A NEW approach to public service delivery has launched this week.

Piloting in north Ayr, between February 19 and February 23, South Ayrshire Council and partners including NHS Ayrshire & Arran, South Ayrshire Health and Social Care Partnership, Police Scotland, Scottish Fire and Rescue and the voluntary sector are coming together to deliver local services right in the heart of the local community – making it easier for people to access the services they need.

‘Our People, Our Place’ will see the partners using Newton Primary and Ayr Academy as local community hubs where a wide range of drop-in services will be available to families and individuals. 

Services will be available to everyone living in the area – not just those with children in the schools.

Drop-in services including benefits support, employability and skills, health and wellbeing, housing support, mental health support for young people, and social work will be available at the schools at various times throughout the week.

Cllr Douglas Campbell, said: “The creation of local community hubs sits at the heart of our programme for governance and it’s great to see our first pilot about to get underway.

“This is all about making it as easy as possible for people to access the help and support they need close to home and in a place they’re familiar with, rather than having to travel to central offices or waiting for an appointment.

 “By putting services right at the heart of the community, we also want to encourage people who may be less inclined to engage with support services to take advantage of what’s on offer and reap the benefits of accessing that support.

“That could range from finding out about benefits you didn’t know you were entitled to, getting access to skills and employability programmes that could help you find work, or identifying ways to improve your health and wellbeing.

“With growing demand and increasing waiting times, I am particularly pleased that our colleagues within the NHS Children and Adolescent Mental Health Service will be available for young people, or their parents/carers, to drop-in to discuss mental health support for young people. It’s a significant boost to the programme and testament to partners’ commitment to Our People, Our Place.

“The possibilities of the programme really are endless and I expect lots of good news stories to come out over the week as we give this a try. We’ll then use the feedback from this pilot to inform our next steps as we work to expand Our People, Our Place across South Ayrshire.”

People living in north Ayr can drop-in to the two schools and access services at the following times:

Ayr Advertiser: