Paisley Daily Express Column

Paisley Daily Express Column - 24 Feb 2010

SCHOOL BUS PROTESTS GROW

Last Thursday morning I wanted to be at the Council but I had to be at the Cabinet!

A meeting of the UK Cabinet was taking place in Durham, so I spent the day in the North East of England before getting back to Renfrewshire that evening.

But I’m glad to say there were plenty of angry mums and dads who were able to make it to the protest outside Renfrewshire Council’s HQ.

The protest outside the Cotton Street offices was called to show local anger about the SNP led Council’s plans to increase the minimum distance Secondary School children are eligible to get a bus to school.

The Council’s plans – with St Andrew’s Academy in Paisley and St Benedict’s High School in Linwood worst affected.

The turnout last week was just the latest sign of the fury amongst local families. Local parents are deeply concerned about the consequences of this decision on their children.

So in the months ahead, I’ll be standing with and speaking up for these local parents – against the Council’s latest cut to our local education system.

PAISLEY STREET PASTORS GO TO WORK

This week I joined a large Paisley congregation in Gordon Street celebrating the work of the local Street Pastors.

After 6 months of preparation, Paisley Street Pastors was officially launched on 26 June 2009, and after a further period of recruitment and training they have now been out walking the streets of the town since January 1st. Each weekend they listen to and help all kinds of people – whether it’s helping people get home, or sometimes even calling an ambulance when medical help is required.

They are made up of volunteers from churches across Paisley. They work closely with the Police and Renfrewshire Council and they see their job as helping to make people out in the town centre have a safe and welcoming experience. That’s a sentiment surely we can all support.

GIVE YOUR TIME FOR A GOOD CAUSE

If you find yourself with some pare time on your hands every week, why not consider volunteering?

Flexicare, which provides respite care and activity groups for people with learning disabilities here in Renfrewshire are looking for people over the age of 16 to help out with their services.

There are currently over 80 volunteers involved in the Flexicare project, assisting in various clubs and activity groups in the local area.

This could be an excellent opportunity to get involved with a good cause here in our community, as well as learning some new skills.

Volunteers don’t need to have any prior experience of working with people with disabilities because training will be provided.

Without volunteers many vital services within our community, like Flexicare, would be forced to shut down or to limit the amount of support that they can offer to clients. Volunteering is a really valuable use of time and many people say that the gain a great deal from the experience.

If you think that Flexicare is something you could help with then I would really urge you to get in touch with the organisers by emailing flexicare.sw@renfrewshire.gov.uk or call 0141 849 1630.

A NEW OPPORTUNITY FOR SCHOOLS

I was very interested to hear about a new initiative which is being offered to schools in Renfrewshire for the first time in August.

The Youth and Philanthropy Initiative (YPI) is a Citizenship project which aims to encourage young people to work with local charities in their area.

Through YPI pupils in S2-6 are given a ‘hands on’ experience of philanthropy that provides them with the skills and awareness to make a positive difference to their communities.

Pupils work in small teams to research the social needs of their community and identify the local charity they believe makes the most positive contribution.

Pupils then visit and build relations with their chosen charity and, following skills training, present on their work.

The team judged to have made the best presentation in each school is granted £3,000 to award to their charity.

I think this sounds like an excellent initiative and a really good way to encourage young people to engage with their local community.

If you would like more information on this project, contact Sarah Moore at sm@instituteforphilanthropy.org