This spring, enjoy a diverse array of sandwiches crafted by head chef Ryan MacFarlane, including Sun-Blush Tomato Tartlets and Mortadella with Pistachio Mascarpone.
Followed by an exquisite pastry selection, featuring selections such as the Flutter Around Butterfly (Rhubarb Compote & Elderflower Custard Stuffed Matcha Cookie) and One Little Speckled Egg (Crunchy Chocolate, Marsala Crémeux & Coffee Petit Gateau), this expertly crafted menu is certain to delight.
Standing proudly at the West End of Princes Street, this former Victorian railway building hotel nestles in the shadow of the imposing Edinburgh Castle and its reputation for style and excellence has attracted generations of locals, internationals, and notable personalities for over one hundred years.
Formerly the station concourse and ticket office, Peacock Alley represents the historic heart of the Caley, and is imbued with the peerless style and sophistication of this famous former railway hotel – the perfect setting for an elegant afternoon tea.
The Bright & Beautiful Afternoon Tea is available in Peacock Alley, The Caledonian daily from 12:30 – 4pm, from 19th February to 10th April. Gluten free, vegan, and children’s menus are also available. Priced at £119 for two or £30 for children. The menu can be viewed here.
Highest proportion ever in work, training or study
The number of young people in work, training or further study three months after the end of the school year has reached a record high of 95.9%.
The Attainment and Initial Leaver Destination statistics 2022-23 also show that the gap between those from the most and least deprived areas progressing after leaving school has continued to narrow and is now at a record low (3.7 percentage points).
The proportion of school leavers with one or more technical or vocational qualifications at SCQF Level 5 or better has reached a record high of 30.4%.
Education Secretary Jenny Gilruth said: “These figures show the highest proportion of Scotland’s young people are achieving positive destinations since records began and it is very encouraging to see so many people are securing work, training or further study.
“We are committed to closing the poverty-related attainment gap and ensuring all of our young people have the same opportunities to progress in life, so I’m encouraged to see that the gap in relation to positive destinations has narrowed to a record low.
“Young people experienced significant disruption to their education during the pandemic, and to see so many of them reaching positive destinations is really heartening – and is testament to their hard work and the extraordinary support provided by Scotland’s teachers.
Scottish schools to take centre stage in just two weeks
THE COUNTDOWN is on for 99 schools set to compete in one of the nation’s biggest piping and drumming events.
On Sunday 10th March, 99 schools in Scotland will blow up a storm at the Scottish Schools Pipe Band Championship (SSPBC), with participating schools joining from all over Scotland, from the Highlands to Ayrshire.
Entries are also now officially open for the competition’s coveted Eilidh MacLeod Endeavour Award – an award honouring the young Manchester Arena attack victim from Barra, who would have turned 21 last month.
The Championships was launched in 2013, as part of a nationwide drive by the Scottish Schools Pipes and Drums Trust (SSPDT) to revive dwindling access to the instruments – despite evidence of multiple positive benefits.
Alexandra Duncan, Chief Executive of SSPDT, said: “The Championships are a huge day in the piping calendar and this, the 10th Championships, will be bigger than ever.
“We’re very grateful to East Ayrshire Council for hosting the event and working closely with us in order to bring the fun-filled day back to Ayrshire. As the big day gets closer, we can’t wait to welcome 99 schools to what is always an incredible, music-filled celebration.”
Featuring 85 performances across the day, the event will be hosted by East Ayrshire Council and see pipe bands, quartets and freestyle ensembles go head-to-head at the William McIlvanney Campus in Kilmarnock on 10 March 2024. Expert judges will adjudicate eight categories, ranging from Debut to Novice Juvenile.
The Championship is independently organised by the Scottish Schools Pipes and Drums Trust (SSPDT). It carries the support of the Royal Scottish Pipe Band Association (RSPBA) but is not a RSPBA competition.
SSPDT believes that every pupil should have the chance to learn the pipes and drums on the same basis as other school instrumental tuition.
The national charity was formed with the belief that pipe bands are much more than a musical pastime; they help young people develop life and employability skills such as teamwork, resilience and perseverance, community spirit, self-confidence, camaraderie and a sense of discipline and dress.
The charity’s founders also recognised that where community pipe bands were folding or had an aging membership, tuition in schools could create younger new players to join them, and thus help safeguard Scotland’s musical heritage.
Lifesaving volunteers from Penicuik Community First Responders recently celebrated the group’s 18th anniversary.
Penicuik Community First Responders (CFRs) are a group of volunteers trained by the Scottish Ambulance Service to respond to a potential life-threatening emergency in the vital first few minutes before an ambulance crew arrives.
They cover the EH26 postcode and surrounding areas, and currently have six members who meet up monthly and have been involved in the group for several years.
Yvonne Mitchell, Co-ordinator for Penicuik CFRs said: “We are immensely proud to mark our 18th anniversary. This milestone is a testament to the dedication of our volunteers and the support from our community.
“We train as CFRs to help others who live in our area, whether it is being first on scene at a cardiac arrest, or providing a listening ear and holding someone’s hand while the ambulance crew is on route.
“We look forward to many more years of serving our community and making a positive impact on the lives of those in need.”
Michael Dickson, SAS Chief Executive, said: “Congratulations to the Penicuik community first responders on this fantastic achievement.
“Our Community First Responders play a vital role in their communities, starting treatment while an ambulance is on route as every second counts, particularly when a person suffers a cardiac arrest. We are thankful to each and every one of them.”
Fourth rise in uptake since support was increased to under-16s
Scottish Child Payment was helping the families of more than 327,000 children at the end of December last year, official statistics have shown.
The £25-a-week payment helps families as part of a wider package of Scottish Government actions to tackle child poverty and support people during the cost of living crisis.
The figures published yesterday show more than 4,000 extra children were being supported since the previous quarter – the fourth consecutive rise.
Scottish Child Payment launched in February 2021 and it has since risen in value twice – firstly from £10 per week to £20 per week then, in November 2022, to £25 per week.
At the time of the second rise, it extended from being a payment for the families of children under the age of six to all those eligible under 16.
It is the families of that older group of children who have driven the latest increase in uptake.
The total overall amount paid out since the payment was launched reach passed £573.2 million.
Official statistics on Social Security’s other family payments – Best Start Foods and the three Best Start Grants (Pregnancy & Baby Payment, Early Learning Payment and School Age Payment) are also published today.
Since first launching in December 2018 until December 2023 471,670 applications for the payments have been processed and a total of £145.4 million paid out.
Cabinet Secretary for Social Justice Shirley-Anne Somerville said: “Despite cuts to Scotland’s budget, the Scottish Government is prioritising support for families.
“Our investment in the game-changing Scottish Child Payment and other benefits is unparalleled in the UK.
“It delivers a lifeline from the Westminster austerity agenda and continued cruel policies, such as the two-child cap.
“These statistics show that we are reaching more of the people who most need our support as we continue to make tackling child poverty our key mission.
“It is encouraging to see that we are also continuing to do that more quickly, making progress in the time it takes from receiving applications to getting money into people’s pockets.”
Formal NHS Scotland partner InnoScot Health is proud to be part of a collaborative programme aiming to develop fresh health and social care innovations that can help solve clinical problems.
Led by Heriot-Watt and Edinburgh Napier Universities with InnoScot Health support, the initiative – labelled a “first of its kind research collaboration” – has seen engineering and nursing students pooling capabilities and know-how to hone breakthrough ideas.
It is hoped that the programme could help to progress innovations into products, leading to better patient outcomes while aiding healthcare staff in integrating innovative approaches into their daily activities.
InnoScot Health signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) with Heriot-Watt’s Medical Device Manufacturing Centre (MDMC) in 2022, leveraging significant expertise to accelerate medical and healthcare opportunities.
The organisation has now helped to encourage what it calls “the next generation of health and social care innovators” by providing real world project briefs to teams of Heriot-Watt engineering students while helping them build consulting and client engagement skills.
The promising ideas from NHS Scotland innovators were first submitted to InnoScot Health, which has since acted as their client and liaison point.
The learnings of the student engineering project teams – enhanced by clinical insights from Edinburgh Napier University’s nursing students and access to its specialised clinical simulation facilities – are now expected to lead to improved co-designed projects.
There are currently three ideas being developed, each of which have originated from different health boards across the country – a catheter redesign from NHS Fife; cannula cuff from NHS Forth Valley; and wobble stool from NHS Grampian.
InnoScot Health Innovation Manager Fiona Schaefer said: “Collaborating on this Heriot-Watt and Edinburgh Napier University link-up offers an excellent and important opportunity for engineering students to learn more about the demands of health and social care, to understand how products are used, and see a simulated NHS environment in action.
“Likewise, nursing students and healthcare professionals can offer feedback on prototypes with the opportunity to test them more easily and safely than would have been possible by going into hospitals and healthcare settings.
“At the same time, they have also been encouraged to think about innovation, to realise that they have a lot to offer, and recognise the value of their know-how for future career progression. We hope this inspires them to see opportunities to develop new ideas when they soon start working in health and social care as registered healthcare professionals.”
She added: “Developing NHS ideas with student teams offers a great way to take forward early ideas to get closer to practical solutions. It’s clear that all three teams are really engaged, and we’re excited by the possibilities.
“I have also recently spoken to Occupational Therapy and Physiotherapy Masters students who have innovation modules as part of their course so hope there may be new avenues of innovation to explore with them too.”
Maïwenn Kersaudy-Kerhoas a Professor in Microfluidic Engineering at Heriot-Watt University and the lead academic for its new global research institute in Health and Care Technologies, has been described by InnoScot Health as “instrumental” in realising the link-up with Edinburgh Napier University through its Professor of Simulation and Clinical Skills, Cathal Breen.
Maïwenn said: “This collaboration will ensure an excellent student experience and we are very enthusiastic about the interface between nursing and engineering.
“Nurses are the closest to patient needs on a daily basis. By championing this first-hand knowledge and expertise, we enable nurses to co-create and help deliver innovation. Alongside this, our engineering students benefit from detailed real-world feedback on their health and care engineering concepts.”
Cathal Breen, Professor of Simulation and Clinical Skills at Edinburgh Napier, said: “Nurses are an untapped reservoir of innovative solutions for the health and care sector.
“In this new agreement, our students will identify potentially suitable clinical problems and work with engineering students at Heriot-Watt to design solutions to real-life clinical problems. It is hugely exciting.”
As the tax year draws to a close, couples who are married or in civil partnerships could be due a financial boost by sharing unused tax allowances.
HM Revenue and Customs (HMRC) has revealed March is the most popular month for Marriage Allowance applications, with almost 70,000 couples across the UK applying in March last year.
And with the option to backdate their claim for the previous four tax years, eligible couples could receive a lump-sum payment worth more than £1,000, in addition to reducing their tax bill for the 2023 to 2024 tax year by up to £252.
Marriage Allowance saves couples money by allowing the lower or non-earner to reduce the amount of tax their partner pays by transferring up to £1,260 of their Personal Allowance to their husband, wife or civil partner.
The easiest way to claim Marriage Allowance is online via GOV.UK.
Angela MacDonald, HMRC’s Deputy Chief Executive and Second Permanent Secretary, said:“Marriage Allowance keeps money in your pocket by reducing the amount of tax you and your spouse pay by up to £252 a year.
“You can check your eligibility and apply on GOV.UK. Search ‘Marriage Allowance’ to find out more.”
To benefit from the tax relief in Scotland, one partner must have income less than the Personal Allowance of £12,570, and the higher earning partner’s income must be between £12,571 and £43,662.
The UK Government is offering help for households. Check GOV.UK to find out what financial and practical support, including income support, people could be eligible for.
A man who committed a number of sexual assaults on women and girls in the 1980s and 1990s has been jailed.
At the High Court in Livingston yesterday (Tuesday, 27 February), John O’Flaherty (67) was sentenced to an Order of Lifelong Restriction with a minimum punishment part of five-years in prison for the offences, which took place in the North and South West of Edinburgh.
He was also placed on the Sex Offenders Register indefinitely.
The survivors were aged between 7 and 32 and after reporting the crimes to police in 2018, officers from Edinburgh’s Public Protection Unit spent more than two years gathering evidence against O’Flaherty.
He was initially arrested in June 2020, with further charges added over the following months.
Chief Inspector Jonny Wright said: “Our response to sexual crime is victim centred, with the safety and wellbeing of victims at the heart of what we do. I hope the conviction and sentencing of John O’Flaherty highlights that time is no barrier to investigating offences and we will respond to all reports we receive.
“I wish to thank the women he targeted for coming forward and reporting the attacks to police.
“Their continued support of our investigation and their testimony during the trial ultimately led to O’Flaherty’s conviction.”
A bold new government-backed review has set out a vision for workplace culture changes to support autistic people to start and stay in work
Review sets out 19 recommendations to support more autistic people to start, stay and succeed in work.
Despite most autistic people wanting to work, just 3 in 10 are currently in employment due to stigma and lack of understanding of their needs.
More neuro-inclusivity in the workplace can help fill vacancies and grow the economy by unlocking the potential of thousands more people.
A bold new government-backed review has set out a vision for workplace culture changes to support autistic people to start and stay in work.
DWP figures show only around 30 percent of working age autistic people are in employment, compared with half of all disabled people and 8 in 10 non-disabled people, despite the majority saying they would like to be employed.
Commissioned by Secretary of State for Work and Pensions Mel Stride and led by Sir Robert Buckland KC, the Review’s 19 recommendations for businesses and government include:
signing up for the Autistica Neurodiversity Employers Index to access guidance on designing inclusive processes and procedures
encouraging career progression by developing packages of training focused on autistic staff
improving recruitment by ensuring careers advisers can provide appropriate advice to autistic jobseekers
supporting autistic people who are already in the workplace by producing “autism design guides” to create appropriate premises, furnishings and equipment
working with software suppliers to develop IT systems that meet autistic people’s needs.
The Buckland Review of Autism Employment was supported by charity Autistica and includes the views of hundreds of employers and autistic people.
It sets out how businesses and government can work together over the next five years – whether that is showcasing the successes of autism employment, developing pilot programmes in national and multinational companies, or providing tailored support for autistic staff at work.
Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, Mel Stride MP, said: “I want autistic people to have every opportunity to benefit from work, and recognise that businesses and government must come together if we are to create the cultural change needed to move the dial.
“Backed by the extra employment support provided through our £2.5 billion Back to Work Plan, this report provides employers with practical and inexpensive steps to open up workplaces to autistic people, boost employment rates and, above all, change autistic people’s lives.”
Sir Robert Buckland KC MP said: “It has been a tremendous privilege to compile this report, and to hear from hundreds of autistic people about their experiences. This is all about them, and we couldn’t have done it without their help.
“The review can make a truly radical difference to the lives of autistic people and their families. I call on employers and government to lead this change and make these recommendations a reality.”
It is all part of the Government’s long-term plan to build a stronger economy – which has seen unemployment compared to 2010 decline, with four million additional people in work.
The Government has already succeeded in getting one million more disabled people into employment by 2027, five years ahead of schedule, with tailored support helping claimants realise their potential.
Access to Work grants worth up to £66,000 made working easier for nearly 50,000 people last year. The Government’s flagship Universal Support programme is set to provide up to 25,000 people with highly personalised employment support, working closely with employers to navigate any workplace adjustments required to accommodate individual needs.
Minister for Disabled People, Health and Work, Mims Davies MP, said: “There are so many benefits and positives autistic people can bring to the workplace, and this is matched by what employment can bring to them. We must make sure they get the work opportunities they want and deserve.
“This welcome and important review will help ensure autistic people can thrive and progress in the labour market. I am keen employers get behind these recommendations, and partner with us to truly make our workforce more inclusive and welcoming.”
Minister for Social Care, Helen Whately MP, said: “We want autistic people to have equal opportunities to flourish in society and contribute to the economy.
“For too long there have been too many barriers for them in the workplace; this review is a major step to changing that.
“This builds on our five-year autism strategy and shows our continued commitment to helping autistic people are able to lead happier, healthier and more fulfilling lives.”
The review is the latest milestone in the Government’s mission to make the UK the most accessible place in the world, following the publication of the Disability Action Plan earlier this month, the launch of the Lilac Review, which will investigate the barriers disabled entrepreneurs face, and the longer-term National Disability Strategy, which will transform disabled people’s everyday lives for the better.
It also builds on the Government’s employment and welfare reforms – including the new £2.5 billion Back to Work Plan which will help thousands more disabled people and people with health conditions to start and thrive in work.
POLICE are appealing for information after a 25-year-old man was seriously assaulted on Pilrig Street, yesterday (Tuesday, 27 February, 2024).
Around 2.05pm, police were called to the entrance to Pilrig Park. The injured man was taken to the Royal Infirmary of Edinburgh where is being treated for stab wounds. Hospital staff describe his condition as serious.
Detective Inspector Dougal Begg said: “We would urge anyone who was in the area at the time who witnessed this serious assault take place, or who has any information that may assist our investigation to come forward.
“Enquiries are continuing and officers are gathering and viewing CCTV footage for more information. I would also urge any drivers with dash-cam footage or those with personal footage to contact us as soon as possible.”
Information can be passed to 101 quoting reference number 1698 of 27 February. Alternatively, Crimestoppers can be contacted on 0800 555 111, where anonymity can be maintained.
