This week’s leadership message comes from Tom Riordan CBE, Chief Executive of Leeds City Council

Hello, my name is Tom.

I have the pleasure of writing to you at what feels like a significant milestone in the long journey we’ve all been on over the past year. On Monday our city and local centres welcomed back visitors as shops, gyms and hairdressers opened their doors for the first time in many months, and we can now enjoy some al-fresco dining at pubs, cafes and restaurants (British weather permitting!). The longer days and signs of spring are welcome after a long winter of staying home and missing out on doing the things, and seeing the people, that we love. I hope everyone is able to get back to some of these things over the coming weeks, while staying safe and keeping it outdoors.

Although restrictions are being eased there are still lots of people across our region who need support, from those who are clinically vulnerable and perhaps anxious about getting out more, to people who need to self-isolate. Local authorities have been at the centre of coordinating support for people and businesses- everything from packing and delivering food parcels, paying out grants to local businesses, preventing and managing outbreaks, doing local contact tracing, supporting homeless people into emergency accommodation (and then longer term accommodation), and making sure all communities have access to vaccination.

Beyond what we do as a local council, it is often others in the community who step up to help people who need it. We saw this happen really quickly at the start of the pandemic, when windows were filled with rainbows and people rallied round to support their neighbours in what felt like a really surreal experience. But even as Covid became a way of life, the support for others has steadfastly continued, usually without fuss or fanfare. In Leeds, around 2000 Community Care Volunteers have been delivering food parcels, doing shopping and collecting medicines for others, including some of the 70,000 people in our city who were advised to shield at some point. On top of this, countless others are helping their friends, families and neighbours in everyday acts of kindness outside of any formal role. I know this picture is reflected across our region.

In Leeds we try to take an asset-based approach to working with our communities. This means believing that, given the tools and the opportunity, small groups of residents can change the things they think need changing in their community, and recognising that they’re best placed to do this. Covid has certainly brought this approach into its own. As people spent more time in their local areas, the neighbourhood has become more important for many of us, and this has led to some great innovative ideas springing up at the street level, from afternoon teas and coffee mornings, mini libraries and bike-sharing schemes, to dance classes and craft workshops and even a socially distanced car park disco! Communities have created iPad loan schemes and taught people how to use video calls to stay in touch with their friends and families. When an elderly lady asked to talk to a mother and daughter in a park, they hatched the idea of a socially distanced ‘natter bench’, which is now in place with its own plaque inviting people to take a seat and have a chat.

As a local authority our role is to do what we can to help build strong communities where these wonderful grassroots solutions can flourish. Some of the ways we’re doing this include building an asset-based approach to working across the council, strengthening its role in commissioning, and developing small and micro grants aimed at grassroots organisations with good ideas. The potential of asset-based approaches is increasingly recognised across the health and care system, and some exciting work is being developed through Local Care Partnerships to use health funding to support community building. This should help to facilitate a shift of resources, power and decision-making towards local places.

This asset-based approach to working with communities is closely linked to how we deliver social work and social care services. We call this a strengths-based approach, which means that we seek to understand a person’s strengths and capabilities, and how the resources available to them in their communities can support them to live a good, independent life. The approach is rooted in conversations, so we set up pop-up Talking Points to bring social workers to community settings. Covid has made a strengths-based approach more challenging as face to face contact in community settings had to cease. However, social work has continued throughout the pandemic, with essential visits and Mental Health Act work continuing in person. On top of this, social care colleagues have found novel ways to deliver services and keep people connected, including video calls with people and families to discuss their care needs, and using Whatsapp to keep in touch with young adults with learning disabilities. For those without access to devices, an iPad loan scheme from libraries has given people an opportunity to keep in touch with loved ones- in our area, social isolation is one of the main reasons people contact adult social care services. But not all solutions have been digital- one social worker helped to support a young person transition to adult services by meeting with her in a park to do craft activities from a picnic blanket. 

As is the picture across all health and care services, the coming months will be about finding a balance between the new solutions tested out during lockdown that have worked well, while bringing back the valuable face to face contact that is so important for wellbeing and building relationships. When it’s safe to do so social workers will be able to re-connect with the community resources in their patches and link in with new community groups that have formed during the pandemic.

In a similar way, colleagues working with children and young people have found ways to stay connected, always guided by our commitment to restorative practice- that is, working with children and young people rather than doing things to or for them. The impacts of the pandemic on young people is a cause for concern- a recent national study by Young Minds found that two-thirds of young people surveyed believed that the pandemic will have a long-term negative impact on their mental health. Locally, we’ve seen a mixed picture, with about half of children who took part in a pupil wellbeing survey reporting no change to their mental health. For around a quarter their mental health has improved, and for another quarter it has worsened. Young people with Special Educational Needs and Disabilities (SEND) have reported feeling concerned about what is ahead, and a fear of losing loved ones. This shows how important it is to understand the issues directly, and our Voice, Influence & Change team have been working with young people to make sure their experiences are heard in decision-making processes, including through directly contributing to board meetings.

Some of the ways young people have continued to be supported during the pandemic include resources and activities shared over social media and the Child Friendly Leeds blog, with outdoor activities taking place when restrictions have allowed. During Easter, 23 families took part in a socially-distanced outdoor Easter egg trail. As ever, it has often been the broader community that has rallied around, like our community of Child Friendly Leeds business ambassadors who contributed 2550 Christmas gifts and 1500 Easter gifts for children and young people. While there is still a lot of uncertainty around larger events, there will hopefully be more activities in person over the course of the year. Luckily we’re very adept now at doing big events virtually! Hopefully the annual Child Friendly Leeds Awards will be back in 2022, which celebrates the children, young people, adults, organisations and places that are helping to make Leeds a child friendly city.

Coretta Scott King once said that “the greatness of a community is most accurately measured by the compassionate actions of its members” and I think during Covid we’ve seen how individual kindness is really the bedrock of strong communities that look out for each other. Across West Yorkshire and Harrogate, colleagues are doing fantastic work to help people and communities to have the resources they need to come together to get through life’s biggest challenges.

This week has been particularly important for many communities with the start of the month of Ramadan on Monday and Vaisakhi on Tuesday. This year once again families and communities will have to change how they get together but I hope that next year will be different. Ramadan Mubarak and Happy Vaisakhi.

Finally, everyone will be aware of the sad news about the passing of HRH the Duke of Edinburgh last week, and the Royal Funeral which will take place on Saturday. The Royal Family has asked people not to gather or leave floral tributes at this time, instead inviting people to sign an online book of condolences or make a charitable donation.

Have a nice weekend and stay safe.
Tom