Day: August 10, 2020

Exam grades: ‘We got it wrong’ – First Minister

Statement given by the First Minister Nicola Sturgeon at the media briefing in St Andrew’s House this afternoon:

Good afternoon, and thanks for joining us. I’ll start with the usual update on the most recent Covid-19 statistics for Scotland.

I can confirm that an additional 29 positive cases were confirmed yesterday. That represents 0.8% of the people who were newly tested yesterday, and it takes the total number of cases in Scotland to 19,027.

A full health board breakdown will be available later, but the provisional information I have is that 18 of the 29 cases are in the Grampian health board area.

It is not yet clear how many are connected to the ongoing outbreak in Aberdeen and I will say a little bit more about the situation there shortly.

A total of 267 patients are currently in hospital with confirmed Covid, that is six more than yesterday and three people are in intensive care and that  is the same as yesterday.

I’m also very pleased to say that yet again in the past 24 hours, no deaths were registered of patients who tested positive over the previous 28 days and therefore the number of deaths under that measurement remains 2,491. Obviously though the total number of deaths still reminds us every single day of the dreadful impact of Covid and my condolences again go to everyone who has suffered loss.

And as always, I want to thank everyone who is working hard to help our country through this pandemic. 

I have two things I want to update on today. The first is the current situation in Aberdeen and then I want to say a bit about the reopening of schools from tomorrow.

I’ve just mentioned that in the last 24 hours, 18 new cases were confirmed in the Grampian Health Board area.

That means that in the 15 days since 26th of July, a total of 231 cases in Grampian have been identified.

We understand that 157 of those are linked in some way to the Aberdeen cluster.

And a total of 852 contacts have now been identified from those 157 cases.

Now it’s important to stress that those 852 contacts might not equate exactly to 852 people – there is likely to be some overlap between different cases.

But that figure helps to give some idea, I think, of the scale of the tracing exercise which is underway in Aberdeen.

The majority of those contacts have already been traced, and tracing procedures are in place for the others. And that in itself shows how hard and well our Test and Protect teams are working – even in relation to a large and complex cluster.

In addition, I hope that the measures that we put in place in Aberdeen last week will help to slow and then stop transmission before it becomes widespread within the community.

And the advice we have put in place about not travelling to or from Aberdeen – unless absolutely essential – should reduce the risk of cases spreading from Aberdeen to other parts of Scotland.

That said we do expect the number of cases and contacts in the Aberdeen cluster to rise further in the days ahead. But I want to take the opportunity again to thank all those working hard locally to seek to contain this cluster as quickly and as effectively as possible.

More generally, the events of the past fortnight have been a reminder of how fragile Scotland’s overall position is and that is the same in countries across the world.

We have seen and we are still seeing, thankfully, low rates of transmission in most parts of the country.

But we have also seen in Aberdeen how quickly that can change, it can literally change in an instant. And it will change, if we drop our guard.

So, for that reason, whenever you are out and about, please continue to think about your own actions, not just in Aberdeen but wherever you happen to be in the country.

Let me remind you that no more than three households should be meeting together indoors at any one time – in each other’s homes, and in places like bars and restaurants.   It is important to recognize that household limit applies in places like bars and restaurants just as it does in your own home.

And people from different households should be staying physically distant from each other at all times. And again that is something we advise strongly if you are in a bar, just as we do if you are meeting other households in your own house.

And each of us should be thinking about our recent behaviour. All of us asking ourselves have we been a bit more relaxed about things like physical distancing when we’ve been meeting up with friends recently?

Are we creating more bridges that allow this virus to spread, to travel from us to another household, or from another household to us?

Because if we are doing that, and I think it is inevitable that many of us will have dropped our guard that little bit, then now is the time to recognise that and try to rectify it, because the fact is we all still need to be really careful right now. And Aberdeen is very hard proof of that fact.

Nobody’s life, while our lives have regained a bit of normality in recent weeks,  nobody’s life should be feeling absolutely normal at the moment. Covid is still present, and we know it is still highly infectious.

So all of us have a big role to play in trying to keep it under control. And one reason why that is so important, why suppressing and hopefully eliminating the virus is so important, is that it is the best way of ensuring that schools can reopen, and then stay open, safely. That has to be a priority for all of us, and it is very much a priority for Government.

Earlier this morning I visited West Calder High School in West Lothian, to see for myself the preparations that they are making for reopening this week.

Like many schools across the country, they are having a phased return.

Tomorrow is an in-service day for staff.

Wednesday is for students in secondary school years 1 to 3.  And Thursday is for students in year 1, and years 4 to 6.

And then from Friday, all students will be in the school full-time.

I think it is worth saying that for students and staff, school will feel different to how it was before. 

There will, for example, be a lot more handwashing.

Some schools will have staggered starts and lunchbreaks – at West Calder for example, school lunches have to be ordered on an app in the morning and collected at lunchtime.

And for staff, while young people are not required to keep two metres apart within schools, teachers and other adult staff do need to keep that distance.

Now, I know that there will be nerves and anxiety for children, parents and teachers this week and I think that is entirely understandable.

Hopefully induction days that I know are happening in many schools will help young people to get used to the changes, and to being around each other again.

But fundamentally all of us know that the reopening of schools is essential for children’s education, personal development and indeed I think for  their general wellbeing and happiness.

So what we are doing, is trying to ensure that the reopening is safe and effective.

I was really impressed and reassured this morning by what I saw of the preparations at West Calder, and I know those preparations are being repeated in schools right across the country, and I am very grateful to everyone – teachers, teaching assistants, local authority workers and all school staff – who are enabling schools to safely reopen.

There are three other quick points I just want to make in relation to schools.

The first is that although schools can reopen from tomorrow, this reopening does not yet apply to unregulated indoor activities for school children – for example some indoor play or activity clubs, and some faith-related education such as Sunday schools and madrassahs. They should not start again until agreed guidance is in place. 

The second point is about travel.  We know that the reopening of schools will put extra pressure on public transport and on our road network.

So Transport Scotland is today launching a Travel Safe campaign. It asks commuters to help the transport system by only travelling if you need to, and by working at home when you can.

But if you do need to travel, please walk, cycle or wheel to work whenever that is possible.

And if you need to use public transport or if you need to drive, which will be the case for some people, think about whether you could make your journey outside of the peak times.

The continued need for physical distancing on public transport, as schools reopen and as more business activities resume, will put more pressure on transport services. So the Travel Safe campaign is intended to help you think about ways in which you can help with that.

The final point I want to cover today is for those pupils, and indeed parents of pupils, who received their SQA results last week.

John Swinney will make a statement in parliament tomorrow about the steps  we intend to take to address concerns about this year’s results.

And at the heart of that, we will be taking steps to ensure that every young person gets a grade that recognises the work they have done.

Let me be clear about this – in a very difficult and unprecedented situation, we took decisions that we thought, on balance, were the right ones, and we took them with the very best of intentions. These were broadly the same decisions that have been reached for England and Wales as well.

But our concern – which was to make sure that the grades young people got, were as valid as those they would have got in any other year – perhaps led us to think too much about the overall system and not enough about the individual pupil.

And that has meant that too many students feel that they have lost out on grades they should have had – and also that has happened  as a result, not of anything they’ve done, but because of a statistical model or an algorithm.  In addition, that burden has not fallen equally across our society.

So despite our best intentions, I do acknowledge that we did not get this right and I am sorry for that. But instead of doing what politicians  sometimes do and dig our heels in, we are determined to acknowledge that and to put it right.

There are, of course, deeper questions that we will need to resolve for the longer term – about the impact of exams on the attainment gap, and on the difference between exams and teacher judgment.

But the most immediate challenge is to resolve the grades awarded to pupils this year.

As I have said we will set out our approach tomorrow to the Scottish Parliament, but let me be clear that we will not expect every student who has been downgraded to appeal.

This situation is not the fault of students, and so it should not be on students to fix it.  That is on us, and we will set out tomorrow exactly how we intend to do that.

These are the two main issues I wanted to cover today.

Obviously we will talk a lot more about both of these issues, and no doubt others, as the week progresses.

Before I hand over, first to the Health Secretary and then to the Chief Medical Officer, let me just close by reminding everybody again of FACTS – the five rules that we all must follow to stay as safe as possible.

  • Face coverings in enclosed spaces
  • Avoid crowded places.
  • Clean your hands and hard surfaces regularly.
  • Two metre distancing remains the overall rule.
  • and self isolate, and book a test, if you have symptoms.

If we all comply with these five golden rules, then we will collectively reduce the risk of this virus spreading.

So I encourage everybody to do that and to do that rigorously because it is in the interest of all of us, individually, in the interest of our families, but also in the interests of the country as a whole.

An invitation from Transition Edinburgh

You are invited to join an online roundtable for civil society and local government to exploring how to meet the ambitious target to reach Carbon Neutral Edinburgh by 2030: 

The event takes place from 6-8pm on Wednesday 12 August.

We’ve invited people in civil society organisations advocating action to cut climate emissions.

Dr Sam Gardner, Chair of Edinburgh Climate Commission and Councillor Adam McVey, Leader of the Council and Vice Chair of the Commission will share their vision.  

This interactive session will: 

  1. Generate a shared picture of the action taking place in the city 
  2. Explore actions open to civil society, the City of Edinburgh Council and the Edinburgh Climate Commission  
  3. Contribute to our collective ambition for the city and identify ways of working together to accelerate progress. 

Colleagues can book via: https://climate12aug.eventbrite.co.uk and Share www.facebook.com/events/914192189091728

Background Documents to read BEFORE participating: 

This event will contribute to the Place-based Climate Action Network (P-CAN) collaboration with Leeds and Belfast – led by Edinburgh Centre for Carbon Innovation and the EIT Climate-KIC Healthy, Clean Cities Deep Demonstration in Edinburgh.  

REGISTER HERE: https://climate12aug.eventbrite.co.uk 

BBC Sounds announces record listening figures during lockdown

Grounded with Louis Theroux was the most popular podcast during a record period between April-June 2020, which saw 313 million plays of all content on BBC Sounds across radio, podcasts and music mixes.

  • Other top podcasts include That Peter Crouch Podcast, The Coronavirus Newscast, Match of the Day: Top 10 and Fortunately with… Fi and Jane
  • Podcasts which attract a higher proportion of under 35 listeners include Mandemic, The Gemma Collins Podcast, James Acaster’s Perfect Sounds and Scarlett Moffatt Wants to Believe with 6 Degrees from Jamie and Spencer topping the list
  • The huge popularity of Normal People was reflected in audio too – it was the Normal People series which put our TV companion podcast Obsessed With… into the top ten and Normal People The Soundtrack was one of our most listened to music mixes too
  • BBC Sounds saw a huge 1.4m increase – double previous quarter – in music mix plays with Radio 1’s Big Weekend UK 2020 and Glastonbury keeping listeners entertained at home during what should have been festival season

New data for Q2 2020 shows an average audience of 3.4 million weekly users across the app, website and voice activated devices. There was a record 136 million plays of on-demand radio programmes and podcasts in this quarter, up 13 million on last quarter, and 2.7 million plays of music mixes, a 1.4m increase and over double the previous quarter.

Many listen to our radio stations on BBC Sounds with 55 percent of overall plays and 65 percent of all listening hours being for live content on BBC Sounds.

Jonathan Wall, Controller of BBC Sounds, says: “The extraordinary circumstances of these months during lockdown and the disruption to people’s lives is reflected in these latest figures and the most popular content.

“I’m really glad we’ve been able to give listeners some real treats to enjoy such as Louis Theroux’s brilliant first podcast, hours and hours of Glastonbury and Big Weekend sets and more ways for fans to indulge in drama hits such as Normal People.” 

On-Demand Radio Programmes

As with the previous quarter, Radio 1’s Dance Anthems continued to be the most popular on-demand radio programme with under 35s with BBC Radio 1 Anthems, Elis James and John Robins and Desert Island Discs also on the list. 

The Archers topped the chart for all audiences overall.

This quarter, 1Xtra’s Snoochie Shy comes out on top with the highest proportion of under 35 listeners for on-demand radio programmes.

Music Mixes 

During Q2 there were 2.7 million plays of music mixes on BBC Sounds, over double the amount of plays compared to the previous quarter. Sounds of the 90s with Fearne Cotton came out on top during this period, while Radio 1’s Big Weekend and Glastonbury were second and third on the list with their ‘at home festival’ experience attracting many listeners.

Podcasts 

Grounded with Louis Theroux was the most listened to podcast this quarter, proving popular with listeners as the documentary giant tried his hand at podcasting by interviewing the likes of Helena Bonham Carter, Lenny Henry, Boy George, KSI and Miriam Margolyes. 

Other new titles that launched during this quarter/at the end of last that are amongst some of the most popular include: Match of the Day: Top 10, Bitch Bitch Bitch with Matt Lucas and Homeschool History.

That Peter Crouch Podcast and Match of the Day: Top 10 are first and second most listened to podcasts for under 35s.

Continuing titles that remain huge hits for all adults and for under 35s include You’re Dead to Me, Tailenders and Evil Genius with Russell Kane.

The TV companion series Obsessed With… continued to be popular, with the majority of listeners this quarter enjoying the Normal People podcast – demonstrating with both the success of Normal People The Soundtrack and Obsessed With… Normal People podcast on BBC Sounds, people couldn’t get enough of the hit series this summer.

BBC podcasts and radio programmes on other platforms

In total there were over 240 million global podcast downloads across the world during this quarter, an increase in 10 million from last quarter.

The Global News Podcast (BBC World Service), The Documentary Podcast (BBC World Service) and In Our Time (Radio 4) continue to be the most popular three titles.

Test and Protect vital to containing spread of COVID-19

Following the ongoing coronavirus (COVID-19) outbreak in Aberdeen, people are reminded of the importance of self-isolation to control the spread of the virus.

Once a positive case is identified, contact tracers will call all of their close contacts and advise them to self-isolate for 14 days.

Calls from contact tracers will come from one number – 0800 0308 012 – and the identity of the positive case will not be disclosed.

Interim Chief Medical Officer Gregor Smith said: “Test and Protect is vital to help us suppress the virus and identify any local outbreaks like the one in Aberdeen.

“It is crucial that people who are identified as close contacts of a positive index case follow the advice given by the contact tracer and self-isolate for 14 days.

“If you are a contact of a positive case you must still self-isolate even if you get a negative test result. A negative result is not a substitute for self-isolating as people can be asymptomatic and test positive at a later date.

“Self-isolation, as part of the Test and Protect system, will help us contain the spread of the virus and help us move out of lockdown.”

Test and Protect was rolled out across Scotland on 28 May 2020.

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

NHS workers come out in force to demand fair pay

NHS workers held demonstrations all across the UK on Saturday to demand a 15% pay rise for ALL sectors within the service.

Campaigners sent a clear message to the government: We do not accept your plans to exclude us from the public sector pay increase, and we will make ourselves heard until you listen!

Jennifer Gough Brown sent these images from the Edinburgh demo at the Scottish Parliament:

Silver Lining: ELREC holds Zoom AGM

‘Everything has a silver lining’ – this goes for most things and our AGM was no exception (writes ELREC Chair FOYSUL CHOUDHURY MBE). Even during difficult times like such, we as a humanity find ways to not only survive but thrive.

As many of you know, we had the AGM scheduled for March 2020 but due to Covid -19 it was cancelled, and we then went into lockdown. During this time everything went digital and Zoom is now a very common source of conducting meetings, workshops, and classes.

So, we also decided to host our AGM online via Zoom on Wednesday 5th August 2020 and it was just as wonderful as the ‘real’ deal!

The AGM was hosted by ELREC Chair, Foysol Choudhury MBE who welcomed everyone and introduced ELREC’s Honorary Patron, and Lord Provost to the City of Edinburgh, Frank Ross:

Rt Hon Frank Ross – Lord Provost for the City of Edinburgh

Lord Provost welcomed everyone to our AGM and congratulated community groups for coming together during this very difficult time. “Edinburgh is the most successful economy in Scotland with 94 per of its population in employment. We are world centre for celebrating culture and festivals attracting 4 million visitors each year. Since March 2020, our city has been closed to protect ourselves and others from the virus and lives have been disrupted such as schooling, businesses as well as our traditions”. I thank local groups for observing lockdown during the Muslim Eid celebrations and other celebrations which fell during this time.

Since March 2020:

Edinburgh has provided and delivered 200 food parcels to the vulnerable and poor families every day. 1600 to those in shielding, 100 million pounds of support has been provided to businesses and enterprises over last 4 months. 3000 community care grants paid every month,2000 people supported through crisis centres, 200 additional bed spaces created to eliminate homelessness in our city.

These last 4 months have seen communities being resilient and coming together like nothing I have ever seen. During this time volunteering has trebled.

Moving ahead I urge ELREC to continue its work in substantial public society by maximising inclusion and access to employment and access to equality, justice, and access to services. On behalf of Civic Edinburgh, I pass gratitude to ELREC board, staff, volunteers, and partners in their contributions in minimising impact of coronavirus and the lockdown within their communities.

Sarah Boyack – MSP – Member of local government and communities committee.

I want to thank the communities and local groups for all their efforts during this unprecedented time. There are many lessons to be learned from this situation and one is that we cannot go back to the old way of living. We need to create a better society to what we had before lockdown, our focus has been on how to protect people from Covid particularly the vulnerable, and access to practical support for people who have lost jobs, loved ones and are really in need of help.

Some of the issues I have been working on these past few months are that people are worried about the long term effects of Covid and the lockdown on their mental health, more testing in care homes and for care workers and support for teachers and their staff in schools and ensure that our local authorities have the resources they need to make this happen.

I have also had lots of letters asking me what the scientific guidance is on opening religious places and supporting people in workplaces once we return to work. I can tell you that this is the busiest the parliament has ever been.

Or governments need to work together to reduce the effect of the virus on people, find a vaccine and ensure funding for businesses is available to get our economy up and running again.

We also had a debate in parliament on Black Lives Matter movement and three big things we agreed that need to happen were:

•    A Museum of slavery to look at the history of black lives

•      School curriculum needs to include this

•    Establishment of an expert advisory group on to look at the effects of Covid on bme people

I have also been contacted by the son of the Late Saroj Lal who was the first bme teacher and community worker and worked for ELREC and many community organisations in Edinburgh and did some amazing work. We will be planning a session in parliament to remember and celebrate Saroj soon. The Chair thanked Sarah for organising this and ELREC would be happy to be involved in this.

The pandemic is only reiterated the value of our front-line staff and service workers and we want to ensure everyone has equal opportunities and that our services are fairer and allow people to serve their country.

Professor Sir Geoff Palmer OBE

I want to start by conveying my dearest sympathies to the people who have died or are sick and pray that we can manage this disease and minimise the damage further. These are unprecedented times.

Different parts of the country are talking of the links to chattel slavery and we must change attitudes and start with schools and tell children why black people are in this situation. The curriculum must teach the truth.

“Its easier to mend broken children than mend broken men”

Do not let things be nice to do, make it part of the curriculum and it becomes the attitude of the people we produce in the future.

I have given interviews for Canada, Japan and South Africa, Jamaica and other Caribbean connections and the world is interested not in me but in Edinburgh and what it is doing. What we are doing in our city is going worldwide and has attracted the attention on the world.

Promoting Equality and Fighting Discrimination

ELREC is registered in Scotland as a company limited by guarantee no. 183419 and is a recognised Scottish Charity no. SC007896

The Henry Dundas statue in St Andrew square has been there for 199 years and its taken us this long to change the placard to include the word “slavery” on it. It may have taken a long time but its been worth it and truth be told.

Edinburgh is a city that is seen by the world as doing something about Black Lives issue and I am grateful for ELREC for making lives better for its bme communities in Edinburgh and the surrounding areas.

Councillor Donald Wilson – Convener Culture and Communities Committee

I am proud to be part of discussions on our history and making changes. Some of the silver lining has been reaction of communities and organisations who have stepped up and been involved in their local areas.

The Impact this has had on elderly and how we treat our elderly and our role and priority we have in society and role of culture on our mental wellbeing. In terms of mental health and realising role of culture has on mental health and wellbeing is essential part of our lives.

Edinburgh is a world class city of culture, and Covid has had a massive impact on it, we must do what we can, culturally and civically and its vital for our wellbeing. Our committee had been suspended and rightly so and is restarting soon and rightly so as its time to get back and argue the case for culture and strong communities.

Police – Chief Superintendent Sean Scott

Policing over the last four months has been something I have ever seen before. We were given new powers and had to learn quickly. I must say though that communities came together fantastically in the last 4 months, and we have not had major issues to report.

During these rather difficult times we wanted to be as tolerant as possible and the last resort was to enforce however Edinburgh and the bme communities have been fantastic with adhering to the rules. We may not have got it right every time, but we took the right approach and have a new survey online for feedback, so please do have a look at this on our website and send us feedback.

Going forward we closely monitor social tensions and are working very closely with our partners so that we can provide the right protection service to our local communities.

Crime is dramatically down last number of months, but anti-social behaviour has increased but not any great levels to cause any worry.

I thank ELREC and other partners for their continuous efforts and support making our work easier.

I would also like to mention that we have a new ACC, Tim Maier’s who will be joining us soon. The Chair thanked Sean and the rest of the Police for their swift action on the issue of hate incidents against the Asian community in Edinburgh due to Covid.

MSP Ben McPherson – Minister for Public Finance and Migration

Ben is the MSP for Edinburgh North and Leith.

In support of the health service and third sector that has come together in a tremendous way has been one of the positive things to come out of this terrible situation, my condolences for those who have lost their loved ones to the virus. We need to learn the lessons from this such as

Promoting Equality and Fighting Discrimination

ELREC is registered in Scotland as a company limited by guarantee no. 183419 and is a recognised Scottish Charity no. SC007896

how we can adapt to the changes and inequalities Covid has raised and the humanity that has strengthened the process. How do I support local organisations, and local businesses? Money has been made available and given quickly during this time to help with this. Recognising our own society and understanding our history to build a better society. I thank Sir Geoff for always inspiring us to be proactive and better.

ELREC Projects

Our current projects: Communities for Conservation, Equalities Engagement, Open Arms, True Colours, are all doing well despite the current situation.

Many of our services have gone online and some just cant. We want to thank the funders for their patience and understanding during this time. During lockdown we started 2 new projects, equally informed which disseminates information in different languages related to Covid and the lockdown restrictions to various ethnic minority groups in Edinburgh.

The purpose of this work is to ensure our local diverse communities have access to the official guidance and its understandable. We have also been working in partnership with Edinburgh Community Food, Lieth Decides and Port of Leith Housing to provide food parcels to local bme communities in North of Edinburgh.

Many of the communities need halal meat and products so our food parcels are specific to the needs of the local groups we represent here in Edinburgh. The Lockdown and Covid has pushed many of our local bme groups into poverty so this little help offers some support.

Appointment of Board Members

This year we had four board members retiring so we had four vacancies.

Mrs Shana Rams and Mr Irshad Ahmed were elected as new board members, and Mrs Magdalena Sajnaga and Cllr Carl John were re-elected.

Vice Chair, Shami Khan and the Chair thanked the speakers and everyone for attending and participating in ELREC’s AGM. We thank all front-line staff for all their hard work and public services for keeping the city moving during these unprecedented times.

Edinburgh Napier start-ups flourishing in post Covid-19 life

Bright Red Triangle supporting more businesses than ever before

Bright Red Triangle – Edinburgh Napier University’s hub for innovation and enterprise – is supporting more businesses than ever before after an increase in the uptake of its services during lockdown.

The hub – which provides a range of support that allows students and alumni to explore, test and develop business ideas – has reported a 30% increase in business sign-ups.

Bright Red Triangle has had 71 start-ups register with it during 2019/20 – with a number of these new sign-ups coming during lockdown as students and alumni prepare for life in a post Covid-19 economy. A total of 554 students and graduates are now part of the wider Bright Red Triangle community.

Nick Fannin, head of Bright Red Triangle, is delighted with the increase and believes that more and more people will be looking to start their own business as a result of an increasingly difficult economic climate.

He said: “With the economy contracting and competition for graduate jobs increasing, it is becoming more important to enable our graduates to make opportunities for themselves and to be prepared to build their own portfolio careers from a mix of employed, freelance and self-employed work.

“Employability skills, particularly enterprise skills, are going to be incredibly important as we look forward and Bright Red Triangle has a big role to play at Edinburgh Napier in helping our students and alumni to prepare for life living in the post Covid-19 economy.

“Starting a business or a side hustle can be a game changer for people struggling with employment in the current economic climate. Our students and graduates are already starting to recognise this and we are thrilled to have seen a spike in the numbers of new businesses registered with our incubators. We look forward to supporting these start-ups further in the months and years ahead.”

Despite the University’s campuses being forced to close to both students and staff as a result of the pandemic in March, the Bright Red Triangle team has continued to virtually support its members with a number of online initiatives throughout the last four months.

Most recently – thanks to generous support from Santander Universities – 22 entrepreneurs representing 16 businesses took part in Bright Red Triangle’s Summer Accelerator programme.

Over the course of four weeks, its team of experienced business advisers delivered practical online workshops to support these ambitious entrepreneurs to accelerate their ideas and reach their business goals.

The programme also included a suite of helpful business start-up resources, one-to-one coaching, peer-to-peer knowledge sharing, networking opportunities, and advice from experienced professionals and entrepreneurs within the entrepreneurial eco-system in Edinburgh and beyond.

The programme culminated in a pitching competition, where participants had the chance to win a share of £6,000 provided by Santander Universities. Lindsey McArthur of Santander Universities and Bruce Walker, CEO of FutureX, were part of the judging panel.

Taking home the top prize of £3,000 was Fine Piece, a Scottish design company that specialises in producing furniture and homewares made from reclaimed and recycled materials.

Also winning was Aaron Reid who was awarded £2,000 towards his fitness training business, Lifestyle, and career coaching start-up, pRESPECT, who was awarded £500.

Fine Piece, which was founded by Edinburgh Napier product design graduate, Kirsty McKain and her business partner, Rebecca Subido, was delighted to take home the top prize.

Kirsty and Becka said: “Covid-19 was the catalyst for us to apply for the summer accelerator programme at Bright Red Triangle. Having fallen through every gap in the government support schemes, we thought we might have to close up shop. 

“We saw an opportunity with a plan we had in the pipeline – the turning school. With the money given to us through the programme we can not only survive but we can turn this pipeline dream into a reality.

“We are really excited for the future and grateful to the Bright Red Triangle team and Santander for this opportunity.”

More information on Bright Red Triangle can be found here, with more on its Summer Accelerator Programme here.

Child sexual offences in Scotland rise by 30% in five years

NSPCC calls for urgent action to tackle crisis of abuse

  • More than 5,000 child sex offences recorded by Police Scotland in 2019/20
  • Childline counselling sessions about sexual abuse in the family triple across UK during lockdown 
  • NSPCC urges Scottish Government to draw up a Child Sexual Abuse Strategy that puts victims and prevention at its core 

Police Scotland recorded an average of 15 child sex offences every day last year, new figures from the NSPCC reveal.  

There were 5,311 recorded offences including rape, online grooming and sexual assault against children in Scotland in 2019/20 – up 30% in the five years since 2014/15. 

In last year’s figures, where gender was recorded, girls were five times as likely to be victims, and in the offences where age category was given, 45% of the crimes recorded were against children under 13.

Across the UK, there were 73,518 recorded offences in 2019/20. The data was provided by a total of 44 out of 45 police forces after the NSPCC submitted a Freedom of Information request. 

NSPCC Scotland believes these figures show the urgent need for national leadership to create a coordinated plan to tackle child sexual abuse, both online and offline, in the country.

The charity is now calling on the Scottish Government to follow other nations in the UK and set about producing a comprehensive Tackling Child Sexual Abuse Strategy.1

The charity is calling for the strategy to put the needs of children and young people at the centre of how authorities respond to child sexual abuse, with a focus on effective prevention and victims having access to timely, relevant and specialist support to help them recover.

NSPCC Scotland research2 has shown that the availability of specialist therapeutic sexual abuse services is patchy and inconsistent across the country. 

Support should include that provided through Child House initiatives where health, policing, social work, therapeutic and other services provide help to children under one roof.

Matt Forde, NSPCC Scotland’s head of service, said: “Every day, children in Scotland are being sexually abused and having to live with the devastating impacts of this abuse on their lives.  

“Urgent action is needed to prevent abuse and to ensure children are supported to recover when it is disclosed.  

“In Scotland, we have seen numerous plans and initiatives launched to deal with various aspects of such abuse, including child sexual exploitation and harmful sexual behaviour.

“However, we believe it is crucial to have a joined-up approach when tackling this crime and want to see a strategy which puts the experiences and needs of children at the heart of it and is effective in preventing abuse and helping young people recover.”

The call comes as an NSPCC report found contacts from young people to Childline about sexual abuse in the family tripled across the UK during lockdown.

The report published today, ‘The impact of the coronavirus pandemic on child welfare: sexual abuse’, shows there were an average of 23 contacts to Childline per week about child sexual abuse in the home, up threefold since March 23rd when lockdown was announced.

Some children told Childline that sexual abuse had become more frequent during lockdown, as they were spending more time with their abuser.

One 17-year-old girl said: “It started during lockdown, about seven weeks ago. Dad touched me and got me to touch him. Today he came into my room and removed his trousers and asked me to do something to him and I did it.

“I don’t want to live here anymore. I feel I should tell social services about how abusive dad is, but I don’t feel ready to tell them about the sexual abuse part.”

A third of counselling sessions were about abuse in the family that happened over a year ago, with many children talking about it for the first time.

A 15-year-old girl told Childline: “My dad touched me sexually when I was younger and now I have to be home all the time with him and I can’t deal with it. Just being in the house with him is so hard. I am constantly reminded of what he did.”

Anyone concerned about a child can contact the NSPCC Helpline for advice on 0808 800 5000. Adult victims of non-recent sexual abuse can also get in touch for support.

Childline is available for young people on 0800 1111 or at www.childline.org.uk

Teachers have ‘serious concerns’ over schools re-opening

The interim results of a survey indicate that the majority of teachers retain serious concerns over the re-opening of schools this week.

The EIS opened the survey on Tuesday afternoon and, by Thursday morning, more than 24,000 teachers had completed the survey. The overwhelming message from the interim results is that, while teachers want to see schools re-open, they remain unconvinced that sufficient measures have been put in place to ensure safety.

Key data from the interim survey results includes:

  • A total of 24,354 teachers completed the survey from its launch on Tuesday 4 August to the morning of Thursday 6 August.
  • 64% of teachers support the decision to re-open schools, but only 18% express confidence that schools are currently safe – indicating that much more needs to be done to ensure safety.
  • A minority of teachers believe that sufficient safeguards have been put in place to support the safe re-opening of schools.
  • Just 3% of teachers are ‘very confident’ that there is sufficient evidence that COVID-19 is sufficiently under control to support a safe return to school
  • Only 23% of teachers are ‘confident or very confident’ that an established capacity to test, trace and isolate is in place to support a safe return, with 58% expressing a lack of confidence.
  • Under 26% of teachers are confident that sufficient operational changes – such as effective social distancing and enhanced hygiene routines – will be in place to support a safe return to school with 60% lacking confidence.
  • 72% of teachers support testing for asymptomatic members of staff to help supress the spread of COVID
  • 62% of teachers feel either ‘somewhat unsafe’ or ‘very unsafe’ about returning to school next week.

Commenting on the interim findings, EIS General Secretary Larry Flanagan said, “The interim results of this survey highlight that Scotland’s teachers continue to have serious questions over the re-opening of schools next week.”

“The fact that more than 24,000 teachers completed the survey in a little over a day illustrates the high degree of concern that remains over COVID-19 and schools. Teachers want to see schools re-opening, so that they can get back to working with pupils in the classroom environment – but they are very clear that this has to be done safely.”

“The initial indications from this major survey confirm that teachers believe that much more still needs to be done to ensure their safety, and the safety of pupils and others within the school, can be properly protected as schools re-open.

“The EIS will be sharing both the initial and final results of this survey with the Scottish Government and local authorities, and will be seeking urgent discussions on the mitigations that teachers still want to see – such as sufficient social distancing, testing for asymptomatic staff, and the use of face coverings where required to ensure safety.”

The EIS survey will remain open until today (Monday) and full results will be released thereafter.

Edinburgh’s children start the return to school from Wednesday this week.

Care home visiting expanded

Care home residents will be able to receive more outdoor visitors from today (Monday, 10 August), Health Secretary Jeane Freeman has confirmed.

From today, care home residents will be able to have up to three outdoor visitors from no more than two households provided their home meets strict criteria, with infection control measures remaining in place.

Since 3 July care homes which have met this criteria have been able to allow residents to meet with one designated visitor outdoors.

A care home will only be able to permit visiting if they have been COVID-free throughout the pandemic or if all affected residents have fully recovered and no residents or staff have had symptoms for 28 days and the home is actively participating in weekly staff testing.

Visitors will need to wear face coverings throughout their visit and physical distancing and hand and cough hygiene will need to be adhered to at all times.

Care home providers have also been asked to develop plans on how they can safely allow one designated indoor visitor for residents within their homes. These plans must be submitted by 24 August and will be signed off by the relevant health board’s Director of Public Health once they are satisfied with the plan and the home meets all the criteria for indoor visiting.

Essential visits, including those involving end of life care, and visits for residents who are experiencing distress have been permitted throughout the pandemic and should continue to be supported by care homes.

Ms Freeman said: “This has been, and continues to be, a very challenging time for care home residents, their families and staff.

“Care homes are first and foremost people’s homes and we are committed to reintroducing measures that allow residents to connect with their family and friends. But this must be done safely and with precautions.

“Progress has been made since we reintroduced one designated outdoor visitor earlier this month, and I am pleased the clinical advice is now that care homes that meet the strict criteria can now allow residents to have up to three outdoor visitors from no more than two households. 

“It is important that we continue to monitor this situation and that all changes within care homes happen incrementally and with real caution to protect residents and staff.

“At this point in time clinical advice is not to restart indoor care home visiting, but to ensure  the necessary plans are in place to move to this as soon as safe to do so. This is being continually monitored and I hope we can give a further update on this in the coming weeks.

“We are also working to identify the necessary steps needed to restart communal activity within care homes and to reintroduce external outings by residents. This is a complex piece of work and we will of course include key partners in this.”

Scottish Care Chief Executive Donald Macaskill said: “The last few months have been exceptionally hard for folks in our care homes and for their families, being separated with only limited, often virtual, contact.

“At the beginning of July we opened up care homes to outdoor visiting and I am very pleased that in our slow journey back to normal life we can shortly allow the careful start of a degree of indoor visiting subject to local sign off by Public Health Officials. As well as this, it is positive that an increase in the numbers able to visit residents outdoors is now possible.

“Throughout the restoration of family visiting, we have tried to strike the hard balance between getting people back to seeing and being with their families and keeping residents, staff and others safe from the virus. We are very aware of how pernicious this virus is so guidance and measures will remain in place to protect everyone.”

Alzheimer Scotland’s new resources for care homes

Alzheimer Scotland has been working to respond to the main concerns expressed by callers to their 24-hour Freephone Dementia Helpline (0808 808 3000) and now have a suite of resources on their website’s  Coronavirus Information Hub including podcasts and videos.

A specific section provides information and resources for all those supporting people living with dementia in Scotland’s care homes.