Month: April 2021

Interactive map highlights food growing opportunities

Launch of Edinburgh’s first Food Growing Strategy

A new interactive map highlighting Edinburgh’s food growing sites and projects has been launched to mark the release of the city’s first Food Growing Strategy.

The Edinburgh Food Growing and Projects Map provides detailed information on community growing projects, HRA community gardens, council and independently run allotments in the Capital, making it easier for people to find out more about and get involved in local food growing activity in their area.

Its publication marks the launch of ‘Growing Locally’, Edinburgh’s first Food Growing Strategy, which aims to increase the opportunities for people and communities to grow food in Edinburgh, encourage more people to buy and enjoy locally grown food, and encourage more people to become involved in food growing and local food projects.

The strategy outlines plans to increase the amount of food growing space in Edinburgh and develop a local food market, looking at the feasibility of establishing an indoor market and local food distribution hub.

It also sets out ways in which the city can tackle food insecurity and improve access to fresh food.

Councillor George Gordon, City of Edinburgh Sustainability Champion and Chair of Edible Edinburgh said: “I am delighted to publish the first food growing strategy for the City of Edinburgh Council. We have faced difficult times over the last year where the importance of food to our physical health and our emotional and mental wellbeing have been evident for all to see.

“By working closely with the Poverty Commission, Growing Locally seeks to address food insecurity in the city and improve people’s access to fresh food, as well as supporting and promoting food growing across the city.

“It also celebrates the role that food plays in our lives – from bringing people and communities together, to improving biodiversity and mitigating against the effects of climate change by providing access to locally produced, low carbon food.

“Along with the map, the strategy brings together our proposed approach to encouraging more local production, more sustainable management of food growing and perhaps most importantly of all, an ongoing discussion as a city about what a diverse and vibrant food economy looks like, so that the benefits of local food growing can be realised by as many of our citizens as possible.”

Brenda Black, CEO of Edinburgh Community Food said: “Food is key to Edinburgh’s identity and economy and the Edinburgh Food Growing and Project Map provides a gateway for everyone to be involved in making positive food connections within their communities across the city, building better understanding of food and its impact on climate change.

“As Edinburgh moves to meet its climate targets, providing access to growing spaces for its citizens will be a huge step forward in creating a vibrant, low-carbon, food economy for all. 

“The pandemic has highlighted how fragile our food supply chains to the most isolated people in our city can be and the Edinburgh Food Growing and Projects Map is an opportunity for citizens to become actively involved in making connections within – and between – communities:  growing, preparing/cooking, sharing and selling food.  

“Active food communities build strong bonds that transcend religion, age, nationality and culture, and lead to a joint sense of purpose and care for local areas; furthermore, increasing the variety of food sources builds resilience and improves the City’s food security. 

“Edinburgh needs a food identity that not only delivers local, seasonal, quality food to visitors but has the power to nurture healthier generations who are able to grow and make their own fresh food. 

“Edinburgh Community Food will work together with the Edible Edinburgh partnership to ensure The Edinburgh Food Growing and Projects Map becomes a foundation of this initiative across the city.”

The Edinburgh Food Growing and Projects Map can be viewed at: 

https://www.edinburgh.gov.uk/council-planning-framework/food-growing-strategy?documentId=13128&categoryId=20204

Woman assaulted in Drylaw

Police are seeking witnesses to an assault which happened outside a convenience store in Drylaw.

Around 9pm on Saturday, 10 April, 2021, a 34-year-old woman was outside the Day Today store in Easter Drylaw Place. She sustained a serious facial injury in an assault but did not require hospital treatment.

Officers are following a positive line of enquiry in relation to the assault but are seeking witnesses to come forward.

A member of the public came to her aid and officers are especially keen to hear from her.

Despite the time in the evening the area around the shops was busy with people and officers continue to check CCTV from nearby premises and carry out door-to-door enquiries in relation to the enquiry.

If anyone has any information, please call Police Scotland via 101, quoting incident number 1142 of 12 April, 2021.

Alternatively, please call Crimestoppers on 0800 555 111 where you can give your information anonymously

Missing teenager: Can you help?

Police are appealing for information to help trace a missing teenager last seen in the Calder Gardens area. Vo Van Tu (17) was last seen around 7.30am yesterday (Wednesday 21 April).

He is described as being Vietnamese, around 5ft 6, slim to medium build, with short dark hair. He is believed to be wearing a red puffer jacket and dark trousers.

Police are concerned for his wellbeing and are asking for anyone with information on his whereabouts to come forward.

Inspector Caroline Flynn, from Drylaw Police Station, said: “We have growing concerns for Vo Van Tu’s wellbeing, partly due to his limited English and the length of time since he was last seen.

“If you believe you have seen him in Edinburgh, or may know his whereabouts, please contact police on 101, quoting incident 2896 of 21 April.”

Invest in Scottish maternity to tackle deprivation, says RCM in message to next government

Tackling Scotland’s social deprivation and inequalities by investing in maternity services and staff must be at the heart of the next government’s policy. That’s the message from the Royal College of Midwives (RCM) in a Blueprint for maternity services published this week.

In five areas for action, it also calls for an end to Scotland’s midwife shortage, saying some areas of the country struggle to attract enough midwives. 

The pandemic has also exposed starkly existing inequalities hitting vulnerable women and those from Black, Asian and minority ethnic communities.  Maternity and other areas of healthcare have a key role to play in efforts to address these inequalities, says the RCM 

The RCM’s five areas for action for the next Scottish Government are: 

  • tackling social deprivation; 
  • delivering the best maternity care for all the people of Scotland; 
  • supporting NHS staff to recover from the pandemic; 
  • ensuring Scotland has birthplaces that are fit for the future; and 
  • ending Scotland’s midwife shortage for good. 

Pulling no punches, the Blueprint says the pandemic ‘has been brutal’ on maternity and other NHS staff, who have worked throughout to ensure safe and high-quality care for women. This has hit their mental and physical health and they must be given the time and support to recover from it. 

Jon Skewes, Executive Director for External Relations at the RCM, said: “There has been a monumental effort from midwives, maternity support workers, and maternity care assistants through the pandemic. It is time to step-up and really invest in them, in their pay and in their working conditions.

“Right now, we have a demoralised and exhausted workforce and women falling through the cracks and not getting the care they deserve. Staff are also often working in old, poorly designed buildings that are simply not fit for purpose. The pandemic has exposed the extent and the impact on care of this crumbling infrastructure.” 

Additional training places for student midwives are also needed in more of Scotland’s universities. When they qualify new midwives generally stay within the regions they trained in leaving the chances of recruiting staff stacked against other areas without midwifery courses.  

Jon Skewes added: “Tackling deprivation goes way beyond maternity and the wider NHS. Fixing it must be done through multiple channels including social care, education, and others.

“Maternity is a very good place to start improving the health of the nation, reduce inequalities and indeed, save lives that should not be lost. This has been a really tough year for the NHS and the people using it as it creaked under the weight of pandemic demands.

“It has also been a remarkable year because of how its staff and the service responded. Now is the time to invest to make it fit for the future.” 

North and Midlands leads UK’s jobs recovery

  • Nine out of 63 cities and large towns have recovered to their pre-pandemic level of job postings, with the North and Midlands outperforming the South and South East
  • Barnsley, Mansfield and Stoke recorded strongest job posting recovery to date; Aberdeen, Belfast and Crawley experienced the weakest
  • Areas with high claimant counts and slow recovery in job opportunities in greatest need of policy support, according to new research by global job site Indeed and the Centre for Cities 

Britain’s resurgent jobs market is being led by cities and towns in the North and Midlands, according to new research by global job site Indeed and the Centre for Cities think tank.

Hiring gathered pace after the UK Government’s reopening roadmap was announced on 22 February but new analysis shows job growth is unevenly spread across the country.

Indeed and the Centre for Cities analysed job vacancies in 63 cities and large towns and found that in some parts of the country job postings now exceed their pre-pandemic level with those in the North and Midlands having so far witnessed the strongest recovery in job postings.

In total, nine cities or towns – led byBarnsley (+21%), Mansfield (20%) and Stoke (17%) – now have more job postings than before the pandemic started.

In contrast, Aberdeen (-53%), Belfast (-39%) and Crawley (-39%) are the three places where job postings have recovered the least, together with other cities and large towns predominantly in the South East of England.

London too is among the places with the slowest recovery: job postings in the capital are still 26% below their level before the pandemic, making it the 11th city with the slowest recovery.

Pace of job posting recovery varies

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The improving jobs landscape in the North and Midlands is partly driven by the mix of available jobs.

Recoveries have been strongest in areas with a greater pre-pandemic share of postings in occupations related to the production and distribution of goods, such as manufacturing, driving and loading & stocking, as well as essential services like healthcare, social care and education.

On the other hand, places with a higher share of pre-pandemic job opportunities in food & beverage service and hospitality & tourism are lagging behind.

Production and distribution hubs lead job postings recovery

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New analysis of claimant counts and job vacancies points to which jobs markets were hardest hit by Covid-19 and might take longest to return to their February 2020 level.

Places with high claimant count and low job postings include Brighton, Crawley, Slough as well as London in the south and Blackpool and Manchester in the north. These cities and large towns — which have a dependency on tourism and bustling workplaces — are the hardest hit by the pandemic as recruitment activity is lagging and more people are looking for jobs.

In contrast, places with low claimant count rates and whose job postings have mostly recovered to their pre-pandemic level – such as Mansfield, Swansea and Warrington – appeared to have been relatively sheltered from the economic impact of Covid-19.

Pawel Adrjan, head of EMEA research at the global job site Indeed, comments: “As hiring activity picks up across the country it’s clear there is a two-step jobs recovery underway in Britain.

“Cities and towns in the North and Midlands that have been buoyed by rising manufacturing, distribution, healthcare and education jobs but at the same time areas reliant on hospitality, tourism and higher paying jobs that can be performed from home have seen only sluggish growth.

“Just nine urban areas out of 63 have back above their pre-pandemic level and while the partial reopening of the economy earlier this month rode to the rescue of many businesses and workers our research shows that it alone was not enough to lift ailing area’s jobs levels significantly.

“We’ve seen how quickly the jobs market reacts to policy and public health announcements and policy makers will hope the eventual unwinding of Covid-19 restrictions will help level up the jobs recovery.”

Elena Magrini, senior analyst at the Centre for Cities, said: “Not everywhere is seeing yet the beginnings of post-pandemic recovery. Places reliant on tourism, aviation and office workers have been particularly hard hit and still have high shares of people who are unemployed or on furlough.

“Despite this, we have reasons to be optimistic, particularly given the pace of the recovery in the North and Midlands. Once we have reopened the economy, policy makers need to focus on building back better – growing the economy by creating better paid, higher skilled jobs for people right across the country.”

Stalking Awareness Week 2021

APRIL 19th – 23rd

#UnmaskingStalking

What is stalking?

There is no legal definition of Stalking, however it can be described as:

“Two or more behaviours directed towards a victim which cause, are intended to cause, or where the perpetrator’s behaviour is reckless as to whether it causes, the victim to suffer fear and alarm.”

‘Fear and alarm’ is physical or psychological harm. It is also fear for your safety.

Stalking behaviours

Each stalking situation is unique and stalkers may have different motivations. The tactics they use are often very similar.

These include:

  • Following someone
  • Contacting or attempting to contact a person by any means
  • Publishing material about someone without their consent
  • Monitoring someone’s phone, internet, email or other form of communication
  • Loitering in a public or private place
  • Interfering with someone’s property
  • Leaving unwanted gifts or notes for someone
  • Watching or spying on someone.

If you think you are being stalked or are suffering harassment, please report it to Police Scotland.

You can do this at your local police station, by phoning 101, reporting online or calling 999 if it is an emergency.

You can also report an incident online: http://ow.ly/YtF950EsnAd

For further information about stalking and how to report it visit: htttp://ow.ly/yLdr50EsnAe

#UnmaskingStalking

Annette will put best foot forward to raise funds for the blind on Edinburgh’s virtual Kiltwalk

Scotland’s Virtual Kiltwalk is taking place from April 23rd to 25th and Leith couple Annette and Warren West plan to put their best feet forward in aid of sight loss charity RNIB Scotland.

“Our proposed route is from my house in Leith to Portobello and back again,” she says, “approximately six miles, which is in similar length to the traditional Kiltwalk’s ‘Wee Wander’ option.”

Annette (61) has experienced sight loss herself for over 30 years but has always been helped and supported by RNIB Scotland. She thinks lockdown has made the Edinburgh-based charity’s services even more vital.

But rather than join her on her walk, where social distancing rules still apply, she suggests people might want to sponsor her, or organise their own activities and donate any funds raised to her Just Giving page.

“The great thing about the Kiltwalk has always been that any money raised is topped up by 50 percent by the Tom Hunter Foundation,” Annette says. “So any donation can lever in even more money, increasing the impact.

“I’m now into my fifth year of doing the Kiltwalk and fundraising on behalf of RNIB Scotland is more important than ever, as it enables blind and partially sighted people to stay connected with each other at a time when many are feeling very isolated.

“I’m also passionate about health and wellbeing and I try to maintain regular exercise, which isn’t always easy due to the restrictions currently in place. Having the Virtual Kiltwalk gives me something to focus on and keeps me motivated.

“It helps me, too, to develop good eating habits and take regular exercise. So, for me doing the Kiltwalk is not just about walking but a way of maintaining a healthy balanced life-style.”

You can donate to Annette’s Just Giving page at: https://virtual.thekiltwalk.co.uk/fundraising/ScotlandsVirtualKiltwalk2021-AnnetteWest.

Age Scotland supports increase in capital’s public toilet provision

Scotland’s national charity for older people has written to Edinburgh councillors in support of proposals for an increase in the availability of public toilets in the city.

The proposals, outlined in the “Future Provision of Public Conveniences” report, are set to be discussed by members of Edinburgh City Council’s Transport and Environment Committee today (22 April) and include recommendations for investment in 15 current public toilet sites as well as highlighting six areas where future facilities are being considered.

Age Scotland believes that there should be an increase in availability of public toilets in the city and says these proposals would be hugely beneficial, giving many older people and those with disabilities the much-needed confidence to get out and about.

They believe that the public toilets in Colinton should remain as part of the council’s network, resisting any proposal to close them, and urge that all existing public toilets in Edinburgh are reopened, made safe for use and available to residents as soon as possible, particularly given increased demand due to recent easing of lockdown measures and travel restrictions.

The charity advised that councillors should carefully consider accessibility of any new facilities if charging was to be established, given the large number of older people and people on low incomes who do not use contactless cards or do not have a bank account, preferring cash as a means of payment and budgeting.

Age Scotland’s Chief Executive Brian Sloan said: “Ensuring good access to clean, safe and accessible public toilets is so important and something which older people and people with disabilities raise with us regularly.

“This would be a positive investment in the city, for residents and tourists, and go some way to helping people feel confident to travel throughout the city, contribute to the local economy and improve their quality of life.

“We know that without good access to public conveniences many people, older and with certain medical conditions, can be discouraged from leaving their home which is harmful to their physical and mental health.

“While these new proposals look to the future, people must be supported to reconnect with others, take part in activities and boost the economy as a matter of urgency. It will be harder to support this, and tackle the effects of loneliness and social isolation, without ensuring that all existing public toilets are reopened.”

Inexorable rise in food bank use

1.9 million meals distributed – and latest statistics DO NOT include pandemic period

Between 1 April 2019 and 31 March 2020, the Trussell Trust’s food bank network distributed 1.9 million three-day emergency food supplies to people in crisis, a 18% increase on the previous year. More than seven hundred thousand of these went to children.

Across Scotland, more than 237,000 were distributed – 80,000 of which were for children.

Food bank use has increased by 74% over the last five years, the charity reports. The top three reasons for referral to a food bank in the Trussell Trust network in 2019-20 were low income, benefit delays and benefit changes.

Releasing the charity’s latest annual statistics, Trussell Trust’s CEO Emma Revie said: “This year has been an extraordinarily difficult one, with many more people across the country facing destitution as a result of the coronavirus pandemic. Food banks carry on, working as tirelessly as ever, to support people in crisis through the unprecedented challenge the pandemic continues to pose.

“The statistics in our 2019/2020 report show the situation in food banks up until the end of March, before the true economic impact of the pandemic had hit. Despite this, we see a rise in the number of people being forced to use a food bank yet again.

“This constant rise in food bank use, year after year, cannot continue. More and more people are struggling to eat because they simply cannot afford food – and when we look to the year ahead, it’s likely even more people will be forced into destitution. This is not right.”

“We know this situation can be turned around – that’s why we’re campaigning to create a future where no one needs a food bank. Our benefits system is supposed to protect us all from being swept into poverty and while additional government measures have helped some people stay afloat this year, clearly more needs to be done.

“That’s why we united with partners from across the charity sector in urging the UK government to make sure everyone can afford the essentials through the economic downturn.

“And we want to see governments at all levels doing everything in their power to protect people from financial hardship.

“We have outlined what needs to be done – it’s in our power to protect one another, we’ve seen it during this health crisis, and we need it to continue during this economic one.”

Big increase in online job posts as economy continues to recover

The latest jobs indicator released by Internet Association shows a large increase in the number of full time and part time job postings online as the UK economy continues its recovery from the Coronavirus pandemic. 

The new data shows that over 250,000 full-time jobs were posted online in March 2021 – a 112 percent increase on March 2020. That figure also represents a 21 percent increase since February 2021, following a 5.9 percent rise since January 2021 – pointing to accelerating growth in the full-time jobs market. 

There is also encouraging news for part-time work revealed by the new data. While January 2021 saw a 10 percent decrease in part-time online job postings, February 2021 saw a 12.2 percent increase, and March 2021 saw a 4 percent increase.

The positive increase points to the likely preparation ahead of the recent reopening of non-essential retail, hospitality and other sectors that are reliant on part-time work.  

Key findings from IA’s ‘Industry Indicators: Jobs (3i Jobs) Q1 2021 Report’:

  • The number of full time jobs being posted online are at their highest for over a year. And despite the sharp fall during the height of the pandemic, the number of postings online in March 2021 is 112 percent higher than March 2020. 
  • The part-time job market is beginning to recover – albeit slower than the full-time market. March 2021 saw a 4 percent increase in online job postings, following a 12.2 percent increase in February 2021. The number of jobs posted in March 2021 also represents a 37 percent increase on March 2020. 
  • A fifth of UK adults (21 percent) now use the internet to earn money online – with the most common amounts being around £10-20 per month, through to over £100 a month. This rate has remained stable throughout the year, suggesting that people are beginning to use the increased flexibility of home working to earn additional income online. 
  • The top postings for full time positions in March 2021 were Sales Assistant, Retail Sales Associates and Client Advisors. The top postings for part time positions were Crew Members, Cashiers and Sales Advisors – again pointing to the big employment boost expected from the reopening of retail last week. 

The new data, part of IA’s ‘3i Report’ series, presents monthly insights on the UK job market using data from national and internet-based resources.

The report tracks month to month trends in the online job market and presents unique information on hiring, openings and an online income tracker that identifies the amount of additional income being made by people online through, for example, selling products on platforms like Etsy or Ebay.

The tracker shows that over a fifth of UK adults are using the internet to earn money online, with 9 percent of those earning more than £100 a month online. 

The report also highlights how the internet is a vital tool to help people find work and create income in a variety of ways – with the latest update a cause for optimism for the UK full-time and part time jobs market.

It shows rapid growth in online job postings after a difficult period during the height of the coronavirus pandemic, and a stabilising rate of people earning money online. 

To read the full report, click here