News

Spotlight on our Service

This month, the spotlight is on the East Ayrshire Council’s Vibrant Communities service.

East Ayrshire is characterised by strong and active local communities, spread across a diverse urban and rural landscape. 120,300 people live in East Ayrshire in 55,400 households. 47% of the population (56,418 people) live in East Ayrshire’s largest town, Kilmarnock. 17% of the population are 0-15 years old; 62% of the population are 16-64 years old; 12% of the population are 65-74; and, 9% of the population are 75+. The population projection between 2018 and 2028 in East Ayrshire is set to decrease by 1.7%, in contrast to 1.8% increase across Scotland. Within East Ayrshire, we are expecting to see a 16% decrease of people living in the rural south of our authority and a 13% increase of those living in the urban north of our authority. This will see a projection in 2028 of 0-15 years old down 7.5 %; 16-64 years old down 0.8%; Age 65-74 up 0.3%; and, age 75+ up 25.3%. 10.9% of people live in the least deprived SIMD quantile [1], whilst 30.6% live in the most deprived quantile.

Vibrant Communities was born in 2013 and has evolved greatly since, throughout the evolution it has always kept true to working ‘with and for’ our local communities rather than ‘doing to’ them. Vibrant Communities is made up of Community Learning & Development, Housing Support, Early Intervention and Home Link Services. Our Communities Team, which is responsible for capacity building, community development and engagement across the Council has a full staff team of dual trained community workers and qualified mediators. When new staff come into the team they are put through extensive mediation training via Scottish Community Mediation Centre and Sacro.

The team has been using their mediation skills in community disputes for a number of years, and in the last five years has a contract through Council Housing and Anti-Social Behaviour department to facilitate neighbour mediation. We also assist the Chief Executive’s office with complaints that come into the Council where mediation is an appropriate course of action for neighbour, community organisation or partner disputes. We run a referral system and in most cases claim back costs internally through Council departments through our local Mediation agreement.

We’re getting better at speaking with referral departments to encourage mediation as a form of early intervention, where there is an increased chance of a positive outcome being met for all parties.

East Ayrshire Council appreciates the role that high quality mediation can play in fostering positive communities ranging from dealing with minor disagreements to complex, multifaceted issues. Vibrant Communities are committed to utilising Mediation to build resilient communities by promoting effective communication, mutual understanding and cooperative problem solving. 

[1] SIMD - Scottish Index of Multiple Deprivation