Day: September 25, 2020

Lockdown has sparked positive changes in family behaviour

Food bringing the nation closer together

·         New research reveals the nation ate more meals together as a family during lockdown which has brought them closer together

·         Two in five said they talked more to their family or partner as a result and over a third said they laughed more at the dinner table

·         Brits also became more mindful with 40 per cent saying they made a conscious effort to be more sustainable and food waste aware

·         Hotpoint #FreshThinking campaign aims to help people maintain their new positive changes and mindful habits in ‘the new normal’

A new study has revealed that lockdown has sparked positive changes in family behaviour and habits in the kitchen, with mealtimes bringing UK families closer as they have bonded by spending more time together cooking and eating. 

Proving that the kitchen really is the heart of the home, the research by Hotpoint as part of its Fresh Thinking For Forgotten Food campaign, reveals that over a third of Brits (38 per cent) have sat down to eat together more as a family during the pandemic than before lockdown.

Two in five (40 per cent) said this led them to talking more with their family or partner at mealtimes than they did previously, with 35 percent saying they felt they have laughed more together at the dinner table than before.

During lockdown, over a third (38 per cent) of those surveyed said the amount they looked forward to mealtimes as a family increased, with two in five (41 per cent) Brits cooking more meals together as a family. Over a third (36 per cent) said they rediscovered their love of cooking during the pandemic. 

Almost three-quarters (74 per cent) said they felt pleased with their new habits and 90 per cent said they intended to continue.

Commenting on the research, behavioural psychologist, Jo Hemmings says: “In a time where our day-to-day lives have been turned upside down and fear and anxiety have never been far from our thoughts, it has been important to find an alternative routine that provides us with some distraction and reassurance.

“For many, both preparing family meals and sitting down and eating together as a family has provided that emotional support and been a comforting anchor in our new way of living.” 

The study by appliance manufacturer Hotpoint, revealed that Brits have become more adventurous in the kitchen, with 45 per cent trying out new dishes, and almost half (49 per cent) cooking more meals from scratch.

Almost two in five (39 per cent) said they cooked more healthy meals during lockdown than before. Following the banana bread craze that swept social media, over a quarter of men (27 per cent) and two in five (40 per cent) of women said they rediscovered their love of baking. 

Jo Hemmings agrees: “It’s not just the forgotten joy of sitting together, eating a home cooked meal as a family, more people have been finding a new love of cooking during the pandemic and preparing the family meal has become less of a burden and much more of a pleasure.”

Commenting on the research, Sophie Ellis-Bextor, who is working on the campaign said: “This research by Hotpoint reflects exactly what happened in our home this year. We always used to eat all together at the weekends but at the beginning of lockdown we started having supper together every night as a family.

“We’ve also become much better at using leftovers and planning ahead – putting more thought into preparing food for the week, how we would turn dinners into lunch for the next day and not wasting anything.”

With fewer trips to the grocery store, almost half of those surveyed (45 per cent) said COVID-19 had made them think more about how to preserve food and organise their fridge, freezer and cupboards in a way that kept certain foods fresh for longer. Two in five (40 per cent) said they used their freezer more often during lockdown.

Nearly half (49 per cent) said they didn’t waste any food as a result of being home more and two in five Brits (40 per cent) said the lockdown has increased their efforts to be more sustainable and food waste conscious. 45 per cent turned their green fingers to growing more of their own food at home. 

In an effort to reduce food waste during the pandemic, 45 per cent of Brits kept cupboards, fridges and freezers more organised than before, with two in five (41 per cent) using meal plans and only shopping for the food they needed, with over a third using leftovers as meals. 

Kimberley Garner, Hotpoint Brand Manager, comments: “It’s been a dynamic and trying time, but we’re seeing that many people have embraced this period as an opportunity to reflect on the choices they make when it comes to sustainable household habits and caring for their loved ones, and as a result want to adapt their behaviour for the better.

“At Hotpoint, we are committed to supporting the public on this journey through the ‘new normal’, providing them with innovative solutions that empower more conscious choices at home, every day. With our #FreshThinking campaign, Hotpoint aims to help people continue their positive changes and conscious lifestyle choices – supporting “the way you care” at home.”

Hotpoint is committed to increasing awareness around the global issue of food waste and providing helpful tips and innovative product solutions to tackle this challenge in UK households. Now in its third year, Hotpoint’s Fresh Thinking for Forgotten Food Campaign aims to inspire everyone to enjoy great food whilst cutting back on household waste. As part of its long-term commitment to helping the public move to a zero-waste kitchen, Hotpoint has teamed up with Jamie Oliver to provide recipes, hacks and tips to help people better care for themselves and their families, as well as the environment.

The campaign also showcases the brands innovative, high performance cooking and refrigeration products that can also make a real difference when it comes to cutting back on household food waste.

To find out more visit: www.hotpoint.co.uk/FreshThinking.

Emergency funding support for Edinburgh theatres

Performing arts venues across Edinburgh and the Lothians have received £1,325,698 from the open call for applications to the Scottish Government’s Performing Arts Venues Relief Fund through Creative Scotland.

Awards made to Edinburgh and the Lothians performing arts venues as part of the £5million open call are as follows: 

  • Assembly (The Roxy), £85,000 
  • Capital Theatres Trust (Festival Theatre and King’s Theatre), £250,000 
  • Edinburgh City Council (Usher Hall), £240,450 
  • Howden Park Theatre, £95,000 
  • Leith Theatre, £138,214 
  • Out of the Blue, £67,034 
  • Queen’s Hall, £175,000 
  • The Brunton Theatre, £250,000 
  • The Regal, Bathgate, £25,000 

Designed to support performing arts venues that cannot yet re-open due to the ongoing impact of the Covid-19 pandemic, the Fund is helping to:  

  • Remove the threat of insolvency prior to the end of March 2021 to enable the development and delivery of activity as soon as practicable  
  • Allow for specialist / core staff to return from furlough or avoid redundancy to work on future sustainable activity plans   
  • Increase commissioning and employment opportunities for freelance artists and creative practitioners (between now and end of March 2021) to support continued public engagement while closed    

Iain Munro, CEO, Creative Scotland said: “Despite the ongoing, detrimental impact that the Covid-19 pandemic is having on Scotland’s performing arts venues, and on culture as a whole, it is positive that we can offer some funding to help venues navigate these extremely challenging times.

“I’m also encouraged to see that this funding will help venues across many different parts of Scotland where they form such an important part of the cultural life of local communities.”  

These venues are among 59 across Scotland sharing a total of £4.74million from the Scottish Government’s Performing Arts Venues Relief Fund’s £5million open call. A full list of all 59 venues can be found on the Creative Scotland website.   

Jude Henderson, Director of the Federation of Scottish Theatre (FST) said: “We welcome the announcement of these emergency awards to performing arts venues across the country.

“The funds will help to support the vital work they do in serving communities, providing employment and showcasing Scotland’s world class theatre and dance offer, much of which is created by our members.” 

Today’s news follows the £1,719,000 previously awarded to venues across Edinburgh through the targeted strand of the fund, including Dance Base, Royal Lyceum Theatre Company, The Storytelling Centre/TRACS and Traverse Theatre. 

The Performing Arts Venues Relief Fund is one of a series of measures being put in place to help mitigate the immediate impacts of COVID-19 on the creative and cultural sector, including five new emergency funds which were announced by the First Minister on Friday 28 August and are being delivered through Creative Scotland as follows:  

  • The £15million Culture Organisations and Venues Recovery Fund, which opened for applications on Thursday 17 September, with a deadline of Thursday 24 September.  
  • The £3.5million Independent Cinemas Recovery and Resilience Fund, which opened for applications on Monday 14 September with a deadline of Monday 5 October.  
  • The £5million Creative Freelancer Hardship Fund, for which we issued an open call for partner organisations to help us distribute this fund, was launched on Friday 11 September, and has a deadline of Friday 25 September. We aim to be able to distribute funds from October. The Screen element of these Hardship Funds opened for applications on Tuesday 22 September.  
  • The £5million Sustaining Creative Practice Fund includes £1.5million for the Culture Collective programme, mentioned in the Scottish Government’s Programme for Government, supporting organisations employing freelance artists to work in and with communities across Scotland. The remaining £3.5million has been added to Creative Scotland’s existing Open Fund which is open for applications from individuals now.   

The previously announced £2.2million Grassroots Venues Stabilisation Fund has reached 72 venues across. Recipients were published on Tuesday 22 September and full information on awards made, can be found on the Creative Scotland website.  

Updates on all emergency funds are being published regularly on the Creative Scotland website and publicised through media and social media communications.  

COVID: Students ‘unfairly blamed’

Students caught up in serious Covid outbreaks in Scotland’s university cities have questioned why university halls were allowed to open. The students have been told not to visit pubs or restaurants this weekend or to return home after hundreds of students across the country tested positive for coronavirus.

Following the outbreak of positive cases of coronavirus in student accommodation in parts of Scotland, university Principals met with the Minister for Further Education, Higher Education and Science, Richard Lochhead, to discuss what further measures and messages could be emphasised to stop the spread of the virus.

Commenting after the meeting, Convener of Universities Scotland, Professor Gerry McCormac said: “University leaders share the Scottish Government’s complete commitment to keeping the student population and the wider community safe. 

“We have already implemented strict measures to ensure the safety of the university environment, both for teaching and for student residences. We have seen the majority of students live up to our expectations of responsible behaviour, but a minority have not.  Everyone across the nation shares the concern at seeing students in residences test positive for the virus and we will act decisively to deal with this.

“The additional actions we will take to drive down the transmission of the virus in student accommodation build on the wide-ranging measures already agreed with Scottish Government. Taken together, we are confident that these will help significantly to control the virus in student accommodation and impact on the number of positive cases; after the inevitable time-lag caused by some existing cases not yet being symptomatic.

“Our top priority to making sure that students that have tested positive and those quarantining are well-supported and ready to return to their studies. We appreciate this isn’t what students would have expected from their first few weeks at university, but it is critical that they play their part in suppressing the virus.”

The Minister for Further Education, Higher Education and Science, Richard Lochhead MSP, said: “This is a welcome package of additional actions, building on the clear guidance that is already in place,  to support all students and staff adhere to the rules and stay safe as they make a welcome return to study.

“We expect everyone to comply with public health advice and, as new laws come into force tomorrow, it’s even more important institutions make every effort to ensure the rules are understood and followed – and appropriate actions are taken if not. We know that these are difficult times for many students and we are grateful to them for the sacrifices they are making to protect themselves, their fellow students and the wider community.”

Universities have agreed that:

  • All universities will make absolutely clear to students that there must be no parties, and no socialising outside their households – communicating and reinforcing these messages on a regular basis using our full range of media channels. Breaches will not be tolerated.
  • This weekend, the first of the new tighter Scottish Government guidance, we will require students to avoid all socialising outside of their households and outside of their accommodation. We will ask them not to go to bars or other hospitality venues.  We will be clear that this is a necessary step at this crucial moment of managing the virus in the student population, to protect students and the wider community.
  • We will increase the staff presence in student accommodation, to be vigilant against any breaches of guidance and also to offer welfare and practical support to students who are experiencing isolation.
  • We will engage further with private providers of student accommodation, especially those with significant numbers of bedspaces, to follow our lead and strictly enforce guidance.
  • We will intensify our institutions’ liaison with Police Scotland, to ensure vigilance about student behaviour off-campus and in private accommodation.
  • We will take a strict ‘Yellow Card/Red Card’ approach to breaches of student discipline that put students and others at risk. While we first want to advise students about breaches of discipline, we will not hesitate to escalate this to disciplinary action including potential discontinuation of study.
  • We will commit to further agile staff responses to immediately respond to cases, to help manage the pressures on the public health authorities.
  • We will require all students to download the Protect Scotland app.

Taking forward these actions we will work very closely with the students’ association of each institution.

Every student who needs a test is able to get one. To further develop the testing system we will continue to work closely with the Scottish and UK Governments on the roll-out of walk-through testing centres in major centres of student population. Where these have been established, they have been a great help to having fast and accessible testing and quick action to contain the spread of the virus.  We will are also in discussion with the UK and Scottish Governments about increased availability of home testing in universities.

Responding to updated guidelines for students announced last night by university principals and endorsed by the Scottish Government, Matt Crilly, NUS Scotland President, said: “The announcement by Universities Scotland, and endorsed by the Scottish Government, unfairly blames students for the spread of coronavirus and takes the unjustified step of applying different rules to students over and above the rest of the adult population.
 
“These measures are deeply concerning – not least to those students who rely on income from hospitality jobs. Having different rules for students makes it even more confusing to stay within guidance, which could make things less safe. And the rules show a complete disregard for students’ mental health and wellbeing. We need better.
 
“To protect students and communities, we’re calling for targeted support for students who are isolating, for online learning to be the default position, and for students to be given the opportunity to return home without penalty when it is safe to do so.
 
“The recent outbreak is extremely concerning, and like everyone we students must comply with the public health guidance. It is important to remember that students were strongly encouraged to return to campus, leaving families and support networks behind.

“Like everyone else, students are anxious. We ask the university principals and the Scottish Government to refrain from singling out students and to provide urgent clarity on these measures and their impact on students.”

Give poor kids a chance

Education Vice Convener Cllr Alison Dickie writes about the pressing issue of child poverty in Edinburgh:

Let’s talk about stigma, even ‘poor kids’ and how it fuels inequality.

Posh pickles and peppered crackers.  Years ago, as a young family down Glasgow way, we made some kind soul feel good when they gifted us an exotic hamper.  At the time, I remember thinking that it must have been worth about £50, money that could have bought the school trousers our sons needed. 

This, and the wider experience of being worried about the next penny, our reliance on housing benefit, and the debt that became a problem, has given me some understanding about the complexity of poverty today.

Lockdown, and its significant impact on lives, has helped many others better understand how we can be just one life change or support network away from becoming financially vulnerable.

We live in an affluent city but there’s deep inequality, where 23% of our children live in poverty – as high as one in three in some areas.  And these children and families struggle to get the smallest and most basic of items, never mind homes in this city of shocking rents and house prices.  Contrary to popular opinion, 66% of these children come from families where at least one parent works.

In my own classrooms, there was the period stained skirt not to be forgotten, and the PE kit that was never coming out that wash. 

And as Vice Convener of Education, I still remember the pupil who shared her family’s shame of walking through the streets to their homeless accommodation, bin bags of belongings clutched in their hands.

Pickled gifts are nice and food provision is vital, but they won’t end child poverty.  And neither will a mindset that continues to see the deficit of ‘poories’ and the ‘vulnerable’, rather than the strengths that every child and their family can bring to the future of our city if we get alongside them for the long haul.

Sometimes we recreate inequality.  Think of the bulging schools we deem the best, often mistaking levels of academic performance for loaded advantage, or our hesitancy to sit down, learn and work with anyone. 

What too of the postcodes judged, or those loud, already empowered, voices who too heavily influence decisions?  And those annual SQA results, the prominence given to them when we say we equally value the strengths and qualifications of every young person?

Next week, the Edinburgh Poverty Commission will launch its findings, and their report will inform the Council’s second Child Poverty Action Plan. 

Education, in its most holistic sense, is key, from the equity framework that increasingly informs practice across our schools, to helping families find the benefits to which they are entitled through income maximisation, and the mentoring and wraparound support too. 

This, and building a stigma-free environment that supports everyone, from a focus on nurture and wellbeing, to digital devices for all, and the roll out of 1140 early years places to help families back to work. 

So, ‘All I am saying, is give every child a chance!’

LUMINATE: Art and creativity in Care Homes

Booking is now live for our next creative ageing event Bringing art and creativity back to care homes. Book your place here.

This event, on 30th September at 11am, will bring together community artists with colleagues in health and social care to explore how we might bring art and creativity back into care homes over the coming months.

It will be some time before artist visits to care homes can resume, but what is possible? A small number of activities led or supported by artists are now happening at a distance using online and offline approaches, and usually building on relationships between artists and care homes that existed before lockdown. What can we learn from these experiences? 

This online event is part of a series of Creative Ageing events from Luminate, focusing on how we can continue to support opportunities for older people to engage with the arts. 

Helping communities through the pandemic

Funding to continue into recovery phase

The Scottish Government has now committed more than £350 million to support communities during the coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic.

Since March, this funding has enabled councils, charities and community groups to be flexible and respond swiftly to help people impacted economically or socially, including those struggling to access food at the height of lockdown.

The package included over £120 million to tackle food insecurity, with £12.6 million making sure 175,000 children and young people were able to access free school meals over the summer holidays.

£22 million funding was made available through the Third Sector Resilience Fund, as part of £80 million allocated to third sector and community organisations. As outlined in the Programme for Government, £25 million will now be focused on a new Community and Third Sector Recovery Programme.

This will include business support and investment to help organisations adapt to new ways of working and become sustainable, as they continue to support people and communities in response to the ongoing impact of the pandemic.

Communities Secretary Aileen Campbell said: “We have now invested more than the initial £350 million communities funding we announced in March to support people through this public health crisis.

“Our funds have supported people shielding, or struggling with food insecurity, or maintaining free school meals. In addition over 14,000 jobs were safeguarded with £22 million funding through the Third Sector Resilience Fund, and funding was made available for the new Connecting Scotland project to get people online and stay connected.

“This significant funding package has been instrumental in protecting the health, welfare and wellbeing of people throughout the Covid-19 pandemic. Organisations across all sectors have stepped up and worked together to ensure our communities are supported throughout this time and I want to thank them for all their efforts. 

“Working collaboratively with local government, the third sector, business and communities has produced inspiring, collaborative, locally-based responses to the pandemic and we will learn from that as we continue into recovery.”

Michelle Carruthers, CEO of The Food Train charity, said: “The funding provided to Food Train allowed us to respond to a 70% increase in older people needing help to access food during the pandemic.

“Food Train has been helping more than 3,200 older people during the pandemic. The funds were used to provide temporary extra delivery vehicles, extra local staff, more shopping boxes and safety kits for the staff and volunteer teams to help keep everyone safe.

“We were also able to set up COVID-19 check-in calls, making more than 9,000 calls in five months where approximately a third of the members getting regular calls were shielding.”

Read the full text of the Cabinet Secretary’s letter to the Local Government and Communities Committee.