Edinburgh Division ‘remains committed to tackling the theft and reckless use of motorcycles’
Operation Soteria, the capital’s well-established city wide initiative, resulted in 36 arrests, 185 charges for a variety of offences, and the recovery of 131 motorcycles, with a total value of more than £600,000.
Whilst this intensification period has recently concluded, locally based initiative teams, response, community and CID officers continue their efforts to identify offenders, prevent and deter further incidents, and provide community reassurance.
Superintendent Sam Ainslie said: “We are aware of the negative impact and understandable community concerns resulting from the anti-social and reckless use of off-road motorcycles across the city.
“This behaviour will not be tolerated, and we have and will continue to work with colleagues, including Road Policing, to proactively prevent and address these concerns.
“Road safety remains a priority for Edinburgh Division, and notwithstanding the risk these reckless individuals pose to their own safety, their behaviours also cause significant risk to pedestrians and other road users.
“While Operation Soteria has now concluded for this year, officers across Edinburgh remain committed to tackling and reducing motorcycle related crime and will continue to work to ensure offenders are dealt with robustly.
“To allow us to target our activities, I would encourage communities to report incidents via 101, and should anyone have information as to the identity of those placing communities at risk, this can be provided anonymously via Crimestoppers on 0800 555 111.”
Superintendent Ainslie added: “In addition to enforcement, a key element of our work involves crime prevention, education and community engagement and reassurance.
“We understand the impact on the both the biker and wider community, and we have and will continue to work with them.
“As an example, we have been working with a range of partners across our established networks, including the tourism sector, both locally and across Europe, raising awareness and discussing security and prevention opportunities”
All bird keepers must implement strict biosecurity measures until further notice to keep their birds safe from avian influenza
An Avian Influenza Prevention Zone (AIPZ) has been declared across the United Kingdom following an increase in the number of detections of avian influenza in wild birds and on commercial premises.
This means that all bird keepers must implement strict biosecurity measures to help protect their flocks from the threat of avian influenza, regardless of whatever type or size. Introducing these steps on farm is the most effective way in reducing the risk of disease spreading.
In addition to this, a regional housing measure remains in place across Norfolk, Suffolk and parts of Essex, where keepers must house their flocks until further notice. Maps of the regional housing measure and national AIPZ are in our declarations.
The UK has faced its largest ever outbreak of bird flu with over 190 cases confirmed across the country since late October 2021. Check the list of confirmed avian influenza cases.
These measures will remain in place until further notice, and will be kept under regular review as part of the government’s work to monitor and manage the risks of avian influenza.
The wild bird risk across Great Britain has increased from medium to high and the risk to poultry with stringent biosecurity has moved up to medium.
The risk to poultry with poor biosecurity has been increased to high, in light of the increased number of infected premises observed during September and October and the distance of some of these, as well as wild bird cases, from the coast.
All bird keepers must now follow enhanced measures at all times to prevent the risk of future outbreaks.
Dr Christine Middlemiss, the UK’s Chief Veterinary Officer, said: “We are seeing a growing number of bird flu cases on commercial farms and in backyard birds across the country driven by high levels of disease within wild birds.
“Unfortunately we expect the number of cases to continue to rise over the coming months as migratory birds return to the UK, bringing with them further risk of disease that can spread into our kept flocks.
“We’re taking action already by implementing a national Avian Influenza Prevention Zones and housing measures in the worst-affected areas, but it is important that all bird keepers – wherever they are in the country – ensure that cleanliness and hygiene are at the forefront of their minds to keep their flocks safe and limit the impact of the outbreak.”
Public health advice remains that the risk to human health from the virus is very low and food standards bodies advise that avian influenzas pose a very low food safety risk for UK consumers. Do not touch or pick up any dead or sick birds that you find and instead report them to the Defra helpline on 03459 33 55 77. There is no impact on the consumption of properly cooked poultry products, including eggs.
All poultry gatherings, including at fairs, shows and markets, remain banned, due to a large number of flocks mixing together and the risk posed by any infections spreading across the country.
Avian influenza is in no way connected to the COVID-19 pandemic, which is caused by the SARS-CoV-2 virus and is not carried in poultry or captive birds.
In a joint statement, the Chief Veterinary Officers for England, Scotland and Wales said: “Bird keepers have faced the largest ever outbreak of avian flu this year and with winter brings an even more increased risk to flocks as migratory birds return to the United Kingdom.
“Scrupulous biosecurity and hygiene measures are the best form of defence, which is why we have declared an Avian Influenza Prevention Zone (AIPZ) across Great Britain, meaning that all bird keepers must take action to help prevent the disease spreading to more poultry and other domestic birds.
“The introduction of an AIPZ means that regardless of whether you keep a few birds or thousands, you are legally required to meet enhanced biosecurity requirements to protect your birds from this highly infectious disease.”
The introduction of an AIPZ follows a decision to raise the risk level for avian influenza incursion in wild Birds in Great Britain from ‘medium’ to ‘high’.
For poultry and other captive birds the risk level has been raised from ‘medium’ to ‘high’ at premises where biosecurity is below the required standards, and from ‘low’ to ‘medium’ where stringent biosecurity measures are applied.
Advice to poultry keepers
All bird keepers must keep a close watch on them for signs of disease and maintain good biosecurity at all times. If you have any concerns about the health of your birds, seek prompt advice from your vet.
All bird keepers (whether they are pet birds, a commercial farm or just a few birds in a backyard flock) must remain vigilant and help prevent avian influenza by:
cleanse and disinfect clothing, footwear, equipment and vehicles before and after contact with poultry and captive birds – if practical, use disposable protective clothing
reduce the movement of people, vehicles or equipment to and from areas where poultry and captive birds are kept, to minimise contamination from manure, slurry and other products, and use effective vermin control
keep records of mortality, movement of poultry and poultry products and any changes in production
thoroughly clean and disinfect housing on a continuous basis
keep fresh disinfectant at the right concentration at all farm and poultry housing entry and exit points
minimise direct and indirect contact between poultry and captive birds and wild birds, including making sure all feed and water is not accessible to wild birds
prevent access by poultry to ponds and watercourses and ensure that birds are kept in fenced or enclosed areas
It is a legal requirement for bird keepers in the national AIPZ to take these biosecurity measures.
If you suspect any type of avian influenza in poultry or captive birds you must report it immediately by calling the Defra Rural Services Helpline on 03000 200 301. In Scotland, contact your local Field Services Office. Failure to do so is an offence.
THIS week the government replaced one catastrophic plan with another (writes TUC’s GEOFF TILY). A new course to placate financial markets is traded off against likely massive hits to household budgets and fears about the future.
Support for energy bills was cut, public services already stretched beyond breaking point will be hit again, little was offered on soaring borrowing and mortgage costs, and nothing about already deeply inadequate benefits and universal credit falling further behind inflation.
There is another way to deliver an economy that works for working people, but the government couldn’t be further from it,
Dealing with failure
The Truss government were right about one thing, the economic policies of the past decade and more have been a disastrous failure. As Kwasi Kwarteng admitted, growth has been ‘anaemic’. In the ONS words: the UK is the only G7 economy yet to recover above its pre-coronavirus pandemic level in Quarter 4 2019. The UK has the lowest investment as a share of GDP (see our ‘companies for the people report’, Figure 7) In Spring OECD figures showed UK real wages would fall furthest of all G7 economies.
Mini budget catastrophe
But the mini budget was catastrophically wrongheaded. Truss and Kwarteng took the fundamental problem of an economy serving wealth not work and turned it into the solution. The flip side of support for energy bills, was lavish tax breaks for those least in need – under the spurious and long discredited fallacy of ‘trickle down’.
On top of this their intention was to borrow to fund this extreme project. They did so the day after the Bank of England had confirmed that they would be reducing support for government borrowing, and implementing a £80billon programme of ‘quantitative tightening’ [i.e. selling back government bonds to financial markets] from the start of October. (Regardless of anything else this revealed staggering lack of coordination on the part of both institutions – the excellent Daniella Gabor called this ‘uncoordinated class war on the British public’.)
Financial markets took fright and instead of buying started to dump government debt, but this was also intimately connected to a third factor. The complex financial strategies – so-called liability driven investments (LDI) – that pension funds have been deploying (unnoticed by most) for the past 20 years began to unravel in the face of these rate rises.
The Bank of England was obliged to step in to halt a vicious cycle – or doom loop – of bond sales leading to higher interest rates and so more bond sales. The spike in the chart below of interest rates on UK 30-year bonds shows how the episode was at least momentarily brought under control.
And in the meantime the government came under sustained assault for ‘fiscal irresponsibility’.
U-turn to a worse economy
After two U-turns (on the 45p top rate and corporation tax reductions), yesterday they U- turned on pretty much the whole thing.
But reversing a wrong doesn’t make a right, far from it.
We are now on the brink of a deep and damaging recession that threatens millions of jobs. But the latest Conservative chancellor has now announced the same basic approach that got us into this mess.
He warned of “more difficult decisions” on tax and spending to come. And immediately that “Some areas of spending will need to be cut”.
The Chancellor not only announced austerity. He not only sought once more – as did his George Osborne – to make a political virtue about imposing misery. He even invited George Osborne’s favourite adviser Rupert Harrison (now at Blackrock, one of three key institutions in LDI strategies) back to the Treasury to head a new panel of ‘economic advisers’ to deliver this reborn monstrosity.
Yesterday morning Rupert gave his City-oriented perspective on austerity
But this is a seriously misleading statement. The Osborne government did not repair the public finances. Over 2010-2019 the public debt ratio increased by 22 percentage point of GDP – the worse performance over a decade of economic recovery for a century (here).
For workers, this meant the worst pay crisis for 200 years. As Frances O’Grady spells out today, now expected (and this was before yesterday) to last at least two decades.
But the context for policy today is even more worrying than in 2010. Central banks, led by the Federal Reserve in the United States, are engaged in a forceful (their word) tightening of monetary policy.
This amounts to ending a strategy that has been in place since the start of the global financial crisis. In the wake of the last increase to 3.0 to 3.25 per cent, a Fed committee member has pointed to rates at up to 4.5 to 5 per cent. Fear of the impact of these rate rises on mortgage rates is likely common to all countries – for example in the US rates on a 30-year mortgage are up from 2.7 per cent at the start of 2021 to 6.9 per cent now.
And while in the UK the spike was brought under control, government interest rates are still seriously elevated and will carry on feeding through to mortgages.
In the UK money expert Martin Lewis has offered a grim rule of thumb: “For each 1 percentage point your mortgage rate increases, expect to pay roughly £50 more a month (£600/year) per £100,000 of mortgage debt.” The Resolution Foundation reckoned five million families would see annual payments rising by an average of £5,000 between now and the end of 2024.
Standing further back, the Financial Stability Board (Dietrich Domanski on the Today programme, 6 Oct.) have warned of the challenges of raising interest rates to deal with inflation under the conditions of the high global indebtedness that prevail today.
Likewise the IMF last week warned of “hidden leverage”, “waves of deleveraging”, and in particular the risk to ‘non-bank financial institutions’ – the latter including pension funds.
In terms of countries, first in the firing line are emerging market economies – with 20 countries “in default or trading at distressed levels”.
While the immediate trigger for central bank policies is the inflation set in motion by the end of lockdowns and Putin’s brutal invasion of Ukraine, the scale of the dislocation reflects a wider failure to set the economy right since the global financial crisis of 2008-09 exposed deep underlying failings. Summing up, the IMF offered the chilling: “the level of risk we are flagging at the moment is the highest outside acute crisis”
As the Biden administration has argued, for 40 years the interests of wealth have been prioritised over those of workers. The economy crashed in the first place because these financial interests proved wildly at odds with the interests of the population as a whole. An economy of speculation and debt crowded out production and decent pay and work.
The chancellor’s new advisory panel puts these interests back front and centre of policymaking at the Treasury. The other members so far announced are also from the City of London, not least securing J.P. Morgan a seat at the table.
Yesterday the Financial Times reported that the Bank of England’s programme of quantitative tighten has been put on hold, likely to protect the casino capitalism around pension funds.
Ahead of the mini budget the TUC issued a plan for a budget ‘on the side of working people’. We desperately need a government that will put first our interests not those of wealth. But instead once more the interests of the city of London are put ahead of those of workers and the country.
Prospective buyers hoping to reserve a property at the popular Pennywell Living development in Edinburgh will need to move fast, as there is only a small collection of apartments left that are ready to call home.
The remaining apartments are available at the north Edinburgh development, which is delivered by regeneration specialists Urban Union, after the final batch of houses in Phase 3 sold out in 2 weeks.
Currently available is the ‘Adam’, a two-bedroom apartment perfect for those looking for their first home or looking to downsize. Starting from £191,995, this home features a bright open-plan kitchen and living area, perfect for entertaining friends. The main bedroom is spacious and comes complete with an en-suite. There is plenty of storage area including fitted wardrobes and a separate utility cupboard.
Also ideal for first-time buyers, the ‘Ross’ is a one-bedroom second floor apartment offering a large open plan living and kitchen space starting from £169,995. With contemporary specification and energy efficient living, the ‘Ross’ offers excellent storage space and is completed with a modern bathroom.
Located only a few miles from Edinburgh city centre, Pennywell Living is in a prime position to make the most of the many shops, bars and restaurants the capital has to offer. Also, with great local primary and secondary schools, and a wealth of useful amenities in the area, the development is perfect for young professionals and families alike.
Neil McKay Managing Director at Urban Union, said: “We are absolutely delighted with the past sales success at Pennywell. Given how popular properties have been at the development we really don’t expect these apartments to be around for long and we encourage potential buyers to come down to the development and get a feel for the properties in person as soon as possible.
“Prospective buyers will be amazed by the spacious apartments available which offer the home comforts and efficiencies you would expect from a brand-new home, and so much more.”
Every Urban Union home is highly energy efficient and is completed with all the features necessary for modern life, including high-quality, fully integrated kitchens and bathrooms, plenty of storage space and spacious living areas perfect for those looking for a place to call home.
Apartments at Pennywell Living are available to reserve now with just £99 reservation fee.
For further information visit the Urban Union website, call07940 992182 or email:
Responding to the latest figures showing the Royal Infirmary of Edinburgh sees only 40.6% of A&E patients within 4 hours, Foysol Choudhury MSP said:“The figures for patients being seen at A&E within 4 hours in Edinburgh remain alarmingly low, even before the anticipated winter crisis hits.
“The Cabinet Secretary for Health has said that ‘recovery from Covid will not happen overnight’, but we are yet to see any evidence of recovery at all. The 4-hour figures for NHS Lothian last averaged above 90% in March 2021, while the figures for Edinburgh Royal last averaged above 90% in October 2020. The trend has been downwards since then.
“Hard-working NHS staff are doing their best for patients in very difficult circumstances, but they are being let down by long-running structural failures which remain unresolved by this SNP-Green government.
“The Scottish Government needs to take urgent action now to arrest two years of decline in our health service, or risk putting patient safety in jeopardy over winter.”
The Scottish Conservatives said: “This week, A&E waiting time figures showed 1506 patients waiting more than half a day in emergency departments.
“Hardworking NHS staff are being pushed beyond their limits and patients are suffering needlessly as a result of SNP inaction.”
Mr Yousaf said: “A&E departments are working under significant pressure and, in common with other healthcare systems across the UK and globally, the pandemic continues to impact performance.
“Recovery from Covid will not happen overnight, which is why we are continuing to work with boards on a number of measures to reduce pressure this winter.”
A new single rate for the national minimum wage to reflect the increased cost of living, and more effective employment law to protect workers’ rights underpin plans to build a fairer labour market in an independent Scotland, according to Deputy First Minister John Swinney.
Following publication of the paper Building a New Scotland: A stronger economy with independence, Mr Swinney said the powers of independence would allow the Scottish Government to build a fairer, more equal future for all workers. This includes new measures to improve access to flexible working and better industrial relations.
Deputy First Minister John Swinney said: “Improving job security, wages and work-life balance are essential to delivering a more socially just Scotland. The UK labour market model has generated high income inequality while failing to drive productivity growth.
“Compared to independent European countries similar to Scotland, the UK has a higher prevalence of low pay, a bigger gender pay gap, longer working hours and significantly lower statutory sick pay.
“The Scottish Government is committed to Fair Work, but we could go much further to strengthen that agenda in an independent Scotland, developing a legal framework that more effectively addresses the workplace challenges of the 21st century. It would give us an opportunity to redesign the system to better meet the needs of Scotland’s workers and employers.”
Specific measures proposed in the paper include:
establishing a Scottish Fair Pay Commission to lead a new approach to setting a national minimum wage, working with employers, trade unions and government
improving pay and conditions with a single rate minimum wage for all age groups and better access to flexible work to help parents and carers
repealing the UK Trade Union Act 2016 as part of developing an approach to industrial relations which suits both workers and employers
introducing a law to help workers organise co-operative buyouts or rescues when a business is up for sale or under threat
legislating to support workers in precarious employment, and banning the practice of staff being made redundant and re-hired on reduced wages and conditions
increasing transparency in pay reporting and data to address gender, ethnicity and disability pay gaps and building on Scottish Government work to break down barriers to employment
The paper outlines how it would be easier for an independent Scotland to deal with labour market shocks.
In responding to the global financial crisis and pandemic, other countries were able to quickly draw on existing institutions and initiatives. This could include a permanent short-time working scheme, modelled on the German Kurzarbeit programme which provides compensation for private sector workers whose hours are reduced because of economic difficulty. A scheme like this in Scotland could help retain skills, reduce long-term unemployment and the associated costs and allow for more rapid economic recovery.
Job Security Councils, modelled on a Swedish initiative, could provide support to workers who have lost – or are at risk of losing – their jobs. These non-profit foundations led by social partners, employer representative bodies and trades unions, would help workers find new employment by providing a range of advice and high-quality retraining.
A public consultation for the homes-led redevelopment of one of Edinburgh city centre’s largest potential development sites is to be launched later this month.
Regeneration specialists Artisan Real Estate has formed a joint venture company with fund manager REInvest Asset Management to redevelop the former Deutsche Bank House at 525 Ferry Road, Edinburgh, near the Crewe Toll roundabout.
The office and data-processing centre was formerly the Scottish base for State Street Bank until the building was vacated by the bank in 2018.
Over recent years the building has housed a number of charities including EVOC, SHE Scotland and People Know How.
Consultation for the site, to be known as 525 Park View, will begin with a drop-in public meeting on Saturday 28 October, at Fetlor Youth Club on Crewe Road South, between 12 noon and 4 pm.
The open session will allow members of the local community to meet the design team behind the proposed project, which includes Edinburgh-based 7N Architects.
Follow-up design workshops are also planned before the end of the year, with a full presentation of the final scheme, ahead of any planning submission, anticipated for early 2023.
A project website www.525parkview.co.uk has been set up to provide more details of the project proposals and the ongoing consultation process. All presentation boards will be published on the website within 48 hours of each event, with an opportunity to comment and feedback.
Welcoming the consultation launch, Artisan’s Regional Director for Scotland, David Westwater, said: “This is an exciting opportunity to create a long-term sustainable future for what is a predominantly redundant building and bringing a new community to an accessible city centre site.
“Our initial ideas will be guided by sustainability and low-carbon design and encompass a mix of development, led mainly by residential as well as much-needed affordable housing and ancillary commercial uses.”
Artisan Real Estate has a strong track record in delivering complex residential and mixed-use regeneration projects in sensitive city centre environments across the UK. This includes the award-winning “New Waverley” in Edinburgh’s Old Town and the current Rowanbank Gardens homes development to the west of the city, described as a ‘spectacular blueprint for low carbon living’.
REInvest Asset Management was founded in Luxembourg as a specialist for future-facing investment ideas and currently manages and develops properties across Europe with a value in excess of EUR 2.3 billion. 525 Park View is held in a progressive property fund within a pan-European portfolio managed on behalf of a German insurance group.
Thomas Merkes, Head of Asset Management at REInvest Asset Management added: “Our joint venture partnership with Artisan represents a major step forward in providing an innovative and collaborative mixed-use development solution to unlock the potential for this significant city centre site, which is set to create a genuinely transformational development in an accessible city centre location.
“We are looking forward to the launch of the consultation which will provide the perfect platform to show how we can make a positive contribution to the local area, bringing investment, life and excitement back to this important part of the Capital.”
The National Lottery Community Fund, which delivers the Young Start fund, today announces £1,876,551 to 23 youth led projects that will help develop the skills and talents of thousands of young Scots.
A club which provides fun and friendship for hundreds of young people across Edinburgh can keep its doors open. Thanks to an award of £100,000 Deaf Action will continue to bring young people across the city together like 17-year-old Emily, who has been part of the Youth Club since she was nine years old.
Emily said: “My experiences with Deaf Action’s Youth Club have been amazing,” says Emily. “When I first joined, I was really shy and didn’t know much about my deafness. But ever since I’ve been here, I’ve met new friends and the activities have helped me learn more about myself.
“The leaders here, who are also deaf, have helped us all learn more about our deafness. We can look up to them and can see how they’re successful, and it just helps to know that things later in life are going to be good.
“The best part of being in the Youth Club definitely has to be making friends. The friends I’ve had for the longest time have been the ones I’ve made here and have to be the best ones I’ve ever met.”
Lauren McAnna, Deaf Action Community Services Managersaid: “This funding will be used to continue to deliver and grow our vital Youth Club, which makes it possible for deaf young people to enjoy the same opportunities as their hearing peers.
“We will offer a range of fun and motivational opportunities to help them to build life skills, while they explore their deaf identity and unique culture.
“Our programme is shaped by the diverse voices of our young people, who through our Club, enjoy the sense of feeling like an equal amongst their peers. “
An award of £92,000 to Tweeddale Youth Action SCIO means they can continue their ‘Food Punks, project which provides cookery, communication and teamwork skills to local young people.
Dave Hodson, Locality Manager at Tweeddale Youth Actionsaid:” We are hugely grateful for the support.
“Through our ‘Food Punks project, we have seen some hugely positive outcomes from young people on the margins, who in some cases had been written off and had written themselves off.
“Learning some nifty cookery skills is the tip of the iceberg for our crew who also learn how to work as a team, communicate effectively, and how important it is to be able to rely on each other and cope with high pressure environments.”
One young person who has benefitted from the project is 16-year-old Cameron* from Peebles who says that the project has helped him gain the experience and skills he will need when he leaves school and looks for a job.
Cameron said: “I’ll be leaving school soon, and I’ll need to focus on either further education or getting a job, but environments like collage or school aren’t my favourite.
“The youth club has offered me help and are looking for possible employment opportunities for me, which makes me feel confident in that I now have more opportunities than I did before.
“The staff give me responsibilities like handing me a recipe and they know they can safely trust me in the kitchen without accidentally setting the kitchen on fire or cutting myself! Having that level of responsibility really helps me focus on what I’m doing and getting it done safely, and overall, and gives me confidence for a more independent future.”
Announcing today’s funding, The National Lottery Community Fund, Scotland Chair, Kate Still, said: “These latest awards, made to such a diverse range of projects, will make such a difference to the lives of thousands more young people like Emily and Cameron.
“Deaf Action and Tweeddale Youth Action are both fantastic examples of how Young Start funding can help organisations deliver invaluable services to young people across Scotland.
“We are always keen to support projects that put Scotland’s young people at the heart of the development and running of services. If your group has an idea how you would make this happen, then we’d love to hear from you.”
Young Start helps young people aged eight to 24 become more confident and play an active part in realising their potential. Funding of up to £100,000 is available for youth led projects.
Statement-making menopause board game launched to break the stigma
Intimate wellness brand INTIMINA has released Menopause: The Board Game, using play to raise awareness of the 40+ symptoms of the menopause
The game follows a study pointing to a clear lack of knowledge about the menopause – with one in 10 adults not knowing what the menopause entails
13% of men think the menopause has no symptoms at all
INTIMINA has partnered with menopause wellbeing organisation, PositivePause to use the board game in workplace menopause training sessions
A limited initial batch will also be available directly. To register interest, email intimina@thisicow.com
Forget about solving ‘whodunnit’ in the billiard room or playing at being a property tycoon. This year’s must-play – and possibly most important – board game is all about the menopause. That’s right, for the first time, the more than 40 symptoms of menopause have become the basis of a unique and thought-provoking board game.
Menopause: The Board Game is launching to coincide with World Menopause Day (18th October) and was created by intimate wellness brand INTIMINA alongside gynaecology specialist GP Dr Susanna Unsworth to raise much-needed awareness of the menopause and tackle the taboo that surrounds it.
Appropriate for all ages, the board game will see players race from start to finish answering questions about the menopause along the way. Using uterus-shaped tokens, players will take it in turns to move across the game board – which resembles the changes in oestrogen levels during the menopause. Question cards will quiz players on the many and varied symptoms, with answers and explanations to help people learn as they play.
The board game comes as new research reveals more than one in 10 (12%) adults say they aren’t confident they know what the menopause is. This figure jumps to almost a fifth (17%) when looking specifically at men. What’s more, more than a third (34%) of people asked said they were unsure they knew what perimenopause is or what it entails.
INTIMINA’s research also showed the number of symptoms associated with the menopause is vastly underestimated. On average, respondents said there were 11 symptoms of the menopause, but the reality is there are more than 40. Worryingly, more than one in 10 (13%) men polled didn’t know the menopause had any symptoms at all.
The startling lack of knowledge about the menopause is also behind a quarter (25%) of those surveyed believing that people are actually given medication to dissolve unused eggs once menopausal. One in seven (14%) also think you can’t have sex whilst going through the menopause.
It is well-documented that people experiencing menopause need more support in the workplace. And over two thirds (68%) of those surveyed by INTIMINA agree that people should receive menopause sensitivity and awareness training at work.
With this in mind, INTIMINA has partnered, on the launch of its board game, with Positive Pause who provide no-nonsense information on their free to access menopause platform and deliver dynamic, online workplace training sessions. PositivePause will be using Menopause: The Board Game in upcoming training sessions and events.
Justine Pescher, spokesperson for INTIMINA comments: “The menopause is something that affects around half the population, yet there isn’t enough education and open dialogue surrounding it which leads to misinformation and a lack of sensitivity for those going through it.
“Our research showed only 13% are taught about it at school and it’s widely agreed that it should be a topic discussed as part of workplace training. That’s why we’ve crated Menopause: The Board Game, a game that not only teaches players about the menopause but also encourages conversations in normal, everyday settings.”
Gynaecology Specialist for INTIMINA, Dr Susanna Unsworth, adds: “It’s clear there is a lot of misunderstanding when it comes to the menopause and its symptoms, amongst both men and women.
“I’m delighted that INTIMINA created Menopause: The Board Game as a tool to raise awareness and knowledge about a staggeringly overlooked and misunderstood process. I look forward to seeing it kick-start conversations this World Menopause Day and beyond.”
Ann Stephens, co-founder of PositivePause says: “All women and some members of the trans and non-binary community are guaranteed to go through menopause yet most lack basic awareness of the signs and symptoms.
“Many fail to join the dots as they begin to experience the impact of fluctuating hormones in perimenopause. Opening up the conversation brings menopause out of the shadows. By normalising what is all too often perceived as a negative process, it can be turned into a positive.
“The better informed we all are, the better it is for everyone, benefiting women’s health, relationships, and employment. As we like to say, ‘menopause is not about the time of the month, it’s about having the time of your life!’.
“Menopause: The Board Game is a genius concept for getting the topic of menopause into the workplace, making it positive, interactive, educational and a lot less scary.”
INTIMINA is also offering 15% off its Kegel exerciser, KegelSmart for Menopause Week (from 17th October to 23rd October). Hormonal changes during the menopause can impact pelvic floor, and Kegel exercises can help strengthen it, leading to improved bladder control, vaginal tightness, and sexual sensations.
In addition to board games distributed to PositivePause, a limited initial batch will be available from INTIMINA. To register interest please email intimina@thisiscow.com
MEN’S COOKING CLUB at PILTON COMMUNITY HEALTH PROJECT
We’re getting ready to launch a new Cooking Club for men!!!
Making Thyme will take place each week on Tuesdays 1-3pm from our kitchen at #PCHP. This is an informal and fun cooking club open to all men. Whether you’re keen to share your passion for cooking with others or interested in learning new skills and socializing, please sign up!
All the info is on the poster, or you can register directly via the link below:
We hope to begin this group on Tuesday the 8th of November so stay tuned for more info. If you have any questions, please do not hesitate to get in touch.
