The ASSIST FM annual conference delivered an emotional punch to delegates in Glasgow yesterday (May 15th) with a series of presentations looking at mental health, resilience, and teaching early years children how to cook.
Nicky Joiner, chair of the organisation that supports FM providers working across Scotland’s 32 local authorities, welcomed catering and cleaning teams, as well as suppliers to a packed Crowne Plaza Hotel.
Former chair Chris Ross was this year’s conference host, kicking off the programme with Jack Nolan, who told his own story of low self-esteem and a later bipolar diagnosis before discovering a calling in inspiring others to overcome their own anxieties. He told his audience to treat struggles and setbacks not as barriers but as opportunities to grow.
The conference then heard about an early years programme in East Renfrewshire that is teaching very young children about healthy eating, fruit and vegetables, hygiene, and sharing stories.
Called Mini Master Chefs, the early years programme signed up ten nurseries initially, later expanding to take in a further 26, after winning funding from the local health and social care partnership and support from campaign group Nourish.
Five children from Overlee dressed in chef’s whites and black-and-white check hats came on stage with headteacher Ana Castro and catering manager Beth Hilton to join the presentation.
Ana said all 50 children at the nursery had participated in the programme, getting the chance to taste new vegetables and fruit, learning to slice and dice, and were guided through recipes to make dishes such as Vegetable Cheesy Pancakes.
When the children were asked their favourite they said pizza, though Ana assured everyone the recipe included lots of vegetables.
Professor Don Bundy talked about the international School Meals Coalition of 108 countries, all of which had recognised the value of investing in school meals programmes. He said there was overwhelming evidence that these influenced children’s educational at school, benefited their health in later life and supported farmers.
He pointed out that the UK had not yet signed up the coalition, even though it had a long history of school meal provision and could contribute a lot of experience and expertise.
He said there was a ‘drop in’ session planned at Westminster to persuade MP’s of the value of signing up to join the coalition.
And the day’s conference session concluded with Aaron Phipps the Paralympian, who told the story of how meningitis had meant his legs had had to be amputated at the knee when he was just 15.
He spoke about his reaction to such a massive setback in life, and how he had set himself a series of challenges, in the course of which he won a gold medal for Team GB at wheelchair rugby and then became the first double amputee to climb Mount Kilimanjaro unaided.
He concluded that, after much reflection, his was less a tale of self-reliance and resilience but more one of knowing when to accept the support, love and encouragement he got from family and friends.
As we bid farewell to 2023, let’s take a moment to look back at some of the highlights and milestones that made this year one to remember.
Over the past 12 months, we have been providing support to our members and partner organisations as well as promoting and enhancing service delivery for public sector organisations in Scotland. Here are some of the highlights:
ASSIST FM Conference 2023
The ASSIST FM ‘What’s your reality?’ conference, sponsored by Müller Milk & Ingredients, took place in May at the Hilton Glasgow and focused on the future of the facilities management industry and explored the reality of what lies ahead.
We had a fantastic lineup of 55 exhibitors made up of long-time partners, recurring suppliers and new suppliers who brought real innovation to the public sector. We also had the opportunity to hear from fantastic speakers on a range of topics and our Keynote speaker was the wonderful Cor Hutton who shared an inspiring story that left everyone on a high!
We held our annual Local Authority Cook of the Year (LACOTY) competition to determine the menu for the Conference’s Gala Dinner. Six Local Authorities competed at The Braehead Cook School in March. The judges Willie Pike and Bruce Sangster selected the top three dishes (Best starter, main, and dessert), and the 3 finalists went head-to-head at the Glasgow Hilton with Nicola Arnold from Edinburgh Council announced as the winner of the LACOTY competition during the Gala Dinner. The LACOTY competition continues to be a resounding success!
The Gala Dinner, hosted by ASSIST FM’s very own Keith Breasley, featured an awards ceremony where 10 National Awards were presented.
Parliamentary Event
The ASSIST FM Committee had a fantastic day in October at The Scottish Parliament in partnership with Food for Life Scotland.
“It’s a pleasure to work in partnership with Food for Life (FFL) and to celebrate the school food heroes who go above and beyond in the community in which they serve,” shared Chris Ross, Chair of ASSIST FM.
Autumn Seminar
In November, we hosted the Autumn Seminar where invited partners presented their latest innovative products. The event welcomed all 32 Local Authorities FM employees for a day filled with seminars, break-out activities, and an exceptional lunch provided by Fife Council at the Glen Pavilion.
Exciting news to wrap up the year!
Christopher Ross has been recognised as one of the Top 20 Most Influential People in public sector catering.
The list comprises people who are the industry’s leading lights based on their ability to represent the concerns of people working in the sector, as well as their capacity to drive change. They cover schools, universities, hospitals, the care sector, prisons and catering colleges. Congratulations Chris, we are so proud of you!
A heartfelt thank you to everyone for your continuous support and for making this year unforgettable! We hope you have a wonderful Christmas and New Year, and look forward to the exciting journey that we will be undertaking in 2024.
The ASSIST FM 2023 conference was held on Thursday 18th-19th May at The Hilton Hotel in Glasgow. The two day event was extremely successful and well attended by 28 Local Authority council delegates, guests, speakers, suppliers and our loyal partners. The Conference theme was ‘What’s your reality?’ looking into the future of the facilities management industry and really delving deep into the reality of what the future holds.
Chris Ross, ASSIST FM Chair stated, ‘It was a wonderful two days to catch up with colleagues, suppliers and reflect upon the incredible achievements of Local Authority service providers in Scotland. The conference was a real opportunity to hear from some inspirational speakers on a wide range of topics, operational matters to the wider national agenda. Our wide and varied range of suppliers this year added real innovation to the public sector, rounded off by a wonderful events reception to award those public sector heroes!
The Conference had 55 exhibitors, 15 who are long time partners, 37 recurring suppliers and 3 brand new ones. The seminar sessions led by past Chair Keith Breasley and included talks from Brian Costello at Headstrong and Gordon McIntyre from Hospitality health talking about the importance of mental health in the workplace. We heard from Public Sector Alliance, Keep Scotland Beautiful and the Cleaning and Hygiene Suppliers Association and many more. Keynote speaker Cor Hutton wowed the room with her inspiring story and left everyone on a high!
ASSIST FM held a competition this year which determined the menu at The Hilton Hotel conference gala dinner – Local Authority Cook of the year. The competition allowed 6 Local Authorities to compete at The Braehead Cook School in March, where Willie Pike and Bruce Sangstar judged the 6 applicants and whittled the number down to three – Best starter, main and dessert, who all competed in the final at The Hilton and the winner was announced at the evening gala dinner. The winner of the competition was Nicola Arnold from Edinburgh Council.
The Gala Dinner included 10 National Awards. Hosted by ASSIST FM’s very own Keith Breasley:
Outstanding Contribution to Cleaning Sponsored by GT Cleaning The winner was Stirling Council
Outstanding Contribution to Catering Sponsored by CRB Cunningham The winner was Shetland Council
Outstanding Contribution to FM Services Sponsored by Alliance Catering Equipment & Disposables The winner was Edinburgh City Council
Local Authority Innovation Award Sponsored by James Scott & Sons The winner was West Lothian
Climate Initiative Award Sponsored by Muller Milk and Ingredients The winner was West Lothian
Digital and Technology Award Sponsored by Tropical Ice The winner was West Lothian
Community Focus Award Sponsored by McCain Foods The winner was Argyll and Bute Council
Supplier of The Year Sponsored by ASSIST FM The winner was Nilfisk
Grab and Go Award Sponsored by Brakes The winner was East Renfrewshire Council
Local Authority Cook of the Year Sponsored by Muller Milk and Ingredients First Place – Nicola Arnold, Edinburgh Council Second Place – Martyn Cuthbert, East Ayrshire Council Third Place – Jamie Kimmett, Stirling Council
We then enjoyed a night full of fun – ABBA tribute band, Voyage followed by a DJ. Everyone danced the night away.
Here are some quotes from the attendees: “It was invaluable to participate in Assist FM’s conference in Glasgow last week. IFAN is very grateful indeed for all the support we received.” Maria Marshall – Independent Food Aid Network – ASSIST FM 2023 Charity Partner
“We had such an incredible time at the ASSIST FM conference. It was a key opportunity for us to promote our School Plates programme in Scotland and THE place to network and be informed on current issues facing local authorities in Scotland.” ProVeg – First time supplier
For the first time we have created a stand-alone website for the ASSIST FM Conference – www.assistfmconference.co.uk
Please visit it for more information about 2018’s Conference.The 18th ASSIST FM Conference takes place in Glasgow on 23-24 August 2018, with an exhibitor set up day on Wednesday 22 August. This year for our conference there is an ‘Agents of Change’ theme and we will be highlighting speakers relevant to the ‘Year of Young People’ who are our future Agents of Change!
We will also have our supplier exhibition and ASSIST FM National Awards:
ASSIST FM Scottish School Cook of The Year
BEBL School Award Winners
ASSIST FM Catering Team of The Year
ASSIST FM Cleaning Team of The Year
ASSIST FM School Crossing Patroller of The Year
ASSIST FM Janitor or Caretaker of the Year
ASSIST FM Making A Difference Award
ASSIST FM National Chair Award
Keep watching the Conference website for further details on speakers, and conference content.
The 2007 ASSIST Conference was deemed a great success by exhibitors and delegates alike.
Here are some of the comments:
Alan Brown, Ideal Services – ‘It was the best Conference yet!’
David Scialfe, AG Barr – ‘The exhibition has been great’
Charles Cooper, Jiffy Trucks – ‘Thank you for a superb event’
Michael Boyd, Meiko – ‘I expect places will be taken up quite early for next year’
Rachel Brown, Green Gourmet – ‘We had a great conference and…were able to speak to most of the Scottish authorities about our new products’
Fergus Chambers, Director, Glasgow Direct Care Services – The programme was excellent and some of the speakers were quite superb’
Margaret Gilmour, Service Manager, Stirling Council – ’It was an excellent event. The speakers on day two were especially good’The 2007 ASSIST Conference theme was The Big Picture and the speakers certainly made delegates think about some of the bigger issues. Our keynote speaker Colin Mair, Chief Executive of the Improvement Service, raised some important issues for local government in the future.
Adam Ingram, Minister for Children and Early Years, outlined some of the elements that will make up the Schools (Health Promotion and Nutrition) Scotland Act.
Simon Miller, from Best Foot Forward, gave us some interesting examples of carbon foot printing within organisations, and what climate change means for the planet.
Patrick Tansey motivated the delegates to smile through their working day. Hands up …who is still laughing like Muttley?On the second day we had an entertaining and enlightening talk from Colin Ransom on the Sunderland Council experience. Bill McGregor gave us the view from the Headteacher, whilst our final speaker, Gordon MacMillan (‘The Deliverer’) showed how obesity could be tackled outside of the school gates with the MEND Programme. The ASSIST Chair Award went to Robin Gourlay, of East Ayrshire Council, for his work on the introduction of organic food and for representing Scottish Local Authorities in such a positive light. The exhibition was a great success with 14 new suppliers attending. One of the newcomers, Innocent Smoothies, won the Best Stand award. All in all, a very successful conference. The ASSIST Committee would like to thank all delegates and suppliers for taking part.
ASSIST FM, along with Hobart UK and Brakes Scotland, masterminded a plan to reduce the food wastage from this year’s exhibition, and really help out a local organisation, Lanarkshire Community Food & Health Partnership, in the process.
Exhibitors at the ASSIST FM Conference Exhibition this year were encouraged to place any dry, chilled or frozen goods that were not used during the exhibition at designated areas in the exhibition hall so that they could be donated to local charity where the left-over food would then be donated to foodbanks across Lanarkshire.
A big thank you goes to Roger Kellow of Hobart UK for organising such a great and simple initiative that helps the people who need it most and reduced unnecessary food wastage!
The 2008 ASSIST Conference was deemed the best yet by exhibitors and delegates alike. Here are some of the comments:
Charles Cooper, NEC Trailers – ‘a great exhibition, we should do some good business from it’
Bruce Geary, Clackmannanshire Council – ’The speakers were superb’
Tom Carlton, Muller – ‘A most enjoyable conference’
Bill Kennedy. Tayside Contracts – ‘It was obvious that there was a lot of hard work put in. The conference was excellent’
The Conference theme was ‘The Final Frontier’ and although Mr Spock didn’t appear and the Chair of ASSIST, Catherine Nelson, did not get beamed up by Scotty there was a lot to talk about. Keynote speaker Lady Marie Stubbs was both thought-provoking and highly entertaining. Alastair MacNish was as controversial as usual as he spelt out his own thoughts on the Concordat. Iain Ramsay told the conference about the changes at Learning and Teaching Scotland and Fergus Chambers gave a very illuminating talk on the catering operation at the Beijing Olympics as well as plans for the 2014 Commonwealth Games in Glasgow. On the second day workshops took place with Gordon MacMillan, Charlie MacLean Bristol and Diane Leask. Toni McIlindon brought us up to date on legal implications for 2008/2009 and the conference was brought to an end by Mo Shapiro who made us all imagine problem people as dots in the distance. The exhibition was a great success with 11 new suppliers attending. 3663 won the Best Stand award. The ASSIST Chair Award went to Anne Lennie, of the City of Edinburgh Council, for services to the industry and The ASSIST Best Achiever Award was given to St Margaret’s Academy in Livingston. Andrea Bradley collected the award on behalf of the school. A terrific conference once again and the ASSIST Committee would like to thank all delegates and suppliers for taking part.
Another well received conference – hailed as the best yet!
Many had thought that the 2008 Conference was the best for a number of years but it was surpassed by the 2009 Conference. The quality of speakers was superb, marshalled well by the returning MC for the event, Adrienne Lawler. The keynote speaker was Lord Digby Jones and he did not disappoint. Speaking without notes he held the audience captivated with his thoughts about the ‘growing apartheid ‘between the public and private sectors. Mark McAteer of The Improvement Service followed Lord Jones with his own view on the changes that are necessary amongst local authorities, and provided some extremely sobering predictions about future local government funding. Pat Watters, Chair of COSLA, gave an update on the Concordat and his view on the issues that were the most important to the ASSIST membership. Verner Wheelock gave an in depth and fascinating talk on his views that concluded that all nutritional information was misleading at best and at worst was wrong. Nigel Risner completed day one and was roundly regarded as one of the best motivational speakers that the audience had ever heard.
The exhibition on day one was extremely well attended and 11 new suppliers were on show. Day two started with the ASSIST AGM, at which Ken Campbell was unanimously voted Chair of the Association. Ronnie Dinnie was voted on as Vice Chair. Shona Grant from Fife was welcomed onto the committee. Lindsay Graham of Redbrook Garve gave a talk about the Midlothian schools Pilot scheme that empowers the pupils to register their opinions on schools/meals, etc. She was followed by Jamie Maxton who outlined his thoughts on the future political landscape for Scotland and how this might affect the councils. Bill Kennedy introduced the School Cook of the Year scheme – SCOTY – and showed the benefit that Tayside Contracts have had from taking part. And finally Fergus Chambers came back to the conference a year on from his talk on Direct and Care Services becoming an LLP to give an update on Cordia and how well the transition has gone. His talk was, as always, extremely informative and entertaining. The awards this year were as follows:
ASSIST Chair award – Fife Council (for their apprenticeship scheme)
ASSIST Best Achiever award – Alison Sinclair, Tayside Contracts (Alison was runner up in SCOTY and her dessert was produced for the Gala Dinner)
ASSIST Best Stand – Green Gourmet
The Committee would like to thank Catherine Nelson for her tenure as Chair of ASSIST. Catherine has represented the Association vigorously and effectively and her efforts are very much appreciated.
30th & 31st August Glasgow Caledonian UniversityThis year’s Conference was held in Glasgow and saw the best turnout of delegates yet. The suppliers were delighted with the time they got to spend with the delegates. Many said it was the best ASSIST exhibition yet. The theme for the 2012 Conference was ‘Open to Change’ and the delegate sessions and exhibition were held at Caledonian University for the first time. Thanks go to our speakers;
Paul Jukes, Executive Director of Environmental Services, North Lanarkshire Council
Diane Leask, Quality Improvement Officer, East Renfrewshire Council
Andrew Dickson and Clare Ollerenshaw of Zero Waste Scotland
Gary Ennis of NSDesign
James Allred Marketing Manager of Unilever Food Solutions
Magnus Mcfarlane Barrow, CEO of Mary’s Meals
Colin McLeod of Tree of Knowledge
There were 49 exhibitors, eight of whom were at ASSIST for the first time. Craig Stevenson MD of Braehead Foods was awarded with the Chair Award for services to the industry. Green Gourmet won the award for best stand. The inaugural ASSIST Scottish School Cook of The Year prizes were also awarded at the dinner with Norrie Scott, Catering Manager of Perth High School, winning the accolade of our first ever School Cook of The Year. Congratulations to him and all our other competitors (see separate post on ASSIST Scottish School Cook of The Year )
ASSIST CONFERENCE 2013 – TALKING HEADS29-30 August – Caledonian University, GlasgowThis years ASSIST conference, sponsored by Muller Wiseman, will be held in Glasgow for the third year running. The venue for the Conference and Exhibition is Glasgow Caledonian University. The theme for this year’s conference is ‘Talking Heads’.Conference Delegates will be coming from councils all over Scotland from Highland and Moray in the north to the Scottish Borders in the south, and will include the decision makers for purchasing FM related products. As Bill Kennedy, National Chair of ASSIST states, ‘Our theme for the Conference this year is ‘Talking Heads’ – one of the key objectives for ASSIST is to generate discussion and information-sharing between councils – we are not in competition with each other and we need to share best practice and lessons learned. That’s what the launch of our Scottish School Meals site has been all about. It is really important for each authority to look at ways it can improve its service, even when budgets are being cut. Marketing is an important part of that mix.’This year ASSIST has great mix of speakers including Rory Mair, Chief Executive Officer, COSLA, David Mories from The Glasgow 2014, Commonwealth Games organisation, Elsie Downham of The Soil Association, Colin Mair, Chief Executive Officer of The Improvement Service, Marie-Claire James of The Federation of Chefs Scotland, and James Anthony. Each of our speakers will give their own individual takes on what the delegates can do to develop their business. We purposely invited key influencers from government and local authorities this year to give us their take on the future of Facilities management within Scottish local authorities. Bill goes on to say, ‘ASSIST as an organisation was established to create and present a shared voice on all matters relating to Facilities Management throughout Scotland’s 32 local authorities. The organisation is even more important today than ever. As it is a difficult year for council finances we have frozen our delegate fee at £95, thanks in part to sponsorship from Muller Wiseman, and our exhibitors. We work closely with all our suppliers and our exhibition this year will have 46 stands. All will be exhibiting products that fit our members specifications, and some have created products specifically for our market.’The format for the conference will remain as in past years with the supplier exhibition taking place on Day One.
Bill Kennedy is keen that ASSIST continues to address important issues for all its members. ‘This year we will be launching a major Commonwealth Promotion as well as highlighting updates to our website, running a third Scottish School Cook of The Year promotion, and introducing a new ASSIST Awards scheme for Scotland.There will be three awards at this year’s conference:
ASSIST Chair Award – last year’s winner was Craig Stevenson of Braehead Foods, for services to industry and continued support of ASSIST.
ASSIST Scottish School Cook of The Year – last year won by Norrie Scott of Tayside Contracts.
ASSIST Best Stand – last year won by Green Gourmet. The ASSIST website is www.assistfm.comThe School meals site is at www.scottishschoolmeals.co.ukIf you wish to contact ASSIST please email: info@assistfm.com or call Alan Cunningham for more information on 07768 584517.
