It has been a very busy few months and I hope you are all looking forward to a well-earned break over the summer.
I’m sure many of you will take the opportunity to get over to Arran over the coming weeks and I was fortunate to recently visit during one of my locality trips with the Leader, Councillor Marie Burns.
Our trips to visit services and community groups across our region, both mainland and islands, are hugely beneficial and give both myself and Councillor Burns an opportunity to meet many exceptional people and services.
During our visit to Arran we saw the work going on at Brodick tennis courts, the new housing in Lamlash, the Arran Outdoor Education Centre and the stunning Holy Isle. More details of the trip are online and in an article in this edition of Staff Talk.
It was a hugely enjoyable and worthwhile day and a big thanks to all the organisations and people who welcomed us.
The summer months are always full of fun and activities and our communities really come into their own by bringing events and people together. This summer will be no different and full details of everything that is going on can be found on our website.
We always want our area to look as attractive and welcoming as possible and our Streetscene team do a fantastic job in managing our spaces when visitor numbers are at their highest. Volunteers also play a massive part and the work they do in keeping North Ayrshire tidy doesn’t go unnoticed and is very much appreciated.
It was great that our two newest schools were formally opened with events over the last few weeks. Provost Anthea Dickson officially opened the new Moorpark Primary School in Kilbirnie, while just this month Jenny Gilruth MSP, Cabinet Secretary for Skills and Education, had the honour of formally opening Montgomerie Park Primary in Irvine. Both schools are thriving and it was great that they got the chance to showcase their new home. I’m sure the schools will continue to serve their communities for years to come.
We have always put young people at the heart of every decision we make and we are working hard to reduce child poverty in the region. We were delighted to be chosen as one of eight Councils to take part in a pilot initiative that will see free school meals for secondary school students in S1 to S3. This will be for young people if their families receive the Scottish Child Payment (SCP). This could be hugely impactful and we look forward to rolling out this programme from August.
Earlier this year, we were also successful in becoming one of three Scottish local authorities to secure national support to participate in a project to work closely with health experts, led by Sir Michael Marmott, on ways to improve health and wellbeing for residents.
We have held a number of meetings and work is progressing well on making life better for our residents and finding long-term ways we can improve the health outcomes for many local people. The two-year-long Collaboration for Health Equity in Scotland (CHES) is still in its infancy but I’m encouraged by the early work carried out and the shared passion by everyone to try and really make a positive difference.