Category: Uncategorized

TONIGHT: Safeguarding Scottish Dance Traditions for the Future

Safeguarding Scottish Dance Traditions for the Future 

MONDAY 28 APRIL, 18:30

On the eve of International Dance Day, the Pomegranates Festival (25-30 April) will discuss and demonstrate through dance, the importance of safeguarding Scottish traditional dance in an international context. 

Leading the discussion will be Steve Byrne Director of TRACS (Traditional Arts and Culture Scotland), and an expert advisor to UNESCO on intangible cultural heritage. Joining Steve will be Rachel Hosker of the Centre for Research Collections, University of Edinburgh, Árpád Vörös, recipient of a knighthood for his lifetime contribution towards Hungarian folk dance and Sebastian Wanless, Chair Elect of the Royal Scottish Country Dance Society.

The discussion will start with demonstrations of traditional dance accompanied by live music including Scottish Country Dance, Highland and Polonaise, Leading the display and accompanied on the bagpipes by Stephen Clark will be Eilidh Gammons, twice Junior World Champion in Highland Dancing, followed by Lily and Lucy Clark – all students at Helensburgh’s Margaret Rose School of Dance, run by Margaret MacInnes, a recipient of the British Empire Medal for services to Highland dancing. 

Edinburgh-based members of the Royal Scottish Country Dance Society Andrea Ritchie, Eilidh Garden, Faye McNeil, Rachel Shankland, Andrew Nolan, Jürgen Munz will perform a fine selection of Scottish Country Dances.

These will be followed by a short display of Polonaise(performed by members of Parzenica, Scotland’s  Polish Folk Dance Group – Anthony Carter, Fiona Lynch, Natalia Nowak and Renata Grillanda. 

The Polonaise was inscribed in UNESCO’s list of intangible heritage and list of humanity to be safeguarded in December 2023. It is hoped Scotland’s traditional dances will be put forward for inscription when the UK Government opens its list to nominations for intangible cultural heritage later this year. 

Intangible Cultural Heritage (ICH) encompasses the rich tapestry of traditions, expressions, and practices that communities inherit from their ancestors and pass on to future generations. It resides in the realms of knowledge, skills, rituals, music, dance, language, and other forms of expression and is a dynamic and living heritage that constantly evolves, reflecting the collective wisdom, creativity, and identity of diverse communities worldwide. 

Wendy Timmons and Iliyana Nedkova, Festival Co-curators said: “We are delighted that this year’s Pomegranates Festival is themed around traditional dance and intangible cultural heritage, especially at a time when Scots are soon to be invited to nominate their favourite traditions to be included on an official living heritage list.

“Later this year, submissions for the list will be encouraged from all sectors of society, including the traditional dance communities and people who have brought dance traditions from overseas to the UK.”

Sebastian Wanless, Chair Elect of The Royal Scottish Country Dance Society (RSCDS) said: “We are thrilled to participate in theFourth Pomegranates Festivaland to showcase Scottish country dance on the eve of the UNESCO International Day of Dance. 

“For over a century, we have championed the vibrant tradition of Scottish country dancing—an energetic blend of lively music, joyful movement, and deep-rooted culture. More than just steps and tunes, Scottish country dance is a unique social phenomenon that welcomes everyone, everywhere.

“Together with dancers from around the world, let’s celebrate movement, culture, and unity in the lead up to this special day.”

Speakers:

Steve Byrne was appointed as Director of TRACS in 2023. A noted performer, researcher, folklorist and community activist, Steve trained at the School of Scottish Studies at Edinburgh University, before embarking on a distinguished creative career. Steve is a founding member of Scottish folk band Malinky and has contributed to the digitisation of vital early recordings of Scottish music and storytelling.


Rachel Hosker is the University Archivist and Research Collections Manager. Rachel originally trained as an archivist, and now manages archivists, librarians and curators responsible for the University’s cultural heritage collections and welcomes IASH fellows to the Centre for Research Collections at the University. Rachel is Chair of the UK UNESCO Memory of the World Programme.

Árpád Vörös (Budapest) is a dancer and folk dance teacher. He was awarded a Knighthood of Hungarian Culture in 2020 for the care of Hungarian folk dance. From 1990, for ten years, he was a teacher at the Árpád Bókay Elementary School in Pestszentlőrinc, and founded the TÉBLÁB Dance Ensemble. Today, he is the president of the foundation that operates the school and a professional assistant and choreographer of several ensembles in Transylvania, Felvidék and Vojvodina, as well as an ethnographic researcher of the region.

Wendy Timmons (Chair) is a Senior Lecturer in Dance Science and Education at the University of Edinburgh, and co-producer of the Pomegranates Festival. She has many years of professional arts practice, and is well experienced in teaching and training dance artists, young dancers and dance teachers. 

Alongside her teaching, research and programme development,  Wendy has undertaken many knowledge exchange and applied Dance Science and Education research projects. She is currently Convenor for the Traditional Dance Forum of Scotland and the Health & Wellbeing Trustee at Dance Base.

The Pomegranates Festival (25 – 30 Apr) is the annual platform for the diverse 250+ individual and organisational members of the Traditional Dance Forum of Scotland to teach, learn and perform in new dance theatre and screen dance shows, as well as new productions and residencies.

This is the fourth edition of Scotland’s annual festival of international traditional dance, initiated, curated and produced by the Traditional Dance Forum of Scotland. It is presented in partnership with TRACS (Traditional Arts and Culture Scotland), Moray House School of Education and Sport, University of Edinburgh, Edinburgh Central Library, Dance Base and the Scottish Storytelling Centre.

In 2025 the Pomegranates Festival is funded by Creative Scotland Multi-Year Funding through TRACS (Traditional Arts and Culture Scotland); the City of Edinburgh Council and University of Edinburgh through the Edinburgh Local Community Fund.

For tickets and more information visit https://www.tdfs.org/pomegranates/

Hibernian Community Foundation: Parkinson’s Walking Football

Parkinson’s UK Get Active, Get Creative Scottish Parliament Event

Hibernian Community Foundation were kindly invited to the Scottish Government to support this event as part of our ongoing work with Parkinson’s UK in Scotland and Walking Football Scotland.

The event celebrated the power that physical activity and creativity has on people living with Parkinson’s. Our Football Development Officer Niamh Westwood and one of our Parkinson’s Walking Football volunteers Neil, were joined by Members of the Scottish Parliament, Trustee of Walking Football Scotland Matt Ramsay, several participants of our Walking Football Programme and other Parkinson’s partners to celebrate such a powerful event.

Parkinson’s is the fastest growing neurological condition in the world, with almost 13,000 people affected in Scotland. Keeping active has many physical, mental, social and neurological benefits to someone living with Parkinson’s and we here at Hibernian Community Foundation are pleased to play a small part in that journey.

We welcome everyone living with Parkinson’s to our sessions. Our Parkinson’s Walking Football Programme runs every Wednesday at World of Football, 10 New Market Road, Edinburgh, EH14 1RJ from 11am-12pm with refreshments available after the session from 12-1pm.

For more information or to register for the session please email:

niamhw@hiberniancf.org

AI doctors’ assistant to speed up appointments a ‘gamechanger’

Interim trial data shows revolutionary tech has dramatically reduced admin

  • Westminster Government drives forward use of innovative artificial intelligence in hospitals to improve patient care
  • New government guidance set out today will encourage its use across health service while protecting patient data and privacy 
  • Trials show dramatic reduction in admin and more time for direct patient care, as Plan for Change delivers ‘seismic shift’ in care to digital

NHS clinicians in England will be supported to use groundbreaking artificial intelligence tools that bulldoze bureaucracy and take notes to free up staff time and deliver better care to patients thanks to guidance published today.

Interim trial data shows that the revolutionary tech has dramatically reduced admin, and meant more people could be seen in A&E, clinicians could spend more time during an appointment focusing on the patient, and appointments were shorter.

Through its Plan for Change the UK government is getting the NHS back on its feet and slashing waiting lists. Guidance published today will encourage the use of these products – which use speech technologies and generative AI to convert spoken words into structured medical notes and letters – across a range of primary and secondary care settings, including hospitals and GP surgeries.

The government’s mission-led approach is driving forward the use of innovative tech and new approaches to reform the health system and improve care for patients – offering them quicker and smarter care.

One of the tools – ambient voice technologies (AVTs) – can transcribe patient-clinician conversations, create structured medical notes, and even draft patient letters.

Patient safety and privacy will be paramount. This is why the guidance will focus on data compliance and security, risk identification and assessment, while ensuring that staff are properly trained before using the technology. 

Health and Social Care Secretary Wes Streeting said: “AI is the catalyst that will revolutionise healthcare and drive efficiencies across the NHS, as we deliver our Plan for Change and shift care from analogue to digital.

“I am determined we embrace this kind of technology, so clinicians don’t have to spend so much time pushing pens and can focus on their patients.

“This government made the difficult but necessary decision at the Budget to put a record £26 billion into our NHS and social care including cash to roll out more pioneering tech.”

The NHS England funded, London-wide AVT work, led by Great Ormond Street Hospital for Children, has evaluated AVT capabilities across a range of clinical settings – Adult Outpatients, Primary Care, Paediatrics, Mental Health, Community care, A+E and across London Ambulance Service.

This multi-site evaluation involving over 7000 patients has demonstrated widespread benefits. Interim data shows:

  • Increase in direct care – clinicians spending more time spent with patients rather than typing on a computer
  • Increase in productivity in A&E – the technology has supported more patients to be seen in emergency departments by carrying out admin for A&E staff

At GOSH, AVTs have listened to consultations and drafted clinic notes and letters. These were then edited and authorised by the clinician before being uploaded to the secure electronic health record system and sent on to patients and their families. Clinicians agreed the AI helped them offer more attention to their patients without affecting the quality of the clinic note or letter. 

Dr Maaike Kusters, Paediatric Immunology Consultant at GOSH, says: “The patients I see in my clinics have very complex medical conditions and it’s so important to make sure I capture what we discuss in our appointments accurately, but often this means I am typing rather than looking directly at my patient and their family.

“Using the AI tool during the trial meant I could sit closer to them face-to-face and really focus on what they were sharing with me, without compromising on the quality of documentation.”

As it stands, clinicians in hospitals and GP surgeries are forced to spend much of their consultations recording information into a computer instead of focusing on the patient in front of them. 

Once the patient has left, they are often required to take that information and summarise it in documents like referral letters. The government is determined to reform these outdated ways of working and revolutionise care, and this innovative tech will do that work for them, so they can see their next patient. 

The Jean Bishop Integrated Care Centre in East Hull (part of City Health Care Partnership) has introduced an ambient scribing product to make their documentation process faster and better support their work to care for people living with frailty. 

By converting a conversation with a patient into a clinical note, the ambient scribing product is freeing up time for a range of staff including GPs, consultants, nurses, and physiotherapists.

Thanks to government action, GP surgeries delivered 31.4 million appointments last month– a 6.1% increase on the previous year – and waiting lists have fallen by 219,000 patients. This technology will help consolidate this progress. 

The government is already using AI to speed up diagnosis and treatment for a range of health issues – spotting pain levels for people who can’t speak, diagnosing breast cancer quicker, and getting people discharged quicker.

Child Assault: Image released

Police have released an image of a man who may be able to assist their enquiries into an assault of a child in Edinburgh that occurred at around 3.45pm on Tuesday 15 April 2025, on Cultins Road, Edinburgh.

The man pictured may be able to help with enquiries. He is described as a white, 5ft 7in tall, slim build, around 30 years old with blue/green eyes, short light brown hair a light beard. He was wearing a dark coloured zip-up bomber jacket with a hood, dark coloured tracksuit bottoms, and black and white trainers.

Constable Ross Murray said: “The man pictured is believed to have information that could help with our enquiries into this assault. If this is you, or you recognise the man, please get in touch.

“Anyone who can assist is asked to contact Police Scotland via 101, quoting incident number 2191 of 15 April, 2025. Alternatively, you can contact Crimestoppers on 0800 555 111 anonymously.”

MSP welcomes rollout of PADP

NEW PENSION AGE DISABILITY PAYMENT REPLACES ATTENDANCE ALLOWANCE 

The SNP Scottish Government has introduced the Pension Age Disability Payment (PADP) in Edinburgh and across Scotland with the national rollout of a new, fairer replacement to Attendance Allowance.  

The payment is for people of state pension age living with a disability or long-term health condition.  

PADP takes a fairer, more dignified approach to supporting pensioners than Attendance Allowance. While Attendance Allowance only classes those with terminal illness as eligible to receive support if they are expected to live for 12 months or less, PADP classes terminally ill people as eligible regardless of how long they are expected to live. 

The payment, which is not means-tested, is paid either at a higher rate of £441 a month, or a lower rate of £295 a month. Under PADP, terminally ill recipients are automatically entitled to the highest level of payment – which is not the case under Attendance Allowance. 

Commenting, SNP MSP Gordon Macdonald said: “In light of the UK Labour government’s decision to cut the Winter Fuel Payment and slash PIP provision, the SNP Scottish Government is delivering the support that older disabled people across Edinburgh deserve.  

“I welcome the rollout of the Pension Age Disability Payment as people living with terminal illness will automatically be entitled to the highest level of payment, regardless of life expectancy – a marked difference from Westminster’s Attendance Allowance. 

“This new benefit is the 15th delivered by Social Security Scotland with the principle of dignity, fairness, and respect at its heart. 

“I urge all those across the city who think they may be eligible to apply.”  

Dawn Service of Remembrance as Edinburgh marks ANZAC Day

An early morning international remembrance service, to mark the 110th anniversary of the Gallipoli campaign in the First World War, took place yesterday (Friday, April 25). 

ANZAC Day, the annual Remembrance of all the Australian and New Zealand citizens who have served in conflicts and peacekeeping operations around the world, coincides with landings on Gallipoli during the First World War, in which the two southern nations were involved. 

Representatives of Legion Scotland and Poppyscotland joined members of the Australian and New Zealand communities, as well as veterans and current servicemen and women in a touching wreath-laying ceremony at Comely Bank Cemetery, Edinburgh, at 5am.

The event was led by Rev Dr Karen Campbell and also featured Scots Guards piper Mark Macrae and bugler Iona Macfarlane. A similar dawn service took part at the same time at the Western Necropolis in Glasgow.

Later at 11am, Edinburgh’s Lord Provost Robert Aldridge and Government representatives from Scotland, the UK, Australia, France, and Turkey took part in Legion Scotland’s annual ANZAC and Gallipoli Day Service at the Scottish National War Memorial inside Edinburgh Castle.

The ceremonies take place to remember the events at dawn on April 25th, 1915, when the Australian and New Zealand Army Corps (ANZAC), together with British, French, and Russian forces landed on the Dardanelles Peninsula (now part of Turkey) at the start of the Gallipoli campaign.

This ended in a stalemate, with troops withdrawing in January 1916, with a total of more than 100,000 soldiers killed over the nine-month period. 

Dr Claire Armstrong, OBE, Chief Executive of Legion Scotland, said: “This annual event allows us the chance to remember the service and sacrifices of ANZAC servicemen and women through the years, as well as our own soldiers who fell during the Gallipoli campaign.

“It is our opportunity to also reflect on the extraordinary courage of our Armed Forces community, both past and present, as well as the enduring friendship between our countries.”

Consulate General of India in Edinburgh holds Remembrance Ceremony for victims of Pahalgam terrorist attack

The Consulate General of India in Edinburgh organized a solemn remembrance ceremony yesterday to honour the victims of the tragic terrorist attack in Pahalgam, Jammu & Kashmir, on 22 April 2025.

Over 100 members of the Scottish and Indian communities in Scotland came together in a powerful display of solidarity with India and in condemnation of terrorism.

Consul General Siddharth Malik addressed the gathering, reaffirming India’s unwavering resolve to combat terrorism and reiterated Hon’ble PM’s statement that India will pursue the perpetrators of the Pahalgam terrorist attack to the ends of the earth, ensuring justice for the victims and their families.

On 22 April 2025, a group of heavily armed terrorists launched a brutal attack in the Baisaran Valley near Pahalgam, a picturesque tourist destination. The terrorist attack claimed the lives of 26 innocent people. More than 17 others were injured.

The victims were attacked when they were enjoying vacation at Pahalgam. The attack, the deadliest in the country since the 26/11 Mumbai attacks, has sparked widespread outrage and grief across India and the international community.

The Consulate General of India in Edinburgh extend deepest condolences to the families of the victims and wish for the speedy recovery of those injured.

Eligible? Get Vaccinated!

Evidence shows that the vaccine can help prevent severe disease, hospitalisation and death in older adults and those with a weakened immune system.

If you’re eligible, it’s important to take up the offer of an additional dose.

Visit http://nhsinform.scot/covid19vaccine for more information.

Charity welcomes launch of Scottish Pension Age Disability Payment

A Scottish charity has welcomed the launch of the Pension Age Disability Payment. From today, the payment is available across all of Scotland for older people living with a disability or health condition.

Debbie Horne, Scotland Policy and Public Affairs Manager at Independent Age, said: “With the national rollout of the new Pension Age Disability Payment which replaces Attendance Allowance in Scotland, it’s really important that eligible older people receive this support, and everything else, that they’re entitled to.

“Our Older People’s Economic Wellbeing Index Scotland found that one in four (24%) people in later life with a health condition are not aware of disability related social security payments.  

“This is money for people of State Pension age who are disabled, have a long-term health condition, or are terminally ill. It is not means tested.  

“For older people who think they might be eligible, they can find out more from Independent Age’s new Pension Age Disability Payment guide. This is free and has up to date advice on what the entitlement is and how to claim.

“It is available through the Independent Age website or by calling our free helpline on 0800 319 6789 to request a copy. Our helpline and advice team can also advise any older people who is unsure whether or not they could be eligible for the payment. 

“People currently receiving Attendance Allowance do not need to do anything and will be automatically transferred onto Pension Age Disability Payment by Social Security Scotland. They will continue to receive their payment uninterrupted”  

The payment replaces Attendance Allowance in Scotland.

The 150,000 older people in Scotland who receive Attendance Allowance will be automatically transferred onto Pension Age Disability Payment in a phased process.