Engage Newsletters
Keep up to date with Engage Renfrewshire
Engage Update - 11 August
New Vaping Resource Launched
For those of you who haven’t met me - Hi! My name is Keely and I joined Engage in May as a Community Officer, with a focus on vaping and tobacco prevention. As part of Engage’s partnership with Renfrewshire HSCP, I have developed a Vaping and Tobacco Prevention resource page on our website. This page provides easy access to key messages around the harms of tobacco and vaping, along with resources to support individuals and organisations.
Over the past couple of months, I have been connecting with a variety of organisations throughout Renfrewshire and have been listening to concerns, particularly around the current youth uptake of vaping. Last week, I attended a wellbeing event organised by Bridgewater Housing Association. It was a great opportunity to speak members of the public and other organisations around tobacco, vaping and second hand smoke harms, while promoting the available resources, and raising awareness of how Engage can support this area of work. I am excited to be able to offer organisations in Renfrewshire a free awareness session on vaping harms, developed by NHS Greater Glasgow and Clyde. While this session is open to any organisation in Renfrewshire, we’re especially keen to work with those supporting children and young people, with the aim of reducing uptake and increasing awareness of associated harms.
If you'd like to learn more about the session or find out more about our work in tobacco and vaping prevention, please get in touch: kwilkinson@engagerenfrewshire.com
Bridgewater Housing Association (BHA) is proud to announce the launch of “Ask Myra,” a new AI-powered chatbot designed to make it easier than ever for tenants, owners and website visitors to get quick, accurate answers to their questions—any time of day or night.
Ask Myra—short for My Responsive Assistant—is now live on the BHA website, appearing as a friendly icon in the bottom right corner of every page. Myra can instantly respond to a wide range of queries, from how to report a repair to understanding a factoring bill or finding advice on issues like dampness or anti-social behaviour.
What can Myra do?
- Provide instant answers about BHA services like rent payments, repairs, and housing applications
- Explain factoring bills and payment options
- Offer advice on common housing issues
- Forward urgent matters to the appropriate team (with optional contact details)
Ask Myra is trained on all the information available at www.bridgewaterha.org.uk and is constantly learning from interactions to improve its responses. Importantly, Myra does not access or store any personal data, ensuring full privacy for users.
House of Hormones is a unique Fringe event that explores what happens when puberty and perimenopause collide within families — an under-discussed but increasingly relevant topic in homes across Scotland. Through a mix of science, lived experience and support-focused conversation, the event sheds light on the emotional and behavioural impacts of hormonal change on both teenagers and their parents, and how greater understanding can reduce conflict and build stronger family relationships.
???? Venue: Our Dynamic Earth, Edinburgh
???? Date & Time: Wednesday 21 August at 1.15pm
???? Tickets: Free (booking recommended)
???? Event Link on Edinburgh Fringe site
Peer Connects: Peer Supporters Practice Exchange
16 September | Glasgow | 11:00 – 14:30 | Book for this event
We don’t often get the chance to gather as peers, but when we do, it matters. This is a practical, in-person event from Scottish Recovery Network to share learning, connect with others, and strengthen your peer support practice.
Join a range of inspiring Peer Leaders who are helping shape the future of peer support in Scotland including:
- Paul Byrne, Dundee Volunteer and Voluntary Action
- Maja Mitchell-Grigorjeva, Bipolar Scotland
- Donna Paterson-Harvie, Neil’s Hugs Foundation
Come connect, reflect, and grow alongside others who get it, all while helping build a stronger peer support community across the country.
Any questions:
- Christine Muir
Communications Lead
07568 241 155
British Sign Language users can contact us using Contact Scotland BSL
2025 SURF Awards for Best Practice in Community Regeneration are open for applications.
The SURF Awards are delivered in partnership with the Scottish Government, with additional support from Creative Scotland, Scottish Procurement Alliance, Highlands and Islands Enterprise, South of Scotland Enterprise, and Scotland's Towns Partnership.
The purpose is to highlight, celebrate and share the achievements of initiatives that address physical, social and economic challenges in communities across Scotland.
The 5 categories this year are:
- Community Led Regeneration
- Creative Regeneration
- Improving Scotland's Places
- Removing Barriers to Employability
- Housing and Regeneration
The deadline for applications is 5pm on Monday 1st September.
You can download all of the application materials and find out more about the Awards here: https://surf.scot/surf-awards/surf-awards-2025/
