Day: June 7, 2020

Largo Arts Week cancelled

Organisers of Largo Arts Week have announced the cancellation of this year’s event due to the coronavirus pandemic.

The inaugural festival was staged last July in the Fife coastal village and hailed as a major success, attracting more than 2,500 visitors and 36 artists.

Organisers had held off making a final decision on this year’s festival following the lockdown in March but, after consulting the community, have now reluctantly decided to cancel the week-long festival.

Largo Arts Week chair Dougi McMillan said: “As lockdown proceeded, we realised that there were many challenges to the event going ahead this summer during the Covid 19 situation.

“The most important point around the event is the safety of the community and their continued engagement and support for the arts week.

“We decided to conduct our own survey of artists and the community and, after receiving more than 160 responses, there was a clear view that reluctantly we should cancel this year’s event.

“I’d like to thank everyone for taking time to give us their views and we will now start planning to reinstate Largo Arts Week in the summer of 2021. Of course, we are all disappointed, but the safety of the community must come first and I am sure everyone will look forward to next year’s event.”

The inaugural Largo Arts Week featured a stellar line-up of acts, with highlights including sell-out performances from comedian Phil Jupitus and world-renowned sculptor David Mach, 36 artists exhibiting their work in 38 venues across the village and a hugely popular programme of creative workshops, family events and painting competitions.

Dougi McMillan added: “The inaugural Largo Arts Week had a fantastic reception and we will be back in 2021.”

Peoples Assembly Scotland ‘meets’ on 16 June

Peoples Assembly Scotland “Public” meeting via Zoom Tuesday 16th June at 7pm.

Thanks to all who attended the meeting on 3rd June on Universal Credit – we will distribute the video of this over the next few days.

Our next meeting will be on the Tuesday 16th June at 7pm.

Joining us will be Professor Phil Taylor from Strathclyde University, speaking about the particular dangers to call centre workers during the Covid 19 emergency.

Prof Taylor was the author of a report on the issues which received some attention in the national press:

https://www.dailyrecord.co.uk/news/scottish-news/scots-cops-called-mcdonalds-branches-22126869?utm_source=linkCopy&utm_medium=social&utm_campaign=sharebar

Here is the link to the meeting:

Topic: People’s Assembly Scotland and the dangers in call centres from Covid 19.

Time: Jun 16, 2020 07:00 PM London

Join Zoom Meeting:

https://us02web.zoom.us/j/84774666596?pwd=Q1ZpVzVzWnJqNkFCMVA1MVFMUzhvdz09

Meeting ID: 847 7466 6596

Password: 310010

Phil McGarry (Chairperson), Keith Stoddart (Secretary)

Peoples Assembly Scotland 

Class Of Your Own

An update from Team ESTEEM:

Class Of Your Own (‘COYO’) is a social business dedicated to inspiring young people and their teachers to discover built environment careers through bespoke STEM education.

Our flagship ‘Design Engineer Construct’ learning programme has enabled hundreds of students to enter university and the world of work with excellent knowledge and skills and a genuine appetite for the sector.

Every year, Class Of Your Own launches an inter-school challenge to inspire young architecture, engineering and construction professionals to create an exciting design project.

This year, to celebrate our long established relationship with Heriot Watt University and the amazing achievement of Team Esteem in the Solar Decathlon Middle East, we decided to create a challenge that focused on the education of the people who might live in a solar house in Dubai.

Could young people design a learning centre to teach a whole community how to think and live green …? And how would the climate and location impact the design?

The challenge was launched at the beginning of March, but when national procurement framework Scape Group put out a call for ideas to help the hundreds of 14/15 year olds who would miss out on work experience due to Covid-19, they were pointed in COYO’s direction.

Work on our pilot virtual work experience programme had just concluded, so it was great to say: “we can help!” I immediately contacted my good friends, Associate Professor in Architecture Alex MacLaren and HWU Team Esteem members, to ask for their help.

Within a few weeks, academics and undergraduates had put together a series of videos to support an extraordinary virtual work experience programme hosted on the pioneering ‘Learn Live’ platform from 18th – 22nd May.

This ‘safe space’ enabled 2000 young people across the UK to experience an extraordinary week by accessing these fantastic, informative broadcasts and ‘chatting’ with university and industry ambassadors in an entirely safe environment.

I’m incredibly proud of all that we’ve all achieved together – the feedback from students, teachers and parents has been fantastic. It’s been an amazing collaboration and Heriot Watt University’s input, and impact, has been unbelievable. I’m honoured to be part of such a great institution.

Jairis Alvarez Trujillo

Project Leader Alison (follow website for more information):

Comments from students in Team ESTEEM:

 

Luke Convey:

My COYO experience was extremely rewarding, the students brought up some very interesting points and often made me think hard to answer their questions. Seeing the student’s creativity in using 3D modelling outside of software Team Esteem would typically uselike Sims and Minecraft impressed me a lotand showed their commitment to the project.

I was also impressed by the standard of a lot of the questions we were asked, which showed their enthusiasm and willingness to learn about the sustainable methods which Team Esteem are looking to employ in our project.

Sonia Piorek:

Working remotely is a challenge in a way. I moved back to my parents for the epidemics so to the place where I spent time when I am free. Thus, it is difficult to motivate myself to wake up early everyday and focus on tasks. Nevertheless, it saves me a lot of time which I usually spend on commuting. 

There are also pros and cons of being far from the University – many software and programs are accessible only on University’s PCs. However, due to the special conditions nowadays many companies allow us to install their products for free for some period, especially due to our partnerships between companies and Team ESTEEM.

Pietro Donatelli:

Shifting quickly to the virtual experience of working remotely was a challenge for ESTEEM Members. As a team, one of our greatest commitments were surely our recurrent meetings held on campus where we had the chance to discuss, engage and solve problems collectively.

Luckily, we tried to keep our weekly schedule as intact as possible and our sponsors flexibly moved to virtual meetings as well, making the whole process easier. To me, working remotely has become the new normal, but I’m not going to lie, it’s easier to forget your ‘virtual’ schedule than a live meeting. 

For this reason, I will always be grateful to Outlook Calendar for its 15 minutes reminder.

Just three days left to support #Richards6kChallenge 

For many years Edinburgh and Penicuik local Richard Vallis has worked to setup, champion and support a range of brilliant organisations and charities in the city and beyond.

Richard didn’t let the pandemic put a stop to his work and on 20 May he started his Three Charities Walk in Penicuik, walking 100 laps (around 6k) of his garden – an undertaking which presents a significant personal challenge having lost his leg 24 years ago to bone cancer and having had to learn to walk again as a result.

Richard embarked on this epic task very much driven by his own altruistic spirit, a need to help others and an awareness of specific challenges given his own disability; and to continue to support three organisations which are very dear to his heart.

All funds raised will be split equally between the following; Lothian Disability Sport, who promote sport & physical recreation for people with a disability which Richard has supported for many years, earning him the wonderful experience of taking part in the Queen’s Baton Relay in 2014 before the Glasgow Commonwealth Games, Lung Ha Theatre Company, the leading theatre company in Scotland for people with a learning disability which Richard co-founded in 1984 and Scottish charity Friends of Chitambo, which aims to support health measures in the hospital and surrounding Zambian district, a charity which was set up by Richard’s wife Jo who grew up in Zambia.

You can support Richard at

www.crowdfunder.co.uk/three-charities-walk

but there are only three days left! 

Updates from Richard’s challenge are shared across social media channels from each charity using the hashtag #richards6kchallange:

Lung Ha

Facebook – www.facebook.com/lunghas/

Twitter – @LungHasTheatre

Instagram – @lunghatheatre 

 

Lothian Disability Sport

Facebook – www.facebook.com/LothianDisabilitySport

Twitter – @LDS_Sport

 

Friends of Chitambo

Facebook – www.facebook.com/friendsofchitambo

Twitter – @FriendsChitambo

NHS Lothian thanks big-hearted volunteers

NHS Lothian has paid tribute to the hundreds of volunteers and those who stepped forward to help during the COVID-19 pandemic.

As Volunteer Week kicked off NHS Lothian took the opportunity to thank people from all walks of life who offered help in many different ways when it was feared that the NHS may be overwhelmed by the virus.

The response from hundreds of people keen to help in the early days of the pandemic was overwhelming and around 620 new volunteers bolstered the ranks of the existing community of 494 volunteers.

They went on to become ward helpers, take up a role in shopping and distribution of donations or laundry, or become meet and greet/stop and gel volunteers in sites all across Lothian, dressed in their purple T-shirts.

Fiona Ireland, Deputy Nurse Director, NHS Lothian, said: “It has been quite heartening to see the response from the public, and to welcome so many new faces to our volunteer network.

“Volunteers really do provide so much across our sites – whether it’s helping patients to video call loved ones, transporting personal laundry to pick up points , fulfilling patients’ shopping requests or assisting with meal times – the friendly faces of our volunteers are having such a huge impact on both our patients and staff.

“It seems fitting, that during Volunteers Week, we take a moment to recognise and celebrate the contribution that every single volunteer is making every single day. Thank you for your continued support.

“The pandemic has seen our volunteering numbers swell, there are positive benefits of volunteering, not only for the recipients but for the volunteers as well – it would be a positive legacy of this situation if we were able to sustain this level of volunteering .”

John Naismith, 59, from Edinburgh, began volunteering as a ward helper when the country moved into lockdown. John, a keen fiddle player, often plays to entertain the patients in the ward where he was posted as a helper in the Royal Infirmary of Edinburgh.

The engineer and his wife Serena, 59, were both keen to show their support and Serena, a dyslexia specialist teacher, took up a post providing patients with a shopping service in the Royal Edinburgh Hospital.

John said: “We both felt really strongly that we needed to do something to help and show our support. We thought that the NHS was going to be overrun and thankfully that has turned out not to be the case.

“It has been really rewarding for both of us and we have felt as though we have made a difference.”

Dan Williams, 17, from Edinburgh, was volunteering at the Royal Infirmary of Edinburgh as a ward helper before the pandemic and continued to help as the virus continued to grow.

The secondary school pupil, who hopes to study medicine, took on an additional commitment as a meet and greet/stop and gel volunteer and has clocked up 100 hours in this role alone so far.

Dan said: “I have been volunteering since before the COVID-19 pandemic began and thoroughly enjoy it. Since school closed, volunteering has helped to provide a sense of direction, the opportunity to see and interact with different people and some structure to my week.

“I’m hoping to study medicine at University, so it is great to spend time in a busy hospital, getting a flavour of what the job might be like.”

Volunteering in NHS Lothian is supported by Edinburgh and Lothian Health Foundation, the Edinburgh Children’s Hospital Charity and the Pears Foundation.

SFRS commits its support to Pride Month

The Scottish Fire and Rescue Service is underlining its commitment to building an inclusive and diverse workforce as the country celebrates Pride Month 2020.

Pride Month is an annual event which brings together communities in celebration of the LGBT+ community. It is an opportunity for people to stand together in unity as well as protest against discrimination in all its forms.

The SFRS has already been recognised by Stonewall Scotland as a Diversity Champion, and continues to work closely with Stonewall and other partners to encourage people from all walks of life to consider a career with the service.

The coronavirus (Covid-19) pandemic and the ongoing need to socially distance has seen many Pride events postponed or moved during June.

However the national service will be taking part in socially distanced or virtual Pride events whilst also promoting positive discussion and debate for staff around building a more inclusive workforce.

The rainbow flag is also flying over SFRS’ regional headquarters at Dyce in Aberdeenshire, Newbridge in Edinburgh and Hamilton in Lanarkshire as well as over the national headquarters and training centre in Cambuslang, near Glasgow.

Meanwhile, a rainbow version of the SFRS crest is proudly displayed on internal platforms and digital channels and rainbow lanyards are being made available for staff.

Less than one per cent of the SFRS’ 8,000 strong workforce across Scotland currently identifies as belonging to the LGBT+ community.

Liz Barnes is the Scottish Fire and Rescue Service’s director of human resources and organisational development. She said: “It is imperative that our service reflects the very diverse communities we serve.

“There is clearly much work still needing to be done – but we will continue to make every possible effort to achieve this ambition by working alongside our partners and our communities as well as our staff.

“We are therefore delighted to celebrate Pride Month 2020 and not only fly the pride colours from our buildings across the country but take part in active discussion and debate throughout the course of this month.”

She added: “We recognise that nothing can change overnight, and that true equality and diversity is earned through hard work and consistently challenging discriminating behaviours.”

For more information on Equality and Diversity within the Scottish Fire and Rescue Service, and working for SFRS, visit /about-us/equality-and-diversity.aspx or https://www.myjobscotland.gov.uk/emergency-services/scottish-fire-and-rescue-service/equality-diversity

Scran thanks ‘sensational’ volunteers

Scran Academy passed a major milestone during Volunteers Week as they passed the 50,000 meals delivered mark – and it’s likely that the local organisation will pass another milestone today when they reach their fundraising target!

When the coronavirus struck in March, Scran – three part time staff members under the leadership of former Big Brother winner John Loughton – quickly reorganised and transformed itself into a highly-organised and efficient production line getting thousands of free, healthy / nutritious, home-made, ready meals (heat at home), safely distributed to the most vulnerable people of Edinburgh during the coronavirus lockdown.

They have achieved this through their Scran Meals Programme, a community meals scheme, initially targeted at people living in North Edinburgh but now citywide. The service is delivered through a Scran Meals Coalition of partners:  Scran Academy, Prep Table Scotland, Pilton Equalities Project, Fet Lor Youth Club, Out of the Blue Leith, The Edinburgh Academy and Fettes College.

Their main source of incoming is through a crowdfunding campaign:

(https://www.justgiving.com/crowdfunding/scranmeals)

and this Sunday morning are now just £51 short of their target of £40,000!

At the end of #VolunteerWeek 2020, Scran said a huge thank you to their team of volunteers who have helped deliver over 52,000 meals, through over 11,400 drop offs to over 1,500 people.

In a statement on their Facebook page, Scran said: ‘All 153 of you are HEROES, especially the 1 in 5 of you that are young people. You have given Edinburgh over 10,000 hours of your time in the last ten weeks. Sensational!’

Give us our money!

UK Government pressed on £10 million gap

Tens of millions of pounds of lifeline funding has been fast-tracked to charities by the Scottish Government since the start of the coronavirus (COVID-19) crisis – despite delays in clarity over Barnett consequentials, Communities Secretary Aileen Campbell has said.

Highlighting the key role the third sector has played in delivering vital support during the pandemic, Ms Campbell urged the UK Government to be clear in its support for vital services, by indicating when a £10 million shortfall in funding would be resolved.

In April, £35 million of consequentials was earmarked for the Scottish Government in respect of charity support direct grants, but this was later amended by the Treasury to £25 million.

Ms Campbell said: “Charities and third sector organisations have worked tirelessly throughout the COVID-19 crisis to ensure food, essential supplies and other vital services reach those most in need in our communities, as donation streams and other funding routes dried up overnight.

“Now more than ever these organisations deserve clarity.

“Had we not acted quickly at the start of the crisis to ensure tens of millions in funding reached the frontline, many organisations would not have been able to provide the level of service they have delivered in communities across Scotland, and that would have been hugely damaging to the people who rely on them.

“The Finance Secretary has already written to the UK Government seeking clarity on this funding (below). A fortnight on and we are still in the dark over this £10 million shortfall, undermining the Scottish budget at a critical time.”

kate forbes letter

Finance Secretary Kate Forbes wrote to the UK Chief Secretary to the Treasury Stephen Barclay on 22 May to raise the Scottish Government’s concerns (above).

Charities across Scotland receive funding from the Scottish Government, directly and via local authorities, through a £350 million package of emergency funding to help those most affected by the coronavirus pandemic, including:

  • the £50m Wellbeing Fund
  • the £40m Supporting Communities Fund
  • the £25m Third Sector Resilience Fund

Charities with property overheads can apply for the £10,000 Small Business Grant Scheme, expected to result in an additional £31 million in support.