Money Smart North Ayrshire

📣 North Ayrshire Council is proud to be one of eight pilot local authorities to receive temporary funding that will now see the free school meals expansion include S1 to S3 school pupils in all nine of our secondary schools, meaning that even more young people across North Ayrshire will have access to a free meal during term time. Funding has been provided for one school year; therefore, this temporary provision will run from Wednesday 20 August 2025 until Tuesday 30 June 2026. S1, S2 and S3 pupils will receive a free school meal if their parent/caregiver is currently in receipt of the Scottish Child Payment. Full details in the news release: north-ayrshire.gov.uk/news/f… Currently, the Scottish Government’s free school meal provision covers all Primary 1 to Primary 5 pupils, as well as expanded provision for children in Primary 6 and 7 if their parent or caregiver is in receipt of the Scottish Child Payment. #FightingPovertyNA

📣 SAVE THE DATE! Our Corporate Parenting team @OneVoiceNA are inviting care experienced people of all ages, their extended family members, and other corporate parents to an upcoming employability and skills event 👇 The first of its kind, the action-packed event will take place on Wednesday 23 April from 10am until midday, at the Volunteer Rooms in Irvine. The event will be set up as a stall format with local partners attending to share information, resources, freebies, taster activities, course sign-ups, feedback opportunities, advocacy, welfare rights, and much more... It is part of the council’s wider Corporate Parenting Strategy to meet its statutory duties to #KeepThePromise to Scotland’s care experienced community – in this case those living and studying in North Ayrshire. ‘Care Experienced’ is a now widely used term to describe any person who has experience of being in care, regardless of the placement length, type or age. Care may have been provided in one of many different settings, such as residential care, foster care, kinship care or through being looked after at home with a supervision requirement. 🌟 Confirmed stall holders attending the upcoming event are: ➡️ Ancho/Kando – with information on support for young people aged between 14-19 who are not currently in school, college or employment. This includes cognitive behaviour therapy, volunteering opportunities and learning practical skills ➡️ Ayrshire College – with information on courses and training in further education ➡️ Ayrshire Independent Living Network - AILN – raising awareness of their services to help increase understanding of the self-directed support available locally ➡️ Barnardo's – providing support to children and young people so that they can feel safe, overcome barriers and realise their potential ➡️ CEIS Ayrshire– job-seeking services including CV support and interview coaching ➡️ Community Housing Advocacy Project (CHAP) – with Multiply support to help empower individuals and families by improving their numeracy, budgeting, and financial literacy skills ➡️ Community ESOL North Ayrshire team – helping ‘English Speakers of other languages’ to develop their language skills, meet new friends in their community and overcome barriers ➡️ Developing the Young Workforce - Ayrshire – the team leading a Scottish Government strategy with an aim of helping young people into employment ➡️ Equal Supported Employment in North Ayrshire – offering a wide range of tailored support to get people back into work, start work for the first time or take a step up the career ladder (part of the council’s Your Next Move, Working North Ayrshire employability programme) ➡️ Locality teams – part of the council’s Community Learning and Development and North Ayrshire Virtual Community Centre team, with info on community groups, support and volunteering opportunities available in your area ➡️ Money Matters team – welfare rights advisors from North Ayrshire Council offering benefits and entitlements advice/support ➡️ MCR Pathways – with information on how to become a mentor for young people and how to access mentoring in secondary schools ➡️ North Ayrshire Active Schools – providing opportunities for young people to participate in physical activity and sports ➡️ North Ayrshire Corporate Parenting team – hosting the event and sharing the council’s progress as corporate parents to #KeepThePromise to care experienced young people ➡️ Other corporate parents – including community reps from K:A Leisure, Police Scotland Ayrshire and Scottish Fire and Rescue Service ➡️ Skills Development Scotland – offering tailored skills advice and information on their extensive network of Scottish employers ➡️ The Ayrshire Community Trust (TACT) – with information on the voluntary sector and current community action projects and programmes that are making a difference locally ➡️ Your Next Move Working North Ayrshire – North Ayrshire Council’s employability service with representatives from our Modern Apprenticeships team and North Ayrshire Youth Services team ➡️ Local employers – including #AccountantInBankruptcy and local hairdresser Haus Of Seisay 🌟 Further info can be found in the news release: north-ayrshire.gov.uk/news/s… #YourNextMove #employability #careexperienced #WelfareRights #uncrcnorthayrshire