Meeting Report: West Dunbartonshire
Date: 4th Sept, 2015
Venue: St. Stephen’s Primary School. Second
Avenue, Dalmuir, Clydebank, G81 3LE..
In attendance: Cheryl Ewing (GWT); Brian McDermott (WDC/GWT), Clare MacColl (St. Stephen's
Primary School), Alan Deans (WDC), Allison Donnelly (Bellsmyre Trust), Angela Carrick (Aspiring
Minds Scotland), Ann Clegg (WDC), Maeve Dixon (WDC), Jim Devaney (Scottish Fire and Rescue).
Apologies: Alex Wrens (WDC- CHCP Sheltered Housing), Jeanne Martin (The Princes Trust),
Andrew Graham (WDC- Heritage Team), Lorna Stevenson (Women’s library).
1. Welcome and Introductions
Cheryl welcomed members to the meeting and provide some background on GWT and IG
practice.
2. GWT national update:
GWT’s programme outcomes for 2015-16 include:
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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:
o The promotion of intergenerational relationships to further the relief of those in
need by reason of age, ill-health, disability or other disadvantage.
o The promotion of equality and diversity
o 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:-
o 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;
o 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;
o 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
o Any organisation/person who wishes to become a general member can sign up on line.
o 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
o 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).
o 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
http://www.strath.ac.uk/research/technologyandinnovationcentre/
Any ideas/suggestions for workshops, speakers and information village. GWT would like to
showcase local intergenerational projects, so please get in touch.
IG Training- Generations Working Together are excited to be visiting Livingston to deliver our
newly updated intergenerational training course which is open to anyone who would like to learn
more about intergenerational work and how to use an intergenerational approach. Many thanks
to Almonbank Centre for hosting this event.
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:
 a short-term, one-off event such as a talk, workshop or another small-scale result involving
just your group members
 a medium-term piece of work involving others' contributions, such as a small publication,
short performance or Doors Open Day event
 a longer-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 sup@rcahms.gov.uk or on +44 (0)131 651 6870.
Get Set for Community Action is 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.
http://scqf.org.uk/adult-achievement-awards-launched/
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. https://www.bjf.org.uk/ Check out the link from our colleagues Linking Generations
Northern Ireland and see what they are doing across the water.
Fairer Scotland Autumn Events
http://www.voluntaryactionfund.org.uk/latest/
Complimenting 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
http://generationsworkingtogether.org/resources/launch-of-the-fairer-scotland-engagement-fund
Starbuck Youth Action Fund
http://generationsworkingtogether.org/resources/starbucks-youth-action
Walking Communities
http://generationsworkingtogether.org/news/living-streets-walkable-communities-workshops-0309-2015
Cycle Communities
http://generationsworkingtogether.org/news/cycle-friendly-community-08-09-2015
3. Round Table Project Updates
Angela Carrick: Owner (Aspiring Minds Scotland).
Aspiring Minds Scotland has an office in West Dunbartonshire based at Centre 81 in Clydebank.
Angela has been doing work outside West Dunbartonshire but is also now offering this service
across the county too. AMS addresses the health and wellbeing needs of individuals and can do
this by working through group sessions or individually with people. The diverse needs of
individuals relating to diet, physical & social activity, as well as work ideas can be teased out using
a tailored range of workshops, including activities such as life coaching, massage and other holistic
therapies, to answer the pressing questions the people have on their minds. The idea is to take
care of the mind and body and so achieve wellbeing. Angela has been doing a lot of intergenerational work by using family histories and has found this has worked well at bringing young
people together with the older generation.
Ann Clegg: Communities Officer (West Dunbartonshire Council)
Ann has been working in the local community learning and development team to develop the
network of 17 local community councils across the county. Most of the community councils often
have an elderly membership and this can be challenging to bring on-board younger members. Ann
has therefore been trying to form links between local community councils and local youth groups
for example with Y-Sortit.
Cheryl added that she knew of good intergenerational work being done in the Scottish Borders
between community councils and local groups and will pass on the contact details.
http://www.scotborders.gov.uk/info/119/emergency_planning/1211/resilient_communities
Clare MacColl: Principal Teacher (St. Stephen’s Primary)
Claire said that the pupils in her school are continuing their intergenerational work with sheltered
housing locally. They are still making use of Fridays by matching the pupils’ ‘Golden Time’ with the
time when the sheltered housing residents are most available. The pupils do this in sessions of six
weeks alternately. They are continuing to participate in their paired reading activities and use their
garden and board games, but the school is having trouble finding funding for their ceramics
activities as many funders are not giving to schools.
Alan Deans – West Dunbartonshire Council/Corporate & Community Planning.
Alan explained that he is still very busy involved in ‘mapping’ the local area where he is based in
West Dunbartonshire. He explained that a new group is being set up in the Alexandria/Balloch
district called ‘Contact the Elderly’. This group is for lonely/isolated people over the age of 75 and
who could do with some company. Afternoon teas are organised once per month and information
can be obtained by contacting Margaret Oliver (Development Officer) on: 01389 605915 or by email on: Margaret.oliver@contact-the-elderly.org.uk . The group also has a website:
WWW.contact-the-elderly.org.uk .
Allison Donnelly – Bellsmyre Trust
Alison gave an update on what has been happening with the work done at the Bellsmyre Trust
over the last few months. Alison explained how over the summer period it has been particularly
busy as they continue with activities such as their community garden with visits by local children,
and maintain a staple well liked Bingo activity. Over the next few weeks they are expecting to
begin their autumn programme, and included in this will be involving their links with local schools.
Maeve Dixon: Arts and Heritage (West Dunbartonshire Council)
Maeve Dixon went over in what way her department was involved in doing some intergenerational work within the county. She described how in the museum they had worked with
blitz survivors and shipyard workers from the Clyde yards and worked this in with visits from
children. She also explained how they were working with Alzheimer Scotland and using
‘reminiscence kits’, and that these ‘kits’ can be loaned out to local care homes. Maeve then
highlighted other activities they were involved in such as: sewing workshops for all ages, tea
dances in the town hall, and she talked about new patterns of engagement including a ‘winterfest’ in the town hall in December including a craft fair and organised talks covering the old Singer
Plant.
Jim Devaney: Watch Manager (Scottish Fire and Rescue)
Jim is head of Community Action Team within the Fire Service in West Dunbartonshire. He told us
how his team is keen to get involved in any way in which they can engage with the public and get
their message across of fire safety. They are quite happy to come along to any group which gets in
contact with them and they have their own ‘mobile museum’ and can bring along their own ‘fire
engine’ if needed. He gave of visits to sheltered housing and told us about their ‘home safety’
plays. He also highlighted the work they do in West Dunbartonshire with Epilepsy and how they
can provide information and supply smoke alarms and fire resistant bedding. He then went on to
tell us about the Fire Service’s charity: the Family Support Trust, and how this looks after the
widows and orphans of former fire-fighters.
Brian McDermott (WDC/GWT)
Brian gave a summary update at the end of the meeting on significant activities on the
volunteering involvement. He continues to volunteer with the Generations Working Together and
Alan Deans (WDC) contributed on the possibility of Brian doing some volunteer work with Vale of
Leven Autism/Asperger’s Forum via West Dunbartonshire Council.
Date of Next Meeting:
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End of November TBC
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Wednesday 3rd February 2016, 1:00pm - 3:00pm at Bellsmyre Development Trust SCIO, The Cutty
Sark Centre, 58 Howatshaws Road, Bellsmyre, Dumbarton, G82 3DR