Leith Collective founder Sara Thomson honoured with Points of Light award by Boris Johnson
Every day in the UK, one individual volunteer, charity leader or community hero is recognised by the Prime Minister for the positive change they are making in their local area. Today, Monday 25 October, the award has been given to The Leith Collective founder, Sara Thomson, for her outstanding sustainability campaign.
Founded in 2019, The Leith Collective provides a platform for 130 artists brought together by a common aim to recycle, repurpose, and reimagine items that may otherwise have been destined for landfill.
The retail space has evolved into a hub of creativity, playing host to inspiring workshops designed to support the local community. It also actively supports individuals with mental health issues by providing vital employment opportunities.
In January 2021, The Leith Collective became the UK’s first single-use plastic free shop of its kind and was later crowned runner up in the Surfers Against Sewage Plastic Free Awards.
In July 2021, owner Sara Thomson took her message of sustainability west-side, opening The Clydeside Collective in Glasgow’s St Enoch Centre, followed by The Camdentown Collective in London’s Buck Street Market in September 2021.
Most recently, Sara was specially selected to become a UK ‘One Step Greener’ ambassador and will showcase her story of how she is tackling climate change at COP26 in Glasgow next week.
As the COP26 summit nears, Prime Minister Boris Johnson was particularly keen to highlight people who are Climate Leaders in their communities and who are championing sustainability as Points of Light.
From Sara’s role as a One Step Greener ambassador and the inspirational work The Leith Collective is doing to showcase sustainability, the Prime Minister chose Sara to become the UK’s 1772nd Point of Light.
The Prime Minister wrote to Sara to personally thank her for her tireless work and she also received an official Points of Light certificate.
Sara commented: ‘This is such a genuine honour, I’m absolutely delighted to receive this award. In January 2021 The Leith Collective became the first plastic-free shop of its kind in the UK and since then we’ve seen more and more businesses take the plastic-free pledge.
“I’m thrilled that awareness of the importance of sustainability is growing and so many people are getting behind the campaign. I hope that by accepting this Point of Light award that others will be inspired to join us in creating a greener future for all.”
Turn your small change into big changes when you join Edinburgh Leisure with a reduced joining fee of just 1p!
The offer is available from today, Monday 25th October, until Sunday, 7 November 2021 on any of their swim, gym, fitness classes and climb memberships and is available to buy online only.
As everyone is different and needs to find their own way to a healthy and active life, Edinburgh Leisure offers a range of different membership options to suit everyone including swim, gym and fitness class only to full monthly memberships. By offering different types of membership, people can match their activity preferences to their pocket.
With 30+ venues including 1 climbing centre, 8 swimming pools, 13 gyms, and 800+ fitness classes per week, Edinburgh Leisure is the ‘biggest club in town’ providing the widest range of fitness classes, state of the art facilities and community-based programmes across the capital.
87% of emergency responders believe more lives could be saved if the public were better prepared with trauma response training
Safeguard Medical is calling for the introduction of life-saving bleed kits across the UK and offering over 500 places on FREE bleed control training sessions for UK public to help support emergency responders to save more lives.
In a recent survey of UK Emergency Medical Services, Fire and Police commissioned by Safeguard Medical, 87% of respondents agreed that if the public were more aware of the immediate care required following major trauma, preventable deaths would decrease.
The majority of first responders (85%) believe that more lives could be saved with the introduction of bleeding control kits, placed alongside every public access defibrillator.
The UK Government has released statistics that over 41,000 knife crime offences occurred in 2020/21, of which 224 were homicides. Bleed kits contain lifesaving equipment including tourniquets to stop major bleeding and haemostatic bandages that can be ‘packed’ into a wound to stop haemorrhaging.
Safeguard Medical is appealing to raise greater awareness of the vital skills that help to preserve life following a trauma incident. During the COVID pandemic, emergency responders reported increased pressures, with 95% agreeing they have responded to an increased number of trauma incidents.
Almost half of those surveyed (48%) agreed that the public could be better prepared to respond while waiting for professional ambulance assistance to arrive on scene.
Emergency responders are also dealing with the mental health impact of witnessing and experiencing trauma, with 94% agreeing that their mental health had suffered because of the increased pressures placed on the emergency medical services during the pandemic.
Safeguard Medical believes that if the public were better prepared to deal with medical and trauma emergencies, this immediate support could help reduce mental health pressure on emergency medical responders, whilst also directly saving lives.
One of Safeguard Medical’s partners, the Midlands Air Ambulance Charity, will host a training session on World Trauma Day at Merry Hill Shopping Centre in the West Midlands, delivered by Safeguard Medical’s training division, Prometheus Medical.
At this free, open event, the public can learn vital first aid skills that could save someone’s life. These include how to perform CPR, use a defibrillator and how to manage major bleeding.
Ian Jones, air operations manager for Midlands Air Ambulance Charity, said: “With more than 63% of the charity’s missions being trauma-related, it’s important to use this day to shine a light on the enhanced critical care our crews provide, and what bystanders can do to help the patient before medical expertise even arrives.
“In addition, the demand for advanced medicines and equipment coupled with specialist care on scene delivered by our critical care paramedics and flight doctors continues to rise annually, with a 1.3 per cent rise in trauma-related incidents compared to 2020, which was already an extraordinary year with additional Covid pressures.”
The emergency responders surveyed agreed that since the pandemic, certain trauma incidents have increased considerably. For example, as more people have been upgrading their homes, DIY accidents have increased (28%), as have falls from height and sporting incidents (25%).
Professor Richard Lyon MBE, Chief Medical Officer at Safeguard Medical and a practising NHS Consultant in Emergency Medicine & Pre-hospital Care, said: “Tragic incidents like the fatal attack on MP David Amess highlights that penetrating trauma incidents can occur anywhere, at any time.
“There is a real opportunity for better public access to life saving equipment, like bleed kit, in order to save more lives. Even with an air ambulance travelling in a straight line at over 130mph to an incident, patients can bleed out in under 5 minutes in some circumstances.
“Minutes are critical when you are bleeding. This is why a tourniquet or haemostatic trauma bandages in bleed kits give the public the chance to intervene and save a life.
“Our rapid response teams can then focus on keeping the patient stable and preparing them for medical intervention once at the hospital.”
Professor Lyon agreed that during the UK lockdowns, the number of callouts to incidents reduced but added: “There’s been a significant increase in recreational incidents following the lifting of lockdowns.
“Accident from sporting incidents, DIY, road traffic collisions, falls from heights, as well as an increase in mental health-related incidents and assault-related trauma – particularly knife crime – have all increased.”
Safeguard Medical is dedicated to equipping responders at every skill level to saving life, in any environment. Which is why its training arm, Prometheus Medical, is providing over 500 free places on its medical training courses across the UK to help prepare the public and businesses to respond better to medical emergencies by understanding bleed control.
Elite medical training company Prometheus Medical, is offering free training on trauma response and bleed control in Edinburgh on 15th and 16th February 2022
A Glasgow charity that supports vulnerable young women has received a £2,000 donation from Amazon Development Centre Scotland in Edinburgh.
SAY Women offers safe, semi-supported accommodation and emotional support for young women aged 16 to 25 who are survivors of sexual abuse, rape or sexual assault. The charity also supports women who are homeless or threatened with homelessness.
The charity allocates tenants a key worker who provides practical and emotional support through a care plan system. This donation will go towards a winter package for young women with some fuel and food vouchers.
Amazon previously supported the charity with a donation earlier this year.
Graeme Smith, Managing Director at Amazon Development Centre Scotland, said: “SAY Women is a great charity offering vital services in to the Glasgow community.
“The staff and volunteers go that extra mile to ensure the safety of young women and we hope this donation will help the charity continue its services.”
Pam Hunter, CEO at SAY Women, said: “I would like to thank Graeme and the team for their continued support this year.
“It’s been a particularly difficult time for vulnerable women, so our services are needed more than ever. Thank you, Amazon.”
Kaukab Stewart, Member of the Scottish Parliament for Glasgow Kelvin, added: “I welcome this donation to SAY Women. As winter will be soon upon us, Amazon’s efforts will make a significant contribution to lifeline services for sexually-abused young women facing homelessness.
“I urge other corporations to join Amazon in supporting SAY Women.”
Amazon Development Centre Scotland has been based in Edinburgh since 2004 and is responsible for devising and growing innovations that bring new levels of choice and convenience to hundreds of millions of customers around the world.
It houses teams of leading engineers, scientists, designers and product managers who work on everything from interactive user interface design to large-scale distributed systems and machine learning.
Community donations are one of a number of ways in which Amazon is supporting communities across the UK during COVID-19.
Throughout the pandemic Amazon has provided disadvantaged students with free online STEM resources and supported virtual classrooms with no-cost resources from AWS and Amazon Future Engineer.
The company has also teamed up with charity partner Magic Breakfast to deliver more than four million healthy breakfasts to children at risk of hunger in disadvantaged areas around the UK.
National charity Heart Research UK have launched the ‘anonymous heART project’ 2021, an online fundraising campaign that will see hundreds of anonymous one-of-a-kind masterpieces created by huge names from the worlds of art and entertainment go up for auction on eBay.
Heart Research UK Patrons Robert Smith (The Cure) Paul Insect and Christopher Kane have joined the likes of Chvrches, Jamie Hewlett, Ralph Steadman and hundreds of international stars and artists who have created stunning A5 pieces.
The twist? Though the list of artists will be available to all bidders, the artist of each individual piece will be kept anonymous, only being revealed once the auction is over. Could you bag yourself an original masterpiece for a bargain price?
Their pieces will be auctioned alongside almost 500 others pieces created by a host of celebrities and international artists on eBay from22nd October – 31stOctober 2021.
The anonymous heART project is back for its 4th year, with previous editions raising over £130,000 in total. All the money raised will fund Heart Research UK’s vital medical research into the prevention, treatment, and cure of heart disease.
Kate Bratt-Farrar, Chief Executive of Heart Research UK, said:“The anonymous heART project is one of the most exciting projects Heart Research UK has ever run. We are delighted to welcome it back for another successful year, as we have received an astounding number of artworks from artists, designers, and celebrities all over the world.
“At Heart Research UK, we are always looking for fun and innovative ways to raise money to help us continue our vital medical research, helping us benefit patients as soon as possible.
“The anonymous heART project is a fantastic event allowing people to own their own mini-masterpiece created by an artist or celeb but allows them to get involved and give a little something back.
“What makes this project so special is that everyone has the chance to own a piece of iconic art; it really is making high class art available to all whilst, allowing people to support our ground-breaking medical research which helps save lives.”
The anonymous heART project is proudly sponsored by international law firm Walker Morris.
Walker Morris, who partnered with the charity to launch the first anonymous heART project in 2018, are reinforcing their long-standing reputation for innovative sponsorship of the arts with a two-year sponsorship of the project, including the Anonymous heART Project’s 5th anniversary year in 2022.
A hospital Operating Room for children in the capital of Nigeria, which was newly installed in August 2019 thanks to a Scottish-based charity, has managed to increase the number of paediatric operations carried out by more than two-thirds in just a year.
From July 2018 to July the following year, 229 operations on children at the National Hospital in Abuja were carried out. Then, thanks to Kids Operating Room, a new Operating Room was installed in August 2019. This new Operating Room has enabled the surgical team in Abuja to undertake 381 operations from September 2019 to September last year – a staggering rise of more than 66 per cent.
Commenting on the difference that the new Operating Room has made, Dr Olubunmi Majekodunmi, the hospital’s Chief Paediatric Surgeon, said: “Having a KidsOR Operating Room has made surgeries far more effective. We have paediatric-sized instruments and do not have to struggle with larger ones meant for adult surgeries.
“As for the children, they move into an Operating Room filled with beautiful wallpapers and exciting toys and are so engaged that they do not even realise when they are put under anaesthesia. But, most importantly, our backlog of patients which used to involve a waiting list of a year or sometimes more, has been cleared.
“The relief on the faces of parents when they realise that their kids can have surgeries within a few days – enough time for pre-operative preparation – is priceless. Thank you KidsOR for such a tremendous gift!”
Rosemary Mugwe, Africa Director at KidsOR, said: “The Surgical Team at National Hospital were carrying out fantastic work before KidsOR came on board; however, they lacked specialist paediatric equipment to provide safe, quality surgery.
“We were happy to provide the tools – metaphorically and literally – to give them even greater capacity to help the children of Abuja. And we are delighted to learn of the large increase in the number of operations being carried out meaning that children do not have to wait for life saving or life changing surgery.”
The charity’s research also revealed that the percentage of wound infections decreased from 1.3 per cent to 0.29 per cent during the year after the new Operating Room was installed. This figure represents the percentage of surgical cases in which the patient developed a surgical infection and is another quality of surgery measure.
KidsOR is a Scottish global health charity with bases in Edinburgh, Dundee and Nairobi with an ambition to provide all children around the world with access to safe surgery.
The charity also funds training of surgeons and anaesthesia providers and works with National Ministries of Health to develop sustainable healthcare services.
Chancellor expected to provide £5 million at Budget for new UK-wide Veterans’ Health Innovation Fund.
Investment will help to ensure veterans who have suffered injuries or mental health challenges receive the most cutting-edge treatments.
Innovative new surgery techniques and treatment options for amputees and blast victims to receive funding.
Veterans who have suffered injuries or mental health challenges are set to receive innovative and cutting-edge treatments thanks to a new £5 million fund, the Chancellor is expected to announce next week.
At Wednesday’s Budget and Spending Review, Rishi Sunak will unveil the new UK-wide Veterans’ Health Innovation Fund – which will be used to help develop ground-breaking treatments to help veterans with physical injuries, and those with hard-to-treat mental health injuries such as Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder.
Between 2001 and March 2021 there were more than 300 UK service personnel whose injuries included a traumatic or surgical amputation as a result of sustained injuries in Afghanistan.
One in ten serving military personnel were also seen by medics for a mental health-related reason last year, while the number of veterans entering psychological therapies on the NHS increased by around 45 percent between 2014 and 2020.
The Veterans’ Health Innovation Fund will provide grants for research into cutting-edge surgery techniques and treatments for amputees and veterans with blast injuries, new treatments for mental health challenges, and new technology to help injured veterans rebuild their lives and participate in work, education and sport. It will also fund research and treatment options for veterans with mild traumatic brain injury.
Grants could fund research into new surgery techniques such as Direct Skeletal Fixation, which enables artificial limbs to be permanently fixed to bones, removing the need to use traditional socket-based technology.
The Fund will also aim to support drug-assisted therapy trials, currently underway in the US and Israel, which have shown promising results in treating patients suffering with PTSD, and could also help with restoring patients’ function after brain injuries.
Chancellor of the Exchequer Rishi Sunak said: “We hugely value the sacrifices made by so many brave men and women in our Armed Forces.Supporting injured veterans and those with mental health needs is a crucial part of repaying the huge debt we all owe them.
“This new Fund will help ensure veterans get the support they deserve with the very best ground-breaking research and treatments.”
The fund will be distributed by the Office for Veterans’ Affairs (OVA) as part of the Government’s commitment to support veterans.
In addition to the new £5 million Veterans’ Health Innovation Fund, the Government has provided £10 million for veterans with mental health needs in both the 2021 and 2020 budgets. These funds are distributed through the AFCFT.
In September 2021, the Prime Minister also announced that Armed Forces charities would receive £5 million in additional funding to support veterans, including those who may be struggling following recent events in Afghanistan.
The Circuit: Charities and health organisations urge people to registertheir defibrillators on database to help save lives
A new campaign has been launched across Scotland to urge defibrillator owners to register their devices on a national database to help save more lives from cardiac arrests.
Leading charities and health organisations have come together calling for defibrillators to be registered on The Circuit – The national defibrillator network, which connects defibrillators to NHS ambulance services across the UK, so that in those crucial moments after a cardiac arrest they can be accessed quickly to help save lives.
There are around 3,200 out-of-hospital cardiac arrests every year in Scotland, but only one in ten people survive.
Every minute that passes without CPR or defibrillation reduces the chances of survival by up to 10 per cent in some instances, but immediate CPR and defibrillation can more than double the chances of survival.
It’s estimated that public-access defibrillators (PADs) are used in less than one in ten out-of-hospital cardiac arrests across the UK – often because 999 call handlers aren’t always aware that a defibrillator is available nearby because the ambulance service hasn’t been told about it. If they don’t know it is there, they can’t direct someone at the scene to retrieve it while waiting for the ambulance to arrive.
To help save more lives, The British Heart Foundation (BHF), Resuscitation Council UK (RCUK) St John Ambulance and Association of Ambulance Chief Executives (AACE), are urging people who look after defibrillators in places such as offices, communities, shopping centres and leisure centres, as well as in public places, to register them on The Circuit.
James Jopling, Head of BHF Scotland, said: ““Every second counts when someone has a cardiac arrest and, alongside CPR, prompt use of a defibrillator is critical in giving them the best chance of survival.
“To put it simply, knowing where the nearest defibrillator is could be the difference between life and death.
“The Circuit is pioneering technology which will help emergency services direct bystanders more quickly to a defibrillator when someone collapses with a cardiac arrest. But for The Circuit to save lives, it is vital that unregistered defibrillators are put on the system. If you, or somebody you know is a defibrillator guardian, then we urge you to register your device on The Circuit. You could help save a life.”
Pauline Howie, Chief Executive of the Scottish Ambulance Service, said: “When someone calls 999 to report a cardiac arrest, the call handlers in our control rooms are trained to provide the location of the nearest registered defibrillator within 500m of the call.
“Studies show that using a defibrillator within three minutes of collapse, along with starting CPR, can greatly increase chances of survival.
“This swift action can make a real difference, and The Circuit is a vital tool in helping increase bystander action to help someone in cardiac arrest. Over the last five years, the Save a Life for Scotland (SALFS) partnership which includes SAS, the Scottish Government and the Scottish Fire and Rescue Service has equipped over 640,000 people with CPR skills, and the survival rate after an out-of-hospital cardiac arrest has doubled to one in ten people.
“However, there’s more we can do, and to help save even more lives, we would urge everyone to register the defibrillators that they are responsible for on The Circuit, so that they can be easily located and accessed when needed.”
Dr James Cant, Chief Executive Officer at Resuscitation Council UK, said: “A cardiac arrest can happen to anyone, anywhere, at any time. Not only is defibrillator use a crucial step in the Chain of Survival, the presence of defibrillators in public places can help raise awareness and stimulate people to think about what they would do in an emergency.
“Survival depends on all links in the Chain of Survival being carried out quickly. This means early recognition and calling for help, early CPR, early defibrillation and post resuscitation care – and The Circuit plays a vital role in giving people their best chance of surviving a sudden cardiac arrest.”
While the 14 UK ambulance services have previously had their own regional databases, The Circuit will eventually replace these with a new national database that lets the ambulance services see defibrillators across the UK once it has been rolled out. This will allow them to direct people to the nearest defibrillator when somebody is having a cardiac arrest, wherever they are.
The Circuit, which is already live in 12 of the 14 ambulance service regions across the UK[1] and will become nationwide soon, could help to save thousands of lives – but it is vital that as many defibrillators as possible are registered on the database for it to work effectively.
It’s free to register your defibrillator onto The Circuit, and you only have to do it once. You can also register multiple defibrillators if you are the guardian to more than one.
Visit TheCircuit.UK for more information or to register your defibrillator.
The City ofEdinburgh Council is calling on others to follow its lead and sign up to the newly launched national Civic Charter on Climate.
Edinburgh was the first – and is so far still the only – Council in Scotland to put its name to the document, which emerged from the painstaking deliberations of the national Climate Assembly.
The Civic Charter is addressed to the Scottish Government, Scottish Parliament, and to Scottish society as a whole. It stresses the need for urgent changes to the way we live, what we eat and grow, and how we travel and work in the future to help Scotland tackle climate change. The Scottish Government will formally respond to the recommendations of the Climate Assembly later this year.
Elected members in the Capital voted to sign up following a motion to Full Council by Environment Convener and Vice Convener Councillors Lesley Macinnes and Karen Doran in September, which also highlighted that Councils will require additional resources if the Scottish Government adopts all the charter’s recommendations.
Councillor Macinnes said:“Climate change is a real and urgent issue that we simply cannot ignore. Last month we were very proud to become the first – and so far only – Scottish local authority to put our name to this hugely important document. Doing so sends a clear signal to those who look to us as a Capital city that we and our partners are prepared to take bold action and find the right solutions in the face of the climate change emergency.
“We sincerely hope other Councils and organisations right across the country will now follow suit and add their voices to the national call for action and change to tackle the climate crisis in an effective and fair way.”
Councillor Doran said:“As Scotland’s Capital and economic centre, we want to make sure that a cleaner, greener and fairer future for everyone is at the heart of our plans to rebuild a strong economy after Covid-19.
“Achieving net zero will take a concerted, citywide effort to cut emissions and as a country, we need a similar collective mindset and approach. This Civic Charter will help lay the foundations for a national strategy for Scotland to deliver on its climate change commitments.”
Scotland’s Climate Assembly was set up to find common ground on how Scotland can tackle the climate emergency in a fair and effective way.
Over the course of seven weeks, 100 randomly selected, but demographically representative members considered evidence from three areas: diet, land use and lifestyle; homes and communities; and travel and work.
From this members identified 16 goals for reducing climate impacts which make up the Civic Charter. These covered a broad range of issues, including household heating, emissions, land use, taxation and the economy. The Climate Assembly was also the first to include young Scots, through a partnership with the Children’s Parliament.
People are urged to support Scotland’s Climate Assembly on social media using the hashtag #SignForScotland – and watch their animated 2-minute explainer video for more information.
Heart of Midlothian FC is showing its support for 21/22 front of shirt partner, MND Scotland, by joining a call to the UK Government to invest £50 million into motor neurone disease (MND) research.
The Club proudly launched its new home kit for the 2021/22 season in July, with charity MND Scotland taking pride of place on the front of the jersey, thanks to an innovative two-year sponsorship deal with Dell Technologies.
Over the past year, the Club and its supporters have undertaken several fundraising activities as a tribute to former captain, Marius Zaliukas, who tragically lost his fight to MND in 2020.
Now, the Heart of Midlothian players are standing with MND Scotland, to urge the UK Government to invest£50 million over five years into targeted MND research.
The United to End MND campaign is being led by a coalition which includes MND Scotland, the My Name’5 Doddie Foundation, the MND Association, people living with MND, and neurologists from across the UK.
Currently the UK Government’s funding for targeted MND research stands at less than £5 million a year, which the coalition says is not enough. £50 million from the UK Government over five years would fund a virtual institute for MND Research, providing the infrastructure needed for accelerating treatments for MND.
Just last month the coalition delivered a personal letter from people living with MND to 10 Downing Street, which stated ‘MND is a death sentence’ but that ‘research has now reached a point where a cure or life-saving treatments can be found’.
It continued ‘The current piecemeal and protracted approach of funding individual projects will not deliver the life-saving treatments we need…we urgently appeal for action and investment now’.
Andrew McKinlay Heart of Midlothian Chief Executive, said:“We know all too well at Heart of Midlothian the devastating impact MND has, having lost one of our own, Marius Zaliukas.
“If there was a cure, or effective treatments, Marius could still be with us. That’s why we are here today to support this call to the UK Government, for more targeted investment into MND research.
“The work MND Scotland does to support families living with this frightening disease is hugely important, as is their drive to find a cure for future generations. We are united with them to help end MND.”
Rachel Maitland, MND Scotland’s Chief Executive, said :“The support United to End MND has received from people in the community, politicians, clinicians, researchers and partners has been incredible to date, and we thank Heart of Midlothian for joining with us too.
“Too many lives like Marius’ have already been lost to MND, and people living with the disease today do not have time to wait for a cure. MND isn’t incurable, it’s just under-funded. Together, we will beat MND, but we cannot do it without the UK Government’s support.”
A bid for investment has been submitted to the UK Government’s Spending Review, and the call has already been debated in the UK Parliament after a petition to garner public support gathered more than 100,000 signatures in just three weeks.
Members of the coalition have also met with key politicians to explain the desperate need for the cash, to shore up the investment made by charities and industry.
To find out more about the campaign visit www.mndscotland.org.uk/united or tweet your support @MNDScotland @MNDAssoc and @MNDoddie5 using #United2EndMND.
