Renfrewshire Council

Community learning officer, Siobhan Gray, was nominated for living our values by manager Carolanne Robertson, for her vivacious contribution to supporting Renfrewshire's Care experienced community and keeping The Promise.

She said: "Siobhan goes above and beyond on a daily basis, and she's utterly committed to supporting children and young people with care experience.

"A great example is the way she co-ordinated The Promise Christmas Present Drive during the festive season. She was an inspiration to all of us, including our team of Promise Keepers who she supported in getting out there to identify Care experienced children and young people and sign them up to receive a present.

"Their collective hard work, in no small part down to Siobhan's drive and positivity, led to almost double the number of kids supported in 2024 with 304 nominations, up from 162 in 2023.

"It's no mean feat to sign up so many children and young people, as well as secure donations and arrange the wrapping and delivery of hundreds of presents.

"Then Santa's little helper (aka Siobhan) brought plenty of fun, laughter, and festive cheer to our Youth Services Santa's Grotto. We're all so proud of her."

We caught up with Siobhan to find out how our values help her make a positive impact for Renfrewshire's Care experienced community.

Hi Siobhan, thanks for agreeing to speak to us. Can you tell us a bit about your background and what led you to your current role?

Sure! I suppose this journey started about 10 years ago, when I was a newly qualified textile artist, and I was delivering sessional workshops for Youth Services. I realised my passion was for helping children and young people, so I did a postgraduate degree in Community Learning and Development at UWS. I got loads of support and encouragement from the Council and since then I have progressed in my career with Youth Services.

Can you share some details about your role and the work you do for The Promise?

I work in partnership with Children's Services, our Promise Keepers network and other services to support our Renfrewshire Promise Champions youth group. As a Promise Keeper myself, I'm always listening to people with Care experience and looking for ways to ensure that we meet their needs. A major part of what we do is developing and delivering programmes and initiatives, like The Promise Present Drive for Care experienced children.

Why are our values important to the present drive and how do they help you contribute?

For me, it's mostly about fairness because Care experienced kids have the same right as everyone else to a safe and happy childhood. I'm driven by a desire to make that happen for as many children as I can.

There's so much warmth and generosity that happens —particularly among families—at Christmas time, and it's only fair that Care experienced children and young people get to be part of that, no matter what their family situation currently is.

In terms of putting it all together, it's a real collaborative effort between the Promise Champions, youth clubs, the council, and our partner organisations to get insights from young people and turn their ideas into a reality. We listen to their feedback about the types of presents different age groups want, create an online wish list and coordinate the appeal for local people to make contributions. Once the presents are bought, we organise them, wrap them and arrange their distribution.

It's a lot of work, and in truth, I put a lot of volunteering time into it. But that's my choice and it's worth every second when I see the joy it brings to Care experienced children at a time of year which can often feel isolating and difficult for them.

Nominate a colleague for living our values

Have you noticed a colleague or team who really get what it means to be fair, helpful, collaborative and value learning? Why not let them know they're doing a great job by nominating them for living our values?

For more information and to nominate a colleague, head over to the Living Our Values webpage.

Read about our values and nominate a colleague.

Published Wednesday 30 April 2025