Renfrewshire Council

As we approach the end of another busy year, I would like to thank every one of you for your hard work and commitment.

Our people are at the heart of everything we do and your dedication to your roles, each other, and the communities we serve has helped make this another successful year for Renfrewshire Council. And I know many of you have continued to go the extra mile, regardless of the challenges of the past 12 months.

Although we continue to navigate difficult times, this year we have delivered great things for Renfrewshire.

In the past few weeks, our housing investment team has been recognised for their commitment to net zero, and our events team delivered another spectacular Halloween festival.

This follows the success of our sheltered housing and health and wellbeing teams in the Achieving Better Outcomes in Partnership category at this year's COSLA awards.

The Department of Work and Pensions (DWP) has recognised our economic development team for their role in delivering "excellent work placements and job outcomes" as part of the Kickstart programme.

We've invested more than £1.1million in our play parks, and our #YouDecide campaign received thousands of ideas from local people. 

It has also been great to hear about the teams and individuals nominated by their colleagues for Living Our Values. Sometimes it is the simplest things that really make the difference, so well done to everyone involved.

I know many of you will be finishing up this week for some well-deserved time off and I hope everyone will be able to spend time with friends and family over the festive period.

I particularly want to mention colleagues who will continue to work through the holidays, and on Christmas day - caring for older people, making sure children and young people remain safe, keeping Renfrewshire moving, and responding to emergencies. I am personally very grateful for your service, and I know our communities are too. So, on behalf of everyone in the council, thank you. I hope you get some quality time with your family and friends very soon.

And just as a final note, I am always conscious this time of year can be an especially difficult one for people, for many reasons. So please, reach out if you need support - no matter what that might be, look after each other, check in on neighbours, family and friends, and above all stay safe yourself.

I hope you and your families all have a peaceful and happy Christmas and a wonderful New Year.

See you soon.

Alan