– Customers across the UK can nominate special mums via local stores’ Facebook pages –
– Mums will also receive acts of kindness in stores, including gifts of flowers and chocolates –
Morrisons is giving away an afternoon tea hamper from its stores across the UK this Mother’s Day, to celebrate mums in the community.
Mother’s Day will be a little different this year with lockdown still in place, but mums across the nation deserve more recognition than ever; having faced all sorts of challenges including home schooling and feeding the family.
Morrisons customers are able to nominate a ‘special’ mum to win a hamper via their local store’s Facebook page, to give back to mums in the community who deserve a treat.
Each of Morrisons’ 497 stores across the UK will be taking part in the giveaway and planning to pack a box with a variety of items that mums can use to make an afternoon tea. From cakes, to teas and jams, the hampers will provide an afternoon tea treat that mums won’t forget.
Morrisons will also be carrying out acts of kindness in stores, such as giving flowers and chocolates to special mums who cannot see their children on Mother’s Day.
Rebecca Singleton, Customer & Community Director at Morrisons said: “We know that Mother’s Day will be different this year, and we wanted to recognise the incredible efforts of mums around the country over what has been an extremely difficult 12 months.
“We look forward to putting a smile on the face of nearly 500 fantastic mums as they tuck into a range of delicious afternoon tea treats.”
As plumbing and heating professionals around the globe prepare to celebrate World Plumbing Day today (Thursday March 11), the Covid pandemic has vividly highlighted their importance as critical workers on the frontline of public health and safety.
While World Plumbing Day was inaugurated in 2010 to mark the link between quality plumbing and health, environmental sustainability and economic prosperity, the past year has also demonstrated the vital contribution of plumbing to clean water and sanitation systems.
SNIPEF, the Scotland and Northern Ireland Plumbing Employers’ Federation, recognises how PPE-clad engineers and plumbing professionals have held the line in the pandemic, putting themselves at risk to keep the taps running and the heating on.
Here, SNIPEF highlights one of the industry’s heroes and asks what it takes to make such an important contribution in an increasingly critical sector:
17, including two apprentices, the second of whom qualified just last month.
How long have you been a plumber and how did you get started?
I began serving my time in 2003, and unfortunately qualified just as the financial crisis hit in 2007/8. I was made redundant, so really circumstances dictated that I should have a go at starting my own business. I took on my brother as an apprentice and he now trains people himself and brings them on.
There was, of course, a lot of uncertainty in the economy when we started out – rather similar to the way things are now. But in many other ways, they were different days. The technology for self-employed people was much less developed, and we had to learn everything about business by ourselves.
What is your favourite part of the job?
I’m not really on the tools these days, but still muck in as and when needed, which I really enjoy.
Our company Value ‘willing to sweep floors’ means no matter your position in the company, everyone is willing to do whatever it takes to get the job done. I have worked really hard over the past four or five years to build a business that can run without me being continually involved in it.
I want to work on the business, rather than in the business. So, I have invested heavily in putting systems and processes in place which, for a trade-based business, is quite unusual. I did not want Celsius to be over-reliant on me.
What I enjoy most about the job at the moment is dealing with internal processes, how we automate and how we employ technology.
What is the greatest challenge in your job?
Very early on in the pandemic, we recognised that although people’s confidence was low, we still had to have access to their homes and workplaces.
But we were only carrying out essential work and anything non-essential had to be placed in a backlog of work. This was quite difficult, since we are a reactive company – work comes in, we get it done and we invoice.
Once we came out of the first lockdown, we were very busy clearing the backlog and once we emerge from this one, we will use the lessons we have learned to catch up with the work we have had to postpone.
How has the pandemic changed your day-to-day?
Safety has always been an over-riding priority, but the last year has placed an emphasis on making sure that our customers, as well as our team, feels safe.
Early last year, we created a Covid Response Video which is communicated to our customers when our engineers are on the way to them so that they know what to expect.
We have to go into a lot of elderly people’s homes and it is vital that they feel safe and confident in us. I am super-proud of the team – you just have to look at our reviews.
Have you implemented any changes during the pandemic that you will continue after?
We knew that cashflow was going to take a hit because we could only do essential work. One solution we have implemented, and it has been really successful, is that we now take payment in advance for work.
It is not normal in the trade. It shows a remarkable degree of trust from our customers, who have been very supportive of our situation. We will continue to do this after Covid.
Have you done anything to help during this difficult time?
As key workers, we have managed to keep most of the team in full-time employment, but when people were furloughed we felt it was really important to keep in touch with them to make sure that they were coping. Tradespeople are naturally busy, and suddenly, overnight, they were confined to the house and not doing anything.
We wanted to let them know that they were not forgotten about and, as well as Zoom meetings, we instituted a Friday check-in. We all know that mental health in isolation has been a major issue over the past year and the feedback from the team has said that our efforts have been very helpful.
International Women’s Day has just passed. How are you helping females into the sector?
Women are valued members of the team. They are an integral part of our organisation, and we couldn’t do without them.
We have three with us at the moment: Monique is an engineer, who specialises in water and Legionella testing and certification; Ailsa, who is a senior maintenance co-ordinator; and Ailie, who started as an apprentice junior administrator and is now a maintenance co-ordinator. We have a blog on our website about their contribution.
What advice do you have to people starting out or thinking about becoming a plumber?
For a small business, we try to do our bit for apprentices. We have helped 10 youngsters in the 14 years we have been going, and we will continue to be ambassadors for apprenticeships.
Obviously, we cannot take on every applicant, but when young people approach us, we always get in touch with them and offer advice about what they could be doing to find an employer. We are going to have an apprentice page on our website, to which we can direct people, and other people in the industry can send applicants to it.
We would advise would-be apprentices to establish a LinkedIn page – it’s free to use and connects you to people in the industry. They should be aware that four years can seem like a long time, and like hard work, but once they are qualified, they have a skill for life. A qualified plumbing and heating engineer should never be out of work.
What has being a SNIPEF member brought to you?
Credibility, in a word. The team at SNIPEF is always on hand to answer any difficult questions we may have and their support for apprentices is first class. When we were taking people on at first, SNIPEF’s advisers were able to guide us in areas such as contracts and employment law. We wish we had joined sooner.
Morrisons has announced it will be donating over half a million meals to local pet rescue centres to help feed the nation’s cats and dogs – after demand for pet food has surged during lockdown.
Last year saw an unprecedented rise in pet ownership. With more of us at home than ever before, the desire for a companion reached peak levels with over two million dogs alone bought between March and September.
However, with millions more cats and dogs to feed in households up and down the UK, the need for pet food has dramatically increased.
In response to the increase in demand, Morrisons will set aside half a million meals in an effort to support local animal shelters – and to ensure no four-legged friend is left behind. Its network of ‘’Community Champions’ will work closely with their local shelters to distribute the meals up and down the UK.
Many animal shelters have been struggling through lack of funding and the economic fallout of Covid-19. And as hope for summer and a return to normality grows, animal shelters are facing the risk of more pets needing rehoming as their owners can no longer meet their needs.
Faye Atkins, Pet Food Buyer at Morrisons said: “Throughout the pandemic, our focus has been on feeding the nation, so it only felt right to support those pets who may not have found their forever home just yet as well.
“We hope this donation will go some way to supporting the many shelters doing a fantastic job looking after some of our most vulnerable animals”.
Earlier this week, Morrisons announced it is working closely with its suppliers as they invest in increasing their capacity. Whilst there is not 100% full availability in stores, there remains plenty of stock for all its customers and their new pets.
The essential, everyday services provided by Scotland’s Councils – upon which we all rely – have once again been undervalued and underappreciated by Tueday’s passing of the Scottish Budget, says COSLA.
COSLA’s Resources Spokesperson, Councillor Gail Macgregor, said: “Our ask of Scottish Government throughout the Budget process was to give Scotland’s 32 Councils the fair funding and flexibility they deserve to be able to deliver the essential services that they provide to communities and have continued to provide throughout the COVID pandemic.
“We are pleased that the Cabinet Secretary has listened to Local Government and agreed to baseline the £90m that was made available to councils who chose to freeze Council Tax during 2021-22.
“However, our key ask around fair funding and local flexibility has not been met with the passing of the Budget today – instead we are left with a Budget deal which does very little to address a decade of cuts to Local Government’s core funding, and once again ring fenced pots of money for specific Scottish Government policies. Without flexible additional funding to our core Budget, our ability to help recover from COVID is severely eroded.”
“The essential services that Local Government deliver are the foundations for strong communities across Scotland – today’s announcement means that these foundations will come under even more pressure.
“This is not the deal we wanted – it is not a good deal for communities and serious financial challenges lie ahead for councils. Not least in relation to our ability to recognise the amazing effort of our workforce – where Scottish Government has not recognised the pressures such as pay being faced by Councils.
“Scottish Government has raised expectations yet further through their public sector pay policy – without any increase to Local Government’s core funding, a pay increase for our workforce will have to be funded from elsewhere. This will only lead to a reduction in everyday essential services that communities rely on.”
Police have released a CCTV image of two men they wish to speak to as they may have information which could assist with ongoing enquiries into an assault that occurred around 1.30pm on Monday 2 September, 2020 on Montgomery Street.
One of the men is described as being white and in his late 20s to early 30s. He has short dark hair, stubble and was wearing black casual clothing.
The second man is white, in his mid-20s, 6ft to 6ft 4in tall and of slim build with fair hair. He was wearing a grey jumper, dark bottoms and black body warmer jacket.
Detective Constable Philip Wright of Gayfield CID said: ” As part of the investigation, we are eager to identify the two men in the CCTV footage and would urge them, or anyone who recognises them, to get in touch with us immediately.”
Those with information can contact Police Scotland on 101, quoting incident number 1528 of the 2nd September 2020, or contact Crimestoppers anonymously on 0800 555 111.
Utilita, the UK’s leading Smart Pay as You Go energy supplier, has donated £17,910 to The City of Edinburgh Council for community-based projects as part of its ‘Community Fund’ initiative.
The first project that’s kicked off included tree planting in a green space at Firrhill Crescent, in South West Edinburgh.
With Edinburgh set to become a ‘Million Tree City’ by 2030, three beautiful birch trees and three cherry trees were bought and planted by the council thanks to the Utilita Community Fund to benefit future generations to come.
Cllr Donald Wilson, Culture and Communities Convener at The City of Edinburgh Council, commented: “Edinburgh already outstrips other Scottish cities by having more trees per head of population.
“In 2019, we became the first Scottish local authority to support the Charter for Trees, pledging our full commitment to cherish, nurture and celebrate our trees. We are also committed to becoming a Million tree City and this is a welcome step forward working in partnership with Utilita and with local communities.”
Cllr Amy McNeese-Mechan, Culture and Communities Vice Convener at The City of Edinburgh Council, commented:“The generous donation from Utilita helps to support our mission to become a ‘Million Tree City’ by 2030.
“We’re looking forward to working on many other great projects using the Community Fund which benefits the people of Edinburgh and our beautiful city!”
Bill Bullen, Environmentalist and CEO of Utilita, commented: “We’re delighted that The City of Edinburgh Council is putting the Community Fund towards a series of positive projects that’ll help enrich the area and support locals.
“The tree planting is a great project to kick off with and we’re excited to see how the fund will be used further in the coming weeks and months.”
Other upcoming community-based projects taking place as a result of the Utilita Community Fund include the rollout of digital equipment across 13 City of Edinburgh Council’s Sheltered Housing complexes.
The devices will be for the use of sheltered housing tenants and others in the area who might attend activities in the community rooms.
The move aims to empower tenants to interact with the council and other services online, promote social inclusion, provide tenants with the tools, knowledge and advice to support them should they consider buying their own devices, and build their confidence in becoming digitally connected.
As a direct response to the Coronavirus pandemic, Utilita – the only energy company created to help households use less energy – introduced measures to reassure and promote a ‘worry-free’ experience for all customers, especially those experiencing hardship or vulnerability.
In 2020 alone, Utilita issued £8.5m in account credits at zero interest for customers facing financial difficulty through its ‘Power Up’ feature in the My Utilita app, or via a customer call. Utilita’s dedicated Extra Care Team has also called every customer aged 80 and over to advise them on all the ways to top-up and stay on supply.
Central to helping people save money is the Utilita Energy High 5 movement, which enables every household to use around £163 less energy each year by making five free and easy-to-follow changes at home.
More than two million households have engaged with the movement so far – every household can benefit – not just Utilita customers, to start saving today.
Abuse survivors in Scotland must not be forced to sacrifice their legal rights to protect the very organisations which allowed abuse to take place in the past, lawyers said today.
Kim Leslie, spokeswoman for the Association of Personal Injury Lawyers (APIL) and partner at Digby Brown was commenting ahead of debate about the Redress for Survivors (Historical Child Abuse in Care) (Scotland) Bill in the Scottish Parliament today.
“As it stands, survivors of abuse who seek redress through the new scheme will have to waive their legal right to compensation afterwards,” said Ms Leslie. “This, apparently, is to give the organisations where abuse has taken place an incentive to fund the new scheme.
“But many survivors will not be aware until it is too late that the new redress scheme, while well-intended, will not always necessarily be their best option of receiving the compensation they need to help rebuild their shattered lives.
“Childhood abuse can have a lifelong effect, with some survivors finding themselves unable to maintain relationships, or hold down jobs because of the trauma they suffered,” she said.
“Even the maximum £100,000 payment available under the scheme may be nowhere near the appropriate amount of compensation for some survivors. You cannot heal from childhood trauma of this nature in the same way as if you’d broken a wrist or ankle.
“Finding the courage to seek redress in the first place is difficult enough. To then find you are expected to sign away your legal rights is unfair and unjust.”
Two men have been arrested and charged following a disturbance in the Clermiston area of Edinburgh on Sunday, 7 March.
Around 5pm police received a number calls regarding an ongoing incident in the Clermiston Park and Clermiston Gardens areas.
A 17-year-old man and a 27-year-old man have been arrested and charged in connection with alleged possession of offensive weapons.
They were due to appear before Edinburgh Sheriff Court on Monday and a report was submitted to the Procurator Fiscal.
Further enquiries are ongoing into the wider disturbance involving a group of youths which occurred on Sunday evening, and police are appealing for any witnesses to come forward.
The two men will also be the subject of a report to the Procurator Fiscal in connection with the serious assault of a 48-year-old man in Drum Brae South around 3.25pm on Thursday, 4 March.
Chief Inspector Sarah Taylor, Local Area Commander for North West Edinburgh, said: “This type of mindless, irresponsible and reckless criminal behaviour will not be tolerated in our community and there will be additional patrols in the area.
“We are aware of ongoing issues with antisocial behaviour which is completely unacceptable, particularly in the midst of a pandemic when people are being told to stay at home. Local officers are working with partners to address these issues and proactively put a stop to this.
“I would urge anyone with information or concerns regarding antisocial behaviour to contact Police Scotland through 101, or speak to officers out on patrol.
“Alternatively, you can call Crimestoppers anonymously on 0800 555 111. Always dial 999 when a crime is in progress.”
We’re delighted to announce that the BBC Antiques Roadshow is coming to the Royal Botanic Garden Edinburgh!Do you have hidden treasures waiting to be uncovered?
Fiona Bruce and the BBC Antiques Roadshow team are set to come to the Royal Botanic Garden Edinburgh later this year for the 44th series of the much loved family favourite.
Due to the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic the team are once again asking members of the public who’d like to participate to share their stories online. The series will be filmed on a closed set with an invited audience only to ensure the safety of guests, production and the wider public. Successful applicants will be invited to attend a recording session where they will share their items with a Roadshow expert who will be able to reveal more about the craftsmanship, history and provenance of each piece – as well as the all-important value.
Share your story
Returning for her 14th year at the helm, Fiona Bruce acknowledges the team’s success at recording the show under challenging circumstances in 2020 and goes on to encourage people to apply to be a part of the programme in 2021:
“We were thrilled that we managed to make a series of the Antiques Roadshow last summer despite all the difficulties of filming during the pandemic . Hopefully things will be easier this summer though life may not yet be back to normal by the time we start filming . So if you have an item that you’d like to bring along to the Roadshow, do please get in touch with us beforehand. Here’s hoping for a summer of great finds!”
Series Editor Robert Murphy said:
“We can’t wait to see what long lost treasures and family heirlooms might be lurking in the attic or gathering dust on a shelf. Sometimes it’s the most unexpected items that catch our interest – a silk escape map that belonged to a Caribbean airman in the Second World War, a 19th century guitar, a vintage movie poster, even old Star Wars toys! What mystery objects have you found during that lockdown clear-out? Get in touch and you’ll have a chance of being invited to the Roadshow this summer to find out more without even having to queue! We look forward to hearing from you.”
More information and frequently asked questions can be found at the Antiques Roadshow website or on the show’s Facebook page.
