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Council News
 New £750,000 Safer Streets initiative officially launched
A new ‘Safer Streets’ initiative has been launched in Bridgend County Borough to address women’s safety, neighbourhood crime and anti-social behaviour.
This is a joint initiative between the council and the Police and Crime Commissioner for South Wales. The programme was recently awarded almost £750,000 of funding from the Home Office.
An official launch was held at ‘The Zone’, a community support centre that has previously received funding from the initiative. The event was attended by council officers, together with representatives from Bridgend South Wales Police, Welsh Women’s Aid and other key partners.
There are a series of planned projects to implement the ‘Safer Streets’ initiative across Bridgend County Borough.
Visit our website to find out more about the Safer Streets initiative.
 Appraisal completion reminder
Staff are reminded that all appraisal meetings that have taken place should now be recorded and signed off.
The online facility in iTrent People Manager should be used to record the appraisal discussion where desk or laptop access is available to the appraiser and appraisee. People Manager - Annual Appraisal Guidance will help you to navigate the system - for other system queries please contact TrentHelpDesk@bridgend.gov.uk
Rail strikes planned for October set to cause travel disruption
The National Union of Rail, Maritime and Transport Workers (RMT) has announced that two days of strike action will take place on Saturday 1 and Saturday 8 October, across Network Rail and 15 train operators.
Transport for Wales is not involved in this industrial action, however, they are unable to operate several rail services on Network Rail infrastructure on 1 and 8 October, while some services will be much busier than usual on 5 October.
Visit the Transport for Wales website for more information on the planned rail strikes.
Or alternatively the
National Rail Enquiries website
 Planned mail service strike
On Friday 30 September and Saturday 01 October there is planned disruption to the postal service. Departments will need to consider this when sending items by imail or paper, via Whistl or Royal Mail.
Autumn edition of the staff magazine
Just a reminder that the following edition of the Bridgenders staff magazine is due out on Thursday 27 October 2022.
We are looking for suitable news items and services updates which could be of interest to staff across the organisation.
Please submit to bridgenders@bridgend.gov.uk by Friday 30 September.
Please note that we do not require full articles at this stage, just suggested items for the storyboard.
 Council website content freeze
Due to essential maintenance, there will be a freeze on website updates from Tuesday 4 to Thursday 6 October 2022.
If you require any urgent updates during this time, please contact the Digital and Social Media Officer, Hannah.Sinclair@bridgend.gov.uk.
Apologies for any inconvenience that this may cause.
Please note: This does not affect the council’s intranet.
 Bank holidays over the Christmas and New Year period
Christmas Day and Boxing Day fall on Sunday and Monday, respectively, and New Year’s Day falls on a Sunday.
The Government has designated Tuesday 27 December 2022 and Monday 2 January 2023 as public holidays, with pay in substitution for Christmas Day and New Year’s Day.
Details on payment for employees who are on NJC terms and conditions and who will be working over the Christmas period are available at the staff intranet.
 Electoral Registration Canvassers Wanted
The electoral team are looking for people to act as Electoral Registration Canvassers.
This involves delivering canvass letters to all properties in an allocated area and collecting a response from those non-responding properties at a later stage.
The areas currently available are:
- Nottage
- Cornelly
- Pyle
- Blackmill
- Nantymoel
- Ogmore Vale
For more information and application forms please email electionstaff@bridgend.gov.uk
Staff monthly offers
To find out about the numerous rewards on offer to council staff please visit the website
If you have not logged on before, then register with your payroll number and the scheme ID number: 1656.
 Employee Health and Wellbeing
Action for Happiness: A tip towards creating a ‘Self Care September’…
Choose to see your mistakes as steps to help you learn
You can find out more about Action for Happiness on their website. There, you’ll also find a full calendar of tips, a free 10-day coaching program and the Action for Happiness app, where users share the calendar actions each day and support each other in putting them into practice.
National Eye Health Week
National Eye Health Week (NEHW) is about healthcare professionals joining forces to encourage more people to have regular sight tests and make lifestyle choices that benefit their vision and general wellbeing. NEHW raises awareness of how we can improve the UK's eye health, contribute towards a reduction in avoidable blindness and enhance people's everyday lives.
visit the NHS website for more information
You may be entitled to a free DSE eye and eyesight test provided by the council if:
- your normal duties require you to work with Display Screen Equipment (DSE) as an integral and significant part of your normal work.
- you actively use DSE, more or less continuously, on most working days, with little or no interruption by other activities.
Further information relating to the scheme can be viewed by clicking here.
 Appointment letters sent for Autumn Covid-19 booster vaccination
Cwm Taf Morgannwg UHB are currently sending out appointment letters to all eligible individuals for the Autumn booster campaign.
Booster jabs will improve protection for those at higher risk of severe COVID-19 illness this winter.
When you receive your appointment letter it will clearly state which community vaccination centre you should attend.
Please remember that current guidance within health settings states that you must wear a face covering when inside and during your vaccination appointment.
Visit the Welsh Government website for more information on eligibility for the Autumn booster vaccination.
Care First
Care First is holding a webinar, ‘providing financial information and advice’ on Monday October 3.
This session may benefit staff through highlighting what is available to them to make finances more manageable during these challenging times.
Staff wishing to attend this webinar should register here for the session.
For more information on webinars or to access any related articles, first visit the Care First website entering bcb001 as your username and bridgend1234 as your password.
Give blood and save lives this Autumn!
The need for blood has never been more important. Can you help? Welsh Blood Service need more people from the Bridgend area to sign up as donors to help patients across Wales. Appointments are available in Bridgend at the Heronston Hotel (CF35 5AW) on:
- 30 September
- 4, 19, 24 and 25 October
Appointments are also available at Maesteg Sports Centre (CF34 9EB) on
Please be advised that if you have recently had a Covid-19 vaccination, then you must wait two days before making a blood donation.
Book your appointment to help save lives today.
 Learning and Development
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Get involved with the Infuse initiative
Council staff are being encouraged to learn about and get involved with the Infuse initiative. This is a £5.6m programme which supports council officers in the Cardiff Capital Region (CCR) area, to access and develop new skills, methods and tools for improving their capacity, as well as their capability for creative innovation.
Infuse, short for Innovative Future Services, is led by Monmouthshire County Council on behalf of the CCR partners. The scheme encourages participants to develop new and innovative ways for delivering public services, in addition to finding solutions for some of our biggest problems and challenges. For example, how we recover from the pandemic, tackling climate change and much more.
The programme gives you a chance to:
- Connect with other like-minded colleagues from across the Cardiff Capital Region.
- Learn from leading experts on how to better understand problems and challenges.
- Gain insights and develop personal skills that can be applied within your role and the council.
- Access opportunities for testing out your new ideas.
Delivered through a range of ‘lab’ events and workshops, the programme takes place on two days a week across a six-month period and is currently preparing to move into its third cohort phase (mid-January 2023).
You can find out more by reading the latest issue of the Infuse newsletter or visiting the Infuse programme website.
If you would like further information, a briefing session will be held on 27 October at 11am.
To register an interest in the briefing session, please contact: Nikki Flower
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A date for the diary...
Data for Decision Makers – Infuse
When: 9:30am-1pm via Microsoft Teams on Friday 14 October
Booking: Via Eventbrite CLICK HERE
Join us for a workshop exploring the skills, tools and mindset needed to ensure your decisions are data enabled. Build confidence in using data techniques that will impact you and the communities you serve. There is no requirement to be a data expert to attend, simply an interest in data is enough.
You can expect to learn more about: -
- Data enabled decision making.
- How to build a learning culture around data.
- How to build a compelling data action story.
- Quantitative data analysis.
To find out more visit here
Training opportunities
Further information on the courses listed below, as well as future dates, can be found on the Learning & Development Website. You can logon by using your 5-digit payroll number and the word ‘password’ as password.
 There are also a range of fully funded qualifications available. Just click here to access the list and logon using the same details above.
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