29/02/2024 – The NEN – North Edinburgh News

Healthy Heart Tip: Hydration and heart health

Heart Research UK Healthy Heart Tip, written by the Health Promotion and Education Team at Heart Research UK

Healthy Heart Tip: Hydration and heart health

Hydration is an essential part of nutrition and can benefit or impact your heart’s ability to work effectively.

Studies have found that having adequate hydration is associated with reduced long-term risks for heart diseases.

Did you know that over 66% of the UK population doesn’t drink enough water? With Nutrition and Hydration Week coming up from 11th to 18th March, we are sharing some information on the importance of hydration and your cardiovascular system.

Importance of being hydrated

Water makes up over half (60%) of your body weight and fluids are critical for good health and heart health. Hydration is when you drink more fluids than your body loses.

Being hydrated helps your heart pump blood more easily through the blood vessels and to your muscles. This means that your muscles, including your heart, don’t have to work as hard to achieve the same results.

Risks of being dehydrated

Dehydration occurs when the body loses more water than it takes in. Fluids can be lost through sweat, urination, vomiting or diarrhoea. When these are not replaced your body may feel tired, you might feel thirsty, have a dry mouth, have dark-coloured urine and suffer from headaches.

Being dehydrated means that your heart needs to beat faster to pump your blood around the body.

This is because your blood reduces in volume and thickens which will impact your circulation, as well as increase your heart rate and blood pressure. This increases your risk of heart diseases.

Sources of hydration

On average an adult needs six to eight glasses or 1.5 to 2 litres of fluid a day. If it is a hot temperature or you carry out physical activity, you’ll need more.

Drinking water is the best way to remain hydrated however, other non-alcoholic drinks such as milk, juice and herbal teas can also hydrate you.

Food such as fruits and vegetables can also help to hydrate you, with around 20% of your body’s water intake per day coming from foods like these.

Letters: RNIB offers free books for children with vision impairments this World Book Day

Dear Editor,

Children across the UK will be exploring the wonderful world of reading on World Book Day®, Thursday 7 March.

World Book Day® aims to encourage reading for pleasure, especially because it is the biggest indicator of a child’s future success in life. It also aims to make sure every child can have a book of their own to read.

For 2024, the theme is ‘Read Your Way’, and children are being encouraged to read any way they like to, whether it be out loud, in their heads, a sentence, a chapter or a page.

Here at the Royal National Institute of Blind people (RNIB), we want to make sure that children with vision impairments can celebrate the power of reading alongside their sighted peers. This means giving them access to the same books and reading opportunities at school and at home.

That’s why we have accessible versions of all of this year’s World Book Day UK titles available in audio and braille as part of our RNIB Library.

This year’s range of books provides adventure, mystery and laughter and titles include Elmer And The Patchwork Story by David McKee, Loki: Tales Of A Bad God by Louie Stowell and The Doomsday Date by Faridah Àbíké-Íyímídé.

There’s something to suit beginner readers right through to confident book lovers.

Children can have their very own World Book Day® copy to keep, in either braille or CD! The books can be ordered in their preferred format from RNIB’s Helpline on 0303 123 9999.

They are also all available to download in audio and braille from RNIB Reading services at https://readingservices.rnib.org.uk

On behalf of all at RNIB, we wish you an amazing, book-filled World Book Day!

James Bartlett

Senior Manager Reading Services at RNIB (Royal National Institute of Blind People)

Tomorrow: Businesses team up for Big Match charity clash at Ainslie Park

Businesses from across Edinburgh come together to raise money for The Yard

Businesses from across Edinburgh and the Lothians are teaming up this week to raise money in the second annual Big Match charity fixture.

Some of the city’s prominent private banks, legal firms, finance brokers, property developers and estate agents will be among those running out at Ainslie Park on Friday afternoon in a bid to raise as much cash as possible for The Yard, which runs adventure play services for disabled children, young people and their families in the east of Scotland.

Former Hibs star Darren Dods and ex-Dundee defender Matt Lockwood will also be pulling on a strip, as will celebrity chef Tom Kitchin as Commercial City take on Residential United.

Following the success of last year’s inaugural The Big Match, where Edinburgh’s property sector came together in aid of the Turkey-Syria earthquake appeal, Friday’s event has again been organised by Steve Currie of Murray and Currie Property in the capital.

Steve Currie said: “I’d like to say a huge thank-you to everyone who has made this possible.

“I’m delighted The Big Match is now an official charity after our successful application to become a Scottish Charitable Incorporated Organisation (SCIO).

“We have secured the services of our loyal supporters and partners to achieve this status and ensure the charity is reputable, credible, ethical, and professional in delivering all its objectives. It’s been a team effort from everyone.

“Friday promises to be a great occasion which will raise vital money for The Yard which offers disabled children and young people and their families the chance to experience creative and adventurous indoor and outdoor play in a well-supported environment.

“It’s particularly exciting to have former professional players Darren Dods and Matt Lockwood taking part, while I’m sure Tom Kitchin will be demonstrating some tasty touches as well!”

Celine Sinclair is chief executive of The Yard, which is based in the centre of Edinburgh with other sites in Dundee and Kirkcaldy, and she said: “We are incredibly grateful to be chosen as a charity partner for The Big Match, the money raised will go a long way towards helping us deliver vital services for disabled children and their families.

“We directly support over 2300 children and young people from 16 different local authorities, and are reliant on fundraising as well as governmental support. A huge thank you to everyone who’s involved in this charity match, we’re hugely appreciative of the support. And, good luck to the teams on Friday.”

Kick-off is 3.45pm and a Just Giving page has been set up for donations:

https://www.justgiving.com/page/steven-currie-1708676927412?newPage=true

Cash First toolkit published

Save the date! Friday 22nd March 2024, Norton Park Conference Centre

We are pleased to announce that our new Cash First Toolkit – designed to support Community Food staff and volunteers with knowledge, skills and confidence around Cash First – has been published!

Independent review of sentencing and penal policy

In-depth look at how best to deal with offending behaviour

Identifying the most effective ways to address offending behaviour so there is less crime and fewer victims will be at the heart of an independent review of sentencing and penal policy, the Justice Secretary has announced.

The externally led review will examine how and when custodial sentences and community interventions are used, how effective these are and what more can be done to prevent crime and reduce reoffending.

While sentencing in individual cases is always for Scotland’s independent courts, the review will consider the range of community interventions available to judges and sheriffs and whether these should be expanded.

To encourage greater use of ‘robust community-based interventions’ there will be also be increased investment of £14 million in community justice in 2024-25, bringing the total investment in community justice to £148 million this year.

Justice Secretary Angela Constance said: “Protecting victims and the public from harm is my absolute priority and prison will always be necessary as part of that. However, we must recognise that, while appropriate in many cases, short prison sentences are often not the best way to reduce reoffending, with those released from short custodial sentences reconvicted nearly twice as often as those sentenced to a community payback order.

“Therefore an externally led review of sentencing and penal policy will allow us to re-visit the fundamental question of how imprisonment and community-based sentences are used. We must do more to develop community interventions with increased breadth and depth, so that the courts have a greater selection of options to deal robustly and constructively with the individuals before them.

“The prison population in Scotland remains too high and the needs of those in prison are increasingly complex. While a range of work is underway to respond to this, we also need to understand and address its root causes.

“The aim of this review is not about reducing the prison population as an end in itself, but ensuring that custody is used for the right people at the right time.”

18 years and counting: Foster carers share their fostering journey

Mary and Billy have been fostering with FCA Scotland for over 18 years now. They are now sharing their fostering story with us.

Billy and Mary have built lifelong connections with the children they have fostered over the years. Although they are all independent adults now, the couple still stays in touch with most of them.

When they first began their fostering journey, Billy was ready for a career change after working in the leisure industry for a number of years and decided to take up fostering full-time. He was the main carer for the first 10 years while Mary continued to work full time in housing but supported Billy in the mornings, evenings and at weekends.

Billy wants people to understand that men can make brilliant foster carers, too.

He said that fostering doesn’t mean only giving a child a roof, there’s a lot more to it. He shared how to manage expectations and work towards a successful outcome, saying: “You’re not going to get a ‘perfect’ child. It’s a challenging job, but it’s a very rewarding one.”

It is important, as Billy explained, to look at the situation from the foster child’s perspective. He said: “Your foster children may not be well equipped to receive the love and care you are giving them and so it’s very important to be patient and be able to support them in the right way.”

Billy, the main carer in the family at the time, said: “I decided that it was a good career choice for me. I felt that we could really help the children and make a difference in their lives.”

He wants more men to consider fostering as a career and shared some practical advice to get started, he said: “Get all the relevant information about fostering, ensure you have done your research, speak to people about it, and get as much support as you can.”

Currently, the couple cares for a fifteen year old girl who has lived with them for nine years along with her two siblings who have since moved out of their care, become “well-rounded adults”, and even started their own families.

They have kept an open channel of communication with them and said: “If anything happens, you can always come and speak to us and we will deal with it together.”

Alongside her, Billy and Mary also welcome short-term fostering which can be extra challenging but given their experience, the couple are happy to take them in and give them a safe space.

Billy and Mary were well-settled in their lives but always felt like they needed something more out of it. Mary said: “We were both working full-time and had a good life but we always felt that there was something we could offer.”

The couple both had children from other partners but didn’t have the chance to bring up a family together. Mary said: “We thought we could be a good parenting team.”

They saw an advert for fostering with FCA Scotland and decided to have a look into it since their own children were all grown up and had left home.

Billy and Mary’s fostering journey has been a long and successful one but not without its challenges. FCA Scotland provides consistent support, guidance, training and development to all their foster carers, to help manage those challenges and ensure they deliver nothing but the highest quality of care.

Mary fondly talks about one of their foster children who lived with them for eight years before moving out, she said: “As a foster carer, you build a long-lasting relationship with the child.

“We are still in contact with him after all these years and we are always there to support him when he needs it. He remains a member of our family and comes along for Christmas Day and family events.

“We helped these children build up their self-esteem and fit into the world, a journey which was made easier by the support of our social workers, therapists, and the team at FCA Scotland. We would highly recommend them as a fostering agency.”

Billy said: “I’m proud of the work we’ve done since the beginning of our fostering journey, it’s a very rewarding job and we’ve seen the rewards.

“I think we’ve done something worthwhile and have been able to give back to our community.”

For more information about fostering, visit FCA Scotland’s website:

https://www.fcascotland.co.uk/.

Renters reminded of rights before rent cap ends

Tenants’ rights in Scotland continue to be strongest in the UK

Private renters are being urged to know their rights before the emergency rent cap and additional evictions protections in Scotland come to an end from 1st April.

Tenants in Scotland have some of the strongest rights of any part of the UK, an awareness raising campaign will highlight those rights and what tenants should expect from their landlords, including:

the right to ask for a review of a rent increase
protection from illegal evictions or being asked to leave a property without proper notice
a landlord giving a tenant the correct notice period before increasing rent
ensuring rented homes are maintained to an acceptable standard

Tenants and landlords are also reminded that the emergency rent cap is still in place until 1 April, so all rent increase notices for private residential tenancies issued before then must still comply with the current cap of 3%.

Rent increases proposed after that date still need to give 3 months’ notice, and tenants can seek a review of increases they are concerned about.

On a visit to Clackmannanshire Citizens’ Advice Bureau, where he spoke to rent advisors, Tenants’ Rights Minister Patrick Harvie said: “Our emergency legislation has led the way in the UK in capping most in-tenancy rent increases, protecting tenants across Scotland from the worst impacts of the cost-of-living crisis.

“The emergency nature of the legislation, which was approved by parliament, means the rent cap cannot be extended beyond 31 March. But tenants still have significant rights from before the emergency act, and we have made use of powers to make sure any rent rises are more manageable.

“Subject to parliamentary approval, the system of checking rent rises will be adjusted from 1 April so that rents are not simply jumping to market levels in all cases in one step.

“I would encourage anyone who is currently renting or about to enter the rental market to check the rights that exist to protect them from unfair practices.”

Citizens Advice Scotland spokesperson Emma Jackson said: “It’s so important that people understand their rights around private rents once the rent cap ends. If you think your landlord has put up the rent by too much after 1 April you can apply to Rent Service Scotland to see if it is a fair rise.

“The reality is the cost-of-living crisis has left a lot of people struggling to afford essential bills like energy and rent, and the Citizens Advice network can help with broader advice to increase how much money you have coming in each month or cutting bills.”

Renter’s rights – Renters’ rights (campaign.gov.scot)

Iain Packer conviction: Police Scotland statement

‘Emma Caldwell, her family and many other victims, were let down by policing in 2005. For that we are sorry’.

A 51-year-old man has been found guilty of murdering Emma Caldwell in 2005.
Iain Packer was convicted at the High Court in Glasgow today, Wednesday, 28 February, 2024, of killing the 27-year-old and hiding her body.

Emma was last seen on CCTV around 11pm on Monday, 4 April, 2005, walking alone on Butterbiggins Road towards Victoria Road on the southside of Glasgow.

She was reported missing by her family on Monday, 11 April, 2005, and her body was found in Limefield Woods, near Biggar, on Sunday, 8 May, 2005.

Packer was also convicted of a number charges involving violent and sexual crimes against a number of women over many years.

He was today (Wednesday 28th February 2024) sentenced to life in prison and ordered to serve a minimum of 36 years behind bars.

Assistant Chief Constable for Major Crime and Public Protection Bex Smith said: “Emma Caldwell, her family and many other victims, were let down by policing in 2005. For that we are sorry.

“A significant number of women and girls who showed remarkable courage to speak up at that time also did not get the justice and support they needed and deserved from Strathclyde Police.

“Police Scotland launched a re-investigation of the case in 2015 after instruction from the Lord Advocate.

“It is clear that further investigations should have been carried out into Emma’s murder following the initial enquiry in 2005.

“The lack of investigation until 2015 caused unnecessary distress to her family and all those women who had come forward to report sexual violence.

“It is the courage, resilience and determination shown by Emma’s family, in particular her parents William and Margaret, and all those who survived Iain Packer’s horrific catalogue of offending that got us to where we are today.

“William is, sadly, no longer here to see this day, but I hope this verdict gives Margaret and all those affected by this case, the justice they deserve.

“This was an extremely challenging re-investigation and without doubt the largest police enquiry of recent times in Scotland.

“Over seven years, a full review of the original enquiry by Strathclyde Police in 2005 was completed.

“More than 30,000 documents and statements were gathered and reviewed along with in excess of 23,000 productions. New forensic tests were carried out and new witnesses were identified and interviewed, leading to the convictions today.

“Iain Packer was a calculating sexual predator who targeted women over many years. It is hard to comprehend how anyone could carry out such despicable, ruthless acts.

“He took Emma’s life for his own gratification in the most appalling circumstances and cruelly left her body in remote woods hoping to cover his tracks.

“But time is no barrier to justice and I would urge anyone who has been the victim of sexual violence to please come forward and speak to us.

“You will be listened to and you will be supported – no matter when the offences took place.

“We have reflected and learnt from the initial investigation and subsequent re –investigation. Significant changes have been made in recent years to improve our organisational culture and our response, particularly in respect of investigative structures, victim care and processes to these types of crimes.

“Our Violence against Women and Girls Strategy demonstrates our absolute commitment to tackling the violence and abuse that disproportionately affects women and girls.

“What shone through to the enquiry team throughout the investigations into Emma’s life was her gentle personality, and I want to finish by saying that our thoughts remain with Emma, her family and all those affected by this terrible case.”

The Scottish Conservatives called for a full Judge-led public inquiry into the case at First Minister’s Questions today (Thursday 29 February).

Both Scottish Labour and the Scottish Lib-Dems echoed the call.

Lifeline: Deidre Brock MP hosts Westminster debate on timebanking

Deidre Brock MP paid tribute to the success of Leith’s Time Bank in the House of Commons on Tuesday (27^th February).

The Edinburgh North and Leith MP led a debate on timebanking across the UK and called for extra support to help the movement grow.

Timebanking is based on a simple premise: for every hour you spend helping someone, you earn an hour back for your time bank. Rather than volunteering in the traditional sense, it is based on a reciprocal exchange of skills.

Run by respected Leith charity the Pilmeny Development Project, Leith’s Time Bank has been going for over a decade and is an amazing success story, providing opportunities for people of different ages, cultures and backgrounds to share their skills, knowledge and experience with others.

Members have described the time bank as a “lifeline”, boosting their mental health and wellbeing and creating opportunities to meet exchange skills and experiences with people from different generations, backgrounds and walks of life.

Deidre Brock said: “Timebanking deserves much more recognition, so I was delighted to raise the fantastic work of Leith’s Time Bank and the wider network during the debate.

“We all have skills, knowledge and experience to offer that could be beneficial to someone, whether it’s gardening, sewing, simple repairs, language teaching, running errands, tech skills, or whatever it might be.

“Timebanking is a great way for people to exchange expertise without any money changing hands, and it can have such a positive impact on community cohesion and tackling social isolation and loneliness.

“The minister was very complimentary about timebanking and I’ve secured a meeting with him to discuss the concept further. We’ve also had a lot of interest from people keen to learn more and even set up new timebanks in their own area.”

Transcript of the debate: https://bitly.ws/3erqp

Video of the debate: https://bitly.ws/3ejtU