A design featuring landmarks and national symbols of Scotland has been unveiled as the First Minister’s 2021 Christmas Card.
It has been created by artist Emily Hogarth, who has previously worked on illustrations to mark St Andrew’s Day and a welcoming new space for children at The Royal Hospital for Children and Young People in Edinburgh.
The card features some of Scotland’s best-known landmarks and iconic buildings, with familiar images such as the Scottish Parliament building and the Finnieston Crane. It also has personal links to the First Minister, with her official residence Bute House included in the design.
First Minister Nicola Sturgeon said: “I am thrilled to have such a striking design for my Christmas card this year.
“Emily Hogarth’s artwork celebrates just a few of the things that make Scotland special, and there’s no better time of year to stop and reflect on the things that make our lives a little brighter.
“After another particularly difficult year living through the COVID-19 pandemic I hope that this card will help to lift people’s spirits, spread some festive cheer and most importantly remind us all that better days are ahead.”
Emily Hogarth said: “I felt very honoured to be selected. It’s been lovely to work with the Scottish Government in the past, but to be chosen by the First Minister to do the Christmas card felt very special.
“It’s more important than ever that we focus on the little things that make life better, whether that’s receiving a nice card or having chats with your friends. We need to remember that we’re all in this together and that good times will come again.”
NHS Lothian will re-launch a city centre mass vaccination centre as part of the battle to beat the OMICRON variant of COVID-19.
Vaccination teams will move back into the Edinburgh International Conference Centre (EICC) to open on Tuesday at 9am (December 21) to help provide lifesaving vaccines to as many people as possible.
The clinic will offer a combination of booked and drop-in appointments to help make it as easy for people to get their booster.
Just a month ago, on November 16, the programme was delivering 5,500 booster vaccines. Now a total of 10,942 doses are being administered in one day.
NHS Lothian is confident that the reintroduction of the EICC and opening of the Corn Exchange in East Lothian will help boost that figure even higher.
Pat Wynne, Nurse Director, Primary and Community Care, NHS Lothian, said: “Vaccination is more important now than it has ever been and we are really pleased to be back in the EICC in the heart of the city once more.
“We would urge anyone who still needs a first, second or booster dose of the vaccine to make an appointment or drop in to the EICC or one of the many other clinics in Lothian as soon as they are eligible.
“The best way to get your vaccine is to book in advance, using the online booking portal. That way you can avoid queues and help keep everyone safe.
“We are expecting our sites, especially our dedicated drop-in clinics, to be busier than ever before. We will run separate queues for booked and drop-in appointments, but people should be prepared to wait if they are attending a drop-in. If you do have to queue, please be sure to wear a face mask over your mouth and nose and keep your distance – even if you’re outside.”
Vaccination teams have been working flat out with EICC team to prepare the clinic for a re-opening as part of the nationwide effort to help protect lives.
Marshall Dallas, CEO of the EICC, said: “We are proud to continue to support NHS Lothian and NHS Scotland with the roll-out of the vaccine and now the vaccine booster.
“Traditionally, our venue would be closed over the Festive period, allowing our team annual leave during this time, so I can’t credit our people enough for giving up their holiday time to be on site at the venue to make this possible.
“Since re-opening to events in August, we have safely and successfully hosted a series of back-to-back conferences, and we look forward to welcoming delegates back to the EICC early in the new year.”
A total of 15 vaccination stations will run in the Cromdale Hall initially while more work is done to extend the facility to provide 25 booths. The rest of the venue, including the Lennox Suite, will continue as normal for conference and events.
Mr Wynne added: “We are grateful to all of the teams from the EICC for working with us once again and helping to pull this together at such short notice. Centre staff would normally be on annual leave soon and they have cancelled their holidays over the festive period just to help re-launch the clinic – we could not be more thankful.”
The EICC will join a list of other vaccination centres, which are being run by the four Health and Social Care Partnerships within Lothian, and is designed to bolster those efforts.
‘The Nightmare Before Christmas’ and ‘Home Alone’ take second and third respectively
‘Love, Actually’ and ‘Last Christmas’ also make the list
The 2003 comedy ‘Elf’ is the most popular film to watch this Christmas period, according to new research.
Research conducted by PokerListings.com analysed IMDB and Rotten Tomatoes scores, as well as Google search levels and Wikipedia page views to see which Christmas movie is the UK’s number one fan favourite.
‘Elf’ ended up taking the top spot, with more than 30,000 Google searches a month for the Christmas classic, as well as praise from audiences and critics alike.
The film is currently sitting at 7/10 on IMDB and a 79% score from audiences on Rotten Tomatoes. The Jon Favreau-directed comedy featured an ensemble cast with Will Ferrell, Zooey Deschanel, James Caan and many more starring.
In second place is the animated musical ‘The Nightmare Before Christmas’. Released in 1993, the film is a high scorer with audiences sitting at an 8/10 on IMDB and a 91% audience score on Rotten Tomatoes.
It’s the biggest scorer for Wiki page views on the list, with more than 1.1 million visiting in the past month alone. The fantasy title was the first animated film to be nominated for the Academy Award for Best Visual Effects.
‘Home Alone’ sits in third place in the list as another audience favourite, with a Rotten Tomatoes score of 80% and a 7.6/10 on IMDB. It’s widely considered one of the greatest festive films ever, and the effect the film has is clear, with its success influencing the making of six sequels since its release in 1990.
Rank
Movie title
RT Audience score
IMDB Rating
Total Searches per month
Wiki Page Views (Past Month)
1
Elf
79%
7
30800
159,484
2
The Nightmare Before Christmas
91%
8
1070
1,100,610
3
Home Alone
80%
7.6
2450
530,980
4
Mickey’s Christmas Carol
90%
8
1920
75,212
5
Last Christmas
81%
6.5
11900
230,285
6
Love, Actually
72%
7.6
2050
335,226
7
Santa Claus: The Movie
66%
6.3
36900
38,795
8
It’s a Wonderful Life
95%
8.6
800
672,539
9
Love Hard
94%
6.3
30
699,162
10
The Snowman
91%
8.2
4400
93,672
‘Love, Actually’ also features in the top ten, sitting in fifth place. The film is one of the most prominent UK rom-coms set in the Christmas period, and features a star-studded cast including Hugh Grant, Liam Neeson, Keira Knightley, Emma Thompson and many more. It had a charity short film sequel, Red Nose Day Actually, which aired in 2017 on BBC One with the same cast.
The 2019 Romantic Comedy ‘Last Christmas’ makes an appearance in seventh place. Inspired by the music of George Michael, it stars Emilia Clarke in the leading role, with Emma Thompson and Henry Golding also starring.
It’s an example of a Christmas movie that divided critics and fans, with a Rotten Tomatoes audience score of 81% and only a 44% score from critics, with a 6.5/10 on IMDB. It’s also one of the most Googled entries on the list with more than 11,000 searches a month.
Commenting on the findings, a spokesperson for PokerListings said: “It’s great to see how diverse the market for Christmas movies is, with a variety of genres included on the list.
“Despite many new additions every year to the festive line up, many entries in the top ten are more than 20 years old now, which really emphasizes how timeless movies like ‘Elf’ and ‘Home Alone’ are and how they can be enjoyed for generations to come.”
PokerListings.com is the world’s largest and most trusted online poker guide, offering the best online poker bonus deals guaranteed.
Morrisons via Deliveroo can deliver groceries to your door –
Extended opening hours –
Blue Light card holders get 10% off in store –
Home delivery slots for the festive period may be hard to come by in December but you can still have your Christmas grocery shopping done for you.
At Morrisons, we offer Click & Click from over 350 of our stores, including a same day option. There is currently availability across the country for collection right up until December 23rd with convenient one hour slots to choose from throughout the day.
There is no charge to use the Click & Collect service when booking ahead and only a £1.50 fee when using the same day option. To use the service, customers simply need to register at Morrisons.com, select the time they want to collect their order and then choose the item they want. There is a £40 minimum spend.
Alternatively, customers can use Deliveroo to have their Morrisons shopping delivered straight to their doors in as little as 20 minutes. Over 190 additional Morrisons stores have been added to Deliveroo in recent weeks, more than doubling the number of stores offering the service and meaning that most major towns and cities nationwide now offer Morrisons via Deliveroo.
As well as expanding the number of stores that offer the service, we have also added hundreds of new products to the Deliveroo menu including a wider selection of our ‘The Best’ range. There are also Christmas classics such as mince pies and yule logs as well as party food, fruit & vegetables and meat and fish from our Market Street counters.
To help our customers who prefer to shop in store, we are extending our opening hours from Monday 20th to Thursday 23rd December and will be opening from 6.00am until midnight. On Christmas Eve our stores will open at 6.00am and close at 6.00pm.
To say a huge thank you to all of our emergency service workers, we are offering all Blue Light card holders 10% off their shopping with us in store until January 2nd 2022.
NHS workers can also join our NHS Club to receive discounts off their shopping and for NHS customers wishing to use Morrisons.com we offer a free delivery pass.
For information on ordering Morrisons groceries this Christmas visit:
Visits to people in hospital and care homes to continue with additional protection measures
Visitors to hospitals and adult care homes are being asked to take an LFD test before every visit under new guidelines.
Adult care homes and hospitals should continue to support visits for residents and patients, however new recommendations set out that visits should be in line with the rules for the general public brought in to control the spread of the Omicron variant of Covid-19.
The guidance stresses that residents in adult care homes should continue to have opportunities to connect safely with their loved ones, if the protective measures to support safe visiting are maintained.
Under new guidelines no more than two households should meet with a resident at any one time inside the care home and residents are asked to avoid larger gatherings when visiting friends and family outwith the care home.
Staff testing has increased to daily and all visitors should test before every visit. As before named visitors can still be supported to visit residents in care homes with a controlled COVID-19 outbreak if the local Health Protection Team has agreed this can happen. Essential visits in circumstances such as distress or end of life should be compassionately and generously supported at all times.
Hospital visiting must continue to be prioritised, with appropriate precautions and protections. These include asking all visitors to use an LFD test ahead of visiting, and for no more than two people to visit a patient at any one time, on wards where there is no current active outbreak. Where an active outbreak is being managed, hospitals should allow essential visits only.
Health Secretary Humza Yousaf said: “We are clear hospital visiting must continue, with appropriate precautions and protections in place. We are also mindful of the imminent Christmas period and what this means for patients, staff, visitors and communities.
“Our expectation is that every patient in hospital in Scotland over the Christmas and New Year holiday period should be able to benefit from the support of at least one visitor and, wherever it is safely possible, two.
“These additional measures, in recognition of the rapid spread of the Omicron variant, are on top of existing infection prevention and control measures. As has always been the case, we expect protections such as hand hygiene, face coverings and distancing to continue to be maintained.
“The additional protective measures for adult care homes aim to balance the current Covid-19 risk and the need to keep people safe in line with clinical advice provided about the risks of Omicron variant of COVID-19 at this time.
“Anyone who visits a hospital or care home should undertake an LFD test before every visit in order to keep patients and residents safe. However the additional measures in care homes and hospitals are based on the principle that, using all the protective measures, people living in care homes or being treated in hospitals should continue be supported to see and spend time with those important to them.
“It is vital that everyone works together to enable people to see each other in the lead up to and over the Christmas period so that everyone can spend time with one another safely and with confidence.
“I want to take this opportunity to thank all health and social care staff who have worked tirelessly to enable people, whether patients or care home residents, to stay connected with their loved ones. Their contribution has been immense.”
Almost half of beach visitors now check bathing water quality information at key beaches following a successful summer of ‘My Beach Your Beach‘ campaigning.
The findings were released by environmental charity Keep Scotland Beautiful in a report on this summer’s campaign.
46% of people reported checking bathing water quality information when visiting the beach, up 16% from last summer, following focused awareness raising this summer;
43% reported that they would change habits that cause pipe blockages and sewage overflows affecting the beach following education around these issues; and,
82% say they would pick up litter when visiting the beach, in order to leave it cleaner than they found it – up 13% from last year thanks to campaign efforts to encourage beach stewardship.
My Beach Your Beach launched in 2018, and since then has supported bathing water quality improvements at a selection of Scottish beaches.
The publication of the report follows an announcement from the Scottish Environment Protection Agency (SEPA) earlier this week that bathing water classifications this year had shown marked improvements at a number of campaign beaches, thanks to a wider suite of measures.
Environment Minister Mairi McAllansaid: “Scotland’s bathing water quality is now at its best since 2015, and the My Beach Your Beach campaign has done great work to encourage people to do what was needed to deliver that.
“People’s choices and habits really do make a difference, so it’s important that we all continue doing what we can to help keep the sand and sea clean for everyone to enjoy.”
Barry Fisher, CEO of Keep Scotland Beautiful said: ‘My Beach Your Beach is a wonderful collaborative campaign which has raised awareness of what people can do in their own communities to care for the sand and sea.
“We are thrilled to see such wonderful results this year, highlighting the impact that the campaign has had both in terms of awareness raising, engagement and concrete outcomes such as improved bathing water quality.
“We were pleased to establish an exciting new partnership with Scotrail to target beach visitors this year, and I’d also like to thank all the partners, communities and individuals who have worked with us this summer and in past years to make the campaign a success and whose actions have contributed to delivering real improvements in bathing water quality.”
Throughout the summer the campaign raised awareness of bathing water quality and the key habits that can impact on it, encouraging everyone to play their part in helping to protect the sand and sea.
This includes bagging and binning dog poo, taking all litter away and not feeding gulls near the beach, as well as never pouring fats, oils and greases down the sink, or flushing things like wet wipes and other sanitary items down the toilet, as these can cause pipe blockages and sewage overflows.
You can read the full report here and find out more about the campaign at:
Young people (aged 6-15) across the UK want to see more clean energy powering the country and people taking personal responsibility to protect the planet.
The call for a cleaner and greener future came from independent YouGov research commissioned by ScottishPower Renewables during the United Nations COP26 Climate Change Conference, held in Glasgow last month.
YouGov asked over 1,000 British children aged 6 – 15 years for their thoughts on UK climate action and what was needed to tackle the climate crisis.
More than three-quarters (81 per cent) of those responding called for more renewable energy to be used, while 58 per cent said it was up to “everyone” to make sure the planet is protected.
Young people surveyed also said COP26 had inspired them to take action themselves to help the environment, with 53 per cent committing to recycling more and over one third (35 per cent) saying they would ditch the car in favour of active travel options like cycling and walking.
And they called on schools to take action too, with demands for the introduction of more wind turbines and solar panels to power their schools (59%) and more lessons about climate change (42%).
The YouGov findings echo feedback from secondary school pupils who took part in ScottishPower Renewables’ COP26 ‘Let’s Talk Energy’ event, where green jobs and more investment to create clean energy were identified as what’s needed to deliver a low-carbon future.
Lindsay McQuade, CEO of ScottishPower Renewables, said:“As a Principal Partner for COP26 and lead for the conference’s youth theme, ScottishPower recognises the importance of listening to young people. Every action taken today will impact their future and it’s vital that they therefore have their say on what they want for a cleaner and greener future.
“This survey shows that children and young people understand the climate emergency and recognise that renewable energy has a crucial part to play as we move forward, electrify our lives and reduce our carbon footprint. We fully support the call for more renewable energy and we’re doing everything we can to make it happen – investing almost £4 billion to double our current renewables capacity by 2025, with plans to treble it by 2030.
“Importantly, the survey also shows that young people know we all have the power to make a real difference to the environment by making changes in how we live our lives. Whether that’s in how we travel around, the food we eat or the clothes we wear – it all matters – and it’s great that COP is inspiring such positive action from young people.
“With human behaviour responsible for many of the changes to our planet, the only way we’ll be successful in tackling the climate emergency is by everyone joining in and doing their bit. Young people understand that – it’s something we can all learn from and something that can give us all hope for a clean energy future.”
As part of its COP26 education programme, ScottishPower Renewables is also working with Glasgow Science Centre on a Renewables Challenge for 124 primary schools and 10 secondary schools. Through the programme pupils learn about COP26, renewable energy, green jobs and going carbon neutral.
Pressure on UK Government to deliver more financial support as Omicron cases surge
First Minister Nicola Sturgeon has announced the breakdown of a lifeline £100 million financial package to support businesses experiencing cancellations due to the rapid spread of the new Omicron variant.
The £100 million support package is broken down into:
£66 million for eligible hospitality businesses
£20 million for the culture sector
£8 million for food and drink supply chain businesses including wholesalers
£3 million for the wedding sector
£3 million for the worst affected businesses in the tourism sector, including international inbound tour operators
Final details of the funding available and how to apply is being determined in discussion with business organisations and will be published next week.
Eligible hospitality businesses will be contacted directly by their local authorities and will not need to apply for support.
Food and Drink wholesalers can apply for funding through a re-run of the Scottish Wholesale Food and Drink Resilience Fund in January 2022.
Guidance has also been published to enable businesses to take reasonable measures to limit the rapid spread of the Omicron variant.
First Minister Nicola Sturgeon said: “The steps we are asking people to take are already having a severe economic impact, particularly for sectors like hospitality and culture, which have been badly affected by previous waves of Covid and were hoping for a better Christmas period this year. This is why we have found £100 million to help businesses in those sectors.
“The support we’re providing is significant – but we know it won’t fully compensate for the impact of Omicron. Business now needs the type and scale of financial support that was available earlier in the pandemic and that can only come from the UK Government – which has borrowing powers that the Scottish, Welsh and Northern Irish governments do not.
“The best way to support business sustainably, is to get the virus back under control. Please get your boosters and stay at home as much as possible just now.”
Downing Street confirmed that The First Minister spoke with Prime Minister Boris Johnson later in the afternoon.
In a statement, the PM’s office said:
‘The Prime Minister has spoken to First Minister Nicola Sturgeon this afternoon to discuss the ongoing response to the Omicron variant.
The Prime Minister and the First Minister agreed on the importance of close collaboration for the benefit of citizens across the UK.
They discussed the shared challenges including the economic disruption caused by Covid and will continue to work together.
The Prime Minister confirmed UK Government will be convening a COBR meeting over the weekend with counterparts from the devolved administrations to continue discussions.
As 2021 comes to an end, St James Quarter shows no signs of slowing down with seven new retailers opening their doors in time for Christmas.
Throughout the month of December, St James Quarter announces a number of openings including Thai Express Kitchen, German Doner Kebab, Wingstop, Reiss, Bubbleology, Moriconi and Sunnamusk, just in time for the busy festive season.
Catering to everyone, the new line-up offers everything from clothing and accessories to food and drink, providing a luxurious escape featuring new trends and tastes from around the world.
Much to foodies’ delight, Wingstop and Thai Express Kitchen are now open and are tingling tastebuds with the American and Canadian brands both beginning their first venture in Scotland, bringing flavours and recipes from across the globe.
German Doner Kebab also opened its doors to its third restaurant in Edinburgh late last week and has launched its limited-edition ultimate winter warmer to celebrate. The all-new Chilli Heatwave Krunch Burger is set to get pulses racing and has arrived just in time for the Christmas holidays.
For those looking for the perfect Christmas party outfit, they can shop ‘til they drop in the brand-new Reiss store which opened today. Taking The Quarter’s fashion offering to a whole new level, the iconic brand will offer fashionista’s high-quality pieces suitable for all ages.
And it doesn’t stop there, St James Quarter has welcomed new name Moriconi, an Italian jeweller featuring handmade pieces from Tuscany using both traditional and modern processing techniques to the main galleria floor.
Joining them later this month will be Bubbleology, a leading Bubble Tea brand, crafting made to order tea-based beverages and Sunnamusk, a specialist fragrance house based in the UK. Working with a team of highly skilled perfumers, Sunnamusk produces an exclusive range of pure fine oils, Eau de Parfum and home fragrances.
Getting into the Christmas spirit, St James Quarter is also running a 12 days of Christmas giveaway offering car park users the chance to receive an exciting free parking prize for use in January. Guests using the car park will be surprised at random between the 12th to 24th December.
Additionally, shoppers can make the most of parking at The Quarter with a fixed rate of £5 from 5.30pm onwards available during the festive period.
Nick Peel, Managing Director for St James Quarter, commented: “As we approach Christmas, there couldn’t be a better time to welcome new and exciting brands to St James Quarter. As the place to shop in Scotland’s capital, we’re proud to welcome a number of Scottish firsts as well as brands already popular with visitors to the city.
“From luxury fashion to exotic tastes, there’s something for everyone at The Quarter and our retailers will be sure to make Christmas shopping an enjoyable experience for all.
“We look forward to welcoming guests over the Christmas period and will be excited to share our latest developments in the new year.”
New cyber security venture from School with record of successful spin-outs
A NEW Edinburgh Napier project aims to bring trust and transparency to the software supply chain, as the School of Computing continues its drive to translate innovative research into real world impact.
The TrueDeploy venture has received £73,418 funding from Scottish Enterprise, as part of its High Growth Spin-out Programme (HGSP), to help develop the project’s innovative technology.
In setting its sights on the multi-billion pound industry to secure software development supply chains, TrueDeploy is following in the footsteps of Edinburgh Napier cyber security spin-outs ZoneFox, Symphonic Software, Cyan Forensics and MemCrypt which have already successfully made the leap from research lab to market.
The software supply chain relates to the development and supply of software for use across all organisations and systems. This supply chain needs to be managed by organisations that use software due to regulatory requirements and the obligations to ensure their systems are not compromised.
Recent high-profile cyber-attacks, including SolarWinds, Kaseya, and NotPetya, have cost companies and nation-states billions of dollars. Each of these attacks had the same underlying issue, in that they were possible because a threat actor managed to infiltrate and compromise software that was being developed by a software vendor in the long chain that exists from code being written to it being distributed to a customer.
Potential future spin-out TrueDeploy, which aims to resolve these issues by bringing transparency to the software supply chain, has been developed by a technical team led by research student Pavlos Papadopoulos.
He is working alongside the School of Computing’s Dr Nick Pitropakis and seasoned cyber security innovator Professor Bill Buchanan. The technical team will be supported on the project by a core business team of Nanik Ramchandani (Imagine Ventures) and Matthew Burdge (Business Development & Relationship Manager, School of Computing).
With Scottish Enterprise’s support, the team is aiming to develop their innovative technology over the next nine months.
Pavlos Papadopoulos, whose research work is focused on privacy-preserving systems around trust and identity, said: “We are thankful to Edinburgh Napier and Scottish Enterprise for their continuous support.
“This funding is the first step in bringing this innovation to reality.”
Nanik Ramchandani added: “We sincerely appreciate the support provided by Scottish Enterprise to the start-up ecosystem in Scotland.
“This support will help us identify the ideal commercial opportunity for TrueDeploy’s ground-breaking innovation.”
Victoria Carmichael, director of strategic investment at Scottish Enterprise, said: “Cyber security is a major issue facing society today and this project has the potential to be hugely impactful.
“Our High Growth Spin-out Programme helps turn innovative university research into successful business ventures. To date we’ve supported four cyber security spin outs from Edinburgh Napier, with TrueDeploy becoming the fifth, which speaks volumes about the university’s academic and commercial capabilities.”
Fiona Mason, Head of Business Engagement and IP Commercialisation at Edinburgh Napier, said: “We are thrilled to receive this recognition from Scottish Enterprise on another exciting venture arising from our cyber group.
“The project has benefitted from seed funding, and the inventor has worked closely with both the Business Development support, Matthew Burdge, and our Royal Society-funded Entrepreneur-in Residence, Jamie Graves, to develop the project to the high standard required by SE.
“We value the long-term platform the funding provides, both in terms of project development but also the access to networks, training and mentoring support.”
