Community Wellbeing Theme
Purpose - Working together to enhance the quality of everyday life across Aberdeenshire b
y improving health and social care, housing and community safety.
Scope - The Community Wellbeing Theme Forum brings together representatives from several specialist groups working in the key theme areas. The group works to ensure an integrated approach to identified key strategic objectives within the topic area and to facilitate and promote joint planning and resourcing.
Membership – Core members of the Forum include representatives from Aberdeenshire Council, Grampian Police, NHS Grampian, Communities Scotland, Grampian Fire and Rescue Service and other agencies involved in this area of work.
Objectives
- to improve health & social care and reduce health inequalities
- to create attractive communities
- to improve the quality of housing, including the use of targeted regeneration initiatives and measures to reduce the number of households who live in fuel poverty
- to increase the supply of affordable housing to meet the range of identified housing and support needs
- to promote community safety and tackle anti-social behaviour
Related Major Strategies
- Grampian Health Plan
- Aberdeenshire Joint Health Improvement Plan
- Aberdeenshire Housing Strategy
- Health and Homelessness Strategy
- Joint Futures
- Children’s Services Plan
- Aberdeenshire Community Safety Partnership Strategy
- Aberdeenshire Antisocial Behaviour Strategy
- Sport 21
- Aberdeenshire Sports and Active Lifestyles Strategy
Indicators
- Health indicators:
- Smoking during pregnancy
- Increased local access to diagnostic and treatment services within Aberdeenshire
- Measure of improved mental health to be determined
- Housing indicators:
- The number of homes improved/modernised to be fit for purpose (affordable and private sector housing)
- The number of affordable homes provided
- Community Safety indicators:
- Number of acts of vandalism reported
- Number of road accidents
Number of alcohol and drug-related offences
Community Wardens – Good Practice Example
A community warden service was set up in Aberdeenshire by the Community Safety Partnership in 2004. The wardens are employed in the towns of Peterhead and Fraserburgh. The aim of the service is to promote community safety and reduce crime and antisocial behaviour whilst impacting positively on environmental issues.
The wardens attend residents association meetings and work to help steer youngsters away from crime and get them involved in other, mainly sport-related, activities. This has been identified as being highly important and of paramount significance in the fight against vandalism, general youth annoyance and antisocial behaviour. Feedback from a recent survey has shown that they are viewed positively in the towns. In March 2005, the Peterhead and Fraserburgh community wardens received a commendation from the Aberdeenshire Community Safety Partnership in recognition of their “outstanding performance and contribution to community safety”.
Fire Service and Care and Repair – Good Practice Example
Grampian Fire and Rescue Service and Aberdeenshire Care and Repair formed a partnership in August 2005. Aberdeenshire Care and Repair is a charity that provides free advice and technical assistance for home repairs and improvements for older people and people with disabilities who are owner occupiers or tenants of private landlords.
Care and Repair’s home visitors have been trained by the Fire Service in home fire safety. They assess the fire safety risk for their clients, provide advice and, where necessary, refer them on to the Fire Service if more specialist advice is required. Similarly there is the facility for Grampian Fire and Rescue Service in Aberdeenshire to refer on people who may benefit from the services of Care and Repair. In addition Care and Repair will arrange for the fitting of smoke alarms where required. These alarms are provided by Grampian Fire and Rescue Service using funding provided by the Scottish Executive.
This partnership enables these organisations to get the fire safety message to people who by their circumstances are both difficult to reach and particularly vulnerable to fire.
