The Orkney Partnership

The Orkney Partnership Board and Skills Development Scotland (SDS) have signed a charter to improve collaboration and enhance the learning, training and upskilling opportunities for people and businesses across the Islands.

***New agreement to boost Orkney’s economic recovery from COVID-19***

(Lorraine) A new agreement has been reached to put skills and training at the heart of Orkney’s recovery from the pandemic.
The Orkney Partnership Board and Skills Development Scotland (SDS) have signed a charter to improve collaboration and enhance the learning, training and upskilling opportunities for people and businesses across the Islands.
Launched at a virtual event on 25 October, the Orkney Partnership SDS Charter focuses on the needs of employers to access skilled talent, and ensure that people have clear, accessible, and appropriate routes into employment with opportunities to grow and develop their skills.
Amongst the measures outlined in the Charter, is a commitment to develop detailed labour market evidence to understand the economic impact of Covid-19. This will also help maximise the benefits from the move to net-zero and the opportunities that the Islands Deal will provide for the workforce and economy.
The Orkney Skills Assessment suggests there will be around 2,600 replacement jobs in the Orkney workforce between now and 2030, with factors including the ageing workforce contributing towards the figure.
In a bid to encourage young people to remain on, or return to Orkney for employment and to attract new talent, there’s a pledge to support the Scottish Government’s Young Person’s Guarantee - including a commitment to increase Foundation, Modern and Graduate Apprenticeship programmes.
Seonag Campbell, Islands Service Development and Delivery Manager at Skills Development Scotland, said:
“As we look to life beyond the pandemic and recover from its impact, there’s even greater need for SDS and the Orkney Partnership Board to work collectively to meet the needs of individuals and businesses, and that support is coordinated well and being delivered effectively.
“The new Orkney Partnership Board and SDS Charter goes a long way to meeting this aim and will be essential in guiding how we strengthen the level of careers information and guidance, the funding of apprenticeship programmes, attracting investment opportunities and upskilling/reskilling the current workforce.
“Most significantly, the Charter will also ensure that the delivery of education and skills services meets the unique economic needs of the communities in the Orkney Isles.”
The Charter was signed today during a virtual event by Councillor James Stockan, Chair of the Orkney Partnership Board and Damien Yeates, Chief Executive of Skills Development Scotland.
Cllr Stockan said:
“We really welcome the Charter which comes at a crucial time and will help plan and provide career opportunities for Orkney’s traditional sectors as well as support growth and investment in the skills required for a green economy.
“It is essential that we ‘future proof’ the workforce and have confidence that education, skills, and training provision are available to deliver the best outcomes for all.
“In addition, the value of true partnership working to tackle the skills and workforce challenges will maximise an effective response to the ongoing challenges and ensure a unified approach in the offer to the current and future workforce.”
The Charter was also welcomed by Glen McLellan, General Manager of NOV and Chair of the Orkney Economic Recovery Group.
He said: “The Orkney Partnership SDS Charter is a hugely important initiative, which comes at a critical time for businesses as well as for young people and adults looking for jobs.
“Both the economic and jobs landscapes have changed dramatically in the last 12 – 18 months and now more than ever, we need to build the skills base in Orkney to ensure that we can build back our economy better.”
“I am very confident that the Charter will help to increase the size of the local skilled workforce needed to meet the projected demand through their partnership approach working with key stakeholders including local businesses.”

Pictured: James Stockan signing the agreement.

🆕 We're hosting a series of online discussion groups in the first week of COP26 – aimed at bringing the community together to lead the fight against climate change.

‘COP in the Community’ will focus in on four key themes around climate change in Orkney – nature, energy transition, transport and adaptation.

The four webinars, held between 7pm and 8pm from 1 – 4 November, will feature key speakers from across the climate change sector in Orkney and will give people the opportunity to hear more about projects that are happening locally, ask questions and discuss key issues in more depth as a group.



Read more here - https://www.orkney.gov.uk/News?postid=4612

Here's a great opportunity to get involved and help The Orkney Partnership deliver on plans for the future. Apply now by clicking the link below:

Community Planning Business Manager - | Orkney Islands Council | myjobscotland View details and apply for this Senior Administration Assistant job in Kirkwall with Orkney Islands Council on myjobscotland

Do you live or own property in a flood risk area? Would you like to know how to help make your property flood resilient? Don't miss out on a free community engagement event coming to Orkney

(Becks) You can now order free period products - provided freely and funded by the Scottish Government - online and direct to your door.

Online orders can be placed through the Orkney Islands Council 'MyOrkney' website.

The range available includes reusable products such as washable sanitary pads and menstrual cups.

It's hoped this new online option being piloted on the Council website will make it even easier for people to obtain the free period products they’re entitled to - especially for those who find it harder to get to public buildings where free products are already available.

The pilot was devised by the Orkney Partnership and being delivered by the Council as a key community planning partner.

Our dedicated 'freeperiod' page also features a map of public places in Orkney where free period products are available. This includes all council run public toilets, both gents, ladies and unisex toilets, to enable anyone to pick up products for someone else.

Free period products can also be picked up from all local schools, school nurses, health visitors and the Orkney Food Bank, and on board the county’s internal ferry services.

To find out more, read our full press release - see Comments section below 👇

Do you live on one of the non-linked isles?

The Island Wellbeing Project have launched a survey to understand the wellbeing and needs of residents, and to inform the future direction of the project. The survey is completely anonymous and only takes ten minutes.

Find out more: https://www.islandwellbeing.org/survey?fbclid=IwAR0MJEidNTlCdpkqUajyxOc-E9xwyM4JbYSgxI_ZWaDlb-9W0Q-rKO5Yx8A

Are you interested in hearing what folk have said about life in your community? Are you keen to help us find solutions to the big issues?

Why not come along to our Feedback Session for a first look at the results for your local area? This will be your chance to tell us if anything has been missed. You can then help us to prioritise the key issues that matter most to your community and share with us how you think these should be addressed!

The Feedback Session will be held via zoom from 7-8:30pm on Wednesday 5th May.

To register please contact: [email protected] and we will send you a link to the Zoom meeting.

We want to keep community voices at the forefront of solutions and decision making and would encourage everyone of all ages to come along!

Let us know what you think we should be working on in the coming year. Complete our short survey at www.smartsurvey.co.uk/s/OPB2021

You can read more about the survey and the partnership on our website at www.orkneycommunities.co.uk/communityplanning

The Orkney Partnership updated their business hours.

** Programme Manager sought to drive Orkney's ASPIRE vision for economic recovery **

(Becks) A dedicated post to coordinate the ‘ASPIRE’ vision for Orkney’s economic recovery is being advertised this week.

The ASPIRE Programme Manager post will be pivotal in ensuring local economic recovery work is connected up, efficient, moving at pace and making a measurable difference to Orkney’s community.

The ASPIRE vision was born out of the challenges of the onset of the COVID-19, and holds that to recover from the pandemic, and build a better future, Orkney must aspire to be:
🔹Ambitious
🔹Sustainable
🔹Prosperous
🔹Inclusive
🔹Resilient
🔹Enterprising

The vision was devised by the Economic Recovery Steering Group (ERSG) - a short life working group sitting under The Orkney Partnership and formed to create robust and responsive, rapid joint working between the Orkney Islands Council, Highlands and Islands Enterprise (HIE), and the Orkney business community.

Chair of the Economic Recovery Steering Group and of Aspire Orkney Ltd, Glen McLellan, said: “We’re looking for someone with a track record of collaborative working in complex, multi-stakeholder programmes, who can work well with people across our business community and navigate the complexities of partnership working.

"So we’re looking for strong leadership skills, the ability to take ownership, drive delivery and innovate."

The position of Programme Manager with Aspire Orkney Ltd is being offered on a 2-year full time, fixed term contract or self-employed contract basis, with remuneration of up to £45,000 per annum. The role is Orkney-based and therefore local experience and understanding are preferable. Applications from those looking for employment or self-employment are welcomed.

For further information about Aspire Orkney and to download an application pack and form, please visit the Aspire Orkney website >> https://www.aspireorkney.com/recruitment

Read more in our press release: https://www.orkney.gov.uk/OIC-News/Orkneys-ASPIRE-vision-for-economic-recovery-seeks-programme-manager.htm

We are pleased to share our annual report for 2019-20. This report contains information on who is involved in the Partnership and how we aim to achieve our vision of “Working together for a better Orkney”. It also contains an update on our recent activities and a look back at our first ever community plan from 2003, entitled Orkney 2020.

the-orkney-partnership-annual-report-2019-20 Welcome to The Orkney Partnership’s Annual Report for 2019 to 2020. Community planning comes very naturally to our small community as there has always been a culture of pulling together when needed. The future holds many uncertainties for all of us and some challenges to be overcome. Often there i...

Here is a great initiative supported by our Economic Recovery Steering Group as part of the ASPIRE Orkney vision and action plan.

(Becks) As heard on Radio Orkney this morning:

Orkney businesses of all sizes and sectors are being urged to come forward with potential work placements for local young people, to help secure thirty **paid-for** positions for the county.

Working in partnership, the Orkney Economic Recovery Steering Group, Orkney Construction Training Group and Orkney Islands Council plan to submit a joint bid to the UK Government’s ‘Kickstart’ scheme - a £2 billion fund aimed at creating hundreds of thousands of high-quality work placements for young people aged 16 to 24 who are on Universal Credit and at risk of becoming long-term unemployed.

Kerry Spence, Community Learning and Development Manager for the Council, says long term unemployment among young people is on the rise and has a huge impact on their confidence and their future prospects: “It’s something as a community we must tackle head on in the wake of the pandemic.”

“The UK Government’s Kickstart scheme is a fantastic opportunity for Orkney’s young people and for local employers. The scheme is looking for bids made up of 30 or more job placements – obviously in Orkney we’re best joining forces as employers big and small to achieve this number of placements.”

An Expression of Interest form has been launched for any interested employers. Here’s a link straight to it: https://www.smartsurvey.co.uk/s/Kickstartschemeorkney/

Glen McLellan is chair of the Orkney Economic Recovery Steering Group (ERSG) – comprising local business people, local councillors, and OIC and HIE officials working to facilitate a rapid and effective response to economic challenges posed by the pandemic.

“Early on in the pandemic the ERSG developed a vision called ASPIRE which builds on the premise that to recover from the pandemic, and build a better future, Orkney must aspire to be Ambitious, Sustainable, Prosperous, Inclusive, Resilient and Enterprising.

“This vision was drawn up with the input of local businesses. We are now calling on them to help us, under the ASPIRE banner, to make sure our young people are included in that vision.”

You can listen again to Glen and Kerry's interview on Radio Orkney here (it starts at the 25 minute mark) https://www.mixcloud.com/radioorkney/around-orkney-tuesday-19th-january-2021

To find out more about the Kickstart bid for Orkney:

👉Visit www.orkney.gov.uk/kickstart
👉Visit www.aspireorkney.com
👉Read our press release: https://www.orkney.gov.uk/OIC-News/Businesses-urged-to-join-bid-for-Kickstart-paid-work-placements-for-young-people.htm

Great news for our Economic Recovery Steering Group! This will really help to deliver the vision for recovery that they have worked so hard on in the past few weeks and months. We look forward to sharing more about that in the near future.

Councillors back “visionary” plan for Orkney’s economic recovery Councillors back “visionary” plan for Orkney’s economic recovery.

The Orkney Partnership updated their website address.

Read our latest Orkney Partnership Newsletter to find out how we are planning for recovery from the Covid-19 pandemic - https://bit.ly/3im31a1