Dear Colleague,

Thank you for tuning in to News In Brief with important updates and news highlights of all that is happening over the next seven days. Don’t forget to check out the Staff News website for the latest information and news from across the council.

Tuesday 20 May: North Ayrshire Foodbank drop-in

The team from North Ayrshire Foodbank will visit Cunninghame House ground floor on Tuesday from 11am until 12.30pm. Drop by to see them and learn about the ways that colleagues can support their community food provision via food and monetary donations. Further info in the Latest News article.

Wednesday 21 May: New Scots Youth Forum meet and greet event

The Community Learning and Development team have established a new Youth Forum for New Scots and the first meeting will take place at Ardeer Community Centre this Wednesday from 6.30pm. Find out everything you need to know about this impactful #youthempowerment project in the news release.

Thursday 22 May: Mental Health Arts Festival event

As planning for this year’s North Ayrshire Mental Health Arts Festival gets under way, staff, members of the public, and community groups and services with a creative focus are invited to come along to this week’s Creative Connect session on Zoom, where you can find out more about the festival and how to get involved in this year’s programme. The session will be held on Thursday from 6pm to 7pm, and you can book your place online.

Also this week…

Annual memorial golf day – register now! Limited spaces!

The ‘NASA Gordon Craig Memorial Golf Day’ is set to be played on Friday 6 June this year in honour of our great friend, colleague, former Chairperson and one of the original founders of NASA, who sadly passed away in 2019. Tee off in tribute – full details and registration in the Latest News article.

Foster Care fortnight continues

To support Foster Care Fortnight, we have been running a social media campaign on the NAHSCP Facebook channel. Please keep an eye out for posts and share to your own service’s channel where appropriate. In addition, the Families for Children team is holding a drop-in event at Saltcoats Town Hall on Wednesday 21 May from 7pm to 9pm. All are welcome to pop along and enjoy a coffee and an informal chat with some of the fostering team and current foster carers, who will be able to answer any questions you might have.

Digital Skills survey results are in!

How digitally confident are we? Well, thanks to everyone who took part in the recent Digital Skills Survey, we can tell you the answers to just that! Your input has provided valuable insights into the experience and confidence levels of our people in using digital technology. Conducted at the end of last year, 717 colleagues completed the survey and the results and next steps can be found in the Latest News article.

Funded UWS Graduate Apprenticeships are back!

Read the Latest News article for news of the courses available for colleagues looking to progress their career via the University of the West of Scotland’s Graduate Apprenticeship programme. Colleagues looking to find out more can join a Teams session on Wednesday 28 May from 2pm, email the Employability team to book a place now: employability@north-ayrshire.gov.uk

Latest staff development and training sessions

New additions include upcoming training with The Promise, new Customer Service training and extended dates for the line manager’s absence management training. Read the latest development opportunities in the Latest News article.

That’s all for now

If you have any updates you would like the team to share, please click the button below to email the Communications team. Your updates will be required by midday on Thursday this week.