Agenda item

Consider progress report from Kirsty Kiln & Claire McIlroy (Public Health).  (Copy attached.)

3.1     There had been circulated copies of a report by Kirsty Kiln, NHS Borders, the purpose of which was to update members on the progress of Theme 3: Enjoying Good Health and Wellbeing.  With reference to the outcomes of ‘Increased life expectancy’ and ‘More people enjoying good mental health and wellbeing’, it was confirmed that survey templates for baselining status for anchor organisations and FSD/ health in all Policies had been developed and circulated to members of the Joint Programme Board. There had been an extension to the deadline until 30 June 2023 and all partners were requested to send this information to the Public Health mailbox.  The completed plan was to be presented to the Board at a later date.  With reference to actions related to ‘Developing guidance for promoting good health and wellbeing’, the Public Health team were reviewing data on uptake of health services and outcomes to identify health inequalities across the Borders, to be shared at a later date. 

3.2     With reference to actions around ‘Current volunteering landscape to be considered and opportunities to be promoted and maximised’ Juliana Amaral reported that Borders Community Action (BCA) had supported 70 community groups/charities to recruit volunteers.  There were 520 open opportunities for volunteers in the Borders, 97 volunteers had been signposted to community groups and 104 new volunteers were identified. From November to March, four drop-in sessions had been held at Galashiels Jobcentre and one in Hawick to increase awareness of volunteering roles in the community.  A provider event was hosted for a number of organisations to provide an overview on the benefits of volunteering and opportunities available.  The BCA continued to work with stakeholders to encourage referrals and there had been an increase in young people under 16 who wanted to begin volunteering.  Restrictions which included insurance, PVGs and general risk aversion resulted in few organisations being able to meet the demand for places and plans were being developed with BCA to try to mitigate these factors.  BCA were in discussion with schools and local youth groups to address opportunities for the under 16 cohort and 11 young people had been allocated formal consistent volunteer placements.  A number of Saltire awards had been presented and a further 7 placements had been found with imminent start dates.  Jenni Craig suggested the potential for the CPP to be more visible in encouraging volunteering and agreed to undertake further discussion with BCA.  There was a strong demand for formal and informal volunteering opportunities across age groups and from the corporate sector.  A draft consultation of the Strategy Plan was scheduled in June 2023.  The challenge of mapping the volunteering opportunities undertaken by the public was highlighted, given the variety of volunteering activities both formal and informal. The suggestion of an audit of volunteering across the Borders was noted.   It was possible to provide a snapshot of active committees and their member numbers during the BCA’s internal review currently being undertaken.  It was also suggested that the publication of live case studies may help to recruit new members to local committees and improve their sustainability going forward. 

DECISION

NOTED the update.