This week I was proud to attend and speak at an event celebrating the work of Knowsley Children’s Centres, and in particular its work to promote volunteering. The event also coincided with the visit of a colleague from Brent Council in London, Councillor Michael Pavey. I will also share some comments about the importance of Social Media and the effective work of Knowsley’s Communications Team.
As a keen support of our Children’s Centres and as Cabinet Member for Children’s Services I have been pushing officers for the last 18 months to hold an event that celebrates their work. Many of you will know all of our Children’s Centre ‘groups’ (Kirkby, Huyton, Halewood and Prescot & Whiston) were inspected by OfSTED by the end of 2014 with each achieving judgements of ‘Good’ or ‘Outstanding’. Taken collectively, the OfSTED judgements for our Children’s Centres are among the best in England. This is something that fills us with pride in Knowsley Council and is something I have sought to highlight at any opportunity in my Cabinet role. Finally, on March 3rd at New Hutte Neighbourhood Centre in Halewood, I was given the chance to meet with staff, volunteers and Advisory Board members from across Knowsley Children’s Centres and share my pride in their work.
The focus of the event was volunteering in Children’s Centres. In my previous blogs I have shared my views and experiences of the importance of volunteering and the impact Children’s Centres in particular have in transforming the lives of Knowsley residents with this important work. As an example, in the period April 2015 to March 2016, 21 of the people who have volunteered in Knowsley Children’s Centres have already moved onto employment. Many others are improving their employability and self-confidence through training or accredited courses. At the event I heard first-hand from volunteers across Knowsley about their experiences and the transformative impact of Children’s Centres. Perhaps most moving was the short video from Roisin in Kirkby who spoke so eloquently about the turnaround in her life.
I was delighted to accompany Councillor Pavey from Brent on his visit to Knowsley this week. Councillor Pavey and I have come to know each other through our interest in the work of Children’s Centres. Michael is the national Chair of ‘Friends of Labour Sure Start’ and, in his own words, sees the group as mechanism for ‘defending’ the status and role of Children’s Centres as it comes under pressure from Local Authority cuts. Michael has also been interested in the work we have been undertaking in Knowsley to look at alternative delivery models for some of our services as a way of trying to ensure quality and continuation of provision whilst dealing with the need to make savings. On Thursday I also took him to visit one of our Leisure Centres and listen to the work we are doing to convert this into a separately managed company called ‘Volair’. We were also able to talk at length with Michael about the work currently underway to develop a sustainable future for our Children’s Centres. I know he thoroughly enjoyed his time with us on Thursday and took inspiration from his visit to Knowsley that he will take back to his own local authority (Brent) but also the many others he is trying to support. Michael’s tweet on his journey back to London best summarises his experience:
I also want to commend the work of the Communications Team in Knowsley Council. The Children’s Centre event this week was yet another example of the highly effective and sharp media responses we enjoy as Leaders in Knowsley Council. Gemma Melling from The Communications team was present at the event and tweeting live throughout. There were also some very useful videos and images taken by Gemma. Our Communications Team are responsible for all aspects of the messages coming out of Knowsley Council – from responding to Social Media enquiries, managing the Facebook/Twitter feeds to the production of press releases and other media responses. The modern world is very complex with regards to media and communications, we are lucky in Knowsley to have such an effective team.
Many of you know I am a keen advocate and user of social media as a way of communicating with voters, all residents, and younger residents in particular. Twitter and Facebook are particularly useful for making politicians like me more accessible to the people of Knowsley and allowing us to communicate about our work, council activities and the delivery of key messages. What I have also found is that Social Media allows me to follow so many of the great activities, and the work of people and organisations across Knowsley. It is impossible to attend every event held at a school, youth centre, Children’s Centre or organised by voluntary or community sector organisations. The stories and photographs that are shared on Social Media feeds are, however, a fantastic way experiencing some of the joys and achievements of Knowsley’s children and families. I read everything on my timelines and try to ‘like’ or ‘retweet’ as much as possible. Please keep them coming!
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