The Spring edition of Staff Talk has landed and we’re keen in 2025 to shine a spotlight on teams making in impact in their communities.
This is why over the next few months, we’ll be sharing updates from the council’s Community Learning and Development team (CLD) – starting with the shining stars of our Locality teams!
Part of North Ayrshire’s Community Planning Partnership, this month we’ll shout-out the dedicated colleagues of Garnock Valley Locality team.
Based at the Walker Hall in Kilbirnie, the team empower residents of the Garnock Valley.
Their work practice is rooted in Locality Planning. This is one of the ways local communities work together with public and third sector organisations to improve residents’ lives and neighbourhoods. Locality Planning is about reducing inequalities and enabling communities to participate in decision making at a neighbourhood level.
With a population of around 20,000, the work of the Garnock Valley Locality team incorporates the communities of Barrmill, Burnhouse, Beith, Dalry, Gateside, Glengarnock, Kilbirnie and Longbar.
The team’s main goals are to:
- Identify and deliver learning and community development opportunities for all ages
- Engage with communities to strengthen residents voices in decisions about public services
- Prepare and present Community Investment Fund applications for approval by Cabinet
- Work with other CPP partners such as NHS Ayrshire & Arran, Police Scotland, The Ayrshire Community Trust (TACT) and Scottish Fire and Rescue to tackle the issues identified as priorities in the Garnock Valley Locality Plan.
Their overarching mission? To build a Fairer North Ayrshire for All.
The work the team does can be down in two ways. Via communities of place – people who live together in the same location or with communities who have a shared identity such as sharing a hobby, common interest or in places likes schools or libraries.
Highlights mentioned in this article are brilliant examples of how the Garnock Valley Locality team is ensuring the council fulfils its statutory duties in relation to Community Learning and Development and the Community Empowerment Act 2015.
Why is the council’s Community Planning Partnership important?
It is one of the main ways local communities can work together with us and other public and third sector organisations to improve their lives and neighbourhoods.
It is all about how our local public services work together with communities, third sector organisations and businesses to plan and deliver services that will improve long term outcomes and tackle inequalities.
Find out more about the team via the NA Community Planning Partnership website.
Let’s dive in and meet the team…
First up, is Christina Pieraccini. Her role is Locality Officer and she has been working in the Garnock Valley since 2017.
Tell us your favourite thing about your profession: The people. I’ve worked with North Ayrshire Council for 18 years now and working closely with communities and passionate volunteers towards a common goal is one of the best parts of the job. I love working in the Garnock Valley and wouldn’t change it for the world.
Current exciting projects? Our Garnock Valley will be an exciting community-led plan that the team has been working with several community organisations to develop over the past year.
Due to be published soon, it involved engagement with residents and groups and will be the community’s agenda for future action and investment for their place, as well as being a Local Place Plan to guide future development in the Garnock Valley.
We have a final summit event is planned to take place later in the Spring in Garnock Campus, which will test the plan with the community and help shape the final, published plan. Stay tuned for news updates…”
Fun facts about you: My first ever job was in Paolo Nutini’s dad’s chip shop in Paisley. I love going to concerts and festivals and will be at Glastonbury again this year. Also a moment of fame I had was when I appeared on The Untied Shoelaces Show as a teen, dressed as a punk and got to sit next to Tiger Tim.
Now over to David Macknight, Locality Worker for the past three years and a colleague of NAC for the past 10 years.
Tell us your favourite thing about CLD: It’s an ever-evolving profession but still maintains strong ethics and core values through the work we do. I’m glad to work with groups who share the same belief of the importance of a constant supply of teas and biscuits too 😀
On a serious note though, it is a privilege to support individuals or groups to take a moment to pause and recognise the action they have taken and the positive impact they have made through self-reflection.
Current projects you are excited by: This year I am keen to work closely with Men’s Shed Dalry to explore opportunities for them to grow and support more local men.
I’m also supporting The Umbrella Group – an LGBT+ lunchtime group based at Garnock Community Campus. They’re really inspiring and passionate about equalities so I am helping them to become a project-based youth voice group.
Last week, they held a bake sale to raise £70 for LGBT Youth Scotland. They’ve also represented local young people alongside the Garnock Valley Youth Forum and Youth Synergy Group at a recent Youth Services Joint Youth Conference in Ardeer.
Interesting fact about you: I have a very invested love in music and I am currently building an analogy modular synth from scratch.
Next we say hello to Gavin Ferguson, Community Development Worker – working with North Ayrshire’s CLD team for the past 22 years. Wow!
Favourite thing about your profession: The volunteers, who donate their time to their community in extraordinary ways. From one hour to several dozen per week, each is a vital part of a cohesive community.
The challenge is to understand that everyone’s motivation is different. The key CLD skill is being there to advise and inform when needed and when it’s not. Every day is a balancing act of choices.
Current exciting projects: Definitely the nature networks such as Friends of Lochshore and Place Woodland. Here we are working together with them to develop new opportunities to enhance biodiversity and make climate action tangible for communities.
I am also assisting several community groups access funding to improve their activities and, ultimately, their communities. This work contributes towards the important outcomes of our Garnock Valley Place Plan.
Unbelievable fact about you: I once sailed all the way from Scotland to Iceland and climbed a volcano there… it was so hot that my boots melted!
Gavin previously worked in the Three Towns Locality Partnership and recently re-visited Stevenston Community Council (pictured) as he was incremental in helping them to secure £30,000 Community Investment Funding for a tourism project to improve signage within Stevenston Heritage Trail, the nature reserve and the beach. See the news release here.
Next up we have Susan Mack, Locality Worker in North Ayrshire since 2021.
Favourite part of your profession: Getting to work with so many wonderful people within the community. All of them are different and bring with them a vast amount of skills and knowledge that we all learn from. I started out as a sessional youth worker when I was 18 and then returned to NAC in 2014 first as a sessional Community Development Tutor and now I am a proud Locality Worker.
Current exciting projects are: We’ve Got This! a six week course I’m delivering to Primary 7s in Garnock Valley schools as part of our Transition programme. It’s all about helping young people to navigate the changes they face going from P7 to S1 not just within school but within the wider community.
A new project we have is the Youth Synergy group. The young people are working in partnership with TCV to develop a rockery garden and possibly a trail at Lochshore Park, so in 2025 I am excited to see the end results – stay tuned for updates on this! The Garnock Valley Youth Forum also continue to inspire me and I can’t wait to see how their fundraising for various charities and their work on the Our Garnock Valley Place Plan goes this year.
Claim to fame: In 1985 my family won a competition through Harris of Saltcoats. Our prize was a new TV and VHS player and a trip to London to be on the Garry Davies live on Friday Show where we helped present the show. We got to meet some class 80s stars such as Pat Sharp and Grahame Skinner from Hipsway.
Lastly, we have Heather McVie Branley, also a Community Development Worker
What you love most about Connecting Communities: I’ve worked in CLD for the past 21 years and started out in North Ayrshire as a youth worker in 2003. I believe I am doing a good job when young people and community members develop their skills and experience to apply for job roles within the community. It’s the power of the journey people travel through, and being able to support and, at times, help shape that development that is the true joy of working in CLD.
Current exciting projects: The Garnock Valley Allotments Association has made significant strides since I joined the Garnock Valley area last year. Recently, I attended their Annual General Meeting, where a new committee was elected. It marked the beginning of a renewed focus on developing the allotments and raising community awareness about the benefits of having a plot.
Currently, the association is in the process of installing solar panels and has trained volunteers in beekeeping, allowing them to harvest their honey.
Children and young people from local primary schools and the Garnock campus are also actively involved in growing plants and developing their gardening skills. Furthermore, they donate a wide variety of fruits and vegetables to the Wee Pantry and Café Solace, which provide affordable and sustainable food options. I am excited to support this committee as they build their capacity and shape the direction in which they wish to progress.
Fun fact: I once dressed up as Tina Turner at a rock-themed party as I do a mean impression of “Proud Mary” 😊
Stay tuned next month where we’ll be reporting on the latest news happening with the Kilwinning Locality team…
See the photo highlights from the recent collaboration Heather was involved in with Scottish Fire and Rescue and pupils from Garnock Community Campus, where seven dedicated S3 pupils from the Garnock Valley have become 2025’s first recruits to complete the Community Leaders Fire Skills Programme.