Nickki's Weekly Round Up

30 May 2025

Hi Everyone,

With Rob on leave and hopefully enjoying some of the sunshine that should be coming our way soon, I’m lucky enough to be sharing some of what’s been happening across the Vale.

I’d like to begin this week’s message by sharing some very positive feedback we’ve received following a recent WLGA Waste Finance Summary Report for our waste services for the 2023/4 period.

I’m pleased to report that our service ranks as the second lowest cost provider for recycling and waste management across all Welsh authorities.

This is fantastic news - especially as we strive to provide the best waste management and recycling services possible to residents whilst also running services efficiently and keeping costs down where we can.

And building on the success of waste services in the Vale, I’m also eager to share an update on our on-going soft plastics recycling trial, which is exceeding all expectations thanks to the great support from residents.

This pilot scheme, running in Penarth, Dinas Powys, Sully, and nearby areas, collects soft plastics like bags and wrapping that usually wouldn’t be recycled through the kerbside. While we initially expected to collect around one 600kg bale a week, residents have helped us to produce one bale every single day! That’s about the same weight as a grand piano!

This trial is an important part of the Vale’s wider plans to becoming carbon neutral by 2030 — a goal we’re proudly committed to as a local authority.

The pilot will run until early 2026, and with such positive engagement, hopefully it will be rolled out right across the Vale.

If you happen to live in one of the trial areas, remember to use the blue sacks provided for your soft plastics. These materials will be recycled into products like reusable bags and bin liners, reducing single-use plastics and increasing recycling rates.

It is great to see the Vale lead the way in recycling and sustainability – well done to all who have helped make the rollout of the trial a real success!

Meanwhile, from breaking down waste to breaking world records, I’d like to give a special mention to Max Baker – the year six Vale pupil who attempted a Guiness World Record this week to become the World’s Youngest Male Videogame Developer!

Max spent four hours at Penarth Library’s Makerspace creating a platform game with five unique levels as part of his official attempt.

Since learning to code at school, he has since made a number of his own games on the indie videogame platform – Itch.io – under the name CrowStoleIt Studios.

In his application to Guiness World Records, Max said: “I started coding way back in Year 2, when I made a simple game in Scratch. I immediately developed a passion for coding, and I loved video games. In my brain, the next step was obvious - make proper video games!

“I am mostly self-taught - YouTube was my mentor - but I was part of a coding and robotics club called V.O.G. Bots in my local library Makerspace and I am also currently enrolled in an intermediate level Python course through Ignite Hubs.”

Max’s attempt required a least two independent professionals to oversee his work, and colleagues at the Penarth Makerspace gladly helped to oversee the process.

Although it will take a few weeks to learn if Max was successful in his record bid, we already know that he’s a game-making superstar in our eyes, and it is fantastic to see projects like the state-of-the-art Makerspaces help and encourage young talents like Max and other aspiring digital innovators.

I think I can safely say that we all will be cheering Max on for a record-breaking result – da iawn!

On the subject of working digitally, I’d like to remind you all of the upcoming learning café sessions on how we can get the most out of OneDrive.

Digital experts from the ICT company Chess will be delivering a live demo of OneDrive followed by Q&A to help us explore how OneDrive can streamline our workflow and boost collaboration.

Using OneDrive means more secure access to your files, easy sharing, and better collaboration across teams. You’ll always have the most up-to-date documents at your fingertips, no matter where you are.

The sessions will take place on Teams on Tuesday June 3rd between 11am - 12pm and Wednesday June 11th between 2pm - 3pm.

For more information on how to book a place on either session, click here.

As part of our digital journey across the organisation, seeing the power of OneDrive in action and asking questions is a great way to build confidence and explore what OneDrive can really do. 

This follows on from a really well attended presentation on CoPilot Chat that had great feedback on how AI can help us be more productive, you can view this here. It’s part of a series of events to help us all use our Microsoft tools more effectively. 

In other news, I’d also like to give a shout out to the teams who recently took part in a joint ‘Give and Gain’ day alongside volunteers from the construction company Morgan Sindall at St Luke’s Community Garden and the surrounding area of the Council's Food Pod in Penarth.

The upgrade - as part of the Council's Cleaner, Greener, Connected, and Healthier Neighbourhood Clean Slate project - saw volunteers painting fences and replanting the planters, as well as general tidying and maintenance around the Food Pod, with Morgan Sindall also donating plants and materials for the community garden.

The Food Pod opened in March 2021 and operates out of a converted shipping container and offers residents tinned and perishable goods, toiletries and hygiene products.

Community Investment and Involvement Officer Mark Ellis said: “The team have worked really hard on the Food Pod and Community Garden project, assisted by colleagues from Housing Management.

"In addition, a group of volunteers have been running the Food Pod for four years and have overseen a big increase in people using the Food Pod over the last 12 months despite having to reduce the service to once a week."

Morgan Sindall have worked with the Vale of Glamorgan Council on a number of key projects across the county, including the delivery of the second Ysgol y Deri site at Cosmeston - Ysgol Llyn Derw.

The project at St Luke’s Community Garden and Food Pod is another great example of the community benefits delivered by contractors working on Council schemes.

Finally, I’d like to remind you all that the Pride flag will be raised at the Civic Offices on Monday 2nd June at noon to mark the beginning of Pride Month.

The Mayor of the Vale of Glamorgan will be raising the flag and will be joined by colleagues from the GLAM network, council staff, and Barry Pride representatives. Pride groups from across the Vale of Glamorgan are also invited to join the festivities.

The GLAM network will be marking Pride month in a number of ways throughout the month of June, including:

• Penarth Town Council Pride Networking Coffee Morning 31st May (10am-12pm, West House)
• Barry Pride, Saturday 14th June (12pm-7pm, Kings Square & Central Park)
• Pride Cymru, Cardiff City Centre
• Cowbridge Pride Parade, 29th June (12pm, Cowbridge Fire Station)

I would like to encourage as many of you as possible to attend the raising of the Pride flag on Monday - this event is a meaningful opportunity to show our support and solidarity with colleagues and members of the community to celebrate diversity and inclusion in our workplace and across the Vale.

If you would like to learn more about the GLAM Network, how to join - either as a member or ally - or to find out about Pride events near you – get in touch via glam@valeofglamorgan.gov.uk.

As you can see, this week we’re celebrating how Digital can make our work and personal life better, but it’s always focused around how we can use tech so we bring our humanity to our roles. How we work with others, protect our environment and celebrate our colleagues. It’s an exciting time and there’s more to come.

Have a lovely weekend and thank you for everything you do for our residents!

Nickki