£100 million Scottish Government funding to improve patient flow
£100 million funding in the 2025-26 Budget to tackle delayed discharge will make Hospital at Home the ‘biggest hospital in the country’, if approved by Parliament.
The service, which offers a safe alternative to admission to an acute hospital, will grow to 2,000 beds by December 2026, alleviating pressure on health and social care settings.
The money will also ensure all A&E departments in Scotland have frailty units directly linked to community care settings, with an increased focus on collaborative working to identify ways to improve patient experience.
It is part of an overall £200 million package to clear the majority of new outpatient and treatment time patient waits and renew the NHS.
Social Care Minister Maree Todd visited Queen Margaret Hospital in Dunfermline to outline a package of measures to reduce delayed discharge and to learn about other services that can be replicated across Scotland, such as Discharge to Assess that has been successful in Fife.
Ms Todd said: “Reducing delayed discharges is a key priority for the Scottish Government and the Budget we published last week will throw the weight of the government behind NHS improvement.
“More than 96% of all hospital discharges happen without delay but we are working with local health partners and local government to find solutions for those that don’t and address the variation we are seeing across Scotland. Our Budget for 2025-26, if approved by Parliament, will provide £200 million to help clear waiting list backlogs, improve capacity and remove blockages that keep some patients in hospital longer than necessary.
“Once someone has been assessed as well enough to be discharged from hospital, the best place for them to be is at home, supported by a bespoke care package. This can be delivered by services for older people such as Hospital at Home, and evidence shows that those benefitting from it are more likely to avoid hospital or care home stays for up to six months after an acute illness.
“We want to expand that service to make it the ‘biggest hospital in Scotland’, providing the very best care, in the comfort of a patient’s own home or home-like setting.
“We have a plan to renew our NHS and the Budget’s record funding for the health service will ensure that 150,000 extra patients are treated, deliver additional support for GPs, and invest in new hospitals at Belford and Monklands.
“We want to improve our NHS, but to do that Parliament must approve our Budget Bill to unlock investment to drive long-term and lasting improvements – and the healthier population that we all want to see. The NHS needs Parliament to unite behind this Budget.”
Registered women’s charity, Soroptimist International Great Britain & Ireland (SIGBI), is calling upon the government to prioritise prevention against domestic abuse, and other crimes that incite Violence Against Women and Girls (VAWG), as ‘Orange the World’ 2024 draws to a close.
The Crime Survey for England and Wales estimates that approximately 2.1 million women are victims of domestic abuse per year and that between two and three women each week are killed by a current or former partner.
Refuge reports that, in the UK, the police receive a domestic abuse-related phone call every 30 seconds. Yet, it’s estimated that only 24% of domestic abuse crime is reported to the police.
Over the past few weeks, SIGBI has been campaigning for the elimination of VAWG and domestic abuse with its annual ‘16 Days of Activism’, a UN Women campaign that highlights gender-based violence worldwide.
Ruth Healey, President of SIGBI, said:“Amounting to a national emergency, violence against women and girls can take so many forms – physical, emotional, financial, and coercive – and much of it is now hidden, especially when it comes to domestic violence, which makes it so much harder to combat.
“It’s terrifying that between 2018 and 2023, there was a 37% increase in violent crimes against women and girls.
“The issue is growing, and the urgency for collective action is underscored by staggering numbers and reports highlighting the prevalence of gender-based violence both nationally and globally.
“Gender-based violence needs to be unacceptable in all parts of our society, and it requires a multi-faceted approach to address it. This includes prevention, protection, and prosecution, but mostly prevention.”
The ‘16 days of Activism’ also commonly referred to as ‘Orange the World’ commenced on 25 November, the International Day for the Elimination of Violence Against Women, and has recently drawn to a close on 10 December, Human Rights Day.
Over the course of the campaign, SIGBI’s members – known as Soroptimists – have turned the UK orange, lighting up key monuments and buildings, to shine a light on these issues.
St Alban’s Museum, Hertfordshire County Hall, Cartmel Priory, The Hoad Monument, Barrow Town Hall, Pembrokeshire County Hall, Cirencester Parish Church, Wigan Town Hall, Wills Hall in Bristol, Bristol City Hall and key buildings in Salisbury are a few locations which turned orange over the past few weeks.
The campaign took place not long after the UK Government announced new measures to combat VAWG, marking the first step in its pledge to halve violence against women and girls in the next decade.
Ruth said: “As Soroptimists, we believe we need to continue to raise awareness of this issue – empowering communities with the knowledge needed to help prevent violence before it starts.
“This is why – as the campaign ends this year – we’re keen to call on the Government to do more. While reforming police responses, strengthening the justice system, empowering victims and making Violence Against Women and Girls (VAWG) a mainstream issue is important, it is most important to prioritise the prevention of domestic abuse crimes or VAWG in the first instance.
“By turning the UK orange this 25 November to 10 December, we took action, raised awareness and ignited change, but we don’t want it to stop there. We are committed to creating a world where women and girls can live free from fear, empowered to reach their full potential.”
Soroptimists across the UK undertake a significant amount of work to prevent VAWG and domestic abuse – much of that work involves education around the impact of crimes against women.
The charity’s Lichfield club, for example, has run several Healthy Relationship talks to boys, aged 15 – 17 years old at the Lichfield City Football Academy, emphasising the need for Consent and Respect. Feedback from the Academy is that there has been a definite shift in behaviour.
Programmes are being run across the UK alongside conferences that bring together local agencies, councillors, Police Crime Commissioners and others to discuss local approaches.
Soroptimists have also launched observation studies into the treatment of female domestic abuse victims, watching over 220 sessions of the Special Domestic Violence Courts in the pilot alone. This work has now been replicated in Wiltshire (2018), the Midlands (2020 and now in Wales (2024).
The observations have consistently supplied similar recommendations. These include:
Female victims need consistent access to Domestic Abuse Advisors.
Technology needs to be used effectively to make a stressful situation less so, and to ensure that trials are not affected by an abuse of technology.
Essential training needs to be delivered to all magistrates, judges and Crown prosecutors so they fully understand domestic abuse, and how fear and control affect a victim’s decisions.
The voice of the victim must be represented appropriately.
SIGBI is a membership organisation which focuses on empowering women and girls to achieve their full potential and works to eliminate barriers and discriminations that hinder women’s progress.
The charity does this through its 248 clubs throughout the UK, Ireland, Malta, Asia and the Caribbean – over 200 of which are in the UK. It currently has a total of 5,150 members.
The organisation has consultancy status at the UN – with members participating in UN meetings, submitting statements and collaborating on global projects which advance gender equality.
The 16 Days of Activism, and the charity’s work on VAWG, are a part of this. Get involved here: https://sigbi.org/
“Women’s safety is not a privilege, it’s a basic human right,” Ruth concluded.
The Scottish Children’s Services Coalition (SCSC), an alliance of leading providers of specialist care and education to vulnerable children and young people, is calling for urgent action following a sharp decline in the number of legally binding education support plans for those with complex or multiple additional support needs (ASN).
So-called co-ordinated support plans (CSPs), prepared by local authorities, are the only education plans that are legal documents. These provide some guarantees of entitlement to additional resources and legal redress, placing statutory duties on local authorities to review and ensure the provisions contained within it are being met.
However, despite a Scottish Government promise that there would be no reduction in the proportion of pupils receiving them since their introduction in 2004, there has been a significant fall in the number of pupils with a CSP, as highlighted in the recent Scottish Government’s annual census of pupils and teachers in publicly funded schools.
In 2014, there were 3,128 pupils with such a plan. 1 However, by 2024 this number had fallen to 1,215. 2 This amounts to a drop of 61.1% and is a reduction from 2.2% to 0.4% of those with ASN, amounting to 0.2 per cent of the pupil population.
This sharp fall in the number of CSPs contrasts with a dramatic increase in number of pupils with ASN, such as autism, dyslexia and mental health problems, which in 2024 reached a record high of 284,448.3 This represents 40.5% of the pupil population, rising from 140,542 in 2014 (20.8% of all pupils).4 It amounts to a more than doubling (102.4%) in numbers over the past decade.
A concern raised by the SCSC is that local authorities are reluctant to issue CSPs because they are seen as cumbersome and time-consuming, as well as being resource-intensive and subject to enhanced scrutiny.
This is all set against the backdrop of a lack of resources, with many local authorities now reluctant to provide, what would be legally enforceable support, due to cuts in health, education and social work services. With legal action taken if the needs of the child or young person are not believed to have been met, non-statutory alternatives are often being offered in their place, with families or carers not being offered the option of a CSP.
Despite a greater prevalence of those with ASN in the most deprived communities, CSPs are more likely to be opened for pupils with ASN living in the least deprived neighbourhoods, compared with those living in the most deprived neighbourhoods. This means that they may not be getting the care and support they so vitally need.
The SCSC has called for an expansion in access to CSPs, with the Scottish Government, local authorities, health and other relevant agencies collaborating more effectively to ensure that those requiring such a legal plan receive one.
This needs to be supported by the necessary resourcing of the services involved, and increased awareness and understanding of CSPs by families or carers, and professionals. This includes training for local authority and school staff, including highlighting statutory entitlements.
The SCSC has also called for a particular focuson care- experienced children and young people, and those from the most deprived neighbourhoods.
A spokesperson for the SCSC commented: “We are calling for action following figures highlighting a decline in the use of CSPs, which are designed to support those with the most complex needs. This is despite a Scottish Government assurance that they would not decline and against the backdrop of a dramatic increase in the numbers of those with ASN.
“By not providing this legally enforceable provision, many of these vulnerable individuals are being failed and not getting the support they are entitled to. This is of particular significance given the devastating impact of Covid-19 and cost-of-living crisis. The Scottish Government, local authorities and other agencies need to collaborate to ensure that those requiring a CSP receive it, with the necessary resourcing in place to support this.
“With those with ASN drawn disproportionately from poorer neighbourhoods, if we are to genuinely close the educational attainment gap, they must get the care and support they need, when they need it.”
1 Scottish Government, Summary Statistics for Schools in Scotland, No. 5: 2014 Edition, 10th December 2014, table 3.5.
A 28-year-old man has been arrested and charged in connection with a fatal crash in Edinburgh.
The incident happened on Whitehouse Road around 8.20am on Friday, 1 March, 2024 and involved a schoolboy and a bin lorry. Emergency services attended but the boy was pronounced dead at the scene.
The man has been charged with a road traffic offence and a report has been submitted to the Procurator Fiscal.
He is expected to appear in court at a later date.
“Elected and unelected members have shown themselves to be incapable of following the rule of law“
Charity says it has “lost confidence” that the City of Edinburgh Council will uphold the rule of law and calls on Scottish Ministers and the Scottish Housing Regulator to intervene immediately – the first time the charity has called for special measures to be taken against a local authority
City Council acting unlawfully in use of unlicensed HMO accommodation to house some homeless households
City’s elected and unelected members voted in favour of suspending lifeline housing rights until March 2028, breaching housing laws they are charged with upholding
If the Scottish Government and SHR decide to intervene, it will be the first time that they have exercised the powers afforded to them to protect the housing rights of people experiencing homelessness
Scotland’s leading housing and homelessness charity has today (12 December) called on Scottish Ministers and the Scottish Housing Regulator to intervene against City of Edinburgh Council after the local authority voted in favour of stripping homeless households of their basic rights.
At a meeting of the city’s Housing, Homelessness and Fair Work Committee, councillors voted six to five in favour of proposals to strip people experiencing homelessness of their right to adequate housing through the provision of suitable temporary and permanent housing.
The vote follows confirmed cases of homeless households being placed in unlicensed HMO (Houses in Multiple Occupancy) properties as temporary accommodation – a criminal offence. (2)
In a letter to Scottish Ministers and the Scottish Housing Regulator (3), the charity’s director Alison Watson warned that the Council’s plans are a concerted effort to undermine Scotland’s housing and homelessness rights system and that sanctions must be taken.
She states that: “We cannot stand by and watch efforts to strip people of their housing rights without putting up a fight on behalf of the most disenfranchised people in our communities. Law breaking on this scale cannot be normalised.”
The call comes following the Scottish Government’s reversal of cuts to the affordable homes budget last week after pressure from housing campaigners.
Alison Watson, director of Shelter Scotland said:“It should outrage everyone in Scotland that officers and elected members within a local authority have unilaterally decided to strip people in the capital of a fundamental human right.
“Edinburgh’s homelessness crisis is partly of the Council’s own making, but instead of showing compassion and seeking to help some of the most disenfranchised people in our society, they have chosen instead to punish them in this inhumane way by taking away hard-won rights.
“Shelter Scotland has lost confidence in the leadership of the City of Edinburgh Council to do the right thing and uphold the rule of law. The leadership has systematically failed homeless people for years and is now stripping them of their rights to cover up their own failures.
“I have written to the First Minister John Swinney MSP, urging him to use his powers to call in the council’s homelessness strategy for scrutiny. It is our belief that this will highlight that the current strategy is not only unfit for purpose and cannot guarantee the rights of people at risk of homelessness but is in fact in breach of the law.
“The Scottish Government must do more to fully fund local services through the upcoming budget. However, more money won’t work if the wrong decisions are being taken locally on how to spend it.
“I have also written to the Scottish Housing Regulator as recent assurances provided by the council leadership in their annual statement clearly do not hold up to scrutiny.
“Elected and unelected members have shown themselves to be incapable of following the rule of law. They must reverse the committee’s decision or else immediately step aside.”
Shelter Scotland is calling for the Regulator to consider its powers to use sanctions up to an including the appointment of new management in the housing department within the City of Edinburgh Council, under its powers contained in the Housing (Scotland) 2010 Act.
Under Scottish housing legislation, Scottish Ministers have the powers to call the City of Edinburgh Council’s homelessness strategy in for review, including its provision of temporary accommodation.
Alison Watson added:“Shelter Scotland has never called on the Regulator or Ministers to intervene in this way. We do not do so lightly. However, we will not stand by – and nor should the people of Scotland – and watch people’s rights be eroded without a fight.
“We cannot normalise law breaking on this scale. There must be consequences otherwise there can be no prospect that other rights will be protected, nor of the situation improving for the thousands of people in desperate need of a safe and secure home.”
There are currently around 5,250 households in temporary accommodation in Edinburgh. It is estimated that over a quarter (1,488) of these households are living in properties under an Unsuitable Accommodation Order.
We have some important advice for dealing with norovirus, also known as the winter vomiting bug, after a recent increase in calls to the 111 service.
Norovirus is a stomach bug that causes vomiting and diarrhoea. While it can be very unpleasant, it usually goes away in about 2 days. Symptoms include:
Feeling sick (nausea)
Diarrhoea
Vomiting
High temperature
Headache
Aching arms and legs
Unfortunately, norovirus spreads easily and quickly. If you catch it, here’s what you should do:
Stay off work or school until at least 48 hours after symptoms have stopped.
Avoid visiting anyone in hospital during this time.
Wash your hands frequently and thoroughly with soap and water, especially after using the toilet and before handling food.
Remember, alcohol-based hand gels don’t kill the virus.
To prevent spreading norovirus, maintain basic hygiene and cleaning:
Disinfect surfaces and objects that could be contaminated using a bleach-based household cleaner.
Wash clothes and bedding separately on a hot wash (60°C).
Don’t share towels and flannels.
Clean toilets and surrounding areas with a bleach-based household cleaner.
Dr. Ron Cook, NHS 24’s Medical Director, advises: “If you experience sudden diarrhoea and/or vomiting, stay at home until you’re feeling better.
“There’s no treatment for norovirus, so you have to let it run its course. Drink plenty of fluids to avoid dehydration and avoid giving fizzy drinks or fruit juice to children as it can make their diarrhoea worse.
“Babies should continue to feed as usual. You don’t usually need medical advice unless there’s a risk of a more serious problem. Alleviate fever or aches with paracetamol and get plenty of rest.
“If you or someone you’re caring for shows signs of dehydration, use special rehydration drinks from your local pharmacy. Once you feel like eating, try plain foods like soup, rice, pasta, and bread.”
The site of the former Corstorphine Public Hall has finally been sold.
CCC is happy to announce that the sale of 14 Kirk Loan was completed on 21 November 2024 to Stone Acre Corstorphine Ltd.
Details of the proposed development, which will retain the existing façade of the original public hall building, are available on the Council’s planning portal.
The community has been responsive and resilient in it’s support to set up a new Hub since the fire in October 2013 and CCC would like to thank everyone for all their efforts.
The net proceeds from the sale will now be utilised in the refurbishment of the new CCC Hub at 5 Kirk Loan, which will commence as soon as possible.
Keep up to date with the progress of the new CCC Hub at 5 Kirk Loan on:
On 27 November 2024, North Edinburgh Parents Action Group met Edinburgh Council’s Senior Housing Staff including the chair of the housing committee for the second time.
Cases shared with the director of housing
As a result of the group’s work e.g. producing a report, launching an exhibition and organising meetings with senior housing staff, the director of housing requested that the details of all people involved in this project be sent to him so that they could try to resolve all these issues and learn from this. The group felt that the managers listened to the issues and are trying to understand what is going wrong.
Change is possible
22 cases were sent to the director of housing and his team in October and November. There have been some successes;
some people have been rehoused
some work on repairs and some dampness issues have been addressed
families have been provided with support.
More needs done
There is still much more work to be done and the group are waiting on a detailed update from the director of housing regarding all the outstanding work. This should be completed by the next meeting with the parents at the end of February.
Suspension of EdIndex
The group are concerned about the suspension of EdIndex and non-urgent repairs and feel this is going to make the situation even worse. The group are also concerned that there are not enough larger houses being built at the waterfront and not enough houses for social rent. Many of these new houses will be out of local people’s reach.
The group heard that no council properties are going to be advertised until 7 Jan 2024 or later. This is due to the council putting homeless families in unlicensed (illegal) accommodation. The council need to move these families into long term empty houses (voids) with minimum work done to them apart from minimum Health and Safety checks.
Use Tourist Tax (Visitor Levy) to invest in Housing
The group believe that the tourist tax should be spent on housing where it is most needed (the consultation on the tourist tax ends on 13 December).
Th group told the senior managers that they plan to:
raise this issue with the Minister for Housing at the Scottish Parliament
explore group legal action as a last resort
invite senior managers and the chair of housing to a third meeting at the end of February 2025
Sara, a group member said: “We are serious about keeping up the pressure on the council to ensure people have a safe, warm, damp free home to live in.
Some options that the group are considering include going to the media to highlight people’s stories, taking the campaign to the Scottish Parliament, and contacting a law firm about the possibility of a group action.”
Local authorities receive ‘real terms increase’ in funding
Councils will share a record funding settlement of more than £15 billion subject to passing of the 2025-26 Budget, provisional allocations show.
The 2025-26 Local Government Settlement includes a £289 million increase in funding to be used by councils to meet local needs and £120.5 million additional funding for pay deals.
The Budget also includes a one-off payment of £40 million to help councils respond to the climate emergency, and additional funding to support free personal care, teacher numbers and island communities.
Finance Secretary Shona Robison said: “Our Budget is laying the foundations for Scotland’s future success, with investment to help improve the public services that people rely on.
“Local authorities provide some of the most important services to our communities – from schools to social care – which is why we’ve increased their funding by more than £1 billion compared with last year’s Budget.
“The settlement is the result of meaningful budget engagement with COSLA and Councils. While council tax decisions are a matter for individual local authorities, with record funding of over £15 billion there is no reason for big increases in Council Tax next year.
“This is a Budget that will deliver increased funding for schools, social care and other vital council services. But this funding will only reach communities if the Budget passes, so I am asking Parliament to unite behind it.”
12 2024, participants of the Edinburgh International Book Festival Communities Programme came together to celebrate a successful 12 months that has seen 26 authors and artists engage with over 28 community organisations and 1,800+ individuals
The Edinburgh InternationalBook FestivalCommunities Programme 2024 is year-round and brings local people and organisations together with professional writers and artists.
Thanks to the support of players of People’s Postcode Lottery, the programme engaged communities across Scotland
Authors including Jordan Stephens,Jenni Fagan, Andrew O’Hagan, Amy Liptrot, Joe Coelho, and Sophy Henn visited schools, prisons, hospitals, and local reading centres in 2024
Other activity included events streamed to The Birks cinema in Aberfeldy and a public stories submissions campaign collecting memories linked to the Festivals new home; Words from the Wards
The 2024 Festival itself saw the culmination of a activity that took place throughout the year, with performances from Scotland 2049 and Stories & Scran presented on stage.
Participants of the Edinburgh International Book Festival Communities Programme came together in Edinburgh today, Thursday 12 December, to celebrate a year that saw 26 authors and artists engage with over 28 community organisations, and over 1,800 individuals, over the course of it.
A year-round calendar of events made possible thanks to players of People’s Postcode Lottery, the Communities programme connects authors and artists with communities across Scotland who may not otherwise have had access to cultural experiences. In August authors including Andrew O’Hagan, Amy Liptrot, Joe Coelho, and Sophy Henn connected with new audiences for readings and in-person events in eight prisons including HMP Barlinnie and HMP & YOI Polmont, as well as the Royal Hospital for Children and Young People.
Jenni Fagan, author and poet, said:“Edinburgh International Book Festival create partnerships whereby writers can visit and host workshops or readings within the Scottish prison system. This is an extraordinarily important programme. It allows those currently trying to rebuild their lives, access to a wide demographic of writers and stories.
“My most recent visit was with Lilias Centre in Glasgow, whose groundbreaking and progressive facility should be upheld as a blueprint for allowing women in prison to live in an environment focused on their journey and how best to facilitate skillsets that will build confidence and independence on their release.
“It is not possible to overstate that this access to workshops with guest writers, should be considered a cornerstone element, it generates conversation from the women in prison, inspiration in sharing stories, listening (writers must open the floor and really listen all attending the workshops / as they listen to each other too). It is vital to host these workshops in a way that puts each individual in a position where they may choose to share their own voice, or their own stories, if they choose to.
“As part of my writing life, I have found taking my work out into communities that maybe cannot attend readings or may have less easy access to a wide library, is some of the most important and rewarding work I do.”
Thanks to the support of players of People’s Postcode Lottery, the power of words was brought not only to prisons, but schools, hospitals, cinemas and local reading centres across Scotland in 2024, as part of the Communities Programme.
In Edinburgh, the team worked with Simon Community Scotland’s Streetreads Library, which helps to support those experiencing homelessness, on reading events with visiting authors Jordan Stephens and Salena Godden.
Jordan Stephens, British musician, actor, and presenter and author, said: “I had the absolute privilege of being able to chat to people struggling with homelessness and addiction at the [Streetreads] library.
They listened to me read out sections of my book and asked me questions. It was actually a really great experience because I felt super connected to everybody’s journey, people who have been through much harder times than me. Any opportunity to be part of a communities programme means a lot to me.”
Further afield in Aberfeldy, The Birks cinema, for the fourth year in a row, screened a record number of 22 events with a total audience of 254. Organiser Fiona MacEwan said that both The Birks team and the local community were ‘delighted’.
Fiona McEwan, Programme and Community Development Manager at The Birks cinema, went on to say:“Many of our audience love the book festival but are unable to get to Edinburgh anymore to attend in person due to personal circumstances but love feeling that they are still part of the audience…thanks again to the whole team for enabling this possibility – it is so amazing to get this opportunity to participate as it can be really challenging (sometimes impossible) to get to Edinburgh.”
Fiona also highlighted that these events have a positive impact on the wider community and tourism economy, saying: “Some audience members were on holiday and said they would be back again next year at the same time so that they could come again.”
Throughout the year community memories were collected and shared in Words from the Wards, a project celebrating the Festival’s new home at Edinburgh Futures Institute and honouring the building’s incredible legacy as the city’s former Royal Infirmary.
The project collected stories and memories already created in the building – from new births and mourned passings to the careers of the doctors and nurses who worked there – and saw them shared in the former wards alongside new contributions from eight leading writers and artists, including previous and new Edinburgh Makars Hannah Lavery and Michael Pederson, Dr Gavin Francis,, Sara Sheridan, Lisa Williams and Kirstin Innes.
Schools writer-in-residence Ryan van Winkle also invited young people from across Scotland to share their vision for the country’s future with Scotland 2049, a project celebrating the milestone of 25 years of devolution in partnership with the Festival of Politics.
The hugely popular Stories & Scran event returned for a fifth year, with Communities writer-in-residence Eleanor Thom teaming up with local social enterprise Scran Academy to present storytelling created by young people and adults from across Edinburgh and the Lothians, while the Festival’s residency at the Alternative School at Spartans Community Foundation continued with young people from the school alongside writer Chris Barkley sharing their brand-new documentary film, If the World Was Mine, in a fun and fast-paced live event.
500 free tickets for events during the Festival were also given to community groups across Edinburgh, while more than 4,500 school children from 89 schools across Scotland were transported to the Festival (31 groups free of charge), to attend free events and each take home a free book.
Noëlle Cobden, Communities Programme Director at Edinburgh International Book Festival, said:“Year on year we see the impact that our Communities activity, supported by players of People’s Postcode Lottery, has, not only in Edinburgh but in communities across the country.
“We bring the world of books to those who may never come across it otherwise. For many, meeting an author like Jordan Stephens or Amy Liptrot, Jenny Fagan, can be life changing.
“Our programme also boosts local economies by providing the opportunity for other organisations to engage with new and existing audiences, exemplified by The Birks cinema in Aberfeldy.”
Yesterday’s celebration at the Grassmarket Community Project concluded with a moving tribute to much-loved Citizen participant Jane Murray, who sadly passed away last month.
How to Cope with the Winter Vomiting Bug 
Diarrhoea
Vomiting
High temperature
Headache
Aching arms and legs
Stay off work or school until at least 48 hours after symptoms have stopped.
