Projects worth around £500m move closer to completion
Strategic investment to help unlock Scotland’s green energy revolution has moved a step closer, First Minister Humza Yousaf announced yesterday.
In a significant milestone for Scotland’s offshore wind sector, three projects have been invited to move to Stage 2 of the Strategic Investment Model (SIM) process.
Collectively the projects – which represent a mix of local and inward investment into ports, port infrastructure and manufacturing – have a capital expenditure of around £500 million.
The SIM will help to deliver transformational offshore wind supply chain growth in Scotland through innovative collaboration between offshore wind developers, the Scottish Government, enterprise agencies and Crown Estate Scotland.
Making the announcement at the Scottish Renewables and Offshore Wind Conference in Glasgow, First Minister Humza Yousaf said: “There are moments when certain industries can stand confident that when they look ahead, they will see a future in which they play a pivotal role in securing the wealth and wellbeing of a nation – Scotland’s offshore industry is at that moment.
“Together, we can create the right conditions to attract investment, build the supply chain, recruit and deliver the infrastructure needed to ensure that these projects will thrive.
“A select group of three initial projects have been invited to move to Stage 2 of the SIM process, in a significant milestone in our offshore programme. They represent a mix of local and inward investment opportunities into ports, port infrastructure, and manufacturing – collectively, they have a capital expenditure of just under £500 million.”
Due to commercial sensitivity specific projects cannot be named while undertaking the SIM process but details will be made available in due course.
BAFTA award-winning writer and producer turned poet Henry Normal teams up with internet sensation, poet and author Brian Bilston
The pair announce Scottish tour – coming to Assembly Rooms in Edinburgh on 9th April
Henry’s brand new poetry collection ‘A Moonless Night’ released 14th February 2024
Brian Bilston’s best selling collection ‘Days Like These’ published in paperback on 9th November 2023
BBC Radio 4 regular Henry Normal and literary enigma Brian Bilston have announced a brand new Scottish tour together for 2024. Following sell out shows in 2023 for both poets, the pair will be coming to Assembly Rooms in Edinburgh on 9th April,
Henry and Brian met at the Laugharne Festival and performed together for the first time in Morecambe last October. The collaboration has been so popular that the two poets are bringing their new shows together for the first time to theatres in Scotland with shows in Edinburgh, Glasgow, Aberdeen, Stirling and Dundee.
Brian Bilston is often described as the “Banksy of poetry” – making the artform accessible to all and maintaining a mysterious anonymity. He has cultivated a large and loyal following on social media and has become truly beloved by his 500,000 or so fans. Despite his popularity Brian has managed to keep his identity hidden so his live show represents an intriguing opportunity to hear Brian’s work read live by the enigma himself. Expect the funny, irreverent and powerful poetry that has made Brian an internet sensation.
Henry has toured with his ever-evolving poetry show constantly since retiring from TV and Film production. In his own distinctive style, Henry’s show finds fun in the familiar, humour in the everyday and poignancy in the pitfalls of modern life. It is a show about love, life and family that is as deeply moving as it is funny and often both at the same time. Henry has 15 poetry books in print including the latest collection “A Moonless Night’ out on Valentine’s day being 14th Feb 2024.
Henry’s longstanding BBC Radio 4 series ‘A Normal..” continues to go from strength to strength with ‘A Normal Journey’ chosen as pick of the week over the Christmas period. As co-creator of The Royle Family, he also appeared in the BBC documentary celebrating the life of Caroline Aherne on Christmas Day.
The evening represents a chance to see two brilliant poets for a very special night of life affirming poetry, marvellous escapism and lots of laughter.
Garden centre celebrates Random Acts of Kindness with free children’s event
Families in Edinburgh will have the chance to take part in Dobbies’ free February Holiday Workshop, keeping children aged 4-10 years busy during the half term.
The February holiday workshop is taking place in Dobbies’ Edinburgh store throughout half term. This fun-fuelled workshop is centred around Random Acts of Kindness, a celebration that takes place on Saturday 17 February, encouraging everyone to be extra kind to one another and go above and beyond to brighten someone’s day.
Children will come together in a friendly group setting at its Edinburgh store to delve into the history of this celebration and learn about the joys of kindness.
Dobbies’ colleagues will detail what it means to be kind, why kindness is important, how it can make people feel, and all the ways we can be kind to others, to nature and to ourselves.
Spotlighting random acts of kindness in the garden, Dobbies is showcasing all the different ways children can care for the planet. From making a bug hotel, feeding birds or planting pollinating flowers to help bumblebees thrive to picking up litter or making compost, there’s plenty of ways to be kind.
In addition to being kind to others, Little Seedlings in Edinburgh will be encouraged to be kind to themselves by fuelling their bodies with healthy food, doing things they love, sharing feelings and most importantly, being proud of themselves. Kids will also have the chance to create their own sunshine thank you card to put a smile on someone’s face.
Dobbies’ Little Seedlings Club Workshop Leader, Liz Savage, is looking forward to welcoming kids along to the February Holiday Workshop.
She said: “School holidays are a great chance to ignite a passion for a hobby or try something new. This workshop will allow kids to come together and learn, making friends along the way.
“Our Little Seedings Club is designed to engage and support local communities near our Edinburgh store by providing accessible, free of charge fun and educational activities.”
For more information about February’s Holiday Workshop and to make a booking, visit dobbies.com/events
Proposals to improve access to healthy, locally produced food
Ensuring everyone in Scotland can access nutritious, sustainable food is at the heart of new plans to transform the country’s food system.
The Good Food Nation Plan sets out the ways in which the Scottish Government will work with businesses and organisations across society to help connect people to locally produced, high-quality food.
The Plan will cover everything from farm to fork and beyond, and draw together a range of different policies. It will also require key public bodies, particularly local authorities and health boards, to set out their plans.
Small Business, Innovation, Tourism and Trade Minister Richard Lochhead launched the consultation during a visit to City of Glasgow College where he helped National Chef Gary Maclean and catering students prepare a Burns Supper.
Mr Lochhead said: “This week the world will celebrate Burns Night which contributes to a thriving food culture and interest in Scottish cuisine. Supermarkets will offer Scottish dishes to shoppers, and many will use Scottish ingredients to prepare their traditional Burns Suppers.
“In a Good Food Nation, this celebration of good quality and sustainable Scottish produce will be the norm. People across the nation will be able to easily access high quality food and drink, and will benefit from the food they produce, buy, cook and eat each day.
“We have come far in this journey but we recognise that more needs to be done. That’s why we are seeking views on our fresh approach to food policy to make this vision for our food system a reality.”
The consultation on the national Good Food Nation Plan was published on the Scottish Government website and on Citizen Space yesterday (Wednesday 24 January).
The consultation will be open for responses until Monday 22 April 2024.
THERE’s more to six year old Freya Reily than meets the eye. Freya, from Tranent, who was born very prematurely and has severe vision impairment, has been inspired by music and song to start speaking, something that her parents did not think was possible just a few short months ago.
Sight Scotland’s newly launched ‘More Than Meets The Eye’ campaign shows people what life with sight loss can look like when they have the right support. It aims to dispel the negative perceptions of people living with sight loss across Scotland and show that vision impairment isn’t a barrier to living a happy and fulfilling life.
Freya’s parents, Eilidh and Keir, have been amazed at her progress since she started at the Royal Blind School in Edinburgh in 2022, and say they are so happy that they are able to give Freya the best possible education and the best possible start in life.
Her teacher’s say the progression in Freya’s development has been remarkable, and music and signing has played a huge part in this.
Eilidh explains: “There has been such a big change in Freya since she started at the Royal Blind School, and she is communicating so much more now. It is almost unbelievable, we tried so hard to get her to communicate before school, but all she could really say was ‘Mum’ or ‘Dad’, but now her speaking has really taken off.
“The signing she does at the school has also made a big difference, at first, we were not sure what she was doing, but when the school explained what all the signs meant it was incredible to see what she had picked up in such a short period of time. She does the double fist bump for school every morning with a huge smile on her face.”
Freya’s class teacher, Louise Buggy, says Freya has amazed everyone from the first day she started at school.
Louise says: “Freya’s language development since she started has been amazing, in fact I would describe it as almost overwhelming. She loves the On Body Sign System that we use, and on day one she was reaching out for the staff’s hands showing that she wanted to join in and connect and interact.
“She then started to guide our hands showing that she understood what the signs were meaning as we were speaking and singing, and then she started signing for herself. Incredibly, just a short time after this she started to say the key words in the sentences or songs; her first new word was school. She then started to learn new key words every couple of days based on our predictable routines. To see the progression in this little girl is just astounding.
“Singing and music is just massive for Freya and is a huge motivation for her. She has learned many of the words she can now say from songs. We used to keep a list of all her new words, but we are now struggling to keep up as her communication is developing at such a fast rate.”
Freya has also become much stronger, and her movement has increased dramatically, since she started at the Royal Blind School.
Eilidh says: “She is just so much stronger and independent, she is crawling around by herself and pulling herself up. I still can’t quite believe it when I am seeing it. Everything they do at the school is designed to help Freya, she just adores the soft play, and the sensory story time. She loves the swimming in the hydrotherapy pool, and this is really helping with the strength in her legs. She is developing in every single way.”
Eilidh adds: “Freya’s journey since a very young age to now has been amazing, and she has developed so much. We could not have imagined back then how much she would have progressed, and that she would now be communicating with us and crawling and standing. We wanted to give Freya the best possible start in life, and the best possible education, and we know the Royal Blind School is doing exactly this.”
Sight Scotland, which is Scotland’s largest vision impairment organisation, and runs the Royal Blind School in Edinburgh, wants to reach and help more of the 180,000 people living in Scotland with sight loss.
The Scottish Affairs Committee warns blanket UK-wide schemes intended to support households with the rising cost of living were not sufficiently ‘rural-proofed’ and did not meet the needs of remote communities in Scotland who face a ‘rural premium’.
The ‘rural premium’ refers to the higher prices that communities in remote rural areas pay, relative to urban areas, to access the same goods and services. The report highlighted three key areas – energy, food security and transport – and finds that rising costs in each sector disproportionately affects rural communities in Scotland.
Examples cited by the Committee include exposure to fuel price inflation due to being more reliant on transport, a reliance on expensive alternative fuels for off-grid households and higher charges for food deliveries to remote locations.
In a new report published yesterday, MPs on the Westminster-based Scottish Affairs Committee acknowledge the unprecedented package of support provided by the UK Government which has helped to mitigate the impact of price spikes.
The Committee concludes that some schemes, however, had prioritised administrative ease to accelerate funds getting to people rather than specifically targeting financial support for those who need it most. MPs on the Committee found that financial support tailored towards remote communities experiencing the ‘rural premium’ would have more effectively alleviated the acute and unique pressures those households face.
Evidence submitted to the Committee as part of the inquiry showed that prior to the sharp increase in fuel prices, the highest rates of fuel poverty in Scotland could be found in the most rural regions – Na h-Eileanan Siar (40%), Highland (33%), Argyll and Bute (32%), Moray (32%), Shetland Islands (31%) and Orkney Islands (31%). The Scottish Government has estimated that 57% of households in rural areas would be in fuel poverty by April 2023.
The Committee heard that food insecurity had led to a ‘cost of surviving crisis’ for some in particularly remote areas, while delayed plans to improve ferry and road infrastructure has further exacerbated difficulties for rural communities.
MPs are calling for the Scottish and UK Governments to work together in order to better understand the scale and complexities of the challenges facing rural communities in Scotland. Agreeing consistent definitions of food poverty and more effective collaboration to overcome transport infrastructure challenges would be welcome steps forward in tackling this issue, the Committee says.
Chair of the Scottish Affairs Committee, Pete Wishart MP, said: “During the cost-of-living crisis, people living in remote parts of Scotland have found themselves in a perfect storm of poorly-insulated, high energy usage homes with an extended journey to local amenities and food shopping bills off the charts.
“Schemes implemented by both the UK and Scottish Governments have been welcome in large parts of Scotland, but the reality is these households have been lumbered with a ‘rural premium’ that hasn’t been adequately addressed by state support.
“We must learn the lessons from the economic challenges households have faced over the last few years. I hope both the UK and Scottish Governments will use this time to properly understand the support these communities will need to prevent them falling further into poverty should we face similar problems in the future.”
The top five entries in the adult and 12-18 categories will win a copy of Ten Poems of Kindness volume 1 or volume 2, and the top five entries in the 5-11 category will win a copy of Gift of the Old One, all of which have been very generously donated by Candlestick Press. We’ll also publish them on our website.
Please do share this info with anyone you think would like to take part.
A group of young dancers from one of Scotland’s highest-regarded dance performance schools will travel to Blackpool next weekend to take part in a major UK and Ireland competition.
Pupils and instructors from Edinburgh Dance Academy (EDA) will participate in the prestigious three-day Dance Inspirations event being held in the Northwest England town where they will be defending titles won at last year’s competition.
In 2023, EDA was named as the Highest Ranked Dance Studio in the UK and Ireland for the second year running at the event with several of the school’s dancers also picking up accolades for their performances.
This included being awarded as Overall Winner for their contemporary piece “Shout” by Empara Mi with the EDA team taking home £1000 in prize money for their table-topping routine.
EDA instructor Jenni Inglis also won the Most Inspirational Choreography award in 2023 for the second year in a row while dancer Kiera Anderson was handed top prize for the Most Dedication, Passion and Talent award category.
The Dance Inspirations competition is set to feature more than 300 top level dance routines. These were selected from a total of 3000 acts from over 100 dance schools across the UK and Ireland which competed in regional heats ahead of this weekend’s final.
Julie Mitchell, Principal and Founder at EDA, said: “We are so proud of what Jenni and our fantastic dancers achieved in Blackpool last year and we look forward to once again taking part in this extremely competitive event.
“While we are expecting an even higher level of competition from this year’s participants, we will do our best to bring further dance honours back to Scotland.”
