A charity’s support for blind and partially sighted people affected by the coronavirus lockdown has received a £11,500 boost from the Scottish Government’s Wellbeing Fund.
Author: davepickering
Edinburgh reporter and photographer
Poppyscotland cancels Sportive cycling event
One of East Lothian’s best-loved events of the year has become the latest to be cancelled due to the ongoing coronavirus pandemic.
Poppyscotland’s Sportive cycling event sees almost 1,000 riders take to the roads of East Lothian and the Borders in September, with many helping to raise tens of thousands of pounds for the leading Armed Forces charity. However, organisers have taken the agonising decision to cancel the 2020 Sportive.
Gordon Michie, the Head of Fundraising at Poppyscotland, said: “This has been a really difficult decision and one we have not taken lightly, but we feel it is the right course of action.
“There are several key reasons why we have taken this decision, including the ongoing uncertainty regarding mass participation events and when they can safely start again.
“It is imperative that we ensure the safety of our participants, suppliers and volunteers, and we concluded that it would be difficult to keep feeding stations and other facilities at the event clean and managed according to government guidelines.
“By cancelling the event until next year, we have reduced any potential risk to the communities of East Lothian, the Borders and beyond as it is imperative that we maintain the strong relationships that we have built with them over the past seven years.”
However, Mr Michie added: “Yes, this is disappointing news for us all, but we already have the date in the diary for next year’s event with the Sportive returning on Sunday, 26th September 2021. We will be back bigger and better than ever, especially given that next year we will be celebrating the 100th anniversary of the Scottish Poppy Appeal.”
Sgt Frank Parisi, a full-time Reservist with Edinburgh’s very own 603 (City of Edinburgh) Squadron, RAF Reserves, is a member of the Poppyscotland Sportive committee, and has taken part in the event several times over the years.
Like many, Frank is disappointed that this year’s event will not go ahead, but he has a poignant message for Poppyscotland supporters and the wider public: “It was perhaps inevitable that this year’s Poppyscotland Sportive would fall due to the unprecedented pandemic that we are all living through.
“It will be a great miss for avid cyclists such as myself, but I believe it is important that we keep on doing all that we can to support the country’s Armed Forces community during what may be proving a very tough time for many.
“Vulnerable veterans and their families need Poppyscotland’s support more than ever so as well as keeping their registration in place for the 2021 Sportive, I’d encourage everyone to get involved in some of the virtual events such as the Poppy Cycle Challenge to make sure this special charity can continue to provide their life-changing support during these challenging times.”
Participants in the 2020 Poppyscotland Sportive will have their place in the event transferred automatically to next year’s event, but are welcome to a refund. Poppyscotland is also asking riders if they would consider doing a ‘virtual Sportive’ – known as the “Poppy Cycle Challenge” – as an alternative.
Details can be found at https://www.poppyscotland.org.uk/get-involved/runs-and-challenges/poppy-cycle/.
This would have been the seventh consecutive year of the Poppyscotland Sportive, an event that has already raised more than £250,000 for the organisation’s work in supporting veterans and their families across the country.
The Sportive’s lead sponsor is renewable energy firm Fred. Olsen Renewables and the event is also supported by Bramik Foods Ltd, Cirrus Logics and Leith Cycle Co.
Best known for running the iconic Scottish Poppy Appeal, Poppyscotland reaches out to those who have served, those still serving, and their families at times of crisis and need by offering vital, practical advice, assistance and funding. The charity believes that no veteran should live without the prospect of employment, good health and a home, and that we all have part to play in achieving this.
To take part in the 2021 Poppyscotland Sportive, or for more information about the cancellation of this year’s event, please contact Poppyscotland’s Events Team, on 0131 557 2782, or at events@poppyscotland.org.uk, or by visiting www.poppyscotland.org.uk/sportive.
Brand new brasserie back from the brink
AN AMBITIOUS new restaurant that launched just weeks before lockdown has come back from the brink – after its owner was told it was too new to qualify for grants and the furlough scheme.
Pier Brasserie, the £100K transformation of the former Prezzo site, within Newhaven’s prime former Fishmarket building, launched with much excitement and anticipation in February.
Within weeks it became clear that the spread of Covid-19 was set to devastate the sector along with the dreams of owner Mark Patonyi, one of city’s most esteemed restaurant managers, previously front of house at Martin Wishart’s The Honours, Manager of Martin Wishart at Loch Lomond and general manager of Steak Restaurant at Picardy Place.
Now, Mark, 36, alongside head chef and friend Vladimir Garcik and a team of two, has opened a take away offering, enabling foodies to sample high-quality bistro dishes while taking in the views of Newhaven lighthouse and the bridges, from the harbour.
The father of one, who moved to the UK from Hungary in 2007, said: “It may sound cliché, but 2020 has been an unbelievable rollercoaster of emotions.
“From the highs of our amazing opening – and those initial few weeks which saw us packed out – everything came crashing down.
“It looked like we would never be able to recover – and it has been heart-breaking that we can’t even offer our team the small comfort of furlough, as we’re so new we didn’t receive our PAYE reference number until after the 19 March cut-off date.
“We’re still doing everything we can to appeal that, as it just feels so unfair. As a new business we’ve not had any chance of building up cash reserves.
“Up until a few weeks ago it didn’t seem feasible that we could launch a take-away offering, but it got to the point I couldn’t sit around and wait for my fate any longer.”
He has subsequently launched a carefully selected menu utilising the best local and Scottish produce, including seafood landed in the harbour and meat from Donald Russell butchers. Included in the menu will be ciabattas, fish and chips, burgers, salads and desserts – as well as few options available each day for children.
Mark added: “The menu is an honest reflection of the food we were serving in the restaurant prior to lockdown – and easily enjoyed outside or at home.
“We’ve put in place all safety precautions too and had the team practice everything rigorously to ensure we can do this in the safest possible way. It gives us a chance to safely gear up to a potential part-opening in weeks, depending on how guidelines change.
“I also want to give a huge thanks to those that have offered kind messages during lockdown, knowing the situation we’re in.”
Ahead of the February launch Mark had been at the heart of the £100,000+ transformation of the site, project managing each process to ensure they meet his exceptionally high standards – as well as hand-picking a 15-strong team.
For more information about Pier Brasserie or to get first sight of the new menu when it launches, visit: https://www.pierbrasserie.com/ or follow us on Facebook @pierbrasserie and Instagram @pierbrasserie
Laura Ashley stores reopen … for Closing Down sales
British retail heritage brand, Laura Ashley has confirmed that its Edinburgh stores, located on George Street and at Straiton Retail Park, re-open today to commence the closing down sale, with dramatic reductions on fashion.
The stores are ‘COVID secure’ and adhere to a strict policy of social distancing with a limited number of shoppers allowed in-store at any time, as well as regular deep cleaning. Card payments are encouraged.
Laura Ashley began in the 1950s, quickly becoming famous for its unique printed fabrics. Over time, the brand grew to become the household name of today, synonymous with quality fashion, interiors and home furnishings.
Despite the store closures that will follow the ‘everything must go’ sale, the Laura Ashley brand will remain online (www.lauraashley.com) and at retailers nationwide.
The Edinburgh stores will continue to trade until further notice.
A spokesman for Laura Ashley said, “There are some fantastic deals to be found in-store, as everything is now reduced and, with at least 50% off fashion, we expect clothing ranges to sell out fast. We are extremely mindful of the current COVID crisis and customers can be assured that the store will be COVID secure.”
Help Holyrood committee plan a green recovery
Holyrood’s Environment, Climate Change and Land Reform Committee has launched an inquiry into how Scotland can ensure that a green, just and resilient recovery is central in our response to the social and economic challenges of the COVID-19 health crisis.
The inquiry will focus on identifying the principles, opportunities, key actions for change, immediate priorities, leadership and governance needed to underpin an effective green recovery, as well as the potential barriers to implementation.
The Committee has issued a call for views to help inform its inquiry over the coming weeks.
Gillian Martin MSP (above), Convener of the Environment, Climate Change and Land Reform Committee, said: “The global pandemic has been responsible for creating immediate challenges across almost every aspect of modern day living.
“But pre-COVID-19, we already faced the biggest and most immediate challenge of all – Climate Change. We have proven that, as a nation, we can adapt our behaviours and thinking for the greater good, so it makes complete sense that within this mindset, we grab the opportunity to change our habits and thinking to bring us out of this crisis in a green and sustainable way.
“A reframed pathway will help us meet our climate change targets for 2030, 2040 and 2045 at the same time as creating a stronger, cleaner and more resilient economy.”
“If you have views on how we should progress from here, our Committee would love to hear from you. You may be an environmental expert; belong to a third sector organisation or campaign group; local authority or non-departmental public body or be a member of the public. All of your views are important and help us reach the conclusions we take to the Scottish Parliament.”
The Committee would particularly welcome views on the following questions –
- Do the principles of sustainable development* (Webpage Annex A) and those proposed by the UK Committee on Climate Change**, provide a comprehensive framework for guiding an effective green recovery in Scotland?
- What are the key barriers to delivering a green recovery (within your sector and / or community)?
- What key policies, actions and immediate priorities are needed to deliver a green recovery (within your sector and / or community)?
- How should the 2021/22 Budget support a green and sustainable recovery and avoid locking in carbon?
- What funding is needed to deliver a green and sustainable recovery?
The closing date for responses is Friday 7 August 2020.
To respond to this inquiry, please find the committee’s call for evidence here: https://www.parliament.scot/parliamentarybusiness/CurrentCommittees/115472.aspx
Next steps for NHS recovery to be discussed by new advisory group
The recovery and renewal of health services is to be informed by the work of a new advisory group which meets for the first time today.
The Mobilisation Recovery Group, led by Health Secretary Jeane Freeman, will work to balance the safe resumption of some health care services that were paused during the initial response to the coronavirus (COVID-19) emergency, while retaining capacity in NHS Scotland to deal with the virus.
The group will advise on the next steps for safe and effective service delivery, as informed by the ‘Re-mobilise, Recover, Re-design framework for NHS Scotland’ plan, and will consider its implications for the full range of services. This includes emergency care, diagnostics, cancer services, scheduled care, mental health, social, primary and community care.
Ms Freeman said: “Throughout this pandemic NHS Scotland has remained open, continuing to provide emergency, urgent, cancer and maternity care, support for social care as well as maintaining COVID-19 capacity and resilience.
“Our response has and will continue to be informed by expert advice. As we begin to resume some paused NHS services safely, carefully and in a series of stages, this expert advisory group will help us balance patient and staff safety and NHS Scotland’s ability to respond to the virus.
“This is not a straightforward task and it will take time. The advice of the Mobilisation Recovery Group will be key as we continue to plan how the NHS and its planning partners can safely and effectively respond to the extraordinary demands of COVID-19, both now and in the future.
“The group will help us plan for the next steps, taking into account the whole health and care system, involving primary and community care, as well as engagement with clinical partners, service delivery partners, local authorities and patients. I look forward to its contribution.
“The safety of patients and staff will continue to be our priority and I want to reassure you that we are taking these precautions so that we can safely offer the right care, at the right time, in the right place.”
The Mobilisation Recovery group consists of representatives from around 30 expert and key stakeholders groups, including but not limited to COSLA, the Royal College of Nursing, the British Medical Association, the Royal College of General Practitioners, the Royal College of Emergency Medicine, the Academy of Medical Royal Colleges and Faculties, Alliance Scotland, the Care Inspectorate, Scottish Social Services Council and Adult Social Care Standing Committee.
CALA to reopen sales offices in Scotland
ONE of Scotland’s prominent homebuilders has begun the process of reopening its Scottish sales offices and showhomes in line with the latest Government guidelines.
CALA Homes’ on-site sales suites across the East, West and North of Scotland will begin opening by appointment only, from Monday 29 June.
The reopening will allow house hunters to progress their new home journey as lockdown eases, with services such as Part Exchange and Guaranteed Buyer available to help give buyers confidence.
Philip Hogg, Saled and Marketing Director with CALA Homes (East), said: “We are looking forward to welcoming customers back to our sales offices and helping them in their search for their dream home.
“The safety of our customers, our team and the wider community is absolutely paramount, and we’ve put in place a number of new health and safety measures to ensure their wellbeing, which all of our teams have been extensively briefed on.
“We’ve increased the frequency of cleaning in our sales suites and showhomes and will leave time between each appointment for this to take place. There’ll also be some changes throughout the experience, such as protective screens and hand sanitiser stations, and new signage to help customers navigate the sales areas safely.
“While our sales teams won’t be able to accompany customers around showhomes, customers will be given plenty of time to explore these properties on their own, and our advisors will be on hand before and after to answer any questions.
“We want to thank customers in advance for their understanding of the new measures and urge them to make an appointment before coming to see us, to help us safely stagger visitors. Our teams are very excited to be opening our doors again and are looking forward to making dream homes a reality once more.”
Househunters who are unable to visit CALA’s showhomes can still continue their journey with CALA through its two new services, Virtual Guided Tours and Remote Reservations. The services, which are available throughout CALA’s Scottish regions, enable customers to view and reserve homes remotely under lockdown.
The Virtual Guided Tour platform incorporates a video call function into a 360 degree interactive virtual tour programme, comprising more than 30 CALA showhomes. It supports two guests at any time as well as the Sales Consultant, meaning buyers can invite along a family member as they would in person. This has the added benefit of inviting a parent or friend who might live further away, which would not currently be an option at in-person viewings.
While on the tour, buyers can also be left on their own to take more time to privately view the property, before being re-joined by their Sales Consultant. They can also view the home in different ways including via an interactive, 3-D dollhouse and birds-eye view of the home. All these additional tools give a further clear picture of the size and scale of the home and each of its rooms, while the tour itself brings the floorplan to life.
CALA has also introduced Remote Reservations to offer customers the opportunity to secure their next home, with a safety net to do so. Reservation fees made through the service are fully refundable, to offer an extra level of reassurance.
For more information on how you can reserve remotely with CALA, please visit: https://www.cala.co.uk/why-cala/cala-incentives/reserve-remotelyTo view CALA’s developments across Scotland, visit https://www.cala.co.uk/homes-for-sale
‘Torpid and toothless’: Gambling Commission slammed in new report
The Department for Digital, Culture, Media & Sport (DCMS) and the Gambling Commission it oversees have an “unacceptably weak understanding” of the impact of gambling harms and lack measurable targets for reducing them, according to a Westminster committee.
In a report published yesterday, the House of Commons Public Accounts Committee says the Gambling Commission is not proactively influencing gambling operators to improve protections, and consistently lags behind moves in the gambling industry. Where gambling operators fail to act responsibly, consumers do not have the same rights to redress as in other sectors.
There are an estimated 395,000 problem gamblers in the UK, with a further 1.8 million people ‘at risk’. The effects can be devastating, life-changing for people and whole families, including financial and home loss, relationship breakdowns, criminality and suicide.
The Gambling Commission is a non-departmental public body funded by licence fees from gambling operators. In 2018-19 it took £19 million in these licence fees: less than 0.2% of the £11.3 billion gambling yield that year. In contrast to the Commission’s £19m fees a year, the gambling industry has agreed to spend £60m to treat problem gamblers.
‘Prevention is better than cure’
The government has approached other public health issues on the basis that prevention is better than cure. However, the Department was unwilling to accept the premise that increasing the Commission’s budget to prevent harm would be preferable to spending on treating problem gamblers.
The Commission increased the value of the financial penalties it enforced from £1.4 million in 2014-15 to £19.6 million in 2018-19, but it doesn’t know whether this has strengthened the deterrent to breaking rules for operators.
The Gambling Commission also has little understanding of the impact of its other regulatory action, including its ban on the use of credit cards for online gambling.
The Committee finds the pace of change to ensure effective regulation has been slow and the penalties on companies which don’t effectively tackle problem gambling are weak.
Failure to protect consumers
It says the Department and Commission together have “failed to adequately protect consumers” at a time of considerable change in the sector, as gambling increasingly moves online and new games become popular.
The collection of evidence has been patchy and behind the curve as the nature of gambling has changed, and the Commission has failed to develop responses even where it has identified potential problems, such as during the Covid-19 lockdown.
The temporary ban on gambling ads during lockdown has now been lifted – in its response to the report the Commission should provide an update on gambling patterns and industry behaviour during Covid-19, and any regulatory action it has taken to tackle the industry.
The Committee calls for a new, published league table of gambling operators’ behaviour towards their customers, naming and shaming poor performers. It says the Department must urgently begin its long-planned review of the Gambling Act, setting out a timetable within three months of this report.
The Committee concludes:
- The Commission should develop a plan for how it will be more proactive in influencing the industry to treat consumers better, including using reputational tools such as league tables indicating how well each operator treats its customers
- The Commission should urgently investigate the impact of fixed odds betting that falls under “lottery” legislation and is accessible by 16 and 17-year-olds
- The Commission and the Department should urgently look at online fixed odds betting and report back to the Committee with how they intend to increase effectiveness of online harm reduction within three months.
- The Commission needs to “radically improve” the data and insight it collects to know what is going wrong for consumers and develop better information on its own performance: Within three months the Department and Commission should set out to the Committee what actions they will take to ensure they have the research and evidence base needed to better understand gambling problems, and to design an effective regulatory response.
- The Department and Commission should work together to strengthen consumer rights assess the impact on consumers of gaps in redress arrangements and examine options for increasing statutory protections with an individual right of redress for breaches of the Social Responsibility Code of Practice.
Chair’s comments
Meg Hillier MP, Chair of the Committee, said: “What has emerged in evidence is a picture of a torpid, toothless regulator that doesn’t seem terribly interested in either the harms it exists to reduce or the means it might use to achieve that.
“The Commission needs a radical overhaul: it must be quicker at responding to problems, update company licence conditions to protect vulnerable consumers and beef up those consumers’ rights to redress when it fails.
“The issue of gambling harm is not high up enough the Government’s agenda. The review of the Gambling Act is long overdue and an opportunity to see a step change in how problem gambling is treated. The Department must not keep dragging its feet, we need to see urgent moves on the badly needed overhaul of the system.
“Regulatory failure this comprehensive needs a quick pincer movement to expose the miscreants and strengthen those they harm.”
Shoppers encouraged to support local businesses as shops reopen
The public are being encouraged to shop local as retail businesses across the country prepare to re-open this morning.
Under the move to phase two of the Scottish Government’s route map out of lockdown street-access retail can now re-open once guidance is implemented.
Today also marks the easing of restrictions on housing moves, outdoor markets, the construction sector, factories, warehouses and labs and research facilities.
Retail is an essential part of Scotland’s communities and is one of the country’s largest employers.
The re-opening is underpinned by a new Scottish Government campaign to ensure shopping is safe.
The national campaign, which includes posters for retailers, encourages the public to enjoy shopping again as they safely support businesses in their local area.
It asks shoppers to pay attention to signs, guidance and instructions from shop staff, to shop outside of peak hours and to follow current health guidance. This includes the wearing of face coverings.
Economy Secretary Fiona Hyslop said: “The progress made in tackling COVID-19 because of compliance of the public with lockdown rules means we are now in a position to ease some restrictions.
“Shops with street access in high streets across the country will be re-opening from today in a significant step towards the recovery of our economy, which has been very severely hit by coronavirus.
“High street retailers have shown huge resilience since the start of lockdown and the work they have done to safely prepare for re-opening, with close engagement between industry and trade unions, has been very welcome.
“As the high street re-opens we are making it clear shoppers are welcome back to their local high street as long as they shop safely and observe key safety messages such as the wearing of face coverings.”
Scotland Policy Chair for the Federation of Small Businesses Andrew McRae, said: “We all have a part to play in breathing life back into our high streets and town centres. Local independent retailers have had a very long, tough few months and they need the public’s support now more than ever.
“We know that money spent locally stays in the local community – and local communities can’t recover unless local economies do so too.”
David Lonsdale, director of the Scottish Retail Consortium, said: “The last fourteen weeks have been very challenging for retailers. Lockdown has forced them to rely on their limited reserves of cash and short term financial support, including the Scottish Government’s grants and rates relief, to survive.
“Being able to reopen today is a chance for those businesses to recover, and hopefully thrive.
“In preparation shop owners have put in an immense effort to take every step possible to be ready to safely open and our hope is customers will come out and support their local town centre and high street.”
Arusha Gallery to reopen tomorrow
Virtual Exhibition becomes real as staff prepare to open Ilona Szalay’s Some Are Born to Sweet Delight, Some Are Born to Endless Night at Arusha Gallery, Edinburgh
Exhibition Dates: 12 June 2020 until 12 July 2020
Arusha Gallery Opening Hours: Monday to Saturday 10am to 5pm, Sunday 1pm to 5pm.
After a little over 3 months since it closed its doors in March Arusha Gallery is set to reopen to the public. The gallery in Edinburgh’s New Town has measures in place to ensure social distancing is maintained, that staff are protected and a high level of hygiene is maintained.
Arusha runs a yearly programme of exhibitions, events and fairs, both nationally and internationally, with regular collaborations with guest artists, curators, festivals and institutions.
The Gallery has continued its exhibition programme throughout lockdown using online viewing rooms where its current exhibition Ilona Szalay’s Some Are Born to Sweet Delight, Some Are Born to Endless Night is on display.
It will remain there for those who are not yet able or comfortable with a gallery visit but last week the staff ensured that it now also hangs on the gallery’s walls ready for people to enjoy in person from Monday through until 12 July 2020.
Agnieszka Prendota, Creative Director at Arusha Gallery said: “We feel a huge sense of relief and release being able to open up the Gallery and share the wonderful work that our artists create with people in person again.
“It is a huge step forward. Our wonderful audiences and customers have been very supportive throughout this period but I know that we will all feel more joy for being able to come together albeit within restrictions to experience our artists’ work first hand and to reawaken parts of our souls that have remained locked up in recent months.
“We are in full mode preparing for the reopening, with a supply of masks, gloves and sanitiser to be accessible at the entrance to the gallery. We will have an A board outlining the social distancing measure within the gallery where they will move clockwise around the exhibition space.
“We have worked out that 6 people can be in the gallery at any one time. With all of these measures in place though the atmosphere in the gallery can remain relaxed and open. It’s certainly easier than navigating a supermarket!”
Some Are Born to Sweet Delight, Some Are Born to Endless Night shows a new body of work by Beirut-born Szalay on aluminium, glass and paper.
Szalay, a graduate of Central St Martins describes her work: “In the paintings we see statues petrified and bound on their pedestals. Disembodied arms which encircle with dependence and dominance.
“Broken mythological figures seemingly stunned by their own constraint and ineptitude. Gloriously ambivalent gods and goddesses remain coolly indifferent to what seethes below. And of course ‘the cage’ – the Blakian cage for the robin – the frame itself that holds the image, frozen in postures of pleasure, sensuality, pain, confusion, titillation and torture.”
Through a range of media from canvas to tracing paper, LED light to glass, Szalay engages the multitudinous dichotomies that make up both collective and individual subjective experience in her own restrained, poetic visual language.
Agnieszka Prendota added: “We are thrilled to be opening the gallery with Ilona Szalay’s show; her works are so tactile and enthralling.
“It feels right that, now again, it is possible for Edinburghs’ public to experience them in their full impact.”
Instagram, Arusha Gallery: www.instagram.com/arushagallery