Month: August 2020

Heart Research UK Healthy Tip: Eatwell guide

Heart Research UK Healthy Heart Tip, written by Dr Helen Flaherty, Head of Health Promotion at Heart Research UK

Using the Eatwell Guide to plan your meals

A healthy, well-balanced diet is important for managing your weight and preventing serious health problems, including heart disease. The Eatwell guide is a visual tool that represents government guidelines on healthy eating.
In this Healthy Tip, we give you some tips for planning a healthy, well-balanced diet using the Eatwell Guide.

What is the Eatwell Guide?

The Eatwell Guide shows the proportions of different types of food that make up a healthy diet. This is represented as a plate, which is divided into five food groups.

The Eatwell Guide is appropriate for most people, but it should not be used in meal-planning for very young children.

It is not essential to achieve this balance with every meal, but it is good to try to get the proportions right over a day or longer. Try to consume a variety of foods from each of the food groups to ensure you consume a range of nutrients.

Fruit and vegetables

Fruit and vegetables should make up over a third of the foods in your diet as they are a good source of vitamins, minerals and fibre. However, most people do not eat enough.

Fresh, frozen, tinned, dried or juiced fruit and vegetables all count.

Fruit juice and/or smoothies should be limited to around 150ml a day due to their high sugar and low fibre content. Try adding fruit to breakfast cereals and increase the amount of veg or salad in your lunches and evening meals.

Potato, bread, rice, pasta and other starchy carbohydrates

Starchy foods, such as pasta, rice, bread, breakfast cereals and potatoes provide us with energy and essential nutrients. These starchy foods should make up just over a third of your diet.

Choose wholegrain versions, such as wholemeal pasta, brown rice, wholemeal bread and wholegrain breakfast cereals.

You can also try to leave the skin on potatoes for extra fibre. Get your day off to a good start with a bowl of wholegrain cereal or a slice of wholemeal toast with some fruit.

Beans, pulses, fish, eggs, meat and other proteins

Try to include beans, pulses, fish, eggs, meat or other protein with most meals.
These foods are a good source of protein, vitamins and minerals. Try to choose a lean cut of meat, such as chicken without the skin, as it is lower in saturated fat.

If you eat fish, aim to have two portions every week, including a portion of oily fish, such as salmon, mackerel or sardines as these contain the essential fatty acids that are good for your heart.

Oils and spreads

Try to choose unsaturated oils and spreads, such as rapeseed, vegetable, olive and sunflower oils. Try to cut down on butter, hard margarine, coconut oil and animal fats as these are all high in saturated fat, which can increase your risk of heart disease. When cooking fatty meats, such as bacon, cut away as much of the fat as possible. All fats are high in calories (energy) and should be consumed in small amounts.

Dairy and alternatives

Try to include some dairy or a dairy alternative with each meal. Products such as milk, cheese and yoghurt are a good source of protein as well as some vitamins. They are also a key source of calcium which is vital when it comes to keeping your bones strong. Choose lower fat and sugar dairy products where possible. This includes reduced fat cheese or fat-free and sugar-free yoghurt.

High fat, salt and sugar foods

Foods that are high in fat, salt and sugar should be consumed in small amount.
These foods, which can be eaten as an occasional treat, include chocolate, cakes, biscuits, sugary soft drinks, butter and ice cream.

Water, lower fat milk, sugar-free drinks.

Aim to drink around six to eight glasses of fluid every day. Water, lower fat milk and low sugar/sugar free drinks (including tea and coffee) all count. Fruit juice and smoothies can also count towards our fluid consumption. However, they can be high in sugar and low in fibre, so we should drink no more 150ml of these in a day.

You can find more healthy tips, recipes and advice at heartresearch.org.uk.

Caeden’s done it!

Ben Nevis victory for seven year old boy with cerebral palsy

Caeden Thomson (7) from Corby in Northamptonshire has conquered Ben Nevis to raise money for disability equality charity Scope and his local hospital.

The climb in total took 13.5 hours up and down.

Mum Lisa, who along with Caeden’s brother, sister and dad were with him every step of the way, said: “Caeden is an absolute legend. We started at 9am and reached the top at 5.30pm – and got back to the bottom at 10.30pm.

“It was such a massive challenge and much, much harder than any of us expected. There were many hard time along the way – from three quarters of the way up the pathway is just massive boulders and very hard to climb, and even at the top we didn’t think he would make it down.

“There were danger areas where carrying was very difficult, so Caeden did have to walk down a lot of it too. The temperature dropped hugely and many climbers said they were turning back. But we made it!

“We are all super proud of him, he deserves a medal! People we have spoken to at the campsite said they climbed it once and they will never climb it again – we now know why! Last night no-one could move or celebrate, so today we are resting up and will celebrate tonight!! We all love Caeden so much and can’t believe his passion for getting to the top.”

Caeden said: “My body hurts a lot but I’m ok! It was really, really hard! I felt sick and exhausted at the top, and I felt exhausted but happy at the bottom!”

Money raised will give back to the NHS Children’s services and the physiotherapy department at Kettering General Hospital and disability equality charity Scope.

To donate, click here

Scottish Construction Leadership Forum releases recovery plan

A draft recovery plan for the construction sector in Scotland has been launched by the Scottish Construction Leadership Forum (CLF).

The plan, which has been created collaboratively with industry, sets out the pathway for joint action between industry and the public sector in response to the impact caused by the global pandemic on the on the construction sector.

The construction industry in Scotland has, like many others, been hit hard by the Covid-19 pandemic. The sector in Scotland which provided £7.8 billion GVA to the Scottish economy and employs 143,000 people in over 50,000 enterprises, is estimated to have contracted by 28.6 per cent in June as a result of the Covid-19 pandemic compared to the same month a year ago (June 2019). 

The recovery plan has been created through extensive consultation and collaboration with more than 50 organisations across business, Scottish Government, trades unions and other bodies, including the Construction Industry Coronavirus (CICV) Forum, and represents a shared view from across the sector of a plan to get industry back on its feet. 

The plan outlines the immediate and short-term response to Covid-19 and sets out a pathway between this and the longer-term transformation required to build a stronger, fairer and greener economic future for Scotland.

Peter Reekie, chief executive of the Scottish Futures Trust and chair of the editorial group of the Construction Leadership Forum, said: “The construction industry in Scotland has received a major blow from the Covid-19 pandemic.

“However, the level of collaboration which has gone in to preparing this Recovery Plan is unprecedented and sets a strong foundation for transformative recovery for the industry. I urge all stakeholders with an interest in the construction and related industries in Scotland to feed in your thoughts to make it even stronger.”

Ken Gillespie, chair of the Industry Leadership Group, said: “This plan has only been possible through the depth of collaboration across the sector, and hard work of all involved, and demonstrates the sector’s ability to come together in a time of crisis.

“This is only the beginning though. The plan will evolve and respond to reflect the feedback and the needs of the sector. We are therefore calling for industry to review and contribute to the plan.”

The plan identifies five areas for concerted and collaborative efforts over the coming months and has established Sub-Groups to develop and progress joint action plans:

  1. Pipeline & Commercials
  2. Skills & Workforce
  3. Transformation
  4. Supply Chain Resilience & Capability
  5. Industry Data & Insight

The plan calls for key actions to respond to immediate needs which include: 

  • A clear pipeline of work brought to market quickly and efficiently on fair commercial terms which reflect the reality of the Covid-19 environment.
  • Support of employment, fairness of work and those who may become unemployed through what will be a difficult period.
  • Transformation of working practices to maintain and enhance worker safety whilst enabling productivity in the Covid-19 working environment.

Housing Minister Kevin Stewart said: “The construction sector supports many other areas of our economy so it is important that we maintain the health and vitality of the industry.

“In order to develop this plan, we have reached new heights of collaboration but we are now keen to hear from the wider industry to ensure that we arrive at a plan that will preserve jobs and help to revive our economy.”

The Scottish Construction Leadership Forum (CLF), which has led the development of the plan, is a collaborative initiative of Construction Scotland and the Scottish Government.

It was established in March 2019. Chaired by Housing Minister Kevin Stewart for the duration of the crisis, it widened its membership in response to Covid-19 and has already developed and implemented plans to get the industry safely back to work to develop and implement an action plan of improvement initiatives aligned with Government policies and the Construction Scotland Industry Strategy.

Several streams of work are ongoing and prior to Covid-19, the Forum was at the early stages of considering a wider agenda for change across the industry.

The CLF shared vision is of an industry that promotes a safe, productive, profitable, digitally-enabled, low-carbon, and socially responsible construction industry which offers quality jobs and fair work to a highly skilled and diverse workforce and a quality and life-time value product to its customers.

The recovery plan is available to view on https://www.constructionforum.scot/. 

Industry is invited to send feedback, comments and questions via the website on enquiries@constructionforum.scot by 15 September.

CLF will take all feedback on board to help develop the plan further, with regular updates published on the CLF site.

UK-wide study shows children with gastrointestinal symptoms should be included in COVID-19 testing strategies

‘we may want to consider refining the testing criteria for children to include GI symptoms’

Over 1,000 children from Northern Ireland, Scotland, England and Wales, known as ‘COVID Warriors’ have had their antibodies measured in the UK-wide trial called ‘Seroprevalence of SARS-Cov-2 infection in healthy children’.

The findings were published on Friday (28 August) as a pre-print on the server medRxiv.

The study is led by Queen’s University Belfast, in partnership with the Belfast Health and Social Care Trust Northern Ireland and Public Health England.

The aim of the study, which began in May and is ongoing, is to assess the number of children who have had COVID-19, the symptomatology of infection and if those children have antibodies that may be able to fight off the infection.

To conduct the study, the researchers are measuring children’s COVID-19 antibodies via blood tests at baseline, with further tests planned at two months and six months.

The researchers have found that following the first wave of the pandemic, seven per cent of the children tested positive for antibodies, indicating previous infection with COVID-19.

Half of the children with COVID-19 reported no symptoms, and gastrointestinal (GI) symptoms (such as diarrhoea and vomiting) were also more common than cough or changes in the children’s sense of smell or taste, which may have implications for the testing criteria used for children.

The findings also showed young children under 10 years of age were just as likely to have evidence of prior infection as older children, and that asymptomatic children were just as likely to develop antibodies as symptomatic children.

Dr Tom Waterfield, researcher from the Wellcome-Wolfson Institute for Experimental Medicine at Queen’s University Belfast and lead on the study said: “Following the first wave of the pandemic in the UK, we have learnt that half of children participating in this study are asymptomatic with SARS-CoV-2 infection, and those with symptoms do not typically have a cough or changes to their smell/taste, with GI upset a far more common symptom.

“This study has shown that we may want to consider refining the testing criteria for children to include GI symptoms.”

Health and Social Care Research & Development Division (HSC R&D Division) of the Public Health Agency plays an ongoing role in supporting the conduct of high-quality health and social care research and has provided funding to support the delivery of this important study.

Professor Ian Young, Chief Scientific Advisor and Director of HSC Research and Development said: “Research studies are vital at this time, and thanks to efforts such as the COVID Warriors study, we now know more about COVID-19 in terms of the exposure of children in the UK to the SARS-CoV-2 virus since the pandemic began.

“These significant findings can now be explored further as this research continues to monitor community transmission in children, to help tackle the spread of COVID-19.”

The study is supported by funding from HSC R&D Division, Public Health Agency, The Belfast Health and Social Care Trust and is also subsidised by a donation from the Queen’s Foundation thanks to a past graduate of the University through a charitable gift in their will.

It is being delivered in partnership with The Belfast Health and Social Care Trust, Public Health England, the Ulster Independent Clinic, NHS Glasgow and Greater Clyde, Manchester University NHS Foundation Trust and Cardiff and Vale University Health Board.

More people than ever work in Scotland’s social services …

… and one in ten social care workers are migrants making a vital contribution

The new immigration system being proposed by the UK Government would leave Scotland’s vital social care sector critically short of staff, according to a new report. It would also damage a number of other important sectors in Scotland.

The Scottish Government’s response to the Migration Advisory Committee’s call for evidence on the UK Shortage Occupation List (SOL) highlights that the social work and residential care sectors are heavily reliant on migrants, with almost 10% of roles filled by workers from outside the UK – the majority of whom would not qualify for a visa under the so-called ‘skilled worker’ route currently being proposed by the UK Government.

Ben Macpherson, Minister for Public Finance and Migration said the remarkable contribution of non-UK citizens working in health and social care, and other sectors, has been brought into especially sharp focus during the ongoing coronavirus (COVID-19) crisis.

He said social care roles must now be added to the SOL, in order to prevent a labour shortage in this crucial sector.

The response shows 29,300 non-UK nationals work in health and social care.

Mr Macpherson said: “Care professionals from all over the world have played a vital role in caring for our communities during the COVID-19 crisis.

“It is mind-boggling that the UK Government has introduced a ‘Health and Care visa’, intended to show the UK’s gratitude to frontline workers in these sectors, but that this initiative bizarrely continues to exclude and disregard the huge contribution of social care workers.

“I urge the UK Government to do the right thing and include care workers as eligible for the recently announced ‘Health and Care visa’, so that people who make and have made such an important contribution to our society, particularly recently, can benefit from reduced fees, a fast-track application service, and exemption from the Immigration Health Surcharge.

“This report, responding to the Migration Advisory Committee’s call for evidence on the UK Shortage Occupation List (SOL), shows how the UK Government’s ending of freedom of movement, and no replacement general route for what they have wrongly and offensively deemed ‘lower-skilled’ migrants, will be damaging to social care provision and key Scottish sectors of the Scottish economy.

“Adding social care roles to the SOL would allow employers to recruit international workers at a lower salary threshold of £20,480, instead of the proposed £25,600.

“The Scottish Government is clear – we greatly value the skills and contributions of all people who come and settle in Scotland. Inward migration enriches our society for the better and migrants make a net contribution to our economy, our public services and our public finances. Family migration also contributes positively to our demography, and the sustainability of rural and remote communities.”

Read SG response to Migration Advisory Committee on review of Shortage Occupation List 2020

A new report published by the Scottish Social Services Council (SSSC) shows that more people than ever before work in Scotland’s social services. There are some 206,400 people in the workforce, which makes up approximately 7.8% of all Scottish employment or one in 13 jobs.
The figures are revealed in the Scottish Social Service Sector: Report on 2019 Workforce Data.

The report highlights the size and importance of the social service workforce, which has played a vital role during the COVID-19 pandemic.

Lorraine Gray, SSSC Chief Executive said: ‘The challenges of the COVID-19 pandemic have brought Scotland’s social service workers to the fore and this report shows the size and breadth of the sector.

‘They play a vital role in protecting and supporting some of society’s most vulnerable citizens and represent one in 13 of all employment in Scotland, so make a significant contribution to the economy too.

‘As well as being skilled and qualified roles, people must also bring the right values and we can see from the report that this is a committed workforce with just over three quarters in the same post as the previous year.

‘One of the largest increases this year was in the day care of children sub-sector, with an extra 2,360 workers, as recruitment continues towards the expansion of free early learning and childcare. Although COVID-19 has delayed this deadline we expect increased recruitment to day care of children’s service to continue.’

Key points from this year’s workforce data report

The size of the workforce has increased to 206,400, a rise of 0.8% since 2018. This is the highest level recorded since these reports began.
The social service workforce makes up approximately 7.8% of all Scottish employment.This increase has been driven mainly by increases to the day care of children sub-sector and with public provision.
The whole time equivalent (WTE) measure of the workforce is 155,330, an increase of 1.3% since 2018.
The stability index of the workforce is 76.8%. This means just over three-quarters of the workforce remained in the same post since last year.
The largest employer type differs between local authority areas, with services in Orkney, Shetland and Na h-Eileanan Siar (the three island authorities) provided mainly by the public sector. However, in most areas the private sector is the largest employer.
The three largest sub-sectors are housing support/care at home, care homes for adults and day care of children; together these account for almost 78% of the workforce.
The median age of the workforce is highest in the public sector (47) and lowest in the private sector (41).
Early years workers in the private sector have the lowest median age (28).
The percentage of men working in the sector is 15%, although it is around double or greater that proportion in criminal justice and residential children’s services.
The workforce is mainly employed on permanent contracts (82%).
The median figure for the typical weekly hours worked by staff is 32 and 51% of the workforce work full time (more than 30 hours per week).

The report combines administrative data collected by the Care Inspectorate with data collected by the SSSC directly from local authorities to form a comprehensive picture of the paid workforce employed in the social service sector in Scotland at the end of 2019.

The SSSC is an official statistics provider.

Read the Scottish Social Service Sector: Report on 2019 Workforce Data here.

Tory plans to Power up Scotland

Scottish Conservative leader Douglas Ross today launches his first major policy paper, an ambitious jobs and economic recovery plan to “Power up Scotland” and rebuild the economy stronger.

As the Scottish Government prepares to announce its Programme for Government tomorrow, Douglas Ross has put forward a series of proposals to support and create jobs, promote business recovery in the short-term, and build a thriving, stronger Scottish economy long-term.

The Power up Scotland jobs plan, which Douglas promised to deliver within a month of his election as Scottish Conservative leader, will be published today at a manufacturing plant in Inverness and includes the following policies:

  • Sector-specific Job Security Councils to help laid-off workers transition and find skilled work, based on Sweden’s hugely successful retraining programmes.
  • A Town Centre Rescue Plan to help small local shops adapt and free up planning restrictions.
  • A ‘Scotland First’ procurement strategy to have the government spend more money locally.
  • A Scottish education guarantee to age 18 and expanded adult learning programmes.
  • Community Right to Buy schemes for local pubs and other employers in fragile areas.
  • Scottish Enterprise reformed on regional lines and new Rural Growth deals to spread high-quality jobs and business growth across the country.
  • A yellow/red card system for businesses who make late payments and bid for public work.
  • A new research and development target with better incentives for innovation.
  • A Hardship Fund for businesses facing localised lockdowns.

The new Scottish Tory leader also called yesterday for accelerated infrastructure investment with proposals for a three-lane M8, a Scottish Smart Travel Card for contactless travel, faster rail links from Edinburgh to Aberdeen and Inverness, and a joint UK-Scottish Government infrastructure vehicle.

Scottish Conservative leader Douglas Ross said: “In the biggest economic downturn of our lifetime, the UK Government stepped up and protected nearly a million Scottish jobs. Now the Scottish Government must match that ambition.

“My proposals won’t just protect jobs over the next few months, they will power up the Scottish economy and start creating the jobs of tomorrow, today. This detailed blueprint for the next phase of recovery will help workers retrain and find new skilled work, give town centres the tools they need to rebuild, and take every part of Scotland forward together. 

“I will work with the Scottish Government on these proposals wherever possible but there is a clear contrast between what we see as Scotland’s priorities.

“I don’t believe Scottish people want a government that drags us back to the division of the past and wastes time on constitutional wrangling.

“I believe people want both of Scotland’s governments to co-operate, not compete. They want us to hand power back to communities, not hoard it in Edinburgh. They want long-term strategies that build for the future, not sticking plaster proposals that prove to be second-rate.

“Most of all, I believe Scottish people want action on jobs, now. They don’t want delays and excuses.

“This is a time of crisis for Scotland – but a moment of opportunity too. If we focus on the urgent priorities of Scottish people, we can restore and rebuild our economy stronger than ever.”

It’s hardly surprising that the Scottish Conservative economic plan has the enthusiastic support of Lothian Tory MSP Miles Briggs, who said: “Edinburgh and the Lothians have huge economic potential that we need to see optimised as Scotland enters a recession.

“This is a comprehensive economic plan from Douglas Ross that has measures to improve connectivity across Scotland and pass powers back to local regions and communities.

“SNP Ministers have been ineffective in developing Scotland’s economy and maximising the potential of businesses and growing industries.

“This plan is a clear commitment from the Scottish Conservatives that the economy and people’s livelihoods will be our number one priority going into the Scottish elections next year.”

Power-up-Scotland-Aug-2020Download

Councillors to discuss Halymre Street ‘vision’

A proposed housing-led ‘vision’ for the Leith Walk/Halmyre Street area has been published by the Council to help shape future development of the site. This follows consultation with the local community and other groups and organisations in Leith including community councils and other landowners.

The ‘Place Brief’, which includes a mix of other uses in addition to housing, lays out the basic principles for development for open and green space and movement around and into the site.

A potential cycling connection linking Stead’s Place and Thorntree Street has been included. The Brief will guide future planning applications for three pieces of land all with different owners including the former tram depot on Leith Walk and a former mill building currently being used as a bingo hall.

Councillors will be asked to approve the ‘Place Brief’ at the Planning Committee on Wednesday (2 September).

Over the last few years there has been extensive community led consultation to identify community priorities for the area going forward. This was followed up in January 2020 with a number of drop-in events in local venues and an online consultation to provide people with the opportunity to have their say on the future of the area.

Cllr Neil Gardiner, Planning Convener, said: “We’ve carried out extensive consultation on this site locally for several years now and I really appreciate all of the feedback we’ve been given to help us to make sure this area complements its surroundings and is somewhere people want to be.

“What’s important here is that the Place Brief can be used to help coordinate development on the site to achieve the best outcome going forward for the local community.

“People have told us that there is already a strong feeling of community in the area and we want to build on that as well as respect the architectural heritage and character that people have also said is so important.”

The Place Brief creates a framework for co-ordinated development by the different land owners and is flexible enough to accommodate change. It is likely that different parts of the site will be developed at different times and some areas such as the bingo hall may not change their use.

There will be further opportunities for the public and interested groups to give their views throughout the planning process.

Funding to help mothers and infants at risk

STEPPING Stones North Edinburgh is among the charities providing counselling and peer and parental support to share funding to help improve the life chances and wellbeing of pregnant women, new mums and their families.

The Perinatal and Infant Mental Health fund will provide annual funding of up to £1 million to help third sector organisations deliver vital services.

Mental Health Minister Clare Haughey attended a virtual meeting with Amma Birth Companions to announce the successful organisations to receive a share of the funding.

The charity supports vulnerable women who would otherwise experience birth without a partner, including a number of women who are refugees, asylum seekers or living in poverty.

Ms Haughey said: “We want all mothers and their families to have access to good mental health care throughout pregnancy and during the postnatal period.

“The third sector provides an invaluable source of support and with the impacts of COVID-19, their work is more important now than ever. The fund will allow one-to-one support for organisations to help provide the care that women and their families need across Scotland.

“In our 2019-20 Programme for Government, we committed to support the third sector to deliver counselling and befriending services for women who might benefit from additional support in their community.

“Our delivery plan will help us continue to improve perinatal and infant mental health services, backed by £50 million and guided by the voices of women with lived experience.”

Sarah Zadik, Manager and Co-Founder at Amma Birth Companions said: “This funding will enable us to build on our existing work, address emerging needs, and reach even more women who would otherwise face pregnancy, birth, and early motherhood alone.

“We are delighted to receive this grant and grateful to the Scottish Government for recognising Amma’s role in providing vital support to vulnerable mothers who are at increased risk of experiencing perinatal mental health issues.”

Celia Tennant, Chief Executive at Inspiring Scotland said: “Inspiring Scotland is delighted to be supporting the Perinatal and Infant Mental Health Fund and today’s announcement.

“The commitment from Scottish Government to this vital area has been matched by the high number and calibre of proposals we received for funding . We are looking forward to working alongside these essential services over the next three years to support more families during the crucial perinatal period.”

The annual Perinatal and Infant Mental Health fund is designed to deliver key services and address gaps in provision.

The full list of organisations to receive funding can be found below:

Aberlour

Amma Birth Companions

Barnardo’s

Home Start Glasgow North and NL

Midlothian Sure Start

Stepping Stones North Ed

Home-Start East Highland / Caithness

PND Borders

Home-Start Dunfermline

Quarriers

CrossReach

Human Development Scotland

Action for Children

Healthy Valleys

Maternal Mental Health Scotland

More information can be found on Inspiring Scotland’s website, who will be administering the fund on behalf of the Scottish Government.

Gyms reopen in Scotland

Gyms, swimming pools and indoor sports courts can reopen from today in Scotland, two weeks earlier than originally planned.

A spokesperson for PureGym said: “We are delighted to be opening our 25 gyms in Scotland today and welcoming back hundreds and thousands of members who want to get back to working out.

“Better health and fitness is an important contributor in the fight against Covid-19. The safety of our members is our number one priority and so we have significantly enhanced our cleaning and safety standards in our gyms, in close consultation with medical experts, to ensure that they are safe places to work and safe places to workout.

“All gyms have sanitisation stations, contact-free entry and rigorous overnight deep cleaning and we’ve received highly positive feedback on cleanliness from our members in England, Wales and Northern Ireland who have already returned for millions of gyms visits without incident.”

You can find information about PureGym’s safety measures for re-opening here, and pictures of what the gyms will look like here.

Health experts have encouraged the public to take more exercise during the Coronavirus pandemic. Excess weight puts people at greater risk of serious illness or deth from COVID-19.

Lucie Bennett, Chief Nutritionist at Fitnazz, said: “We’ve just published the Biggest List on the Internet for the Benefits of Exercise, which includes a free implementable Guide”.

Check out the Benefits of Exercise list below:

60+ Benefits of Exercise – The Ultimate List (updated)

Edinburgh Declaration agreed

Calls for global biodiversity action at all levels

The Scottish Government is leading a global push to ensure action is taken at all levels to protect biodiversity.

A statement of intent, known as The Edinburgh Declaration, has been agreed between subnational, regional and local governments across the world and calls on the Convention on Biodiversity to take bold action to halt biodiversity loss. 

It also calls for greater prominence be given to the role subnational governments, cities and local authorities play in delivering a new global framework of targets, set to be agreed next year.

The Programme for Government 2019/20 committed to take account of the new post-2020 international biodiversity framework as part of work to address biodiversity loss.

The Edinburgh Declaration is the result of a year-long collaboration across international governments and organisations. In response to the Covid-19 pandemic, Scotland’s commitment to host and lead an international workshop to drive these discussions moved to a ground-breaking online format over the summer.

Environment Secretary Roseanna Cunningham said: “The coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic has been an unprecedented global crisis which has fundamentally changed every aspect of our lives. But the twin challenges of biodiversity loss and climate change have not gone away – far from it – and must be central to our green recovery.

“Whilst Scotland’s progress on the current internationally-agreed biodiversity targets compares favourably with the global picture, it is concerning that, at an international level, none of these targets have been fully met.

“It is my firm belief – one shared by all signatories of the Edinburgh Declaration – that State-led action alone is not sufficient to put us on a path to recovery, achieving what is required to protect biodiversity across the globe.

“The Edinburgh Declaration makes it clear that the Scottish Government, together with subnational governments, cities and local authorities across the world, stand ready to meet the challenge of delivering the post-2020 global biodiversity framework and play a stronger role in its implementation.”

Chief Executive of NatureScot Francesca Osowska said: “The Edinburgh Declaration puts Scotland on the international stage, a clear sign of our intent to tackle biodiversity loss and protect nature.  

“This isn’t just about conservation, enriching our nature is also part of the solution to the climate emergency and is a vital part of a green recovery from Covid-19.

“Global targets for nature and climate change aren’t just set by nation states – it also needs the world’s subnational governments, agencies – and all of us – to push for transformational change.”

The Edinburgh Declaration is available to view on the Scottish Government website.

The Conference of the Parties (COP 15) to the Convention on Biological Diversity (CBD) is provisionally due to take place in China from 17-30 May 2021.

It is anticipated that a final agreement on a post-2020 global biodiversity framework will be agreed at COP 15 to support the CBD’s 2050 vision of “living in harmony with nature”.

Director of Science at Royal Botanic Garden Edinburgh Professor Pete Hollingsworth said: “Addressing the biodiversity crisis requires transformative change in how people co-exist with nature.

“The Edinburgh Declaration, focusing on the role of subnational governments, cities and regions is important, as it is at these levels where there is vital expertise and understanding of the practicalities of on-the-ground action, and how best to align the conservation of biodiversity with day-to-day life and the needs of local communities.”