Engage Update - 15 July

Aye Mind - Social Media Series - YouTube

This series will look at popular social media platforms used by children and young people, including some of their key features, potential benefits and harms, and available supports. The series aims to help us develop our foundational knowledge of social media platforms and build confidence in supporting children and young people to use them safely and maximise their benefits.

The first edition of this series looks specifically at YouTube, used by 88% of 3-17 year olds. 

Download the newsletter:

Social Media Series – YouTube

Newsletters

Trading Standards Scotland Bulletin 11 July

CyberByte July 2024

Scottish Parliament Participation and Communities Team newsletter

Supporting Businesses in Renfrewshire

Renfrewshire Council / Business Gateway offer free to access specialist one to one consultancy covering a wide range of business related topics.
 
Local Expert Surgeries have now been confirmed to the end of September 2024.
Each surgery lasts up to 1 hour and will be carried out online.
These popular surgeries offer our local businesses the opportunity to upskill on a specific topic and allows you to have your questions answered by a specialist in that field. The following surgeries are available:
 
Social Media – Consider how you can effectively use social media to promote your business and improve sales opportunities. We will also look at what social media platforms are right for you.
Date – 13 August and 26 September 2024
 
Marketing – Review your business marketing agenda and look at how best to market your business going forward. Areas covered will include traditional marketing and digital marketing including website exposure and social networking. Consider the benefits of creating a marketing strategy.
Dates – 25 July and 05 September 2024.
 
Finance – Considers all aspects of finance including cash flow , pricing and sources of funding.
Dates – 10 September 2024.
 
Bookkeeping – Ensure you have a process in place to keep proper records.
Dates – 29 August 2024.
 
Places are limited so if of interest to you, call the Business Gateway team on 0141 530 2406 to book your meeting.
 
Local Expert Help
Specialist consultancy (up to 3 days in value over a period of time) focusing on a wide range of business topics for example and not limited to marketing, finance, social media / digital effectiveness, future strategy, procurement / tendering and diversification.  This free one to one service will provide guidance, direction and skills development on issues that are restricting business growth with the aim of contributing towards future business success.
 
Local workshops - Find attached details of workshops / webinars available during July 2024. These are a mix of in-person and online events where you will be joined by other businesses interested in the specific topic. Workshops take place at our 27 High Street, Paisley office. Details on all workshops / webinars / events can be found here; https://www.bgateway.com/events
 
Link to all Business Gateway business support services; https://www.bgateway.com/local-offices/renfrewshire/local-support

Popular support includes;
Property Search – If looking for new premises, we can use our extensive network to find vacant premises to rent or buy.
Business Information Service – free access to data bases (suitable for marketing purposes or competitor analysis etc) at your fingertips; https://www.bgateway.com/our-services/research-service
 
DigitalBoost can increase your digital / social media effectiveness through a mix of free to access online guides and webinars;
https://www.bgateway.com/resources/digitalboost
 
Renfrewshire Business Training Support
This training grant can support up to a maximum of £2,000 toward the costs of staff training required as part of a specific business development project and delivered by an appropriate external training provider. The grant is available to Renfrewshire based businesses involved in manufacturing or business to business services. Compliance and routine training are not supported through this grant
https://www.renfrewshire.gov.uk/article/10343/Business-grants-and-loans#training-grant
 
Working With The Public Sector -  If you are looking to tender for public sector contacts for the first time or alternatively you might be looking to increase your knowledge of public sector contract procurement then the Supplier Development Programme (SDP) can assist.  SDP can provide a range of training, support, information and resources to help you win contracts and grow your business.
https://www.sdpscotland.co.uk/

Working towards achieving your business net zero ambitions - The Scottish Business Climate Collaboration Climate Action Hub is a free e-learning platform to help small and medium enterprises in Scotland to better understand their carbon emissions and reporting. Businesses can access resources including 12 short e-learning modules, a tracking dashboard and tools to help calculate and reduce their carbon emissions. https://sbcc.group/
Employability – through my colleagues at Invest In Renfrewshire we can help fill vacancies and provide detail on any job incentive schemes that may be currently available to employers;
https://investinrenfrewshire.com/business-services/employing-and-training-staff/
 
Apprenticeships - Advice on frameworks and any funding available can be found through Skills Development Scotland:
https://www.skillsdevelopmentscotland.co.uk/
https://www.apprenticeships.scot/
 
Skills For Growth The skills and knowledge of your employees are key to your business growth success. Carrying out our free Skills for Growth review is like a skills diagnostic service for your business offering specialist support to understand your skills needs and guidance on what action should be taken to fill any gaps identified. Find out more at the SDS Employer Hub employers.sds.co.uk
Here is a link to Renfrewshire Councils business support page along with links to Government Agencies that I find useful sources of up to date information on business support;
 
Renfrewshire Council Business Support web pages provide updates on current support including available grants along with guidance and links to our online grant application processes;
https://www.renfrewshire.gov.uk/article/2112/Business-support
 
FindBusinessSupport is a useful source of guidance on current business support including funding options to the Scottish business community; https://findbusinesssupport.gov.scot/
 
Scottish Enterprise; https://www.scottish-enterprise.com/

Suicide Prevention Scotland Community-led Action Research Update

The extended deadline for applications is Friday 16 August at 12pm. The attached updated selection criteria should be referenced when making your application.  Please also note the following points in response to enquiries we have received:

• Who can apply – community organisations, third sector, statutory organisations?
  • We have left this undefined as we understand this could be different across areas and whether the application is for a community of interest or a community of place. What we hope is that as many agencies are involved in the research as is practicable to provide learning on how suicide prevention approaches within or for that community can be improved including through the links made between organisations and sectors. It is worth noting that the overall purpose of this work is to test approaches and learn what works within and for communities therefore it is expected community organisations will have a leading and pivotal role in the work and any funding/support would be used to support their involvement and not used for statutory sector provision.
• Who will attend the training, and will the available funding be used to support this? Can you provide more details on the available funding to support the work?
  • The people who would be undertaking the research would be expected to attend the training. A total of £3,000 will be available for the 4 successful applicants to cover expenses to support participants with their research. Based on SCDC experience this could be used for the following (not an exhaustive list):
    • Volunteer expenses/ payments
    • Equipment relevant to research –  eg Dictaphone
    • Vouchers for participants
    • Cost of holding focus group etc 
    • Cost of some specialist support – like film editing
  • We will be as flexible as we can be and discuss details with successful applicants.
• What is the expected time commitment for successful applicants?
  • This will depend on how your ‘community’ undertakes the research which will also relate to the specifics of the research questions. The work will be split into different stages working with SCDC and Suicide Prevention Scotland including initial meetings, training days, 2-staged research time, and finally co-inquiry and shared learning meetings.

 
For more information, please contact Isobel.Murray@penumbra.org.uk, Haylis@cosla.gov.uk or Kate.McHendry@scdc.org.uk