Month: December 2021

megabus to double it’s service over the Christmas season

  • As Christmas makes a comeback after last year’s disappointment, megabus is set to double its service in an effort to ensure families can still connect over the festive period
  • The coach provider will be operating over 9,000 miles on Christmas day alone – double the mileage of last year. Over 48,000 miles will be covered on Christmas Day and Boxing Day combined
  • The increase comes after another tumultuous year of restrictions meaning families have missed out on quality time together, with older generations affected the most
  • Three quarters (73%) of grandparents say not seeing their grandchildren has been the worst thing about the pandemic – having missed out on 49 hugs, 47 kisses, 40 conversations and 25 family meals with their grandkids since it began

With the UK still planning to enjoy the festive celebrations this year, megabus is set to double its service in an effort to ensure that families aren’t separated for a second Christmas running.

The coach provider is due to operate over 9,000 miles on Christmas Day alone – more than double last years’ service – connecting loved ones from locations including London, Bristol, Manchester, Cardiff, Reading, Leeds, Birmingham Nottingham and many more

Across the festive period (17 Dec – 3 Jan) over half a million miles will be travelled – averaging almost 40,000 per day. 48,000 will take place on Christmas Day and Boxing Day.

With over 2,700 trips being operated by megabus this festive period, the company is clearly ensuring it is there to help families to spend Christmas together. 

The increase comes after another tumultuous year of restrictions meaning many families have missed out on quality time together, with older generations affected the most.

Three quarters (73%) of grandparents say not seeing their grandchildren has been the worst thing about the pandemic – having missed out on 49 hugs, 47 kisses, 40 conversations and 25 family meals with their grandkids in the last 12 months.

Seven in 10 (74%) parents claim to be making a concerted effort to reunite children with grandparents, with 80% saying that their kids missing grandparents has been one of the hardest things to deal with over the past year.

In a normal year, grandparents will spend an average of 90 hours travelling to see their grandkids, spending £240 each to enjoy precious quality time together.

The top moments grandparents have missed due to the pandemic:

  1. 49 hugs
  2. 47 kisses
  3. 40 conversations
  4. 27 playtimes with toys
  5. 25 meals together
  6. 24 walks
  7. 19 bedtimes
  8. 19 daytrips
  9. 18 school runs
  10. 18 hand drawn pictures

Mark Venables, Managing Director from megabus, said: “After so many families were forced to spend last Christmas apart, and we’ve all dealt with more restrictions this year, we’re determined to help bring as many people together as possible this festive season.

“Complying with all current government guidelines, we have over 13,000 seats available for Christmas Day and Boxing Day alone – so we’re really excited to help Brits get around and travel with confidence to see their loved ones this Christmas.

“Seats are already selling fast, so I’d really like to thank all of our fantastic people who are working over the festive period and especially those who have volunteered to work on Christmas day to provide these services to our customers.”

megabus will serve a number of key destinations across the country, including Edinburgh, Manchester, Leeds, Bristol, Cardiff, Nottingham, and Bournemouth and many others.

Crucially, megabus will be operating up to every 30 minutes between Heathrow Airport and London Victoria on Christmas day and Boxing Day when there are no other public transport options available.

megabus will be running services across many key destinations over the festive period, including:

Edinburgh, Glasgow, Manchester, Newcastle, Leeds, Sheffield, Leicester, Nottingham, Derby, Norwich, Bristol, Cardiff, Swansea, Birmingham, Bournemouth, Southampton, Plymouth, Newquay, Heathrow Airport, Manchester Airport, London.

Brie is Woman of the Year 2021

Scotland’s Brie Read, founder of Snag Tights, has won Woman of the Year at the 2021 NatWest everywoman Awards. 

The award ceremony took place at Grosvenor House in London on Tuesday.

The 19th annual NatWest everywoman Awards celebrated the UK’s most inspiring female entrepreneurs, recognising their outstanding achievements during one of the most challenging periods for businesses in living memory.

Brie suffered the indignity of the elastic going in her hosiery and her tights falling down!

She delved deeper into the world of hosiery to find that the $53bn industry catered for ‘one size fits all’ – when it clearly didn’t. 

Brie reconditioned machines that had been making single size tights since the 1950s and with sustainability in mind pioneered recyclable tights.

Her brand now boasts 1,500 product lines from size 2 to 36 and a loyal following; she raised £1.5m from her customers in just five days to keep her company afloat during the pandemic lockdowns.

This award was judged by some of the UK’s leading female entrepreneurs including Chrissie Rucker (The White Company), Helen Pattinson (Montezuma), Dame Mary Perkins (Specsavers) and Kelly Hoppen.

Big Issue Invest supports local enterprise Homes For Good

  • Social investor reports supporting 184 social enterprises in past year
  • In turn, investees supported over 1 million people across the UK
  • Social investor outlines new strategic direction with ambitious target to increase the assets under BII management and advisory to over £500 million by 2030

Big Issue Invest (BII) has launched its 2020-2021 Impact Report.

The report revealed that the social investment arm of The Big Issue, supported 184 social enterprises across the UK with £39.7 million Assets Under Management (AUM) at March 2021*.

The report detailed how, in turn, those 184 social enterprises were able to support over 1.16 million customers across the UK in the same period.

The organisation reported that, of BII’s total investment portfolio, over 62% of the 184 investees of the past year are based in areas of high deprivation**, where capital can have the greatest social and economic benefits, including London, the North East and North West.

20% of BII’s total portfolio is invested into organisations directly tackling inequality in the UK in order to improve health, education and job outcomes in deprived areas.

BII’s investments in Scotland, the North East, East Midlands and the East of England have significantly increased during the period.

For example, £5 million was invested in Scotland- based social ventures with a major investment in the social lettings agency Homes For Good.

£1.7 million of investment was made into social enterprises in the East of England, with a change in value percentage of 667%.

Of the total number of investments, 16% support people living in poverty and/or financial exclusion, 11% support people living in precarious housing or who are homeless, 12% support vulnerable young people, 11% support people experiencing unemployment and 9% support people with mental health needs and conditions.

The top five Sustainable Development Goals contributed to by BII’s investees were: Good Health and Wellbeing (31%), Decent Work and Economic Growth (17.4%), Sustainable Cities and Communities (16.3%), Quality Education (10.3%) and Reduced Inequalities (8.2%).

The report showed that 9,490 people are employed by BII’s investees across the UK and provide 6,900 volunteering opportunities for people in local communities. It also revealed that 76% of investees focused their impact at a local rather than national level.

The report detailed BII’s support of social enterprises during the pandemic. BII provided £3.2 million of grants to 118 grantees across England as part of the National Lottery Community Fund’s ‘Social Enterprise Support Fund’ and supported the Resilience and Recovery Loan Fund to disburse £5.5 million through the Coronavirus Business Interruption Loan Scheme.

It also provided 61% investees with repayment holidays. Over 50% of BII’s investees managed to grow or maintain their work during the Pandemic.

The report also laid out the foundations of the new BII strategy: We Back Human Potential.  BII’s new strategy, which includes an ambitious target to increase the assets under BII management and advisory to over £500 million by 2030.

Danyal Sattar, CEO of Big Issue Invest, said: “In the past year, we have been inspired by the way that social enterprises and charities across the UK have responded to the unprecedented challenges faced by their communities whilst also overcoming challenges within their organisations.

“I am proud of the Big Issue Invest team who have worked tirelessly in supporting our investees to keep the lights on, adapt to new operating environments and to continue to deliver impact to their customers.

“We were part of two major sector responses to the pandemic: the Social Enterprise Support Fund and the Resilience and Recovery Loan Fund. On top of this, we continued to support over 180 organisations with £39.7 million of investment.

“During this period, we have launched a brand new strategy as an impact investor. Driving everything we do, we will champion impact-first investing; we will push for social equality and we will provide a broader range of support that is ‘more than money’.

“Over the last 12 months, BII has continued to prioritise improving diversity, equity, and inclusion in our work. We would like to take this opportunity to thank our investees for their engagement on this issue, as well as our many partners and the networks in the sector who continue to push the social investment and social sectors to be more inclusive and accessible to social purpose organisations and the wider communities they support.”

BII-IMPACT-Report-20-21-NEWDownload

For more information and to download the 2021 Impact Report, please visit:

www.bigissueinvest.com.

Public attitudes on litter revealed ahead of national consultation

Scottish public see litter as a national problem

New research from environmental charity Keep Scotland Beautiful has revealed the depth of the perceived litter problem across Scotland. 88% of survey respondents believe that litter is a problem nationally, while 70% believe it is an issue in their local area.

Worryingly 38% of respondents reported litter becoming more common, especially in urban areas over the past 12 months too.

This reflects our on the ground national litter surveys which recorded a higher number of locations with unacceptable amounts of litter than last year. We previously highlighted the scale of the challenge facing Scotland in our report ‘Time for a new approach to tackling litter’ published at the end of 2020.

The publication of ‘Scotland’s Litter Survey’ – the first comprehensive baseline assessment of public perceptions and attitudes towards litter and littering behaviour in Scotland – comes in advance of the publication of a consultation paper by the Scottish Government on a new National Litter and Flytipping Strategy before the end of the year.

The survey covered public attitudes to litter, changes in levels of litter, the wider impacts of litter and potential options for tackling litter.  The outputs will be used to inform our work nationally and locally with communities, local authorities and other stakeholders to drive practical action to improve local environmental quality, reduce consumption and tackle litter across Scotland.

Other key stats highlighted by the survey include:

  • Food and drink packaging were perceived to be the most frequent types of litter.
  • The environmental impacts of litter, particularly on the natural environment and animals, top people’s concerns with financial and economical impacts a less potent concern.
  • Young people deemed litter to have a larger impact on the natural world than other age brackets.

Positively, there was a clear appetite from those surveyed for greater action to tackle and prevent litter in Scotland, with particular support for improving waste disposal facilities and educational campaigns.

Barry Fisher, CEO of Keep Scotland Beautiful, commented: “The findings in this report reinforce our data collected from more than 10,000 locations across Scotland which has shown an increase in litter and decline in the local environmental quality of our neighbourhoods. 

“We know from those we support through our campaigns and programmes to tackle litter that the looming litter emergency is becoming closer – but we also believe that the real answer to tackling the issue lies within our communities and true collaboration.

“It is clear that people feel strongly about litter and want more done to tackle which is why I am clearly calling for people to make their voices heard on litter and contribute positively to the Scottish Government consultation over the coming months.

“Litter hasn’t stopped.  But neither will we.”

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HMRC: Self Assessment customers use monthly payment plans to pay £46 million in tax

More than 20,000 Self Assessment customers have used HM Revenue and Customs (HMRC) online monthly payment plan service since April to spread the cost of their tax bill, totalling £46 million so far, it has been revealed.

Where customers are struggling to pay their bill in full, the self-serve Time to Pay service allows Self Assessment customers to manage how they pay their tax liabilities. Customers can use the online service for tax bills worth up to £30,000 without the need to talk to HMRC. The service will create a bespoke monthly payment plan for the customer based on how much tax is owed and the length of time needed to pay.

Last year, 123,000 customers used self-serve Time to Pay to spread the cost of their 2019/20 tax bill, worth £460 million.

Customers have until 31 January 2022 to complete their 2020/21 tax return and pay their bill.

If they can’t pay in full, customers can set up their own Time to Pay arrangement online if they:

  • have filed their 2020/21 tax return
  • owe less than £30,000
  • are within 60 days of the payment deadline
  • plan to pay their debt off within the next 12 months or less

If customers owe more than £30,000, or need longer to pay, they should call the Self Assessment Payment Helpline on 0300 200 3822.

Myrtle Lloyd, HMRC’s Director General for Customer Services, said: “We understand some customers might be worrying about paying their Self Assessment bill this year, and we want to support them.

“To see if you’re eligible to set up a payment plan, go to GOV.UK and search ‘pay my Self Assessment’.”

Self-serve Time to Pay is just one way customers can pay their Self Assessment tax bill, a full list of alternative payment methods is available on GOV.UK.

HMRC urges everyone to be alert if they are contacted out of the blue by someone asking for money or personal information.

Customers should always type in the full online address www.gov.uk/hmrc to get the correct link for filing their Self Assessment return online securely and free of charge.

HMRC sees high numbers of fraudsters emailing, calling or texting people claiming to be from the department. If in doubt, HMRC advises not to reply directly to anything suspicious, but to contact them straight away and to search GOV.UK for ‘HMRC scams’.

National Museums Scotland acquires armorial panels associated with Marie de Guise

A series of oak armorial panels from a house inhabited by Mary Queen of Scots’ mother Marie de Guise, Regent of Scotland and wife of James V, have been acquired and conserved by National Museums Scotland. 

The announcement coincided with the birth date of Mary, Queen of Scots (December 8th 542). 

The four roundels are said to have come from a house in Blyth’s Close, in the heart of Edinburgh’s Old Town, where Marie de Guise lived from around 1543 to 1554. 

One carries the combined coats of arms of James and Marie, later used by their daughter Mary Queen of Scots herself. 

Armorial roundels like these were included in the elaborate decorative schemes of royal and noble houses. They were used to promote the elite status of those who lived in the apartments and to demonstrate their relationships with powerful people. 

Dr Anna Groundwater, Principal Curator, Renaissance and Early Modern History at National Museums Scotland, said: “These armorial panels are a fantastic addition to the National Collections. We are very pleased to have been able to acquire them and look forward to putting them on public display in the future. 

“They are important pieces in their own right, and complement our existing collection of material associated with Marie de Guise already on display. We are particularly pleased to add these marital coat of arms of Mary, Queen of Scots’ parents.”  

Falkland Palace, Fife.

Mary Queen of Scots was born at Linlithgow Palace on 8 December 1542. Her father, James V, died just six days later, leaving her mother, Marie de Guise, to safeguard her future.

Her parents (above) had married in June 1538 at St Andrews Cathedral, in a liaison intended to secure the ‘auld alliance’ of Scotland with France against England and Henry VIII. The imagery associated with the marital union can be seen in this armorial roundel which carries the impaled arms of James V (the rampant Scottish lion), and Marie de Guise (as duchess of Longueville), surmounted by a crown.  

These roundels join other significant decorative objects associated with Scotland’s Queen Regent already in National Museums Scotland’s collections, including carved oak doors salvaged from the same house when it was demolished, as well as sixteen oak medallion panels. 

Read more in this blog post written by curator Dr Anna Groundwater

Alzheimer Scotland launches winter fundraising appeal

  • Alzheimer Scotland’s winter fundraising appeal launches this week to spread a little bit of magic
  • The campaign called ‘Magic’ asks for donations to help them continue their work
  • Danny McDonald and his wife Catherine from Clydebank, West Dunbartonshire, have shared their story to highlight the campaign
  • Every penny raised in Scotland stays in Scotland to fulfil Alzheimer Scotland’s mission that nobody faces dementia alone 

Alzheimer Scotland has launched a winter campaign this week to help them continue their work to make sure that nobody faces dementia alone.
 
The charity provides support and information to people with dementia, their carers and families, and campaigns for the rights of people with dementia and fund vital dementia research.
 
Alzheimer Scotland Chief Executive, Henry Simmons, said: “We simply could not provide the level of support we do without such dedicated supporters – thank you to each and every person who make it possible for us to support people with dementia and their families and carers.”
 
Danny McDonald (57) from Clydebank in West Dunbartonshire was diagnosed with vascular dementia five years ago when he was 52. He is a member of the Scottish Dementia Working Group, a campaigning group run by people with dementia and funded by Alzheimer Scotland and the Scottish Government.

Danny said: “My diagnosis was quite earth shattering for us. The first thing that came into my mind was how was this going to change our lives?
 
 “My outlook was just to be the best husband and father that I could be regardless of the diagnosis because inside I’d not really changed.”
 
Danny’s wife Catherine added: “We got quite a blunt diagnosis. Danny was told, ‘you’ve got memory problems and you’ve had a stroke so therefore we’re giving you a diagnosis of dementia. We’ll see you again in six weeks‘.”
 
“So we left and sat in the car and we both had a cry and asked ‘what’s just happened? Where do we go from here? “
 
They phoned their local Dementia Resource Centre to get some information and the Dementia Advisor offered to visit them the next day.
 
Danny said: “The Dementia Advisor’s support was excellent, there’s always someone you can talk to. Life would be very difficult for us without Alzheimer Scotland, they’ve had such a positive impact in our life. The Dementia Resource Centre is like my second home.”

Visit magic.alzscot.org to donate or call 0131 243 1453.

£12 supports their Freephone Dementia Helpline for an hour, ensuring there’s always someone on the other end of the phone

£30 enables one their Dementia Advisors to reach out to a family in need of support

£50 welcomes someone into one of their 22 Dementia Resource Centres for the morning

Morrisons launches sustainable household range ‘eco’ with prices starting from just £1

  • Morrisons eco range includes cleaning products, fabric conditioner and laundry liquid
  • All products are 100% recyclable
  • Made using plant-based and biodegradable materials, with no harsh chemicals
  • Prices start at just £1.00, a fraction of the cost of similar household brands
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Morrisons has launched a new cleaning range – Morrisons eco – to provide customers with more environmentally friendly alternatives to many staple household products. 

The range includes anti-bacterial spray, floor cleaner, toilet cleaner, laundry liquid, fabric conditioner, washing up liquid, toilet paper, kitchen roll, sponges and cloths – all the products are made from plant-based and vegan ingredients.

The packaging is fully-recyclable and can be recycled by customers at home, the products are also part of Morrisons first Leaping Bunny Cruelty Free certified range. 

Morrisons has launched the range in response to feedback from customers that they want to purchase cleaning products that would help them protect the environment but need them to be at a more affordable price point.

Research by Morrisons revealed that four out of five of its customers (81 per cent) said they care about the environment, and just under half (45 per cent) of customers said they have purchased an eco-friendly household product in the last six months, as shopping trends continue to shift. 

Unlike ordinary cleaning products that can be harmful to the environment, Morrisons eco range has been created with sustainability and the protection of the planet in mind, and without any compromise on performance.

When independently tested against comparable products from leading household brands, Morrisons eco range performed as well as products costing three times as much. Customers can pick up the Morrisons eco range in store from just £1.00, a saving compared to similar eco-ranges available. 

James Crabtree, Senior Household Buying Manager at Morrisons, says: “We believe that powerful cleaning doesn’t have to cost the earth – and we mean that both figuratively and literally.

“We’ve seen a boom in the popularity of more environmentally friendly products and we know our customers want to shop more sustainably. We’re excited to be able to provide them with an even bigger variety of cleaning products – that look and smell great – to pick up as part of their weekly shop, without breaking the bank.”

The following products are available now in Morrisons stores nationwide and online at morrisons.com: 

  • Morrisons eco toilet cleaner spearmint – 750ml – £1
  • Morrisons eco antibacterial multi surface spray rhubarb – 750ml – £1.50
  • Morrisons eco disinfectant spray passion fruit – 750ml – £1.50
  • Morrisons eco floor cleaner orange blossom – 1000ml – £1.50
  • Morrisons eco fabric conditioner tropical – 1L – £2
  • Morrisons eco non bio laundry liquid tropical – 1L – £1
  • Morrisons eco washing up liquid grapefruit – 500ml – £1
  • Morrisons eco toilet paper (9 pack) – £3.50
  • Morrisons eco kitchen roll (2 pack) – £1.50
  • Morrisons eco non scratch sponge (6 pack) – £1.25
  • Morrisons eco compostable all purpose cloths (10 pack) – £1.25
  • Morrisons eco biodegradable multiple use cloths (3 pack) – £1.25

For more information visit www.morrisons.co.uk.  

Chief Medical Officer encourages people to come forward for antiviral trial

National study will test new COVID-19 treatments

New treatment options will see people in the early stages of illness from COVID-19 who are at higher risk of complications access new antiviral treatments.

Antiviral medicines for the treatment of COVID-19 will be evaluated through a new national study called PANORAMIC, run by the University of Oxford. The UK-wide study will prioritise those at greater risk of being severely ill if they test positive for COVID-19. Eligibility for the study is therefore limited to those who meet certain criteria.

The study, starting today, is open to people aged 50 and above, or 18-49 with certain underlying health conditions which make them more vulnerable to COVID-19. They must also have started to experience COVID-19 symptoms within the past five days and have recorded a positive PCR test.

In addition to the study, all people considered as extremely high risk of becoming severely ill with COVID-19, and who have tested positive, will be able to access a monoclonal antibody or, if not appropriate, an antiviral treatment, from 16 December.

In the coming weeks letters will be sent to those eligible with further information. Details on who is eligible can also be found on NHS Inform, and – from 16 December – a dedicated contact number will be available for each health board to provide further information on how to get access to the medicines.

These treatments are in addition to vaccinations which still remain the best way to protect everyone.

Scotland’s Chief Medical Officer Dr Gregor Smith said: “This University of Oxford study will test whether new antiviral treatments for COVID-19 can help people in the early stages of the illness recover faster and therefore reduce the number of people being admitted to hospital.

“The results from the national study will give us a clearer understanding on how antivirals work in the UK population, which will allow the NHS to better plan how to make COVID-19 antivirals available for those who would benefit from them the most. We will provide further detail on plans for wider availability of antivirals in due course.

“I would encourage people in Scotland to take part if they are eligible. You may be contacted about taking part by a health care professional if you have a positive PCR result, or you can register yourself via the Oxford University website www.panoramictrial.org.

“The treatment is tablets taken orally as soon as possible after getting a COVID-19 infection to stop the illness from getting worse.

“Antiviral treatments are in addition to COVID-19 vaccinations – including boosters – and not a replacement. We hope they will help reduce the severity of illness in people who may fall ill even if they have been vaccinated.  

“It remains clear that getting vaccinated is the single most effective step that anyone can take to protect themselves from the most severe disease caused by COVID-19. Anyone who has not yet received their first or second COVID-19 vaccination can check their nearest open access centre on NHS Inform or phone the national vaccination helpline on 0800 030 8013.” 

Further details on the University of Oxford trial and what is involved in taking part is available at www.panoramictrial.org.

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