This section showcases some work delivered by the Partnership in addition to the three key priorities to support local people: -
A new online jobs portal – Angus Job Search – was launched to link people who are unemployed or under threat of redundancy as a result of the outbreak of COVID-19, to job opportunities. It can also be used to match people to volunteering opportunities and placement. Since the launch 190 clients have registered profiles on the portal. 67 clients have asked for additional support from the skills team. 25 clients have applied for jobs, 52 Employers have registered accounts, 463 Vacancies have been advertised.
Youth Guarantee – 16-24 - This funding is to deliver employability support for 16-24-year olds to ensure that they have a positive destination. The aim of that part of the Project is to deliver fairer and more inclusive communities where every young person has an opportunity to reach their potential. 16 Supported in this reporting period.
Angus Council Communities staff have adapted delivery well this year to keep continued contact with young people most in need of youth work support through online, detached work and small group work when restrictions allowed. Over 600 young people were supported in this way with a further 500 young people supported through the Young Scot site. Over they also nominated 50 young people through our new youth awards for Angus, which recognised young people’s achievements over the last year. This contact has resulted in young people getting support from their youth worker including support with job and college applications, homelessness, mental health and online bullying. Young people have also been supported to access other services including welfare rights, Young Carers and food support. Some feedback from the young people included:-
“It’s been nice to have this to take my mind off things.”
“You have helped me get in touch with different support services. It is helpful to know somebody who knows different ways to approach situations e.g. housing and college.”
“I feel comfortable here to be myself.”
The Angus Council Communities Team supported 10 adult learners to complete Adult Achievement Awards using a combination of telephone and online meetings. This was the first time most of these learners had their learning and achievements recognised or celebrated. Adult Achievement Awards provide the foundation and confidence for adults who were previously disengaged from learning to progress to further learning opportunities.
The Angus CPP Period Poverty campaign has grown under the banner of ‘Free Period Angus’ with the aim of eradicating period poverty in Angus by 2021. Throughout the pandemic over 120,000 products have been distributed to our communities with an emphasis on re-useable products. During February a campaign was launched to encourage the use of sustainable products which saw over 4,500 people request a pack to try – feedback has been incredible and can be appreciated in the case study.
Building on the work of the Humanitarian Aid Angus Response Team (HAART) to support communities during the pandemic this has merged into a leaner responsive body called the Angus Response Collaborative (ARC). Providing people with food and support over the past 12 months was a priority and this flexible approach ensures any challenges people are experiencing are overcome quickly.
The Angus CPP Transforming Services work has brought key partners and service providers together with great results regarding the delivery of grants and contracts. Work has been underway to develop a Community Benefit Toolkit and support the third sector in levering in additional funding. The charter can be viewed on YouTube.
To support the roll out of the COVID -19 vaccinations there has been a strong community response in the form of increased volunteering, promotion and support. Between January 2021 - May 2021: 1285 shifts in vaccine centres were covered over the course of 410 days and this by a grand total of 1474 volunteers. Some feedback from the volunteers included:-
"I wanted to gain experience as a volunteer and also felt it was the least I could do given so many people were going through such a difficult time during the Pandemic.”
“My wife was extremely disabled and had a lot of care from community nurses etc. I see my volunteering as a way of giving something back to the community.”
“I feel useful, valued, like I am doing something meaningful. It gives me a positive and nice feeling and a boost to feel I am helping someone even in a small way. It gives me a sense of purpose and makes me feel good about myself.”“I felt like a worthwhile person and it helped my social skills as well as helping my mental health”
The Angus Integrated Children’s Services and Corporate Parenting Board ran an online consultation event during January 2021 bringing stakeholders together to revise and refine the strategic priorities for children, young people and families. This included some short presentations on current need in Angus with a specific focus on vulnerable children and young people. This informed the development of The Tayside Plan for Children, Young People and Families 2021-23.
Angus CPP membership of Water Safety Scotland has led to additional activity around suicide prevention on our waterways. On average 97 people drown each year in Scotland, in Angus we have a number of waterways we want people to enjoy but in a safe way. Key actions have included participation in the first World Drowning Prevention Day which was led by the United Nations (UN) General Assembly who affirmed drowning as a preventable global public health issue.
Scottish Fire & Rescue Service’s absolute focus over the past year has been targeting the home safety visit service at the most vulnerable people in our communities. Over 800 home safety visits were conducted within the homes of the most vulnerable people in Angus. We also fitted 40 hard of hearing alarms, conducted 68 adult referrals and attended 26 high profile persons at risk reviews.
During this period Scottish Fire & Rescue Services Angus conducted several Anti-Social behaviour engagements with communities linked to the Thematic Action Plan and local groups (Glenview). These interactions are key to rectifying future behaviours within communities. Scottish Fire & Rescue Service also carried out seven specialist counselling sessions with young persons identified by Police Scotland as being involved in anti-social behaviour in the local areas. Some feedback from the parents included:-
“Excellent service and use of materials to show the damage and injury fires can cause”
“Very worthwhile initiative and excellent service to speak to and get the message across to my kids”
“Friendly staff who communicated well with my son & managed to get safety messages across to him”
Angus Community Justice Partnership
Justice Services worked closely with various statutory and third sector agencies throughout 2020-21 to deliver support on both a statutory and voluntary basis to minimise the disruption to service delivery during the pandemic, in turn creating stronger links between agencies.
With the reduction of face-to-face contact, it brought an increase in the number of breaches of Court orders and recalls to custody. Once direct face-to-face contact was increased and the distributing of some Chrome Books and MiFi devices to support connections, re-engagement numbers rose significantly.
Unfortunately, ‘lockdown’ saw an increase in domestic abuse offences, impacting on the intervention work and number of i.e., court reports, risk assessments, managing Orders and interventions, placing huge pressures on resources. Staff shortages attributed to the pandemic, also meant the sharing of resources and workers within the Justice teams.
Justice Services moved to a ‘trauma responsive’ service, with gender-based interventions high on the agenda and investments in gender specific resources and responsive practices. This person-centred approach has resulted in the women and men embracing the environment they are visiting and producing a higher level of engagement in their Assessments of Risk/Need and setting action plans.
The last year was an extremely challenging time for the team requiring the recruitment of two Un Paid Work Supervisors funded through the COVID-19 Recovery Budget to reduce the backlog of unpaid work. Feedback from the community on unpaid work remains extremely positive, with most referrals received directly from the public.
Staff development has also been challenging, with training and learning delivered online by single agency and multiagency ‘bitesize’ learning sessions, which has proved popular.
Over the coming year, Justice will build on the partnership work during the pandemic and pull resources to ensure an improved level of support.
In this reporting period the Angus CPP has provided input for 28 local and national consultations the majority aligned to COVID 19 pandemic work and recovery. There have been specific requests focusing on Mental Health & Wellbeing, Fairer Scotland Duty, Population Strategy and Climate Change.
Next: Reducing child poverty