October 2020

26 October 2020 - Active Travel Launch 'Tik Tok' competition

Neighbourhood and Sustainability's Road Safety team are encouraging families to ditch the car and join the #GlasgowTravelTeam by getting on their bike to travel to school, work and play this autumn.

Working alongside the council's digital team and in partnership with Clyde 1, a competition launches today on social media app 'Tik Tok', which promotes walking, cycling, scooting or skipping to school. To get involved, video entries showing active travel to or from school should be uploaded to TikTok using #GlasgowTravelTeam. There are a host of prizes up for grabs for the best videos.

George Cairns, Road Safety Development Officersaid: "The benefits of active travel for children and families are plentiful. It improves overall health and well-being and has been shown to improve academic performance as kids come to school fully alert. It also helps to increase road safety awareness and reduces congestion and pollution in our neighbourhoods.

"We are delighted to be running this promotion and have also teamed up with Clyde 1 who will be helping us to promote the active travel message on air. Their presenters George Bowie and Gary Spence have also agreed to give up their cars and cycle to work for a week to encourage families and school kids to do the same."

More information

Visit www.glasgow.gov.uk/activetravelcompetition

26 October 2020 - Information Security Essentials Course - 2020 to 2021

Our Information Security Essentials Course for 2020 to 2021 is now available for you to take.

Our annual training course is developed to help all staff across the council family understand your role and responsibilities when handling information - to help protect our buildings, staff, data and citizens.

For example, every day information security tasks can include: wearing your security ID badge to access your workplace; taking a phone call; emailing a supplier or attending a meeting with a customer in their home.

Many of us are currently working in different ways and in different locations just now and the easiest and quickest way to take this refresher course is on GOLD - as it can be accessed from any device at any time. For example, you can access GOLD from your own device, at home at a time to suit your circumstances.

If you are unable to access GOLD your manager can supply you with an alternative format of this course.

26 October 2020 - Staff Volunteering Programme makes a difference  

There's no doubt that staff across the council family pulled out all the stops to help support delivery of key services throughout the Covid-19 lockdown period.

Our corporate staff volunteering programme delivered from April to July attracted over 700 staff who were keen to take on new roles - often having to learn new skills, work in different locations and change their working hours.

Robert Anderson, Head of HR said: "It quickly became clear that we needed to find new ways of delivering essential services within public health, social care and education.

"We put in place a programme that would allow the voluntary redeployment of staff and the response from across the organisation was fantastic."

Robert added: "We established a Corporate Volunteering team who were responsible for establishing process and procedures, data management and reporting. They were also required to build new relationships with internal business customers to determine their volunteering needs, and to work with and support the volunteers themselves."

The programme resulted in:

• 730 employees including 17 councillors applied to the programme.

• 135 volunteers including 10 councillors were placed into posts.

• Volunteers were from every area of the Council Family, across all grades and job families.

• 142 posts identified in total over 14 unique volunteer roles with individuals taking up more than one placement.

• Working arrangements included home working, office work, driving, and working at various on-site locations (warehouse/recycling centres/care homes/parks).

• All roles involved assisting the citizens of Glasgow either indirectly or directly over the phone or in person.

Feedback from volunteers

Corporate HR recently surveyed the 135 staff who took up placements - with 56% responding The survey was also opened up to internal redeployees working in shielding.

Employee feedback highlights from all included:

• 90% were motivated to get involved to make a difference; some had no other meaningful work and some wished to gain new experience or for their own wellbeing.

• 86% felt supported in their placements through role induction and training.

• 87% felt they were supported with their mental health and wellbeing.

• 83% felt supported with safe systems of Health and Safety.

• Responders would like support with wellbeing to continue as they transition back to work.

Robert added: "As a result of the pandemic we were faced with a huge challenge which required quick and effective action in order to support the council's responsibility to provide vital services to city residents and to support the city's vulnerable groups.

"The evidence is that our corporate volunteer programme was successful. It is a tried and tested model that could be quickly implemented again should we face any similar challenges in the future as a result of any further government imposed lockdown or dramatically changing service demands."

Robert concluded: "I'd like to thank all the staff and councillors who volunteered, particularly those who took up new placements and provided key services. Thanks also managers for supporting the programme and working with fellow managers across the organisation to make sure we had the right people in place to do the jobs that needed to be done."

26 October 2020 - Staff who have made a difference volunteering

Two members of staff people who volunteered to take on new roles during lockdown are Heather Campbell and Martyn Bonner. 

Heather is employed by Glasgow Life as the High Performance Coach for Swimming at the Glasgow School of Sport, based at Bellahouston Academy.

For the first three weeks of volunteering Heather's job was to deliver prescriptions to vulnerable people around the city. She was responsible for the collection of people's prescriptions from their regular pharmacy and then delivering to their homes.

When this role was no longer needed Heather took up a three day a week placement at Tollcross Park Children's Animal Farm. After a short induction, Heather worked with the Neighbourhoods and Sustainability team to help maintain social distancing and support safety measures at the facility - making it safe for staff and visitors.

Speaking about her experience Heather said: "I'm really glad that I volunteered. Both these roles suited the skills I use in my normal role since they were practical and involved working with people

"By volunteering I was able to support the council to deliver services; it also helped me personally. Taking on these roles got me out of the house and kept me busy which made me feel as though I was making a contribution. It also helped me to get through a difficult time and to manage any anxiety or stress around the situation. I'd definitely do it again."

Martyn Bonner, normally a Facilities Support Assistant at Neighbourhoods and Sustainability (NS) also took on a volunteer role at Tollcross Park Children's Animal Farm.

Martyn worked at Tollcross for six weeks from June until mid July. His duties included: helping to keep people safe, ensuring two metre social distancing measures were adhered to, setting up barriers to signpost the one way system, topping up hand sanitisers, cleaning tables every 45 minutes.

Martyn said: "I found the work at Tollcross really interesting - completely different to what I normally do. I really enjoyed working with the staff there, dealing with visitors, and working with the animals.

"I'd definitely recommend volunteering to others - it made me feel useful and gave me a routine."

26 October 2020 - Skilled Blacksmiths team make Spaces for People on Kelvin Way

The council's Blacksmiths Team based within Neighbourhoods and Sustainability, recently applied their expertise to a high profile project to revise the road layout on Kelvin Way as part of Spaces for People; the programme that is providing extra space for people to walk, wheel and cycle during COVID-19.

To accommodate vehicle access into the recently re-opened Kelvingrove Art Gallery and Museum whilst making sure that Kelvin Way remains attractive to those out walking, wheeling and cycling; pop-up cycle lanes were installed along part of the route and decorative planters added.

Led by Paul McCallum, the Blacksmiths Team comprising of Ged Robertson, Fraser McWilliam and Jamie Reilly, applied their skills to the installation of the planters of which there were two types, recycled wooden planters manufactured by social enterprise Glasgow Wood Recycling, and distinctive black and white striped Zicla planters that had not been used before in the city.

Working to detailed plans created by fellow NS colleague Malcolm Hall and supported on-site, the Blacksmiths Team set about carefully measuring the area for the Zicla planters, drilling holes and using epoxy resin to secure them in place on the road surface. The team also used their expertise to fabricate bespoke brackets that would be used to secure the wooden style planters in place.

Paul McCallum, Assistant Supervisor (Blacksmiths) Neighbourhood and Sustainabilitysaid: "It's fair to say that this is not our normal type of work, however the team are highly skilled and experienced and so we were able to deliver what was required, on time and per the design, making sure that the road could be re-opened at the end of September as scheduled. We worked closely with other contractors to meet our deadline and it was rewarding for the blacksmiths to lend their expertise and play our part in a project that looks to provide safer spaces for people to during COVID-19."

This more structured approach to the use of Kelvin Way is expected to balance the needs of all road users and make sure that the space available is used appropriately.

Find out more about all the measures we've put in place across the city to create more Spaces for People on our dedicated webpages.

12 October 2020 - Get on your bike - with tax benefits

Did you know that the council's Cycle-to-Work Scheme is available now?

The scheme is open to all staff across the whole council family and offers tax savings on new bikes and equipment; giving you an ideal opportunity to get about by bike.

In the current situation, cycling can help you to adhere to the government's social distancing advice, offering the perfect alternative to other ways of getting about - the car and public transport. For those who are visiting the workplace, most have secure cycle parking facilities

The scheme complements work that our Spaces for People team have been doing and ties in with new cycle routes put in place to make cycling easier for getting around.

Looking forward, when lockdown restrictions are eased across the country, there will still be a need to maintain physical distancing precautions. For some of us, this is an opportunity to change our travel habits and be more active and healthy in how we get about.

Dr Collin Little, Sustainable Transport Officer at Neighbourhoods and Sustainability said: "Since introduction, over 2,000 staff have benefitted from the scheme. It's not only about commuting, it's a great way of getting around, helps as part of daily exercise and has been proven to help with mental wellbeing.

"In addition to better health you save on fuel and parking costs. It's also pollution and carbon free, supporting our city's ambition to reduce carbon emissions.

"The contract with Wider Plan was recently renewed by our Corporate Procurement Unit, giving us a scheme until summer 2023."

How to register

• To register, go to www.workplacebikes.com and enter the access code: S196242G, in the box provided. 

• If you have any questions about the scheme, contact the Wider Plan customer services department on 0800 612 7110 or email info@workplacebikes.com

5 October 2020 - Keeping staff connected - access to streaming services

During these extraordinary times the council is continuing to provide IT solutions which enable teams to keep in touch, facilitate council decision making processes, work remotely, access distance learning, and communicate better with each other.

Kenny Meechan, Head of Information and Data Protection Officer, explains: "Recently, due to demand from within the business and structural improvements in our IT network, we have been able to facilitate access to streaming services for business purposes, such as YouTube, for all staff with internet access.

"Previously, streaming services connectivity was only possible by submitting a formal application form through your line manager. Due to the recent increase in use of streaming services to visually communicate key information, this function will be of great benefit to our council communication teams to help them keep staff updated and informed. Please be aware that use of this function is routinely monitored in line with our core Acceptable Use of IT Policy and it should not be used for personal non-business use activity."