North Edinburgh News – Page 2023 – The NEN

Celebrating International Day of the Midwife

Celebrating the outstanding efforts of midwives and midwifery students across the UK:

Responding to the International Day of the Midwife, Andrea Sutcliffe CBE, Chief Executive and Registrar for the Nursing and Midwifery Council, said: “Today is an important opportunity for us to recognise and celebrate the incredible efforts of UK midwives and midwifery students who, despite facing uncertainty and adapting to new ways of working, have continued to provide safe, kind and effective care and support for women and their families throughout the coronavirus pandemic.

“Babies didn’t stop for Covid-19 and midwives and midwifery students have made such an important contribution to the way the UK has responded. I’m glad we have this opportunity to celebrate their skill and professionalism and thank them for their positive impact on the women, new born infants and families they care for and support.”

Midwives have shown resilience and steadfast support for pregnant women and their babies this past year throughout NHS Greater Glasgow and Clyde’s maternity services.

NHSGGC is celebrating the International Day of the Midwife, which always is a day of reflection of the valuable role that midwives play across the world, and especially important in the face of the pandemic.

And the Labour Ward staff team at the Princess Royal Maternity have shown the incredible contribution midwives make to the wider community too. 65 staff took part and raised £8,400 for Quarriers last month by walking an incredible 9850.88 miles – equivalent to walking to Australia from Glasgow!

The 6500-mile adventure was the brainchild of Charge Midwife Jen Johansson, who wanted to do something to help people who might be struggling in these difficult times.

Jen Johansson, Charge Midwife, Labour Ward, Princess Royal Maternity, commented: “Our role as midwives is to empower and support women during their pregnancy and birth to enable them to have a positive experience.

“It’s a very special and precious time for women. When we are with ladies in labour, that can be our full 12 hour shift – we have to ensure a safe outcome for mum and baby.

“I always wanted to be a midwife from the age of 14 and have now done it for 15 years. We get to spend a lot of time with women and their families getting to know them. Especially in the labour ward, we have a special rapport with women. We are ensuring the safe arrival of precious life, it’s amazing.”

The restrictions to hospital visiting across Scotland meant that midwives were often the only support for women other than their partners while in hospital.

Evelyn Frame, Chief Midwife, NHS Greater Glasgow and Clyde, said: “the theme for this year’s International Day of the Midwife is ‘Follow the data: Invest in Midwives’ and we look forward to coming together as a global community to advocate for investment in quality midwifery care around the world”.

This year’s theme is timely as it will coincide with the launch of the 2021 State of the World’s Midwifery Report that provides an updated evidence base and detailed analysis on the impact of midwives on maternal and newborn health outcomes and the return on investment in midwives.

As Chief Midwife Evelyn is extremely proud to be part of such a wonderful midwifery family across NHS GGC and would like to pass on her personal thanks to each and every member of the team who have gone above and beyond over the past year, putting women and their families at the heart of the care they provide.

Dr Margaret McGuire, Director of Nursing, NHS Greater Glasgow and Clyde, said: “Midwives always provide skilled, high quality care and understand what matters to the woman and her family.

“They put women first and this past year they have gone above and beyond to provide woman centred and safe care. At the core of everything they do is making the pregnancy, birth and postnatal experience as positive as possible for the woman and those who matter to her.

“My sincere thanks and praise goes out to every midwife in Greater Glasgow and Clyde on this the International Day of the Midwife.”

NHS Lothian is also celebrating their midwifery team:

Today, we are celebrating five midwives for #InternationalDayoftheMidwife under the campaign #AMillionPaths.

First up is Vickie Davitt, a gender-based violence midwife:

Bring It Back: Morrisons reintroduces refillable containers at meat, fish and deli counters

Refillable container scheme to be reintroduced at counters to reduce single use plastic

Counter deals to celebrate scheme relaunch will include 8oz rump steaks for £2.50 and pork belly for £4/kg

Morrisons is bringing back its refillable container service at its fresh fish and meat counters to reduce the amount of single use plastic packaging used in stores.

Morrisons Butchers, Fishmongers and Deli experts will now ask a customer if they have brought their own container to be refilled, rather than automatically putting products into single use packaging^[1].

The initiative is available in all stores and allows customers to bring their own containers to counters, with each purchase being given a sticky label that is then scanned at the tills.

If every Morrisons customer used a refillable container for their counter purchase, it would save 2,000 tonnes of plastic a year. E

lsewhere, Morrisons has also been working to remove 900 tonnes of plastic from its butchers and fishmongers counter packaging a year by introducing new lighter weight recyclable trays.

Cut-price deals across selected meat and fish cuts and deli will be available to celebrate the return of the service. This includes 8oz rump steaks for £2.50 and pork belly for £4 per kilogram. Morrisons will also be selling reusable containers in their Home aisle to encourage customers to use them.

Natasha Cook, Packaging Manager at Morrisons, said: “Reducing plastic in our stores is an important part of our sustainability agenda and it really matters to our customers too.

“The service was very popular with our customers when it was first introduced before lockdown, and we’re pleased to see it return with some great value deals on our fresh, British quality products.”

Morrisons originally introduced the refillable container scheme in 2018 but it has been put on hold during the pandemic.

It is one of a number of in-store initiatives that Morrisons has unveiled to reduce plastic pollution, with other moves including being the first supermarket to ditch plastic carrier bags in favour of paper bags and using traditional paper bags for loose fruit and vegetables.

For more information, please visit:

https://www.morrisons-corporate.com/cr/corporate-responsibility/in-store-initiatives/.

Foundation Scotland introduces social investment funding

Major funder announces integration with Resilient Scotland creating significant social investment opportunities to help Scotland recover

Foundation Scotland, Scotland’s community foundation, is extending its dedicated support for the third sector. The major grant funder now offers innovative social investment opportunities to social enterprises in Scotland.

The move comes as Foundation Scotland and Resilient Scotland announce their integration. Social investment, offered through the experienced Resilient Scotland team, will expand on the community foundation’s core grantmaking services providing access to a greater range of funding options.

The new ‘Investing in Enterprise Fund’ offers between £10,000 and £500,000 to social enterprises as blended finance. Up to 50% of the funding will be through grants with the remainder through loans, enabling them to become more sustainable, accessing opportunities less reliant on grant funding. Support will help successful applicants to raise funds and only repay part of the total sum. Foundation Scotland will reinvest all returned funds for additional social investment.

Chris Holloway, formerly Head of Resilient Scotland and now Head of Social Investment at Foundation Scotland, said: “The integration of Resilient Scotland into Foundation Scotland makes perfect sense for us as an organisation. However, most importantly, the move will offer significant benefits to Scotland’s thriving social enterprises.

“Collectively our knowledge, support and experience will enhance the holistic support provided to Scotland’s social enterprises. Groups will be able to come to Foundation Scotland for traditional grants, which they continue to need, and now also innovative investment opportunities.

“This is great timing for us as we paused all new support through the pandemic; instead, we have focussed our support on our existing investees. A huge thanks to the National Lottery Community Fund for their continued support over the past 9 years.

“For now, it’s business as usual for our current investees, and we very much look forward to opening our doors to new investees.”

Giles Ruck, Chief Executive of Foundation Scotland, said: “Across the last few years, we have witnessed a shift change from our donors. They have understood that the funding landscape is changing, and they’ve shown an increased appetite to provide communities with wider, longer-lasting funding opportunities.

“Across our 25-year history, we’ve never been needed more. We understand that the sector needs our committed, innovative support to help them build back better. Our integration with Resilient Scotland will support this and will bring many benefits to the third sector.

“We are encouraging all social enterprises that are looking for additional investment to visit our website or contact our team directly to discuss your eligibility”.

Foundation Scotland is offering new social investment opportunities across 13 of the most disadvantaged local authority areas across Scotland. The Foundation expects to extend the service to the whole of Scotland at a later date, and welcome even more new enterprises to Foundation Scotland.

Later this month, the Foundation will be publishing a full evaluation highlighting the impact of Resilient Scotland’s social investments since 2012.

For more information, including details on how to apply for the Investing in Enterprise Fund visit: foundationscotland.org.uk/social-investment

Journalism students will provide Scottish election coverage

ENRG platforms will carry interviews, analysis and results

A group of students from Edinburgh Napier’s Journalism department are to provide live coverage of the Scottish election results.

And they have already gained an exclusive interview with First Minister Nicola Sturgeon.

Third year Journalism BA student Steven Brown is editor for the event, which will be staged on Friday, May 7 as the results from the previous day’s election are revealed.

Around 20 students will take part in the Merchiston campus event, which will feature eight hours of live broadcasting on the Radio ENRG platform plus online support on the ENRG Debrief website.

Steven said: “We are really looking forward to the event. We have secured a number of interviews already, with virtually all of the party leaders in Scotland agreeing to talk to us. We aim to provide expert analysis too as the results happen.

“It will be a great experience. Radio ENRG and the Debrief website have established real credibility and are treated pretty much like other professional media.”

The event follows the hugely successful live coverage of the US elections back in November.

That ambitious enterprise caught the attention of the BBC’s North America Editor Jon Sopel, who tweeted his support, saying: “Have a great night. When I was a journalism student, it was me and Steve Richards (another well-known UK print and broadcast journalist) commenting on the Peckham by-election (of 1982). Glad to see you guys starting with the most consequential presidential election in decades.”

This time round, another top BBC journalist will be involved. Edinburgh Napier journalism graduate Nick Eardley, one of the corporation’s leading political commentators, will give his thoughts on the elections in an exclusive interview with ENRG.

Steven said: “It was fantastic to get support from Jon Sopel last time. It’s great to know that people like him started out in exactly the same way we are. And this time Nick Eardley will be helping us out. Just ten years ago he was himself a student in these same classrooms.”

Hours and hours of preparation – agreeing the broadcast and online schedules, sourcing story ideas, sorting out interviewees – will be done before even an article is published on the website or any audio hits the airwaves.

The live coverage itself will begin at 10am on Friday (May 7) on Radio ENRG and run through to 6pm, while the ENRG Debrief website has already begun publishing content.

Steven added: “These events are incredibly inspiring to work on and offer students a unique and invaluable opportunity to learn and gain knowledge and understanding of what it’s like to work as a journalist on huge events.

“To be able to publish our coverage in two mediums, on the radio and online, will give the event a true industry-like feel. It’s going to be an amazing experience.”

Students taking part come from all four years of the Journalism BA plus the Masters programme.

Radio ENRG is a student-led broadcasting platform, organised from Napier’s journalism department. Since its launch in 2014, it has gone from strength to strength, winning numerous national awards for the quality of its content.

Over the years, the ENRG family has grown to include three websites – Debrief, Sport, and Music & Arts – all of which are led by student editors and publish new content most days. More sites are due to come online in the next few months,

Tune in to Radio ENRG from 10am on Friday, May 7 to hear the live coverage at:

https://radioenrg.net

While the ENRG Debrief website can be found here:

https://enrgdebrief.wordpress.com

Wardie Bay’s Seal of Approval on Star Wars Day!

Harbour (common) seal numbers are declining in some parts of Scotland by up to 95%. The Fife Seal Group counted just 100 individuals in the Firth of Forth in 2019 and have stated a decline here of 40% since the 1990s (writes KAREN BATES of WARDIE BAY BEACHWATCH).

Numbers did not improve in 2021. Over the Covid-19 crisis, we have seen a notable increase in wildlife disturbance at Wardie Bay and Granton Harbour.

Indeed, the story is the same all around the coast, prompting Marine Scotland to publish new guidance for interacting with seals. We are understandably reconnecting with nature on our doorstep and may not be aware of the effect of getting too close to wildlife such as seals.

At Granton Harbour and beyond, the situation for harbour seals has become serious enough that signage has become necessary to help inform those not aware of the consequences of their actions.

Our pontoons are designated for wildlife conservation in this special protection area. Local people have responded by collaboratively creating a sign to help inform visitors and nudge away from behaviour that is causing the ‘flight’ response in the local seal population.

There is enough danger out there for this species. We do not need to cause them more harm. They clearly want to use the designated platform provided for them, but not when humans threaten to get too close.

The #SaveOurSealsSign challenge was sent out to four local primary schools: Wardie, Granton, Trinity and Victoria. 117 children returned some amazing and fun designs.

The public and a panel of seal experts were invited to vote on their favourites to be made into a final sign, which was installed yesterday – May the 4th, Star Wars Day.

The final #SaveOurSealsSign is a collage of the top three voted for designs. Congratulations to Sumaira (Trinity P7), Ella (Wardie P3) and Izzie (Trinity P7) and all the children and teachers for their fantastic work.

Huge thanks go to Kevin of TRAC engineering for coordinating the installation, to Steve and Sarah at Glasgow’s Logo Labels Ltd for their experience and for making the sign for us, and to Sam, Marion and Gregory of P1 Solutions for installing it!

They definitely get the Seal of Approval!

Logo Labels said, “We are proud to help bring awareness of issues in the greater community.

“As a lover of wildlife, owner Stephen McNeil jumped at the chance to help manufacture a sign to support this cause and make people aware of the issue for seals that inhabit the area”.

Wardie Bay Beachwatch said: “We now hope that people will see what local kids have to say, so that we can all enjoy these amazing animals – from a distance – for many years to come. May the 4th be with you!”

PICTURES: KAREN BATES

Aldi Scotland most awarded retailer at the 2021 Scottish Retail Food and Drink Awards

This year’s inaugural Scottish Retail Food and Drink Awards saw Aldi enjoy enormous success as the most-awarded supermarket, winning an impressive 19 accolades for a variety of its high-quality Scottish food and drink.

After almost three weeks of intensive judging involving hundreds of products and more than 60 expert judges from across the food and drink sector, a range of Aldi’s Scottish products from various food and drink categories were announced as the winners.

As well as scooping three Gold Awards in the beer, gin and spirit categories, Aldi also took home two of the six highly sought-after Platinum Awards for their Specially Selected Steak & Ale Pie and 12-Year-Old Speyside Whisky. Both products were described as being “well-balanced”, “exceptional value for money” and of “absolutely outstanding quality”.

Helen Lyons, Scottish Retail Food and Drink Awards Co-Founder, said: “My congratulations go out to all our winners and a big well done to Aldi for their sweeping success this year, which is thoroughly deserved. Their championing of Scottish produce is so clear.

“The Scottish Retail Food and Drink Awards recognises and celebrates the best produce available in Scotland. Our goal has always been to get more Scottish food and drink products onto more shelves, and it has been such a joy to see the high standard of entries this year.

“Receiving a Scottish Retail Food and Drink Award is a stamp of excellence. Aldi should be very proud of their many successes this year, especially their two Platinum Awards.”

Graham Nicolson, Group Buying Director, Aldi Scotland, added: “I am thrilled that 19 of our Scottish products have been recognised by the Scottish Retail Food and Drink Awards. Our success really demonstrates our commitment to providing our customers with the best quality produce that Scotland has to offer at an affordable price.

“I am also so pleased that Aldi has been highlighted as leading the way in Scottish sourcing. The awards and this recognition are a testament to the hard work and dedication of our Scottish suppliers.”

Aldi leads the way with local sourcing and stocks some of the finest quality food and drink from over 90 Scottish suppliers. After reaching their initial goal of stocking over 450 Scottish products by the end of 2020, the supermarket has now increased this target to stock over 500 locally sourced products in the next two years.

The complete range of Aldi Scotland products that have won at the 2021 Scottish Retail Food & Drink Awards are:

ALDI Scotland Product Winners	Category	Retail Price
12-year-old Speyside Whisky	Platinum Award – Drink	£20.99, 70cl
Specially Selected Steak & Ale Pie	Platinum Award – Food	£1.99, 250g
Toradh	Gold Award – Gin	£14.99, 70cl
Eidyn	Gold Award – Gin	£19.99, 70cl
Anti A	Gold Award – Beer	£1.19, 330ml
Rubus	Gold Award – Beer	£1.25, 330ml
12-year-old Speyside Whisky	Gold Award – Other Spirits	£20.99, 70cl
Specially Selected Sundried Tomato, Lentil & Smoked Paprika Soup	Store Cupboard	£0.75, 380g
Specially Selected Chicken Balmoral	Ready Meals & Accompaniments	£3.79, 465g
Specially Selected Steak & Ale Pie	Quiches, Pies and Pasties	£1.99, 250g
Specially Selected Aberdeen Angus 36-Day Aged Ribeye	Steak	£4.89, 227g
Specially Selected Black Pudding	Haggis, Black & White Pudding	£0.99, 200g
Specially Selected Scotch Aberdeen Angus Dry Aged Steak Burger	Burgers and Sausages	£2,49, 340g
Ginger, Chilli and Lime Infused Scottish Salmon Fillets	Fish	£2.99, 220g
Specially Selected Jersey Milk	Dairy	£0.95, 1l
Specially Selected Scottish Vintage Cheddar	Cheese	£1.25, 200g
Specially Selected Orkney Caramel Biscuits	Biscuits – Sweet	£1.69, 200g
Specially Selected Oatcake Bikes – Lockerbie Cheddar	Biscuits – Savoury	£0.99, 175g

Aldi’s Specially Selected Lemon Shortbread Rounds were also Commended in the Biscuits – Sweet category.

CALA partners with Tom Kitchin for show home cook-along

KITCHENS within one of Edinburgh’s most high-profile developments are getting the ultimate grilling thanks to a partnership with renowned Michelin-star chef, Tom Kitchin.

In celebration of local producers and the reopening of Edinburgh’s vibrant hospitality scene, Tom is collaborating with CALA Homes (East) on a live event at its Boroughmuir development in the city.

The Masterchef judge regular will be hosting a cook-along at the housebuilder’s recently opened second showhome on 7^th May, using ingredients locally-sourced from his favourite suppliers in the city, and showing how home cooks can replicate the magic of his restaurant dishes.

On the menu is salmon fillet, sourced from Welch fishmongers at Newhaven served with spring peas and broad beans. The full recipe will be shared ahead of the event for budding home chefs and followers to easily follow along on the day.

Chef Kitchin, Scotland’s youngest winner of a Michelin star and Chef Proprietor of four businesses across Edinburgh and East Lothian (The Kitchin, The Scran & Scallie, The Bonnie Badger & Southside Scran), believes the partnership is the perfect opportunity to showcase the best of Scottish produce and hospitality as the industry reopens.

He said: “Edinburgh has a fantastic hospitality scene and it’s great to do something fun and a bit different to celebrate the reopening of restaurants, bars and pubs across the country.

“The invite from CALA is a fantastic opportunity to try out the kitchens at Boroughmuir, while giving home cooks a challenge to replicate the quality of a restaurant meal at home.

“The CALA kitchens have an incredible specification and look like the perfect setting for getting creative, so I’m excited to visit and try everything out.”

Chef Kitchin will be cooking in the development’s showhome kitchen which has been designed by Kitchens International and is fully equipped with integrated Siemens appliances throughout, including an induction hob, fridge-freezer, black glass and stainless steel oven, and combination microwave oven.

Philip Hogg, Sales and Marketing Director with CALA Homes (East), said: “It’s a real honour to have Scotland’s most renowned chef cooking in a CALA kitchen – we’re thrilled to have him showcase how you can create a restaurant-quality dish from home.

“Since we welcomed our first residents late last year, we’ve heard a lot of great feedback on our kitchens, so we wanted to showcase and celebrate that, as well as local produce and hospitality, as best we could.”

To join the cook-along, follow @calahomes on Instagram or Facebook and tune in to the live stream from 5pm on 7th May or search for the dedicated hashtag, #TheKitchinAtCALA

Are you interested in a career in the fire service?

Scotland’s national service is reaching out to members of the LGBT+ community to encourage them to consider a career in the fire service.

The Scottish Fire and Rescue Service is inviting underrepresented groups to a dedicated online information session about operational and non-operational roles.

An exclusive session is being held for members of the LGBT+ community this week.

Liz Barnes is the Director of People and Organisational Development for the Scottish Fire and Rescue Service. She said: “As an equal opportunities employer, we strive to ensure our workforce represents the communities we work in.

“We want to reach out to diverse groups. This can help increase the number of applicants, which means that we will get the best candidates applying for the right job.”

Due to COVID-19 restrictions, the information sessions moved online last year. Next month, they continue with a dedicated LGBT+ event on Thursday (6 May) between 6pm and 8pm.

Liz continued: “During the sessions, we’ll aim to answer questions about the range of careers available in the service and how you can apply for these roles.

“It’s also important for us to discuss any challenges you feel there are and how we may assist in overcoming these.”

Anyone who wishes to attend can sign up via Eventbrite:

https://www.eventbrite.co.uk/e/lgbt-information-session-tickets-152107711259

Places are limited however, there will be a holding list for future events.

More online information sessions are planned for other underrepresented groups who are interested in learning more about careers in the fire service, they will be announced shortly.

News from Heart of Newhaven

Welcome to your May Newsletter

As usual there is a lot to report!

Digital Volunteers

First of all, another plea for volunteers willing to help and advise tech newcomers on how to get online and communicate with the outside world in this digital age. This is the current focus of the partnership between Heart of Newhaven and Pilmeny Development Project (PDP).

PDP now has sufficient equipment but is still looking for additional volunteers who are willing to be matched with individuals needing on-going digital support. We urge more volunteers to come forward who could offer such support to those older people who are feeling particularly lonely and isolated by the pandemic and lockdown restrictions.

Training is provided by PDP and the next induction dates are May 12th or May 18th.

If anyone is interested please contact volunteer@heartofnewhaven.co.uk

AGM

Of course the big news this month is the holding of our first ever AGM as a SCIO. This took place on Thursday 29th April and was attended, either online or in person, by 38 members.

The Chair, Rodney Matthews presented his personal “View from the Chair”, a summary of the charity’s journey so far accompanied by visuals prepared by fellow trustee David Scott and volunteer Sara Kliczka.

Treasurer Alan Hartley took everyone through the annual financial statement and trustees’ report which will be submitted to OSCR.

Secretary Colin MacNeill supervised the voting on three resolutions: the re-election of two of the trustees, (as the constitution states that one-third of the trustees must step down each year) These were randomly selected. Christine McDerment and David Scott (Grant Laing decided not to stand again) were re-elected.

There was also an amendment to the constitution passed, to allow digital meetings as well as physical ones, or a mixture of the two.

Business Plan

One matter that was raised at the AGM was that of how HoNC will support itself after the purchase of the site. The Business Plan which was submitted and assessed by CEC last year, is available through a link on the HoNC website.

If you would like to read it, you can find the link on the Our Journey So Far webpage.

School Delay

Unfortunately there has been a further delay to the building of the new Victoria Primary School.

The school was informed last week that Covid restrictions on the number of workers who can be on site at the same time, as well as the delay in some building supplies arriving from Europe, have meant that it will not now be possible for the school to move in over the summer holidays.

It is still hoped to get everything finished by the autumn but there is no fixed date yet. We will keep you informed.

Finally, there are always new HoNC features being posted online.

Check out our YouTube channel for recent videos of support from the Living Memory Association and one of our volunteers, along with the earlier ones from the History of Education Centre and some of our trustees.

Remember there are also monthly blogs going up on the website.

Happy viewing and reading.

Volunteer Page

COVID-19 crisis devastates Scotland’s visitor attractions

New figures show visitor numbers slumped 34 million in 2020, a fall of 63.2%
Continued restrictions mean many attractions cannot reopen fully, a survey reveals
Staycationers urged to support Scotland’s visitor attractions this summer

New figures have revealed the full impact of the COVID-19 crisis on Scotland’s visitor attractions.

Overall visitor numbers slumped by almost 34 million in 2020, a fall of 63.2%, with 153 sites closed for the full 12 months, according to data from the Moffat Centre for Travel and Tourism at Glasgow Caledonian University.

Edinburgh Castle – Scotland’s busiest paid-for attraction in 2019 – saw visitor numbers drop by 87.2% with figures for Kelvingrove Art Gallery and Museum, in Glasgow, and the National Museum of Scotland falling 85.8% and 79.9% respectively.

Data from the Moffat Centre’s Scottish Visitor Attraction Monitor 2020 shows attractions with large outdoor areas outperformed museums/art galleries and castles.

Edinburgh Zoo was Scotland’s busiest paid-for site last year, attracting 292,631 visitors, a drop of 46.4% on the previous 12 months. Culloden Visitor Centre attracted 182,496 visitors as it recorded battlefield-only visits for the first time and the Royal Botanic Garden Edinburgh was the most popular free site with 452,479 visits.

The Scottish Visitor Attraction Monitor shows the overall number of visits dropped from 53,722,691 in 2019 to 19,785,282, across 638 sites.

Professor John Lennon, Director of the Moffat Centre at GCU, said: “The impact of COVID-19 was felt across all aspects of the Scottish visitor attractions sector as travel was restricted, the international market collapsed and the wider economy was impacted.

“Attractions are an essential element of the Scottish visitor experience. With international tourism unlikely to return until well into 2022, domestic visitors will provide the sole source of income. Their custom will be vital going forward.”

Two-thirds of attractions reopening last week expect to operate with either reduced hours, some facilities closed, or at weekends-only, to keep costs down, according to a survey of operators, carried out by the Moffat Centre in partnership with The Association of Scottish Visitor Attractions (ASVA).

The survey, conducted in April, revealed that one in eight sites will remain closed for all of 2021 without a further easing of coronavirus restrictions.

Industry leaders are now warning many smaller attractions are at risk of closing for good without ongoing financial support from the UK and Scottish Governments.

Gordon Morrison, ASVA Chief Executive, said: “Whilst the majority of attractions are reopening from this week onward, it’s extremely concerning that so many sites feel it’s not viable for them to open fully, or even at all this year, due to continuing restrictions.

“Our last survey in March revealed the continuation of 2m physical distancing means 54% of attractions are either forced to remain closed or will lose money when they do reopen. Those findings, combined with our April survey, highlight just how vulnerable the attractions sector is and how incredibly challenging its economic recovery will be.

“Now more than ever, this important sector of our country’s £11bn tourism industry not only needs continued government support to survive and thrive but also needs the public to get behind it.

“Visitors can expect the warmest of welcomes and be assured that the highest standards of safety protocols – praised by the Scottish Government as exemplary – have been put in place across the sector for their benefit.

“And with sites predicted to be at least 30% less busy this year due to the fact that there will be significantly fewer international visitors, those from Scotland and the rest of the UK can take advantage of a rare opportunity to experience our world-class attractions and all that they offer in a uniquely enjoyable, memorable way.”

TOP 10 PAID ADMISSION ATTRACTIONS

Attraction	2020	2019	% 20/19 17/16
Edinburgh Zoo	292,631	545,562	-46.4%
Edinburgh Castle	276,950	2,167,366	-87.2%
Culloden Visitor Centre	182,496	209,011	-12.7%
Edinburgh Bus Tours	163,429	614,928	-73.4%
Glenfinnan Monument	162,536	462,235	-64.8%
Culzean Castle and Country Park	128,328	333,965	-61.6%
Crathes Castle	103,209	153,217	-32.6%
Robert Burns Birthplace Museum	88,976	261,283	-65.9%
Stirling Castle	79,000	609,698	-87.0%
The Royal Yacht Britannia	67,734	357,271	-81.0%

TOP 10 FREE ADMISSION ATTRACTIONS

Royal Botanic Garden Edinburgh	452,479	991,479	-54.4%
National Museum of Scotland	445,217	2,210,114	-79.9%
Greyfriars Kirkyard	322,317	1,273,113	-74.7%
Scottish National Gallery	304,560	1,583,231	-80.8%
Kelvingrove Art Gallery & Museum	259,978	1,832,097	-85.8%
Riverside Museum	246,933	1,364,739	-81.9%
Gretna Green Famous Blacksmiths Shop	159,304	772,448	-79.4%
Scottish National Gallery of Modern Art	148,204	508,090	-70.8%
National War Museum	124,327	805,934	-84.6%
Gallery of Modern Art	96,391	576,689	-83.3

*Top 10 Free Admission attractions table does not include Country Park Attractions

Note: The vast majority of attractions closed down between the 13th and 23rd of March 2020 due to the shutdown caused by Coronavirus (COVID-19).

From the w/c 29th June 2020 visitor attractions such as Gardens and Wildlife/Animal were permitted to reopen, however, it should be noted that many did not open until the 1st of July 2020 (or later).

The W/C 15 July 2020 saw a further relaxing of the coronavirus measures, which permitted more visitors attractions, including most indoor attractions, to reopen.

The introduction of the Scottish Government Strategic Framework in October presented more challenges