. Seeing his transformation on stage, from quiet to enthusiastic, reminded me of the power of support and encouragement. It was a touching reminder of the impact we can have on the lives of the children we support. Moments like these reaffirm the meaningful connections we create and the joy of being part of their journey. “For me, social work is about creating positive change and improving well-being. I like to believe as social workers we fight against unfair treatment and push for rules and policies that make society fairer and more equal for everyone.” Eirinn works to Keep The Promise to care-experienced children, young people and families through the work she does as a social worker. We’d like to thank Eirinn for sharing her experiences and to all our social workers for the valuable job they do. #SocialWork #WorldSocialWorkDay #OurRenfrewshire

“I began a graduate apprenticeship during the pandemic. I saw it as a positive step forward and a great opportunity for my career.” Georgia Bell is one of four colleagues who completed a graduate apprenticeship in 2024. She now has a first-class honours degree in Business Management from Glasgow Caledonian University and works in our Neighbourhood Services team as a lead officer for open spaces and parks. “I wanted to invest in my personal development and continue building my skills, knowledge and network while working from home, so this was a perfect balance for me. “Graduating with first-class honours was a proud achievement made even more special by being selected for both the Best Student and Best Dissertation awards. It was a reflection of the hard work and dedication I had put into the programme and a real boost to feeling confident in my own abilities. It played a huge part in helping me secure a promotion to lead officer last year. “To anyone considering a graduate apprenticeship, I would say make sure it aligns with your career goals and be prepared to commit the time. Juggling work, study, and personal responsibilities can be challenging, so creating a schedule that accommodates both work commitments and assignment deadlines—while also factoring in some downtime—is so important. Don't be afraid to push yourself either—apply the knowledge you gain from the course to real-life work situations and look for opportunities to take on additional responsibilities within your role for more experience. "And be proactive. Ask for feedback from your manager, mentor, and university tutors, and use their guidance to help with your assignments and day-to-day tasks at work.” We offer employees graduate apprenticeship opportunities in accountancy, business management, civil engineering, quantity surveying, artificial intelligence and data science, cyber security, and early learning and childcare. Most courses are provided through Glasgow Caledonian University and the University of the West of Scotland. Applications open in spring, with courses starting in September. Alongside the graduate apprentice route, we also offer foundation and modern apprenticeships. You can read more about how we’re celebrating our apprentices during Scottish Apprenticeship Week on our website: https://lnkd.in/eYmqJ6zD

Our events team recently received a donation of toys from their supplier, F4F Event Services. The toys have been donated to The Renfrewshire Toy Bank who work with local agencies to provide gifts for children who otherwise might not receive anything this Christmas. Events Manager Pauline Allan said: “Over the years, we’ve built a fantastic relationship with the team at F4F. They are an invaluable extension to our own team during live event delivery and we were touched to receive such a thoughtful donation from them. “The Renfrewshire Toy Bank do so much to help the local community, not only providing gifts for Christmas, but also gifts for birthdays, Easter eggs and Halloween costumes. We were due to work with them this year as part of Renfrew Christmas Lights Switch On which unfortunately had to be cancelled due to adverse weather, so it felt right that we passed this donation on to them to distribute. I know the toys will bring smiles to many children and families this Christmas.” F4F Event Services supply barriers and fencing for Renfrewshire’s events programme and said they donated the toys because they wanted to give back to the community. Company Director Hannah Nellies said: “We do a lot of work for Renfrewshire Council that benefits our business, and we wanted to give something back to the area. “During hard times, like the current cost of living crisis, it’s the children who suffer the most so it was an easy decision to donate some toys that can help children in Renfrewshire this Christmas.” Thank you to F4F Event Services for the kind donation.

It’s an exciting time to join our team. We are expanding our Roads and Lighting team and are looking to recruit a Streetlighting Supervisor and Streetlighting Officers as part of our £40 million roads infrastructure investment programme. The permanent, full-time roles will deliver lighting improvements across Renfrewshire. The successful candidates should have completed an Electrician Apprenticeship and the Electrical Industry Health & Safety qualification IEE Regulations 18th Edition. They should also have experience of working in a street lighting environment as well as the ability to carry out risk assessments and diagnostic inspections of the street lighting network. Applicants interested in the supervisor role must have experience of supervising a team within frontline operational services. If this sounds like you, you can apply at https://lnkd.in/etB-zAe4 If you would like to have an informal discussion about the role, email Stephen Heron, our Roads Infrastructure and Operations Manager on stephen.heron@renfrewshire.gov.uk Applications close on Tuesday 10 December 2024.

“I became a Promise Keeper because I was in foster care when I was nine years old. Because of my own journey, I know exactly how it feels to have one key adult giving support and I really get how important consistency is in a child's life,” said Amy Curran. Amy is an English teacher and acting project leader of enhanced transition support at St Andrew's Academy. She is also one of 300 people in our Promise Keeper network. Promise Keepers act as local champions, helping to educate and improve services for care-experienced children, young people and adults to ensure the key recommendations from Scotland’s Independent Care Review transform how services are delivered. “I’ve been able to make a real difference by supporting several care-experienced young people, with a focus on first years (S1) to ensure their transition from primary school is as smooth as possible,” said Amy. “This involves regular wellbeing checks with pupils which is a really rewarding thing to do. Because of my own journey, I know exactly how it feels to have one key adult giving support and I really get how important consistency is in a child's life. “I’ve also helped raise staff awareness by delivering training to different faculties and supported the introduction of our language policy, which encourages the avoidance of stigmatising terms and instead using preferred terms like ‘care-experienced’ when describing children, young people and families. “I credit my Council colleagues for developing this fantastic network and delivering the excellent training. It’s making a real difference for care-experienced children and young people in Renfrewshire and it’s such a rewarding thing to be part of.” The Promise Keeper network is made up of people who work for us, councillors, partner organisations, third sector volunteers and local foster carers. “The Promise Keeper training was a two-hour session where I met other professionals in Renfrewshire, including those in healthcare and education. This allowed me to understand how different local authority divisions support care-experienced young people,” explained Amy. Anyone interested in becoming a Promise Keeper to help Keep The Promise to care-experienced people can email Sam Macrae on Samantha.macrae@renfrewshire.gov.uk #KeepThePromise #CareExperiences

Paisley Halloween Festival may have just finished, but our Events team are already preparing for next year. “For me, planning for next year’s event started before this year’s was even finished as I start considering budgets and staffing for the year ahead,” says Pauline Allan, our Events Manager. “When it comes to the design of the event, this kicks in around December. The team holds a planning day where we look at the evaluation from this year’s event and start to work through ideas for creative themes for next year. “We commission an external evaluation of all our major events. This feedback is collated so we can look at what worked well, what could be improved and think about any new factors in the town centre we need to consider for the future and progress from there.” This year marked the 10th anniversary of the festival, with more than 40,000 visitors descending on the town to enjoy the event and welcome the return of its famous parade. As well as creative partners, a lot of volunteers, businesses and community groups from across Renfrewshire also work with our team to help put on the best event possible. “Paisley takes a great deal of pride in its Halloween event. The collaborative effort from our teams, local community groups, artists, cultural partners, and businesses help to make it a standout fixture in Scotland’s cultural calendar,” says Suzi Maciver, our Commissioning Lead. “We are interested in working with creative partners that will bring the highest quality of programming and community engagement to the event. We were delighted to have Cirque Bijou lead on the parade and town centre animation and Paisley based Grant Anderson lead on lighting and projection this year. Both worked with a range of local artists to deliver workshops and engage with the community. “This year we had 18 groups involved and around 300 community participants each night of the parade. “Volunteering is also a major part of the event. This year we had 40 volunteering opportunities across the two days, which included make up design students from West College Scotland who came along to face paint the community groups participating in the parade.” However, it’s not just our Events team who help to deliver the festival.  “We work across many different teams in the Council. We work closely with community development teams and youth services, as well as Renfrewshire Learning Disability Service, and Disability Resource Centre to help improve accessibility and inclusivity,” says Suzi. “In the lead up our colleagues in health and safety become an extension of our own team helping to deliver and manage a safe and enjoyable event.  Our wardens are also a great help on event nights,” adds Pauline. “We also work closely with our colleagues in marketing, communications and design who help develop a look and feel for how we will communicate key messages around the event to the public. It’s a full team effort from across the council.” #events #teamwork

We’re looking for a new manager of our shared Civil Contingencies Service (CCS). The role will manage the shared service in partnership with East Renfrewshire, Inverclyde and West Dunbartonshire Councils. It will involve working with national, regional and local agencies and partners as well as providing professional advice to chief executives, elected members and other chief officers. You will manage and be part of a 24/7 out-of-hours duty rota to respond to potential emergency situations across the geographic area. The successful candidate will have a degree or other relevant qualification in civil contingencies, emergency management or the resilience field. You will have excellent communication skills, a knowledge of the Civil Contingencies Act (2004), and experience of leading, establishing or promoting major resilience projects. Experience of leading, establishing or promoting major resilience projects, multi-agency and partnership collaboration, a knowledge of the Civil Contingencies Act (2004) and “Preparing Scotland” resilience agenda, and a full UK driving licence are essential. If this sounds like you, apply at https://lnkd.in/eRrtHqWF Applications close on Friday 1 November. #JobAlert #VacancyAlert #Resilience #Emergency #EmergencyResponse #Renfrewshire

Renfrewshire Valuation Joint Board are looking for a Valuer / Senior Valuer to join their team. The role will be responsible for the survey and valuation of all lands and heritages in a designated geographical area as well as the discussion and negotiation of appeals with taxpayers and professional agents. The successful candidate should be a Chartered Member of the Royal Institution of Chartered Surveyors (Valuation Faculty) and preferably have knowledge and/or experience in valuation for Rating and Council Tax, with the ability to survey and value all lands and heritages. To be considered for the senior valuer role, significant practical experience in general surveying is essential. A full driving licence and access to a car for business purposes is needed for these roles. If this sounds like you, apply at https://lnkd.in/ewEvwm49 Applications close on Sunday 20 October 2024.

We’re looking for feedback from local businesses, staff and residents on our events programme.   We currently host a variety of events each year, including visitor events like Paisley Food & Drink Festival, Renfrew Pipe Band Competition and Paisley Halloween Festival, which bring visitors to Renfrewshire, and local events for residents such as Renfrew and Barshaw Gala Days and the Johnstone and Renfrew Christmas Lights Switch-ons.   These events bring together our communities as well as visitors to the area and give the economy and local businesses a boost.   Like many other public organisations, we are operating in a challenging financial environment.   We are reviewing our future events programme and want to hear what events you attend, which have helped local businesses and which ones you value most. With increased costs, less overall budget and resources we want to hear what you think the priorities should be for events.   Feedback will be used to shape our events programme in 2025 and beyond, making sure we are investing in the right services and delivering benefits for our local communities and businesses.   The survey takes a few minutes to complete.   To have your say, visit https://lnkd.in/eUG5yegM    The survey closes on Monday 23 September.

“Having been in industry working for big Scottish companies for many years and now becoming a teacher, I can bring real-life examples into the classroom,” said Annette, a newly-qualified teacher who’s teaching business at Park Mains High.   87 newly-qualified teachers are doing their probationary year with us. Here’s what they had to say about the year ahead.   “I’m excited for the year ahead. I’ve chosen to do this because I care about the kids and it’s a job with a real and positive impact on people’s lives. I’m happy I’ve made the change,” said Ewan, teaching maths at Paisley Grammar.   “I’m excited, nervous and looking forward to meeting classes and putting faces to names,” said Holly, teaching art and design at Park Mains High.   NQTs told us they were most excited to get a full year to develop relationships with pupils, teachers and the school community.   “Having your own classes for the year is the best part. When you’re on placement, you go in part way through and then you’re leaving before the end of the year. So, to be in for the full time, make relationships, get to know the pupils better and have a bit more freedom to put a spin on how you teach and engage pupils in the subject is exciting,” explained Ben, teaching history at Johnstone High.   “I’d say this year is like doing it properly. With a placement you get snippets and it’s very concentrated and you’re supervised whereas now you’re actually doing it for a full year. It will give me stability to build those relationships throughout the year,” said Ethan, teaching history at Park Mains High.   “I’m looking forward to being based in one classroom rather than six different ones as we were during placements. A full year gives you more time to breathe and get into the work,” added Lewis, teaching art and design at Gryffe High.   “I want to get into the rhythm of things. I’ve learnt so much theory, now I want to put it into practice. Being a part of a school community will be really exciting,” said Beth, teaching primary 5 at St Catherine’s Primary.   “Really excited to have this opportunity to develop over a full year,” added Honor, teaching geography at Renfrew High.   “I’m excited to have a full year to develop relationships and see them blossom,” added Millie, teaching P.E. at Paisley Grammar.   And in looking ahead, most NQTs would like to work in Renfrewshire or the wider regional area for a permanent job.   “I definitely want to work in Renfrewshire if possible. I’ll get through this year and hopefully get some work. As long as I am in education and in music, that will be good. I’m flexible,” explained Sophie, teaching music at Gleniffer High.   “I’ll be looking for a secure permanent contract at the end of my year, but I’ve no specific plans on where I want that to be,” said Andrew, teaching history at Gleniffer High.   We wish all of the NQTs a wonderful probation year and hope everyone gets a lot out of the experience. #Teaching #Education #NQTs #Schools #Renfrewshire