Persistent bloating. Abdominal Pain. Feeling full quickly. Needing to wee more often.
The level of awareness of ovarian cancer symptoms is devastatingly low, and not knowing what to look out for could lead to a delayed diagnosis of the deadliest gynaecological cancer.
I write to you today as we need to increase widespread awareness of the symptoms of ovarian cancer to help improve early diagnosis rates. Right now, just 1 in 5 (20%) women can name persistent bloating as a symptom of ovarian cancer1, with only one in three (34%) contacting their GP if they experience it2.
If I’d have known the symptoms, I would have seen my GP a lot earlier.
I began to experience pain in my abdomen, similar to period pain, the summer before my diagnosis – along with needing to wee more often and changes to my bowel habits – but I just dismissed it due to my age.
I never had ovarian cancer in my mind.
It was initially suspected as IBS, but a CT scan and ultrasound later confirmed the cancer, which had spread.
My experience has shown me that so much more needs to be done to raise awareness of ovarian cancer and its symptoms in order to save lives. If diagnosed at the earliest stages 9 in 10 women will survive3, but currently two thirds of women are diagnosed late, when the cancer is harder to treat4.
That’s why this Ovarian Cancer Awareness Month (March), together with Target Ovarian Cancer, I want everyone to know the potential significance of the symptoms: bloating, abdominal pain, feeling full quickly and needing to wee more often.
Editor, share the symptoms with readers this month. Help to stop this disease devastating lives.
Its #NoSmokingDay next week! Pilton Community Health Project would love to hear your stories of quitting, trying to quit, successfully quitting …. call us on 0131 551 1571 or email Dawn on dawnanderson@pchp.org.uk to book in for lunch with us and @ASHScotland@QYWLothian@NHS_Lothian …
Record number in work, training or further studies
A record high number of young people were in work, training or further study after leaving school last year.
The latest Attainment and Initial Leaver Destinations statistics show 95.7% of those finishing school in the last academic year (2021-22) were progressing their studies or careers within three months of the end of the school year, up from 95.5% the year before. The proportion who were unemployed fell to 3.9% – the lowest since 2009-10.
The gap between school leavers from the most and least deprived areas progressing after school narrowed to a record low of 4.4 percentage points. This gap has reduced by two-thirds compared to 2009-10.
Education Secretary Shirley-Anne Somerville said: “This highlights the achievements of Scotland’s learners – making the transition from school can be a daunting time, so it’s great to see a record number of young people progressing in their studies or careers after leaving school.
“These statistics also demonstrate the effectiveness of our approach to learning through Curriculum for Excellence, which is clearly helping to prepare young people for their futures during a crucial stage of their lives.
“Closing the deprivation gap remains a top priority for us and these statistics show we are continuing to make progress, with the gap between school leavers from the most and least deprived areas in work, training or further study down to a record low.”
Sharon McIntyre, Head of CIAG Operations at Skills Development Scotland (SDS), said: “This is the highest positive destination rate since consistent records began in 2009-10 and it is very encouraging to see that the results continue to move in such a positive direction.
“The progress is testament to the hard work, determination and commitment of Scotland’s young people and of the SDS careers advisers working in partnership with teachers to support pupils throughout their time at school and beyond.”
Anne Dignan, an Edinburgh woman who is blind, will take part in a story-telling session in Portobello on Saturday, March 11th.
‘Tales of Gallus Women’ will feature six women telling anecdotes, chronicles and yarns ranging from the far north of Scotland to the shores of East Lothian – “Tales of real life, fantasy, intrigue and witchcraft,” says Anne (68).
“I’ve always loved telling stories to the children I taught at school before I had to take early medical retirement due to my sight loss,” says Anne. “I missed reading books, and being able to tell and to listen to stories again meant so much to me.”
A former primary-school teacher, Anne (68) joined a local group called the Burgh Blatherers three years ago after a friend told her about them.
“Through the Burgh Blatherers, I discovered the art of traditional oral story-telling,” she goes on. “This art has been going for centuries where stories, customs and traditions were handed down from generation to generation, as well as being a form of social interaction amongst people who couldn’t read or write.
“The Burgh Blatherers share a very keen interest in ensuring the skill of story-telling continues to enjoy its relatively recent revival over the last 20 or so years. There will be six of us taking part on Saturday evening. All are acclaimed storytellers in their own right, most with many professional years of experience – Rona Barbour, Beverley Casebow, Linda Portula, Elaine Robertson, Emilie Barr and myself.”
Anne, herself, has won one of the story-telling movement’s most prestigious awards, the Tall Tales Oscars. “I was up against several professional contenders who all had many, many years of experience. I am highly delighted, and proud of the award.
Her own tale this Saturday will be the true story of woman born into a Gaelic-speaking community on Skye in 1821. “My story is self-penned and extensively researched,” she enthuses. “It’s about Mairi Mohr Nan Oran, or ‘Great Mary of the Stories’ as she became famously known by her native Gaelic-speaking community. Her real name was Mairi MacPherson (nee MacDonald).
“She was instrumental in rallying people to effect a change in the legislation affecting crofters, the Crofters Holdings Act, which secured land tenure for crofters who had who had undergone the ravages of the later Highland Clearances. She wrote many songs and poems railing against landlords and persons of authority.
“She taught herself to speak and write English so she could help Gaelic-speaking emigrés who, like her, lived in slum conditions whilst they sought work in Glasgow. Her poems and stories were created when she was imprisoned.
“To this day, she has left an indelible mark and even Gaelic choirs are still named after her in the islands.”
* ‘Tales of Gallus Women’ will take place in Bellfield Community Hub in Portobello on Saturday, March 11th, from 6.30 to 8.30pm.
Fresh investment could be unlocked in communities across the city by embracing new way of working.
Supporters urge interested groups to come forward.
Communities in Edinburgh are being urged to embrace a new way in which people can unite to unlock investment and build a better future.
Regeneration experts and the Scottish Government are keen to see the expansion of Community Improvement Districts to deliver on residents’ ambitions for the region.
The model builds on the well-established Business Improvement District model, credited with levering millions of pounds worth of investment in towns and cities nationally.
But, rather than just involving businesses, the Community Improvement District brings in any interested organisation or group to decide on the area’s priorities and take action.
That’s made financially possible by monies raised through a levy paid by business owners in the area, which is levered to attract greater investment.
It’s a way of making communities better places in which to live, work and visit which supporters believe could not only help the continued recovery from the coronavirus pandemic, but also the local response to the climate emergency and cost of living crisis.
The Community Improvement District drive is being spearheaded by Scotland’s Improvement Districts (SIDs), an arm of Scotland’s Towns Partnership (STP).
It is supported by Tom Arthur MSP, Scotland’s Community Wealth Minister. He said: “I support this drive to create more Business and Community Improvement Districts to build on significant successes so far.
“With greater community involvement they can attract more investment through greater collaboration with local people, supporting business growth and protecting jobs.
“This will help us deliver the entrepreneurship ambitions set out in the Town Centre Action Plan and the National Strategy for Economic Transformation by creating enterprising communities. We all have a role to play in ensuring our towns enable more people to benefit directly from the wealth generated by local communities.”
To create a Community Improvement District, a group would need to take ownership of the drive locally and secure majority support to collect a legally-binding levy payment through a ballot of businesses who would be levy-payers.
Help and advice is available from SIDs’ expert team on the legal and practical steps which should be followed at every stage of the process.
Phil Prentice, SIDs’ national programme director, said: “The Community Improvement District model holds huge potential in achieving positive change for places across Edinburgh.
“It’s a way of embracing the uniqueness of communities and encouraging true collaboration to help achieve residents’ ambitions. It gives them the means by which to decide how they invest in the area’s future.
“This really is an exciting development which our team is keen to discuss with any potentially interested community group.”
The Community Improvement District model has been piloted in Possilpark, Glasgow, where businesses and local groups have joined forces with social landlord ng homes and others to create Remaking Saracen.
It has set out ambitions to regenerate the area by securing investment to improve the district’s look, boost business and tackle anti-social behaviour.
Work so far has included not only a series of community events and shop local initiatives, but shopfront improvement and street cleaning. It is hoped this will be the foundation of achieving greater ambitions for the area’s future.
To find out more about how to set up an improvement district, go to:
A top UN body has backed calls from environmental and community campaigners to review planning appeal rights across Scotland. This intervention follows repeated calls for equal rights of appeal which have been ignored by the Scottish Government.
In August 2022, the Environmental Rights Centre for Scotland, Planning Democracy, Friends of the Earth Scotland and RSPB Scotland submitted a formal complaint to the Aarhus Convention Compliance Committee (ACCC), a UN body tasked with upholding environmental rights. The complaint has now been accepted by the committee, and they have now written to the government who must respond by 21 July 2023.
The complaint sets out why planning appeal rights in Scotland are not ‘fair’ and therefore in breach of the Aarhus Convention’s access to justice requirements. It points to a ruling by the ACCC in Northern Ireland concluding that a lack of equal rights was in breach of the Convention. Campaigners believe that the same applies to Scotland.
Currently, only applicants (usually developers) enjoy statutory appeal rights if their planning permission is refused. Members of the public do not enjoy equivalent rights to appeal if a development is approved, even if the development will negatively impact their health and environment, or if the decision-making process was flawed. The only option available to affected communities is to go to court via a judicial review in the Court of Session, which the Convention’s governing bodies have already ruled as ‘prohibitively expensive’.
The complaint to the UN follows over a decade of civil society campaigning and the passage of two planning bills, neither of which addressed the issue. An amendment proposing to add equal rights of appeal to the 2019 Planning (Scotland) Act was voted down by Conservative and SNP MSPs.
Campaigners are now calling for legislative reforms to finally achieve equal rights for communities.
Benji Brown, Policy & Advocacy Officer at the Environmental Rights Centre for Scotland, said: ‘Under Scotland’s rigged planning system, developers have the upper hand. They can request a full merits review on decisions they dislike, while members of the public do not have the same appeal rights.
“If people want to speak out in defence of their environment or their community, their only option is to go to court – an action that is unaffordable for most. This situation is blatantly unfair, and in violation of the Aarhus Convention.
“The UK government’s cynical attempt to stall our complaint has failed, and we welcome the Committee’s recognition that the issue must be urgently investigated. There can be no more delays – it’s time for Scotland to deliver equal rights for all.’
Clare Symonds, Chair of Planning Democracy, said: ‘Planning Democracy have campaigned for years for an equal right of appeal, and we are pleased that the Compliance Committee has agreed to take our case further.
“The lack of equal rights of appeal is a cause of much anger and frustration for communities, who experience discrimination in planning decisions. For years, the system has been blatantly unfair – it really is time for Scotland to resolve this longstanding injustice.’
Mary Church, Head of Campaigns at Friends of the Earth Scotland, said: “It’s an absolute scandal that communities and NGOs can’t appeal against developments that harm the environment, while developers can wage a war of attrition through appeals and repeat applications if their proposal gets knocked back.
“This lack of equal rights undermines the planning system and leads to decisions that are bad for people and planet. The Scottish Government shouldn’t wait for the UN to rap its knuckles again, but should take action to level the playing field as part of its agenda to enshrine human rights in Scots Law.”
Aedan Smith, Head of Policy and Advocacy at RSPB Scotland, said: “Planning appeal rights in Scotland are archaic and wholly unfit for purpose given the imperative need to tackle the nature and climate emergency.
“Scotland’s appeal rights date back to a time when landowners could do almost anything they wanted with their land, no matter the impact on neighbours, communities or the environment.
“It is essential this outdated and fundamentally unfair system is reviewed to ensure that individuals, environmental organisations and communities at least have a comparable right to developers and can access a mechanism to have the most harmful decisions reconsidered.”
We are looking for new trustees to help LifeCare in its great work supporting local older people
LifeCare is at an exciting stage in its development and we are looking for Trustees who will passionately inform our services bringing new skills and experience to help lead the organisation.
We are particularly (but not exclusively) interested in individuals with experience in the following fields:
Health and Social Care
Finance
Fundraising
Marketing and Digital Innovation
Hospitality
Most of all, we are looking for people with lived experience of care, or as an unpaid carer, to help strengthen our capacity to better embed the voice of the people who use our services at Board level.
Can you help us?We are looking for people who share our values, that are passionate and committed about supporting local older people, who can be creative in building our profile and work closely with our team and stakeholders to deliver outstanding person-centred services to our clients.
The Board usually meets in the evenings (either in-person or via Zoom). The role is non-remunerated however reasonable expenses will be reimbursed and training / ongoing support will be provided. If you have any questions or would like a quick chat to find out more, please contact our chair beverleyfrancis@lifecare-edinburgh.org.uk.
To apply please send a CV and covering letter expressing your interest to beverleyfrancis@lifecare-edinburgh.org.uk. Please contact us if you would prefer to submit an application in another format.
£155 million in payments since introduction in February 2021
There were 184,000 children and young people getting £25 per week in Scottish Child Payment by the end of 2022, latest statistics show.
The figure includes 78,000 who have received it since the payment was extended to include children aged between six and 16 in November.
Social Security Scotland had provided decisions to just over half the people who applied on the extension of the payment by the end of 2022.
Decisions for the majority of people who applied or added additional children to their award between 14 November and 31 December 2022 have now been issued and this will be reported on in the next round of statistics.
Scottish Child Payment was announced in the summer of 2019, with the first payments being made in February 2021.
Since then it has risen from £10 per week per child to £25 per week per child – a 150% increase in value.
It means that the amount paid out to children totals £155 million until the end of last year.
Ahead of extending Scottish Child Payment to under-16s, local authorities also made more than 1.1 million Bridging Payments across 2021 and 2022 to the families of school age children worth a total of £169.3 million.
Social Justice Secretary Shona Robison said: ““These figures demonstrate our commitment to tackling child poverty and the significant financial support we have made available to meet that aim.
“This is just a snapshot of all the work being done since Scottish Child Payment was extended and increased until the end of 2022.
“We’ve since processed tens of thousands more applications.
“This represents remarkable progress in the delivery of the most ambitious child poverty reduction measure in the UK.
“That increased payment of £1,300 per child per year is now benefitting families across Scotland.
“We want to make sure that everyone gets the help available to them. Parents or carers who are on universal credit, tax credits or other benefits and who have children under 16 should check through Social Security Scotland if they are eligible.”
Scottish Book Trust, the national charity working to change lives with reading and writing, has launched a series of free workshops, available online and in local libraries, designed to help those who support and care for people living with dementia.
The charity runs Reading is Caring, a programme which provides personalised training on creating shared, sensory reading experiences to those caring for someone living with dementia – whether that’s a partner, relative, friend or professional carer. Reading is Caring is designed to ease daily challenges by creating special moments of connection, sparking positive memories and relieving stress.
A Reading is Caring participant, caring for her mother who lives with dementia, said: ‘Reading is Caring was fantastic. The stories bring mum into the here and now. She laughs, she’s interested and engaged. I get a glimpse of her personality again, which is lovely for both of us.’
Now in its third year, Reading is Caring has been proven to provide a consistent, connective activity for family, friends, and professional carers to use at every stage of the dementia journey.
People in Edinburgh and the Lothians who support someone living with dementia can attend a two-part workshop series online, or head along to one of the drop-in sessions at Craigmillar Library and Musselburgh Library.
These free workshops provide the knowledge and tools needed to share reading with someone living with dementia. Scottish Book Trust provide personal support throughout and after the training to help tailor the experience to the unique needs of each person, removing barriers to participation at every stage of their dementia journey.
Musselburgh Library workshops:
Monday 27 February: 3–4pm
Monday 6 March: 3–4pm
Monday 13 March: 3–4pm
Monday 20 March: 3–4pm
Monday 27 March: 3–4pm
Monday 3 April: 3–4pm
Craigmillar Library workshops:
Thursday 2 March: 10.30–11.30am
Thursday 9 March: 10.30–11.30am
Thursday 16 March: 10.30–11.30am
Thursday 23 March: 10.30–11.30am
Thursday 30 March: 10.30–11.30am
Thursday 6 April: 10.30–11.30am
Online workshops take place regularly and can be found on Scottish Book Trust’s website.
The First Minister has encouraged drinks producers to register for Scotland’s deposit return scheme, which will go live on 16 August 2023.
Drinks producers are asked to register with the scheme administrator, Circularity Scotland, in order to participate in the recycling scheme and to help ensure that they meet their regulatory requirements.
The scheme is expected to cut littering by a third, reducing the amount spent by local authorities on litter clean up, and will increase recycling rates of single-use drinks containers from the current rate of approximately 50% towards 90%.
The First Minister has also written today to the UK Prime Minister, reiterating that the UK Government must exclude the deposit return scheme regulations from the Internal Market Act. The Scottish Government first requested an exclusion in July 2021.
The First Minister said: “Scotland’s deposit return scheme will be a major part of our efforts to reduce litter, cut emissions and build a greener, more circular economy. Good progress is being made by industry ahead of the scheme’s introduction on 16 August, and I am aware of the significant private investment that has already been made by many businesses to be ready for the scheme, and the many jobs that are being created to operate it.
“I would strongly encourage drinks producers to register with the scheme administrator, Circularity Scotland. This is a vital step to ensuring everyone who needs to be is compliant with the regulations and is the best way to make sure that their products can be sold without issue in Scotland.
“I also want to reassure drinks producers with concerns about the impact of the scheme. SEPA has made clear that they will take a proportionate approach to compliance. They will work with businesses to help them get ready – advice and guidance, not fines, will be the first step for any business that is clearly taking action but struggling to meet their obligations.
“The Scottish Government will continue to listen to the concerns of small producers and will consider if there is any further action we can take to support them ahead of the scheme going live.”
