ACCESS to professional ear care health in Edinburgh has received a significant boost following the success of five colleagues completing rigorous clinical training.
The team at Specsavers Morningside and Cameron Toll stores are celebrating as five colleagues, Gillian Hudson, Isla Dowell, Jamie Raes, Samuel Jeffries and Larissa Barclay have gained their Audiology Clinical Assistant (ACS) qualification.
This milestone transforms the customer’s experience, allowing the newly qualified assistants to perform clinical tasks such as otoscopy and professional triage on the spot.
The achievement highlights Specsavers’ commitment to ‘growing its own’ talent, taking staff members from diverse professional backgrounds and providing a career ladder in healthcare.
Jonathan Bell, audiology director at Specsavers Cameron Toll, says: ‘Having multiple ACS-qualified staff members is a total gamechanger for our stores. We now have specialist cover seven days a week at Cameron Toll and six days at our Morningside store.
“It empowers my team, reduces appointment bottlenecks, and ensures our senior audiologists can dedicate their time to customers with the most complex hearing needs. It proves that we don’t just provide hearing devices; we provide expert clinical care.’
For the local community, the qualification means immediate peace of mind. Patients who may have previously faced long waits for GP appointments can now walk into the stores for an instant hearing check. The ACS team can identify wax blockages or hearing concerns immediately, ensuring customers are placed on the correct clinical pathway from their very first interaction.
The newly qualified team adds: ‘Achieving this qualification is a proud moment for us. It represents more than a certificate; it’s a shows that Specsavers is invested in our long-term progression.
“Previously, we had to rely on busy audiologists to check for abnormalities, which often meant the customer had to wait. Now, we can look in their ears on the spot and provide personal and immediate care. It’s an exciting first step toward more advanced clinical roles.’
The transition from support roles to clinical professionals was supported by mentorship from the stores’ senior audiologists. Despite the challenge of balancing formal study with daily roles, the team notes that the discipline has prepared them for the high level of responsibility required in modern healthcare.
To book a hearing assessment, you can visit Jonathan and his team at:
First eight ‘Young Futures Hubs’ opening in Birmingham, Brighton and Hove, Bristol, County Durham, Leeds, Manchester, Nottingham and Tower Hamlets
Part of the National Youth Strategy, a network of 50 Hubs will provide joined-up services across mental health and wellbeing, employment and crime prevention
Next week the Government will launch its plan to halve knife crime within a decade to save lives, transform the futures of young people and protect communities across the country
Young people in eight locations across England are to benefit from the first ‘Young Futures Hubs’ opened by the Government. The hubs, targeted in areas with high levels of anti-social behaviour and knife crime, will:
Transform the lives of young people, cut crime and protect communities
Divert them away from knife crime and anti-social behaviour
Provide them with services and advice to combat social isolation, mental health and unemployment
Give access to safe, trusted adults
Under the government’s National Youth Strategy, Youth Matters, the first eight of 50 Young Futures Hubs have opened or will shortly open in Birmingham, Brighton, Bristol, Durham, Leeds, Manchester, Nottingham and Tower Hamlets.
Hubs will build on existing services, and create safe, welcoming spaces bringing a range of local support services under one roof. Young people aged 10-18 (and up to 25 for those with SEND) will have access to trusted adults who will provide wellbeing support, careers guidance, and positive activities like sport, arts and volunteering.
The government is committed to ensuring that success for young people is not determined by their background, and the hubs will also offer support for vulnerable children. These activities help divert young people away from knife crime and anti-social behaviour, as well as combat social isolation and mental health, and increase access to job opportunities for young people.
Culture Secretary Lisa Nandy said: “The closure of over a thousand youth centres since 2010 didn’t just take away facilities, it took away community, connection and opportunity for a generation. We are determined to rebuild that.
“These hubs are about more than bricks and mortar, they’re a statement that this government believes in young people and is investing in their futures. What makes them different is that we’re joining things up – wellbeing support, crime prevention, work coaches, youth services, all in one place.
“We’re making sure teenagers have somewhere to go, someone to talk to, and a real chance to thrive.”
This comes as the UK Government launches its plan to halve knife crime within a decade. Titled “Protecting Lives, Building Hope”, it will save lives, transform the futures of young people and protect communities across the country.
The Government will support young people so they get the best start in life, stop those at risk from turning to knife crime and police our streets to catch and punish perpetrators.
In some areas, the Hubs will work with new multi-agency Young Futures Panels, to ensure children at risk of knife crime are provided with the support they need. The panels bring together the police, children’s services, schools, and community organisations to identify vulnerable children early, spot risks that may otherwise go unnoticed, and ensure they are quickly referred into the right support before issues escalate.
Sarah Jones, Policing Minister, said: “Knife crime devastates lives. Behind every statistic is a child who didn’t make it home, a family whose world has been shattered, and a community left with fear.
“This Government will halve knife crime within a decade, saving lives and protecting communities. We will roll out Young Futures Hubs in crime hotspots across the country to divert young people from violence, cut crime and protect communities.”
The Prime Minister has spoken of how young people have become “collateral damage” over the past decade, prompting the launch of the National Youth Strategy – the first in 15 years. The ambitious 10-year plan to rebuild youth services is backed by over £500 million of investment, and was designed in collaboration with more than 14,000 young people across England.
£70 million will be invested to establish 50 Young Futures Hubs and transform local youth services, rebuilding Local Authority capability after a decade of declining investment, with spending falling by 73% since 2010. As a result, many young people have been left without access to safe, supportive environments or a community to belong to, while reliance on online interaction has grown in the absence of face-to-face opportunities.
Minister for Youth and Civil Society Stephanie Peacock said: “When this Government developed the National Youth Strategy, we listened to over 14,000 young people from across the country.
“What came through clearly was that they wanted somewhere to go, something to do, and someone who cares. Young Futures Hubs are part our response to this and we are delighted to see the first eight up and running.
“Hubs are places where young people can belong, with trusted adults and positive activities all under one roof. Keeping young people safe and away from crime starts with making sure they have the right support around them, and that’s exactly what these hubs deliver.”
The Young Futures Hubs programme has been designed to respond directly to these challenges by creating welcoming, youth-led spaces where young people can enjoy real-life connections, with somewhere to go, something to do, and someone who cares for them.
From the Barca Leeds in Bramley to the Full Circle Docklands in Bristol, each hub has been co-designed with young people themselves, ensuring the atmosphere and activities reflect their true needs and passions.
The eight Young Futures Hubs have opened or will shortly open in the following locations:
Manchester: Young Futures Hub (YF Hub) network based across Moss Side Millenium Powerhouse (Moss Side), Manchester Youth Zone (Harpurhey), and Woodhouse Park Lifestyle Centre (Wythenshawe), with further outreach planned in six smaller neighbourhood hubs across the city.
Birmingham: YF Hub to open in temporary location at Library of Birmingham before moving to permanent Cannon Street site from summer 2026.
Brighton and Hove: Main YF Hub based at 67 Centre, with linked sites in central locations at Brighton Youth Centre, Tarner and Impact Initiatives, as well as in Hangleton and Knoll. Further offers in the east of the city are under development.
County Durham: YF Hub based at Newton Aycliffe Leisure Centre.
Bristol: Main YF Hub based at Full Circle Docklands, with enhanced provision and a connected network across five venues in Ashley, Central and Lawrence Hill wards, connecting the Hub with additional outreach in the community and schools.
Tower Hamlets: YF Hub based at Haileybury Youth Centre in the central St Dunstan’s ward.
Leeds: Main YF Hub based at Barca Leeds in Bramley, with additional ‘spokes’ sites at LS-TEN in south Leeds and Imagination Station in east Leeds.
Nottingham: Main YF hub based at Beaumont Street Community Centre with plans to work with partners to provide services for all children and young people to access across the City.
More information on specific provision at each site is available on request.
Join us on 12th April at our Community Hub in the heart of Stockbridge for our Spring Fair! Come along for a relaxed wander around a fantastic array of stalls, featuring delicious home baking, as well as treats from Chulos Cookies, Söderberg and The Pastry Section.
There’ll be fun for all ages, including games, a big prize raffle, and an exciting children’s drawing competition to design our Summer BBQ poster!
Join us in welcoming spring with a fun-filled family day out — all while supporting our charity.
Huge thanks to the National Lottery Community Fund and ScottishPower Foundation, whose generous funding has enabled us to make this event happen.
Join us on 12th April at our Community Hub in the heart of Stockbridge for our Spring Fair! Come along for a relaxed wander around a fantastic array of stalls, featuring delicious home baking, as well as treats from Chulos Cookies, Söderberg and The Pastry Section.
There’ll be fun for all ages, including games, a big prize raffle, and an exciting children’s drawing competition to design our Summer BBQ poster!
Join us in welcoming spring with a fun-filled family day out — all while supporting our charity.
We’re excited to reveal the official booklist for the Summer Reading Challenge 2026 – Read to the Beat! – along with this year’s incredible illustrations by Harry Woodgate.
This year’s collection features 55 amazing titles for all reading levels, including fiction, non-fiction, poetry, and graphic novels (plus dyslexia-friendly options). From rap and K-pop to orchestras and opera, there’s a whole world of music-inspired stories waiting to be discovered.
The Summer Reading Challenge 2026, delivered in partnership with public libraries and powered by Universal Music Group UK, is almost here! Launching in June in Scotland and July in England and Wales, the Challenge invites children to embark on an exciting reading journey, either through their local library or online. This year’s theme, Read to the Beat!, celebrates the joy of music and the power it has to move, inspire, and connect us – all through the magic of reading. This year’s Challenge is brought to life with illustrations by award-winning author and illustrator, Harry Woodgate.
The 2026 Summer Reading Challenge collection features 55 captivating titles for different reading levels, spanning early readers, and middle grade titles, as well as dyslexia-friendly titles. With a rich mix of fiction, non-fiction, poetry, and graphic novels, the collection has been carefully curated to get young readers tapping their feet and turning pages. The books will be available to borrow for free from public libraries.
The Challenge is supported by publishers from across the UK and the official list includes titles such as Marching Band by Kael Tudor, Put Your Records On by Corinne Bailey Rae, Kofi and the Brand New Vibe by Jeffrey Boakye, The Adventures of Rap Kid by MC Grammar, and Glory Days in New Orleans! by Bïa.
Libraries and schools can order this year’s books through their usual suppliers, with eBook and audiobook versions available for select titles.
Every year, the Summer Reading Challenge plays a vital role in keeping children excited about books. This year’s collection is particularly special as it celebrates the universal language of music – from drumming and dancing to orchestras, opera, rap, K-pop and everything in between. We are proud to work with libraries and publishers to bring these fantastic books to children across the UK.
Please note these titles have been broadly divided into age categories for the Summer Reading Challenge Book Collection but you can find more specific age ratings, including any relevant content warnings, on publisher websites to ensure a title is suitable for your child.
Read to the Beat! 2026 Book Collection
For younger readers (ages 4–7)
The Very Noisy House – Sally Nicholls, illustrated by Gosia Herba (Andersen Press)
Music of the Mountains – Sabrina Shah, illustrated by Manal Mirza (Barefoot Books)
The Missing Piece – Jordan Stephens, illustrated by Beth Suzanna (Bloomsbury)
Busy Little Fingers: Music – Eva Wong Nava, illustrated by Eleonora Marton (Bonnier Books – Big Picture Press)
Some Bears – Christian Foley, illustrated by Rob Turner (Caboodle Books)
Tree Whispers – Mandy Ross, illustrated by Juliana Oakley (Child’s Play)
My Little Drummer – Sian Radford, illustrated by Gwen Millward (Farshore)
Bhangra Boogie – Hena Khan, illustrated by Sandhya Prabhat (Farshore)
1, 2, 3, Do the Unicorn – Michelle Robinson, illustrated by Rosalind Beardshaw (Farshore)
ABC of Opera: Romantic – Mark Llewelyn Evans, illustrated by Karl Davies (Graffeg)
Listening to the Quiet – Cassie Silva, illustrated by Frances Ives (Lantana)
The Life-Changing Magic of Drumming – Nandi Bushell, illustrated by Andrea Stegmaier (Magic Cat Publishing)
The Elephant and the Piano – Colette Hiller, illustrated by Nabila Adani (Magic Cat Publishing)
Songs in the Shade of the Cherry Tree – Nathalie Soussana, illustrated by QU Lan (The Secret Mountain)
The Piano – Joaquin Camp (The Secret Mountain)
The Rock Family Band – Robert Tregoning, illustrated by Laura Brenlla (Oxford University Press)
The Twirly Wiggly Dance – Farrah Riaz, illustrated by Navya Raju (Oxford University Press)
Little Sheku and the Animal Orchestra – Sheku Kanneh-Mason, illustrated by Rekha Salin (Penguin)
The Wonder – Tom Percival (Simon & Schuster Children’s Books)
But Dancing is for Girls! – Gyasi Sheppy, illustrated by Ola Snimshchikova (Sweet Cherry)
All the Wonderful Ways to Move – Laura Baker, illustrated by Sandra de la Prada (Little Tiger)
Doggy Dance Off – Steve Smallman, illustrated by Robert Starling (Little Tiger)
Put Your Records On – Corinne Bailey Rae, illustrated by Gillian Eilidh O’Mara (Fox & Ink Books)
The Big Time Boogie-Woogie Animal Band – Giles Andreae, illustrated by Nick East (Hachette Orchard Books)
The Paper Piano – Rachel Ip, illustrated by Natelle Quek (Hodder Children’s Books)
For older readers (ages 8–11)
I Tell Myself I’m Awesome – Joshua Seigal, illustrated by Chris Piascik (Bloomsbury Education)
Raising the Roof – Jack Pepper, illustrated by Michele Bruttomesso (Bonnier Books – Templar Books)
Girl on the Fly – Nansubuga Nagadya Isdahl (David Fickling Books)
Be More Olivia Rodrigo (DK)
Rebel Girls Rock: 25 Tales of Women in Music (DK – Rebel Girls)
The Color of Sound – Emily Barth Isler (Carolrhoda Books)
Hari Kumar: Ultimate Superstar – Rashmi Sirdeshpande, illustrated by Mamta Singh (HarperCollins Children’s Books)
Melody Queen – Puneet Bhandal (Lantana)
Glory Days in New Orleans! – Bïa, illustrated by Fanny Berthiaume (The Secret Mountain)
Gordon Starts a Band – Alex Latimer (Oxford University Press)
Isadora Moon and the Pop Stars – Harriet Muncaster (Oxford University Press)
Space Band – Tom Fletcher (Puffin)
Diary of a Wimpy Kid: Diper Överlöde – Jeff Kinney (Puffin)
Lil’ Muffin Drops the Mic – Romesh Ranganathan, illustrated by James Lancett (Puffin)
Happy Hills: Attack of the Giant Danger Kittens – Sophy Henn (Simon & Schuster Children’s Books)
The Adventures of Rap Kid – MC Grammar (Simon & Schuster Children’s Books)
The Magic Piano: Dahlia and the Land Without Music – James B Partridge, illustrated by Laura Wood (Sweet Cherry)
Skylar and the K-Pop Head Teacher – Luan Goldie (Walker Books)
You VS the Poison Plot – Josh Hicks (Walker Books)
My School Musical and Other Punishments – Catherine Wilkins, illustrated by Katie Abey (Nosy Crow)
Running My Own Race – Abena Eyeson (Nosy Crow)
Hunt for the Golden Scarab – M. G. Leonard, illustrated by Manuel Sumberac (Macmillan Children’s Books)
The Piano at the Station – Helen Rutter, illustrated by Elisa Paganelli (Barrington Stoke)
Kofi and the Brand New Vibe – Jeffrey Boakye (Faber)
How to Build an Orchestra – Mary Auld, illustrated by Elisa Paganelli (Hachette Wayland)
Find out more about the Challenge by visiting the official Summer Reading Challenge website for competitions, book recommendations, and activities throughout the year.
The Read to the Beat! Summer Reading Challenge launches on Saturday 20 June 2026 in Scotland and online, and on Saturday 4 July 2026 in England and Wales. Children can sign up at their local library to join the adventure and discover how music and stories make the world come alive.
£100 million of new investment a year unlocked as entrepreneurship tax relief package comes into force.
Package includes significant expansion of Enterprise Management Incentives scheme, Enterprise Investment Scheme, and Venture Capital Trusts.
Wider support measures include the British Business Bank’s Five-Year Strategic Plan and three years of UK Listings Relief.
Entrepreneurs, start-ups and scale-ups are to receive a boost as a package to unlock private investment and double tax reliefs is brought into force.
The changes implemented today (6 April 2026) at the start of the new tax year include:
Significantly expanding the number of companies eligible for the Enterprise Management Incentives (EMI) scheme, further supporting companies to attract and reward talent.
Doubling the amount a company can raise through the Enterprise Investment Scheme (EIS) and Venture Capital Trusts (VCT) to boost investment through additional tax relief through these schemes.
Chancellor Rachel Reeves introduced the package for entrepreneurs at Budget 2025, and together these changes are expected to support around £100 million of additional investment a year.
The EMI is a world-leading tax advantaged share scheme which allows eligible companies to offer their employees options to acquire tax-advantaged shares. EIS and VCT provide a range of tax reliefs for investors to encourage investment in higher-risk, early-stage companies that face the biggest challenges in accessing growth capital.
Chancellor of the Exchequer, Rachel Reeves, said: “I am backing business with a more active state that’s making big commitments to industry. I have taken steps to unlock £100 million a year for new investment in the businesses founded by our wealth creators so they can access the finance critical to their success.”
The expansion to EMI will include quadrupling the gross assets test from £30 million to £120 million while both the employee limit, and company share option limit, will be doubled from 250 to 500, and £3 million to £6 million, respectively.
This is expected to support around 1,800 of the highest growth scale-up companies in sectors including financial technology, life sciences, and AI over the next five years, allowing them to reward an estimated 70,000 employees.
The EIS and VCT lifetime company investment limits will double to £24 million, and the annual company investment limits will increase to £10 million. The gross assets test will increase to £30 million before share issue, and £35 million after.
The government is backing the UK’s most innovative companies. Knowledge intensive companies using EMI, EIS and VCTs benefit from higher asset and investment limits so they can continue to benefit from the schemes as they scale.
Income Tax relief available for those investing in VCTs will be reduced from 30% to 20%, to better balance the amount of upfront tax relief compared to EIS, and incentivising funds to seek out higher returns to ensure they are targeting the highest growth companies.
As part of the package, the government launched a Call for Evidence at Budget 2025 to gather evidence from founders, scaling companies and investors, on tax policy support for investment in high-growth UK companies. The consultation closed in February and the government will respond in due course.
The government is also supporting scale-ups to list in the UK as the Chancellor announced at the Budget, in an international first, UK Listing Relief – a three-year exemption from Stamp Duty Reserve Tax for companies listing in the UK. This will boost the trading volumes and share prices of UK scale-ups that take the next step and list in the UK.
Today’s package comes on top of the British Business Bank’s (BBB) new Five-Year Strategic Plan – a step‑change in how it will support small businesses, including scaling companies, using its increased permanent financial capacity of £25.6 billion.
The BBB will invest at least £5 billion in growth-stage funds and scale-up companies, and the government has also asked the BBB to explore using its existing financial guarantee capacity to support IP-backed lending.
Stakeholder responses:
Carolyn Dawson, CEO at Founders Forum Group, said: “The UK has always been a brilliant place to start a company and today’s reforms are a positive step towards making it just as compelling a place to scale.
“We’re particularly pleased to see the expansion of the EMI scheme: giving more employees a genuine stake in the companies they’re building is one of the most powerful ways to attract talent and reward the risk-takers who drive British innovation forward. But keeping Britain’s best companies at home requires an ongoing commitment from all of us to back British success stories.
“When British innovation thrives, it translates directly into better jobs, higher wages, and a more resilient economy for everyone.”
Eva Barboni, Executive Director of Enterprise Britain, said: ““Britain needs more companies to make the leap from start-up to scale-up to global champion.
“These measures speak directly to two of the three pillars we set out as urgent priorities in our most recent report: access to capital and the ability to attract and retain talent. The changes to the EMI scheme are particularly important.
“Talent is the lifeblood of high-growth firms, and widening access to share ownership will help more British scale-ups attract and retain the people they need to compete globally. It will also help ensure that the benefits of those companies’ success are shared more widely.”
Dom Hallas, Executive Director, Startup Coalition: “Expanding EMI is a genuine win for the startup ecosystem – it gives high-growth companies far more room to compete for talent, which is ultimately what drives scaling success.
“The improvements to EIS will also help unlock more capital into early-stage businesses, particularly in knowledge-intensive sectors where the UK has real comparative advantage.
“We are optimistic that next year we will see further improvements to the tax landscape for founders, following the ongoing call for evidence.”
Irene Graham OBE, CEO at ScaleUp Institute, said: “It is very good to see the commitments made in the Budget now being fully enacted. The changes now in effect for EIS / VCT / EMI make a tangible difference to businesses scaling across sectors and geographies as they progress their global growth ambitions.
“The long-term increased capacity of the British Business Bank and practical solutions that are now deployed such as the British Growth Partnership Fund, alongside Venture Link, are vital enablers, working with the private sector, to build and increase critical scaleup investment into our innovative scaling firms across the country.
“These packages, alongside the Government’s listing relief; further review of tax policy to support investment in high-growth UK companies and focus on how to evolve IP lending, are clear signals to encourage businesses to start, scale and stay in the UK.”
Hundreds of thousands of sick or disabled people will be offered voluntary help towards employment as part of a package of measures coming into force today (6 April) that will encourage work and save taxpayers around £1 billion.
Incentives that discourage work and trap people on benefits to be removed via legislation coming into force today.
Nearly £1 billion taxpayer money expected to be saved thanks to measures to narrow the gap between payments for people on health-related benefits and those actively seeking work.
Comes alongside employment support package of £3.5 billion, with 65,000 disabled people or those with health conditions already given tailored help.
The system inherited from the previous Government encouraged more people to stay on benefits without support to move into work.
Reforms coming into force today will change that, tackling perverse incentives by introducing a lower Universal Credit health element rate of £217.26 per month for new claimants, compared to the higher rate of £429.80.
Those with the most severe, lifelong conditions, those nearing end of life, and all existing Universal Credit health claimants will continue to receive the higher rate.
Anyone affected by the changes to Universal Credit will be entitled to voluntary employment support, with more than 65,000 people with limited capability for work and work-related activity taking up the offer since March 2025 – exceeding the target.
And as the UK Government continues to bear down on the cost of living, the changes will also see almost four million households on the standard rate of Universal Credit receive a boost worth around £295 extra this year in cash terms, around £110 above inflation, for a single person aged 25 or over.
Minister for Social Security and Disability Sir Stephen Timms said: “The welfare system we inherited has for too long locked disabled people and people with long term conditions out of work.
“Laws coming into force today will change that, reducing projected expenditure on Universal Credit by almost £1 billion.
“Simultaneously boosting the standard allowance and investing £3.5 billion in employment support means we’re creating a welfare system that backs people to work and helps them build a better future.”
From 8 April, customers (? – Ed.) with limited capability for work or work-related activity will also see a new notification on their Universal Credit account giving information on the support available and allowing them to opt in to being contacted to find out more about the support.
This will trigger a conversation with a Pathways to Work adviser, who can offer personalised appointments and refer individuals to programmes such as Connect to Work, WorkWell, or local Trailblazer schemes.
The changes come alongside the £3.5 billion investment the Government is making to help disabled people and those with long-term health conditions move closer to the labour market, offering personalised support aimed at improving employment and living standards.
This includes the Connect to Work programme, which will provide tailored help to 300,000 people over the next five years, and the groundbreaking WorkWell programme, set to support a further 250,000 people to stay in or return to work.
With 2.7 million people on Universal Credit assessed as having limited capability for work- and work-related activity, the tailored employment support aims to open up opportunities and remove barriers to work, rather than leave people stuck on benefits.
Additional information
Based in every Jobcentre across England, Wales and Scotland, the advisers offer one-to-one support to people with Limited Capability for Work and Work-Related Activity (LCWRA) status – those who receive benefits without any requirement to look for work
The Act delivers the first sustained, above inflation uplift to UC’s standard allowance. The four rates of standard allowance will rise above the rate of inflation in each of the years from 2026/27 to 2029/30. From April 2026, monthly rates increase to:
£338.58 – Single under 25
£424.90 – Single 25+
£528.34 – Couple under 25
£666.97 – Couple 25+
The previous system means that people receiving the Universal Credit health top-up were paid more than twice as much as a single person on the standard rate who is looking for work, without any support to move into employment.
Archerfield Walled Garden, the hospitality, retail and leisure destination based in East Lothian invests £50k on 200 solar panels which will save 14 tonnes in annual Co2 emissions and has also installed four EV chargers, as part of its ongoing Green Initiatives Programme.
In 2022 the company commissioned the eco-management consultancy, Green Element, to develop a bespoke programme, which is delivered by their ‘Green Team’, made up of six members of staff across all areas of the business, with a focus on making environmental changes in areas including energy, waste and training.
In addition to installing 200 solar panels, carried out by Gensource, Archerfield Walled Garden partnered with the energy specialists to install four EV chargers, following funding secured through the Rural and Island Infrastructure Fund, administered by the Energy Saving Trust on behalf of Scottish Ministers and Transport Scotland.
Various other initiatives at Archerfield Walled Garden include regeneratively farming all 30 hectares of the surrounding fields to help improve soil health and increase biodiversity and running the building on biomass using locally sourced wood pellets, which provides all heating, including underfloor, and hot water.
In addition, self-closing taps have been installed in washrooms to reduce water waste, motion-sensitive lights are used indoors, external lights run on a timer that adjusts with the seasons and coffee grounds from the café are combined with garden clippings to make compost, which is then used in the gardens. All compost which is sold is also peat-free.
The ‘Green Team’ will continue to drive forward the programme this year and incorporate their plans into the proposed play trail, Eldbotle Wood. The woodland adventure, elements-themed trail has been designed by the award-winning company, CAP.CO, who received a Royal Warrant of Appointment from King Charles in 2025, in recognition of their strong commitment to sustainability.
Elly Douglas-Hamilton, Chief Executive of Archerfield Estates Limited said: “Our very passionate and dedicated Green Team have made some fantastic progress in our mission be even more sustainable which will continue for the long-term across all areas of the business.
“It has been great to be able to partner with eco companies like Green Element and Gensource to help us to achieve our green goals, with even more initiatives and partnerships in the pipeline.”
Robert Wilson, Gensource commercial and operations director said: “It has been great to partner with such a local, motivated and supportive client.
“It is clear Archerfield Walled Garden is committed to operating sustainably through its investment and eagerness to develop multiple phases of sustainable energy projects.
“We look forward to supporting Archerfield Walled Garden as they continue on their sustainability journey.”
Dobbies Garden Centres has announced the outstanding success of the first year of its national charity partnership with Alzheimer’s Research UK, having raised £235,000 – more than triple the original fundraising target.
Launched in March 2025, the charity was chosen for its strong resonance with Dobbies’ communities, customers and colleagues. The partnership also supports Alzheimer’s Research UK’s Think Brain Health campaign, highlighting the benefits of gardening and garden living for brain health.
Alzheimer’s Research UK is the UK’s leading dementia research charity, dedicated to ending the heartbreak of dementia by speeding up progress towards a cure.
David Robinson, Chief Executive Officer of Dobbies, said: “I’m incredibly proud of what our colleagues and customers have achieved in our first year partnering with Alzheimer’s Research UK. Surpassing our original fundraising target shows just how strongly this cause resonates with our communities.
“Together, that support could fund over 5,500 hours of vital dementia research, and we’re looking forward to building on this even further in our second year of partnership.”
Dr Sheona Scales, Director of Research at Alzheimer’s Research UK, added: “Almost one million people are living with dementia in the UK, and this number is predicted to reach 1.4 million by 2040.
“Alzheimer’s Research UK exists to change that. It is more urgent than ever that we revolutionise the way dementia is treated, diagnosed and prevented.
“We are incredibly proud to work with Dobbies. This partnership is helping us share the message of brain health while raising vital funds to help end the heartbreak of dementia.”
Dobbies customers and colleagues raised the £235,000 through a range of initiatives, including an exclusive bulb pack developed in partnership with Taylors Bulbs, a dedicated Christmas Shopping Night, online event donations, and colleague fundraising challenges including marathons.
During World Alzheimer’s Month in September, Dobbies also launched a nationwide programme in partnership with micro-donation charity, Pennies. This enables customers to choose to give a 25p donation when paying by card at the garden centre tills – which has so far raised over £69,000 in donations.
This year will see a series of new fundraising initiatives including sponsorship of Edinburgh’s Walk for a Cure, donations from special plant purchases, as well as in-store events and colleague challenges.
LifeCare Hub, 2 Cheyne Street, Stockbridge, EH4 1JB
10:30am – 1:30pm
Launch dates:
