Staff forums: vacancies for forum chair

Our staff forums are made up of representatives across the council and help influence the council strategically. Staff forums help shape the employee experience, make a difference in the workplace, and offer peer support for women, LGBTQ+ colleagues, carers, Black Asian and ethnic minority staff, and colleagues with disabilities. 

We currently have chair vacancies for the following staff forums: 

• Race Equality Network
• Women’s Forum 
• Disabled Staff Forum 

Robbie Mcdonald, co-chair of the LGBTQ forum, said: “I couldn’t recommend it highly enough! It’s a great opportunity to practice soft skills on a different stage, engage with senior leaders, lobby for change, meet new people from across the council, have fun with a budget and put on events throughout the year”. 

Dignity in Care Awards 

Last week, the Dignity in Care awards took place at Islington Assembly Hall for the first time since the pandemic. Residents, their family members, staff, and volunteers, gathered to celebrate the enormous contribution carers make to our community and the everyday lives of our residents.

This year, the judging panel chose 14 winners, seven highly commended across eleven categories from more than 70 nominations. 

Huge congratulations to all the winners and highly commended!

Change lives by becoming a trustee

Charities in Islington are seeking trustees to help shape their organisations. Big Alliance, a local volunteering organisation, is holding a webinar in partnership with the council, on Thursday 10 November, from 12-1pm for staff to learn more about becoming a trustee and applying your skills.

Shabana Aslam in the Community Partnerships Unit said: " Becoming a trustee has been a valuable experience not just for my career development but also in terms of personal experience. I recommend to anyone interested in learning more about the charity sector to explore the possibility of giving back time as a trustee. It's an enriching experience where you can contribute to making change and learn so much”.

Islington's next youth council 

Voting has begun to elect the 14 candidates to form our youth council and represent thousands of their peers to help make the borough a better place to grow up. A youth councillor’s role is to make sure the views of young people are heard on issues and decisions that affect them most, including how money is spent on services for young people in Islington.

This year, 33 candidates are campaigning across the borough on various important issues. The results event will take place on Monday 14 November, at Islington Assembly Hall, announcing the 14 young people selected with the highest votes. 

You can read more about the candidates, their manifestos and how to vote on izzy-info.com

Staff spotlight: Black History Month

To celebrate Black History Month, we're asking you to nominate colleagues who empower you at work. 

This week we're profiling Curtis Ashton, Director of Young Islington (pictured, left). Laura Eden, Director of Safeguarding in Children's services, nominated Curtis for championing inequalities in his service area, assisting the senior management team and service directors in completing action plans, and contributing to high-quality and impactful work. 

Laura said: "Curtis has empowered others to learn, educate themselves, push themselves and act."

Congratulations, Curtis!

There's still time to nominate someone before the month draws close.

Did you know?

Jazzie B - real name Trevor Beresford Romeo, grew up in Hornsey and formed the music group, Soul II Soul, in 1982. The group achieved their biggest chart hit in 1989 with the Number One single ‘Back To Life (However Do You Want Me)’. Jazzie B was awarded an OBE in 2008 for his services to the community and his music.

In 2013, Jazzi B was also honoured with an ironwork sculpture at the Portrait Bench by Finsbury Park station. Residents selected and voted for his statue because of his contribution and inspiration to the community. The bench helped to mark the creation of a new walking and cycling route across Islington from Highbury Fields to Finsbury Park.

Read about more Black icons from Islington on izzi

Wellbeing Wednesday: You Gotta Feel it to Heal It

A special session for Black History Month taking place today (26 October), from 3-4pm, facilitated by Martha Cuffy, will explore a body-centred approach to understanding and healing the impact of trauma and stress. The session is open to all staff, and you can join online via Microsoft Teams or in person at 222 Upper Street.

Last chance for October staff offers

Two staff offers run out on Monday (31 October): 

• If you're on the council's payroll, you can get a discount at Better leisure centres, with access to 280 venues across the UK! The reduced one-year membership is £265, and it is spread out, coming out of your salary. 
• Get a discount on tickets to An Audience with Paul Merson in April.  

See more about your pay with new features in MyHR

We’ve updated MyHR with better features in the ‘MyPay’ section, so that you can now:  

• see a clearer breakdown of your pay, tax and any pension contributions and salary sacrifices, including as simple graphs.  
• compare up to three payslips together 
• see our new FAQs for further support. 

Equalities data monitoring – we want your feedback!

As part of the Challenging Inequality programme, the corporate equality data monitoring template was updated to assess the impact of council policies and practices on service users to improve the services we deliver. 

The Policy and Innovation team are keen to understand how staff use the template to ensure that equalities monitoring is consistent and embedded across the council, to help provide better data to understand disparities and differences that may occur for residents on factors such as age, gender and ethnicity.

The team are looking for people who have experience collecting equalities data from residents or who have suggestions about data collection to share their thoughts with a small group in a feedback session.

Please contact Sydney.Alexander@islington.gov.uk if you're interested or have any feedback to share!

Matrix SCM: customer satisfaction survey 

Matrix SCM supports the council with the supply and management of temporary agency staff. As part of a review, Matrix-SCM seeks feedback via a short customer satisfaction survey for service users to help identity what improvements can be made to their service. This survey should take less than 5 minutes to complete. The deadline for completing the survey is Monday, 31st October, at 12 pm. 

It’s that time of year for fireworks  

With Diwali this week and Bonfire Night coming up, teams in our Community Safety service are giving residents information, including sharing London Fire Brigade’s safety advice, guidance on where and when fireworks and bonfires are permitted, and how to report noise or nuisance. Thanks to all teams involved for the work you’re doing to keep our communities safe and informed. 

Secondary schools’ admissions- don’t miss out

If you are a parent or guardian and live in Islington or work with children and families in your role, please note that the deadline for secondary school applications is approaching fast. Applications must be made for children due to start secondary school next year by Monday, 31 October.

Any applications submitted after the national closing date will only be considered once all on-time applications have been processed, meaning late applications could reduce the chance of a child being offered a place at their preferred school.

Apply and find out more about the admissions criteria on our website.

Cost of living crisis: making every contact count

If you are having challenging conversations about the cost of living with members of the public, you can join a one-hour training session to support you in advising and signposting residents effectively with the challenges they are facing.

The course is perfect if you have difficult conversations with residents and businesses struggling with the cost of living and other health and wellbeing issues. 

There are places available for the next session on Thursday 10 November, from 10-11am