Minutes:
Ian Brodie, East
Kintyre Community Council
Ian Brodie advised that East Kintyre Community Council had formed a group, comprising of members of the Community Council and volunteers, at the beginning of lockdown which had served the community as required. Ian noted that the group had delivered a bottle of hand wash to all of those listed by the local GP surgery, and handed out bars of soap provided by South Kintyre Development Trust. Ian noted that some work had also been carried out with local shops and one volunteer who had a PVG had been assisting with picking up shopping and delivering prescriptions. Ian advised that this support could be reinstated if required.
Rachel Whyte,
Islay Community Council
Rachel Whyte advised that Islay had benefitted from having a resilience group in the area, noting that the Community Council had undertaken a huge amount of work in response to the Covid19 pandemic. Rachel outlined work which had been carried out, including erecting signage and the implementation of hand sanitiser stations across the island and outside of the local Co-ops. Rachel noted that the resilience group on Islay had worked fantastically and Islay also now had a recovery group set up to assist with coming out of lockdown. Rachel noted that reports from the recovery group indicated that people had become somewhat cocooned and were at times unwilling to come out again as they had been made to feel very safe, noting that this was causing concern with regard to social isolation. Phil Dickinson sought and received confirmation from Rachel that hand sanitiser had been purchased using the supporting communities grant and noted that Craignish Community Council planned to use some of this fund in future for safe coffee mornings to prevent social isolation. Rachel advised that attempts were being made to prevent social isolation, however this was a worry on Islay and elsewhere in Argyll and Bute, particularly due to the lack of Mental Health support available in the area. Rachel agreed to discuss this issue in further detail with Phil following the meeting and urged everyone at the meeting to reach out to anyone who they felt may be struggling with the effects of social isolation.
Councillor
Alastair Redman
Councillor Redman advised that it had been a huge concern locally that the Co-op had not provided hand sanitiser at the entrance of their shops, despite other shops in the area doing so, as it was not their statutory duty and noted that he felt that it was a moral duty that they should be providing this. Councillor Redman thanked Rachel and the Community Council for arranging this and thanked volunteers across Islay and the Kintyre peninsula for going above and beyond, often at their own expense. Councillor Redman highlighted recent spates of vandalism on Islay which Rachel had notified Police of. Councillor Redman, following comments made by Rachel in relation to a lack of mental health provision in the area, noted that many of his constituents had contacted him with concerns around mental health provision.
Phil Dickinson,
Craignish Community Council
Phil Dickinson advised that he found the sharing of ideas at the group useful in seeing how other groups had utilised their funding and dealt with the pandemic. Phil advised that a group had been set up in Craignish including representatives from the Community Council, Community Company and Village Hall. Phil noted that a document outlining the response had been sent on to the Committee Manager who would circulate to attendees and advised that he would briefly outline the contents of this.
Phil advised that the group had decided that their role would be as a portal of information who could signpost people to available services, noting that this was largely carried out via Facebook, e-mail and voice file notes for those who struggled with reading. Phil noted that the group had also put together a pack for every household with printed information and details for organisations which could be signposted to.
Phil noted that it
was the priority of the group to ensure that no one was missed who required
support and a list of vulnerable people had been collated and shared with a
first responder network, each person on this list was allocated a volunteer who
would assist them and check in on them every week. Phil outlined work which had
been carried out to assist people including signs being erected, messages being
distributed reinforcing government advice, and those reporting breaches of
guidance being signposted to the Police. Phil highlighted that much of the work
of the group had been around running a hardship and food fund, noting that 138
people had been assisted through this. Phil advised that the group were
currently planning further options for the next stage of the fund and noted the
challenges around meeting the criteria for this, advising that there were a
number of ideas being explored with this in mind.
Antonia Baird, Community Development Officer
Antonia advised that
she would provide an overview of the work which had been carried out across the
MAKI Area by groups who were not represented at the meeting, noting that the
communities throughout the MAKI area had spontaneously organised themselves in
a number of compassionate and creative ways to suit their community’s needs.
Antonia provided details of the different ways in which support was provided
such as providing shopping, collecting and delivering prescriptions and
co-ordinating activities to prevent isolation and loneliness.
Antonia advised that people could be referred to local community organisations via the Caring for People helpline and that this had resulted in many new connections being made and the needs of individuals being met by their communities, noting that this had been particularly successful in areas such as Kintyre where referrals had decreased when individuals were made known to the Kintyre Resilience Group. Antonia provided details of the work carried out by the Caring for People Partnership such as creating a Guide to Safe Volunteering, putting in place a protocol for safe delivery of medication and obtaining insurance for those providing volunteering services. Antonia advised that a volunteer matching portal was created as outlined in the update from TSI and noted that the Council had worked with the Co-op to create supermarket cards for volunteers to avoid unnecessary handling of cash. Antonia outlined the services provided by local community groups, as well as third sector and private sector organisations and noted the different ways in which the groups had met varying needs across the area and were involved in partnership working.
Susan MacRae, Skills Development Scotland (SDS)
Susan MacRae introduced herself to the group as the new Area Manager for Argyll and Bute and the Western Isles and advised that she would be happy to provide an update on the work that SDS had carried out during the Covid19 response. Susan advised that SDS staff had largely worked from home during lockdown and many services were provided online, through Skype or by telephone although a blended approach was now being adopted in certain aspects of their work in line with national guidance. Susan provided details of work which had taken place with schools with the assistance of Head Teachers and guidance staff, noting that the impact on younger people had not been as negative as initially feared due to many of them having had offers of employment and further education in place prior to the lockdown period.
Susan noted that help was available for both young people and adults via the National Helpline on 0800 917 800 or by using the My World of Work website at www.myworldofwork.co.uk and encouraged anyone in attendance to signpost to these resources anyone who they thought may benefit from these services.
Brian Smith,
Argyll and Bute Council
Brian Smith provided an update on the activities of the Community Learning Team in terms of the Covid19 response, advising that the service had previously provided largely face-to-face support and required to adapt quickly to the national guidance to provide services virtually. Brian noted that the team were also involved in the Caring for People effort, providing assistance with the helpline and the food project, as well as the delivery of prescriptions and shopping across Argyll and Bute. Brian advised that the team also provided support to school hubs which provided care for the children of essential workers and allowed essential workers to continue to work throughout lockdown.
Brian provided information around the Digital Connections project and support provided to those requiring it to access online support and blended learning. Brian noted that the team had undertaken a lot of work in relation to the No One Left Behind project by the Scottish Government and assisting those who required support to find work or to undertake training, also focusing on providing support with their health and wellbeing.
Brian provided details of youth work undertaken by the team including work around: youth participation; youth forums; a successful bid to the Scottish Government’s Youth Work Education Recovery Fund which would allow a programme of learning for disengaged pupils incorporating outdoor learning and an SQA qualification; and work to encourage those who had struggled throughout lockdown to re-engage with learning and rebuild relationships. Brian encouraged anyone who was aware of someone who could benefit from the support of the Community Learning Team to get in touch.
Councillor John
Armour
Councillor Armour advised that he had been a co-ordinator for the Kintyre Resilience Group which had been set up by Eric Spence of the South Kintyre Development Trust prior to lockdown. Councillor Armour noted that the group had attracted more than 150 volunteers within a week, who were then split into areas to provide support. Councillor Armour advised that the group had worked with Campbeltown, East Kintyre, West Kintyre, Southend and Laggan Community Councils to identify people who were shielding and self-isolating. Councillor Armour provided details of the work carried out by the group with the Caring for People helpline, noting that in most cases where a request was made for support a co-ordinator would ask a volunteer to action this and it would be resolved within an hour.
Councillor Armour advised that the community and local business had pulled together to get things such as shopping out to those who needed it, while the West of Scotland resilience network had provided soap which was distributed to communities as previously mentioned by Ian. Councillor Armour noted that the group had worked with the local Food Bank as most of the volunteers were over 70 and unable to do the work themselves which had left them in danger of closing. The Food Bank had therefore been relocated to the Town Hall for the duration of lockdown, assisted by volunteers, which allowed normal opening hours to operate and social distancing to be maintained with a separate entrance and exit being utilised. Councillor Armour advised that work had been carried out with Shopper-Aide and volunteers had been provided to assist them with an increase in workload. Councillor Armour emphasised that the group had been and continued to work well and were now looking at setting up a wellbeing economy project and having resilience in place in case of any future unexpected events.
Councillor Armour provided details of a liaison group which had been set up with local community councils, Scottish Power and the relevant contractors in response to concerns from locals around workers at the Beinn an Tuirc windfarm coming into the area from Ireland and the Central Belt during lockdown. Councillor Armour outlined the actions taken by the liaison group and noted that it appeared to have addressed many of the concerns of locals and assisted in ensuring the safety of people in the area by securing assurance from the parties involved that every appropriate precaution would be taken.
Valerie Nimmo,
Campbeltown Community Council
Valerie Nimmo advised that she would echo much of what was said by Councillor Armour, noting that Campbeltown Community Council had been involved in the liaison group as mentioned and in supporting Kintyre Resilience Group during the Covid19 response in various ways such as: co-ordinating volunteers; delivering shopping and prescriptions; providing telephone befriending services; and sewing scrubs and face masks. Valerie advised that Campbeltown Community Council had also provided financial support to Campbeltown Food Bank and Shopper-Aide using funding from SSE. Valerie thanked Councillor Armour for his reports on Argyll FM which assisted those who did not have access to the internet.