In the Annual Staff Survey, one of the key areas you said you’d like us to focus on was improving staff wellbeing. The Shared Cost Additional Voluntary Contribution (SCAVC) scheme is an employee benefit and is one of the ways that we are improving staff’s finances and future stability. It’s a tax efficient way of adding to your pension meaning you could retire early.

The council is working with the provider, AVC Wise, who will be hosting five webinars, starting with the first one tomorrow from 12.30pm to 1pm. Webinars are being offered on different days and times each week until the end of June so keep an eye out.

Check out the events calendar for all the upcoming event dates.

Read Lorna Rodden’s staff blog on why she is finally prioritising retirement and why she wants to raise everyone’s awareness and understanding of the SCAVC benefits.

We recommend you create a profile and explore the resources available on the AVC Wise website.

Please visit the intranet for more information. Reminder - this scheme is only available to staff on the Local Government Pension Scheme (LGPS).

Learning Disability Week runs from Monday 20 to Sunday 26 June, and we will be marking the week with a series of challenging discussions and presentations about how Redbridge Council supports people with learning disabilities to gain employment with us and supports them when they are here. 

Everyone can make a difference, whether you are a recruiting manager, a colleague, or responsible for processes in your area. These sessions are relevant to anyone who wants to make a difference.

For further information about the sessions, please visit the intranet page and find the events on the intranet calendar.

The BAME Network welcome colleagues to attend the following three sessions starting on Monday 20 June, to mark Windrush Day, which celebrates the arrival of the Motor Vessel (MV) Empire Windrush. This is when the first generation of people from the Caribbean came to the UK by invitation to help rebuild Britain after the Second World War.

Please visit the intranet for full details on the below sessions.

• Windrush generation sharing first-hand experience, Monday 20 June, 12pm to 1.30pm. Add to Calendar 
• Windrush & Black Caribbean identity within the NHS, Wednesday 22 June, 1pm to 4pm. Add to Calendar
• Living Library: Left Behind – The psychological and emotional impact of a Windrush child remaining in Jamaica while parents migrated to the UK. Thursday 23 June, 2pm to 3pm. Add to Calendar

The day represents the rich diversity of Britain and recognises the vital work of those who arrived on the Empire Windrush and their descendants, and their social and cultural contribution.

Watch the short film produced by Redbridge Museum exploring the experiences of the Windrush generation who settled in Redbridge.

The Redbridge Staff Women’s Network invite you to our first in-person speaker event of the Lean In Circle initiative on Tuesday 21 June from 12:30pm to 1:30pm.

We will hear from the Women’s Network Senior Sponsor, Pervinder Sandhu, Acting Operational Director of Assurance and Monitoring Officer, who will tell us about pivotal events in her life that have made her as resilient as she is now.

This is the third event of our Lean In community-wide forward plan. To supplement the great work that colleagues are doing in their small Circles, participants voted for further networking and educational opportunities that give them a chance to come together as a Lean In community and learn from successful colleagues’ experiences. We hope this event will provide exactly that!

This will be a hybrid event. You can join via Teams or pop along to Rear Board Room 2 on Floor 5 of Lynton House. If you plan to attend in person, please let us know by completing this form so that we know how many colleagues to accommodate for. Colleagues of all genders are welcome.

You can find out more about our Lean In Circle initiative on our intranet page and sign up by emailing Shona Galt.

Hopefully you have heard about our new corporate plan - the Redbridge Plan 2022-26 - which will be going to council on Thursday 21 July for adoption.

In the lead up to this, we are running several sessions to help all staff familiarise themselves with the plan. Your team might have already had, or have, an upcoming introductory session with your Senior Leadership Group (SLG) member. However, since the plan is very ambitious, we are inviting staff to help us do some problem solving because we can’t achieve what we have set out without your contributions.

The first session will take place on Thursday 30 June from 10:30am to 12pm. We’ll also be running sessions throughout July to hear your ideas on how we meet our aim. Please visit the intranet calendar for further details and to get an intro session in your calendar.

It would be great to see as many people as possible from across our great teams so please come if you can!

Don’t forget, we are collecting success stories about prevention, collaboration, and responsibility to share in these sessions and through our internal comms. So, if you haven’t submitted something already, please use this form to share your successes!

You can find the most up-to-date information on the corporate plan intranet page.

The Redbridge LGBT+ Staff Network will be marching in this year’s London Pride parade which takes place on Saturday 2 July. The parade group is open to those who are LGBTQI+ and allies. If you would like to join us, please get in touch by emailing the LGBT+ Network.

This year’s campaign theme is #AllOurPride which you can read more about on the Pride in London website.

What we most fear doing, asking, and saying are very often exactly what we need to do. Watch this talk by Tim Ferriss, who was on the brink of suicide when he decided he had to take action to avoid self-destruction and overcome self-paralysis.

Our employee assistance programme is available 24hrs a day and seven days a week.

If you're struggling at the moment due to things like your workload or uncertainty about the future, our employee assistance programme can offer you support, counselling, and guidance through this emotionally difficult time.  

Don’t wait for a crisis to happen before you access this support. Staff who have used the programme have given positive feedback with comments such as, “It really helped me”, “I wish I called them earlier” and “I feel so much better now”.

This service is open to staff and their families by self referring. Call 0800 328 1437 or go to the employee assistance website (password Redbridge).