Day: May 13, 2024

St James Quarter offers FREE therapy sessions to mark Mental Health Awareness Week

  • St James Quarter marks Mental Health Awareness Week with a host of wellbeing activities
  • A Listening Space will open in Quarter to make mental health support accessible
  • The activities will fundraise for St James Quarter’s two charity partners, Edinburgh Women’s Aid and Health in Mind

To mark Mental Health Awareness Week, St James Quarter is hosting a programme of wellbeing activities in partnership with Health in Mind and Edinburgh Women’s Aid to support the community in the capital.

Making mental health support and guidance more accessible for people living in Edinburgh, Listening Spaces will open in the Quarter from 16th May. Launched by Health in Mind, the space will offer guests one-to-one time with a trained expert to talk about their mental wellbeing and receive compassionate advice, support and resources.

The free, weekly sessions will initially run for a six week period and be delivered from 2pm to 4pm in the Guest Services Lounge.

On Wednesday 15 May, Everyman Cinema will transform into a calming haven with a free mindfulness experience. Hosted by Health and Mind, the session will explore the body and bodily sensations as a source of mindful awareness. This session will end with mood and energy-boosting tips from Neom Wellbeing, leaving guests feeling relaxed and in tune with their minds. There’s limited spots which can be booked at bit.ly/3JSVbor.

In a bid to brighten guests’ days during Mental Health Awareness Week, local magician, Grant Mitchell, will be sprinkling some magic in the Quarter with mood-boosting tricks that are guaranteed to put a smile on faces on Monday 13th and Tuesday 14th May. Talented musician, Dan Collins, will also entertain guests with feel-good tracks on Thursday 16th May.

The team at St James Quarter continues to show its commitment to its charity partners. On Friday, 16 members of the team will put on their walking boots to climb Ben Chonzie in support of Mental Health Awareness Week, and to raise funds to support its two charity partners, Health in Mind and Edinburgh Women’s Aid.

Kerry Girdwood, Senior Services Manager (North) at Health in Mind, who will be managing the new drop-in Listening Space, said: “Around 1 in 3 people in Scotland are struggling with their mental health, and with added pressures like the cost-of-living crisis, the fallout from the Covid pandemic, pressure on public services, and conflict around the world, that number is only climbing.

“We’ve run Listening Spaces in communities around Scotland, where people can chat through their mental health difficulties, access resources, and get connected to services. Thanks to this new pilot with St James Quarter, we’ll be doing all that in one of Edinburgh’s busiest community hubs.”

Jennifer Laseen, Hospitality Director and CSR Committee Chair said, “We know how hard it can be to make the first step and reach out for support, and sometimes you just don’t know where to start.

“At St James Quarter, we’re perfectly positioned to make mental wellbeing support more accessible in the city centre and we’re really excited about this opportunity to offer a Listening Space with Health in Mind.

“The Quarter is a welcoming and supporting place for all our guests and however you’re feeling this Mental Health Awareness Week, I encourage you to join us for a mindfulness session, enjoy some feel-good entertainment, or meet the team from Health in Mind.

“It is a privilege to have two brilliant partner charities and every donation to Edinburgh Women’s Aid and Health in Mind supports them to provide valuable services in the city.”

To keep up to date with events happening throughout the Quarter, visit the St James Quarter website or download the St James Quarter App.

Activities taking place during Mental Health Awareness Week:

Monday 13 May – Magic from Grant Mitchell

Tuesday 14 May – Magic from Grant Mitchell

Wednesday 15 May – Mindfulness Session with Health in Mind

Thursday 16 May – Listening Spaces with Health in Mind & Music from Dan Collins

Friday 17 May – Team SJQ Munro Climb

For more information, please email: stjamesquarter@johndoehub.com 

New rules require 180,000 people on Universal Credit to increase their working hours

New rules meaning over 180,000 Universal Credit claimants will have to look for more work have come into force today (Monday 13 May), as the Westminster Government helps people progress in work and off welfare.

  • Universal Credit claimants working less than half of a full-time week will have to look to increase their hours, benefitting from extra work coach support.
  • 400,000 to receive more help to progress in work, as Mel Stride says “I want to help thousands of people on their journey off benefits”.
  • Changes come as the PM announces once a generation welfare reforms to help people find work, boost their earnings, and grow the economy.

Before 2022, someone could work only nine hours a week and remain on benefits without being expected to look for more work.

The latest rise in the Administrative Earnings Threshold (AET) means someone working less than 18 hours – half of a full-time week – will have to look for more work.

These Universal Credit claimants will move into the ‘Intensive Work Search group’, meeting with their work coaches more regularly to plan their job progression, boost their earnings and advance the journey off welfare altogether.

Combined with previous increases, 400,000 claimants are now subject to more intensive Jobcentre support – and with that the expectation that those who can work must engage with the support available or face losing their benefits.

The move comes as last month the Prime Minister announced a once in a generation package of welfare reforms to help thousands more people benefit from employment, building on the Government’s £2.5 billion Back to Work Plan providing extra help to over a million people to break down barriers to work.

Prime Minister Rishi Sunak said: “Welfare should always be a safety net, and not a lifestyle choice which is why we’re ushering in a new era of welfare reforms to help more people progress off benefits and into work.

“Today’s changes will help more people on Universal Credit move into well paid jobs and progress towards financial independence – which is better for them and for the economy.”

Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, Mel Stride MP said: “We will always back those who want to work hard, and today we are radically expanding the support available to help people progress in work.

“With the next generation of welfare reforms, I want to help thousands of people on their journey off benefits and towards financial independence.

“Our plan is making work pay, with people in full-time work now £7,000 better off than on out of work benefits, and our tax cuts putting £900 back in the pockets of millions of workers across Britain.”

The AET determines how much support an individual will receive to find work based on how much they currently earn and how many hours they work.

Together with the accelerated rollout of Universal Credit, even more claimants will benefit from the dedicated employment support offered through our Jobcentres like CV support and skills training, so people can take up better paid, higher quality jobs.

This builds on the significant steps already taken to break down barriers to work, with almost four million more people in employment compared to 2010.

The UK Government is clear those who can work to support themselves, should work, and they should feel better off for doing so.

That’s why the Government is getting tough, putting work at the heart of welfare and enforcing a stricter sanctions regime.

The PM recently announced a package of welfare reform measures, including exploring legislation to close the claims of those who don’t comply with conditions set by their Work Coach after 12 months.

With over 900,000 job vacancies in the economy, the Government ‘makes no apologies for helping people achieve financial security through work, as we grow the economy and help people build a better life for themselves’.

Full tour announced for June Carter Cash: The Woman, Her Music and Me

World Premiere 

National Theatre of Scotland and Grid Iron Theatre Company present 

June Carter Cash: The Woman, Her Music and Me 

Written and performed by Charlene Boyd, directed by Cora Bissett  

Music performed by Harry Ward, Ray Aggs and Amy Duncan 

Set and Costume Design – Shona Reppe, 

MD, Composer and Sound Designer – Pippa Murphy

Lighting Designer – Elle Taylor

Movement Director – Laura Fisher. 

Premiering at the Edinburgh Festival Fringe at the Dissection Room, Summerhall from 6 to 24 August with preview performances from 2 to 4 August 2024 

Touring across Scotland from 28 August to 22 September 2024: 

Opening night and press performance at the Dissection Room, Summerhall as part of the Edinburgh Festival Fringe on Tuesday 6 August at 4:00pm 

Barn, Banchory; Òran Mór, Glasgow; British Legion, Dunfermline – Outwith Festival; Cochran Hall, Kirkcudbright – Kirkcudbright Fringe; Millenium Centre, Stranraer in association with Dumfries & Galloway Arts Festival; Brodick Hall, Arran in association with Arran Theatre and Arts Trust; The Rockfield Centre, Oban; Ullapool Village Hall in association with the Ceilidh Place, and Forres Town Hall, Forres – Findhorn Bay Festival. 

Part of the 2024 Made in Scotland Showcase 

Charlene Boyd, one of Scotland’s leading actors shares the story of one of country music’s most iconic voices: June Carter Cash.

Directed by the multi-award-winning Cora Bissett, June Carter Cash: The Woman, Her Music and Me opens at the Dissection Room Summerhall as part of the Edinburgh Festival Fringe ahead of a tour of Scottish cultural venues and festivals in August and September 2024. 

June Carter Cash was a country singer, songwriter and dancer. She played guitar, banjo, harmonica and autoharp, winning five Grammy awards across her career. She came from a family of country singers and was the second wife of Johnny Cash. Their relationship was celebrated in the Oscar-winning 2005 film, Walk the Line. A new documentary about “June”, received its TV premiere on Paramount+ in 2024. This is the first stage play to premiere about June’s life and music in the UK. 

More than a simple biography of June’s life and music, this play with songs, sees Charlene explore her own relationship with her musical heroine and their shared experience as performers and working mothers. A powerful, personal journey of discovery stretching across the Atlantic, from the Appalachian Mountains to the Glasgow high-rise flats, their tale is one of empowerment, endurance and perseverance.  

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Charlene Boyd travelled to Nashville and across the Appalachian Mountains to research this play. She visited places that held special significance in June’s life and interviewed friends and family of June Carter Cash, alongside contemporary American country singer-songwriters. 

The show will feature live music and will be staged in a cabaret style setting, inspired by Nashville’s legendary Bluebird Café. Charlene Boyd gets to grips with a life less ordinary in this raw yet uplifting piece of intimate gig theatre. 

Charlene Boyd, writer and performer said: “I’ve sang in a band as June Carter Cash for over a decade but knew nothing about her really. I thought she was the pretty backing singer who sang along with Johnny Cash, then married him.

“It wasn’t until I started to dig that I realised how incredible June was in her own right, as an artist, woman and mother. I am proud that my first play shines a light on working class women artists and their struggle to be given their rightful place.” 

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Charlene Boyd is a Scottish actor and writer, born and raised in Glasgow. June Carter Cash: The Woman, Her Music and Me marks her debut as a playwright.

As an actor she most recently undertook the UK tour of 2:22 A Ghost Story and appeared in The Macbeths at the Citizens Theatre, for which she was nominated for Best Actress at the CATS Awards in 2019.

Charlene has previously worked with National Theatre of Scotland on the productions Men Should Weep, Empty and The Miracle Man.

Her television work includes Mayflies, The Trial of Christine Keeler, Crime S2, River City and Scots Squad. She also performs, as June, with Jericho Hill, in a Johnny Cash tribute band. 

Cora Bissett is a Scottish theatre director, playwright, actor and songwriter. Previous work with National Theatre of Scotland includes the hit political musical Glasgow Girls, Rites, Adam, Interference and Orphans.

Other theatre work includes Emma Donohue’s Room, which toured to London, across Scotland, Dublin and Toronto, the hit rock-music production Janis Joplin: Full Tilt and autobiographical gig theatre production What Girls Are Made Of, which won a Fringe First and Herald Angel award.

From 2014 until 2022, Bissett was an Associate Director with the National Theatre of Scotland. 

Founded in 1995, Grid Iron is a multi-award-winning Edinburgh-based new writing theatre company who specialise in site-specific and location theatre, although they have also created work for conventional stages.Grid Iron have previously collaborated with National Theatre of Scotland on Roam, a site-responsive production staged in Edinburgh Airport.   

Grid Iron have worked previously with Charlene Boyd on Barflies, Letters Home and The Devil’s Larder and with Cora Bissett on Clearance, The Bloody Chamber, Fierce and Yarn. 

The Cash family has connections to Scotland. Johnny Cash claimed his ancestors were from the Kingdom of Fife and was very proud of his Scottish ancestry. Cash visited Fife on more than one occasion, recording a television special there, Christmas in Scotland, in 1981. June’s daughter Carlene Carter made a special appearance at Celtic Connections in February 2024. 

Both National Theatre of Scotland and Grid Iron have a longstanding relationship with the Edinburgh Festival Fringe. National Theatre of Scotland has presented 18 shows at the Fringe since 2006, with previous shows including Black Watch, Our Ladies of Perpetual Succour and Adam. 

Grid Iron have appeared at the Festival Fringe 15 times since 1997 with offerings such as Decky Does a Bronco, Doppler, Barflies and The Devil’s Larder. 

In 2024, National Theatre of Scotland is producing a programme of three shows at the Edinburgh Festivals. Alongside June Carter Cash, The Woman, Her Music and Me, Gary McNair’s Dear Billy is showing at the Assembly Rooms and David Ireland’s The Fifth Step premieres at the Royal Lyceum Theatre as part of the Edinburgh International Festival. 

Edinburgh Festival Fringe venue and dates: Dissection Room, Summerhall from 02 to 24 August, 4:00pm 

Previews: Friday 2 August to Sunday 4 August, 4:00pm 

Press performance: Tuesday 6 August at 4:00pm 

Performance time: Doors and bar open at 4:00pm, performance begins at 4:20pm 

Touring Scotland from Wednesday 28 August to Sunday 22 September 2024: 

  • Barn, Banchory (Wed 28 Aug) 
  • Òran Mór, Glasgow (Fri 30 Aug – Sun 1 Sep) 
  • British Legion, Dunfermline – Outwith Festival (Tue 3 Sep) 
  • Cochran Hall, Kirkcudbright – Kirkcudbright Fringe (Thu 5 Sep) 
  • Millenium Centre, Stranraer in association with Dumfries & Galloway Arts Festival (Sat 7 Sep) 
  • Brodick Hall, Arran in association with Arran Theatre and Arts Trust (Wed 11 Sep) 
  • The Rockfield Centre, Oban (Fri 13 & Sat 14 Sep) 
  • Ullapool Village Hall in association with the Ceilidh Place (Tue 17 & Wed 18 Sep) 
  • Forres Town Hall, Forres – Findhorn Bay Festival (Sat 21 & Sun 22 Sep) 

Running Time: 1 hour, 20 minutes (approx.) 

Full tour and creative information here.  

The National Theatre of Scotland’s popular Theatre for a Fiver scheme will be available for 14 to 16 year-olds and those on Universal Credit. 

Access – full information coming soon. 

On social: #JuneandCharlene #JuneCarterCash 

Housing: Opposition to development halves if new homes locally affordable, new poll reveals

  • Level of opposition falls from 41% to 20% if new homes affordable for local people 
  • Support for new homes on brownfield land 20 points higher than for those elsewhere 
  • This polling supports CPRE’s campaign for the redefinition of ‘affordable’ housing in line with local incomes and its calls for a brownfield-first national housebuilding policy. 

New polling by YouGov, commissioned by CPRE, the countryside charity, has revealed that half of people who object to new housing in their local area would support them if the homes were affordable to people on average local incomes.

Whereas 41% said they did not want to see the construction of more homes close to where they live, that proportion fell to 20% if those homes were locally affordable.  

So-called ‘affordable’ housing, which can currently cost anything up to 80% of market rates, is usually anything but. CPRE is calling on the government to redefine the term in housing policy and link it directly to local incomes.

The results of the poll, carried out by YouGov, show that this change would encourage many people to support developments to which they would previously have objected.  

The poll also showed an increase in support for new homes from 50% to 71% if they were built on brownfield land. There are enough ‘shovel-ready’ brownfield sites in England for 1.2 million new homes.

Building them could provide people with genuinely affordable housing – close to where they already live, work and go to school – and protect the countryside at the same time.

This is a major endorsement of the brownfield-first house building policy, which is critical to reducing the need to build on Green Belt land that could otherwise support nature restoration and other environmental benefits such as flood defences. 

Developments in the Green Belt have been shown to underdeliver on affordability, while research published by CPRE in 2023 showed social homes accounted for less than 5% of those built on Green Belt land.

“The Green Belt is the countryside next door for 30 million people in the UK. It should be improved and protected to help us tackle the major environmental challenges we face, not covered with large, car-dependent ‘executive’ homes that local people neither want nor can afford. 

CPRE chief executive Roger Mortlock said: ‘The results of this poll tell us that people want new homes to be affordable for local people and built on brownfield sites. Both are possible with enough political will and we want to see all parties make strong pledges to deliver that. 

‘We need to move away from the idea that people in the countryside are against development. They want the same things as everyone else: housing on a scale and at a cost that’s appropriate for their local community that respects environmental limits.

“Land is this country in a finite resource and our countryside is working harder than ever to meet the multiple environmental and social challenges we face.

“For new housing we should prioritise inner-city brownfield development, urban densification and regeneration of towns, delivering the homes we need today while safeguarding the countryside for future generations to enjoy.’  

State-of-the-Green-Belt-2023-onlineDownload

North Edinburgh Community Festival: Fabulous fun in the sun!

I was delighted to join my friends from Edinburgh International Book Festival’s Citizen Writers group at North Edinburgh Community Festival at West Pilton Park on Saturday, and the sun split the skies once again – that’s the third year on the trot!

Congratulations to the organisers and the entertainers who made it such a special day, and also a big thanks to the young festivalgoers who took part in our Citizen Big Board Game!

Looking forward to next year already!

There are lots more pictures on the North Edinburgh News Facebook page

Women in Revolt! Art and Activism in the UK 1970-1990 at Modern Two

Be inspired by stories of collaboration, creativity and rebellion in Women in Revolt! Art and Activism in the UK 1970-1990 at Modern Two in Edinburgh. 

The first of its kind, Women in Revolt! is a major survey of feminist art, celebrating the women whose radical ideas and rebellious methods changed the face of British culture.

Come and discover the powerful and often provocative work of over 100 women artists and collectives, forged against the backdrop of seismic social and economic change over two decades.

Tickets are on sale now from the National Galleries of Scotland website.  

Curated by Linsey Young, Curator of British Contemporary Art at Tate Britain, in collaboration with the National Galleries of Scotland and The Whitworth, The University of Manchester, Women in Revolt! will take over the entire Modern Two gallery in Edinburgh from 25 May 2024 until 26 January 2025.

Following its debut at Tate Britain in November 2023, the exhibition will bring to Edinburgh a select range of works from the London show, drawing from public and private collections across the country in what will be the only chance to see this landmark exhibition in Scotland. 

Women in Revolt! spans two decades of art and activism, charting a range of themes and social issues that influenced and impacted on women artists.

Topics such as the Women’s Liberation Movement, maternal and domestic experiences, Punk and independent music, Greenham Common and the peace movement, the visibility of Black and South Asian women artists, and Section 28 and the AIDS epidemic will be explored in six thematic galleries platforming the creative contributions, ideas and activism of a diverse set of communities living and working in the UK throughout this period.

The exhibition will highlight the ways in which women challenged societal norms through their creativity, both collectively and in isolation, using their lived experiences to create art and fight injustice. 

Women in Revolt! is a timely and urgent exhibition celebrating the women who paved the way for future generations through their creativity and activism. The power of their work continues to resonate with audiences today.

About the exhibition: 

Women in Revolt! Art and Activism in the UK from 1970-1990 

National Galleries Scotland: Modern Two 

Belford Road, Edinburgh 

25 May 2024–26 January 2025  

Tickets £4–£14 | Friends go free  

Women in Revolt! Art and Activism in the UK 1970–1990 | National Galleries of Scotland 

350 extra medical school places allocated in NHS training boost

The UK Government has funded 350 additional medical school places in England for the academic year 2025/26 in latest step to deliver NHS Long Term Workforce Plan

  • The Government has funded 350 additional medical school places in England for the academic year 2025/26 
  • This is the next stage in delivering the NHS Long Term Workforce Plan commitment to double medical school places by 2031
  • The places have been allocated to medical schools across the country but targeted to address disparities in the distribution of places and support under-doctored areas

The Westminster government has allocated an additional 350 medical school places, to deliver the future workforce the NHS requires.  

Last year, the NHS set out its Long Term Workforce Plan, backed by more than £2.4 billion in government funding. It outlines how the NHS will recruit and retain hundreds of thousands more staff over the next 15 years – delivering the biggest training expansion in the health service’s history.  

One of the key commitments is doubling the number of medical school places in England to 15,000 by 2031, and levelling up the geographic training of places to help tackle unequal access to services.  

In the next step to deliver this commitment, the Office for Students (OfS) has now allocated 350 places in the academic year 2025/26 to medical schools across the country.  

Health and Social Care Secretary Victoria Atkins said:  “Thanks to the Government’s plan for a faster, simpler and fairer healthcare system, the NHS now has record funding, and a record number of doctors.

“I want to make sure that we will have the medical professionals we will need in the years ahead.

“That’s why we are delivering the NHS Long Term Workforce Plan, and doubling the number of medical school places, so we can train the next generation of world-class doctors to offer patients the highest-quality care.”

 Education Secretary Gillian Keegan said: “Our frontline health workers do tremendous work in serving the nation every single day and ensuring all of us receive the care we need.

“I know what a popular career medicine is among young people, and it’s so important they have the chance to pursue their ambitions.

“With this expansion of places – alongside our new doctor degree apprenticeship – the opportunities for a career in medicine are greater than ever.”

Amanda Pritchard, Chief Executive of NHS England said: “This is a hugely important moment for the NHS Long Term Workforce Plan and marks one of the first steps towards our ambition to train more doctors in England than ever before – the record expansion will help us boost care for patients right across the country.  

“The ambitious blueprint for our workforce, is a once in a generation opportunity to put NHS staffing on a sustainable footing, particularly as we continue to adapt to new and rising demand for health services.”

Dr Katie Petty-Saphon, CEO, Medical Schools Council said: “The Medical Schools Council welcomes the announcement of 350 additional student places from 2025. 

“Medical schools are committed to widening participation to the profession and particularly important is the need for local recruitment in under-doctored areas.

“We will continue to work with stakeholders to ensure that the NHS has the staff it needs to deliver high quality patient care.”

Places have been provided across the country, but the OfS has used analysis of geographical distribution provided by NHS England to target under-doctored areas in its allocation of the places.  

This includes substantial increases to medical schools at universities in Sunderland, Leeds, East Anglia, Anglia Ruskin, Plymouth and Surrey. The University of Surrey is also receiving government-funded places for the first time.  

This is the second year of expansions to deliver the NHS Long Term Workforce Plan. Delivery started a year early, allocating 205 additional medical school places for the 2024/25 academic year, including providing Government-funded places to three schools for the first time. 

This builds on the 25% expansion of medical school places in England that the Government completed in 2020, taking the total number of places to 7,500 per year and delivering five new medical schools. 

A combination of the additional medical places this year and next, along with medical apprenticeship places, puts us on track to exceed current plans. 

Through the allocation of places for 2026/27 and beyond, the Government and NHS England will work closely with partners including medical schools, NHS trusts and the General Medical Council to deliver ambitious reforms to medical education set out in the NHS Long Term Workforce Plan.

Responding to the announcement the Government is to fund 350 further medical school places for 2025/26, President of the Royal College of Emergency Medicine, Dr Adrian Boyle said: “This latest news detailing the uplift of med school places is welcome. Medicine remains one of the best, rewarding – and, I hope, – still attractive careers.

“But medical school places can only ever be part of the picture. They must also be accompanied by the educators needed to teach and mentor these students, and enough dedicated specialty training places for them to move on to when they have qualified.

“However, it is pointless investing in the next generation if the Government does not also look after the current workforce – morale is at rock bottom, stress levels are sky high, and attrition is a serious problem.

“Medicine is a vocation which starts the day you step through the doors of Med School and lasts a lifetime. Proper government support is nothing less than these dedicated professionals need and deserve.”

BVA President: Reform of Veterinary Surgeons Act necessary to support profession in challenging times

Speaking at the British Veterinary Association (BVA) annual Scottish Dinner in the Scottish Parliament last week (8 May), BVA President Dr. Anna Judson highlighted how vets in Scotland have shown resilience in the face of ongoing challenges to the profession. She also called for important legislative reforms for animal welfare and for futureproofing the veterinary professions.

Addressing guests including Jim Fairlie MSP, Minister for Agriculture and Connectivity,  BVA Honorary Member Edward Mountain MSP, other Members of the Scottish Parliament, as well as senior representatives from animal health and welfare organisations and colleagues from across the veterinary profession,

Dr Judson highlighted issues including the significant threats from avian influenza and the expected spike in Bluetongue virus cases; the impact of the XL Bully ban on vets in practice; and the intense pressure on vet teams following the negative media coverage of the proposed Competition and Markets Authority (CMA) investigation into the UK’s vet services market for pets.

Speaking about the CMA review, Dr Judson reiterated BVA’s support for “healthy competition and informed consumer choice”, highlighting the organisation’s new guidance to help vet practices provide greater client choice by improving transparency around fees and practice ownership. 

She also cautioned about the impact of “inaccurate and unfair media reporting” on vet teams, saying: “We’re keen to see healthy competition and informed consumer choice within the veterinary services market and this external scrutiny is a welcome opportunity to reflect and ensure we’re continuing to deliver the best possible service for both patients and clients.

“However, we are also acutely aware of the impact the CMA review is having on the profession. Inaccurate and unfair media reporting, characterising vets as scammers who are preying on pet owners’ desire to do the very best for their animals, is leading to many vet teams reporting increased levels of abusive behaviour from clients, both in person and online.

“Of course, this portrayal of vets simply isn’t true and as a practising vet of more than 30 years, who knows first-hand the quality of care which vet teams deliver day in, day out, it’s painful to see our profession misrepresented in this way.

“I’m pleased to be able to stand here and tell you that BVA is tackling this issue head on, both with the media and by ensuring the veterinary profession’s perspective is fully heard and understood by the CMA.”

Dr Judson emphasised the importance of reflecting on what the profession can do “to rebuild the trust between us and our clients” and the steps BVA is taking to support all vets. 

She said: “We have developed guidance for our members and the wider veterinary profession on how practices can be more transparent in relation to vet fees and practice ownership, improving how we explain prescribing and dispensing options for veterinary medicines, and ensuring we explain different treatment options which take into account the full range of clients’ circumstances, known to vets as providing ‘contextualised care’. It’s a positive step that will help move the profession forward.”

Despite the challenges posed by the CMA investigation, the BVA President acknowledged that it also presented an opportunity for positive change and expressed the hope that it would act as a catalyst for a much-needed reform of the Veterinary Surgeons Act 1966.

Dr Judson called on gathered delegates to help BVA put pressure all political parties to keep this issue on the agenda and ensure this UK-wide legislative change happens, saying: “We cannot build a modern and effective veterinary profession on the foundations of legislation which was created in a very different era.

“The current Veterinary Surgeons Act fails to embrace the potential of the wider veterinary team. We do not work in isolation as vets, we are closely supported by others – such as registered veterinary nurses, vet techs, musculoskeletal professionals and equine dental technicians, yet these important roles are not recognised.

“The legislation fails to offer any legal protection for the title of veterinary nurse. Highly skilled and qualified, registered veterinary nurses work closely with veterinary surgeons, yet no formal training or qualifications are actually required for someone to call themselves a ‘veterinary nurse’.

“This must be rectified. As must the Act’s failure to regulate veterinary practices, meaning that individual vets and veterinary nurses are held accountable for business decisions which can directly impact on animal health and welfare. This is simply not appropriate.”

Dr Judson went on to highlight BVA’s calls for another key legislative change for animal welfare and public health. Speaking about the recent bans against XL Bully-type dogs, she welcomed the opportunity to work closely with Scottish Government as the details of the ban were developed.

However, she cautioned that breed-specific legislation has “consistently failed to protect people since its introduction,” saying: “Alongside our work to support the veterinary profession through these bans, we are continuing to press the UK Governments, in Scotland working alongside MSPs, for a complete overhaul of the dangerous dogs legislation.

“Breed specific legislation as enshrined in the Dangerous Dogs Act is ineffective and hard to enforce. It must be replaced with breed neutral legislation which deals with aggression in all dogs, and has responsible dog ownership and training at its core. Only then can we properly protect the public.”

The BVA President ended her speech by thanking BVA Scottish Branch colleagues for all their hard work and support, and welcoming Vivienne Mackinnon, who was formally elected as the new Branch Junior Vice President at the AGM on Tuesday afternoon.

Jim Fairlie MSP, Minister for Agriculture and Connectivity, responded to the speech as BVA’s Guest of Honour.

Edinburgh School Uniform Bank relaunches Clothing Crisis Packs

We are excited to re-launch our school uniform referral service – Clothing Crisis Packs – for children and young people who are in exceptional need.

Many families can now access free school uniform locally through our pilot projects in schools and networks of community wardrobes. For others, it is usually best to support the family to maximise their income through a “cash first” approach so that they can buy school uniform themselves. A small minority cannot access any of these options, and this is when our Clothing Crisis Packs are available.

If you are a professional working with families in exceptional need, please visit our website to find out more about changes to our referral system.

Clothing Crisis Packs

Edinburgh College EIS public meeting

ROYSTON WARDIEBURN COMMUNITY CENTRE – THURSDAY 16 MAY 6.30pm

Edinburgh College EIS-FELA branch are hosting a public meeting this week to discuss the impact that cuts to Further Education are having and will continue to have in Edinburgh.

We are yet again facing more job losses and the cuts to educational provision at our campuses will have a devastating effect for our local communities.

The meeting will take place on Thursday 16th May at Royston Wardieburn Community centre from 6.30pm.

We have invited local community leaders to attend and we are hoping that this meeting will be the first of three meetings in communities in which our campuses are situated.