I had not wanted to attend any of the reunions in the post war period until the 50th anniversary of D-Day in 1994. This proved to be a most memorable event and I have returned to Normandy almost every year since.
In 1996 I also attended a reunion of the 55th Anti Tank Regiment accompanied by my son Paul. There I met several of my old comrades; each one with great pleasure. I attended several further reunions in Bury St Edmunds until, due to the advancing years of it’s members, the organising association was disbanded.
Tony Delahoy is pictured above at his investiture as a Chevalier de la Legion d’Honneur on 15th October 2015. The presentation was made on board the French warship FNS Aquitaine, which was docked at Leith.
‘Bold new measures’ to combat rising levels of youth vaping to be announced this week
A new ‘illicit vapes enforcement squad’ – backed by £3 million of government funding – to be formed to enforce rules on vaping and tackle illegal sales of vapes to under-18s
Call for Evidence also launched to identify opportunities to stop children vaping
The UK Government is expected to unveil tough new measures to combat the illegal sale of vapes to under-18s as part of its plans to reduce smoking and tackle youth vaping in England.
In his speech at Policy Exchange on Tuesday 11 April, Health Minister Neil O’Brien is expected to announce a new ‘illicit vapes enforcement squad’ – backed by £3 million of government funding – to enforce the rules on vaping and tackle illicit vapes and underage sales.
Working across the country, the enforcement squad led by Trading Standards will share knowledge and intelligence across regional networks and local authorities.
It will undertake specific projects such as test purchasing in convenience stores and vape shops. It will also produce guidance to help build regulatory compliance, and will have the power to remove illegal products from shops and at our borders.
The minister is also expected to announce the launch of a Call for Evidence to identify opportunities to reduce the number of children accessing and using vapes, while ensuring they remain available as a quit aid for adult smokers.
It will explore topical issues such as the marketing and promotion of vapes and the environmental impact of disposable products.
Health Minister Neil O’Brien said: “Smoking kills, so our priority is to prevent people smoking, and support them to quit. We remain committed to our ambition to be smokefree by 2030.
“However, while vaping is a preferable alternative to smoking for adults, we are concerned about the rise in youth vaping, particularly the increasing use of disposable vaping products.
“The new illicit vapes enforcement squad will work across the country and clamp down on those businesses who sell vapes to children – which is illegal – and get them hooked on nicotine. Our Call for Evidence will also allow us to get a firm understanding of the steps we can take to reduce the number of children accessing and using vapes.”
Smoking prevalence in England in 2021 was 13.0%, the lowest on record, thanks to measures such as doubling duty on cigarettes since 2010 and continued funding to local stop smoking services. In 2021-22, £68 million of funding from the public health grant was spent on stop smoking services by local authorities, and nearly 100,000 people quit with the support of a stop smoking service.
In addition, £35 million was committed to the NHS last year so that all smokers admitted to hospital will be offered NHS-funded tobacco treatment services.
Latest figures from leading vet charity, PDSA, reveal that more than nine out of 10 pet owners surveyed have never received any pet first aid training.
Three quarters of those surveyed (75%) wouldn’t know how to perform CPR on their pet, highlighting a worrying number of owners feeling unequipped to deal with an animal-related medical emergency, such as a seizure, heatstroke or road traffic accident.
PDSA, which provides vital treatment to pets in need, is encouraging owners to brush up on basic skills that could prove crucial. The charity’s expert vets have also created a free pet first aid guide to provide owners with vital knowledge that could help save their pet’s life.
A survey conducted by the charity also found that 80% of owners don’t own a pet first aid kit, and many feel uninformed when it comes to managing common illnesses or injuries affecting their furry family members.
For example, almost three quarters (74%) of those surveyed confessed they wouldn’t know or would be unsure what to do if their pet was having a seizure. While almost half (46%) didn’t know or weren’t sure how to help their pet if they were suffering from heatstroke. And over half (52%) would feel clueless or would be not sure what steps to take if their furry companion broke a bone.
However, it seems owners are keen to gain these necessary skills, with almost two thirds (67%) of those surveyed agreeing they should have a basic understanding of pet first aid.
PDSA’s handy first aid guide offers actionable tips around how to spot and provide first aid for injuries such as broken bones or bleeding wounds. It also suggests simple ways to prevent an emergency from happening, including keeping toxic human food and medications out of paws’ reach, as well as how to be prepared if your pet does become unwell or injured.
PDSA Vet, Lynne James, said: “The figures highlight the extent of the skills gap when it comes to basic pet first aid skills. However, owners often don’t realise how important first aid training is until they need it, which can sometimes be too late.
“As with humans, taking the right actions in the first few minutes following an emergency before seeking veterinary attention can make a huge difference on the outcome of the situation. The good news is that while it may seem like a big task, there are practical tips that owners can learn, which will help them treat and potentially save the lives of their pets.
“I’d encourage anyone who doesn’t feel confident providing treatment to their furry friend in an emergency to download our pet first aid guide, which includes a host of resources that could prove vital.
“Many of us may also be concerned about the cost of living at the moment, and the price of unexpected treatment will only add further strain to pet owner’s pockets. Aside from lifesaving tips on treating pets in an urgent situation, our guide also offers lots of simple advice that can help to avoid an incident happening in the first place, and requiring more costly treatment down the line.”
When you get an alert, stop what you’re doing and follow the instructions in the alert.
If you’re driving or riding when you get an alert
You should not read or otherwise respond to an emergency alert whilst driving or riding a motorcycle.
If you are driving, you should continue to drive and not respond to the noise or attempt to pick up the mobile phone and deal with the message.
Find somewhere safe and legal to stop before reading the message. If there is nowhere safe or legal to stop close by, and nobody else is in the vehicle to read the alert, tune into live radio and wait for bulletins until you can find somewhere safe and legal to stop.
It is illegal to use a hand-held device while driving or riding.
If you cannot receive emergency alerts
If you do not have a compatible device, you’ll still be informed about an emergency. The emergency services have other ways to warn you when there is a threat to life.
Emergency alerts will not replace local news, radio, television or social media.
If you’re deaf, hard of hearing, blind or partially sighted
If you have a vision or hearing impairment, audio and vibration attention signals will let you know you have an emergency alert.
Holyrood’s Social Justice and Social Security Committee want to hear from parents and employers on how child poverty could be addressed through parental employment.
You could be in with a chance to win a year’s supply of craft beer from Aldi Scotland
Aldi Scotland Goes in Search of the Nation’s Best Home Bar or At Home Drinking Set-up to Celebrate the Launch of its New ‘Scottish Beers of the Month’ Campaign
Aldi Scotland has launched a nationwide hunt for Scotland’s Best Home Bar or at-home drinking set-up with a year’s supply of free beer up for grabs.
Celebrating the launch of its brand-new Scottish Beers of the Month campaign, which will see a number of hero Scottish brewers spotlighted each month, Aldi is on the lookout for the most innovative at-home bar creations that provide the perfect backdrop to enjoy a craft beer.
Whether you’ve transformed your garden shed into a classic pub or your house has the best cosy corner, Aldi will gift a year’s supply of beer to the drinking set-up it finds most inspiring to enjoy an ice-cold beer at home.
Every month, the winner will be invited to collect a range of 24 beers from the vast number of Scottish brewers featuring as part of Scottish Beers of the Month, giving them a chance to try locally produced, top-quality craft brews from all over Scotland.
The Scottish Beers of the Month in-store campaign, which launches today (Thursday 6th April), will showcase everything from refreshing IPAs to crisp lagers, with prices starting from just £1.39.
Aberdeen’s Fierce Beer is the first hero brewer to feature as part of the campaign. Focused on producing unique and flavourful beers that range from traditional pilsners to luscious barrel-aged stouts, Aldi was the brewery’s first ever customer.
Fierce Beer will be showcasing fruity IPAs, such as Passion for Haze and Tropical Thunder, as well as sour Blackcurrant Tart and gluten-free vegan Fruit Ale Berry.
Graham Nicolson, Group Buying Director, Aldi Scotland, said:“Our new Scottish Beers of the Month campaign gives our customers the chance to enjoy a vast selection of beers from artisan breweries across Scotland that you wouldn’t necessarily find in the pub.
“We all enjoy a trip to our local, but sometimes you just can’t beat enjoying a cold beer in the comfort of your own home.
“The judges are looking for innovative home bar set-ups, from extraordinary garden bars to the more understated kitchen table.”
To be in with a chance of winning, shoppers simply need to email a picture of their at-home bar set-up to aldipr@bigpartnership.co.uk along with the following details:
Full name
Image of their home bar or favourite at-home drinking spot
Entries are open until 3 May 2023. The chosen winner will be selected by 10 May 2023.
Aldi encourages its customers to drink responsibly.
Application Terms & Conditions :
All applicants must be 18 years old or over and must live in Scotland.
The applicant will be invited to collect a range of 24 bottles/cans of Aldi Scotland stocked Scottish craft beers each month.
Aldi Scotland encourages the successful applicant to drink responsibly.
For information and advice on safe alcohol consumption, please contact Drinkaware. Visit https://www.drinkaware.co.uk/
Aldi Scotland reserves the right to terminate the delivery of products
All applications will be considered by the Aldi Scotland judging panel. The successful applicant will be selected based on the decision made by the Aldi Scotland judging panel. The judging panel has full discretion. The panel’s decision is final and no correspondence will be entered into regarding the outcome.
The product is non-transferable, refundable and can be changed by Aldi at any time.
Applications are open from 3 April 2023. To enter, simply email a picture of your at home bar set up to aldipr@bigpartnership.co.uk
Late entries or any entries not received for any reason will not be considered. The successful applicant will be chosen from entries provided before 6 May 2023. Winner will be selected by 10 May 2023.
Applicants can enter via email and via the Aldi Scotland social media channels. Each will be counted as a single entry, with applicants able to enter once on each channel.
Aldi Employees are not permitted to enter and are not valid to win. By submitting your application, you agree if your application is successful to take part in press and publicity including but not limited to media interviews, photography and personal appearances.
Personal data will be used solely in accordance with UK data protection legislation.
For further information please contact aldipr@bigpartnership.co.uk. Promoter: The BIG Partnership Group Limited, 1 – 3 Woodside Crescent, Glasgow, G3 7UL
The winning entry will receive the prize on a monthly basis.
It’s a UK road trip with a difference – music fans have been invited to make the ultimate rock and pop pilgrimage by visiting the locations where some of our biggest stars passed away.
Car rental experts from StressFreeCarRental.com have revealed the postcodes and locations where some of the biggest names in music, including Amy Winehouse, Freddie Mercury and George Michael, sadly died.
They have suggested a 1200-mile round Britain itinerary to visit the sites which can be reached by inputting the provided postcodes into any sat nav device.
But they are urging fans to undertake the road trip purely to pay their respects to the late artists and to remain mindful that many of the sites remain private property.
The 1200-mile road trip takes in several locations which attract thousands of visitors each year – such as the ditch where Marc Bolan crashed his Mini in 1977.
Starting in London the unique tour takes in the spots where icons Amy Winehouse, Freddie Mercury, Keith Moon and Jimi Hendrix passed away.
After leaving the capital music fans are encouraged to journey south to the crash site in Surrey where Glam Rock legend Marc Bolan died before heading on to Hartfield, East Sussex to visit the house where Rolling Stones founder Brian Jones was found dead in a swimming pool in 1969.
They then travel west to Henley on Thames, Oxfordshire, where sixties icon Dusty Springfield sadly passed away before heading to nearby Goring-on-Thames where 80s pop legend George Michael died on Christmas Day 2016.
From Goring it’s a short trip to Salisbury where Thin Lizzy star Phil Lynott sadly died. Fans are then told to head to a lay-by close to the Severn Bridge near Bristol where Manic Street Preacher guitarist Richey Edwards is believed to have disappeared. He was later declared legally dead.
From there the road trip turns north stopping at Tanworth-in-Arden, Warwickshire where legendary singer-songwriter Nick Drake passed away, before heading on to a terraced house in Macclesfield where Joy Division singer Ian Curtis hung himself in 1980.
The trip then veers north to Scotland to Auchterhouse, near Dundee, the location of the suicide of Billy Mackenzie, lead singer of 80s band The Associates. He was found in a garden shed after an overdose.
The trip then heads back down south stopping at Arkesden, Essex at the location of the death of legendary Small Faces frontman Steve Marriott who sadly perished in a house fire in 1991.
A spokesman for StressFreeCarRental.com, who came up with the tour, said it was a chance for music fans to pay their respects to some of the biggest icons of all time.
He said: “Britain has produced some of the greatest stars in the history of popular music and many of them will never be forgotten. They are the legends who changed the lives of millions and many of us still listen to their music every day.
“So we thought it would be a good idea to gather together the greatest names who sadly passed away on UK soil and offer music fans an itinerary to visit the places where they passed on.
“Many of the locations remain private homes so we urge everyone who follows our guide to remain courteous and respectful at all times.
“By gathering all of the locations together into one suggested road trip we want to celebrate the legacies of some of the greatest talents Britain has ever produced.
“Fans can print off our handy checklist and tick off each location as they make the trip. By the time they’ve completed their journey they will have visited the locations where some of our greatest stars have passed away. Although in a way these legends will never die. They live on forever through their music.”
Thursday 6th April is the first day of the new tax year (hands-up who missed the ISA deadline, again) and a number of changes in both UK and Scottish policy come into effect (writes FRASER of ALLANDER Institute).
Here is a brief rundown of some of the changes that have come into play at the start of this new financial year:;
Firstly, taxes.
For higher rate tax payers the new 1p comes into effect in Scotland as well as the reduction in the threshold for those paying the additional rate, mirroring what has happened in the rest of the UK. Other band thresholds, including the personal allowance (the rate at which people start to pay tax) have remain frozen.
The UK Spring Budget announced changes to the pension annual allowance and lifetime allowance also come into effect.
Council Tax bills have gone up across the country. Local authorities have the ability to vary the Band D rate charged, which then translates into rises in bills across all bands via a set of multipliers. On average, Band D rates have risen by 5%, but there are clear exceptions (Chart 1).
Failure to reform Council Tax makes any additional revenue raised through Council Tax regressive in nature. Failure to revalue the tax base means that increasingly the bills paid by households bear little resemblance to the relative value of their home. This isn’t the fault of Councils – the ball firmly remains in the Scottish Government’s court on this one.
Unlike Council Tax, there has been a revaluation for Non-Domestic Rates. Even though the poundage rate charged to non-domestic properties has remained frozen (as also the case in rUK) businesses will see a change in their bills reflecting their updated ‘rateable values’.
Secondly, benefits
The UK Government announced in its Autumn Statement that reserved benefits would be uprated by 10.1%. This practice of uprating, using the previous September CPI, is standard procedure.
Devolved benefits have received the same uplift from the Scottish Government, with the exception of the Scottish Child Payment. This increased in value in November 2022 and it was decided it was not in scope for further uplift for 2023/24.
Although not strictly a benefit, the continuation of the energy price guarantee on energy means that we are not facing a rise in our energy bills this month. The guarantee has been extended at its current level for a further 3 months, by which time it is hoped that energy prices will have come down to more reasonable levels. It will hopefully be warmer by then too!
On that note, we wish you a pleasant Easter weekend, and fingers crossed that the sun will shine.
Innovative companies will be able to trial new health products in clinical settings across the country following a link-up between the Scottish Government’s £42 million Techscaler programme and the NHS.
Participants in the programme, which provides world class expertise and support to young businesses with high growth potential, are being offered access to NHS Regional Test Beds. These enable entrepreneurs to work alongside clinicians and have access to patients and anonymised data to test ideas, products and services.
And in a reciprocal agreement, firms already using the NHS Test Beds will automatically become part of the Techscaler network.
Wellbeing Economy Secretary Neil Gray announced the move during a visit to Bioliberty in Edinburgh, which uses robotics to provide rehabilitation and assistance for stroke survivors.
The company will be one of 14 firms in sectors including healthtech and life sciences to join a Scottish Government-funded visit to New York to showcase their work.
Mr Gray said: “Scotland’s life sciences sector has an annual turnover of more than £8 billion and is one of our key sectors for transformative economic growth.This partnership will be able to leverage our world-leading universities, life sciences hubs and excellent healthcare systems to support the growth of the sector and development of entrepreneurs.
“Testing products in a real world environment and accelerating development is vital, and will enable a broader reach of the Tech Scaler programme. This in turn will benefit patients and medical staff as they develop cutting-edge technology for use across the NHS, from stroke and rehabilitation through to reducing drug-related deaths.
“It is a further example of the steps we are taking as we develop a sustainable, high-skill economy that works for everyone.”
Chief Scientist (Health) Anna Dominiczak said: “I welcome this collaboration, which will result in transformative innovations for the NHS and help to ensure that Scotland is the best location for life sciences companies.”
Scotland’s Chief Entrepreneur Mark Logan said: “By making this connection between health testing and business support, we create an environment for innovation which enables Scottish companies to compete effectively, whilst bringing much-needed treatment solutions to the NHS.”
Leading insurer NFU Mutual has partnered with industry body Scotland Food & Drink to launch the 2023 ‘Inspirational Young Person Award’.
Talented young people working in the food and drink industry are being encouraged to enter the fifth annual ‘Inspirational Young Person Award’.
The award seeks to uncover inspiring examples of talented people aged 16 to 26 who own, work, or study in the food and drink sector and who are a driving success in their field.
The award will highlight the innovation young people bring to Scotland’s food and drink businesses, as well as the important contribution they make to the sector’s long-term future.
Entries and nominations are now open and the closing date is 3rd July. The first, second and third place winners will be announced during Scottish Food & Drink Fortnight (5-20th September) and awarded cash prizes of £500, £300 and £200 respectively.
In recognition of the challenges the industry has faced economically in the last year and the part it can play environmentally such as cutting down on food waste, this year’s judges are looking for entrants who are adapting the way they work and contributing to the resilience of Scotland’s food and drink sector.
Last year’s winner was 23-year-old Craig Chambers, a Distiller at Dunnet Bay Distillers based in Thurso.
He impressed the judges with his natural flair for the distillery business and the way he identified improvements and helped create new recipes designed to reduce energy consumption during distilling by 90%, which helped the business maintain the original price point for customers as energy prices increased.
Since winning the award, Craig has expanded his horizons and is presently on a placement at a distillery in South America.
Craig said: “Winning this award was an amazing high-point for me. I have since been on a placement at a distillery in Argentina to learn even more about the industry and other food and drink cultures.
“The prize money came in very handy for my travels too.”
Mark McBrearty, NFU Mutual’s Regional Manager in Scotland and one of the judges for the award, said: “The importance of young people to Scotland’s food and drink sector cannot be overstated. This special award illustrates just how wide a contribution they make and how valuable their drive and innovation are to business success.
He added: “Like all industries, the food and drink sector has been facing some very challenging times. This year’s judging will consider how young people have responded to this and also adapted to the way they work environmentally, such as saving energy or cutting down on food waste.”
Iain Baxter, Chief Executive at Scotland Food & Drink, said: “I am really looking forward to discovering the wealth of talent – both culinary and business-focused – among the younger generation in our industry.
He added: “Scotland has a proud reputation nationally and internationally for its food, drink and hospitality. Supporting the future of our sector by recognising up and coming talent is crucial to its long-term success.”
How to Enter
The NFU Mutual and Scotland Food & Drink Inspirational Young Person Award 2022 is open for entries until 3rd July 2023. Submit your entry or make a nomination here.
Any individual between the ages of 16 and 26 who owns, works, or studies within a food and drink related business, organisation or institution can be nominated or enter on their own behalf.
The winner will receive £500, with the second and third place finalists receiving £300 and £200 respectively. Winners will be announced in September 2022.
For more information on the range of NFU Mutual insurance services, visit:
