Robs Weekly Round Up

07 June 2024

Dear colleagues,

This week has seen the 80^th anniversary of the D-Day landings and I was very proud and privileged to represent the Council yesterday at the Royal British Legion memorial service and wreath laying at Barry Cenotaph. It was a poignant event and one that hopefully offered all of those that joined us some moments of reflection on how much the world has changed in that time and how fortunate we are in many ways in 2024.

It was the second event this week recognising distinguished service. The first, on Sunday, was much more of a celebration as thousands of people came to Barry Island to show their support for the RNLI at the charity’s first Festival of the Sea event.  

The RNLI is a charity that relies on the commitment and generosity of volunteers to help keep people safe along the coastline. As the Vale is a coastal county, our communities benefit from that dedication more than most, with members of the RNLI helping to keep people safe at our resorts, beaches and the waters further offshore.

To help recognise this it was agreed last month that RNLI volunteers in the Vale would be honoured with the status of freemen and freewomen of the County. On Sunday the Mayor, Cllr Elliot Penn, formally presented them with this honour. It was a fitting way to recognise this contribution and our admiration for the people who give up their time in this way.

I am pleased to say it was very well received. It also serves to illustrate the power of volunteering, which in this case quite literally saves lives, and is another demonstration of people in our communities coming together to support each other, something we hope will be an ever greater feature of life in the Vale in the future.

As we change the ways in which we support residents, it’s crucial for us to be aware that they may need to interact with many organisations. This is particularly true in health and social care where having a holistic picture of how care is provided across our teams, health teams, GPs and others is key to us being able to deliver the best outcomes possible.

Last year, a collaboration was set up between Cardiff and Vale UHB and our own Vale Community Resource Service to develop a ‘single care record’. In recent months the first working prototypes have been delivered.

For those in our Social Care team piloting the scheme this means they can see what interactions other services have had with a resident, what medications they may be on, their wishes relating to their care and so much more. It has the potential to radically improve how we are able to advise and support vulnerable residents.

This is a very significant piece of work and when we can take the system live it will represent the first time in Wales that this information has been available across different organisations. Whilst the delivery is focused on bringing the data and technology together, many of Team Vale have input into this to get it to the point it is now.

To do so they have we had to think about who should have access to what, how we protect citizens’ data, how we move and show the information in a way that reflects its depth but is also easy to use. It is a great example of the power of digital and I am very proud that it is happening here in the Vale.

I’d like to say a huge thank you to everyone involved, particularly Maheen Peer Mohamed, Jason Horton, Kevin Lewis and Evelyn Morgan, without who we would never have got this far. It shows not only the depth of our digital ambition but also the need and benefit of collaborating outside of the Council.

I mentioned last week that the cycle to work scheme has opened to staff once again. If anyone is looking for some inspiration to get on their bike then I can point you all towards Jeremy Morgan in our Learning and Skills team and Ian Spilsbury a teacher at Stanwell School who will tomorrow be cycling the length of mainland Wales in a day.

They will travel by bike from Caernarfon Castle to Cardiff Castle, a distance of 186 miles. The pair are doing this as part of the Wenvoe Wheelers group in an effort to fundraise for Velindre Cancer Centre.

The group have set themselves a very serious challenge in aid of an important cause and I look forward to hearing how they get on. All donations to their justgiving page are very gratefully received.  I know only too well how challenging this is, having ridden Wales in a day from Holyhead to Cardiff a couple of years ago with my son– it is tough but rewarding in equal measure.  Good luck – pob lwc.

One of the things I enjoy most about my role is that it often allows me to see some of the more unusual and creative ways in which our teams work to support communities. In this vein on Wednesday I attended a ‘school wedding’ hosted by our Registrars team. Pupils from blwyddyn 2 at Ysgol Sant Baruc came to the Civic Offices to learn more about marriage and the range of civil services on offer.

It was slightly surreal to watch an eight-year-old bride and groom tie the knot but the children had great fun and learned a great deal. Diolch yn fawr iawn to staff at the school at here at the Civic for giving them such a great day. I wish the happy couple all the best for the future!

More pupils from Ysgol Sant Baruc were in the spotlight during the half term break along with those from Ysgol Pen Y Garth, Ysgol Sant Curig, Ysgol Bro Morgannwg and Llantwit Major Secondary School at this year’s Urdd Eisteddfod.  

Pupils from Vale schools picked up a host of awards while those from Ysgol Iolo Morganwg performed alongside Ian ‘H’ Watkins on the main stage. The Steps singer who set up Cowbridge Pride three years ago invited Iolo Morgannwg pupils to co-write Bydd yn ti dy hun – which translates to Be Yourself – alongside Welsh singer Caryl Parry Jones.

The very same H was then at the Civic Offices on Monday to join me and colleagues from the GLAM network in raising the rainbow flag to signal the start of Pride Month, another ceremony that I was very proud to be part of. Pride month brings home the importance to letting our colleagues and residents know they are seen and represented. This will be just one of the ways in which we do that this month and I look forward to sharing more.   

Finally, from pop royalty to the more official kind. Two of our colleagues represented the Vale at Buckingham Palace last week. Nicole Dudderidge and Cameron Gibbon took up our two annual invites to the Royal Garden party. This year’s events were to celebrate the 75th Anniversary of the Commonwealth and so the pair were selected by our Diverse network for their work to recognise their educational work on the impact of the Windrush generation in Barry. I hope you both enjoyed the event. A fitting recognition for your powerful work.

Thanks as always to all colleagues for their hard work this week. Diolch yn fawr iawn.

Rob.