Falkirk IJB Third Sector Representative 2022: Voting Closes

The Role of the IJB Third Sector Representative

The role of the third sector representative on the IJB involves effectively working alongside other Members of the IJB and Officers in a collaborative manner. Members establish effective working relationships with other planning and delivery organisations that work within the remit of health and social care; strong relationships with other organisations is key to ensuring that the Partnership gets the most out of the resources available. As a Member for the third sector, they will provide leadership, make decisions, scrutinise performance and represent the views of the sector.

They will also provide feedback to the sector about the activity of the IJB. CVS Falkirk’s Health and Wellbeing Forum provides a space for this feedback to happen, and for the representative to listen to the needs and views of third sector colleagues, enabling full and effective representation.

The Role of the Named Substitute

All Members of the Board can have a named substitute who plays an important role in the functioning of the IJB. This means that if the lead representative is unable to attend a meeting of the Board, their named substitute can attend in their place to ensure that the voice of the third sector is continuously heard at IJB meetings. Additionally, there may be opportunities for substitutes to shadow the lead representative at Board meetings. If a vacancy for a lead representative role becomes available, substitutes can still nominate themselves for consideration – in fact many substitutes have gone on to become lead representatives.

The role of substitute will be offered to the other candidates in the order of the next highest vote.

• Name: Derek Allison
• Organisation: Falkirk Foundation
• Role: CEO
• Personal Summary:

I am currently the Chief Executive Officer for the charity Falkirk Football Community Foundation and have been in the post for the last 16 months. Before that, I worked for 5 and a half years as Operations Manager of the SPFL Trust, working with the 42 charitable organisations connected with the football clubs all across Scotland. Preceding that I worked as a Police Officer before retiring after 25 years of service across various regions of Scotland and in London.

My current role has me very much involved in the delivery of community-based health interventions in which we use the power of football as the hook to involvement. I firmly believe that partnership working is key to the services that we all provide for the benefit of our communities. There is so much great work getting done across the area and I believe that working together will go a long way to improving the lives of our service users. We need a collective approach to delivery to look at ways in which we can tackle the issues that we are facing and will face.

The Falkirk Foundation is very much at the heart of our community and is involved in addressing many of the issues our communities experience. The work that the Foundation is doing covers 4 main areas as highlighted in our new strategy: Football Participation, Mental Health and well-being, Physical Health and well-being, and with us being an SQA centre, Employability and Education.

I am interested in being a representative on the Integration Joint Board as I believe I would bring a wealth of experience in work across many sectors that deliver Health and Social Care initiatives. I also have experience in working with the NHS National Health Leads for Scotland on national programmes which I believe would add to my contribution. There must be third sector representation on these Boards to ensure that the concerns, challenges, and great work being done in our areas are being acknowledged and discussed. Over the years of working in communities and the third sector, I have a wealth of experience and skills involved to represent the very important third sector in the Falkirk area. One of the most important skills I have developed is communication and the ability to listen. I would work hard to ensure that the views of all the third sector organisations are fully represented.

• Name: Ian Dickson
• Organisation: FDAMH
• Role: CEO
• Personal Summary:

I have held the position of Chief Executive Officer (CEO) within Falkirk’s Mental Health Association (FDAMH) since April 2021, having previously undertaken the role of Operations Manager within the organisation.

I have a strong background in senior leadership across the Private and Third Sector with an ongoing passion for the delivery of outstanding service, within positive, inspiring working cultures.  My personal values of Integrity, Respect and Compassion underpin my own behaviours and drive the culture of our workplace.

I have an acute understanding of the challenges within the wider Third Sector and have been working hard to contribute to improving the perception and standing of the sector externally.  The Pandemic demonstrated the importance of the Third Sector to the community, where our innovation, versatility and prompt action enabled us to rise to the situation quickly without the burden of bureaucracy and barriers, which can often be a challenge associated with the Statutory Sector.

I am currently a member of the Falkirk CPP Mental Health Planning Group, where I represent the Third Sector within the provision of Mental Health services in Falkirk.  If elected to represent the sector on the IJB Board, I would commit to extending this work beyond Mental Health, providing a committed and professional voice that represents all Third Sector organisations working within Health and Social Care in Falkirk.

I believe that the Third Sector in Falkirk is fortunate to have many dedicated, motivated professionals delivering invaluable services to the community and would be delighted to represent you and ensure that we are recognised as a vital part of the Whole Systems Approach to Health & Social Care in Falkirk.

We all share similar challenges, whether that be securing funding, recruiting and retaining good people or getting proper recognition of our impact, all whilst managing what are often multidisciplinary, complex organisations.  A particular focus for me is to champion the benefits of longer-term funding to enable Third Sector organisations to plan and forecast projects and staffing.  Less time worrying about next year’s funding and more time focusing on delivering for our communities!

• Name: Lorraine Love
• Organisation: Royal Voluntary Service
• Role: Service Manager
• Personal Summary:

Mainly my working career has been in insurance and banking, my last position was in wealth management private banking in the Channel Islands, specialising in operational risk and control and fraud prevention.  I was a member of their banking committee attending regular board meetings.  I volunteered locally as treasurer for the local youth group and volunteered in the local home for the elderly supporting their activity co-ordinator.

Returning to Scotland in 2017, I wanted to support my local community and became a volunteer for the Royal Voluntary Service at FVRH café, Newsline and Strathcarron as a Compassionate Neighbour.  I loved this as it gave me the opportunity to make a real difference and give something back.

In November 2020, I was diagnosed with cancer and was cared for by Glasgow Royal, I had 2 successful surgeries to fully remove this with no further treatment other than 3 monthly CT scans and consultant appointments and so far, so good.  However, this experience as a patient opened my eyes to the severe challenges the NHS and patients were facing (it was a lonely journey because of Covid) and still are, I experienced the best and the worst of the NHS during this time.  I also used this experience to support others in the same position and my journey was used by Cancer UK and Sarcoma UK.  I actively support groups on Facebook helping others with a similar diagnosis.

Through volunteering with the Royal Voluntary Service they offered me a salaried position in December 2020 working 25 hours a week as a service co-ordinator for their Supporting Your Recovery service.  I began working for them on 1st February 2021 and earlier this year became Service Manager for the Forth Valley area.

My voluntary work, patient experience and role with R.V.S. opened my eyes to the on-going issues and challenges experienced in the community by our clients (mostly elderly), social services, carers and the NHS.  I feel passionately about doing our very best by understanding and prioritising these challenges and working collaboratively to resolve them.  I can do this by having a voice at the IJB as it provides the opportunity to make sure the issues within our community that I am aware of are voiced, highlighted and addressed.