Welcome to the very first instalment of the West Glamorgan ‘Joint Working Journal’!

This new bulletin aims to complement our quarterly Newsletter, which gives a useful overview of regional events and activities. The Journal will provide a bit more of an insight into the goings-on at our three Steering and Advisory Boards (SABs).

Our Steering and Advisory Boards (SABs)

The SABs meet on rotation every three weeks. Each SAB focuses on two specific regional work programmes, as outlined below:

• SAB1: Communities and Older People’s Programme and the Carers Partnership
• SAB2: Well-being and Learning Disability Programme and the Emotional Well-being and Mental Health Programme
• SAB3: Children and Young People’s Programme and the Neurodiverse Programme.

Our Journal instalments will follow each SAB meeting, so you can expect an update every three weeks or so.

The first SAB of 2024

We kicked off 2024 with a SAB3 meeting on 9^th January. The Neurodiverse Programme was very much in the spotlight as it’s a brand new area of work for West Glamorgan. SAB3 members received their first update on the Programme, which included an overview of the first virtual meeting of the newly established Neurodiverse Board. A face-to-face workshop was also held on 6^th December 2023 to devise a strategic approach to developing positive outcomes.   

The Children and Young People’s Programme (CYP) segment of SAB3 highlighted the positive feedback our region has received from Welsh Government on the NYTH/NEST Framework. You can take a look at our last Newsletter for some background, but we’ve been making significant progress in this area, including getting out and about on World Children’s Day (20^th November 2023) to engage with children and young people on the things that matter to them in relation to their emotional well-being and mental health.

Real stories, real impact!

Did you know that our SAB meetings always feature a digital story? Video case studies are hugely important in setting the tone for meetings and serving as a powerful reminder of the impact of our work on real people’s lives.

‘Anxiety Support Wales’ took centre stage at SAB3 with a short video demonstrating the fantastic work they’ve been doing thanks to Regional Integration Fund (RIF) investment via the West Glamorgan Regional Partnership:

Our Communications and Engagement team are continually linking with projects and groups within our communities to capture the positive outcomes of the partnership’s work, so stay tuned for more videos in future instalments of the Journal.

Welcoming our Volunteer Representatives!

The new year also gave us the opportunity to touch base with our Regional Volunteer Representatives, who will be joining our SABs. Our ‘Volunteer Representative Welcome Event’ was held in Swansea.com Stadium on 12th January and gave volunteers and staff a chance to learn more about each other and the partnership over tea, coffee and some tasty pastries.

We were pleased to see some familiar faces and to welcome some new recruits at our event on 12th January.

The event was a great way to start 2024 – we’ll bring you more on how it went in the next edition of our Newsletter (if you’re not already subscribed to our mailing list, scroll down to the footer of this page and you’ll find the ‘Newsletter Signup’ bar).

That’s all for now – Happy New Year and we’ll be back after the next SAB.