Welcome to this week's Financial Inclusion Network news

The Financial Inclusion Network is an informal group of over 250 members taken from the Public and Third Sectors which covers all areas of South Lanarkshire.  This network is to share information from a wide range of themes. We hope to provide a new update each week that can be accessed by all members at any time to see what is going on in the area under the headings below. If you would like an item included within our weekly news, please complete our short online form here: https://forms.office.com/e/Ht5w7iAuFi.  For further information, please email communities@southlanarkshire.gov.uk 

Money is not the only problem – Get Involved

Getting involved in your community can help you become a part of something and give you chances to learn new things, make friends and make a difference to others. This section shows some ways that you can do that.

https://www.southlanarkshire.gov.uk/directory/182/money_is_not_the_only_problem/category/525

Community Networking Event – Friday 10 October

Community Networking Event Friday 10 October 2025, Council HQ, Almada Street, Hamilton, ML3 0AA from 12pm to 4pm.

The event will take a familiar shape with FIN members hosting stalls/tables to promote their services to community groups and members of the public. In addition to this there will be an element of workshops and learning opportunities which will be hosted throughout the afternoon.  This is an event for the public so please feel free to promote it as widely as possible to groups, colleagues, family and friends.

Please use the following two links to register for a stand and provide ideas for any workshops:-

• What you want to learn - https://forms.office.com/e/MhRKrJ26Xp

For more information contact us at – communities@southlanarkshire.gov.uk

Improvement Service

Starting this autumn, the Improvement Service will be delivering a series of webinars that focus on different aspects of evaluation. The first will be about Measuring social value in Scottish local authorities on 7 October 2025. Find out more about this and what is coming up on our Eventbrite page.

evaluation@improvementservice.org.uk

https://www.eventbrite.com/cc/evaluation-webinars-4536543

Lanarkshire Climate Action Festival

This year's Festival programme is jam-packed with events and activities designed to start local climate conversations and raise interest in climate action.

Many of the events on this year's programme do not require advance booking however, there are others which do require you to book in advance. You will also see on the event listing that some of the events are designated as family-friendly and there are also accessible events.

https://lanarkshireclimateactionfestival.net/festival-programme

Challenge Poverty Week 2025 – Monday 6 October to Sunday 12 October

Challenge Poverty Week (CPW) started in 2013.   The aim of CPW is to highlight the injustice of poverty and inequality by showing  that collective action based on justice and compassion can create solutions. The week is an opportunity for you to raise your voice against poverty and unite with others in calling for a just and equal Scotland.  Join hundreds of other organisations to do just that, including elected representative, charities,  local authorities, faith groups, businesses, schools and colleges, trade unions, professional bodies and more.

We are creating a calendar of events for the week so, whatever you are doing (events, activities, messages, etc.) send in full details and we will collate the data for sharing with all partners,  Send full details to communities@southlanarkshire.gov.uk

Lanarkshire Carers

Please see the link below to see our latest training programme:- 

https://lanarkshirecarers.org.uk/services/training/

National Autistic Society (NAS) – Free Autism Resource Library

NAS offers resources for parents and carers  alongside autistic adults.  Drop in have a coffee and borrow some useful resources about autism.

Cambuslang Morrison’s Café the second Saturday of every month 10.30am-11.30am (due to holidays the next meeting will be Saturday 20 September).