Meeting Report: East Renfrewshire

Meeting Report: East Renfrewshire

Date: Friday 11th of September 2015

Venue: Williamwood High School, Eaglesham Rd, Clarkston, East Renfrewshire G76 8RF

In attendance:Cheryl Ewing (GWT); Vivienne Middleton, Liz Rodger (ERC); Shirley Ashe (VAER); Nichola Mortimer (Williamwood High School).

Apologies:Jeanne Martin (The Prince’s Trust); Mark Brand, Alison Meechan, Elaine Grogan, Alan Stevenson, Cllr Mary Montague (ERC); Lorraine Bruce (The Richmond Fellowship); Lindsey Potter (Barrhead High School).

1. Welcome and Introductions

Cheryl welcomed members to the meeting and provide some background on GWT and IG practice.

1. GWT national update:

GWT’s programme outcomes for 2015-16 include:

• Older people are acknowledged as assets to their communities increasing their participation and contribution
• Member organisations, including those working with protected characteristics, develop projects that use intergenerational approaches to challenge ageism
• More local authorities, national public agencies & organisations adopt intergenerational approaches to address the challenges of our ageing society and promote positive images of older people

SCIO Status - We are delighted to announce that on the 29th July 2015, GWT were awarded charity status and are now a fully-fledged Scottish Charitable Incorporated Organisation.

GWT Constitution – copies available on request

(section 4) Our charity purposes include:

• The promotion of intergenerational relationships to further the relief of those in need by reason of age, ill-health, disability or other disadvantage.
• The promotion of equality and diversity
• The advancement of citizenship and community development

These are our three primary purposes however we also intend to work to deliver the

advancement of education and health and wellbeing.

(section 9) The structure of GWT consists of:-

• the GENERAL members - who are anyone who applies to join Generations Working Together. These individuals elect their local network representatives as voting members as described below in clause 16;
• the VOTING MEMBERS - who have the right to attend voting members' meetings (including any annual general meeting) and have important powers under the constitution; in particular, the voting members can appoint general members to serve on the board and take decisions on changes to the constitution itself;
• the BOARD - who hold regular meetings, and generally control the activities of the organisation; for example, the board is responsible for monitoring and controlling the financial position of the organisation.

(section 11) Qualifications for membership

Organisations involved in any aspect of intergenerational practice may apply for general membership. An individual, aged 16 and over, who has an interest in improving relationships across generations by using an intergenerational approach, may also apply for general membership.

(section 13) Application for membership

• Any organisation/person who wishes to become a general member can sign up on line.
• Generations Working Together will maintain a list of all current general members by Local network Area and only the registered members in an area can vote in the election for Local Network representatives to serve as voting members.

(section 16) Register of voting members

• The general members of each Local Network shall elect 2 representatives to be voting members (normally this would include the volunteer Local Network Coordinator but this is subject to the Local Network general members decision).
• The normal term of office for a voting member will be 2 years however people may stand for re-election at the end of each term of office.

GWT successfully recruited a freelance P/T Local Network Development Officer, Lesley Hellon to support up to 11 networks across the Highlands & Islands.

Date for your diary - GWT Conference, Wednesday 2nd March 2016 – University of Strathclyde, Technology & Innovation Centre, 99 George St, Glasgow G1 1RD

Any ideas/suggestions for workshops, speakers and information village. GWT would like to showcase local intergenerational projects, so please get in touch.

IG Training-

The training is split into three sections:

1. An introduction to Intergenerational Practice

2. Bringing generations together

3. Planning and evaluating Intergenerational Practice

Over the past four years training has been provided free of charge however unfortunately due to funding cutbacks this year we have had to introduce a modest fee of £30 per person to cover our costs.

Livingston 2 October 2015

Lochgilphead 21 October 2015

Stornoway 29th October 2015

Arbroath 23rd November 2015
Inverurie 24th November 2015

Elgin 25th November 2015

Greenock 4th December 2015

Scotland's Urban Past (SUP)is a five-year nationwide project with the communities of Scotland’s towns and cities. Anyone can get involved and start investigating urban environments and how they have changed over time.SUP encourages groups and individuals of all ages to discover and share the fascinating stories of Scotland’s towns and cities through community-led projects. As every project idea stems from a local community, the scale and subject of projects varies, ranging from a building, street or neighbourhood, to an entire town or city.To help you to develop your project ideas and bring them to fruition, SUP provides bespoke training, access to essential resources and continued project support.

A project can be:

• ashort-term, one-off event such as a talk, workshop or another small-scale result involving just your group members

• amedium-termpiece of work involving others' contributions, such as a small publication, short performance or Doors Open Day event
• alonger-term(anything up to a year) endeavour that involves more planning, time and commitment from others, such as a festival, multimedia creation or larger-scale publication.

Does your community group or society have a project idea, or do you need inspiration? Let us know by contacting the SUP team at or on +44 (0)131 651 6870.

Get Set for Community Actionis a new programme from the Get Set family whose goals are to:

• Strengthen relationships between young people and their communities

• Make those communities healthier, more active and more cohesive places

• Promote the Olympic Values

(friendship, excellence and respect) and the Paralympic Values (courage, determination, equality and inspiration)

WHAT WILL HAPPEN?

• Get Set for Community Action uses the power of the Olympic and Paralympic Games and their assets, to engage, inspire and motivate young people.

• Thousands of 14-19 year olds – ‘Action

Leads’ – will work in teams across the UK, building relationships with local community groups to plan and deliver at least two projects each, in the run-up to the Rio 2016 Olympic and Paralympic Games.

Programme will be driven by 100 Champion schools supporting and engaging with 500 secondary schools across the UK.

National Adult Achievement Award – were launched by the Cabinet Secretary for Education and Lifelong Learning back in May at Newbattle Abbey College and are now being piloted. These new awards, modelled on the Youth Achievement Awards, will accredit learning for adults in a wide range of contexts, including community settings, colleges, workplaces and volunteering.Newbattle Abbey College is the owner of the awards which were developed by a national steering group.

The Adult Achievement Awards have been credit-rated at SCQF levels 3, 4 and 6 by Napier University and will be piloted by adult groups from different sectors across Scotland in the coming months.

GWT will keep you informed of any updates.

Young Start funding opportunity – new projects funded for 2015 please contact Cheryl directly if you would like a print out stating all projects funded over the past 3 years.

New Website - The Beth Johnson Foundation is a national charity dedicated to making a future for all ages. Check out the link from our colleagues Linking Generations Northern Ireland and see what they are doing across the water.

Fairer Scotland Autumn Events

Complementing the Fairer Scotland Engagement Fund there are a number of local events across Scotland.

The Scottish Government, working with Democratic Society in Scotland, has designed a number of Planning Events across Scotland to prioritise ideas and policies that the Scottish Government can implement to create a fairer Scotland. These Events compliment the Fairer Scotland Engagement Fund.

The Planning Events are designed to allow a representative audience to hear, discuss, prioritise and take action on ideas to create a Fairer Scotland. The Scottish Government wants to hear about what needs to change and things that can be done differently to make people’s lives better.

The priorities that come from these Planning Events will feed into a final Fairer Scotland Forum in December 2015. The Fairer Scotland Forum will host a representative audience made up of people from across the country who will work with policy makers, experts, and political representatives to create a series of recommendations on how we can all work to create a Fairer Scotland.

For details of funding for engagement events please see

Starbuck Youth Action Fund

Walking Communities

Cycle Communities

1. Round Table Project Updates

- Digital inclusion projects have been running with ERC and it is reported that the quiz is running well. Pupils from Williamwood High School have been filming and interviewing with participants to capture the journey. The Quiz Final will take place on November 27th in Largs.
- Some discussion was had around capturing the value of networking and being able to create successful partnerships (like the IG Quiz). Cheryl reminded the group that GWT are having a Starter Conversation around Protected Characteristics (for info on Protected Characteristics please see link below) and that GWT are also involved in a Social Capital Pilot which network members may get involved with.

- The Year of Young People 2018, was discussed and Cheryl signposted the group to the following link for more details.

- Shirley raised awareness of the MeloVeloproject; Set up by service users at the Barrhead Centre, day centre for adults with additional support needs, the MeloVelo Club is a unique cycle and repair project staffed by adults who attend the centre.It also gives people with a disability in East Renfrewshire a unique opportunity to loan and go for a spin on specialist cycles including trikes, a hand-cycle and Scotland's only direct wheelchair access tandems.

- The issue of ERC meals on wheels service being stopped, was also raised. Cheryl provided insight into the Meal Makers Project which allows for meal shares, although not currently running in East Renfrewshire, the project is gauging interest.

Some discussion around how IG work could help fill the service gap, the idea that school kitchens could be used in the afternoon to prepare meals, whispers of similar projects have been heard and Cheryl will try and track down details for the next meeting in East Renfrewshire.

- Shirley also gave insight into the Stich in Time project run by ERC. ‘Stitch Through Time', run by the Kirkton Service, day opportunities for older people, is aiding older people to teach local school children the art of knitting.

- VM reported Grandparents wanting to learn Gaelic as their grandchildren are learning at school, VM suggested contacting Clan Gaelic to invite to future meetings with the possibility of setting up IG projects. Also that the Gaelic development officer for East Renfrewshire, Renfrewshire and Inverclyde is Alan Campbell.Cheryl shared details on the Grandbuddies project running in South Lanarkshire.

- Cheryl gave information of IG writing project, bringing the generations of communities across Fort William & Lochaber, suggesting this could help bring the Gaelic speaking communities of East Renfrewshire Together.Discussion was had around this matter, and it should be followed up at future meetings.

- Conversation on hearing loss and deafness developed and Cheryl signposted the group to Action on Hearing Loss website, who have resources available that may fit in with IG work. Such as fingerspelling guides and fundraising packs, with activities around hearing loss.

- Shirley suggested inviting along Interfaith Committee to the next meeting

- Some members shared positive experience of loan kits available from Glasgow Open Museum Resource Centre. Full details of kits available can be found online. The have proven a great way to get the generations communicating and starting off conversations.

–Shirley offered pupils the opportunity to volunteer filming and recording on Seniors Together projects in order to capture events

- Nicholaprovided some info on the T in the Streeta project in partnership with Williamwood High School and The Richmond Fellowship. With some of the visitors to the school having dementia Cheryl suggested looking at the dementia resource for schools by East Dunbartonshire Council and also Dementia Friends.

- Liz gave update that Rouken Glen is hosting a Reminiscing event in the form of an exhibition in the park pavilion. Kirkton Services have been involved, and also Primary Schools, being asked to create art works of how the think the park may have looked. The Park is keen to collect more recordings of memories/stories of the park. VM suggested contacting Gaelic Support Officer as she is aware of service users reminiscing over park.SA passed on details of Royal Engineers repair vehicles – Italian communities. Cheryl suggested getting in contact with Scotland’s Urban Past to see if they have any information or support to assist the project.

- Liz also gave information on Archaeology Scotland workshops 1st week of November for approx. 20/30 participants looking at how to clean, present and curate objects. Liz is looking for participants.

- Pupils from Williamwood High School ended the meeting with a powerpoint presentation which included film snippets which they recorded from both younger and older members involved in the IG Quiz. The pupils are thoroughly enjoying being able to document the journey and believe this experience has made a successful impact on their education and employment opportunities.

Date of Next Meeting: