Community Council

Dear Community Resilience Group/Community Council/Colleagues,

Welcome to The Highland Council’s fortnightly briefing for groups with an interest in local community resilience. 

Winter Vaccination Programme

• Public Health Scotland colleagues have recently translated information on the Covid and Flu vaccinations being offered as part of the Winter Vaccination Programme. This includes 36 community languages and British Sign Language versions, accessible here: Other languages – winter vaccines | NHS inform

Covid related information 

• Scottish Government Covid-19 Guidance  

• NHS Inform Covid data  
• NHS Inform Covid information and guidance  
• NHS Highland local vaccination information – this includes information on the winter Coronavirus (COVID-19) and Flu vaccination programme which is now underway.

Funding  

SCVO  is a key source of funding information for the third sector. Funds that may be of interest include:

• Esmee Fairburn Foundation – Gives grants to organisations with charitable purposes related to improving our natural world, tackling injustice, or nurturing creative and confident communities. Apply at any time.
• Hugh Fraser Foundation – Donates to charities working in many different sectors so long as the objective is charitable. Next deadline 1 Feb 2023.
• Cultivation Street – Garden vouchers are available to community, neighbourhood and school gardens who want to bring back community gardening. Register for 2023 competition via website.

Welfare, poverty reduction and resilience

• SSEN – Attached is information about the SSEN Winter Campaign allowing people to sign up to the free priority services register in the event of a power cut if they meet certain conditions. Also attached is a home emergency plan that can be used to prepare for an emergency situation such as a power cut.  
• Scottish Government– Ready Scotland
  • The winter preparedness campaign is underway, and households are recommended to create an emergency plan and kit in the event of an unforeseen emergency. They have prepared guidance for creating an emergency plan for your home and creating an emergency kit for your home.
  • Share your community resilience stories. We would love to feature lots of stories of community resilience in emergencies – during the Resilient Communities conference events and on the www.Ready.Scot website. Share information about your community resilience activities to inspire others and help to find local solutions and ideas. 
  • Resilient Communities Conference – Ready Scotland are looking at hosting a Resilient Communities Conference in the new year if there is sufficient interest. Proposing that the conference take place online over a series of days and times in February and March 2023.

The proposed focus of the workshops are:

• The “nuts and bolts” of community resilience in emergencies – practical experience from rural and urban community groups talking about the different types of resilience activities they carry out, how their community groups work together and how they connect with others. 
• Professional responder community – sharing good practice and insight on supporting and working with local communities – Statutory and sector voluntary responders will share their good practice in supporting community resilience and show what is working in their local areas. 
• Young people supporting and leading on community resilience – hearing from groups of young people, youth leaders and educators about how they come together to create and contribute to resilient communities.

What should you do:

• Register your interest in attending the online events (you’ll get booking links once we have the dates and times secured)
• Consider hosting a workshop during the conference to share good practice, tools and resources for other responders.
• Highland Council – Employability Team – The Employability Team help young people who have left school but are not in work or studying, and adults who are seeking work but need support to overcome barriers to employment. This includes support for developing CVs, job searching, and interview preparation.
  • Highland Employment Recruitment Offer (HERO) – helps people of all work ages and with the greatest barriers to employment secure and stay in jobs. Private (including sole trader /self-employed) or third sector employer with less than 50 employees in Highland can apply to HERO. The fund will help with the costs of recruiting and employing someone who fits the criteria.    About the scheme | Highland Employment Recruitment Offer (HERO) | The Highland Council
  • Paid Public Placements – The Paid Public Sector Placements support out of work Highland residents who are looking to progress into employment.  The scheme provides participants with relevant work experience and the opportunity to access training and gain valuable skills, helping them to progress into sustainable employment.    Paid Public Sector Placements | Employability | The Highland Council
• Rotory Club – Attached are documents from the Rotary club highlighting sources of free emergency food and sources of help and advice within the Inverness Area.
• Scottish Fire and Rescue Service Chimneys Leaflet– There are over 1000 chimney fires each year in Scotland. Attached is information about chimneys fires and CO poisoning.
• The Social Work Out of Hours Service has a new FREEPHONE number – 0808 175 3646
• Improvement Service – This tool has now been adapted for Scotland to enable communities to create Local Place Plans and highlight specific areas of interest or concern.
• SEPA Prepare for Flooding This Winter – In the aftermath of significant flooding along the Northeast coast, SEPA are urging the public to sign up to Floodline, which provides 24/7 live flooding information. Please see the attachment for more information and links.

Mental Health and Wellbeing

• NHS Highland Mental Wellbeing – a collection of resources and signposts to help people of all ages to look after their own mental wellbeing.
• Cost of living crisis and your mental health
  Many people are feeling the strain as the cost of living continues to increase.  This resource provides information on how you can maintain your mental wellbeing at this time, alongside information on how to manage your money as bills rise.

Emergency Planning 

• Met Office Weather Warnings – https://www.metoffice.gov.uk/weather/warnings-and-advice/uk-warnings#?date=2022-11-04
• Met Office Weather Ready https://www.metoffice.gov.uk/weather/warnings-and-advice/weatherready 
• Floodline Scotland https://floodlinescotland.org.uk/ 
• Ready Scotland – preparing for emergencies https://ready.scot/

 Other

• The Great Fuel Moisture Survey – See the attachment for details on an opportunity to assist in an important piece of research to help our understanding of vegetation fires
• Crimestoppers’ national campaign stay energy safe highlights the dangers of energy theft and how to spot it.

https://www.sgn.co.uk/help-and-advice/energy-theft

Tampering with or bypassing the gas meter is extremely dangerous. As well as being dangerous, the cost of energy theft affects us all as it adds an extra £20 to the cost of our energy bills each year. 

It can be hard to spot the signs of energy theft, but here are some things to look out for:

• A meter that’s been turned around the wrong way so you can’t see the normal dials.
• A smell of gas near the meter box.
• Bits of rubber tubing instead of pipes.
• No visible dial or counter on the meter anymore.
• The meter shows credit has run out but gas is still available.
• Dials on the meter aren’t going around even when gas is being used.

Whether you’re a member of the public, business, landlord or tenant, if you see something suspicious, report signs of energy theft to keep you, and those around you, safe.

To anonymously report energy theft, call the Stay Energy Safe service powered by Crimestoppers on 0800 023 2777 or report it online

Douglas Crawford
Business Analyst

Community Support and Engagement

Highland Council