News

Scottish Ministers are looking to make appointments of up to 5 Lay and 2 Legal Members to Judicial Appointments Board for Scotland. Ministers particularly welcome applications from groups currently under-represented on the boards of Public Bodies. Remuneration is £296 per day, for up to 40 days per year (with around 7 Board meetings each year). The deadline for applications is 5pm on Wednesday 22nd February.

To support groups and organisations through using the Online PVG Application Request Form, Volunteer Scotland has brought back their online drop-in sessions on Mondays, 12pm – 1pm, and Thursdays, 1pm – 2pm. The next session will take place on Monday 20th February.

There’s now just over THREE WEEKS until Falkirk Funders Fayre 2023 (taking place on Tuesday 7th March at the Bowhouse Community Centre, 130 Bowhouse Road, Grangemouth, FK3 0EU, from 10am), and this week, we’ve been focusing on talking about why you should book your FREE place in advance.

Scottish Government has opened 2 surveys around adult mental health services in Scotland: National Specification for the delivery of psychological therapies and interventions in Scotland; Quality Standards for Adult Secondary Mental Health Services. Both surveys will be used in creating final national documents and practices. The deadline for responses to both surveys is Friday 17th March.

Scottish Government’s Digital Health and Care Directorate is working on a new programme, delivered in partnership with the Scottish Council for Voluntary Organisations (SCVO), focusing on digital inclusion in mental health and housing. They are holding 2 stakeholder events, taking place 1pm – 3pm on Wednesday 1st March (mental health focus) and Thursday 2nd March (housing focus.

Scottish Government has published the National Carers Strategy, which aims to recognise the contribution and dedication of unpaid carers in Scotland. The strategy sets out a range of actions across 5 different areas to support unpaid carers, including actions around COVID-19 recovery, the current cost of living crisis, and how carer support can be improved.

Parent Club has launched a new national campaign regarding Child Online Safety. The campaign aims to increase awareness of the importance of online safety to parents, families and carers of children aged 8 – 11 years old, and provides advice on how to check and monitor their child’s online activity.

Link Academy’s next employability course, the SCQF Level 4 Employability Award, begins on Thursday 2nd March, running every Thursday and Friday for 9 weeks, 10am – 3pm. The course will take place in-person at the Academy itself, and is open to people aged 16 years old and over, who live in Falkirk, and are looking to develop employability skills.

Falkirk’s Child Protection Committee will deliver a series of GIRFEC multi-agency practice learning sessions in March 2023 for all front-line staff who undertake assessments of need with children and young people, taking place in-person on: Monday 20th March: 9:30am – 12pm, and 1:30pm – 4pm; Tuesday 23rd March: 9:30am – 12pm, 12:30pm – 3pm, and 3:30pm – 6pm.

The Rainbow Muslim Women Group is holding a fundraiser TOMORROW, Saturday 18th February, 12pm – 5pm, with all proceeds going towards earthquake relief work in Turkey and Syria. The event will take place at the Howgate Shopping Centre, High Street, Falkirk, FK1 1HG.