Day: October 24, 2019

Follow in our Footsteps: Fruitmarket Gallery’s Schools Programme exhibition

Augmented reality artwork, corrupted selfies, hidden content and an installation hanging from washing lines, a time-lapsed film projected onto the cast impressions of Edinburgh’s Old Town and sound experiments as a playable interface …

These are some of the artworks created by pupils from eight Edinburgh schools which will be on display at Custom Lane in Leith this weekend as part of The Fruitmarket Gallery’s Making Matters and SmART Thinking Schools’ Programmes.
Continue reading Follow in our Footsteps: Fruitmarket Gallery’s Schools Programme exhibition

15 sex crimes against a child recorded EVERY DAY in Scotland

Recorded sexual offences against children have reached an all-time high, data obtained by the NSPCC has revealed.

In Scotland, there were 5,325 recorded offences including rape, grooming and sexual assault against children in 2018/19. Across the UK, in the same period, there were 76,204 of these offences – an average of one every seven minutes. Continue reading 15 sex crimes against a child recorded EVERY DAY in Scotland

Community Renewal’s Next Step programme celebrates success

The Next Step programme has announced a great start in realising its goal of fairer work for residents of Edinburgh. Since its launch in April 2019, over 500 people have been offered free advice, training and connections toward more secure and fair employment.

Next Step is a free service delivered by anti-poverty charity Community Renewal Trust, with support from Citizens Advice Edinburgh, One Parent Families Scotland and Bruce Robertson Training. It is funded by City of Edinburgh Council and the European Social Fund through Capital City Partnership.

Since April, it has helped clients with a wide range of employment related requirements including insufficient income, unemployment, training needs, career stagnation and work and personal issues. Community Renewal hosted a special event today to celebrate passing a key landmark.

Minister for Business, Fair Work and Skills Jamie Hepburn MSP, attended the event at Out of The Blue Drill Hall and congratulated the project on its success: “It is fantastic to see how well Next Step has taken off since its launch in April – it is now celebrating over 500 participants joining the programme.

“The providers also tackle a range of employability matters including in-work poverty. I welcome this because it helps create fairer work, and also helps people with other employment-related issues.”

CEO – Paul McColgan – described what makes the project stand out: “The project isn’t just about getting people into work or into better work – it is about transforming an individual’s life.

“Our highly experienced Employment Advisers collaborate with each individual and together they identify their needs. We stick with the client offering bespoke advice, one to one support and links with employers until they have achieved the outcome they want.”

One client, Kevin Gibbons, shared his experience of Next Step: “I approached Next Step because I was looking for work. Thanks to their advisers, I have attended digital training and received funding for a book-keeping course.

“Once I got to the stage of applying for work, I also received help with writing my CV and interview coaching. They also helped with personal development such as improving my confidence. In fact I joked with the Minister at today’s event that if the First Minister is looking for a new addition to the team, I would happily interview! ”

Kate Kelman, Deputy Chief Executive at Capital City Partnership, explained why the project was funded: “This service is potentially innovative, providing holistic support, tailored to the individual and ultimately empowering people.

“We have high hopes that the approach adopted by the Next Step project will result in genuine long–term and sustainable improvements to people’s lives.” 

Despite currently working with over 500 people, The Next Step team invite even more people to contact Next Step; whatever their requirements.

“We are working with Edinburgh Fuse and a great many other employers and as a result we have helped a variety of people into fair work. Whatever challenges and barriers they have experienced, we have been able to work with them to find a solution.

“We urge anyone who is looking for work or in-work but needing advice or support, to get in touch. Our service is free, and we have offices based all over Edinburgh.”

Anyone interested in Next Step can find out more at the website www.nextstepedinburgh.org or call 0300 365 0025.

Book Week Scotland programme launched

Scottish Book Trust has launched Book Week Scotland’s 2019 programme with comic book artist Frank Quitely of DC Comics All Star Superman and Batman and Robin fame.

Book Week Scotland, the country’s biggest celebration of reading and writing, returns for its eight year with hundreds of events taking place all over Scotland from intimate community gatherings to flagship events with well-loved authors. Continue reading Book Week Scotland programme launched

A fairer society will be a more prosperous one, says Business Minister

SCOTLAND is well placed to tackle the challenges posed by an era of rapid technological development, Scotland’s Business Minister told an Edinburgh conference yesterday. Continue reading A fairer society will be a more prosperous one, says Business Minister

Radio Forth reports an increase in listener numbers

Cash Register has proved to be a real winner at both ends of the M8 with Radio Clyde and Radio Forth reporting an increase in total listener numbers, according to the latest RAJAR results.

The popular competition has helped Radio Clyde and Radio Forth to increase their dominance across the Central Belt with combined listener numbers reaching 1,009,000, keeping it over the magical million number.

This is an increase of 6,000 from the previous quarter and is a result of the combination of engaging competitions, great music, relevant content and popular presenters.

Radio Forth has seen an increase with the combined figures for Forth 1 and Forth 2 reaching 352,000 every week.

Forth 1’s Boogie In The Morning enjoyed a significant increase with 229,000 listeners tuning in every week, up 13,000 from the previous quarter. The popular show achieved its highest audience share in six years and now has a fantastic 22.2% share of all breakfast radio listeners across the East of Scotland.

Radio Clyde has enjoyed continued growth, now reaching a total of 664,000 listeners across Glasgow and the West every week. The hugely successful Bowie At Breakfast now has an incredible 351,000 waking up to it every week. At the other end of the day, Clyde 1’s Superscoreboard weeknight show also scored very strong results with 200,000 listeners every week.

Graham Bryce, Managing Director of Bauer Radio in Scotland, said: “We are very proud to be continuing to grow our share of listeners across Scotland and in the Central Belt in particular.

“This is the result of the hard work of the whole team and their commitment to providing engaging content with a great mix of music, entertainment and local news, travel and sport.

“Our competitions and promotions have been a huge success and this has been led by Cash Register on Clyde 1 and Forth 1 which has seen almost a third of our listeners in Scotland taking part. Cash Register has been one of the most successful radio competitions ever to run in Scotland, with 6.7 million entries and a massive £2.3 million given away in prize money to 75 winners.

“We’ve given away truly life changing sums of money – our most recent winner, Matthew from Gorebridge, who was awarded over £60,000, the biggest prize to date.

“We have exciting plans for the future of Cash Register so listeners can expect an announcement imminently.”

Source: RAJAR / Ipsos – MORI / RSMB, period Q3 2019 (24th June 2019 – 15th September 2019).

Some stations do not cover the whole of the TSA (total survey area).

**RAJAR Q3 2019 FIGURES IN DETAIL:

Total Clyde (1 & 2) listeners: 664,000 listeners

Clyde 1 listeners: 601,000 listeners

Clyde 2 listeners: 154,000 listeners

Total Forth (1 & 2) listeners: 352,000 listeners 

Forth 1 listeners: 327,000

Forth 2 listeners: 52,000

Combined total Clyde & Forth listeners: 1,009,000