Get set to get giggling during Bookbug Week!

BOOKBUG WEEK 15 – 21 MAY: Bookbug’s Big Giggle

Bookbug Week, an annual celebration of Scotland’s national book gifting programme, will take place between 15 and 21 May, with hundreds of free events for children and babies held across the country.

This year’s theme is Bookbug’s Big Giggle – a fun and playful theme that encourages parents and carers to share playful songs and stories with their children in order to highlight that laughter is essential for well-being and for building bonds between carers and children.

Now in its seventh year, Bookbug Week 2017 will see free Big Giggle themed events taking place in every local authority in Scotland, with special appearances from some of the UK’s best-loved children’s authors and illustrators. Schools and nurseries across the country can also tune in to watch a fun-filled Authors Live event with Alex T Smith, streamed live at 11am on Wednesday 17 May.

Some fantastic Bookbug prizes will also be up for grabs in on-line competitions throughout the week.  Families can find details of all Bookbug Week events taking place in their area by dropping in to their local library or by visiting the website at http://www.scottishbooktrust.com/bookbugweek

Marc Lambert, CEO of Scottish Book Trust, said: “Bookbug Week invites every family with young children to take part in the hundreds of free and fun-filled events across Scotland, to celebrate the joy that comes from sharing books and rhymes together. This year’s theme highlights how sharing these fun songs and stories can help with children’s confidence, development, connectivity and over-all well-being.

“Bookbug Week is also the perfect chance to find out more about the Bookbug programme. If you have never been to a Bookbug session this is a great opportunity to experience the fun.”

Bookbug sessions are free story, song and rhyme sessions run by libraries and other community venues across Scotland, with national audiences of over half a million in 2016-17. To celebrate Bookbug Week, Paisley Central Library is holding their very first Bookbug Gigglethon, a Bookbug Session relay starting at 9.30am and finishing at 4.30pm. Families can come along at any time during the day to experience some fun songs, rhymes and stories.

Flagship events to mark Bookbug Week will take place at Callendar House in Falkirk on Wednesday (17 May) between 10am and 2pm, and at the newly opened Carnegie Library in Dunfermline on Friday (19 May) between 10am and 2pm. These are free events, packed with activities and open to all parents, guardians and their babies and children. Illustrator Kasia Matyjaszek will be leading an arts workshop at both events.

Funded by the Scottish Government, Bookbug is Scottish Book Trust’s Early Years Programme. The Bookbug programme encourages mums, dads and carers to sing and share stories with their children from birth. It provides every child in Scotland with four free bags of books, gifting 720,000 books every year. Over 240,000 children in Scotland benefitted last year, with even more set to receive free books in 2017.

Bookbug also runs regular free story, song and rhyme events in libraries, shopping centres and other community venues which attracted audiences of over half a million parents and children in 2016-17.

PYCP sets June date for annual general meeting

PILTON YOUTH & CHILDREN’s PROJECT AGM

The Greenhouse, West Pilton Brae

Friday 9 June at 2pm

Send an SMS text donation to 70070 with PYCP55 £5 to send a fiver, or PYCP55 £10 to send a tenner. 100% of the money sent will reach the charity, allowing us to continue our work with kids who need our help or you can help us raise money for this great cause by donating directly to our campaign page – http://campaign.justgiving.com/campaigns/charity/pycp/fundourchildrenswork.

JustGiving sends your donation straight to PYCP and automatically reclaims Gift Aid if you are a UK taxpayer, so your donation is worth even more.  Thank you for your support!

School pupils set out to prove they’re top Euroquiz whizz-kids

Do you know your zlotys from your forints? And where is the highest bathroom in Europe located? These are examples of some of the taxing questions that may face hundreds of primary six children from all over Scotland who will take over the Scottish Parliament’s Debating Chamber on 15 May. Continue reading School pupils set out to prove they’re top Euroquiz whizz-kids

Trade Union welcomes ‘sensible’ fracking intervention

GMB Scotland has welcomed a ‘sensible’ intervention by the representative body for the UK’s onshore oil and gas industry (UKOOG) to the Scottish government’s consultation on fracking.

The UKOOG response and the launch of its new website, www.gas4scotland.scot lays out economic and employment opportunities presented by fracking , bringing much needed balance to the debate over Scotland’s energy future.

The industry body’s response follows on from a recent report produced by the University of Strathclyde’s Centre for Energy Policy, ‘Natural Gas in the Energy Policy of the UK and Scotland’, commissioned by GMB Scotland, which states the choice facing Scotland is ‘not one of whether to include gas in our energy mix for the foreseeable future, but where the gas will come from?’

Against the backdrop of rising fuel poverty in Scotland, GMB has been pressing the case for an honest debate about Scotland’s energy future, urging politicians to fully examine the cost, environmental and employment implications of winding-down domestic gas production.

GMB Scotland Secretary Gary Smith said: “The debate around fracking among Scotland’s political elite is mired in hypocrisy because as UKOOG rightly point out, we’ve been fracking the North Sea for decades and we’ve been more than happy to reap the rewards.

“GMB’s own recent report shows we are increasingly dependent on imported gas and our energy consumption demands cannot be met without gas.  Abandoning our gas production makes no sense and we need to be pragmatic about fracking.

“The vast majority of Scottish homes are heated by gas while fuel poverty levels are on the up. Is the Scottish government suggesting people will have to rip out their gas boilers and replace them with electric heating that will increase bills three fold?

“That’s just not credible and when you factor the prospect of consumers being forced to go cap in hand to countries like Russia and Qatar for their gas needs in the future then we suspect the vast majority of people in Scotland would have similar concerns.

“The idea that we can affordably heat our homes, power our economy and sustain thousands of jobs without domestic gas production is just ‘pie in the sky’ politics and the main losers will be hard working Scots and the poorest in our society.

“This is a sensible intervention by UKOOG that tackles the superficial demonisation of domestic gas production and lays out the economic and employment opportunities a properly regulated fracking industry could offer Scotland.”