All are invited to our Time to Remember event for Winter on Friday 16th of February, 2pm – 2.45pm, in our beautiful Fidra room (No.17 Boswall Road).
This is an opportunity to gather together to remember loved ones who have died. It is an inclusive event, appropriate for all ages and for people of all faiths and none.
If you have children, feel free to bring them.
The event will include: quiet music, short reading(s)/reflection, something simple to make & take home and the chance to think about the people we love.
The Iona cafe will be open afterwards offering free hot drinks for anyone who wishes to stay and chat.
More drivers are being caught drink or drug driving on Scotland’s roads.
Police Scotland’s annual festive drink and drug driving campaign took place from 1 December 2023 to 2 January 2024.
The number of roadside tests carried out by police officers increased by 21 per cent compared to the previous year.
The proactive work took place across Scotland as officers responded to concerns, carried out targeted patrols and organised road checks.
There were 3,219 breath tests (2,568 in 2022) and 481 drug wipes (481 in 2022). Detected offences also increased, from 722 in 2022 to 831 in 2023.
Chief Superintendent Hilary Sloan, head of Road Policing, said: “We are relentless against drivers who choose to take alcohol or drugs and put the safety of others at risk.
“The Christmas and New Year period brings a focus on this type of offending and the work carried out by officers to deter and detect drink and drug driving will continue throughout the year, alongside our road safety partnerships.
“I would like to thank everyone who did the right thing by contacting Police Scotland to tell us about potential offenders and I would encourage people to keep reporting. Intelligence-led activity is a vital part of what we do and you could save a life.
“The influence people can have on their family and friends who might be considering driving after drinking alcohol or taking drugs can be crucial.
“We all have a responsibility to improve road safety.”
Granton Youth has an open access introduction to playing, singing, song-writing and performing for young people aged 11+. Working with youth work staff and music tutors the young people learn a variety of instruments/ vocal coaching/ song-writing as well as learning about the music industry (writes DAVE McNAB).
Beau has been attending since age 16 and fronts the band ‘Low Tide’ – who on Sunday 21st January played to a sell out crowd at Glasgows King Tuts Wah Wah Hut supporting rising star Ben Walker.
Beau said: “Going to mixtape has honestly been the best decision I’ve ever made and I really don’t say that lightly. I have always loved music since I was tiny, but never had enough confidence in my abilities to play it or create it.
“I’ve always been incredibly shy and previously used to refuse to sing in front of people and I’ve just played to a sold out king tuts! This is entirely down to mixtape and the opportunities it has given me to learn music, learn how to record and write, learn how to perform on stage.
“Not only has it improved my skills in music but it’s taught me skills that transfer to other areas of my life specifically confidence. There are so many times I’ve refused music related opportunities due to confidence and little by little mixtape has broken this barrier down.
“In the past year I’ve really struggled with my health and mental health and mixtape has giving me something to strive for and look forward to. It’s a safe haven for creative people to work together and spend their time doing something meaningful and expressive and is such an invaluable resource for so many young people in the community. It pure escapism and is honestly the best thing I’ve ever done.”
Leon has been attending since age 15 and never had the confidence to pursue music but is now recording his own tracks and starting to build towards playing live shows.
“When I first came to mixtape, I was very interested in music but I never had a chance to do anything with my passion. Mixtape gave me opportunities I never knew would ever be available to someone my age.
“They helped to open my eyes as to how free the world of music can be and how rewarding it can feel. It has also helped me in my day-to-day life by helping to improve my confidence.
Another young person has been attending since they were 12 and was quiet, introspective and struggled to socialise with other young people – but has blossomed into a great song writer and performer:
“I have been with mixtape for a while, in all honestly I can’t really remember how I felt about it when I first joined. It was during covid times so having any extracurricular was an excitement.
“That doesn’t mean a lot of things haven’t happened. Mixtape allowed me to go through trial and error as a musician, to slowly but surely figure out its ways with the support of others. It makes me feel proud to tell others that I can song write and feel confident enough to perform.
“The amount of opportunities I was given and still am is so eye-opening. From big festivals to small hubs, from small activities to writing in the studio to record stuff! If I told myself when I first joined this is what I had done and was doing, I know younger me would be happy to hear it, and it wouldn’t of happened without this still growing club.”
We will leave the last word with Alba who has attended since age 14 and is thriving musically and will be playing Sneaky Petes in March with her band formed with other young people she met on the project:
“I was at a school concert when I first heard about mixtape, and learnt that the girl whose singing I’d been admiring for a while had been going there and I decided to join. I’ve always loved to sing but never had much of a chance to, except in the school choir.
“I’ve met my closest friends in mixtape and my confidence performing and in general has spiralled uncontrollably. I assure you I wouldn’t be where I am or who i am today without mixtape”
Granton Youth Mixtape is funded by Children In Need and runs on a Wednesday evening 6-8 at Royston & Wardieburn Community Centre.
Project has been backed by nearly £100k in funding
Girls, young carers and children from other backgrounds which are underrepresented in engineering will be offered educational kits as part of an Edinburgh Napier University (ENU) project designed to bring STEM-related subjects to life.
‘Libraries of Inspiration’ has been awarded a grant of £99,700 from The Royal Academy of Engineering’s Diversity Impact Programme to launch in areas across central Scotland, including Edinburgh, West Lothian and North Lanarkshire.
The project, which is led by Dr Debbie Meharg from ENU’s School of Computing, Engineering & the Built Environment, aims to empower 12 and 13-year-olds to become future leaders in the engineering industry by demonstrating how science, technology, engineering, and mathematics shape the world around them.
It will see 10 subject-specific resources co-created by students, school staff, and academics, which are then housed in high school libraries.
The kits are to be designed for various underrepresented backgrounds, incorporating topics like fashion, film, and sustainability.
They will explore cutting-edge technologies such as virtual and augmented reality, sound, robotics, information systems, and AI – while using peer groups and role models to build confidence.
Libraries of Inspiration is one of three new projects to be backed by the Diversity Impact Programme, which aims to address unequal outcomes experienced by engineering students from diverse groups. This is the third round of grants to be awarded since it launched in 2021.
The Programme is funded through the Academy’s allocation of funding from the Department for Science, Innovation and Technology.
Debbie Meharg
Dr Debbie Meharg, Associate Professor and Head of Applied Informatics at ENU said: “It’s really exciting to be launching a project which will encouraging girls, young carers, and underrepresented pupils to pursue computing and engineering careers.
“It is not just about fairness, it’s about unlocking the full potential of these pupils, giving them opportunities and also for the betterment of society, the economy, and the field of engineering.
“The concept of a library provides a familiar and inclusive space for individuals to find agency and inspiration.
“It allows them to explore new technologies, break down barriers, and discover their own path.”
Joanna Whiteman, Head of Diversity and Inclusion at the Royal Academy of Engineering, said:“I find it impossible to overstate how vital it is that we find new and better ways to tackle the long-standing inequality of experience and outcomes for engineering students and graduates from underrepresented groups.
“So I am encouraged to see how the Diversity Impact Programme is unlocking such ingenuity on the part of staff and students as they collaborate to tackle this problem together.
“Emerging findings from the projects we have supported to date are already providing important insights into how universities can cultivate more inclusive cultures at a critical stage for aspiring engineers.”
Ten projects designed to highlight good practice in tackling coastal erosion have secured a share of more than £1m from the Scottish Government’s Coastal Change Adaptation Programme.
Due to be delivered in 2024-25, the projects cover eight local authority areas and include plans to enhance natural defences to help reduce the rate of erosion and improve protection from flooding, such as at Kingston in Moray.
The funding – part of £12m committed for coastal change adaptation during the course of the current Parliament – will also be used to support engagement with local people, businesses and infrastructure owners on the process for developing coastal change adaptation plans, and for improvements to the monitoring of coastlines.
Cabinet Secretary for Transport, Net Zero and Just Transition Màiri McAllan said: “The climate emergency is not a distant threat – we are already seeing an increased impact on coastal communities due to adverse weather and rising sea levels.
“We need to start adapting our coasts to better respond to sea level rise and reduce the risks associated with coastal erosion. Local authorities are seizing the opportunity to do this essential work, with their communities as key partners, and I am confident this additional funding will support that work even further.
“These case studies will be an important source of knowledge for all areas in Scotland affected by coastal change and will help to inform future projects.
“We are already bringing forward measures to help protect homes, the natural environment and agriculture from climate change. And we’re providing £150 million of extra funding, on top of our annual £42m funding, for flood risk management over the course of this Parliament.
“We will continue to work with our local authority partners, communities and businesses to adapt our coastlines to climate change.”
Later this month the new National Adaptation Plan to address the climate risks facing Scotland will be published.
A consultation on a new Flood Resilience Strategy will also be published for views this year.
Ofcom calls for national debate on future of UK’s postal service, as letter volumes halve since 2011
Options for reform include changing letter delivery speed or days, as other countries have done, but not downgrading delivery targets
Second Class stamps will remain affordable option as price cap continues
The universal postal service risks becoming unsustainable as people send fewer letters and receive more parcels, meaning reform is necessary to secure its long-term future, according to evidence set out by Ofcom today.
Postal services and postal workers remain essential to those who rely on them. Eight in 10 people (79%) say some things will always need to be sent by post. And three quarters of those who use postal services (74%) say they rely on the post for letters.
However, while Royal Mail’s obligations have not changed since 2011, letter volumes have halved and parcel deliveries have become increasingly important. Given the significant cost to Royal Mail of delivering the universal service, there is an increasing risk it will become financially and operationally unsustainable in the long term.
Given these challenges, Ofcom is today inviting views on a range of options for redesigning the universal postal service to secure its future, while ensuring it reflects the way people use it. Under any scenario, Royal Mail must modernise its network, become more efficient and improve its service levels.
Ofcom’s research shows that people want to get what they pay for. But people are not currently getting a reliable service because of Royal Mail’s recent poor performance, for which Ofcom fined the company £5.6m last year. We will continue to hold Royal Mail to account and expect it to turn things around as a matter of urgency.
Options for reform
At this stage, we are not consulting on specific proposals to change the universal service obligation (USO). Some of the options, which are detailed in full in our document, would require Government and Parliament to change primary legislation, while others could be made through changes to our regulations.
The two primary options we have set out are:
Making changes to existing First and Second Class and business products so that most letters are delivered through a service taking up to three days or longer, with a next-day service still available for any urgent letters.
Reducing the number of letter delivery days in the service from six to five or three. This would require Government and Parliament to change primary legislation.
Ofcom estimates that Royal Mail could achieve a net cost saving of £100m-£200m if letter deliveries were reduced to five days; and £400m-£650m if reduced to three days. If the large majority of letters were delivered within three days, it could achieve net cost savings of £150m-£650m.
Downgrading delivery targets is not an option for reform. In fact, it will be important to consider whether additional safeguards are necessary to ensure people’s needs are fully met. Any changes must improve existing levels of reliability.
Changing the specification of the universal service is likely to be preferable to using a subsidy to maintain the existing levels of service and products, given it no longer aligns with the way people use it; although this would ultimately be a decision for Government.
What do postal users want?
Fewer delivery days could still meet most people’s needs, according to what postal users have told us. Nine in 10 people (88%) say reliability is important for letter deliveries, compared to 58% for delivery on Saturdays (down from 63% in 2020).[7]
Most participants in our research were also open to reducing some services and standards – particularly for letters – in the interests of keeping prices down and only paying for what was required. Similarly, there was strong acknowledgement that most letters were not urgent, but people still needed to have a faster service available for the occasional urgent items, even if that meant paying a premium for it.
The UK is not alone in needing to respond to these challenges. Across Europe and more widely, universal postal service obligations have been, or are being, reformed. Other countries have reduced the frequency of delivery or extended delivery times for letters – including Sweden in 2018, Belgium twice since 2020, and Norway and Denmark twice each since 2016.[
Dame Melanie Dawes, Ofcom’s Chief Executive, said:“Postal workers are part of the fabric of our society and are critical to communities up and down the country. But we’re sending half as many letters as we did in 2011, and receiving many more parcels. The universal service hasn’t changed since then, it’s getting out of date and will become unsustainable if we don’t take action.
“So we’ve set out options for reform so there can be a national discussion about the future of universal post. In the meantime, we’re making sure prices will remain affordable by capping the price of Second Class stamps.”
Next steps
Ofcom is inviting views from interested parties by 3 April 2024 on their analysis and the options for reform, to understand the potential impact on people and businesses. This includes vulnerable people, those in rural and remote areas of the UK’s nations, as well as large organisations who use bulk mail services.
We will hold events in the coming months to discuss the evidence and options, bringing together a range of people and organisations with different perspectives. After carefully considering the feedback, we will provide an update in the summer.
Capping Second Class stamp prices
To make sure the universal service remains affordable, Ofcom periodically reviews whether stamp prices should be capped. In doing so, we must consider the impact of any cap on the financial sustainability of the universal service. We set our last cap in 2019 and have reviewed prices for the period April 2024 to March 2027.
Royal Mail continues to be the UK’s only door-to-door deliverer of letters on a national scale. This means we cannot rely on competition to ensure prices remain affordable.
Postal workers union CWU Deputy General Secretary Postal Martin Walsh told BBC Radio 5 yesterday that the OFCOM report ‘has turned into a shambles’.
“This OFCOM report is dead before it even comes out tomorrow. We need a proper debate on postal services that actually involves the people that keep it going – our members.”
General Secretary @DaveWardGS on Radio 5 this morning responding to the OFCOM report: “The regulator have no credit whatsoever. There is no chance postal workers of the customers will accept a 3 day USO or manipulation of the products to avoid legislation.
General Secretary @DaveWardGS on Radio 5 this morning responding to the OFCOM report.
The regulator have no credit whatsoever. There is no chance postal workers of the customers will accept a 3 day USO or manipulation of the products to avoid legislation. pic.twitter.com/yq4YbGjIAt
We are urging readers to Go Red for Heart Month this February to support the British Heart Foundation (BHF).
You can Go Red to raise money for pioneering research this Heart Month, and learn the lifesaving skill of CPR – helping to protect the hearts of your loved ones, your community and many others too.
By fundraising for the BHF this Heart Month, you can help get us closer than ever to a world free from the fear of heart and circulatory diseases.
Whether it’s a coffee morning, an office dress-up day or a heart-themed quiz, red is an easy theme to have some fun with and raise vital funds for research.
With heart and circulatory diseases affecting around twice as many people in the UK as Alzheimer’s and cancer combined, we urgently need your help to fund the cures of tomorrow.
You can also learn CPR for free in just 15 minutes using the BHF’s online training tool, RevivR. Using just a cushion and a phone, you could learn the skills to help save a loved one’s life in the event of a cardiac arrest.
For ideas on how to fundraise this Heart Month, or to learn lifesaving CPR through RevivR, visit bhf.org.uk/heartmonth
April Davidson
Scotland Regional Fundraising Manager – British Heart Foundation
Culture Minister responds to experts’ recommendations
The recommendations of an independent group set up to advise on how Scotland’s museums and galleries can better reflect the country’s role in empire, colonialism, and historic slavery have been fully accepted by the Scottish Government.
Established following a motion in the Scottish Parliament and commitment in the 2020 Programme for Government, the Empire, Slavery and Scotland’s Museums (ESSM) Steering Group published six recommendations in 2022, for the recognition of Scotland’s colonial and slavery history.
The recommendations include the creation of a dedicated space to address Scotland’s role in empire, colonialism and historic slavery, that museums involve the people of Scotland in shaping their work, and that the Scottish Government demonstrates support for restitution and repatriation of looted or unethically acquired items in Scottish collections.
Culture Minister Christina McKelvie said: “I warmly welcome the steering group’s report and recommendations, which we have considered very carefully.
“Following in-depth discussion with the steering group, I am pleased to confirm the Scottish Government fully accepts all six recommendations, including the creation of a dedicated space to address Scotland’s role in empire, colonialism and historic slavery.
“While budgetary pressures mean we are not currently able to commit to the group’s suggestion of £5 million for this work, the Scottish Government has provided funding of £200,000 in 2023/24 to enable the steering group and Museums Galleries Scotland to begin work addressing the recommendations, including scoping out the format of a new organisation to progress the creation of a dedicated space and national guidance around the repatriation of objects from Scottish institutions.
“The Scottish Government wants everyone to feel safe, welcome, and represented in our cultural spaces. Though we cannot change the past, it is within our power to learn from it and use that to improve the experience of all people who live, work in and visit Scotland, whilst celebrating the wide ranging and positive contributions that ethnic minority communities have made and continue to make to our society.”
Jatin Haria, elected Chair of the Steering Group and Executive Director at the Coalition for Racial Equality and Rights said: “The ESSM recommendations came from widespread stakeholder involvement, including the largest national study of attitudes to museums and racism undertaken in Scotland.
“We welcome the Scottish Government’s acceptance of all six of our recommendations, as well as the acknowledgement of all the previous work that has got us to where we are today.
“The Steering Group is determined to work with the wider museum sector to bring the recommendations to fruition.
“We understand that finances are tight, and although more will be needed, the money that the Scottish Government has committed will be useful to kick start a long term process that will finally allow Scotland to properly tell it’s story of involvement in empire, slavery and colonialism in a coherent way.
“We can’t expect to resolve the racial inequalities that persist today without a better understanding of the history which brought us to this point.”
Lucy Casot, CEO of Museums Galleries Scotland said: ““MGS welcomes this significant announcement by the Scottish Government and the recognition of the importance of undertaking the work recommended by the Empire, Slavery & Scotland’s Museums Steering Group.
“Since their publication in 2022, the recommendations have not just shaped MGS’s work, but how we work as an organisation to collectively support the sector to engage with, and tell the stories of, all of Scotland’s people.
“We are already seeing brilliant work by museums and galleries across the country collaborating with local communities impacted by the legacies of slavery and empire to create more inclusive heritage spaces.
“I am excited about the future of a museum sector that is truly inclusive, trusted and engaged with by all of Scotland’s people, and the role that MGS can play in supporting this work.”
