What's it all about? Top five questions

There’s more focus than ever on the benefits of pedal power. Better physical and mental health, savings on commuting costs, getting out to explore local areas more all while being kind to the environment. Below covers the usual five first questions about Cycle2work with further details availble on all points at the Cycle2work home page. Hundres of colleagues have already participated in Cycke2work savings of £75,000, find out if its for you

1- How does the Cycle2work scheme work? You select a bike you want, apply to get it through Cycle2work and pay for it through your salary

2-What’s the benefits of doing that? You save from 33% to 42% off the cost of the new bike and payments are spread over one year.

3-Is Cycle2work just for a bike? It covers a bike and also any cycle safety gear you would like including lights, lock and helmet etc

4-How much can I spend with Cycle2work? From £100 to £2,000

5-What can I use the bike for? You can use your bike for cycling to work or rides around your local park or even to the beach on holiday

How long does it take to get my bike?

Two weeks provided your bike is in stock 🙂 That’s from the day you apply, more info on applying is available in the ten steps guide to getting a tax free bike

Things that can hold up you getting out on your new bike

-on the application form selecting the wrong pay frequency like monthly pay instead of four weekly

-on the application form entering personal details that are different from your details on mySelf, check those personal details by logging into mySelf and making sure your address etc is all up to date

-you have applied for an amount that covers the bike you want but ….

…….you didn’t check the availabilty of the bike and its sold out and so you need more or less for a different bike (this requires you to cancel the application and reapply)

…….you now want a lock, lights and helmet etc also so you need to alter the amount applied for (this requires you to cancel the application and reapply)

…….you change your mind about the bike you want and so you need more or less for a different bike (this requires you to cancel the application and reapply)

……. deciding you want to cancel the original application and so apply for a different amount before you acutally cancel the orginal the application

Need some help

Please email all your queries and questions about Cycle2work to NLlife@northlan.gov.uk .

Getting back into cycling

A surprising amount of adults were keen cyclists as children, but lost the love somewhere along the way to adulthood. Jemma Nimick is just one such person, but she has restored her love for the bike, and here she shares her top tips for picking it up again!

Routes and rides ideas

For ideas check out

The best off and on road cycle rides across North Lanarkshire

On the map below you’ll find routes around Strathclyde aprk or check out the app store and search for walking cycling Lanarkshire.

Colleagues views

Hundreds of NLC colleagues are riding bikes they initially got through Cycle2work. Here are some colleagues sharing their experiences on Cycle2work – check out the video clip of Claire Grierson from the Craigneuk Family Learning Centre who got a bike last year.

Mairi MacVicar a Active School Co-ordinator also shares her experiences.

How does the discount and payments work?

Cycle2work is a salary sacrifice scheme. The discount comes from paying off the bike cost straight from your salary. This means you save on tax and national insurance with the bike cost going through as a non cash benefit.

So whats the saving?

As you don’t pay income tax or national insurance on the scheme payments you will save between 32% and 42% (depending on your tax band) on the overall cost of your new bike and accessories.

When do I make the payments?

You pay in instalments over one year. The payments are automatically taken from your salary once you are issued your Cycle2work voucher. The payment amount is consistent payment to payment to equally spread the cost. The exact payment amount is confirmed with you as part of the application process.

How much does it cost and how much do I save?

Costs start from as little as £4.70 per 4 weekly pay over a 1 year period. The Halfords Cycle 2 Work Calculator will show what your savings could be and what your salary reductions could be. To use the calculator just enter what you’re thinking of spending on a bike and what your pay type is (2 weekly, 4 weekly etc).

What happens when I make my last payment

After the one year of payments they automatically stop. You do not need to take any actions.

Union Membership

NLC works closely with 7 recognised trade unions. They are:

Association of Headteachers and Deputes in Scotland (AHDS)
Educational Institute of Scotland(EIS)
GMB
National Association of Schoolmasters Union of Women Teachers (NASUWT)
Scottish Secondary Teachers’ Association (SSTA)
Unison
Unite

Additionally NLC employees can join a trade union not listed above. Trade unions not listed above are not included in collective bargaining.

What's it all about?

There’s more focus than ever on the benefits of pedal power. Better physical and mental health, saving on commuting costs, exploring local areas in your leisure time, all while being kind to the environment.

Update on how we are working

•Follow the application steps on work well NL steps for an podiatry appointment
•All patients will be triaged on the phone in relation to our COVID-19 triage questionnaire. All patients will be triaged on the phone in relation to our COVID-19 triage questionnaire.
• Not all of our staff have returned to work yet. We do have availability within the diary but we are now seeing a reduced number of people daily. We will work hard to make sure we have availability the best we can.
• We now have gaps in between each appointment. This is so we have plenty of time to deep clean our room before the next person arrives. It also allows us to control the number of people within the building.
• We are now following a traffic light system within the clinic as to who requires urgent care due to our backlog from being closed for certain patients during lockdown. We ask that our patients understand this as they will be put into a category of urgency.

Attending the clinic

• When arriving by car, all patients are asked to wait in car at the car park area and call when they arrive. The podiatrist will come out to meet them and lead them into the clinic. Patients are asked not to arrive too early as we can only take people at their appointment time due to access control and social distancing in our building.
• Patients are required to sanitise hands on arrival and before leaving our premises
• Our podiatrists will have PPE on. Mask, visor, gloves, apron. We are strongly encouraging all patients to wear a face mask to their appointment or some form of face covering.
• All patients are asked not to bring bags into clinic if they can help it
• Please bring a jumper, jacket. This is because when possible, we will have our window open to improve circulation. This will be dependent on weather, traffic noise.

Anxiety

Manage your anxiety coming out of lock down

Short video exploring best appoaches you can use to manage your anxiety of coming out of lock down – fifteen minutes in length

How to rebuild confidence post lock down – three tips

This article looks at three tops tips for starting to build up your confidence

NHS inform self help guide on anxiety

Work through a guide for people with mild to moderate anxiety symptons. This guide aims to help you find out if you have symptons, find out more about anxiety and to find ways to manage or overcome anxiety.

Flu vacination

The flu vacination vouchers for colleagues will return this autumn

National Wellbeing Hub - Resources for managers

National Wellbeing Hub - Resources for individuals

Well being plan

PDF version available here

Quizzes

We are running two quizzes for a bit of fun – both have amazon voucher prizes for the winners!

Quiz one – features six rounds, submission deadline of 10am Friday 22nd is fast approaching!

Quiz two – live on Friday 22nd 10.30am start time, fastest fingers will take home the amazon voucher prize! The quiz will last around 15 minutes and involve a couple of rounds. Please email NLlife@northlan.gov.uk if you would like to participate in it – we will then send out a link to you so on Friday at 10.30am you can click on it to take part.

Acts of kindness at home and in your community, at work and in public places

Not sure where to start?   We’ve put together some suggestions to help you out…

At home and in your community

Call a friend who you haven’t spoken to for a while
Post a card or letter to someone you are out of touch with
Send flowers to a friend, out of the blue
Find out if a neighbour needs any help with shopping
Ring someone who is on their own, or video call them
Send someone a handwritten thank you note
Tell your family how much you love and appreciate them
Help with household chores
Offer to help an elderly or vulnerable neighbour
Check on someone you know who is going through a tough time

At work

Remember to say hi to colleagues and ask how they are – whether that’s face-to-face, or virtually if you are working from home
Offer to support colleagues who may not be familiar with videoconferencing or new software that you have already used
Set up a virtual coffee/lunch club – with your regular colleagues and with new ones
Have a conversation with a colleague you don’t normally talk to
Get to know a new member of staff – it is hard to join a new workplace under these restrictions
Lend your ear – listen to your colleague who is having a bad day
Say thank you to a colleague who has helped you
Praise a colleague for something they have done well

In public places

Follow the rules on social isolation – but don’t make negative assumptions about others
Wish a passer-by a good morning or afternoon from an appropriate distance (2 metres or more)
Be a considerate cyclist/driver
Pick up some rubbish lying around in the street
Smile and say hello to people you may pass every day, but have never spoken to before from an appropriate distance (2 metres or more)

On social media

Take time to reach out online to people you haven’t seen for a while
Write something nice or encouraging on a post you appreciate
Acknowledge and validate someone’s story – if they are having a difficult time you don’t have to have all the answers, sometimes a like or a brief ‘I’m sorry to hear this, is there something I can do?’ is enough to make them feel heard
Think about what you share – look at the source of the post, and the tone. If it isn’t kind, think twice. If something could upset others and you feel you need to post it, use a trigger or content warning
Think about your comments and replies. Try not to say nasty things, or pile on where somebody questions another person’s actions

Acts of kindness in NL

Acts of kindness by NLC colleagues of the shielding team

Kate McDonagh – took food to a gentleman in Airdrie as he had run out of food and he didn’t call until 6pm to let us know. Kate offered to go to the supermarket, get essentials and deliver it.

Dean McWhinnie – took a call from an elderly gentleman, he had received a food box (organised through the Scottish Government) however due to ill health he was unable to lift it into the house, Dean went out and took the box into the house. He also gives the gentleman a regular call back just to make sure he is ok.

Conlon McFaulds – took a call from a lady in Coatbridge, she had a prescription to collect from the chemist and had not organised for anyone to get it, Conlon stepped in and picked it up.

Gillian Perkins – gentleman couldn’t get a priority slot organised with Asda, he had called and e-mailed without any success. Gillian went to Asda and organised for the priority slot.

Acts of kindness in the Community & Voluntary Sector

Befriend Motherwell
A married couple volunteer for the project and are offering support through shopping and errands for people. When dropping shopping into one of our participants, they noticed how long her grass was getting and appeared shortly afterwards with tools to cut it. The lady’s gardener has not been available during this time and her garden being untidy was really annoying her. She was reported as being “choked up” when they appeared and started cutting her grass.

The Health and Wellness Hub
The Health and Wellness Hub Team have been overwhelmed by the community spirit and generosity of local people in Motherwell who donated more than 60 bags of food and household items to the charity for distributing to those who need it most. The impetus for this was down to 2 local women, mother and daughter, Alison and Emily Weir, who live in the local community. Upset by the fact people were really struggling through no fault of their own, they felt compelled to take action and within days they had received tons of donations from local people. Its people like them and those who donated that show how acts of kindness can really make a difference to others!

Cumbernauld Resilience Group
The Cumbernauld Resilience Group provides food parcels, prescription collection and works in partnership with other organisations to provide dog walking and food shopping in the Cumbernauld area. This service is for people who are shielding or self-isolating during Covid-19. When the team find out that someone they have been providing services to has a birthday, they make sure that they drop off a birthday cake and wish the person a happy birthday to cheer them up on their special day. They have also delivered flowers, chocolate and some of their members have had their kids make cards. They don’t promote a transport service but they have also transported two locals (who have no family etc) to essential cancer treatments (one in Edinburgh and one at the Beatson) following social distancing at all times.

Jackson Parish Church
Jackson Parish Church in Petersburn, Airdrie has supported and helped families struggling financially with provision of food. They have also witnessed the kindness of Craigneuk and Petersburn Resident Tenants Association doing the same thing. The church has been supporting a family with mental health issues worsened by the lockdown. The Church has heard of lots of people in the local community being helped by others, which wouldn’t have happened in ‘normal circumstances’.

SAMH Expeerience Counts
I would like to highlight the work of our team here at SAMH Expeerience Counts/Well-informed (Volunteers, Information Officer, Admin Workers, Peer Workers, Veteran Peer Worker, Community Link Workers, GP Link Workers and especially our Manager Eileen Quinn). We work together as a whole team, to help, support or signpost people in North Lanarkshire who are looking for information and support for their mental health and well-being. In these bizarre times of COVID-19 when mental health can be heightened and intensified, our staff and volunteers are always patient, show empathy and compassionate. This is where their passion and kind-heartedness comes naturally. Staff go the extra mile to ensure we are delivering a quality service by phone, text, email, zoom, skype etc. for our peers, referrers, patients, colleagues. TEAM = Together Everyone Achieves More

Lynn Carlin, Airdrie Pre Loved Uniform Bank
I’ve been calling a group of our Airdrie Academy families every week and have requested support from 3 external partners: The North Lanarkshire Financial Inclusion Team, One Parent Families Scotland and COVEY befriending. I’m so touched and impressed by the way my colleagues in these organisations show compassion and dedication to provide the best support possible and they go the extra mile, amazing! (

Hope for Autism
HOPE for Autism were very lucky to receive a small funding grant from The STV Children’s Appeal – Emergency Wellbeing Fund. This fund was to provide emergency care packages to our young people and their families.

Some feedback from the parents and young people:

o Huge thank you to Hope for E’s tough chews – he loves them & really helps prevent chewed clothes
o Thank you Hope so much for R’s voucher – this is really helping to make his
2020 birthday extra special. I really appreciate your efforts Leanne and the team for making this happen x
o Big thanks to Hope group for books and pens. R loves the national geographic book so much x
o Thank you for A & I’s Art + Crafts set and outdoor toys. Both girls are delighted with them
o Thank you so much to everyone at HOPE for K’s gifts, I have a happy girl today xx
o Thanks HOPE for the Gift card. I will spend it on good things that will keep me distracted for other world things going on at the moment……

working from home hints and tips

9 ways mindfulness helps

1. You become more aware of your thoughts. You can then step back from them and not take them so literally.
2. You don’t immediately react to a situation. Instead, you have a moment to pause and then use your “wise mind” to come up with the best solution.
3. Mindfulness switches on your “being” mode of mind, which is associated with relaxation. Your “doing” mode of mind is associated with action and stress response.
4. You are more aware and sensitive to the needs of your body. You may notice pains earlier and can then take appropriate action.
5. You are more aware of the emotions of others. As your emotional intelligence rises, you are less likely to get into conflict.
6. Your level of care and compassion for yourself and others rises. This compassionate mind soothes you and inhibits your stress response.
7. Mindfulness practice reduces activity in the part of your brain called the amygdala. The amygdala is central to switching on your stress response, so effectively, your background level of stress is reduced.
8. You are better able to focus. So you complete your work more efficiently, you have a greater sense of well-being, and this reduces the stress response.

9. You can switch your attitude to stress. Rather than just seeing the negative consequences of feeling stressed, mindfulness offers you the space to think differently about the stress itself. Observing how the increased pressure helps energize you has a positive effect on your body and mind.

This is supported by studies at the University of Massachusetts Medical School and the University of Oxford strongly suggests that mindfulness gently builds an inner strength that’s supports our happiness and physical well-being.

Staying mentally and physically fit

Going home checklist

Playlists

Find out below what tunes you should be plugging into to help keep you focused or boost your creativity.

A recent investigation into the power of music revealed the must-have tunes to include in your working from home playlist to maximise productivity and creative thoughts.

Which songs will help you focus?

According to research published in the journal of Neuroscience and Behavioural Psychology, participants who were tasked with identifying Arabic numbers within a random selection of images and, were listening to either classical or rock music, were 0.2 seconds quicker at completing the task.
Additionally, those listening to classical or rock were 87% more likely to correctly identify the numbers than the group that wasn’t listening to any music.
Elsewhere, if you need to cancel out background noise, researchers at Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute in New York found that nature sounds, such as rainfalls and trickling water, can help you to keep focussed.

Which songs boost creativity?

Research has found that happier music could be your best bet when wanting to enhance creativity.
When this theory was tested by scientists from the Netherlands and Australia, the study found that those who listened to Vivaldi’s ‘Four Seasons, Op. 8 No. 1, RV 269, “Spring”: I. Allegro’ were 23% more creative than those participants that sat in silence during the test.

Self care quiz

Yammer

We have a corporate social networking platform called Yammer. With home working on the rise Yammer is a great way to communicate with colleagues to share work information or something to make people smile at this time.

Yammer makes it easier for colleagues to access news, share information, join or create groups and keep in touch. Simply log onto NLC yammer to access our page and to set up an account using your @northlan email address.

The Yammer app cannot be set up for your works mobile yet. Lots of colleagues have downloaded it instead to their personal smart phone or tablet. So if you do want the app you can get it if you want – you can still access it without the app also by using the link above or going to the connect home page.

NB While Yammer provides the opportunity to have informal discussions it a business platform and so all user must complete with the NLC Acceptable Use of ICT Policy.

Surviving Christmas

Christmas can be really great. But, let’s be honest, sometimes it can be pretty tough as well.

Check out the NL guide to Surviving Christmas. This guide hopefully will help take some of the stress out of the holiday period by providing some practical advice for this particular time of the year.

Plus check out the conversation that that lifts the lid on the reality of the festive season – Twitter #YuleSlog.

Whether it’s feeling pressure to have that Perfect Christmas, navigating that packed social calendar, feeling lonely, or just pretending to like the naf socks your auntie bought you – Christmas isn’t always the most wonderful time of the year. Some familiar faces for the small screen share some words of wisdom about getting through Christmas.

Its good to talk. Whatever your going through share it with someone.

CE newsletter

November newsletter

Staff referral for support

A new service is available to provide advice and support to any NLC colleague worried about their money matters.

Money worries can affect anyone and the stress can have a big impact on your health. The Financial Inclusion Team will provide free, impartial and confidential money management support to any colleague who requests it. This support can be on money management challenges like maximising your income, debt and budgeting advice for the short and long term. It can be by email, over the phone or in person, whatever the colleagues preference is.

To get some support with your money worries get in touch at NLlife@northlan.gov.uk or on 01698 520 649. A senior officer of the Financial Inclusion team will then arrange the support. The request for support will be completely confidential and not shared in any way.

Tips on talking about money

The below short guides support positive conversations about money management :

How to talk about money

Talking with your partner about money

Talking with children about about money

Talking with friends about money

Talking with older people about money

Tax free child care

You may be eligible for support with child care costs through Tax Free Child Care. How this works is that:

– For every £8 paid in by you, the government will pay in an extra £2 -equivalent to 20% of childcare costs
– If eligible, you would apply for an online child care account and pay money in, with the government ‘topping up’ the amount
– You can receive up to a maximum of £2,000/year, per child towards your childcare costs, or £4,000 for a child who has a disability

The government manages The Tax Free Child Care scheme. For more information, the criteria on who can take part and how to apply please see the Government information page .

NB – The Child Care Voucher scheme is now closed to new applications

Talk Money week

NL life - your financial wellbeing

NL life - Cycle2work

Prize draw winners

Win a cinema ticket

Fancy winning a free cinema trip? Just let us know what your NL life favs and likes are, using six words max, at NLlife@northlan.gov.uk or post on Yammer. You will then be entered into a prize draw. We have over 20 tickets to give away by this Friday! Could it be you going to the cinema for free???

Money Advice and Pensions Service tool kit

Money Advice and Pensions Service is working with the Improvement Service and NLC on a path finding pilot. This pilot will focus on improving financial resiliance and will commence this autumn. The learning from this pilot will then be utilised ahead of a national role out of the tool kit.

Free Wills and Power of Attorney

Free Wills and Power of Attorney Tax free child care

This will be available from the end of September.

It is important to note that the council is not allowed to make any recommendations or give any advice regarding your personal finances. The intention is to assist employees to access financial well being information and to give employees a wider choice to consider when managing their personal finances.

The Council cannot recommend firms of solicitors and that a list of all firms of solicitors in Scotland and the work they do can be obtained from the Law Society of Scotland.

new HR website - MyNL

MyNL

Coming soon a new website for all NLC employees and prospective employees. This website will be full of helpful information including HR policies, quick guides to help you understand the HR processes, manager guides and lots of information on your full employee journey.

NLlife experiences

Health Plans

Simplyhealth

Simplyhealth is a company that offers health plans. From backache to toothache, poor eyesight and more – with a Simplyhealth Plan you can claim money towards health treatments.

How does my cash plan work?

By taking a Simplyhealth plan you are eligible to claim set amounts for your health treatments. You can choose to cover just yourself or a partner too. What’s more, up to four children under the age of 18 are covered for free! Monthly payments for a plan start from £13.43.

For more details and how to apply please click Simply Health.

Coming August 31st

NL life

Cycle2work

Get riding a new bike and save 30-42% off the cost of it

New learn NL

All your learning and development resources in one place

Summer savings

Find out all the summer savings available

Coronavirus and your money

Get the most up to date financial wellbeing support

Sun safety

Stay safe in the sun this summer

Coronavirus support

mental wellness - your financial wellbeing - working from home

Be suicide ALERT

Be suicide ALERT webinar dates now available - additional dates added

Welcome to NL life!

NL life is your home for all the benefits & support available to you as an NLC employee, explore the sections below for more information on everything available to you.

NL life - your financial wellbeing

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