Producers are looking for farmers who are interested in creating new sources of revenue from their farms, for a brand new TV series due to film later this year and early 2021.
It might not be easy to be a farmer these days, with rising overheads, Brexit, bad weather and disease all playing their part, but it’s a generations-old industry that us Brits are known for and this series wants to celebrate that heritage.
STV Productions (who make Catchphrase and Antiques Road Trip) would like to speak to farmers who would be interested in diversifying or making adjustments to their businesses, in order to develop new revenue streams. Experts will be on hand throughout the journey to help them explore opportunities and realise their ambitions.
The series will be hosted by farmer, author and presenter, Adam Henson who is passionate about local communities rallying round local farms.
Executive Producer, John Redshaw, said: “We’re keen to meet with farmers from right across the UK to take part in what we know will be a hugely positive and upbeat experience – and might even be life changing.
“By learning about the history of their farms, and studying the potential within their agricultural landscapes, we want to join farmers on their journey to make their diversification dreams a reality.
“Whether farmers are at the ideas stage, have already started their plans, or have successfully diversified, we’d like to hear all about it. Please spread the word, get in touch and help us celebrate the next chapter in our great farming community.”
If you’d like to take part in this new series, get in touch with the team for a chat with no obligation at farming@stv.tv or call 0141 300 3806.
The Scottish Fire and Rescue Service is encouraging everyone to stay safe around the water this summer and avoid preventable tragedy.
Those who enjoy activities in or around lochs, rivers and reservoirs can get into difficulties, suffer cold water shock and risk drowning.
This danger is also faced by those who walk their dogs or enjoy leisure pursuits, such as running or cycling, as they can mistakenly fall into areas of water and also find themselves in difficulty.
Latest figures from the SFRS show that over a two-month period in summer 2019, highly trained firefighters responded to 46 water rescues across Scotland.
Figures recently released by the Royal Life Saving Society also show that in 2019 a total of 37 people in Scotland tragically lost their lives to unintentional drowning.
Crew Commander Marcus Valente, based in Inverness, said: “Even if you don’t intend to enter the water whilst out this summer, you or someone you are with may inadvertently fall in. This could expose you to hidden dangers such as cold water shock, rip tides, subsurface currents, fast flowing water and snag hazards like trees and rocks.
“In the fire service, we practice techniques with a wide range of specialist equipment that enable us to perform rescues safely and effectively and I’m sad to say that we are called to use these techniques and equipment all too often.”
Crew Commander Graham McCartney, is a water rescue instructor based at Polmadie Fire Station in Glasgow. He said: “Open water can be a cold and hostile place even for the most experienced swimmers among us.
“Firefighters who carry out water rescues have to complete intensive training beforehand to understand the hazards and become adept at using specialist equipment, including inflatables and throwlines.
“We not only have to bring people to safety, but we need to keep ourselves and our team members out of danger too.
“Cold water shock, mud banks under the water and undercurrents are just some of the hazards you could come up against.”
Station Commander Andy Bennett from Glenrothes Fire Station in Fife, added: “Often people make the mistake of thinking that jumping into open water is the same as swimming in an indoor pool.
“When you swim in a pool you can see under the water and it’s clean. However, visibility can be poor in rivers and lochs because of the dirt, making it hard to see hidden debris that could cause injuries or trap you.
“If you’re with someone who gets into difficulty, the best thing you can do is find something to throw to them and pull them to safety.”
Deputy Assistant Chief Officer Alasdair Perry is also reminding everyone to be aware of the risks as the service continues its campaign to support everyone to enjoy a#SaferSummer2020.
DACO Perry said: “We understand that many people will be looking forward to spending time outdoors as movement restrictions begin to ease amid the COVID-19 pandemic.
“But we want people to have an enjoyable experience and we would therefore ask the public to be mindful of the very real risks and keep a safe distance from unsupervised waterways.
“People can get into difficulty in the water for a number of reasons, but entering rivers, lochs or quarries for a swim is never a good idea because things can go wrong very quickly due to factors such as cold water shock which can leave someone gasping for breath.
“It is also important to note that many others, such as dog walkers and runners, can unintentionally end up in the water and we would ask them to also be aware of the dangers posed by water.”
Scottish Social Services Council has collected stories from all types of social services across the whole of Scotland which show how the workforce has often gone above and beyond to support people receiving care.
The stories demonstrate the values, compassion and professionalism of social service workers.
Over 60 stories have been gathered from all types of social services across the whole country and some of those wonderful stories in the new online Inspiring Care Stories resource.
The stories are organised in the six core themes of our Involving People Plan although most link to more than one theme.
More stories will be added over the coming weeks and encourage you to share your own stories on social media using the hashtags #InspiringCareStories #lifechangingwork and #SSSCregistered.
Campaign group European Movement in Scotland (EMiS) has welcomed the launch of eu+me, a new campaign to bolster our ties with Europe.
EMiS Chair Mark Lazarowicz commented: “As Scotland’s leading pro-EU campaign organisation, the European Movement in Scotland (EMiS) is delighted to welcome the launch of eu+me.
“The fact that almost three quarters of people in Scotland think that we would weather the economic storms caused by coronavirus better if the UK remained part of the EU, with 65 per cent of the population regretting the UK’s decision to leave the EU, should not come as any surprise.
“It is great that yet more people from across the political spectrum are asserting the settled view of the majority of voters in Scotland that our place is at the heart of Europe.
“As Scotland’s largest membership organisation dedicated to promoting our EU future, and with members from all the political parties represented in the Scottish Parliament, EMiS looks forward to working closely with eu+me.
“With every passing day we see the bleak con that is Brexit and the damage it is doing to our country, already reeling from Covid and blindly charging towards a Brexit cliff-edge.
“Being part of the EU offers us a dynamic, prosperous and sustainable Scotland, working in co-operation with our European friends on the basis of EU values of democracy, equality and solidarity.”
Carnegie Trust has been supporting The Relationships Project throughout 2020.
Their latest report, ‘The Moment We Noticed’, brings together observations from a network of collaborators to suggest practical ways forward so that we can look back on 2020 as the year when we not only helped one another in a crisis, but as a year when we changed for good.
Children under the age of five who are displaying potential coronavirus (COVID-19) symptoms will be eligible for testing from today (Wednesday 22 July).
Currently, children under five who have potential COVID-19 symptoms are not routinely tested and a test is only carried out if there is a pressing clinical need to do so – for example a young child who needs to be admitted to hospital and whose condition may be due to COVID-19 or a young child who is in hospital for some reason whose condition unexpectedly deteriorates.
Now, with childcare settings reopening from 15 July, children aged under five who have COVID-19 symptoms will be eligible for routine testing through all routes including drive-in Regional Testing Centres, Mobile Testing Units and by ordering a home test kit.
COVID-19 Testing for all children under 11 years old should be completed by their parent or carer.
Interim Chief Medical Officer Gregor Smith said: “In light of the continued change in lockdown restrictions and the resumption of early learning and childcare, we have reviewed our testing policy for children under five.
“We want to avoid households having to isolate unnecessarily if young children in their family are displaying coronavirus-like symptoms which can be common in this age group.
“I would encourage anyone who has symptoms of COVID-19 or whose child has symptoms, to get a test immediately to help us supress the spread of the virus.”
Children under five years old who have any #coronavirus symptoms will be eligible for testing from Wednesday 22 July.
People with any of the following symptoms should self isolate and book a test at nhsinform.scot/test-and-protect or call 0800 028 2816 if they are unable to access the online service:
• a high temperature or fever • a new continuous cough • a loss of, or change in sense of smell or taste.
The Secretary of State for Scotland and his team ‘play a vital role in promoting the best interests of Scotland within a strong United Kingdom, and represent effectively Scottish interests at the heart of the UK Government’, according to the UK Government.
The annual report and accounts of the Office of the Secretary of State for Scotland (OSSS) and Office of the Advocate General for Scotland (OAG) have been published today [21 July 2020].
The report provides an overview of a busy year from April 2019 to March 2020. Highlights include:
supporting the fight against the coronavirus pandemic, an unprecedented global crisis which has profound implications for Scotland and the whole United Kingdom. This includes helping to drive our economy recovery strategy, which will be vital in the months and years ahead
delivering a public information campaign to inform and support Scottish businesses, EU nationals resident in Scotland, and the wider public on preparing for a EU exit
working with local authorities and the devolved administration in Scotland to deliver the City Region and Growth Deal programme to boost investment, create new jobs and drive forward economic growth right across Scotland
overseeing the move to Queen Elizabeth House, the UK Government’s new flagship hub in Scotland which will open in September 2020
Commenting on the report, Scottish Secretary Alister Jack (above) said: “I am very pleased to present our annual report and accounts to Parliament, for the first time since I was appointed to the role last year.
“The past 12 months have seen a period of monumental change across Scotland and the rest of the UK. We have left the EU, are tackling a global pandemic, and are getting ready for the end of the EU transition period.
“As we look forward to ensuring our economy can bounce back after coronavirus, and making the most of new global opportunities outside of the EU, the case for the Union has never been stronger. I am proud to be playing a part in sustaining and strengthening our Union”.
Two people in Clermiston are celebrating today after winning £1,000 each thanks to their lucky postcode.
The Durar Drive neighbours netted the windfall when EH4 7JJ was announced as a Daily Prize winner with People’s Postcode Lottery yesterday.
People’s Postcode Lottery ambassador Danyl Johnson sent his well-wishes to the winners. He said: “What a fantastic surprise for our winners. Congratulations to them, I’m sure this news has made their day.”
A minimum of 32% of ticket sales goes directly to charities and players of People’s Postcode Lottery have raised over £500 million to date for thousands of good causes in Britain and beyond.
This draw was promoted by Save the Children which has received over £10.1 million in funding from the players of People’s Postcode Lottery. Save the Children connects parents, teachers, and childcare experts to build a brighter future for children across the UK. It works to give children the support they need from the very start of life.
Many good causes close to the winners have also benefitted from players’ support, and local charities can next apply for funding in August.
Transport for Edinburgh has announced the release of an additional 250 four-month passes for Edinburgh Cycle Hire (Just Eat Bikes) for NHS staff
Developed in partnership with Sustrans Scotland and Edinburgh Cycle Hire operators Serco, the scheme has been made possible with funding through Sustrans’ Partnership Programme, supported by Transport Scotland.
Since the end of April 2020, 100 NHS workers have been benefiting from the first phase of the programme using free annual passes. These have supported NHS staff throughout the Lothian area, and provided a healthy way to travel for essential journeys and for work during the Covid-19 crisis.
Recognising the success of the 100 passes, and building upon the support demonstrated for the scheme through over-subscription to the first phase, a further 250 passes are being made available to NHS Lothian employees.
The new four-month Edinburgh Cycle Hire passes can be applied for by emailing a request to support@edinburchcyclehire.com using an NHS email address (@nhslothian.scot.nhs.uk or @nhs.net).
The passes will provide workers with a code to load into the Edinburgh Cycle Hire App, allowing them free access to use both pedal and e-bikes up to 60 minutes per ride for the first two months from date of issue. The final two months of the four-month pass will revert to pedal bikes only up to 60 minutes per ride free. E-bike trips will then cost 10p per minute.
George Lowder, Chief Executive, Transport for Edinburgh said: “We are delighted to have secured a second tranche of funding from Scottish Government via Sustrans, to provide further support for up to 250 NHS Staff in Edinburgh, giving them four months free access to the scheme and then an opportunity to remain members of the scheme at less than half the price of an annual pass.”
Ross Miller, Senior Transport Integration Officer at Sustrans Scotland said: “After seeing such a positive response to the first phase of this programme, we are delighted to provide funding to support a further 250 NHS Lothian staff in making happier and healthier journey choices.
“These four-month passes, combined with reduced price membership renewal, offer a healthy and convenient transportation choice, and we hope that by giving more of our vital NHS staff the chance to access the scheme, more staff members will adopt changes in the way they choose to travel which will last beyond this pandemic.”
Alex Macdonald, General Manager of Just Eat Cycles, said: “We want to thank all NHS employees for their incredible efforts and the sacrifices they continue to make.
“Our network is proving to be a lifeline for many people during these unprecedented times with many essential workers using the bikes to travel to and from places of work. We hope these additional NHS Passes can go some way to support NHS employees during what is an incredibly challenging time.”
Statement given by the First Minister Nicola Sturgeon at the media briefing in St Andrew’s House yesterday (Tuesday 21 July):
Good afternoon, and welcome to today’s briefing. I want to start with the usual update on the most recent Covid-19 statistics for Scotland.
An additional 22 positive cases were confirmed yesterday – that takes the total now in Scotland to 18,474.
These cases are all being looked into carefully, as you would expect, and steps taken to trace contacts and break chains of transmission.
A health board breakdown will be available later as normal. However, the provisional information I have at this stage is that the majority of these cases are in Lanarkshire, and at least some of them are likely to be connected to the outbreak at the Sitel call centre that has being doing work for NHS England.
I will chair a Scottish Government resilience meeting later this afternoon to consider the latest situation and any further steps that may be required and of course we will keep you updated within the course of today and again at the briefing tomorrow.
I can also report that a total of 618 patients are currently in hospital with the virus – either confirmed or suspected. That is 51 more than yesterday, and it includes an increase of 4 in the number of confirmed cases.
A total of 4 people last night were in intensive care with confirmed COVID, which is an increase of 1 since yesterday. There were also 16 people in ICU with suspected Covid-19. That is 9 more than yesterday.
It is maybe worth saying that although we currently report both suspected and confirmed Covid patients, or in ICU, that has – as some of you have noticed – caused significant fluctuations in the daily figures.
That is partly because most patients in hospital who are over the age of 70, are tested for Covid every four days or so.
These patients are often counted as “suspected Covid cases” until their results come back, even if there is no reason to believe that they have the virus. From tomorrow, therefore, we intend to report only on confirmed Covid cases in intensive care and in hospital, which I think gives a more accurate picture of the situation.
This is part of a wider review of how we report information which I will say more about later this week.
As we go into the next stage of dealing with this pandemic, it is important that the information we have been providing gives you – the public – the most reliable and comprehensive picture of how the virus is behaving.
Finally, I am glad to say that during the last 24 hours, no deaths were registered of patients confirmed through a test as having Covid-19. The total number of deaths, under this particular measure, therefore remains 2,491.
This is, of course, very welcome news – but the overall figure for deaths is a reminder of how many families have been deeply affected by this virus. My thoughts are with everyone who is grieving a loved one.
In addition, as I always do, I want to thank our health and care workers. The entire country is grateful to you for the work that you have done and continue to do.
The Deputy First Minister will speak in a few minutes about the reopening of schools.
The Chief Medical Officer will then talk about yesterday’s news in relation to vaccine trials, and will confirm that Covid testing is now available for children with Covid symptoms who are under the age of 5.
This is a step which should prevent families from having to self-isolate unnecessarily if young children develop symptoms – something which will be increasingly important as childcare resumes.
Before their remarks, I want to talk about two different points. First, I want to say a bit more about the figures for new cases that we have seen in recent days.
Since the last media briefing on Thursday there has – rightly – been quite a lot of attention paid to the fact that we reported more than 20 new cases on both Saturday and Sunday, and of course I have just reported an additional 22 positive cases were confirmed yesterday, and I have already mentioned the cluster of cases identified in the call centre in Lanarkshire
Those figures are, of course, a sharp reminder of something I think you have heard me saying on almost a daily basis – that the virus is still circulating in Scotland, and it is also a reminder that if we allow it to, it will spread rapidly in workplaces or social settings, if we give it the chance to do so.
That said, a great deal of work is being done – not least through test and protect – to understand all of these cases and follow up contacts.
All necessary steps are being taken to break the chain of transmission.
In total, more than 25,000 tests were processed across the two days at the weekend when we reported more than 20 cases. And even though the number of cases then was larger than usual, they are still at a relatively low level and so new cases can be assessed in a lot of detail.
Health Protection Scotland can tell us if new cases are clustered, and if any particular patterns are being identified.
Where care homes are involved, we can take necessary precautions. And of course Test and Protect staff are tracing and testing contacts for all cases that are identified.
Any rise in new cases is unwelcome – but as we have always said, the virus is still out there so, as lockdown eases, cases are likely.
The job of our public health teams and test and protect, supported by Government, is to step in and break the chains of transmission wherever possible.
I want to express my gratitude and appreciation to the public health teams and test and protect staff across the country.
But the point I also want to make, is we all have a part to play in keeping this virus under control.
So things such as physical distancing and washing hands and surfaces, face coverings – and indeed all of the elements of our FACTS campaign – continue to be crucial.
As life starts to feel a bit more normal than it has done for months, there is a danger that we are all capable of succumbing to it, or dropping our guard.
We should all stop right now and think about whether that might be true in our own behaviours, and if it is, resolve to tighten up again
Remembering all of the basic measures – summarised through our FACTS campaign – becomes more and more important as we see more people, and have more indoor meetings.
So at all times, as you go out and about, please make sure that you avoid creating a bridge which allows the virus to cross from one household to another. By doing that, all of us can continue to protect each other, and to stop the spread of the virus.
The second point I want to cover today relates to wellbeing. At last Thursday’s briefing, I mentioned the work we are doing to support the mental health of people who have had Covid, and who have been in intensive care.
We are also making sure we provide support for our health and social care staff. Many of them have faced the most testing and stressful conditions of their working lives over the last few months. They have responded magnificently to incredibly challenging circumstances.
There is already a national wellbeing hub, which provides online help and support for NHS and care staff. It can be found at www.promis.scot.
Today we are also launching a dedicated phone line. I will read out the number for the line in a few moments.
It allows health and care workers to talk to a team of Psychological Wellbeing Practitioners – who will provide a sympathetic ear for callers, while also providing advice, and referring people on to local services if needed.
The line is open from today, for 24 hours a day, 7 days a week. It is available to all health and social care workers. So if you are stressed or anxious – and it would not be a surprise if that were true – and need support, you can call 0800 111 4191. That is 0800 111 4191.
The line will be open for at least a year, and I would encourage any health and care workers to use it if you need help, or just want a sympathetic ear. It is an important additional way in which we are trying to make support available to you, given everything you are doing to protect and care for us.
I will hand on to the Deputy First Minister in a moment, but I want to end – as I usually do – by reminding you again of FACTS.
Those are the five key health measures that we need everyone to abide by, and all of us should remember in everything we do, if we are to keep this virus under control.
They are even more important now – as we go to more shops, restaurants and pubs, and as we meet each other indoors – than they have been over the last four months.
So please remember that:
Face coverings should be worn in enclosed spaces such as shops and public transport
Avoid crowded places
Clean your hands and hard surfaces regularly
Two metre distancing remains the rule, and
Self isolate and book a test if you have symptoms of Covid
Don’t wait to see if you feel better if you have a new cough or fever, or have a change in your sense of taste or smell. Book a test.
If we all remember those 5 basic measures to give ourselves the best possible chance to keep the virus under control, all of us can minimise the opportunities for Covid to spread.
And we can stay safe, protect the NHS, and save lives.
This is a moment I think for all of us across the country to take stock to ask ourselves if our behavior perhaps has been eased a little bit too much in recent days, and to resolve to follow all of the advice
So thank you, once again, to everyone who is doing the right thing, and sticking with these rules. By doing that, we can continue to suppress the virus, and we can continue to move out of lockdown together
