Congratulations
I’d like to start this week’s update by saying a huge congratulations to Wendy Brownlie on her appointment to Head of Education (Learning and Teaching), and to Fiona Davies who has been appointed as the HSCP’s new Chief Officer, having been in the role on an interim basis since May. Wendy and Fiona are both dedicated to achieving the best outcomes for our communities and I wish them every success.
Children’s Mental Health Week
Wendy’s appointment within education brings me on nicely to National Children’s Mental Health Week, which is currently running until Sunday (13 February). This week aims to shine a spotlight on the importance of children and young people’s mental health – something we pride ourselves on in Argyll and Bute, and something our education service has been working hard to expend in recent months. We have a dedicated strategy in place to help us achieve this, which is available on the Council website.
Our Modern Workspace
The Our Modern Workspace group is working to transform Council offices so that in the longer term, we can move to the home/office mix of working that most staff have told us they would like. For this week’s podcast, I caught up with our Change Manager, Shirley Johnstone, our Head of Commercial Services, Ross McLaughlin, and Chris Malcolm from Ryder Architecture, who is helping the Council with the project, to find out all about the plans and what the next stage is. You can listen to the podcast on the Council website.
Period Poverty
Over the last couple of years, we have made free period products widely available in a number of public buildings, leisure centres, schools and libraries, as part of a drive to tackle period poverty.
We would really like your views on how we can make this service even better and identify more opportunities to help people who need these products. A consultation is running until 4 March 2022 and we would really appreciate your input. To take part, visit https://www.argyll-bute.gov.uk/consultations/free-period-product-provision
Have a lovely weekend.
Pippa