Dear All
Welcome to this latest edition of our fortnightly Depute Chief Executive Update. As always, I hope that you and your families are keeping safe and well.
We are officially in the season of Spring and can look forward to enjoying the lighter nights and warmer weather - I hope you didn’t get caught out with the clocks going forward at the weekend!
It’s been a busy few weeks since my last update and the roll-out of our new Outlook email system, as part of our wider Smart Working M365 programme, has been continuing across the organisation. If you have yet to migrate, please make sure that you carry out the actions required when you receive your ‘one week to go’ email so that the transition is as smooth and straightforward as possible
We will be rolling out a standardised corporate signature this week, so please ensure that you adopt this – and remember that you should not be applying any background patterns or colours to ‘customise’ your emails. Our corporate style is the plain white background – which is essential to ensure that our emails are fully accessible to all those we may send them too.
Alongside our email migration we are upgrading to the new Microsoft Office suite of tools – and there are some great new features that can help in our day-to-day use of Word, Excel and PowerPoint. Remember that our M365 Adoption Hub [opens in a new window] has a wealth of information, handy hints and tips and support, including FAQs, and is well worth a visit. Our team of Digital Champions can also support you with any queries you may have.
Now on to our regular news roundup.
News from the Council….
Exciting times ahead for the Allander
The first phase of the new Allander Leisure Centre opened earlier this month (Monday 6 March) – and is rightly proving to be very popular! You can read about the facilities on offer in our new Allander opening news release – and remember that until phase 2 is competed later this year there is limited parking on site and you should use the overflow carpark when attending.
£1million revamp for Campsie Memorial Hall
Campsie Memorial Hall is set to get an amazing transformation thanks to Council capital funding and a significant regeneration grant. The inside of the hall will be restored and extended with a fabulous new entrance on Main Street and the project includes the creation of outdoor growing space and bike facilities. Read more on the plans for this great local facility in the news release on our website.
‘Tree of Trees’ planted at Kilmardinny House
March is the end of the tree planting season ahead of the Spring and Summer months and earlier this month, Provost Renwick planted a special tree in the grounds of Kilmardinny House as a lasting legacy of HM The Queen. The tree was presented to the Council by Lord Lieutenant of Dunbartonshire Jill Young. You can read more in the article on our website.
Independent Director vacancy at EDLC Trust
A fantastic range of leisure and cultural services in East Dunbartonshire are delivered by EDLC Trust, who operate a wide range of facilities from the leisure centres and sports pavilions to the Auld Kirk Museum and Lillie Art Gallery. The trust has a vacancy for an Independent Director to join the Board. If you know of anyone who may fit the bill, they can find out more from the news section of the website.
Follow us for the latest Council News
You can read all the Council news we issue on the News Page of our Council website – or alternatively you can follow us on social media to keep up to date with the latest happenings:
Facebook
Twitter
Instagram
LinkedIn
Employee Wellbeing News….
Employee Wellbeing
The Wellbeing page of the Employee Zone has a host of information and signposting to support across a range of wellbeing matters, including financial wellbeing, emotional wellbeing and bereavement support. Do visit the page if it may be of assistance to you – and share the link with colleagues if you think they might benefit.
Please remember that if you need it, our Employee Assistance Programme includes a 24/7 confidential helpline and support service ‘Time for Talking’ which is available to all our employees.
Monthly Wellbeing Focus
Our Monthly Wellbeing Focus for March, with the specific wellbeing campaigns and initiatives being featured for the month, is published in the Monthly Wellbeing Focus page of the Employee Zone.
The Update for April with details of all the campaigns taking place next month will be published early next week
Dates for your Diary…
31 March Schools close for Spring holiday
2 April World Autism Awareness Day
7 April Good Friday Easter Public Holiday
10 April Easter Monday Public Holiday
17 April Schools return
18 April World Heritage Day
22 April Earth Day
And finally….
As always, my continued thanks to you all – stay safe and keep well. The next edition of this Depute Chief Executive Update will be in a fortnight’s time, after the Easter Bank holiday weekend.
For those of you having time off over Easter, I hope you have a great break and huge thanks once again to all our frontline teams delivering our vital services across East Dunbartonshire over the holiday period.
Ann