Engage Newsletters
Keep up to date with Engage Renfrewshire
Engage Update - 19 January
On 29 December, First Minister John Swinney announced an additional £3 million of funding for the Community Mental Health and Wellbeing Fund nationally.
For Renfrewshire this means an additional £50,000 is available for single-year applications only.
Some considerations for those applying:
Not open to any groups who have already had positive notification of funding (multi-year or single-year for 2026/2027)
Open to unconstituted groups, maximum request amount - £2,000
Maximum request amount for constituted groups - £7,000
Applications must meet the aims and objectives set in the single year guidance on our website
This is non-recurring funding offered from Scottish Government and we do not expect to receive additional funding of this kind in 2027, please consider this when making your application
Important Dates:
Deadline for applications: 5pm Wednesday 11 February please send all forms to info@engagerenfrewshire.com
Funds to be accepted by successful groups: no later than 31 March 2026
All activity/projects to be completed by: February 2027.
Please see the website for guidance and application form: https://engagerenfrewshire.org/engage-support/community-mental-health-wellbeing-fund.html
Whole Family Wellbeing Fund
Applications from the Third Sector Now Open
The Scottish Government aims to ensure that every family gets the right support at the right time for long as it is needed, to fulfil children’s rights to be raised safely in their own families.
It introduced the Whole Family Wellbeing Fund in 2022 for the duration of this Parliament to help families to overcome challenges before they reach crisis point, and to significantly reduce the number of children and young people in care by 2030.
The Scottish Government’s ambition is that by 2030 at least 5% of all community-based health and social care spend will be on preventative whole family support measures.
The key aims of the Whole Family Wellbeing fund therefore are to:
support the whole system transformational change required to reduce the need for crisis intervention
shift investment towards prevention and early intervention
Read the full guidance and complete the application form here
All applications must be emailed to ruth.wallace@renfrewshire.gov.uk by the 30 January 2026 and a decision will be made by 27 February 2026.
Renfrewshire LEP Employability Grants
We welcome proposals for delivery of employability related activity between April 2026 and March 2027 across 8 different themes that have been identified following a robust needs assessment process.
Full details of the themes as well as guidance documents and application form (2 part) can be accessed via this link.
https://www.renfrewshire.gov.uk/community-and-neighbourhood/commissioning-employability-services
PLEASE READ THE FULL GUIDANCE DOCUMENTS BEFORE ATTENDING AN INFORMATION SESSION AND BEFORE COMPLETING THE APPLICATION.
The closing date for applications is midnight Sunday 01 February 2026.
Links to information sessions via Teams are provided within the guidance document.
Any queries should be directed to kay.mcintosh@renfrewshire.gov.uk and keren.ferguson@renfrewshire.gov.uk
We will both be on leave until the New Year however we will be checking emails throughout that period.
If it’s urgent you can call on 07955387405.
Billy McClean
Chief Officer, Renfrewshire Health & Social Care Partnership
I’m pleased to share my latest Vlog with you below.
In this week’s Vlog, I talk about:
- My latest team visit, starting off the year with a visit to the Podiatry team.
- My reflections on the Scottish Budget from earlier this week.
- A look at the building and locations where we work and consider how we can get the most from them.
- My regular thanks to staff for their great work. This week I mention some feedback for Alison from our RES team.
If you have any feedback on this video or ideas for future topics, I’d love to hear from you. Please get in touch or email: HSCPcommunications@renfrewshire.gov.uk
I hope you enjoy this week’s update…
OSCR Update
The information OSCR publishes about charities on the Scottish Charity Register will be changing soon. This will be the final set of changes resulting from the Charities (Regulation and Administration) (Scotland) Act 2023, which aims to strengthen oversight and public trust in the charity sector. From early in 2026:
- The first and last names of charity trustees will be displayed on the charity's register entry.
- Every accounts document submitted to OSCR as part of a charity's online annual return will be published in full, without any changes, on the Scottish Charity Register.
OSCR expect to be able to announce the exact date when these changes will take effect in the next few weeks. In the meantime, please ensure you are prepared for this change by:
- Making sure your charity trustee details are up-to-date in OSCR Online.
- Carefully considering what information to include in your accounts before drafting them. Please remember, the documents will be published in full, as they are received, so you may want to consider if it is appropriate to include the names and images of volunteers or beneficiaries.
- Making sure your accounts can easily be displayed online, with a PDF document being the most preferable option.
- Considering adding digital or typed signatures, rather than handwritten.
Shopmobility Renfrewshire
Shopmobility Renfrewshire has welcomed a new UK government consultation aimed at modernising legislation covering powered mobility devices such as mobility scooters and powered wheelchairs.
The consultation seeks to update laws that are nearly 40 years old and no longer reflect how modern mobility devices are designed or used. Current rules pre-date many technological advances and, in some cases, prevent people from legally using equipment that is already widely in everyday use.
Read more here
Memory Tree Event - 22 January
'We will be holding our annual commemorative event for those who have lost their life to suicide at the memorial tree outside Renfrewshire House on Thursday 22nd January.
As part of the event, there will be an opportunity to place a purple heart on the tree with a message to a loved one who has been lost.
The service is open to all and there will be a space inside Renfrewshire House Customer Contact Centre to write messages on a purple heart from 3.30pm, with the event starting outside at 4.15pm.
Losing someone you love as a result of suicide can be one of the hardest life events that anyone will ever go through and you may be experiencing mixed emotions or feelings of guilt - but why shouldn’t you celebrate your loved ones, regardless of how they lost their life? Joining others who share the same journey can be helpful. Suicide can still be a taboo subject so sometimes talking and meeting with other people who really understand can be the path to embracing life again.
If you’re unable to make it along, please get in touch with our Choose Life Co-ordinator, email: douglas.johnston@renfrewshire.gov.uk to talk about how you are feeling or what support you need. Someone is always there to listen.'
COUNCILLOR LORRAINE CAMERON
Provost of Renfrewshire
RAMH Update
'We want to let you know that our service will be moving from our St James Street office to one of our existing RAMH buildings at 41 Blackstoun Road from 21st January 2026.
While our location is changing, our services will continue as normal. The move brings our work together in a space designed to support counselling, 1:1 support and group wellbeing activity in a calm, comfortable and private environment.
The space we will be using within the building is fully wheelchair accessible, which is an improvement on our current site, and also offers free parking and soon a new bike shed, making it easier for people to access our services.
We value our partnership working and want to ensure this change is as smooth as possible for the people we support together. If you have any questions about the move, referrals, or service delivery, please get in touch. We would also be very happy to arrange a visit to the building if that would be helpful.
Thank you for your continued support, and we look forward to welcoming you and your clients to our new space.'
Stroke Prevention Day
This Stroke Prevention Day (29 January) the Stroke Association is asking for your help in raising awareness of the biggest risk factor for stroke – high blood pressure – and the simple steps we can all take to reduce our risk.
High blood pressure is the cause of around half of all strokes, but there’s relatively low awareness of how tackling high blood pressure can reduce the risk of a stroke.
High blood pressure often - but not always - has no symptoms.
All adults should have their blood pressure checked at least every five years. Anyone suspecting they have high blood pressure should check it regularly and speak to their GP for advice. There is information on the causes of high blood pressure at High blood pressure (hypertension) | NHS inform
Some GP practices will provide a blood pressure monitor to take home or they can be bought from pharmacies and other retail outlets for around £20.
The Stroke Association’s Stroke Prevention Day web page has a wealth of information and resources, including social media assets which can be used in your own social media feeds.
Around 10,000 Scottish residents have a stroke every year, but nine out of 10 strokes are preventable by managing conditions such as diabetes and making healthy lifestyle choices.
For more information on stroke and the Stroke Association’s support in Scotland visit https://www.stroke.org.uk/scotland