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Update for staff – office plans from September
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The Council Management Team (CMT) would like to thank all staff for their understanding and flexible response to the unprecedented challenges that COVID-19 created earlier this year. As September approaches, we need to update you on the latest public health and safety advice and what that means for any return to the office.
Since May, we have communicated that all staff should work from home unless it is essential to come into offices to perform specific tasks, until at least September. Unfortunately, nationally and globally, COVID-19 has not gone away. This week, the grim milestone of 20 million cases around the world was passed and in the UK new case numbers rose above 1,000 in 24 hours for the first time since June. We therefore need to continue to be vigilant, and our policy remains that any office return should only be for business-critical or staff welfare reasons so managers should not therefore be planning a routine return to the office at this time.
Facilities Management are working hard to prepare the space that was taken out of use during the lockdown period so that it can once again be utilised but it will still be a COVID-secure, socially distanced working environment. Significantly fewer desks will be available than was the case prior to the COVID crisis. Exact desk numbers will be confirmed over the coming week or so but management teams within each of the directorates should therefore consider carefully which individuals or teams may need to access the offices from September, versus those who can continue to work from home.
It is understood that for some teams, an office presence will be required to provide the most optimal service for residents. If that is the case, managers should be aware that they will be required to complete a service COVID-19 risk assessment and get this signed off by the SHaW team. Managers must also ensure staff are aware of and follow the measures introduced at our corporate offices so that the environment is not compromised. Risk assessment webinars for managers were run in June and July by SHaW, and attended by dozens of managers across the business. Recorded versions will be available on Yammer in the coming days. These will explain both the service as well as individual staff risk assessments process that managers need to undertake. Managers should ensure they have conversations with
individual members of staff about returning to the workplace, particularly those who have previously been shielding.
Cath Shaw, Deputy Chief Executive, said: “John, myself and the rest of CMT would like to place on record our thanks for the incredible response that you have all shown to COVID-19, and the way in which you have transitioned to remote working so quickly and effectively. We know that continuing to work from home is not easy for everyone but we need to manage a safe and efficient phased return to the office, to ensure that the risk to staff and visitors can be managed as well as possible. Please therefore use the next few weeks to develop a bespoke approach for each service that not only works for our customers but also respects Public Health and council guidelines. We will continue to engage with you over the coming weeks as the situation continues to develop.”
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Focus on… International Youth Day, with the 0-19 Early Help Hub
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The power of volunteering: BOOST volunteering webinar 18 August
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On International Youth Day, there has never been so much emphasis on the contribution children and young people make to our communities, and of course, the unique challenges they have faced since the pandemic began. We've spoken this week to the Traded Service and Programmes, 0-19 Early Help Service, who shared insight on how children and young people have coped during lockdown and how they feel about their future.
Q. There has been a huge national debate around young people being out of school and lockdown impacting on their mental health – what evidence have you seen of this on young people in Barnet?
A. The Voluntary Community Sector (VCS) meeting was held weekly with partners and voluntary sector organisations to ensure collaborative working occurred given the new territory that we were all navigating during the unprecedented issues of lockdown. It was through this meeting that Barnet’s Young People’s Survey was devised and issued in May to gain feedback from young people directly. We received 430 responses from young people.
Q. Which groups do you think have been most affected? And what specific strategies do we have in place to support/help them?
A. The groups of young people that this team specifically engaged with that were most affected were young people from primary school year groups 5 and 6, up to teenagers who have a higher level of awareness and access to the media and social media platforms. The work carried out by the Traded Service and Programmes Team during COVID to build an online presence within a matter of weeks was the biggest strategy for the 0-19 Early Help Service, allowing continued contact and support for children and young people with positive activities outside of the case work contact via the hubs.
Q. Any other patterns on the impact of COVID-19 on young people you have observed?
A. Young people are particularly worried about travelling on public transport and safety with COVID; education at all levels such as online studies, falling behind, grades including exam results and what will happen when they return to school. They are concerned over the health and wellbeing of grandparents and family members throughout the COVID experience; the handling of the situation by the Government and the information shared which was often confusing.
- This year’s theme for International Youth Day is Youth Engagement for Global Action – and this principle has never been more relevant for young people across the world; locally in Barnet young people shared powerful messages on their thoughts on how racism has affected them, inspired by the protests about the death of George Floyd. Four articulate young women, Tani, Dara, Mally and Priscilla (pictured above) each shared powerful video messages, which can be viewed on Yammer here.
For many students in England, exam results day will bring more pressure with it than usual, with the predicted grades system constantly changing. We’ve partnered up with KOOTH, a digital counselling service for young people between ages 11 and 25, to help support young people including those receiving GCSE and A-Level results over the next two weeks. More detail can be found here.
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For many different reasons, people are finding out that they want to make a contribution to the local community and volunteer.
Now you can stop thinking about what volunteering could be like and sign up to a new webinar about the subject.
The challenges bought about by COVID-19 have increased the workload of many local community groups, who have never needed the assistance of volunteers more.
Back in First Team’s 3 June issue, Belinda Puuar talked about how her volunteering experience for the Felix Project helped her when she signed up to work at the Food Supplies Hub at the peak of the COVID crisis.
BOOST and Volunteering Barnet are running a volunteering webinar on August 18 from 2pm- 3pm. The webinar will go into a lot of detail about to register and apply for volunteering roles, how to find the right role as well as the additional skills you’ll gain from choosing to volunteer. A former BOOST client who is now an ardent volunteer in the community will be joining the webinar and if you attend the session, you’ll hear all about his inspiring story.
For staff, the benefits of volunteering can form part of the five ways of improving your wellbeing: connecting, being active, taking notice, learning and giving.
To encourage volunteering, Barnet gives council staff two work days per year that can be used to volunteer with organisations in Barnet.
You can sign up to the BOOST/Volunteering Barnet webinar here.
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Discover Barnet: shop safely, shop local launches on Monday
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New park opens in Brent Cross!
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This Monday we are launching Discover Barnet, our new ‘shop safely, shop local’ campaign. The borough-wide campaign celebrates Barnet’s local businesses, encourages people to return safely to our high streets, rediscover some of their favourite haunts and support Barnet’s local economy.
The campaign tells the stories of seven of our local businesses from seven town centres: Edgware, Burnt Oak, High Barnet, Cricklewood, Golders Green, North Finchley and Finchley Central. It highlights the unique twist that local businesses bring to our high streets and the vital role they play in Barnet’s communities and local economies.
The campaign also reminds everyone of the work Barnet’s business owners have undertaken to ensure their premises are safe and clean for their staff and customers and the public realm changes we have made to keep everyone safe in our town centres.
Discover Barnet is featured in Barnet First magazine, which lands next week, and will be visible throughout the borough on targeted digital advertising as well as extensive out of home advertising over the coming months.
So keep your eyes peeled for the launch on Monday, stay safe and support our local high streets!
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Brent Cross South developers, Argent Related, opened its first new park today as part of the Brent Cross Cricklewood regeneration project, which will see 40 acres of playing fields enhanced alongside many new and improved public squares, parks and open spaces.
The Exploratory Park has transformed the site of the former Rosa Freedman Centre and Clarefield Park with slides, swings, a seesaw, spring rockers for under-fives, a climbing pyramid, outdoor table tennis and a games court with basketball hoops. There is also a range of fitness equipment to enable adults to exercise outdoors, and different types of seating for quieter activities.
41 new trees have been planted in the ground, and in pots, for planned relocation to the future Claremont Park, as well as reeds, grasses and seasonal and scented flower planting to bring the area to life.
Karen Mercer, Programme Director for the Brent Cross Cricklewood programme said: "There is a lot of hard work that goes on behind the scenes to get a project like this off the ground but to have the first of many new parks and open spaces open to the public today is really exciting. Now residents can really see the positive impact the Brent Cross Cricklewood project will have in their area and start to enjoy the benefits. Well done to everyone involved in making this happen."
The park will be open from 7am and close at dusk. Read more about this new open space and the Brent Cross Cricklewood regeneration project at TransformingBX.co.uk
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