Community Bulletin – 3 May 2024

Dumfries and Galloway Council sent this bulletin at 03-05-2024 04:13 PM BST

Friday 3 May 2024

Welcome to Community, your Dumfries and Galloway community bulletin.

We are always keen to hear of any positive stories about things that are happening in your community and would like to feature them in Community – please email us at communitybulletin@dumgal.gov.uk and one of our reporters will get back to you.

A to Z of Dumfries and Galloway Council

This is Angela Brown.

Angela (here, wearing pink) is an educational visitor covering the areas around Newton Stewart and Stranraer.

Angela’s role is to support children with additional support needs (from birth to five years old) to reach their full potential by minimising barriers to education and learning. She assesses the needs of children and helps to provide a bespoke programme of support, known as an individual educational plan.

Angela helps families with additional support applications for many things, from basic equipment or resources to additional staffing resource. She delivers training to nursery staff and external agencies who support a child with their support needs.

An educational visitor is much like a train operator – there for the journey, however long it needs to be, where the passengers are the family and the child being supported. Angela plans stops on the journey of support, often bringing on board services like Speech and Language Therapy for example, while making time with the family to enjoy the learning journey.

The importance of early intervention in childhood development is key. What Angela does is incredibly important, but it is how Angela does her role that makes her stand out.
Best part of the job? “Being with the children. I love taking the time to simply be with the children, engage in play alongside them, to learn who they really are. It is so informative for me and my planning, not to mention so much fun. I also really appreciate working with families to alleviate some of the anxieties felt at times when services are involved. The relationships built are so positive.”

FACT – 361 children were supported last year by educational visitors across Dumfries and Galloway.

Angela told us of one child who had issues with communication, was extremely shy and reserved. Angela met with the young child in nursery and conducted intensive interaction. What’s that? Quite simply it’s playing, it’s engaging in child-led play, building a bond, it’s reciprocating silly faces made, it’s building confidence in ways that a little person enjoys.
Fast forward to a recent meeting, and this little girl came in head held high, smiled and waved, with sheer joy in her eyes. Across the table was Angela, with tears in her eyes after seeing such an improvement and shift in confidence.

And although it’s the implementation of these educational plans that is Angela's role, it’s the little things that Angela does that make her so memorable to all the children she works with. She is affectionately known by many as ’the lady with the sparkly nails’ – especially by one young boy who is visually impaired and struggles to identify faces. Upon inspection of said sparkly nails, this young boy can identify Angela instantly and is overjoyed – and she may only see this little boy once a year.

Another young girl who struggled with verbal communication and found sentence structure difficult was supported by educational visitors and other services. They provided communication boards with individual words that nursery staff use each day. This encourages clear and concise communication by pointing to the boards and repeating what they say out loud, in order. Due to the commitment and hard work of nursery staff, this intervention was so successful that the achievements of this young person and the methods used were made into a short film to celebrate the successes.

Angela, your role changes lives. There is simply no other way to put it. You guide, you train, you implement and support young people at the most developmentally important stage – and you do so with joy. You sparkle in so many ways and are so valued by everyone you work with. Thank you for everything you do.

Through Young Eyes Film Launch – Child Poverty in Dumfries and Galloway

Dumfries and Galloway Council’s Youth Work Team has recently supported a group of young people in our region who have produced the short film Through Young Eyes. The film explores how young people in Dumfries and Galloway perceive poverty and their own lived experiences of poverty.

This film was created because young people had raised that most views around child poverty come from a parent, guardian or professional’s point of view and not necessarily from children and young people themselves.

If you are an organisation, service or an individual that works with or for children, young people and communities, you are invited to take part in one of two events. You will be able to see the film, have the opportunity to participate in open dialogue and listen to the voices of young people and adults in leaderships positions about their experience of child poverty in our region – and what we can do collectively to tackle poverty.

The events are being held at:

The Ryan Centre Theatre, Stranraer – Monday 27 May from 2–3.30pm
The Robert Burns Centre, Dumfries – Monday 3 June from 2–3.30pm

Register to attend

Elizabeth Sykes and her partner Norrie McIntosh outside Burns House, home of the Dumfries and Galloway Citizens Advice Service Stranraer Bureau.

A Fond Farewell for Elizabeth

It is a fond farewell to Dumfries and Galloway Citizens Advice Service (D&G CAS) for Elizabeth Sykes, who is retiring after sixteen years with the organisation. Not only has she worked as manager of the service’s Stranraer Bureau since 2008, but she also found her partner there too.

After working for the Foreign Office, Elizabeth joined Citizens Advice Scotland as Head of Information. Originally from Newton Stewart, she transferred to D&G CAS, so she could return to her native Galloway.

“I have really enjoyed working at D&G CAS. The job is very varied – no two days are the same and you never know just what will come through the door at any time,” said Elizabeth. “I also found my partner Norrie here, who works as a volunteer in Stranraer.”

Elizabeth is looking forward to having more time to pursue her interests, such as writing about social history and spending more time with her family.

“We have a talented team of people in the Stranraer bureau, and we could not do what we do without our volunteers, who give up their time for such worthwhile work. I will really miss my colleagues and I hope D&G CAS will continue to evolve as it has always done. We are often the last resort for many people, and they need the service to adapt and survive in an ever-changing world.”

Phil Stewart, CEO of D&G CAS passed on his best wishes to Elizabeth: “We are sorry to see Elizabeth go. We will miss her experience, her intellect and her steady leadership and management style. All these qualities and attributes have not only ensured the success of the Stranraer bureau but have made a significant contribution to the service across the entire region. Everyone at D&G CAS wishes her well.”

Newton Stewart’s Green Fayre Announces New Venue for 2024

The annual Green Fayre, hosted by the Galloway and Southern Ayrshire Biosphere and the Newton Stewart Initiative, has been announced for Saturday 18 May with an exciting new venue and even bigger range of organisations taking part.

The biosphere’s flagship event launched in 2022, aiming to promote sustainability and spotlight local projects in conservation and climate action. Green Fayre also acts as a showcase of volunteer opportunities, with organisations including Home Energy Scotland, MAC-CAN, Red Squirrel Conservation and the South of Scotland Golden Eagle Project taking part. Over 20 stalls will be setting up at Vibe 75, a new community hub on Victoria Street managed by the Newton Stewart Initiative. Among the attractions will be a seed, plant, produce and clothes swap, nature art activities, and a pop-up cafe. The D&G Climate Hub will also be there, sharing news from their region-wide work and promoting the latest opportunities for community groups to access climate action support.

Green Fayre will take place at Vibe 75, Victoria Street, Newton Stewart from 10am to 2pm on Saturday 18 May. Entry is free and all ages are welcome, with attendees warmly invited to bring along seeds, plants and/or clothes for the swap stand.

For any enquiries about Green Fayre or any other projects or events in the Biosphere’s programme, please email info@gsabiosphere.org.uk

Find out more about the biosphere

Alan Wilson (fitter), Zoe Graham (D&G HEAT Energy Adviser and Trainer), Rachel Reekie (D&G HandyVan (SCIO) Manager) and Crystal Pringle (D&G HandyVan (SCIO) Admin Assistant).

Energy Advice on Your Doorstep

An exciting new partnership is set to take the fight against fuel poverty out on the road. Working in partnership with D&G HandyVan (SCIO), Dumfries and Galloway Citizens Advice Service (D&G CAS) has secured funding to deliver free energy advice, right where it is needed.

Funded through Ofgem’s Energy Redress Scheme, the D&G Handy Energy Advice Team (HEAT) project will focus on carrying out small energy efficient upgrades and delivering in-depth energy advice to those in or at risk of fuel poverty, specifically private tenants and owner-occupiers aged over 60, or people of any age classed as having a disability or long-term health condition.

D&G CAS Project Adviser Zoe Graham explained, “We are delighted to receive funding from Ofgem, as we are a charity and rely entirely on funding to continue delivering all of the benefits our service brings to the region. Our partnership with D&G HandyVan (SCIO) is a perfect opportunity for us to bring help and advice to vulnerable and hard to reach clients, who often suffer in silence and a step forward in our ambition to offer our service in the right place, at the right time and in the right way.”

D&G HandyVan (SCIO) is a charity based in Lockerbie, delivering services to the whole of Dumfries and Galloway, such as small repairs and minor adaptions, home security and dementia friendly design.

Rachel Reekie, D&G HandyVan (SCIO) Manager said, “We are delighted to be working in partnership with Dumfries and Galloway Citizen’s Advice on its HEAT Project. Our fitter, Alan is looking forward to travelling across the region, installing small energy saving measures in client’s homes such as letter box covers and draft proofing of windows and doors. Hopefully these will help to keep our clients’ homes just that little bit warmer.”

Clients can either self-refer or be referred by Social Services, carers, emergency services, day centres, Food Train or by friends, family or neighbours. To find out more, contact Dumfries and Galloway Citizens Advice on 0300 303 4321, or email Zoe.Graham@dagcas.org

Phil Stewart, CEO of D&G CAS, said, “This innovative project is partnership working at its finest. Not only will it help those most in need to become more energy efficient and assist them by ensuring that they are on the very best tariffs and that energy issues are promptly addressed. It also opens up access to wider support from both services in the right place, at the right time and in the right way.”

Film of the Week

The RBCFT Film of the Week is That They May Face the Rising Sun. Capturing a year in the life of a rural, lakeside community in late 1970s Ireland, the film is a sensitive and beautifully realised adaptation of the last novel by John McGahern.

Joe (Barry Ward) and Kate (Anna Bederke) have returned from London to live and work in a small, close-knit community in rural Ireland, close to where Joe grew up. He’s a writer, she’s an artist who retains part ownership of a London gallery. Now embedded in a remote lakeside setting, the drama of a year in their lives and those of their neighbours unfolds through the rituals of work, play and the passing seasons. The Ireland they return to is economically broken and the cultural and political power of state and church is beginning to wane. But we’re reminded of their lingering authority as one character, the product of an Irish orphanage sent at the age of 14 to become a farm labourer, is referred to as ‘a slave’. His most grievous sin? Having been born out of wedlock.

The film is serves as a reminder of the thousands of men and women who moved to England in the second half of the 20th century to find work. The Irish in Britain form the largest Irish born community outside of Ireland. As the Irish Times put it, “there’s nothing dramatic about the film, which is why it works so well.” They also called it, “the best Irish film in years.”

The film is cinematically beautiful, functioning at times like an advert for Visit Ireland, with the landscape and the changing seasons almost like characters themselves. A delicate, meditative exploration of ritual, community bonds, and the question of how best to live, That They May Face the Rising Sun is in cinemas now and coming to the Robert Burns Centre in Dumfries on 8 and 9 May. Our verdict – not one to miss.



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