Rob's Weekly Round Up

22 August 2025

Helo bawb,

I wanted to take the opportunity to begin this week’s message with another update on the use of the Holiday Inn Express in Rhoose as temporary accommodation for Entitled Persons (EPs) from Afghanistan.

As mentioned in previous updates, a protest was planned and subsequently took place on Monday outside of the Civic Offices, organised by people opposed to the Ministry Of Defence’s (MOD) use of the hotel. A group of counter-protesters also attended at the same time to express their support for the scheme.

The protest and counter-protest remained peaceful for the duration, and I would like to express my sincere thanks to everyone for their hard work and planning to ensure that the appropriate measures were in place to allow for the protest to take place as well as ensuring the safety of our staff throughout the afternoon.

Sadly, due to on-going misinformation and confusion about the MOD’s scheme, we have been informed that further protests are planned in the coming weeks. We of course will continue to monitor the situation, and we remain in regular contact with the Police.

We will also continue to update you further with any further or new developments as they occur.

In other news, learners across the Vale received their GCSE results this week, following months of hard work and preparation.

Over 28 per cent of entrants achieved either an A or A* GCSE grade, with 71.4 per cent gaining A* to C grades and 97.6 per cent of learners received A* to G grades.

These are fantastic outcomes, and I would like to thank teachers and school support staff for the expert care, support and guidance they have given our young people throughout their time in secondary education.

I hope that everyone who received their results this week takes some time to enjoy their success, and feel confident as they take their next steps. Llongyfarchiadau i chi gyd!

From celebrating exam success to celebrating our environment next as community and local environmental groups came together on Thursday for the River Thaw Discovery Day in Cowbridge.

The event at Poplar Park saw attendees enjoy a range of interactive activities, from opportunities to study freshwater invertebrates under a microscope to riverside arts and crafts.

Restore the Thaw Landscape is an ambitious project delivering biodiversity improvements in and around the River Thaw.

Raising awareness about our natural environment through events such as the River Thaw Discovery Day aligns closely with our ongoing Project Zero work especially following the declaration of a nature emergency in 2021, and is also one of our five well-being objectives as an organisation, as we seek to respect and celebrate the environment.

On the subject of well-being, the Vale’s Golden Pass Project was recently recognised by a national sporting organisation as it supports older residents to become more active.

Sport Wales highlighted the scheme as being a sector-leader for the strength of its multi-agency approach, strategic partnerships and meaningful community engagement that has helped shape the programme.

The Golden Pass offers Vale residents over the age of 60 who are currently inactive the chance to access eight free activity sessions in their community.

The aim of the project is to help participants to stay active beyond the initial free sessions, to meet news people and feel more confident.

One of those to benefit is Sandra Goodchap, who joined the Golden Pass scheme through her local gym while recovering from a broken hip. The sessions played a key role in supporting her rehabilitation.

Sandra said: “This has just been absolutely wonderful, I’m able to do all of the things I wanted to do again and it’s strengthened my body.”

Marlene Simmonds is another resident who has benefitted from the scheme, she said: “It’s helped me tenfold really, I’m feeling more confident in myself and coming to the gym has also helped me with my mental health as I live on my own and struggled to find somewhere that was suitable for me.

“My mobility has increased tremendously – especially at the gym - as I am now able to get on to quite a lot of the equipment without help.”

The success of the Golden Pass Project highlights the powerful impact that community-focused initiatives can have on improving both physical health and emotional well-being and is also in part thanks to our great partnership working with public and private sector organisations that help deliver the activity sessions to residents in their communities.

Well done to Tom Geere and the Healthy Living Team for helping to create a truly inclusive and supportive programme that makes a real difference in the lives of older residents.

Finally, as many of you may be returning from a well-deserved break over the summer, I’d like to share a reminder about the latest changes to our postal services in line with the Council’s Digital Strategy and the introduction of hybrid mail.

With the overall volume of post continuing to decline, these changes will help us operate more efficiently and sustainably.

Since Monday 4 August 2025, outgoing mail is now dispatched three days a week only, on Monday, Wednesday and Friday.

All items must be in the Civic Offices basement post room (opposite the lifts) by 3.30pm on these days.

If you need to send an urgent item on a Tuesday or Thursday, contact the mail team by 2.30pm at postroom@valeofglamorgan.gov.uk. This is for priority items only (Recorded/Special Delivery).

The internal post room has also moved from the 1st floor to the basement (opposite the lifts). All mail should now be collected from and delivered to this location.

Thank you all once again for your cooperation in supporting this transition. Changing the way we work can take some time to get used to, but embracing new ways of doing things enables us to help and serve our residents more efficiently.

As always, thank you for your contributions this week – they are always very much appreciated by myself and the rest of the Strategic Leadership Team (SLT). 

For those not in work this weekend, enjoy a restful and relaxing couple of days off. 

Diolch,

Rob