All About Me: local women celebrate Making it Work achievements

A day of celebration but serious challenges lie ahead 

Local women have just completed a lottery-funded Making It Work employability course and they celebrated their success with a special event at Royston Wardieburn Community Centre last week. The highlight of the event was the premiere of a film made to document the young mothers’ experiences, and while there were smiles and laughs there were tears and no little anger too.

Film maker George Williamson worked alongside the women during their experience of getting ready to return to the world of work and he recorded the difficulties the young mums have faced along the way. From juggling household finances and getting kids to and from school to finding affordable, flexible childcare is challenging enough – but then to be hit with changes to the benefits system that could see you lose your home adds a whole new series of anxieties.

Some of the women have been faced with as a result of welfare reforms, exacerbated by cuts to Discretionary Housing Payments. Some don’t know where they will be living from one day to the next – yet they are still expected to look for work.

This sudden change in circumstances has seen the women add another string to their bow: lobbying and campaigning. The women have lobbied councillors at the City Chambers and last week held a peaceful protest at Scottish Tory leader Ruth Davidson’s constituency office in Roseburn.

The film sparked a debate about the implications of welfare reforms and benefits at the packed Royston Wardieburn event which was attended by MSPs Alison Johnstone and Ben Macpherson, North and Leith prospective MP Diedre Brock and new Forth Councillor Ellie Bird.

“We want to work, but it’s not easy”, said Johan. “There are a lot of barriers.”

“Not knowing where your kids will be sleeping is heartbreaking. It’s the not knowing that’s most upsetting – that’s the hardest part” said Rachel, one of the victims of the welfare reforms.

“Mums work all day, every day and even when the kids reach school age there are very few jobs that fit around the school day”, said Heather. “Single mums do want to work, but not just any job at any cost.”

Yvonne was lucky enough to be offered her ‘dream job’ – only to have to turn it down when childcare arrangements fell through. “It’s a nightmare to try to plan work commitments around childcare. There needs to be much more flexibility” she said.

All About Me mums organised and ran the whole event with the help of their support worker Pauline Nicol-Bowie, who also wrote a poem for the occasion. The Benefit Cap was read by group member Jade Ashley-Parker (below).

The poem, The Benefit Cap, reads:

Oh look, here they come

Scrounging their benefits

and away they run.

Make-up, eyebrows, brand new phones,

Dinnae bother paying their loans.

Bairns in designer gear

Jog on, pal!

We live in fear.

Sanctions, PIP, ESA

I cannae pay my bills

What am I tae dae?

Benefits caps, foodbanks,

Homelessness to name a few.

Ignore us, Councillors,

‘Cos it’s no’ happening to you.

Another week, another meeting,

Get a job is all I hear,

I’m trying!!

Sick of greetin’,

I’m never gettting a career.

Kids are fed, homework done,

Oh,today wasnae fun!

Kids tucked up nice and cosy,

One more thing, their kiss and story.

Kids asleep, it;s time for ma tea

Oh, shit!

There’s nowt for me

It’s okay, I’ll eat tomorrow,

It just means I’ll have to borrow.

Even with my daily struggles

My kids will always get lots of cuddles.

All my worries are so depressing

Thank God for my kids

THEY ARE MY BLESSING!

Capital City Partnership’s Irene Thomson (below), who leads the Making it Work project, said: “This was a Big Lottery funded initiative to support lone parents into work. Over the four-year duration we have supported 100 people into work and eighty into training, far exceeding the targets set at the outset so it has been a great success.

“It will be really sad to leave behind such a great bunch of very inspirational women, but we hope that we are leaving them in a better place.”

The funding for the group ends in September, but the women plan to continue to meet regularly. They also have a Facebook page.

Congratulations Tasha, Ashleigh, Heather, Rachael, Michelle, Johan, Jade, Deborah and Siobhan who made the event such a success – and congratulations too to everyone else who took part in the group but who couldn’t be there on the day.

There will be two further opportunities to see the film and meet the women this month.

On Friday 23 June, the Making it Work team will hold an event at Central Hall, Tollcross from 1.30 – 3.30pm. As well as an opportunity to meet the parents and see the film there will be face-painting and balloon modelling activities with free creche.

The group will also present their film at North Edinburgh Arts on Friday 23 June at 4.30pm.

Bra- vo as Scotland’s MoonWalkers raise £20 million

Walkers went wild as they celebrated reaching an incredible £20 million fundraising milestone at The MoonWalk Scotland last night. Before the first step was even taken, organisers breast cancer charity Walk the Walk announced that an amazing £430,000 had been raised by people taking part in this year’s event – bringing the fundraising total over the last 12 years of The MoonWalk Scotland to a phenomenal £20 million! Continue reading Bra- vo as Scotland’s MoonWalkers raise £20 million

Minister welcomes mental health target improvements

Further reduction in waiting times

The number of children and young people seen by mental health services (CAMHS) within the target time has increased for the third consecutive quarter.

Figures published by ISD Scotland this week show that 83.6% of people were seen within 18 weeks during the quarter ending 31 March 2017, up from 82.5% in the previous quarter.

CAMHS workforce has increased by 65% under this Government, with the the number of CAMHS psychologists having more than doubled.

Maureen Watt, Minister for Mental Health, said: “This continued reduction in CAMHS waiting times is encouraging, with 10 Boards achieving the target this quarter – up from seven at the end of 2016. However I’m clear that we must continue to reduce waiting times and I will not be satisfied until our target is met sustainably.

“We will continue to work with Boards to make sure that happens right across Scotland and the Mental Health Access Improvement Support Team, which has delivered significant improvements in NHS Forth valley, are working in partnership with Boards to deliver sustained improvements.

“Our recently published ten-year strategy for mental health sets out a range of measures that focus on prevention and early intervention to meet the mental health needs of children and young people, backed by £150 million of funding.

“We will also soon commission reviews into school counselling and rejected child and adolescent mental health service referrals, as a foundation for making further improvements.”

Continue reading Minister welcomes mental health target improvements

Partnership makes book reuse a priority on UK campuses

Partnership provides new opportunities for students, faculty and the wider campus community to maximise the value of their unwanted books

Better World Books, the award-winning, socially minded  global bookseller, is delighted to announce a new partnership with the EAUC, the environmental and sustainability champion within Further and Higher Education in the UK, to drive sustainability and book reuse at university and college campuses across the UK.

The EAUC and Better World Books will work together to locate book banks which will provide students, staff and the wider community with a convenient and easy way to donate books that they no longer want. Books that are collected will be processed at the Better World Books distribution centre in Dunfermline and listed for sale on www.betterworldbooks.co.uk and other online marketplaces.  A percentage of every book sold will support the EAUC’s mission.  Any books that cannot be sold will be donated or recycled–no books ever become landfill.  The book banks are supplied free of charge by Better World Books.

Better World Books successfully operates its book bank programme at various locations across the UK, including Fife. In Fife alone, almost one million books have been collected since 2013.

The EAUC leads and empowers the post-16 education sector to put sustainability at the heart of the way the world operates. The EAUC believes that both the issues of social, environmental and economic sustainability are interlinked as well as the solutions.

Iain Patton, EAUC CEO, said, “EAUC’s new partnership with Better World Books aims to help our members bridge the ‘learning gap’ and stop books being lost to landfill.”

Better World Books, as a founding member of the B Corp movement and the winner of the VIBES Circular Economy Award in 2015, shares similar goals of reuse and sustainability.

Martin Mullin, Head of Sales UK for Better World Books added, “This exciting partnership between the EAUC and Better World Books is a brilliant concept with sustainability at the very centre.  Together we will work to place book banks across Universities and Colleges and collect books that would otherwise be going to landfills.  The book banks are a very convenient way for everyone involved in campus life to participate.  We’re really pleased to be working with an organisation that shares our environmental goals and values.”