East Renfrewshire's sports centres have announced their opening hours for the festive season.

On Monday 23 December, Barrhead Sports Centre will be open from 3 to 10pm, and Eastwood Park Leisure from 7.30am to 3pm.

On Christmas Eve, both centres will be open from 9am to 3pm.

Both centres will be closed on Christmas Day, Boxing Day and Friday 27 December.

On Saturday 28 and Sunday 29 December, Barrhead and Eastwood Park will be open from 9am to 5pm.

On Monday 30 December, Barrhead's opening hours will be 7.30am to 3pm, and Eastwood Park's 3 to 10pm.

Both will be closed on New Year's Day, Thursday 2 January and Friday 3 January.

The centres return to normal opening hours from Saturday 4 January.

Eastwood High Sports Centre and Neilston Leisure Centre will remain closed over the Christmas and New Year period.

Their final day will be Sunday December 22 and they will reopen on Saturday 4 January.

Last admission to centres will be 40 minutes before closing time in all cases.

Kind hearted service users at Barrhead Centre are playing Santa this year when they gift bikes to youngsters less fortunate than others.

For the cycle workshop has been busy overhauling a dozen children's bikes specifically to donate to needy local children for Christmas.

And the workshop recently gifted cycles to Carlibar Primary School to make cycling accessible for all youngsters at the school who did not have their own bikes.

The cycle workshop was set up at the back of Barrhead Resource Centre to further integrate the centre's service users in to the community and help them be recognised as a valuable asset to local life.

To become experts with bikes, service users received training so that, under supervision, they can fit tyres, repair punctures, service bikes and run a safety check for a small fee. To ensure the workshop's sustainability they also sell used and reconditioned cycles and new and used parts.

Since the workshop opened eighteen months ago there has been a steady stream of people bringing their cycles in to be fixed, to trade in, or buy a new one.

The cycle workshop is open week days, apart from Thursdays, at Barrhead Resource Centre, Barrhead, from 10am to 2pm.

The Barrhead Centre, day care for adults with learning difficulties, is run by East Renfrewshire Community Health Care Partnership.

The CHCP is a partnership between East Renfrewshire Council and NHS Greater Glasgow and Clyde (NHSGG&C) and brings together local community and primary care health services from NHSGG&C and social work services from East Renfrewshire Council.

Pictured are service users Robert Armour, Bobby McNeil and James Mcready with some of the bikes they have overhauled and are gifting to local children this Christmas.

A new 'pop up' café for people with dementia and their carers will open its doors at 2pm on Weds 11 December at the Undercover cafe in Barrhead for a special Christmas get-together.

The café will be a place for people with dementia and carers to get together to share their experiences and support each other, as well as have fun and enjoy socialising.

At this first café, local people will be able to decide how often they want to meet, the preferred venue and how they want the meetings to develop.

Councillor Alan Lafferty, convener for social work and health said: "Dementia affects people across our whole community. Peer support is something that people consistently say they value when living with dementia. This café will complement the existing one which meets regularly in the Redhurst Hotel, Giffnock and will give local people who are living with dementia and their carers and family a space to meet, talk and socialise."

The dementia Christmas café will take place at 2pm on Weds 11 December at the Under Cover Building, Voluntary Action, 56 Kelburn Street, Barrhead, G78 1LR.

If you'd like to go along or want to find out more contact Sandy Devers support and development lead (Dementia) on 577 8654 or email sandy.devers@eastrenfrewshire.gov.uk

Up to 86,000 people are estimated to have dementia in Scotland, a number that is expected to double over the next 25 years

Greenhags Waste Transfer Station, Ayr Road, Newton Mearns has been closed due to the high winds causing an electrical failure. As a result, residents are unable to dispose of waste until further notice.

Council offices opening hours

Council offices will close at 2pm on Tuesday 24 December and re-open on Friday 27 December 2012.

Offices will close at 2pm on Tuesday 31 December and re-open on Friday 3 January 2013.

Out of hours council numbers

You can contact East Renfrewshire Council when the offices are closed on these emergency numbers:

• Emergency housing repairs - 08080 031 601
• Homelessness out-of-hours - 0800 052 0180
• Social work standby - 0800 811 505
• Roads and lighting faults including flooding - 0800 373 635
• Registration of births and deaths out of hours - 07798 875297 (Or contact Giffnock or Barrhead police stations)

Schools

East Renfrewshire's schools will close on Friday 20 December 2013 and re-open on Monday 6 January 2013.

Customer First

The customer first service centres in the Barrhead Main Street office and the council headquarters in Eastwood Park, Giffnock will close and re-open on the days listed above.

When they re-open on Friday 27 December and on Friday 3 January it will be at 8am (all other council services will start at 8.45am).

Customer First can be contacted on these numbers:

• General 0141 577 3001
• Recycling/cleansing/national entitlement card (NEC) enquiries 0141 577 3001
• Council tax/benefits enquiries 0141 577 3002
• Social work/blue badge/housing enquiries 0141 577 3003
• Housing repairs - 0141 577 3700
• Sports development/pitch booking enquiries - 0141 577 3008
• Registration enquiries - 0141 577 3008

Registering births & deaths

Here are the details for the registration offices during Christmas and New Year:

• Christmas Eve open until 2pm
• Christmas Day - closed
• Boxing Day - closed

The registration offices will re-open on Friday 27 December.

• Hogmany open until 2pm
• Wednesday 1 January - closed
• Thursday 2 January - closed

The registration offices will re-open on Friday 3 January 2013.

A registrar can be contacted outside normal working hours on 07798 875297.

Refuse and recycling collections

When will your bin be collected?

Refuse and recycling collections will not take place on Christmas Day or New Year's Day this year.

This will have a knock-on effect for the remainder of the week and all collections of refuse and recycling will take place a day later than expected.

Mon 23 Dec	Collection as normal
Tue 24 Dec	Collection as normal
Wed 25 Dec	Moved to Thu 26 Dec
Thu 26 Dec	Moved to Fri 27 Dec
Fri 27 Dec	Moved to Sat 28 Dec
Mon 30 Dec	Collection as normal
Tue 31 Dec	Collection as normal
Wed 1 Jan	Moved to Thu 2 Jan
Thu 2 Jan	Moved to Fri 3 Jan
Fri 3 Jan	Moved to Sat 4 Jan

Normal collections will resume week beginning Monday 6 January 2013.

To check what bin is being collected, please use our bin collection calendar. 

Christmas tree recycling

Your Christmas tree can be taken to Greenhags or Barrhead Recycling Centre. Alternatively, trees can be placed in your brown bin and placed out on the day that your garden and food waste is normally collected.

Recycling points and centres

Take your excess festive waste to one of our local recycling points or a recycling centre over the break.  Please see below for the Recycling Centre's closures during the festive period: -

Barrhead Recycling Centre

Closed on the following dates: 25 December 2013 and 1 January 2014

Greenhags Recycling Centre

Closed on the following dates: 25 December 2013 and 1 January 2014

On 26 December and 2 January 2013, the site will operate reduced hours between 10am and 4pm

Both sites will close early at 3.30pm on Christmas Eve (24th) and Hogmanay (31st).

For more information visit our recycling page.

Roads

During the winter the council stocks up 319 grit bins across the area for your use and 18 large community grit bins. The council also has a salt barn at its depot in Thornliebank where you can collect grit. Please bring your own container.

You can contact us to report roads and lighting faults on: 0141 577 3001 8am-6pm or 0800 373 635 evenings or weekends. For the M77 from Malletsheugh towards Kilmarnock and the A726 GSO, you should contact Amey or Connect on 0800 028 1414.

For further information, please view our roads and gritting page.

Weather

Stay up to date with weather conditions and our services on our winter weather page.

Leisure

For opening times of our sports centres, leisure facilities and libraries please visit the leisure pages.  

Outdoor sports pitch bookings

For outdoor sports pitch during the festive period, please visit our pitch bookings page.

For Sport development/pitch booking enquires please call 0141 577 3008

Useful numbers

Domestic abuse

Contact East Renfrewshire Women's Aid on 0845 1801 323 or 0141 880 4345 24 during the festive holidays.             

Antisocial behaviour: Ring and report

Call the antisocial helpline free and confidentially on 0800 013 0076. Report noisy neighbours; loud music; neighbourhood disputes; litter; fly tipping; graffiti and dog fouling.

Our community wardens and control room operators will be on duty 24/7 over the festive period.             

Police and fire

You can contact local police 24 hours-a-day over Christmas and New Year on:

Giffnock police station - 0141 532 5700

Barrhead police station - 0141 532 6200

Emergency and fire - 999

Non-emergency - 101

Benefit fraud hotline

Do you know someone who is claiming benefit they're not entitled to? Call the benefit fraud hotline on 0800 0130729 in confidence.

Regular updates

Follow us on Twitter or Facebook for regular updates during the festive period.

Work to transform Giffnock Library is continuing apace - and customers have the chance to find out more this Friday 6 December.

The team behind the new-look facility - which is undergoing a major £450,000 service redesign - will be hosting an information session at Eastwood Park Theatre from noon to 2pm.

Users of the library are invited to the informal drop-in session for a sneak preview of what they can expect to see in their new facility, and to ask questions.

All welcome to go along.

There will be further opportunities for community groups to have a tour of the new library ahead of its opening in February, once the building work is completed later this month.

A celebration of walking in Rouken Glen is taking place with a special Christmas 'winter wander' in the park on Weds 11 December.

People who go along can choose from four walks to suit all abilities. And on their return all the walkers can enjoy a hot drink and a mince pie at the pavilion where volunteers will sing Christmas carols.

The walking celebration is aimed at older adults to recognise the success of the

'Rouken Glen Walkers' who have met weekly for more than 10 years. The group is led by four volunteer walkers and regularly has between 70 to 100 people walking. And organisers want more older people to come along to the Christmas walk and discover the benefits of joining a walking group for themselves.

The Rouken Glen Walkers are leading two walks from 10am to 11.30am or leaving at 10.30am to 11.30am.

And at 10am Rouken Glen Park rangers will lead a gentle walk around the pond area suitable for people with mobility issues or in a wheelchair. Walkers will then be transported back to the pavilion. The rangers second walk also leaves at 10am will last an hour and will stop in a shelter for a hot drink.

Councillor Alan Lafferty, convener for social work and health said: "Walking is simple, free and one of the easiest ways to get more active, lose weight and become healthier. It's ideal for people of all ages and fitness levels who want to be more active. And joining a walking group is a great way to socialise and meet new people."

Councillor Vincent Waters, Convener for environment said: "What better way to celebrate walking and the success of the Rouken Glen Walkers group than to spend a morning strolling in the park with the group and our park rangers. Please come along and join in and discover for yourself the benefits of walking."

The event starts at Rouken Glen Park at 9.30am on Weds 11 December.

Please wear suitable warm clothing and walking boots and bring your binoculars to see the wildlife.

Transport will be provided for anyone who needs it to get to the park.

Registration for each walk will take place at the main entrance to Rouken Glen Park from 9.30am on Wednesday 11 December.

If you'd like to go along, or would like transport to the park, please get in touch with Sine Delahunt on 577 8361.

A pioneering schools project has won a major Scottish award - and is now in line for GLOBAL honours.

East Renfrewshire has landed the Confucius Classroom Hub of Year 2013 award.

This makes it Scotland's top performer in the programme, which celebrates Chinese language and culture.

But it also means it is one of the top 10 in the world, chosen out of 500.

Now East Renfrewshire Council has been invited to the finals in China next week.

The hub is based at St Ninian's High School in Giffnock, and head teacher John Docherty will represent the hub in Beijing.

Convener for education and equalities, Councillor Elaine Green, congratulated the project on its worldwide success.

She said: "This is an outstanding achievement by the East Renfrewshire hub.

"To be chosen as the best in Scotland is very significant in itself, but to then be selected as one of top 10 in the world is absolutely wonderful.

"I'd like to say very well done to everyone involved and wish them all the best in the final.

"The Classroom has achieved so much in just a short time. Interest in learning Mandarin continues to grow and I know we will keep building on that success in the future."

East Ren is one of two Scottish finalists, the other being Fife.

The area's Confucius Classroom Hub was set up four years ago. It is a joint project between the Scottish and Chinese governments to promote Mandarin and culture.

Since the hub started more than 50 pupils from across East Renfrewshire have sat SQA exams in Mandarin, including at advanced higher level.

Lunch clubs help teach pupils about Chinese culture, there is a Chinese dance club and tai chi classes and projects such as art, cookery and fabric design.

And two S6 pupils, from St Ninian's and Mearns Castle, are in the running for a Chinese language scholarship at Strathclyde University.

China funds a permanent teacher of Mandarin, who is based at St Ninian's, and two seconded teachers who work with pupils in the area's high schools and feeder primaries. It's hoped a third seconded teacher will join the council next year.

St Ninian's head teacher Mr Docherty is delighted the work in East Renfrewshire is being recognised at national level.

He said: "Well done to the teaching staff and pupils who have been recognised with the Confucius Classroom of the Year 2013 Award.

"It's a superb achievement for a hub that has only been in existence for four years.

"The work of the Confucius Hub is being extended across all school clusters in East Renfrewshire this year by the education department.

"The teaching of Chinese language, supporting Chinese cultural activities across the different subjects, the development of language skills of our teachers, encouraging the uptake and learning of languages in all educational establishments, pre-five, primary and secondary, are recognisable strengths in our schools.

"The work is very much in tune with the new national curricular developments being encouraged and developed in our schools and the young people are enjoying learning the language and taking part in cultural activities and competitions.

"Many of our schools have seen a growing number of pupils receive national recognition in the different competitions sponsored by the Confucius Institute.

"Success in SQA exams from Intermediate and Higher to Advanced Higher has been excellent.

"One of the main developments for the future is to develop further the ability of our teachers to teach the language in pre-five and primary and we will do this through in-service training and authority conferences.

"By encouraging more of our young people to learn key words and phrases, they will recognise that learning languages is for them.

"This investment will encourage language uptake, develop into a lifetime of interest, and provide young people with the opportunity to study at higher and further education.

"This can only be to the benefit of Scottish and British businesses and for future employment.

"It will also improve further the cultural links with the Chinese community at home and abroad.

"China is a huge economic power and its global influence is becoming more apparent. It is vital that our young people understand this and are prepared well to grasp the many opportunities that will become available through the growing Scottish-Chinese economic and cultural connections."

PUPILS from Eastwood High School had a date with royalty as they picked up a top sports honour.

The Newton Mearns secondary is the winner of Badminton Scotland's 'school of the month' award.

And it was presented to head teacher Stuart Maxwell and a group of pupils by The Earl of Wessex, Prince Edward.

The school received the accolade from His Royal Highness at finals day of the Badminton Scotland Scottish Open Grand Prix at the Emirates Arena in Glasgow.

Mr Maxwell said: "I was really proud of our badminton players for winning the award but it was made doubly special by the fact that HRH Prince Edward, the patron of Badminton Scotland, presented the award."

Badminton Scotland honours a school each month in recognition of those schools which offer pupils outstanding badminton opportunities.

Eastwood High has an extensive badminton programme which is continuing to grow.

S1 to S3 badminton attracts up to 70 pupils a week and numbers attending the S4 to S6 club is increasing, with upwards of 25 going along to the weekly sessions.

Pupils also take part in tournaments organised by the Renfrewshire Area Schools Badminton Association. Last year some young people won district titles and went on to compete in the Scottish Schools Nationals. The senior team also qualified for the national team finals last season.

Eastwood has also hosted badminton development sessions for primary and secondary teachers so more of the sport can be rolled out across the area.

And there is a badminton leaders' award for S6 pupils who have chosen sports leadership as part of the curriculum.

They are then able to volunteer with events run by Active Schools within the authority.

Locals who use East Ren CHCP's home care service have given the care and support they receive a glowing report.

For in a recent survey which took place to gain their views, service users expressed a high level of satisfaction with home care.

95 per cent of responders to the survey said their contact with home care workers had improved the quality of their lives; 94 per cent said the service made them feel safer in their own home; and 96 per cent stated that they were listened to and had their wishes respected.

The survey also highlighted some areas which could be improved:

Only 66 per cent of responders said they were kept informed of changes in their service; and 61 per cent said they had a written care plan.

The findings will help to inform the delivery of the home care service in East Ren.

Around 900 service users were sent a questionnaire and 45 per cent of those asked responded.

Around 1,000 people are supported by the homecare service in East Renfrewshire.

Cllr Alan Lafferty, convener for health and social care said: "Thanks to everyone who shared their views. We were delighted to receive such a high response to the survey. The feedback we gained presents a positive picture with high levels of satisfaction and what really came across was the overall view that East Ren's home care team enabled service users to live in their own home and to maintain some independence. We will use the views to build on the work we are doing and look at how we can do things better in the future."

The CHCP is a partnership between East Renfrewshire Council and NHS Greater Glasgow and Clyde (NHSGG&C) and brings together local community and primary care health services from NHSGG&C and social work services from East Renfrewshire Council.