Cyclists are being urged to saddle up and support Poppyscotland’s upcoming Sportive, as the charity celebrates 10 years of the popular event.
Not only is this the tenth anniversary, but the Wee Yin route will also become a permanent feature after a successful trial of the scenic course in 2024.
The Sportive is Poppyscotland’s flagship fundraising cycling event, featuring four routes designed for different ability levels. It is split into two distinct types – the Classic (46, 68 and 102 miles) and the Wee Yin (22 miles).
As in previous years, riders will line up at the starting point in Prestonpans, East Lothian, then head along the historic coastal route to North Berwick where Classic route participants will face a timed hill climb before reaching the first feed station at East Linton.
From there, the short route continues to Gifford while medium and long routes head towards Garvel before splitting at Whiteadder Reservoir, with the longer challenge heading to Duns and medium returning to Gifford. All routes finish in Musselburgh.
The Wee Yin route will take cyclists inland to Gullane before heading back towards Aberlady and then on to the coastal path.
Poppyscotland’s Head of Fundraising and Learning, Gordon Michie, is encouraging both individuals and families to take part in this year’s Sportive, and said: “2025 marks the 10th anniversary of this event, and we have been working so hard to create something really special for all of our riders.
“With the Wee Yin route proving so popular last year we are delighted to be able to bring it back on a permanent basis, opening up the Sportive to even more participants who may want to take part. The Wee Yin is perfect for those leisure cyclists and families too.
“Please sign up today and be a part in one of the best cycle rides in Scotland with amazing scenery, all while supporting our Armed Forces veterans and their families.”
Avid cyclist Ally Mallinson took part in last year’s trial run of the Wee Yin route and encouraged his daughter, Amy, to partake in it also. Ally highly recommends it to others. He said: “It’s a great idea and it would be good to see more families out doing it as that’s what it’s all about.
“The Wee Yin route is a good way of staying fit, healthy and raising money for a great cause and it’s a good family activity. Cycling on roads is safer than many people think and if you follow the highway code, cycle properly, you should not have an issue.
“I’ll be back this year with Amy and my son!”
Gordon added: “We’re really excited to celebrate the 10th edition of the Sportive and our goal is to raise as much as possible to support the Armed Forces community at times of need, including help with housing, debt, mental health, and mobility.
“If you’d like to help us make an even bigger impact, please consider adding a £10 donation per rider. It’s a small gesture that can make a big difference!”
Entry for our Classic routes is £40 per rider (minimum age: 16). The Wee Yin route is £25 per rider or £40 per family (2 adults & 2 children). Minimum age is 12 and entry is free for riders under 16.
Entry Includes: Electronic timing; mechanical support; food and water stations; coffee at the start; Tea & Toast at the finish; ‘King and Queen of The Heugh’ timed hill climb; sweeper service and a finishers gift.
To sign up today, please visit poppyscotland.org.uk/sportive
Chief Constable Jo Farrell today met with the family of Sheku Bayoh to underline Police Scotland’s support for his relatives and the wider Public Inquiry into his death.
The Chief Constable pledged that Police Scotland remained fully committed to assisting the Chair to discharge the Inquiry’s terms of reference and that the Service would address any recommendations made.
The private meeting in Glasgow was also a chance for the Chief Constable to build on Police Scotland’s relationship with the Bayoh family and highlight the anti-racism work being carried out to improve policing in Scotland.
Chief Constable Farrell said: “I very much welcomed the opportunity to meet with the family of Sheku Bayoh and listen to their concerns.
“I took the opportunity to express my personal condolences and reiterated those of the service. I am very aware of the significant impact his death had on his family, friends, the wider community of Kirkcaldy and beyond, and serving and retired officers.
“This meeting also allowed me to underline Police Scotland’s commitment to participate in every aspect of the Public Inquiry and to positively assist the Chair in discharging the terms of reference.
“Meeting directly with the family also allowed me the opportunity to highlight the extensive work ongoing under the Policing Together programme to drive a culture change towards becoming an anti-racist, anti-discriminatory service which better reflects and represents the communities we serve.”
“I repeated the assurances that both myself and the senior leadership of Police Scotland are absolutely committed to driving this work forward with a very clear determination to address any recommendations made by the Inquiry.”
People in Scotland are being asked to choose which three quotes, from some of the nation’s most well-known poets, should feature on the Scottish Parliament’s Canongate Wall, to commemorate the building’s 20th year.
Liz Lochhead, Jackie Kay and Kathleen Jamie, who have all held the role of Scots Makar or National Poet of Scotland, have two quotes from their work for people to choose between. Each Makar’s quote which receives the most public votes will then be featured on a new letter-cut stone on the Wall.
Designed by artist Soraya Smithson with architects EMBT, the Canongate Wall, which is on Edinburgh’s Royal Mile, was partly conceived of as a tribute to the design ideas of Enric Miralles. Soraya’s designs also incorporated the idea to feature quotations from Scottish writers and thinkers as well as popular proverbs and poems, letter-cut into stones sourced from across Scotland. These new additions will take the total number of quotations from 26 to 29 and there is currently only one woman writer represented – Mary Brooksbank.
Presiding Officer Rt Hon Alison Johnstone MSP said:“The Canongate Wall is a piece of living public sculpture which celebrates different parts of Scotland – our people, our land and our rich cultural heritage.
“It is both a celebration and reminder of the powerful words of some of Scotland’s most talented writers, thinkers and poets.
“It’s an honour to have the words of these three incredible women writers carved onto our building as a permanent reminder of their contribution to public life in Scotland.
“As always, when it comes to the Scottish Parliament, I strongly encourage people to vote!”
People can make their selection on our website and via our social media channels using www.parliament.scot/canongate.
The winning options will then be sent to Perthshire-based stone carver Gillian Forbes, who will carry out the letter-cutting process assisted by Cameron Wallace. The new quotations will be unveiled later in the year.
Liz Lochhead, Makar from 2011 to 2016, said:“I can’t believe it, my words are going to be, not graffiti on a wall, but in stone on the wall of the Parliament.
“It is something that has meant a great deal to me in my lifetime, that we have a Parliament in Scotland.
“Speaking poetry out loud is very important to me and if someone stands outside the wall of the Parliament and mouths these words out loud to themselves, that’s a great thing to feel that I’ve been the innocent originator of these things.”
Jackie Kay, Makar from 2016 to 2021, said:“It’s a huge honour and so extraordinary to be carved into stone.
“It’s so strange to think of your words surviving you – but in a sense, that’s every writer’s dream.”
Kathleen Jamie, Makar from 2021 to 2024, said:“The fact that words of mine will be joining those that are already there and adding to this wreathing of poetry around the Parliament building, that wall of truth, that wall of integrity that surrounds us here.
“That words of mine, whichever are chosen, will be inscribed there also. That’s okay, I can go out with that!”
The quotations that will form part of the public vote are as follows:
Liz Lochhead
Option 1
this our one small country… our one, wondrous, spinning, dear green place. What shall we build of it, together in this our one small time and space? – from Grace, A Handsel, New & Collected Poems, 2012
Option 2
Love surprises us. It’s like when sunlight flings A sudden shaft that lights up glamourous the rain Across a Glasgow street – from Epithalamium, A Handsel, New & Collected Poems
Jackie Kay
Option 1
The dead don’t go till you do, loved ones. The dead are still here, holding our hands. – from Darling, the title poem in Darling: New & Selected Poems, 2007
Option 2
Where do you come from? ‘Here,’ I said, ‘Here. These parts.’ – from In my country, Darling: New & Selected Poems, 2007
Kathleen Jamie
Option 1
Be brave: by the weird-song in the dark you’ll find your way. – from The Storm, The Bonniest Companie, 2015
Option 2
And the wild ways we think we walk Just bring us here again. – from The Tradition, The Bonniest Companie, 2015
A brief history of the Canongate Wall
The Canongate Wall was designed by artist Soraya Smithson, working with architects EMBT. The wall contains a range of Scottish stones, letter-cut by Gillian Forbes and Martin Reilly, with a variety of quotations. The design pays tribute to the creative ideas and imagination of the Scottish Parliament’s lead architect, Enric Miralles.
At the lower end of the wall is a townscape based around sketches by Miralles of Edinburgh’s Old Town, as viewed from the Balmoral Hotel.
The 26 quotations, of relevance to Scotland and the Parliament, range from well-loved pieces of poetry to proverbs and psalms. There are quotations in English, Gaelic and Scots and many of Scotland’s leading writers are represented.
The original 24 quotations were chosen from a selection of material made available to an Art Steering Group, including previous MSPs – Jamie Stone, Kenneth Macintosh and Michael Russell. The material considered included submissions from members of the public.
To mark the tenth anniversary of the Scottish Parliament and ten years of devolution, the SPCB agreed that two new quotations should be added to the Canongate Wall.
Public suggestions were invited via the Parliament website and via postcards distributed to book festivals and libraries across Scotland, and almost 300 suggestions were received.
A panel of MSPs and external experts met to consider these suggestions.
The panel selected two new quotations, one by Mary Brooksbank, the first woman to be represented on the Wall, and Norman MacCaig, bringing the total number of quotations to 26.
We need home-made savoury/sweet bakes & soup for our BHSA fundraising community Chess Cafe next Saturday 1 March
Our popular café provides refreshments for the young competitors taking part the Lothian Junior Chess Championships & their families. We only had one donation last time which sold out in minutes! Homebakes really boost our profits
NB: NO NUTS please – this includes nut oils, nut flours, nut butters & nut milks. Soup must be vegan. Anything suitable for those with allergens or on special diets is very welcome.
Donations can be dropped off in the Hub from 8:30am on Saturday morning.
All money raised by the event goes back into school via our charity funds.
BHSA have recently funded:
A pop up sensory den for the Wellbeing Hub
Young Carer’s Wellbeing Gardening Project
refreshments & decorations for the S6 Winter Ball
site licence renewals for Modern Languages digital resources
& 10 chess sets & boards for House Chess
BHSA is YOUR school charity Every pupil at Broughton High benefits from our funding during their time at school, making us a worthy cause to support & get involved with!
Major award for team offering transformative model for care closer to home
A DIGITAL team improving the health and wellbeing of adults across Scotland has been recognised at a major awards ceremony for technology in health and care.
Blackwood Homes and Care has won the Technology Enabled Independent Living category at the prestigious Holyrood Digital Health and Care Awards.
Its 24/7 digital responder service, which supports more than 200 adults – many with disabilities and mental health challenges – allows users to manage their care remotely. This reduces the need for scheduled in-person visits by providing flexible, on-demand support at the touch of a button.
Underpinning the service is Blackwood’s CleverCogs digital system, a tablet device that ensures customers receive timely assistance, whether for medication reminders, NHS virtual GP access, wellbeing check-ins, or emergency support. The CleverCogs system provides a central hub for care management, communication, health monitoring, and home automation, enhancing accessibility and digital inclusion.
Jason MacGilp, Chief Executive Officer at Blackwood Homes and Care, said:“From the ongoing design right through to support our 24/7 digital responder service is a huge team effort.
“This award is a testament to that and our shared desire to improve the lives of people throughout the country.”
Since launching as a pilot in 2016, the 24/7 responder service has grown significantly providing 3,500 hours of digital care across six supported living services to more than 350 customers each week. The innovation ensures an emergency response within 20 minutes, delivered by locally based SSSC registered staff.
Diane Allan, Head of Care at Blackwood Homes and Care added: “It’s wonderful to receive this award and highlight the fantastic work of our 24/7 responder team.
“Most importantly for us is that we see the impact the team has on our customer base on a daily basis. I look forward to working with the team to grow and evolve the service, helping individuals across Scotland to live their lives to the full.”
The service’s impact has been life-changing for customers. Individuals who previously relied heavily on emergency services now have instant access to dedicated support, reducing unnecessary interventions and improving their overall wellbeing.
One Blackwood staff member highlighted the transformative impact by saying: “Technology-enabled care is not about gadgets—it’s about improving lives. Our customers feel more secure, more independent, and more connected, knowing support is available at any time.”
The organisation’s approach aligns with Scotland’s Digital Health and Care Strategy, demonstrating how technology can revolutionise care provision and support individuals to live independently in their own homes.
With its award-winning digital care model, Blackwood is setting the benchmark for technology-enabled independent living in Scotland’s housing and care sectors.
For more information about Blackwood Homes and Care, visit:
Commission to consider improvements to deal with offending behaviour
A new independent Commission has been established to review sentencing and penal policy and identify the most effective ways to address offending behaviour to help reduce crime and lower the number of victims.
The Sentencing and Penal Policy Commission will be chaired by Martyn Evans, former Chair of the Scottish Police Authority, supported by five expert commissioners. The Commission will examine how imprisonment and community-based interventions are currently used in Scotland.
The independent Commission will, as part of its work, engage with victims and others with experience of the justice system, and make detailed recommendations for improvements in how offending behaviour can be dealt with effectively and proportionately.
Initially focusing on community sentencing, bail and remand, and release from custody, the Commission will be able to consider other areas it deems necessary. A final report and recommendations are to be presented to the Scottish Government before the end of the year.
Justice Secretary Angela Constance said: “I am grateful to Martyn Evans and the Commissioners, who will bring their considerable knowledge and experience to bear in taking on this vital task.
“Prison will always be necessary for those who pose the greatest risk of harm, and protecting victims and the public is my absolute priority.
“However, evidence shows that short prison sentences are often not the best way to reduce reoffending, with those released from short custodial sentences reconvicted nearly twice as often as those sentenced to a community payback order. While crime is at one of its lowest levels in 50 years, we all want to keep crime down and communities safe, and effective rehabilitation to reduce reoffending is a key part of that.
“So we need careful consideration of the best balance between imprisonment and community justice, while protecting the public. The Commission will examine how and when custodial sentences and community interventions are used, how effective these are, and what more can be done to reduce reoffending. I look forward to their report.”
Mr Evans said: “I am honoured to be appointed by the Scottish Government to chair the Commission on Sentencing and Penal Policy.
“Scotland’s criminal justice system faces significant challenges. This Commission will take a thorough and independent look at how sentencing policy aligns with Scotland’s ambition for a modern, proportionate, and rehabilitative justice system. We will engage widely, listen carefully, and base our recommendations on the best available evidence and insights.
“I look forward to working with colleagues across the justice sector, victims and their families, and communities across Scotland to develop proposals that serve the public interest and contribute to a safer and more just society.”
Please see above a poster from our Parents who attended and delivered the deputation to the Councillors yesterday. We had some mums in the gallery who behaved extremely well but were disheartened by the sheer ignorance of over half the councillors who didn’t look up nor listen to many of the deputations being delivered.
They feel they have no choice but to ask for community support and a petition to ask for funding to keep their centre open not just for one year but for longer term funding for us and other community-owned community centres who are delivering some amazing work.
We have enough funding to the end of the year and depend on room hire and fundraising to keep us open.
Why do we have to every few years have to go cap in hand to the councillors we elected to ask for funding for vital resources based within our community?
We hope to have some councillors to sit on a panel and answer some questions but if they do not come we will have a panel of local people who will take questions and make sure these are sent to our local councillors and politicians.
Look forward to seeing you next week.
Thank you
The Parents from LIFT@ Muirhouse Millennium Centre
Councillors agree record spend on primary schools and extra support for social care
Millions of pounds will be spent on protecting and improving schools and crucial frontline services in Edinburgh.
Setting Edinburgh’s budget today (Thursday 20 February) councillors identified a £1.8bn spending programme focused on investing in services for children, older residents and those most in need of support.
Labour’s Budget plans were passed with Conservative and Lib Dem support.
An increase in Council Tax rates will be used to balance the budget and to increase spending on frontline services like education, social care and road safety around schools; in direct response to calls from local residents during extensive budget consultation.
Council Leader Jane Meagher said: “Together we’ve been able to deliver a balanced budget and prioritise spend on the areas residents have told us they care about most, while staying true to the Council’s core commitments of tackling poverty and climate change and ‘getting the basics right’.
“We’ve updated our plans at every step, taking stock of the thousands of responses gathered during our public consultation calling for us to invest in our frontline services.
“Residents and community groups have been loud and clear that people want spending on schools and roads to be protected, sharing concerns about the local impact of the national social care crisis, and that they’d be willing to see Council Tax raised to make this happen.
“We’ve listened and we’ve gone further – agreeing record spend on over a dozen new and existing school buildings, specific funding for road safety around schools and substantial extra money for the Edinburgh Health and Social Care Partnership.
“We’ll be tackling Edinburgh’s housing and homelessness emergencies and investing in our communities, including money towards roads and a new Blackhall Library.
“For all that, we have had to make many difficult decisions to make substantial savings and I’m grateful to all Councillors for their input. We remain the lowest funded local authority in Scotland, and I will continue to call for fairer funding for Edinburgh.”
Finance and Resources Convener Cllr Mandy Watt said: “Residents are aware of the financial challenges we face following years of underfunding, and they’ve told us in their thousands that they want to see vital services protected and enhanced. I’m pleased that we’ll be able to use the £26 million raised from an 8% increase in Council Tax to protect and improve these services.
“Huge pressures on health and social care and housing remain unaddressed nationally and while this Budget does everything within our power to protect local services, we need greater action to be taken at a government level.
“A huge amount of work has taken place to consider our budget options, with detailed proposals reported to Committees and tweaked in the months leading up to today’s final decision. I’d like to thank Council officers for all their work on this.”
Lib-Dem votes ensured the Labour budget was passed. Group leader Cllr Kevin Lang said after the meeting: “Very proud of what the LibDems on Edinburgh Council have just achieved.
“Thanks to us , cuts to teachers and pupil support have been stopped, there’s a record budget for road safety projects and SNP plans to cut money for road and pavement repairs have been blocked (again).”
The SNP criticised the administration’s budget as lacking any vision for Edinburgh. SNP group leader Simita Kumar said before the meeting: “It’s pretty damning.
“Labour are just rubber-stamping officer proposals without adding any political direction, what’s the point of them being in power? Zero accountability, zero vision, and zero leadership.”
Substantial spend on schools
In the highest spending on school buildings in recent years, £296m will be invested towards five new campuses (Granton Waterfront, Newcraighall, St Catherine’s, Gilmerton Station and Builyeon), five extensions (Hillwood, Queensferry and Frogston primaries, plus Castlebrae and Craigmount high schools), plus a replacement building for Fox Covert.
The council will invest an additional £30m towards upgrading special needs schools, with improvements designed to allow as many pupils as possible to see their needs met locally.
An additional £6.6m will be spent on road safety, particularly around schools. A further £0.5m will be used to drive improvements in educational attainment and £1m will be invested in Holiday Hubs, with options to make this scheme more sustainable to be explored.
Funding will also be protected around enhanced pupil support bases, pathways for pupil support assistants, transition teachers and devolved school budgets.
Extra support for social care
Up to £66m will be spent on Health and Social Care facilities in light of increasing demands for services, a growing and aging population and the rising costs to the EIJB of delivering these services.
As part of this, councillors have agreed to set up a new Innovation and Transformation Fund – subject to match-funding by NHS Lothian – to leverage additional capital investment worth up to £16m.
Additional funding will provide support for Adult Health and Social Care worth £14m plus £5.6m will be put towards adaptations, to help people to live in their own homes independently.
Up to £2.5m from a Reform Reserve will be allocated to third sector support, plus income maximisation of £1m, following challenges with reduced funding available to charities and voluntary organisations from the EIJB.
More budget spent on roads
Responding to the results of the council’s budget consultation – where people said they’d like to see money spent on roads, Edinburgh will spend £40m on roads and transport in the year ahead.
Focusing on areas identified by a Women’s Safety survey, where certain parts of the city were described as feeling unsafe, as part of this spend the council will invest £12.5m this year and next improving roads, pavements, streetlights.
A further £6.6m will be invested in Safer Routes to School and travelling safely.
Prioritising our communities and climate
Councillors have committed to climate remaining a key priority and over the next 12 months and an additional £2.9m will support actions with city partners to address Edinburgh’s climate and nature emergencies.
Supporting a Just Transition, affordable, net zero housing including 3,500 new, sustainable homes in the £1.3bn transformation of Granton Waterfront will be taken forward.
An additional £15m is planned to sustainably replace Blackhall Library, which has been closed due to RAAC, while £0.5m will be used to increase enforcement to keep the city cleaner and safer. Around £0.5m will also be used to create better data to support local decision making.
Focused poverty prevention
Councillors have committed to accelerate the work of the End Poverty Edinburgh Action Plan, tackle the city’s Housing Emergency and review the way the council supports the third sector in Edinburgh.
Councillors agreed to continue to support the Regenerative Futures Fund which will help local communities to lead poverty prevention and deliver change.
The council will invest £50m in purchasing and building suitable temporary accommodation for people experiencing homelessness.
Following agreement of the Housing Revenue Account budget, Edinburgh will continue work to retrofit high rise blocks and spend £14.8m towards new affordable housing and upgrades to void properties, to get them back into use as homes.
Council rents will be raised by 7% to raise much needed new funds to upgrade housing, with Councillors also agreeing to increase the city’s Tenant Hardship Fund by 7% in line with this rent rise.
Changes to Council Tax
All Council Tax rates will rise by 8% from April 2025 to allow the above investment to take place. The new rates will be:
The pledge to carry out 64,000 surgeries and procedures with additional funding by the end of March 2025 has been exceeded, new figures released to the Scottish Parliament have revealed.
More than 75,500 NHS surgeries and procedures were delivered between April 2024 the end of January 2025, around 11,500 more than pledged.
Funded through £30 million investment, the targeted activity has resulted in significant reductions in inpatient/daycase waiting lists across a number of health board areas and specialities. Between April 2024 and September 2024 there has been:
a 44% decrease in Imaging waits at NHS Fife
a 22% decrease in Urology waits at NHS Forth Valley.
a 19% decrease in Ear, Nose and Throat waits at NHS Highland
an almost 15% decrease in Ophthalmology waits at NHS Lanarkshire
an almost 10% decrease in General Surgery waits at NHS Lothian.
The targeted funding has also helped reduce the total national waiting list size between April 2024 and September 2024 for imaging by 7.5% and for scopes by 7.3%.
In April 2024 the Scottish Government funded NHS boards to deliver 64,000 procedures (40,000 diagnostic procedures, 12,000 surgeries and 12,000 new outpatient appointments) by March 2025. By January 2025, 56,500 diagnostic procedures, almost 9,200 surgeries, and over 9,800 outpatient appointments took place.
The Scottish Government will continue to monitor the impact of the funding until the end of March 2025 with boards reporting they expect to see further progress.
Latest published data also shows a rise in planned care activity between April 2024 and September 2024 compared to the same period in 2023 – with an 8.3% increase in inpatient/daycase procedures and a 2.5% increase for new outpatient appointments.
Health Secretary Neil Gray said: “I am pleased to see health boards are now reporting the tangible impacts of our investment to clear the longest waits. Our plan is delivering and we are seeing progress across a number of speciality areas. I thank staff for their outstanding effort in carrying out this additional activity which is having a positive impact on people’s lives.
“This is a good start, however, we know many people are still waiting too long. We are determined do more and our 2025-26 Budget, with cross-party support now agreed, will provide a record £21.7 billion for health – including £200 million to help clear waiting list backlogs, improve capacity and reduce delayed discharge.
“This record funding will help us ensure no one waits more than 12 months for a new outpatient appointment or inpatient/daycase treatment by March 2026. We will also deliver over 150,000 extra appointments and procedures in the coming year which will ensure people receive the care they need as quickly as possible.”
NO NUTS please – this includes nut oils, nut flours, nut butters & nut milks. Soup must be vegan. Anything suitable for those with allergens or on special diets is very welcome.
Every pupil at Broughton High benefits from our funding during their time at school, making us a worthy cause to support & get involved with! 
