Engage Update - 27 January

The launch of Families Outside’s No Easy Journey campaign is taking place today Monday 27 January 2025, and they would love you to be involved.
 
The campaign looks to raise awareness of the significant issue of the challenges and barriers facing families when they are travelling to prisons in order to maintain meaningful contact with their family member in prison. They want to encourage as many voices as possible to be part of the conversation in calling for these barriers to be removed.
 
Please find more information on the campaign and in the Engagement Pack, here:
 
https://www.familiesoutside.org.uk/no-easy-journey-travel-campaign/

Renfrewshire Villages Traffic Safety Study

Renfrewshire Council has been awarded funding to investigate the potential for improving the safety of pedestrians and other road users in four villages in Renfrewshire, after village residents raised concerns that the speed and volume of traffic are making the roads unsafe for vulnerable road users. The project includes the following villages: Bishopton, Bridge of Weir, Elderslie, and Lochwinnoch.
 
The Council has appointed Stantec to carry out a study into traffic calming and pedestrian safety along the main roads in each village. The aim of the project is to create a safer environment in the villages for all users by reducing traffic speeds, to encourage people of all ages and abilities to walk, wheel, and cycle more often for local trips.
 
The study has investigated the locations of safety concerns along the main through-roads in the four villages and proposes traffic calming measures to reduce vehicle speeds and mitigate safety concerns

Have Your Say
 
This is the second stage of engagement, and we would like to hear your thoughts to help us refine identified speed reduction measures within each village.
 
We would like to invite you to attend one of our public drop-in events to share your views on the project. The drop-in event for each village will be hosted as follows:

Lochwinnoch, McKillop Institute, Tuesday 28 January from 15:00 –19:00.
Bishopton, Cornerstone Church Centre, Wednesday 29 January from 15:00-19:00.

Charity Digital Webinar

Getting your board on board – how to communicate about AI
20 February 2025
1pm - 2pm

Artificial intelligence (AI) is prompting questions across nonprofit staff, leadership, and board members alike. In a sector with limited time and budgets, AI can enable charity professionals to redirect energy from laborious, admin-heavy tasks and focus instead on creative ideas that will push the organisation forward. But while the technology behind AI has been around for a while, the proliferation of tools we are currently experiencing is very new – how can charities empower their organisation and help teams use AI effectively and responsibly in the future?

Join us for an engaging fireside chat with Ha Cole, Chief AI Officer, Microsoft Tech for Social Impact EMEA, and Lev Malinin, Head of Enterprise Systems, Data, and AI at The Salvation Army UK & Ireland, designed to equip you with the tools and strategies needed to effectively communicate the value of AI to your stakeholders.

Attendees can expect to learn: 

• How AI can enhance your organization’s impact and efficiency
• How to present AI concepts to your board in a compelling and understandable way
• A framework to help you to practice and refine your approach to building AI principles

Shifting Sands.

Through Shifting Sands, we've pulled together an overview of the state of the sector, and the different issues that are impacting right now, or that might start to impact in coming months. 

The resource is structured around six sets of factors that make up the voluntary sector’s operating environment: politics, the economy, society, technology, the law, and the environment.

As you go through Shifting Sands, you'll be given insights, food for thought, suggestions and signposting to further helpful resources.