A rise in drowning figures has prompted the Royal Life Saving Society UK (RLSS UK) to encourage parents to teach their children how to stay safe and enjoy water safely this summer, as part of its national Drowning Prevention Week campaign, 19-26 June 2021.
Throughout 2020 and 2021, millions of children have missed out on vital swimming, lifesaving skills and water safety education during the pandemic due to pool closures, leaving a dramatic gap in school swimming and water safety education.
Young people from low incomes and ethnic minority communities have been the hardest hit. A staggering 95 per cent of black adults and 80 per cent of black children do not swim, and this gap has widened still further as a result of Covid-19.
Accidental drowning takes an average of 402 UK and Irish citizens each year, and the Royal Life Saving Society UK fears that with lockdown restrictions lifting and staycations on the up, families will flock to inland water locations and beaches this summer, without the right knowledge and skills, putting themselves and others at risk.
Fourteen-year-old Teya Davies tragically died after slipping into Sniggy Pond in Widnes, trying to help her friend who had fallen into the water before her. Teya’s story is not a ‘one off’- it’s one of many, so RLSS UK has teamed up with Teya’s friends and family to create a powerful video highlighting the importance of water safety, in Teya’s honour.
Teya’s friend, Liv Eren said: “We sadly lost our friend, Teya, at the age of 14. When looking back on Teya’s story, we now know how preventable her death could have been if only she knew how to swim, or to keep herself safe in the water.
“We are pleased to do our bit to prevent others from going through the heartache of losing a friend like we have.”
RLSS UK’s Charity Director Lee Heard, said: “We are surrounded by opportunities to be in or near water. Whatever their age and activity level, everyone should be having fun, creating memories and feeling at ease around the water.
“The inequality in access to swimming and water safety education, and subsequent lack of potential interaction with the water is a big concern.
“RLSS UK believes that through free, accessible education and training, everyone can enjoy water safely, have fun in the water and develop an essential life skill. We urge as many parents and carers as possible to get involved with the campaign, use our free online resources, and give children the skills to enjoy a lifetime of fun in the water.”
Schools Minister Nick Gibb said: “We want every primary school pupil to learn to swim and to have water safety lessons, not just because it can improve their physical health but also because it is an important life skill.
“The Royal Life Saving Society UK’s work in raising awareness about the importance of water safety is very welcome, adding to the work we continue to do with schools to promote water safety and swimming.
“We must do all we can to eliminate the tragedy of children drowning.”
Tax-Free Childcare – a childcare top-up for working parents – can be used to help pay for accredited holiday clubs, childminders or sports activities – giving parents and carers that extra peace of mind that their child is having fun during the school summer holidays and it can save them money.
Tax-Free Childcare is available for children aged up to 11, or 17 if the child has a disability. And for every £8 deposited into an account, families will receive an additional £2 in UK Government top-up, capped at £500 every three months, or £1,000 if the child is disabled.
Parents and carers can check their eligibility and register for Tax-Free Childcare via GOV.UK. They can apply for an account at any time and start using it straight away. By depositing money into their accounts, families can benefit from the 20% top-up and use the money to pay for childcare costs when they need to, for example, during the summer holidays.
Myrtle Lloyd, HMRC’s Director General for Customer Services, said: “We want to help kids stay active this summer, whether they are going to summer holiday clubs or a childminder.
“A childcare top-up will go a long way towards helping parents plan and pay for summer activities to keep their kids happy and healthy. To find out more search ‘tax-free childcare’ on GOV.UK.”
Iain Stewart, UK Government Minister for Scotland, said: “There can be a lot of pressure on working parents to find suitable childcare during school holidays but the UK Government’s Tax-Free Childcare scheme gives a massive helping hand.
“It helps parents ensure their children are in a safe environment where they’ll have fun and be well looked after, and it saves money at the same time. The Scottish school holidays are almost upon us and I’d urge all eligible parents to apply.”
15,240 working families used their account in March 2021 in Scotland. And in the same month, HMRC paid out more than £33 million in top-up payments, which was shared between more than 282,000 families across the UK.
Tax-Free Childcare is also available for pre-school aged children attending nurseries, childminders or other childcare providers. Families with younger children will often have higher childcare costs than families with older children, so the tax-free savings can really make a difference.
A man undertaking a mammoth ten-week charity challenge will be arriving at Edinburgh Castle on Saturday 26th June – he is expected to arrive around 3pm.
Former armed forces skiing and mountain craft trainer, David Sullivan, 58, from Surrey, began The World’s Longest Golf Hole challenge on 11th June. Starting at John O’Groats, he will be walking over 1,000 miles and making an estimated quarter of a million golf shots, before he reaches his final destination, Land’s End.
David is taking on this unusual challenge to raise vital funds for the British Heart Foundation. The money raised will help place life-saving defibrillators into villages, towns and cities up and down the country.
At every one of David’s stops on his journey, he will be training local people for free on how to save lives using CPR.
David’s passion for teaching people CPR came about when he was faced with a life-or-death situation. When a young man experienced a cardiac arrest in front of him, David luckily knew what to do. He gave CPR for 17 minutes until the man could be treated with a defibrillator.
“It was thanks to my training, and a defibrillator being nearby, that I was able to help save the man, who luckily made a full recovery,” says David.
“When something like that happens right in front of you, it makes you realise how precious life is and how important it is to know what to do in that kind of emergency. It was an experience which profoundly affected me, and now it’s my mission to create an army of life savers all over the country.”
David, who will be joined on the challenge by his son Freddie, 21, hopes his charity challenge will help teach as many people as possible the life-saving skill of CPR and will ensure that many more locations in the country are equipped with defibrillators. David’s fundraising target for the event is £60,000.
American Golf are kindly sponsoring David on this adventure. Gary Favell, CEO of American Golf said: “When we heard about the incredible challenge David had set himself, we immediately wanted to lend American Golf’s support.
“David has found a way to harness his golfing prowess not only to highlight the importance of knowing CPR through his own personal experience, but to train people along his journey whilst raising funds for the British Heart Foundation – he is a true inspiration.
“American Golf champions inclusivity at every level, and we stand behind every player on their golfing journey – David’s is no exception, and we wish him every success on his mission.”
In just over a year, more than 300 households living in the private rented sector have been prevented from becoming homeless thanks to city council’s Crisis-run Private Rented Service Team (PRS).
Established in November 2019 in response to a growing number of homeless presentations from the private rented sector, the Private Rented Service (PRS) Team has assisted 324 households since March 2020. This has been done by helping them to keep their existing tenancy or to move to either a new private or mid-market rent secure tenancy.
Edinburgh Help to Rent, which is a service the Council contracts Crisis to deliver, does this by providing rent deposit guarantee bonds. It has provided 50 households with a bond to access properties in the private rented sector since February 2020.
This comes as part of a wider update on the City of Edinburgh Council’s Rapid Rehousing Transition Plan (RRTP), a comprehensive strategy to tackle and eradicate homelessness across the city over the next five years, that was presented at the Housing, Homelessness and Fair Work committee this month.
The Council has made significant investment, complemented by Scottish Government funding, to deliver the Plan, which is focused on providing:
suitable temporary accommodation for the needs of households;
supporting people into settled accommodation as quickly as possible;
reducing the number of people sleeping rough on our streets; and overall preventing homelessness in the first place.
The RRPT sets out all the different approaches that are key to tackling a wide range of issues faced by people across the Capital.
Alongside the PRS Team, a team has been set up to provide a ‘multi-disciplinary response’ pilot for Council tenants who are struggling to maintain their tenancy or who are falling into rent arrears.
This multi-agency approach across the Council aims to reach out to our tenants who may not engage with their locality Housing Officer, to offer joined-up support and enhanced engagement to help keep the tenant in their home and so avoiding homelessness.
Learning from a similar successful innovative programme by Newcastle City Council, this brings together representatives from key Council services including housing, homelessness, advice services, family & household support, adult protection and children and families social work services into one cross-Council response group.
Established as recently as February 2021, since March this year the team has positively engaged 16 (84%) of 19 tenants referred to the team. A further 14 have since been referred and attempts are being made to contact them and offer support.
The Homelessness Transformational Prevention Programme complements the RRTP. Through this programme the Council has recruited 28 additional officers to trial new ways of working that will prevent homelessness in the first place.
When a permanent home can’t be found immediately, the team will continue helping people to access settled housing more quickly, thereby reducing the number of households in temporary accommodation. Through joint funding by the Council and Scottish Government, the RRTP has made this investment possible.
Councillor Kate Campbell, Convener of Housing, Homelessness and Fair Work committee said:“With the severe pressure on housing in Edinburgh, we need to take every possible step we can to tackle homelessness in our city.
“That includes stepping up work on prevention, improving temporary accommodation, making sure that there is support in place for anyone experiencing homelessness, ending rough sleeping and finding as many ways as possible to help people resolve homelessness. The Rapid Rehousing Transition Plan sets out all the different initiatives we’ve put in place to do that.
“This has to start with preventing homelessness wherever possible, so I’m glad that both the PRS Team and the multi-disciplinary response team are working so well. Preventing 300 households from becoming homeless in a year is phenomenal and it shows the real value of the RRTP supporting innovation and new ways of working. This funding from the Scottish Government allows us to try out new services, and where they are successful we can continue, and look to expand them.
“This is more important than ever as we start to see the economic repercussions from the pandemic and expect an increase in homeless presentations.
“The RRTP is a comprehensive plan that sets out all of these new services and innovative ways that we are supporting people to create better outcomes for individuals, and work towards ending homelessness in our city.”
Councillor Mandy Watt, Vice Convener of Housing, Homelessness and Fair Work committee said:“Being homeless can be a horrible experience for people and finding better ways to prevent it is an incredibly important part of the Rapid Rehousing Transition Plan.
“Working with registered social landlords and partner organisations like Crisis has already made a big difference to the numbers of people ending up homeless.
“As we come out of the Covid-19 emergency measures, the need for this service is likely to increase significantly and we’ll be relying on our dedicated prevention team to play an even bigger role in our efforts to end homelessness in Edinburgh.”
Independent local support is available if you are experiencing housing/debt problems. Contact Granton Information Centre by email at info@gic.org.uk or telephone 0131 551 2459 or 0131 552 0458.
The smell of freshly cut grass and kids shrieking as they have their first dip in the paddling pool makes being outdoors great, but they are just a few of the hundreds of great benefits.
Debra Clason, Hub Manager of the Utilita Energy Hub in Leith, said: “Whether you’re heading to Cornwall or Portugal, or simply looking to spend more time out in your garden or local park, save money by switching off items in your home, and resetting timers where hot water might not be needed so much.
“By doing so, you’ll save what could be going towards the ice-cream fund!”
To help save energy in the home this summer, Debra’s shared the following tips:
Invest in a plug-in timer
If you’re planning a trip away, but would like to keep a light on for security reasons, consider investing in a plug-in timer, to pop the light on and off at times you choose. Doing so will save you energy whilst keeping your home looking ‘lived in’ whilst you’re away.
Eat up!
If you’re looking to be away for some time, why not be savvy with mealtimes and use up everything in your fridge freezer before you leave? You could then turn the appliance off at the plug whilst you’re away – saving precious energy.
Pull the curtains
As the weather heats up, pull the curtains and blinds before leaving the home to keep your home from heating up like a small furnace for your return. It’ll keep your home cool whilst saving you a small fortune on fans.
Switch appliances off
Keeping appliances on standby is one of the biggest ways to waste energy! Game consoles in particular are massive vampire suckers, likewise with TVs and home entertainment systems. Ensuring everything is switched off at the socket will save you a pretty penny.
Triple Point Social Housing REIT has announced that work has completed on its major new development in Leith, which provides high-quality new homes for local people with long-term disabilities.
In April 2019, Triple Point announced its investment in the scheme, developed by HB Villages (HBV), with construction officially started by Deidre Brock, the MP for Edinburgh North and Leith.
Twenty-four new supported housing apartments have been built on West Bowling Green Street in Leith, which are specially adapted to provide long-term homes for people with physical disabilities, learning disabilities and other complex care requirements.
Residents will be referred to the scheme by the Edinburgh Health and Social Care Partnership based on significant local need, with care provided to residents by Lifeways, and housing management services provided by Inclusion Housing.
The £5.4m scheme, called Heron Court, is the first of its type in Scotland and has been developed by HBV, a specialist supported living developer, using funding from Triple Point.
The developers instructed an all-Scottish construction team including Edinburgh-based architects 56Three, structural and civil engineers Curtins, locally-based mechanical and electrical consultants Horizon M&E, and Alloa-based contractor Marshall Construction.
Triple Point uses private capital to acquire, or fund the development of, newly built or newly renovated housing in the community for people with long-term care needs whose rent is funded by government.
This type of housing has been shown to improve the wellbeing of people moving out of institutional care settings, while saving the government money. Triple Point’s portfolio has over 450 properties providing homes for over 3,000 residents.
Based on strong demand, Triple Point is looking to invest in more supported housing schemes like Heron Court across Scotland and the rest of the UK.
Max Shenkman, Head of Property Investment at Triple Point, said: “We are delighted to announce the completion of Heron Court. The development will allow people with disabilities and complex care needs to live independent lives in high-quality and carefully adapted apartments.
“Triple Point is committed to investing in projects that deliver a positive social impact, and Heron Court will provide homes in the heart of the community to support some of Edinburgh’s most vulnerable people. With more Scottish developments in the pipeline, we look forward to delivering further positive impact in the area.”
Oliver Carroll, development director of HBV, the supported living developer, said: “We are delighted to complete delivery of this special scheme in the heart of the community.
“We have had tremendous support from officers at Edinburgh City Council who are responsible for delivering specialist supported care across the city. Everyone we have worked with on delivering Heron Court recognises the need for modern specialist supported living accommodation for Scotland’s most vulnerable people.
“We are tremendously excited by all the interest that is being shown in this particular scheme and we are already progressing discussions with other local authorities and funding partners to deliver more like it in Scotland.”
Judith Proctor, Chief Officer of the Edinburgh Health and Social Care Partnership, said:“The completion of this scheme – less than two miles from Edinburgh city centre and less than two years after works began – is a remarkable achievement and a great example of collaboration between the public and private sectors.
“Accessibility and technology are two important features of the design of the building which will enable residents to live more independently. Many of the residents will have keys to their own front door for the first time which will be a tremendous boost to their independence and a positive impact on their lives.”
Edinburgh’s Lord Provost, Frank Ross, said:“This is a brilliant example of a new-build development that blends seamlessly into the surrounding environment and community not just physically but emotionally as well.
“It is important that we continue to place great emphasis on solving the housing requirements of people in Edinburgh who need extra support and give them the opportunity to live as independently as possible.”
Deidre Brock, MP, who officially started works at the site in 2019, said:“The completion of this development is another important step towards ensuring the most vulnerable in our society are well looked after in accommodation that properly suits their needs.
“I’m really looking forward to seeing folk move into the scheme over the next few months and making their home here in Leith.”
Prime Minister: “We must learn to live with COVID”
Step 4 of England’s Roadmap paused for four weeks while vaccination programme is accelerated following significant rise in more transmissible variant
Second dose brought forward to 8 weeks for over 40s to provide strongest protection against Delta variant sooner
Restrictions to be lifted on weddings and wakes on 21 June
Step 4 will be delayed by up to four weeks in England and the vaccination programme accelerated to respond to the rapid spread of the Delta variant, the Prime Minister confirmed yesterday.
Scotland’s First Minister will give an update on Scotland’s plans later today. At present it’s planned that Scotland would move to Level 0 on 28 June, but concerns over rising numbers of the Delta variant make it likely that the date will be put back.
By 19 July, all adults in England will have been offered a first dose and around two thirds of all adults will have been offered two doses of the vaccine.
Data suggests that the Delta variant is between 40% and 80% more transmissible than the Alpha variant and is rapidly driving up case numbers.
There are currently around 8,000 cases a day, the highest since the end of February, and these are increasing by around 64% each week.
Hospitalisations are starting to rise, with the average number of people admitted to hospital increasing in England by 50% per week, and 61% per week in the North-West.
Our successful vaccination programme is weakening the link between cases and hospitalisations, but the latest evidence shows that two doses are needed to provide effective protection against the Delta variant.
The Roadmap has always been led by data and not dates, and the government’s four tests have not been met. In order to offer two vaccine doses to more people, prevent thousands of unnecessary deaths and protect the NHS, Step 4 will be delayed by up to four weeks to Monday 19 July. If the data rapidly improves this could be brought forward to 5 July.
The four tests are:
The vaccine deployment programme continues successfully
Evidence shows vaccines are sufficiently effective in reducing hospitalisations and deaths in those vaccinated
Infection rates do not risk a surge in hospitalisations which would put unsustainable pressure on the NHS
Our assessment of the risks is not fundamentally changed by new Variants of Concern
Two vaccine doses have now been shown to be highly effective in reducing hospitalisation from the Delta variant, with the latest PHE data suggesting this could be up to 96% for Pfizer-BioNTech and 92% for the Oxford-AstraZeneca vaccine.
All adults aged 18 and over will now be offered a first dose by 19 July, 2 weeks earlier than planned. All adults aged 23 and 24 will be able to book their first dose from tomorrow (15 June).
By 19 July, all those aged over 50 and the clinically extremely vulnerable will have been offered their second dose, and those second doses will have taken effect.
Second doses for all over 40s will be accelerated by reducing the dosing interval from 12 weeks to 8 weeks. All over 40s who received a first dose by mid-May will be offered a second dose by 19 July.
The school holidays in England begin at the end of July, further reducing transmission among the younger age groups. Step 3 restrictions will continue in their current format with the following exceptions implemented from 21 June. No restrictions will be reimposed.
The 30-person limit will be lifted for weddings and wakes. There will be no set limit on the number of attendees, but venues must adhere to covid secure guidance, maintain social distancing and provide table service. All weddings in private settings, such as gardens, must have completed a covid risk assessment to ascertain how many guests they can host safely.
Event pilots will continue, including some Euro 2020 matches, Wimbledon, and some arts and music performances. Attendees will show proof of vaccination or a recent negative test.
Care home residents will no longer need to isolate if they leave their residence. Exceptions will include high risk visits including overnight stays in hospital.
Cases are expected to continue rising due to the transmissibility of the Delta variant, but with the acceleration of the vaccination programme hospitalisations are expected to stabilise.
Additional support is available for areas with high cases rates of the Delta variant, including surge testing, isolation support, and efforts to maximise vaccination uptake.
Prime Minister Boris Johnson made a statement at a press conference last night:
When we set out on our roadmap to freedom a few months ago, we were determined to make progress that was cautious but irreversible. And step by step – thanks to the enormous efforts of the British people and the spectacular vaccine roll-out we now have one of the most open economies and societies in this part of the world.
And as we have always known and as the February roadmap explicitly predicted – this opening up has inevitably been accompanied by more infection and more hospitalisation. Because we must be clear that we cannot simply eliminate Covid – we must learn to live with it. And with every day that goes by we are better protected by the vaccines and we are better able to live with the disease.
Vaccination greatly reduces transmission and two doses provide a very high degree of protection against serious illness and death. But there are still millions of younger adults who have not been vaccinated and sadly a proportion of the elderly and vulnerable may still succumb even if they have had two jabs.
And that is why we are so concerned by the Delta variant that is now spreading faster than the third wave predicted in the February roadmap. We’re seeing cases growing by about 64 per cent per week, and in the worst affected areas, it’s doubling every week.
And the average number of people being admitted to hospital in England has increased by 50 per cent week on week, and by 61 per cent in the North West, which may be the shape of things to come. Because we know the remorseless logic of exponential growth and even if the link between infection and hospitalisation has been weakened it has not been severed.
And even if the link between hospitalisation and death has also been weakened, I’m afraid numbers in intensive care, in ICU are also rising. And so we have faced a very difficult choice. We can simply keep going with all of step 4 on June 21st even though there is a real possibility that the virus will outrun the vaccines and that thousands more deaths would ensue that could otherwise have been avoided.
Or else we can give our NHS a few more crucial weeks to get those remaining jabs into the arms of those who need them. And since today I cannot say that we have met all four tests for proceeding with step four, I do think it is sensible to wait just a little longer.
By Monday 19th July we will aim to have double jabbed around two thirds of the adult population including everyone over 50, all the vulnerable, all the frontline health and care workers and everyone over 40 who received their first dose by mid-May. And to do this we will now accelerate the 2nd jabs for those over 40 – just as we did for the vulnerable groups – so they get maximum protection as fast as possible.
And we will bring forward our target to give every adult in this country a first dose by 19th July that is including young people over the age of 18 with 23 and 24 year olds invited to book jabs from tomorrow – so we reduce the risk of transmission among groups that mix the most.
And to give the NHS that extra time we will hold off step 4 openings until July 19th except for weddings that can still go ahead with more than 30 guests provided social distancing remains in place and the same will apply to wakes. And we will continue the pilot events – such as Euro2020 and some theatrical performances.
We will monitor the position every day and if after 2 weeks we have concluded that the risk has diminished then we reserve the possibility of proceeding to Step 4 and full opening sooner.
As things stand – and on the basis of the evidence I can see right now – I am confident we will not need any more than 4 weeks and we won’t need to go beyond July 19th. It is unmistakably clear the vaccines are working and the sheer scale of the vaccine roll-out has made our position incomparably better than in previous waves.
But now is the time to ease off the accelerator because by being cautious now we have the chance – in the next four weeks – to save many thousands of lives by vaccinating millions more people.
And once the adults of this country have been overwhelmingly vaccinated, which is what we can achieve in a short space of time, we will be in a far stronger position to keep hospitalisations down, to live with this disease, and to complete our cautious but irreversible roadmap to freedom.
Scotland’s First Minister will give an update on Scotland’s plans later today. At present it’s planned that Scotland would move to Level 0 on 28 June, but concerns over rising numbers of the Delta variant make it likely that the date will be put back.
Heart Research UK Healthy Heart Tip, written by Dr Helen Flaherty, Head of Health Promotion and Education at Heart Research UK
14th to 20th June is Nutrition and Hydration week. Staying hydrated is important for keeping your heart and circulatory system healthy. Thirst often feels similar to hunger, so drinking plenty of fluid can prevent over-eating and weight-gain. We have some tips to help you stay hydrated.
Am I dehydrated?
Symptoms of dehydration include headaches, tiredness, irritability and difficulty concentrating. If your urine is pale and clear then you are hydrated. If your urine is more yellow, brown or dark in colour with a strong smell, you are probably not drinking enough.
How much should I drink?
Aim to drink six to eight cups or glasses of fluid every day. You may need to drink more during hot weather, or if you are doing a lot of physical activity.
What should I drink?
Water is best, but if you don’t like water, you could try herbal teas or sugar-free squash. Coffee and tea also count, but try to cut out any added sugar.
You can get water from fruit and vegetables, such as cucumber, watermelon, tomatoes, oranges and apples. Avoid drinking too much alcohol as it causes you to urinate more, which can lead to dehydration.
The Edinburgh Health and Social Care Partnership and Edinburgh Alcohol and Drug Partnership have launched a new app to connect those recovering from drug or alcohol addiction to local support services.
The Addition Recovery App (ARC) is the first to offer a personalised emergency button, quickly connecting users to help when things get tough.
The app offers easy access, at any time, to a range of professional support services and help from others dealing with drink and drug problems. There is also a calendar to help plan recovery time, the capability to track mood, prompts for motivational exercises and inspirational quotes.
Today the Edinburgh Health and Social Care Partnership and Edinburgh Alcohol and Drug Partnership have launched the new Addiction Recovery Companion (ARC) – an app that puts drug and alcohol recovery into people’s own hands.
The app is the first to offer a personalised emergency button, making it even easier for Edinburgh citizens to reach out to the people most important in recovery when things get tough, or something goes wrong.
The app also provides live information from all drug and alcohol support services in Edinburgh including:
Information about local recovery networks in Edinburgh, keep you motivated and help you manage your time
Live information on recovery meetings taking place every day across the Capital, where people can meet and share their experience, strength and hope
Up to date information on professional services available
a calendar function to help people plan their day, stay motivated and manage your time
a diary to keep track of recovery progress and record the ups and downs of recovery
Inspirational quotes and exercises aimed at those who need a mental boost
The ARC app provides a personalised experience for every user, as everyone’s recovery journey is different. It allows users to make a plan that is right for them alongside giving them the opportunity and the space to reflect on their journey and follow their progress.
Judith Proctor, Chief Officer of the Edinburgh Health and Social Care Partnership, said: “The recovery community is a huge force in Edinburgh. There is lots of professional support available across the Capital, but more importantly, people are also increasingly helping each other to deal with drink and drug problems.
“That’s why the Addiction Recovery Companion app is so important. It is filled with information to support and guide people in their recovery, alongside tools to immediately connect them to those who can help if things get tough.”
Lothian MSP, Miles Briggs, said:“I welcome the launch of the new Addiction Recovery Companion App to support people accessing services for drug and alcohol recovery.
“Using technology to improves access to drug and alcohol services, for people recovering from addiction, is a clever initiative from Edinburgh Health and Social Care Partnership and Edinburgh Alcohol and Drug Partnership.
“Edinburgh and Scotland face a real challenge to reduce the number of drug related deaths in Scotland and this tool can be part of a bigger strategy for peoples road to recovery.
“It is important that people who do not have access to a smart phone are still able to easily access these services.”
When asked about the benefits of the app, users have said:
“It’s such a useful tool. I can see me using it more and more the further we go back to normal.“
“I’m quite disorganised and the calendar/map is great. I like that, when I’m in town, I can just pull up the map to find out what’s happening nearby.”
“It’s a clever app. The inclusion of the reflection section is useful for the days where I need some motivation.”
“For me, structure is important, and the Arc App helps with that.“
Police are appealing for information following a hit and run in Edinburgh.
Around 5pm yesterday (Sunday, 13 June) a man was cycling on Ferry Road when he was struck by a motorbike travelling in the same direction. The 52-year-old cyclist sustained serious injuries and was taken to hospital.
The motorcyclist did not stop at the time and officers are treating the incident as a hit and run.
The motorbike is possibly red in colour and the motorcyclist was wearing protective clothing.
Sergeant Jill Kirkpatrick said: “I would urge the motorcyclist involved to come forward. I am also appealing to anyone who was in the area around the time of the incident. If any motorists have dash cams, please check your footage as it could assist our enquiries. Officers are also reviewing CCTV footage from in and around the area for any further information on the motorcyclist.”
Anyone with information is asked to call Police Scotland via 101, quoting incident number 2739 of 13 June, 2021
