Ye Olde Inn extends Eat Out deal

We at Ye Olde Inn have loved seeing so many of you come out and support us over August and we don’t want it to stop, so we are exclusively going to continue the Eat Out To Help Out scheme ourselves for September and October!

Yes that means for Monday – Wednesday you can have 50% off your food and soft drinks on us! We are doing this to say thank you to you guys for your continued loyal custom to be a part of this great deal you must call and book and quote “Ye Olde Eat Out”

This is bookings only so we advise you get booking ASAP as this will fill up fast!

Once again thank you so much to each and every one of you for your incredible support,

Team Ye Olde Inn x

Silverknowes Golf Club CLOSED

Silverknowes Golf Club issued the following statement last night:

We found out this morning that a member entered the clubhouse on Saturday morning for a very brief period of time, after having returned from Spain. He did not self isolate and we have been left with no other option but to close the club.

Myself and the staff have santised all of the clubhouse today but as a precautionary measure, we are closing the club for 72 hours. If you were in the clubhouse on Saturday and show signs of Covid please contact us as soon as possible so we may inform the track and trace team.

The club will be open for business on Thursday unless there are any repercussion from this.

Thank you for your understanding in this matter and I hope you appreciate that your safety and the staffs are paramount to us.

Regards

Carol

The Norhet Bar in Davidsons Mains has appealed to any customers who visited Silverknowes Golf Club on Saturday to stay away as a safety precaution.

Meanwhile, life in Aberdeen will begin to get back to something like normal this week ….

Following a SGORR meeting yesterday (Sunday 23 August) the First Minister has set out a timeline for the lifting of travel restrictions, limits on indoor meetings and the opening of hospitality.

A number of restrictions were lifted at midnight tonight so that today (Monday 24 August) Aberdeen will be broadly in line with the rest of Scotland. The five-mile travel limit, restrictions on gatherings and limitations on hospital and care home visits will be lifted.

Businesses due to open in line with the national route map can also reopen, with the exception of cafes, restaurants or any hospitality element within them.

These, along with restaurants, pubs, casinos and other hospitality premises, will be able to open from Wednesday 26 August, only once an environmental health check has been completed.

Hospitality business owners are being urged to get in touch with Aberdeen City Council if they have not already had an environmental health check.

The SGORR meeting included partners from Aberdeen City Council, NHS Grampian and Police Scotland, and heard the latest update from the Incident Management Team on the level of the virus and its transmission in Aberdeen.

The latest figures show a total of 427 cases have been identified in the Grampian Health Board area since 26 July. Of these 259 are associated with the same cluster linked to Aberdeen pubs, and 1,258 contacts have now been identified from those.

First Minister Nicola Sturgeon said: “I am grateful to people in Aberdeen – the local authority and health board, local businesses, and everyone who lives there – for complying so well with the rules that were put in place to prevent the spread of COVID-19. In particular I am grateful for the understanding of the businesses that were required to close in order to help beat the virus.

“It’s due to the commitment of people in the city, as well as world class contact tracing that means we are now able to lift some of these measures from Monday and then again from Wednesday, but it is vitally important that everyone follows the FACTS rules in order to prevent an outbreak of this scale occurring again.

“That way we can move forward and get our economy, our society and our lives generally back to as much normality as possible.”

Susan Webb, Director of Public Health for NHS Grampian said: “We must be cautious to ensure the progress we have made is maintained.

“Crucially, we must all be observing physical distancing from those not in our immediate household; whether at work, meeting socially, in a supermarket or out for exercise and recreation. It is also vitally important that anyone identified as a close contact of a detected case follows the guidance on isolating for 14 days.”

The Scottish Government has not ruled out extending restrictions if necessary to protect public health.

Remember FACTS for a safer Scotland:

F – Face coverings. These should be used in shops and on public transport (buses, trains and taxis)
A – Avoid crowded places.
C – Clean your hands frequently, using water and soap whenever possible.
T – Two metres – observe physical distancing.
S – Self-isolate and book a test if you are suffering from COVID-19 symptoms.

‘Forgotten Angels’ – Why We Must Act Now to Prevent A Collapse of Social Care

With coronavirus continuing to have an impact across the country, one woman speaks out about the desperate need to support a social care system on the brink of collapse …

Diana McGovern, who lives in Davidsons Mains, suffers from MS and is confined to a wheelchair. She relies on her carers to complete the simple day to day tasks we all take for granted. Without ‘her angels’ as she calls them, it would be impossible for her to remain in her own home.

She is deeply concerned about the crisis facing the social care system in this country and believes any further pressure on it, such as a second wave of COVID19, would lead to its collapse.

“Protect the NHS is their claim but who is protecting the carers?” asks Diana. “An army of unsung heroes dedicated to looking after patients in their own homes with compassionate dignity and respect, preventing bed blocking in hospitals, allowing doctors and nurses to continue the vital work of saving lives. 

“They work seamlessly as a team, but could the NHS function without carers?  Nurses study diligently to become qualified and proudly wear their badge of office but carers also wear badges! 

“Their challenge is to enhance and retain a quality of life for people who suffer from a complex and wide range of medical conditions. It’s a demanding, responsible, and emotionally draining career but one which offers tremendous job satisfaction. They are compensated with a wage less than that of a supermarket worker, while having to provide their own car and phone to carry out their duties.

“On top of an already difficult situation they were handed the challenge of COVID-19. They were expected to care for and nurture patients discharged from hospital, cope with distressed relatives and battle to save the lives of the sick and dying, with little support or guidance – all while trying to protect their own lives and the lives of their families.

“The media has highlighted how wonderful our carers are and revealed the very inadequate wages they receive. Has any policy maker or government addressed this disgraceful situation?   NO.

“Have we not learned from past mistakes? We may be living with a pandemic now, but we may be facing an even greater crisis soon, with winter flu and further lockdowns possible. Doctors and nurses are making contingency plans, but what about recruiting carers? The strain on the skeleton level of care workers we have now is enormous. Any additional stress placed on the system would surely see it collapse.

“Does it take the voice of a person completely wheelchair bound, living independently with the support of carers, to highlight the urgent problem of recruiting and paying an appropriate decent living wage to all carers? Is the government ignoring this crisis?

“Nicola Sturgeon has stood up for Scotland and been applauded. Can she now take urgent action to recruit and increase the pay to compensate and reward our dedicated carers? We are dependent on the NHS, but in a crisis, we rely on our trusted carer.

“How do we keep and recruit careers when they don’t receive a decent pay? We need to pay now not tomorrow, or the government may have bigger crisis on their hands.

“Unless action is taken now, the system will crash. We must act before it’s too late.”

Mental Health and Wellbeing Support in North Edinburgh

Local organisations have put together a booklet listing mental health & wellbeing support services in North Edinburgh (see below).

If you need support call the new Community Wellbeing Helpline on 0131 332 8773.

Barnton cyclist incident: can you help?

At about 8.30pm on Friday 19th June, a 32 year old man was cycling his dark red Genesis Hybrid pedal cycle on Barnton Avenue.

About 20 yards from the junction with Cramond Road South, the rider became unseated from his bike and sustained injuries. The exact cause of the incident is unknown, however there is the possibility that another vehicle may have been involved.

Images of the bike are attached and at this time it is unconfirmed if any other vehicles were involved.

Anyone with information is urged to contact police on 101, quoting incident 2977 of 22 June.

Substantial housing development planned for Davidson’s Mains

A planning application has been submitted to construct 36 new homes in Davidson’s Mains.

The plans would build on much of the car park to the rear of Tesco as well as land previously used by Clelands garage off Main Street before it closed.

The application proposes four (2-3 storey) buildings with a mix of two and three bedroom apartments.

Access to the new housing would be a single point from Main Street. There would be a small green space as part of the development which could be used as a play park.

There would be 30 parking spaces and covered spaces for 70 bicycles.

A rerouted cycling/pedestrian path would be preserved from Tesco to the old railway line that runs between Silverknowes Terrace and The Green.

Local Almond Lib Dem councillors Kevin Lang and Louise Young are alerting residents to the proposals:

“Important – because of COVID, the Council planning department has had to suspend official neighbour notifications for planning applications. Whilst the online site suggests a deadline of 13 April, this is not correct. No deadline currently exists for comments to be submitted – we’ll update our site when one is set.

“We are really keen to hear our constituents’ views on this application. You can submit views formally through the online portal (link below) but please send a copy of your comments to us by email – kevin.lang@edinburgh.gov.uk  and louise.young@edinburgh.gov.uk”

https://bit.ly/2JP804g