– Supermarket launches a new meal delivery service to provide self-isolating school pupils with breakfast, lunch and snacks, seven days a week –
– Service is open to students who would normally be eligible for free-school meals –
– Morrisons Kids Meal Pack has been developed with Morrisons in-house nutritionist to ensure children have a healthy and balanced diet –
Morrisons has launched a new meal delivery service for schools that are feeding primary school children who are having to self-isolate.
The supermarket is working with schools to provide kids who would normally be eligible for free-school meals with breakfast, lunch and snacks, seven days a week – for as long as they are self-isolating.
Many school children are being asked to self-isolate due to suspected or confirmed COVID-19 cases within their school bubbles.
In recent weeks, schools have told Morrisons they had been struggling with the costs of food and delivery. They had also expressed concern some pupils were missing out on vital support as a result of self-isolating.
The Morrisons Kids Meal Pack was produced by Morrisons after reaching out to schools to establish their needs. It aims to provide healthy and balanced meals and has been developed in partnership with Morrisons company nutritionist.
The Morrisons Kids Meal Pack includes cereal, milk, bread, fruit, yoghurts, sandwich fillings, pasta and squash. It costs £12.50 for one child and provides breakfast, lunch and snacks for seven days a week. The cost is covered by the school as part of the Government’s free school meals programme.
Schools can order the Morrisons Kids Meal Pack directly from the Morrisons Doorstep Delivery Team. Orders are then picked and packed by local Morrisons stores, and sent to children’s homes via its ‘doorstep delivery’ service. This saves the school time and costly transportation fees.
Nicole Olive from the Morrisons Local Teamsaid: “Each of our stores is close to its local community to listen hard and understand its needs – and schools were saying they had difficulty getting free school meals to isolating children.
“We can put affordable and nutritious food on the table during this difficult time.”
Paula Duckworth, Head Teacher at Lammack Primary Schoolwhere the scheme was trialled said: “We were struggling to provide children eligible for free school meals with healthy and cost-effective food while they were self-isolating.
“So I was thankful to be contacted by Morrisons to see if this was something they could help with. The Morrisons Kids Meal Pack service has been such a lifeline for our kids.”
The Morrisons Kids Meal Pack is available nationwide now. To place orders, school should email Morrisons Doorstep Delivery Team on schoolbox@morrisonsplc.co.uk.
Scottish Fire and Rescue Service Control Watch Manager, Linda Coughlan, has won a prestigious Spirit of Fire award at a virtual ceremony held by The Fire Fighters Charity and introduced by His Royal Highness The Duke of Cambridge.
Winning the Supporter of The Year: Control Room Staff award at the Charity’s virtual awards ceremony, Linda was recognised for her years of selfless support of the Charity. Organising events, volunteering, raising awareness and doing everything she can to raise funds for the Charity, Linda’s award was announced on the night by Dame Katherine Grainger DBE, Britain’s most decorated female Olympian .
His Royal Highness the Duke of Cambridge introduced The Fire Fighters Charity’s virtual Spirit of Fire Awards via a recorded video message.
Opening the ceremony The Duke spoke of the challenges faced by fire service personnel in the wake of Covid-19, reiterating why it’s so important that they know where to turn when they need support themselves.
The Duke also announced the winner of the evening’s first award– the Special Recognition Award for Excellence in The Field of Mental Health – which was awarded to Shilla Patel, Inclusion Manager at London Fire Brigade.
A further 13 awards were announced by a host of famous faces over the course of the evening, including: Brian May CBE, Michael Sheen OBE, Dame Julie Walters DBE, Clare Balding OBE, Simon Day, Reverend Kate Botley, Jason Watkins, Adam Hills, Les Ferdinand MBE, Susanna Reid, Maddie Moat and Greg Foot.
The Spirit of Fire Awards recognise the fundraising and awareness-raising achievements of members of the UK’s fire services community in their support of The Fire Fighters Charity, as well as the courage of the Charity’s beneficiaries in the face of personal adversity.
Usually held in London, with a reception at No.10 Downing Street, the coronavirus pandemic meant that the Charity took the awards ceremony online in 2020 for the first time.
The Fire Fighters Charity Chief Executive, Dr Jill Tolfrey, said of Linda’s Supporter of The Year: Control Room Staff award: “I am delighted that Linda has been recognised for her remarkable, lifelong support of The Fire Fighters Charity.
“She is a true ambassador for the Charity in Scotland and works tirelessly to both raise funds and ensure that her colleagues across the Service know that the Charity is here to help them if they need it. Congratulations Linda.”
Sainsbury’s is to cut 3,500 jobs, mainly from it’s Argos chain, it was announced this morning.
The retailer plans to close more than 400 standalone Argos stores by March 2024, although it says it will open 150 more Argos outlets in Sainsbury’s stores. Jobs will also go in the supermarkets, however, with the closure of delicatessen and fresh fish and meat counters.
Simon Roberts, Chief Executive of J Sainsbury plc said:“As we go into lockdown in England for the second time this year and restrictions are in place across the UK, we know our customers and colleagues are feeling anxious and we will do all we can to support them.
“Our colleagues have done an exceptional job going above and beyond for our customers every day which is why we are giving our frontline colleagues a second 10 per cent thank you payment.
“Above all else today, I want to express my heartfelt thanks to every one of my colleagues in our stores, in our depots, and across our store support centres for all your hard work and for your outstanding team effort.
“We also want to support our communities and those in need and are creating a £5 million community fund for local charities and good causes, in addition to the £7 million we donated to Fareshare and Comic Relief earlier this year. We want to do our bit to ensure that no one goes hungry at Christmas and to support those most in need.
“COVID-19 has accelerated a number of shifts in our industry. Investments over recent years in digital and technology have laid the foundations for us to flex and adapt quickly as customers needed to shop differently. Around 19 per cent of our sales were digital this time last year and nearly 40 per cent of our sales are digital today.
“While we are working hard to help feed the nation through the pandemic, we have also spent time thinking about how we deliver for our customers and our shareholders over the longer term.
“We will put food back at the heart of Sainsbury’s. We are already working to make this happen – we have lowered prices on over 1,500 every day grocery products over the past few months and we will do more of this, focusing on the staple products that our customers buy every day.
“We know that customers are feeling the pinch and we want them to feel confident they will get always get great value, quality and service from Sainsbury’s. We will focus on accelerating product innovation and will bring new and exclusive products to our customers much more often.
“To support our ambition in food, we are accelerating our ambition to structurally reduce our cost base right across the business so we can invest faster back into our core food offer.
“Our other brands – Argos, Habitat, Tu, Nectar and Sainsbury’s Bank – must deliver for their customers and for our shareholders in their own right.
“Argos sales have been strong over the past six months and we have gained almost two million new customers as people have re-connected with Argos. Over the next three years we will make Argos a simpler, more efficient and more profitable business while still offering customers great convenience and value and improving availability.
“We will also make Habitat more widely available in Sainsbury’s and Argos, giving customers access to stylish home and furniture products at more affordable prices.
“We are talking to colleagues today about where the changes we are announcing in Argos standalone stores and food counters impact their roles. We will work really hard to find alternative roles for as many of these colleagues as possible and expect to be able to offer alternative roles for the majority of impacted colleagues.
“Given the unprecedented circumstances of this year and the challenges facing our colleagues, including the changes we are announcing today, I have informed the Board that if a bonus is payable, I will waive any bonus entitlement for this financial year.
“We are raising our ambitions. By delivering improvements in value and quality and simplifying this business, we will do a better job for our customers and deliver an improved financial performance and stronger shareholder returns.
“Right here and now I and all the team are focused on supporting and delivering for our customers in the days and weeks ahead.”
Unite the union has called on Sainsbury’s to redeploy its 500 members whose jobs on deli, fish and meat counters are under threat, following today’s announcement by the supermarket giant that it is cutting 3,500 jobs.
Unite said that it was ‘deeply disappointed’ by the news affecting its members working on these counters which have been closed since the first lockdown in March and called for urgent talks to explore redeployment opportunities within Sainsbury’s supermarkets.
It is understood that the redundancy notices for the counter staff will be issued in March next year and come into effect in May 2021.
Unite national officer for the food industry Bev Clarkson said: “This is very disappointing news for our 500 members working on the deli, fish and meat counters.
“We are seeking urgent talks with the management to explore deployment opportunities within Sainsbury’s, given the supermarket’s sales have risen since the first lockdown in March.
“Hopefully, the supermarket can reopen some of these counters, closed since March, once the Covid-19 restrictions are eased and a vaccine comes on stream.
“Sainsbury’s needs to engage more constructively with Unite going forward as this news came ‘out of the blue’ without the detailed consultations we would expect from such an established and well-known company.
“This is very grim news for our members and their families in the run-up to Christmas, and we will be giving them maximum support during this worrying and uncertain time.”
Statement given by the First Minister Nicola Sturgeon at a media briefing in St Andrew’s House, on Wednesday 4th November:
Thanks for joining us today again. Let me give you the daily updates on the COVID statistics.
The total number of positive cases reported yesterday was 1433.
That represents 7.9% of the total number of tests, and the total number of confirmed cases is therefore now to 68,444.
602 of today’s new cases were in Greater Glasgow and Clyde, 318 in Lanarkshire, 163 in Lothian and 88 in Ayrshire and Arran.
The remaining 262 cases were spread across 8 other health board areas.
I can also confirm that 1257 people are currently in hospital – that is an increase of 3 from yesterday. And 94 people are in intensive care, which is 2 more than yesterday.
And finally, I deeply regret to say that 50 deaths have been registered in the past 24 hours of patients who first tested positive over the previous 28 days.
That means that the total number of deaths, under our daily measurement, is now 2,927.
National Records of Scotland has also just published its weekly update, that of course includes cases where COVID is a suspected or contributory cause of death.
Today’s update shows that by Sunday just past, the total number of registered deaths linked to COVID, either confirmed or presumed was 4,649.
167 of those deaths were registered last week, which is 61 more than in the week previous.
Of last week’s deaths 127 occurred in hospital, 31 were in care homes, and 9 were at home or in another non-institutional setting.
Now I report all of that as statistics but particularly when we have numbers such as those that I reported today, it’s always really important to remind ourselves that these deaths are not, and should never simply be, seen as statistics.
Every single one of them represents an individual who was cherished and loved and whose loss has been mourned by family and friends across the country.
So again, I want to send my deepest condolences to all those who have been bereaved as a result of this virus.
I am joined today by Jason Leitch, the National Clinical Director. I am also joined by Martin Blunden, Scotland’s Chief Fire Officer, who will say a few words about fire safety – as we look ahead to what of course will be a very different 5th of November from the ones we have been used to.
The Scottish Parliament yesterday discussed longer term measures to prevent the misuse of fireworks. But there is also an immediate need to ensure that this year’s bonfire night passes safely, and the Chief Fire Officer will talk more about that shortly.
Before then, I want to cover two points and I will do so reasonably briefly.
Firstly, a quick return to the situation in relation to furlough payments. As you know, the Scottish Government welcomes the fact that the current furlough scheme has been extended until the 2nd December.
That will help employees and businesses across Scotland and the UK who need to use it over that period.
However we continue to make the case – as do our counterparts in Wales and Northern Ireland – that the same level of furlough support must also be available after November. The same level of help for the self-employed should also be made available.
We cannot have a situation where businesses are fully supported, rightly fully supported, when England enters a lockdown, but comparable support isn’t made available, if all or part of Scotland, or Wales or Northern Ireland face similar restrictions.
So I very much welcome the apparent commitment of the Prime Minister to equal treatment, that he gave in the House of Commons on Monday afternoon.
As a result of that commitment, we hope and expect that the furlough scheme will be available at its current levels, those levels that will apply through November if we need to impose stronger restrictions in any part of the country in the future.
But we still have not seen any detailed written commitments on this from the Treasury. And we need to do that, as a matter of urgency. The current confusion and lack of clarity is, and I think this is an obvious point, is not helpful for our decision-making, but it is not helpful for businesses and employees who of course are anxious about jobs and wages at this time.
So I hope, although I’m mindful that I said the same thing at this point yesterday, that we will get that clarity over the course of today. (NOTE: UK Chancellor is finally expected to confirm this in a statement today – Ed.)
The second point I want to highlight also relates to support for businesses.
Back in July, we announced a £38 million package of support for new companies, in emerging sectors of the economy as well as supporting existing businesses through this crisis, we want to support the sustainable recovery of the economy in ways that help us meet our challenges of the future, not least climate change.
That support included a £25 million fund for recent start-ups, that’s being shared today between 90 businesses. They will receive a combination of grant and investment funding worth up to £300k.
These companies operate are operating in areas which are likely to grow in importance in the years to come – such as software development, space engineering and sustainable packaging.
And so we hope that this support will help them to innovate and grow, despite the crisis currently being caused by COVID.
Today’s funding also shows the mix of measures we are looking at as we try to support economic growth, both throughout and in the future, as we emerge from this crisis.
It is vital for businesses across the country that we work with the UK Government, and agree the details of furlough support.
The Scottish Government is also responsible for deciding funding for some major economic interventions – whether that is business rates relief, and the support grants available for companies which are hit by COVID restrictions.
But alongside that help, we are also responsible for more targeted measures. So today’s support is an example of that and we hope it will help a relatively small number of companies, but companies that have significance for the future, innovate, build and grow.
These are the two main points I wanted to cover today. However before I hand over to the Chief Fire Officer, I just want to emphasise again the current rules and guidance.
If we all put our own twist on the rules they won’t work. Stopping the spread starts with all of us.
And I want to repeat that although we continue to see some positive signs in our data just now, and that’s all down to the sacrifices that people across the country are making. We are still dealing with a very fragile and volatile situation and therefore it is the case that we have a lot of work to do.
As I set out yesterday, given the nature of what we are dealing with right now, it’s not enough and we cannot take sufficient comfort from a situation where we stop the spread of the virus deteriorating. We also need to be seeing a significant and sustained improvement.
Otherwise the risk we would bear is going deeper into winter with a high baseline of infection – that would mean any increase in the R number could quickly see the virus overwhelm us and overwhelm our hospitals.
So we will be monitoring the situation closely ahead of the first review of our new levels system next Tuesday.
In the meantime though, I ask everyone to remember that we all have a part to play in this. The more all of us abide by the rules, the more chance we have of making the progress we need to see.
And it’s another opportunity to remind everybody that though this virus makes us all feel a little bit powerless and at times bewildered, no of us are powerless in the face of this if we all stick to the rules, we make an individual and a collective impact on the spread of it.
So let me just briefly in conclusion remind you of what these rules are.
If you are living in one of the areas categorised as level three at the moment – most parts of the central belt, and now also Dundee – do not travel outside your own local authority area unless it is essential. You can find more detail of what we mean by ‘essential’ on the Scottish Government website. But it includes, for example, work that you cannot do at home, or caring responsibilities.
And people in other parts of Scotland should not travel into level three areas except for the same essential purposes.
We are also asking you now not to travel outside of Scotland – to other parts of the UK, or overseas – again unless there is an essential reason for you to do so.
This is, I know, very restrictive but it is essential to avoid us taking the virus from areas of high prevalence to areas of low prevalence and that point is important to stress.
In addition to the travel restrictions across the country right now, none of us should be visiting each other’s homes – again except for specific purposes, such as childcare, or looking after a frail or vulnerable person.
When we do meet people from other households, outdoors or indoor public places, please stick to the limits. No more than six people from no more than two households.
Avoid car-sharing if you can.
Work from home if you can.
Download the Protect Scotland app.
And remember the five rules that everybody needs to abide by to minimise the risk of transmission:
· wear face coverings when you’re out and about · avoid places with crowds of people · clean your hands regularly and clean surfaces regularly · keep two metres distance from people from other households · and self-isolate, and get tested, if you have any of the symptoms of COVID.
I set this out in some detail yesterday, and you hear me say in regularly over the course of the days to come, we have taken early action in Scotland.
Your sacrifices are adding to that, to put us in, not a strong position because no country in the face of a global pandemic can claim its position is strong, but put us in a position that is less severe than many other countries across the world.
But it is a fragile position and we must continue to see progress, that obviously will guide decisions government takes but right now, that need to continue to suppress the virus if we are to avoid tougher restrictions that last for longer, is something all of us need to remember in complying with all of this advice and with all of the rules.
So my thanks again to everybody for joining us today and for all the sacrifices that you continue to make.
