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Celebrating 30 years of East Riding of Yorkshire Council
Hello colleagues,
Welcome to our special edition of The Loop to mark the 30th anniversary of East Riding of Yorkshire Council.
For some of us, 1996 seems like a long time ago and for some it will be before you were born - it was the year the first flip phone came out, the Spice Girls were topping the charts with Wannabe and Chris Evans brought his Radio One roadshow to Driffield.
It was also the year that Beverley Borough Council, East Yorkshire Borough Council, Holderness Borough Council, parts of Boothferry Borough Council and parts of Humberside County Council came together to form East Riding of Yorkshire Council.
The council came into operation on Monday, 1 April as part of national local government reorganisation.
To celebrate this anniversary, we have trawled the archives and gone back through East Riding News, Your East Riding and The Grapevine, and we’ve got a selection of photos and articles to share here. We also have some videos of clips and photos, which you can watch below.
Now is a great time for us to reflect on the past 30 years, and we want to thank those who have been here since the beginning, some of whom are interviewed below, and to look to the future.
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I am delighted to be leading the council as we’re celebrating this special anniversary.
The past 30 years have seen so many changes, particularly in technology, but throughout this time, both staff and councillors have worked tirelessly to do the best for our residents and our area.
Looking over what we have built, created and regenerated is amazing and when you add to that the children we have educated, and looked after as well as the adult social care residents we have cared for, we have done so many great things since 1996. Every one of you has played a part.
Now is a great time to both reflect on our past achievements and look to the future.
I hope you enjoy this special edition and thank you for your work.
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I’m really excited to be the chief executive for this special anniversary and during this current period of us changing and shaping into the council of the future.
I joined the council in 2003, while it was still fairly new, and have seen a huge number of changes since then. Not least with technology as we moved from typewriters and freephone numbers to a digital world.
We have won awards, from Chartermarks and Investors in People, to being crowned national council of the year. We have been innovators, investors, educators and carers.
We have also celebrated weddings, babies, promotions and charity work - from wearing it pink to cycle rides - raising tens of thousands for local charities. Along the way we have also lost a number of good friends and colleagues who we will never forget.
We are currently in the most exciting period of change I have seen at the council, we are about to announce our new senior leadership structure and launch our target operating model (TOM).
We also have a new mission statement, Improving lives, driving growth and working together, which highlights what we do and why we do it and will underpin our work going forward.
Thank you to all of you for your contributions to the 30 years we have had of East Riding Council, I hope you enjoy this special edition and reminiscing about the past. Then let’s look to the future and forward to the next 30 years and beyond.
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Colleagues who have been with us since 1996 share memories of their first day at East Riding of Yorkshire Council and reflect on how much has changed over the years. From job moves and department reshuffles to major shifts in technology, they’ve seen it all - including the move from typewriters to laptops and email.
They also reminisce about the social side of work, from fundraising events to forming new friendships.
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There are so many successes and achievements to recognise - from award wins and shortlistings to innovative projects, improved services, and the everyday efforts that make a big difference to our communities. Below are just some of those achievements.
30 years of East Riding of Yorkshire Council
Over the past three decades, countless colleagues, teams and services have contributed to making the East Riding a better place to live and work.
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£15,000 donated to charity
We joined charity-giving scheme Microhive (formerly Pennies from Heaven) in 2010.
The scheme invites colleagues to sign up to donate the spare pennies from their salary each month. Since joining, colleagues have raised £15,000 for a range of charities - demonstrating the incredible difference that pennies can make.
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Forming our staff networks
Around 2018, staff came together to form our LGBT+ employee forum - the first of our staff networks. Building on its success, we now have eight staff networks and support groups, all developed by staff and run by staff.
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Launching The Grapevine
Over the decades, we have changed how we communicate with staff as well as with residents. Initially, we only had a staff magazine until 1996, when The Grapevine was launched.
This was originally in black and white, but later moved to a colour, fortnightly magazine before going online during COVID.
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Launching The Loop
In 2023, we launched The Loop, our fortnightly e-newsletter, which replaced The Grapevine. After feedback from staff, we also launched the printed Loop, which comes out monthly for non-networked staff.
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Launching East Riding News
For residents, we launched East Riding News in 1996 - a monthly newspaper, paid for by advertising. At points, this ran jobs and even small ads, as well as carrying adverts from businesses.
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Launching Your East Riding
Following national policy advice about local authorities carrying advertising, we decided to move to a more user-friendly magazine format in 2011, when Your East Riding was launched. This moved from monthly to quarterly and is still delivered to all East Riding households.
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Launching social media channels
In 2013, we launched our social media channels. We now have corporate channels for Facebook, Instagram, X, LinkedIn and Nextdoor, as well as a range of channels for services, including registrars, libraries, destinations and even a TikTok for Sewerby Hall.
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Contact us
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