Millions of unpaid carers across the UK provide support to a family member, friend or neighbour due to a disability, illness or frailty due to old age. Yet a majority of unpaid carers have no choice but to take on a caring role.While providing unpaid care can be rewarding, it also comes with significant negative impacts on carers’ lives.
The No choice but to care report, published on the first day of Carers Week 2024 found that:
62% of those who are currently providing or those who have previously provided unpaid care said that they had no choice in taking on the role because no other care options were available – this is around 10 million people. [1]
The impact of caring has been more negative than positive for all areas current and former unpaid carers were asked about, particularly for mental health (63%), physical health (53%), Job and ability to work (48%) and finances and savings (47%).
The negative impacts as a result of caring were also felt most strongly by those who had no choice but to take on an unpaid caring role as well as women and those aged 45-54.
The research also found that 73% of members of the public surveyed for the research think that unpaid carers should receive more support from the next Government, particularly financial support and investment in social care.
The report recommends the establishment of a National Carers Strategy, review and reform of social security benefits for carers and better workplace protections and workplace support for unpaid carers.
To ensure carers’ health and wellbeing is better supported, the report recommends a new duty on the NHS to have regard to unpaid carers as well as further investment in social care and carers’ breaks.
The report also makes recommendations aimed at employers, public bodies and specific recommendations for the UK nations.
First Minister to attend opening match between Scotland and Germany
First Minister John Swinney will join fans in Germany and at home cheering on the Scotland Men’s National Football Team in their first match of the tournament.
Scottish Ministers will attend Scotland’s three group stage matches of the UEFA European Football Championship.
The First Minister will attend the opening game with hosts Germany in Munich on Friday and attend the official opening ceremony of the UEFA Fan Zone in the Olympic Park stadium in Munich alongside the Lord Provost of Edinburgh and Mayor of Munich.
First Minister John Swinney said: “Football has a marvellous way of bringing people together, of all ages, of all nationalities, both women and men and it is a privilege to be heading to Munich to join them in supporting our national team and experiencing the warm hospitality of our German hosts.
“The tournament has an even more profound meaning for Scots this year as not only has our national team made it to the finals, but this year also marks the 70th anniversary of the twinning of the cities of Edinburgh and Munich.
“Celebrating the diversity within our democracies through sport strengthens our societies and improves our resilience as nations.
“I am honoured to be able to attend the opening game between Scotland and Germany and I wish our national team, led by Steve Clarke, the best of luck but most importantly I hope all of our travelling fans have a thoroughly good time.”
Sport Minister Maree Todd and Culture Secretary Angus Robertson will also attend Scotland matches with Switzerland and Hungary respectively.
They will each undertake a series of engagements in Cologne and Stuttgart focussing on culture and sport, sports diplomacy and Scottish-German relations as well as discussing opportunities for Scotland and Germany to collaborate more closely on energy research.
On Thursday, (6th June), the Scottish Minister for Housing, Paul McLennan, visited Longniddry Village, an award-winning development from Places for People and Cruden Homes in association with Wemyss and March Estates.
Located on the East Lothian coast, the development’s current success represents the value and positive influence of multi-tenure communities in Scotland.
During the Minister’s visit, he met representatives from the development and discussed how working together on mixed-tenure developments like Longniddry Village enables the creation of thriving communities and provides solutions to Scotland’s housing crisis, where 110,000 households are currently on the waitlist for social housing.
In research recently commissioned by Places for People, three-quarters of Scotland respondents believe new developments should be multi-tenure and over 80% believe they should offer community facilities, such as cafes, restaurants, and shared social spaces.*
Named ‘Large Development of the Year’ at the Homes for Scotland Awards 2023, Longniddry Village comprises affordable housing as well as homes for private sale. This not only appeals to a range of prospective buyers, from first-time buyers to downsizers but also helps to support Scotland’s vision for everyone across the country to have a safe, warm, and affordable home that meets their needs.
The Minister’s visit involved a tour of Longniddry Village, where he saw the first phase of the development, which showed the delivery of outright sale, affordable rented housing, and older living properties.
This was followed by a tour of the ambitious conversion of the historic Longniddry Steading where a number of the commercial space are nearing completion, followed by the second phase of residential development, where he could see Longniddry Village’s mid-market rent offering and plans for other sales tenures.
Places for People understand placemaking and have successfully delivered mixed-tenure communities of blended development before, such as Tornagrain in the Scottish Highlands. The organisation understands that by focusing on this way of building it can remove the stigma of social housing and act as another way to address the housing crisis.
Colin Jack, Production Director for Places for People comments:“It was wonderful to show the Scottish Minister for Housing around Longniddry Village, where he could see our progress and witness the growing and friendly mixed-tenure community, who are enjoying their new homes in this idyllic setting.
“However, our main topic of discussion remained on the current housing crisis, and how we can work collaboratively to deliver the new homes required. With an overwhelming number of households on the waiting list for social housing, we need to find solutions that can support developers to build at the scale and pace required to address our housing shortages.
“At Places for People, we are committed to building new homes as we see it as our responsibility and will look to deliver 2,500 new affordable homes across Scotland in the next five years. As a social enterprise, all our profits are recycled back into the organisation, so we can focus on helping those struggling the most to meet their living needs.”
Housing Minister Paul McLennan said: “The new mid rent homes at Longniddry Village will play a valuable role in boosting Scotland’s affordable housing supply.
“Everyone deserves a warm and safe place to call home and these high-quality, energy efficient properties will help to meet the needs of the local community for generations to come.”
PICTURED: L-R: Martin Andrews, Factor at Wemyss & March Estates; Housing Minister, Paul McLennan; Colin Jack, Production Director at Places for People; Fraser Lynes, Managing Director at Cruden Homes; Edward Taylor, Taylor Urbanism)
The kits of essential items will be donated to ‘The Big Hoose’ Multibank co-founded by Gordon Brown and Amazon
Employees from Amazon’s corporate office in Edinburgh have come together to pack 5,000 hygiene kits filled with essential items worth more than £25,000 for a charity initiative supporting families in need across Fife.
The Hygiene kits which contain essential items such as soap, shampoo, and shower gel packed in a cloth bag, were donated to The Big Hoose, Fife’s Multibank, co-founded by former Prime Minister Gordon Brown, and Amazon UK in 2022.
The Fife Multibank is a community donations hub, offering support for families experiencing poverty across the region. It provides surplus essentials, such as warm clothes, hygiene products, school uniforms, and bedding donated by businesses, like Amazon, directly to those in need.
The products are redistributed via the lead charity partner, The Cottage Family Centre, to charity groups and care professionals who give them directly to people in need, when they need them.
Kitting events also took place in Amazon’s offices in London, Swansea, Cambridge and Manchester with the aim of packing and donating 30,000 essential kits to the Multibank network across the UK.
The events are part of Amazon’s Global Month of Volunteering, an initiative that aims to help the communities where Amazon employees live and work.
During May, thousands of Amazon employees volunteered alongside their peers, adding to the company’s efforts to support its local communities throughout the year.
The volunteer initiatives helped address a range of issues, including STEM education and food insecurity.
Jane Poojari is an employee at Amazon’s corporate office in Edinburgh and took part in the packing event. She said: “I’m proud that my colleagues were able to come together to offer a helping hand to The Big Hoose through this volunteering.
“Amazon already donates thousands of products to the Multibank but it was great to play our part and support the incredible work that The Cottage Family Centre does to help those impacted by poverty in Fife.”
Pauline Buchan, Strategic Manager at The Cottage Family Centre, added: “Too many people in our local community are experiencing poverty and unable to afford the basic essentials so many of us take for granted.
“These kits will make a very real difference to families in our community who need support during difficult times. Thank you to the Amazon team for their ongoing support in helping us ensure The Big Hoose is here to help those who need it most.”
The Big Hoose Multibank has supported more than one hundred thousand of families in Fife with the donation of over a million surplus goods since it began operating in 2022.
Community support organisations, schools and colleges, homeless shelters, and elderly support services in the area have taken delivery of essential supplies from The Big Hoose.
The Big Hoose was the first Multibank established in the UK, an initiative co-founded by Gordon Brown and Amazon. It was followed by a second site in Wigan, Greater Manchester in 2023, then a third in Swansea, South Wales in 2024.
The initiative has now donated more than 2 million surplus essential items to over 200,000 families in need.
As a girl who began watching ballet at the age of 10, little did Safia Qureshi realise that one day her interest in dance would lead to a career in helping to improve people’s health and wellbeing.
Safia is currently Director of Evidence and Digital at Healthcare Improvement Scotland, the national improvement agency for health and care in Scotland, whilst also being a volunteer with Scottish Ballet. She is involved with them as part of a ground-breaking initiative that uses dance as an alternative to medication.
Safia, from Penicuik, is one of 3485 NHS volunteers each month, who give up their time to help others. In total, NHS volunteers donated 584,000 hours in 2023-24 – the equivalent of 24,333 days.
She is encouraging others to do their bit and give up some of their spare time, as part of Volunteers Week, which runs from Monday, 3 June until Sunday 9.
Safia said: “I grew up loving ballet. I went to see it with my mum when I was a little, so I’ve always gone to see it when I can.
“I was doing a leadership development course run by the Scottish Government called Project Lift when I first came into contact with Scottish Ballet in a work setting. and they had this idea which they called Colliding Perspectives.
“I was involved in an initiative where small groups of people who were on the course came together with folk from different industries, and one of the companies involved was Scottish Ballet.
“They were looking for help with developing their Dance Health programme so I was straight at the front for that one, saying ‘Let me help!’
“Some colleagues and I were invited for a visit, to meet them and talk about what they were looking for.
“When I was there, I wondered if Healthcare Improvement Scotland might be able to help them, because one of their challenges was persuading healthcare professionals that dance could be used as an alternative to medication.”
Safia initially volunteered with a programme which helped people with Parkinson’s Disease.
She explained: “Having heard about their dance health programme at a high level, I got the opportunity to volunteer with the Dance for Parkinson’s programme that Scottish Ballet was running in Peebles, so I volunteered with them, probably on and off for maybe a year-and-a-half, and that was what really did it for me.
“It was just the most amazing experience, as the classes were run by professional dancers and they treated everyone who was in the room as a dancer. It was all really respectful and the programmes are based on whatever Scottish Ballet are working on, so there’s always a connection back to the company.
“The class became this real community, where people with Parkinson’s and a friend or a partner would come, and we’d all do the class together. It was great for helping people to relax and unwind.
“There were times when I would be blinking back tears at the positivity and community in the room. There’s something really special about the way that dance helped and united us all. I got such a lot from it personally, and it made me more determined that we need to show other people this is something that is amazing.”
With her knowledge as a health and care professional, Safia has been delighted to bring her professional expertise, her contacts within the world of healthcare professionals, plus her love of ballet together, and in turn has made many friends.
She said: “I helped Scottish Ballet set up their research committee and bringing in clinical experts.
“Having been a volunteer for a while, I was thinking some of the exercises that Scottish Ballet do might benefit people with Long COVID.
“We asked some of the patient representatives who’d supported us develop a clinical guideline for people with Long COVID guideline if they would meet with Scottish Ballet and talk them through what might be useful. They then introduced Scottish Ballet to more people in the Long COVID community. There was a real example of thinking differently, and using what you do in a different way to help people.”
Safia added: “When I was 10 years old and going to the ballet with my mum, I wouldn’t have believed this was all possible and that one day, I’d be working with Scottish Ballet. It still catches me every time I go.
“Through volunteering, you meet fascinating people who you would never otherwise have met and you also get to learn about yourself as you broaden your horizons. It’s very rewarding.
“Volunteering makes you feel good in lots of different ways, by doing something that takes you out of your day-to-day routine. I’ve been part of a community I never knew existed, which is lovely and I couldn’t recommend it highly enough.”
The Forest at Merchiston to host Open Morning on 15 June
Edinburgh’s answer to progressive education, The Forest at Merchiston, is to open its woodland gates to prospective families on 15 June between 9:30am – 11:30am for a truly enchanting Open Event.
Merchiston Castle School’s highly anticipated Forest Nursery and Junior School will welcome families interested in the cutting-edge, co-educational provision for an interactive Open Morning in the gorgeous 100-acre wooded grounds.
Alongside hands-on activities and Forest games, attendees will hear from The Forest Head Teacher, Davina Bowers, about this pioneering new offering, and have the chance to speak to the newly appointed Forest teaching staff.
Opening in September 2024, The Forest Nursery and Junior School seeks to bring a holistic approach to childhood development to Edinburgh.
Founded in Forest school principles, which prioritises child-centred outdoor learning, this educational offering will provide boys and girls ages 3 – 5 (Forest Nursery) and year groups P1 – P3 (Forest Junior) the very best formative years of education.
Davina Bowers, Head Teacher of The Forest Nursery and Junior School, said: “We are very excited to be hosting this Open Morning for prospective families to discover more about The Forest at Merchiston.
“This is the first chance for parents to meet our passionate Forest team and learn about our vibrant academic curriculum. We will also be answering questions, covering everything from after-school activities to uniform and more.
“As with all our Forest events, we are incorporating some fun Forest-themed activities to keep the little ones – and big ones – entertained! There will even be a surprise visit from a very special guest to add to the magical atmosphere.”
The Forest at Merchiston’s Open Morning is taking place on Saturday 15 June between 9:30am – 11:30am. Registration is required to attend the event, please do so here.
ONLY 38% of Type 1 diabetics in NHS Lothian have aces to a Flash Glucose Monitor, compared to 51.8% across Scotland – and only a quarter of paediatric patients in NHS Lothian have access to a Flash Glucose Monitor compared with 35.5% across Scotland.
Commenting on the figures, Lothian MSP, Miles Briggs, said: ““Diabetes patients in NHS Lothian are simply not getting the same level of treatment that they would be if they lived in other parts of Scotland.
“We know that this technology is really significant for a person’s quality of life and we need to improve access to Flash Glucose Monitors across the health board.
“Children in particular are not receiving the same level of care as they would get in other parts of Scotland.
“Years of underfunding of the health boards by SNP Minister has led to a position were NHS Lothian are cutting services that they do not want to cut.
“We need to see a review of the wording to treatment guarantees in Scotland.
“Flash Glucose Monitors count as equipment, rather than medicine, which mean that diabetes patients are not automatically entitled to the technology.”
Come along to the official opening of our earthen-built Community Kitchen in our Community Allotments and Garden!
Saturday 15th June, 1pm – 3:30pm
We’re excited to celebrate this new community space. The Community Kitchen was made by and for the people in this community, funded by the Edinburgh Community Climate Fund #ParticipatoryBudgeting process.
But our community also includes all the plant and animal life too. This is why we have invited Scotland’s Plant Health Centre and other experts to join us for the afternoon.
We will have info sessions from:
Gerry Sadler: Chief Plant Health Officer for Scotland
Matt Elliot: Plant Health & Biosecurity Scientist at RBGE (and our own)
Rob Davidson: Experienced Ecologist and Orchardist
Lisa Houston: Community Growing Development Coordinator & Earthen Building Expert
Together we will explore how plant health connects with wider community health. You can learn how to source seeds safely, spot signs of plant disease, get healthy compost, and protect the wider ecosystem when growing your own fruit and veg.
Along with artists Gretchen Maynard-Hayn and Emma Brierley, you can help us make a useful guide for anyone who has an allotment or veg patch.
We’ll be screening a short film in one of the sheds. And you can eat pizza cooked in our new earthen oven!
It’s free, but we do need to know numbers, so please book a ticket:
THE city council would like your views on revised plans for a major expansion of West Edinburgh based on feedback from residents, businesses and Scottish Government.
