Chief executive says Pulteneytown People’s Project will help rebuild confidence after Covid
Pulteneytown People’s Project (PPP) can help to "rebuild confidence" within the community as part of the recovery from Covid-19, the organisation's new chief executive has said.
Jane Davidson told Wick community councillors this week that PPP will be looking to improve some of its services and reach more people.
She praised the workforce as "absolutely brilliant".
PPP operates from the Pulteney Centre in Huddart Street, Wick, and has about 50 staff.
Mrs Davidson was invited to give an update at the May meeting of the Royal Burgh of Wick Community Council, held via Zoom on Monday night.
She has been in post for three months, having replaced Katrina MacNab who decided to stand down after leading PPP throughout its first 18 years.
“I’ve been learning a lot about the organisation and as much as I can about the community," said Mrs Davidson, a former chief executive of NHS Borders.
“I have met a lot of the staff we have at PPP who are absolutely brilliant and incredibly committed. I have been constantly impressed by them. It has been a joy taking on a new role when you’ve got staff like we have there."
Mrs Davidson described Mrs MacNab's time in charge as a “terrific 18 years” and admitted she had “quite big shoes to fill”.
She went on: “I guess my job is about this next 18 years and trying to make that just as successful, if not even more so, for the local community and for PPP itself.”
Mrs Davidson told community councillors that some of PPP's services – such as Care at Home, supporting elderly or vulnerable people in their own homes, and HomeLink, providing housing support – had continued through the pandemic while staff are preparing to restart others.
“We are looking at how we can facilitate a rebuild of confidence and support the community," she said.
She highlighted the playgroups, after-school clubs and nursery run by PPP. Accredited nursery status was gained last year.
“We are looking to see how we can improve some of the services, reach more people and do better for them and with them,” Mrs Davidson said.
“We really want to be exceptional in the nursery education that we provide for the community, with a big focus on outdoor learning because of the benefits that can provide and because of the opportunities in the area as well.”
Mrs Davidson said she would be looking at ways of rejuvenating the Pulteney Centre, which was built at a cost of £3.8 million and opened just over nine years ago. She described the centre's café as a “terrific, valuable space, such a multipurpose opportunity”.
During the pandemic PPP has been using online platforms such as Zoom to keep people connected in a variety of ways, from afternoon teas to baby and toddler clubs.
“We want to not only have the physical space re-established in the Pulteney Centre but also make sure we are still reaching as many people as we can through digital means," Mrs Davidson said.
“We’ve secured some funding to be able to get that back up and running and we’ll be looking to the community to see really what’s needed.”
PPP will be looking to expand its volunteering base and develop personal life coaching as well as “very small enterprise coaching for micro-businesses”.
She added: “PPP is certainly a big charity in the area, so I’m really keen to see how we can support some smaller organisations or individuals.”
Community councillors heard that the Pulteney Centre is now hosting a TSB pop-up service each Wednesday.
Mrs Davidson said: “If services are being pulled out of the area, we are fairly well placed to be able to try and at least support some kind of retention there with some of the organisations still having a presence.”
Community council vice-chairman Allan Farquhar said: “It’s good to hear that the TSB is using it as a pop-up shop. I think that’s something that is sorely required for a lot of folk that haven’t got the IT skills to do online banking.”
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