Apex appoint new Chair

Mike McCarron, who was previously Vice-Chair, has now been appointed as Chair of Apex, taking over from Pat McMullan whose term of office came to an end in June 2010.

Mike is well known in the Third Sector for his involvement with Scotland’s Futures Forum Alcohol and Drugs Project and RSA Drugs Commission and his post as National Substance Use Officer (Drugs) with the Scottish Association of Alcohol and Drug Action Teams. He previously worked in local government where he was Cosla’s spokesperson for Social Affairs and Chair of the Scottish Local Government Drugs Forum.

Alan Staff, Apex Scotland’s Chief Executive said “I’m delighted that Mike has agreed to accept the position of Chair of Apex. He is well respected within the sector and knows our business very well. I look forward to working with him and benefitting from his experience as we steer the organisation through the next stage of our development”.

Apex Borders service user successful in Adult Learners Week Awards

Congratulations to Apex service user Melanie Williamson who was the winner of the Young Learner in the Workplace Award at the recent Borders Adult Learners Week Awards ceremony in Selkirk. Melanie, who now attends college and volunteers with the Borders Forest Trust was commended by the judges and is considered a positive role model for her age group. As she was a category winner, Melanie was progressed to the National Level competition and was awarded a Certificate of Recognition from ‘Scotland’s Learning Partnership’ to mark the progress she has made in her learning journey. Melanie is a young woman with a vision as to how she wants her future to develop and all at Apex Scotland wish her well.

Well done Melanie!

15 Years as an Investor in People

Apex Scotland first attained the Investor in People standard in 1993 and was one of the first third sector organisation in Scotland to do so. It now joins a select group of 100 organisations, representing businesses of all sizes and sectors, which has achieved such a significant milestone and enjoyed the benefits of successive Investors in People reviews for 15 years or more.

Jane Jones, Director of Policy and Communications for Investors in People UK said “This is a fantastic achievement demonstrating an ongoing dedication to people and a commitment to continuous business improvement. I would like to congratulate you and look forward to a long and fruitful relationship over many years to come”.

Police Back Arrest Referral Scheme

Click here to read article

Apex continues to be recognised as an Investor in People

Apex Scotland has been recognized as an Investor in People IIP since 1993. Following our 3 year assessment review in late September 2009, we have successfully maintained the IIP standard.

Janice Laurie, the IIP specialist who carried out our assessment said "I was impressed by the culture of openness which exists between management and staff. Managers are viewed as being open and approachable. There is a high degree of trust and people confirm how the organization demonstrates the ethos of being a people friendly environment. People commented specifically on how the appointment of the Interim Chief Executive had led to greater levels of involvement and that there are no barriers between management and staff."

Hans Riessmann, Chairman of Investors in People Scotland, said: "You have shown real commitment to adhere to the rigorous standard set when Apex Scotland first became an Investor in People. Your continued success is a testament to your management and employee team and the effort that you have together invested in pursuit of improvement."

WORKING MONEY SCOTLAND
MINISTERIAL LAUNCH - 27TH April 2009

A ministerial launch of the ‘Working Money’ toolkit in Scotland will take place at 10am on Monday 27th April, 2009 at the Apex Scotland, National Training Centre, Stewart House, Kingsway East, Dundee, DD4 7RE.  The event will be attended by Alex Neil, Minister for Housing and Communities.

The original ‘Working Money Programme’ was funded by the Financial Services Authority and designed and developed by Lincolnshire Action Trust.  The programme aims to ‘inspire many recipients to gain control of their finances and to address their financial futures with confidence’.

The existing ‘Working Money Programme’ has now been revised by Apex Scotland for a Scottish audience – specifically to meet the needs of offenders and ex-offenders in a community or custodial setting.    The material has been adapted to be as ‘flexible’ and ‘user-friendly’ as possible, for group or 1-2-1 delivery.

Following the launch, a series of training events will take place at several sites around Scotland.  This training will be aligned to ‘Working Money’ material and will cover a range of topics include:

1. The ‘rationale’ behind the Programme
2. The design and structured format/content of the Programme
3. Practical advice on how to deliver the Programme to offenders in a custodial/community setting

This training (along with the ‘Working Money’ trainer packs) will be supplied free of charge to any organisation that requires it. 

The training events are aimed at front line staff that already have the capacity to deliver this learning either via and existing service provision or as part of any future design provision being planned.  The target group will ideally already be involved in working with offenders in either a custodial or community setting (although this is not a prerequisite).  It would be beneficial if they were competent as a tutor or trainer as the training will not cover good teaching practice but will focus on how to best utilise the resource available.

Dates of Training and Training Venues

3rd and 10th June 2009 - Scottish Prison Service College, Polmont, Falkirk
5th and 12th June 2009 - Apex Scotland, National Training Centre, Dundee

The training will take place from 10.00am to 3.30pm

Brian Robertson-Fern – brianr@apexscotland.org.uk;
telephone 01382 525032
Brenda Alexander – brendaa@apexscotland.org.uk;
telephone 01224 611875

Apex Annual Staff conference 2009

Apex Scotland has been very fortunate to have had so many wonderful staff over the years who have helped to make the organisation the success it is today - staff who have shown great enthusiasm, commitment and extraordinary devotion to the task of helping the clients of Apex Scotland achieve their goals.

This year the Sam Dow MBE memorial award was presented to the Apex Glasgow SAO Unit.

The Betty Crawford memorial Award was presented to the Apex Fife Youth Services

Great Scottish Walk

On Sunday 10th June 2007 a group of Apex Scotland staff embarked on The Great Scottish Walk around Edinburgh. Staff were raising money for CHAS - Children's Hospice Association Scotland, not all monies have been collected but we hope to have raised around £1000.

Click to view photos from The Great Scottish Walk (2 pages)

(Click on a Thumbnail to see the bigger picture)

Apex Partnership Working with Learndirect

Another first as Apex announces partnership working with learndirect

Click to see the joint press release.(28k)

"Unemployment and Reoffending: an International Literature Review" - Monica Boyle

Apex Scotland has published a research report which was written by Monica Boyle and produced in partnership with the Scottish Executive Justice Department. "Unemployment and Reoffending: an International Literature Review" is the first in a series which Apex will produce.

Click here for more information

200 jobs achieved and still going strong

Recently the Apex Scotland Lothian and Borders Progress2Work service celebrated placing it's 200th person in paid employment, a record for the scheme, with a visit from Michael Moore MP and Jeremy Purvis MSP. The visitors met with two former service users, Chris, who now drives a fork lift truck and Gareth, who is a self employed bagpipe player.

The Apex Scotland, Phoenix Futures and Jobcentre Plus partnership to deliver Progress2Work in Lothian and Borders has now been endorsed for a second time in an early day motion in the Westminster Parliament by Michael Moor MP.

The statement reads "That this House congratulates the Lothian and Borders Progress 2 Work project, which has become the first project of its kind to find paid employment for over 200 former drug users; further congratulates the project for placing an additional 400 former drug users in education or training; notes that Lothian and Borders Progress 2 Work is a partnership initiative with Apex Scotland, Phoenix Futures and Jobcentre Plus; and recognises the achievements of all those who have contributed to the project reaching this tremendous milestone."

As well as managing the Lothian and Borders service, Apex Scotland manages other very successful Progress2Work services in Ayrshire, Inverclyde, Dumfries and Galloway, Renfrewshire, Highlands, Edinburgh City and is a partner agency with SCVO in Tayside.

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1st Voluntary Sector IIP organisation makes it 10 in a row.

Sir Matthew Pinsent CBE, Bernadette Monaghan, Chief Executive, Apex Scotland, Alla Wilson, Deputy Minister for Enterprise and Lifelong Learning and Peter Russian, Chief Executive of Investors in People Scotland

Apex Scotland was one of the first Voluntary Sector Organisations to be awarded IIP status 10 years ago and on Wednesday 23rd March 2005 we receive our Investors in People Scotland 10 Year Achievement Award.

Apex Scotland works to give offenders, ex-offenders and young people at risk equal access to the employment market by raising skills and addressing the barriers that a criminal past presents.

By helping offenders realise their potential for employment, we reduce re-offending. By reducing crime we have a significant impact on community safety, social justice and ultimately the economic prosperity of Scotland.

In the last 3 years we have invested significant additional resources in the continuous professional development of our staff and volunteers with a dedicated training centre and team. We have also doubled the number of hard employability outcomes for people who complete our services to over 1000. This year we are on target to smash that record again.

Bernadette Monaghan, Chief Executive of Apex Scotland said ”This award is testimony to the staff of Apex Scotland who all contribute to our culture of development, innovation, quality and high professional standards“

Reduce Reoffending in Scotland

Apex Scotland is a member of the Scottish Consortium on Crime and Criminal Justice, which has prepared this response document to the Scottish Executive Consultation "Reduce, Rehabilitate, Reform - A Consultation on Reducing Reoffending in Scotland"

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Apex Chief Executive, Bernadette Monaghan, wrote an article for the Scotsman on 24 February 2004, entitled "The Write Way Forward". It can be read at the following link:

http://news.scotsman.com/archive.cfm?id=216662004

Click on the icon below to download the document in PDF format:

Click here

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