Almost £8 million of funding has been announced to help people and nature thrive in some of the most deprived parts of Scotland.
The latest round of Scottish Natural Heritage (SNH)’s ambitious Green Infrastructure Fund will support seven major projects in cities and towns across the central belt. Continue reading £8 million nature boost for urban communities
Edinburgh’s pupils head back to school next week after the long (too long, say some harassed parents!) summer holidays. The chances are the children will have their brand new uniform, pencil-cases and gym stuff … but pupils at Ferryhill will have one extra item to remember – a snorkel!
Pupils at the Drylaw primary school are taking part in an exciting new ‘Active Routes to School’ pilot organised by the city council – and part of their daily routine will be a swim on the way to school!
The city council’s Education vice-convener Alison Dickie – herself a former teacher at Ferryhill School – explained: “We have been encouraging parents and carers to avoid taking their children to school by car, but the uptake in alternatives like walking and cycling has been disappointing.
“”We know that children love to swim, so we thought that introducing a ‘natural fairy pool’ water feature to streets in Drylaw would encourage the children to take a dip before and after school. Everyone knows swimming is very good for your health and of course it’s great fun too!
“Using the latest Edinburgh People Survey results we were able to ascertain that no less than 103.5% of people in Drylaw favoured the free scheme – and only 02.35 were against. You can’t argue with wtatistics like that, so we are now planning to ‘dive in’!
“We believe this is a first for Scotland and once again Edinburgh’s Capital Coalition leads the way!”
Trials took place at Drylaw Neighbourhood Centre earlier this year (above) and they were such a success that the pilot will be introduced at the start of the new term. The first public ‘pool’ opens on Easter Drylaw Avenue next week.
The Scottish Government fully supports the initiative. A spokesperson said: “Public health is our number one priority. Especially tackling obesity. So is education, that’s our number one priority, too, so this scheme really ticks all the boxes. An added bonus is that it costs us nothing so we are delighted to pass these savings on to our stakeholders, who are our top priority.”
While there may be some inconvenience for local residents, it’s believed that the benefits of ‘Swim to School’ far outweigh the disadvantages. There are some benefits for local businesses too.
A spokesperson for Farmer Autocare said: “Business has been booming over recent years with the damage potholes have been doing to cars on the city’s roads. Drivers will know to their cost just how expensive suspension repairs can be!
“Closing some roads may cause a slight ‘dip’ in profits – excuse the pun! – but the waterlogged roads could provide us with new business when cars’ electrical systems pack in. That can be a very expensive repair, too so, all in all, while it’s misery for the motorists it’s a win, win for us! Happy sailing!”
The Met Office has issued a yellow warning for rain for much of the UK, including most of Scotland. It is in place until midnight tonight, and follows localised flooding after heavy rain on Wednesday.
There was a packed house at Underbelly’s Circus Hub on Wednesday, where a special gala performance of Danny MacAskill’s Drop and Roll raised £6,915 in support of OneCity Trust’s work in Edinburgh.
The reaction from the Wednesday night audience was immense with both the children and the adults making it the noisiest show so far. Continue reading Drop and Roll at Underbelly raises £6,915 in support of OneCity Trust
Promising a fix for our broken care system across the UK has become a right of passage for new prime ministers in recent times and Boris has been no exception as he has boldly pledged to give “every older person the dignity and security they deserve” by solving the care crisis “once and for all”. Continue reading It’s time to look at the real reasons our country is in a care crisis, says recruitment chief
A man has been charged following a fatal road collision at the Maybury Roundabout in which local man Jonny Smith was killed.
The incident happened during the early hours of Friday 25th May 2018, after a BMW X5 was involved in a collision with a Peugeot 206. Continue reading Some Justice for Jonny at last?
VOLUNTEER RECRUITMENT FAIR
Wednesday 18th September 11am – 7pm
St Paul’s & St George’s Church
If you are an organisation and you would like a stall at the fair this year, bookings are now open! Visit https://voled.in/fair for more information. Continue reading Book now to avoid missing out on a stall at Scotland’s largest Volunteer Recruitment Fair
A leading student accommodation search engine has today announced that it will award a Quieter Hall accreditation badge to student halls, in an effort to meet the huge national demand from students looking to live in more peaceful halls of residence, as student culture changes.
Universities and student cities have seen a surge in demand for quieter halls of residence in the past year- from students including athletes who focus on their sleep, those with a focus on wellbeing, or those who simply prefer not to live amongst the hustle and bustle of the student party environment.
The first national rollout of such a plan to help students, Mystudenthalls.com has today launched a Quieter Halls badge of accreditation on qualifying properties- with criteria developed in partnership with student wellness expert, Dr Dominique Thompson. Halls in the accommodation search engine’s listings which meet nine compulsory criteria, that demonstrate provisions toward quieter living, are clearly labelled with the Quieter Halls badge.
The criteria takes into account provisions around space, sound and general resident guidelines, and includes noise policies, accommodation of specific requests for quiet rooms and living areas and a quiet surrounding area of the accommodation building.
One of the first properties to display the badge is Student Castle accommodation in the heart of major student hub, Edinburgh- with further accommodation operators across the UK registering their interest in making changes to their sites, in order to qualify for the badge over the coming months.
On the launch of the Quieter Halls badge, Mystudenthalls.com founder and director, Dan Roberts, commented: “In the last few years, we’ve seen a huge shift in student culture. It’s so important that universities and accommodation providers are working to support every student, no matter what their lifestyle, to ensure that all students thrive.
“It’s not about providing entirely quiet student halls – that would be unrealistic. It’s about a clear support of quieter lifestyles and living spaces. We’re proud that our Quieter Hallsbadge helps us takes an important step towards giving students greater control over their experiences whilst at university.”
Dr. Dominique Thompson said: ‘I’m really happy to have partnered with Mystudenthalls.com as a Quieter Halls advisor, helping its operators to better cater for those looking for quieter accommodation.
“Over the past five years, awareness around the importance of student wellbeing has become commonplace, and we now know that it’s not something that can be nurtured through a one-size-fits-all approach to accommodation. So, it’s great to see a provider tailoring its service towards giving students the tools to find exactly the right halls for them.”
For more information on the launch of Mystudenthalls.com Quieter Halls, head to: www.mystudenthalls.com
An Edinburgh food charity has conducted a warehouse refit during its 20th anniversary year, which will enable the charity to help feed an additional 2,000 vulnerable people each week.
FareShare Central & South East Scotland, which is run by partner charity Cyrenians, has also purchased a new, larger industrial chiller – all of which has been funded by Asda. Continue reading Warehouse refit enables food charity to help feed 2,000 more people every week
Scottish Franchise Week 2019 will kick off a series of events aimed at boosting franchising across the country. Continue reading British Franchise Association vows to help make franchising a £1bn industry in Scotland by 2021
