Improvement work to Leamington Spa Station is right on track

The renewal and refurbishment of the station entrance and pedestrian underpass will promote active travel and sustainable transport options, making it easier for train users to start and complete their journey on foot, cycle or by bus and taxi.

The improvements being made to the station forecourt and underpass include:

• An upgraded pedestrian underpass with energy-efficient lighting, fresh paintwork and the installation of new artwork.
• Enlarged and upgraded public spaces and new seating areas.
• Better links within the station forecourt area for pedestrians and cyclists.
• Resurfacing and renewal of the station forecourt car park.
• Improved bus connectivity, with dedicated bus bays and widened access to bus stops on Old Warwick Road.

Ofsted found that WCC social workers listen carefully to children and make sure that children’s views inform decision-making. Social workers were found to be building stronger, more trusting relationships with families, giving parents confidence to develop their parenting skills.

The National Fire Chief’s Council role is to ensure that each service is supported to make decisions on how to respond to the challenges of climate change. As one of the two newly appointed Environment, Sustainability and Climate Change leads, Warwickshire Fire & Rescue Service’s Chief Fire Officer Ben Brook is involved in developing a toolkit which will provide a range of data and information to each fire and rescue service across the county and give them ways to evaluate the environmental impact of their activity.

A new Workplace Wellbeing Forum that aims to help local businesses improve the health and wellbeing support they offer to their employees has been launched by Warwickshire County Council and Coventry City Council.

The Forum is being offered as part of the Coventry and Warwickshire Wellbeing for Life programme which aims to encourage people to take a more proactive approach to looking after their own wellbeing and to raise the profile of local prevention opportunities. Most of us spend a lot of time at work, and as the global health pandemic has forced employee wellbeing into focus for many organisations, it is more important than ever that we work with local employers to help them create a positive culture where people’s health and wellbeing is nurtured.

The Workplace Wellbeing Forum will help to do this by providing a place for local employers to network and access resources that will support them to develop improved wellbeing practices. We recognise there are many challenges different organisations will face when trying to implement changes to health and wellbeing policies, so the Forum will also provide an opportunity to share best practice, as well as challenges, hopefully finding ways to overcome these.

To launch the Forum, representatives of local businesses are invited to attend a free event on Tuesday 29 March 2022, 1pm to 4.30pm at Coventry Rugby Club. The varied programme will include a thought-provoking session on resilience and mental wellbeing, and how experiences from elite football can link to a business context, from a high-profile League Managers Association football manager.

Other guest speakers will provide ideas for ways to develop the wellbeing offer for employees and there will be an opportunity to pick up more information and talk to local health and wellbeing service providers. Attendees will also be able to enjoy a complimentary buffet lunch.

For more information about the event, guest speakers and to book your place please visit the Eventbrite page: https://www.eventbrite.co.uk/e/coventry-warwickshire-workplace-wellbeing-forum-registration-256726063567

Warwickshire Libraries are open this half-term with plenty of great children’s activities including Adventures in Storytelling

The fun activities range from interactive ‘Adventures in Storytelling’ and getting hands on in Lego Club, to enjoying reading through the Book Bears scheme and taking part in Stories and Dragons sessions.

The programme which involves 34 secondary schools from across the county has been commissioned by Warwickshire County Council and delivered by the charity Grit Breakthrough Programmes. As part of the programme students taking part were linked with a Grit trained life coach from the local community who met with their students fortnightly for up to six months. The project, which also included a five-day intensive personal development workshop, supported young people to radically change their thinking by transforming the negative and destructive beliefs and opinions they have about themselves and their lives.

Sustainability and Environmental recognition for Warwickshire County Council

Warwickshire County Council (WCC) have been rated amongst the top local authorities for sustainability by the West Midland’s Local Authority Sustainability Benchmark. Published on behalf of the Environment Agency, the benchmark looks at actions taken in detail across the sustainability agenda. Overall, WCC were awarded a score of 62% and ranked 7th of the 21 regional authorities that took part.