It’s in the bag: carrier bag charge raises £6.7m for good causes

‘Staggering’: Scotland’s single use carrier bag usage has dropped by 650 million – more than 80% – since charge was introduced

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Scotland’s Environment Secretary Richard Lochhead has announced that retailers across Scotland have witnessed a staggering reduction in the number of single use carrier bags handed out since the 5p charge came into effect 12 months ago.

Data from major grocery retailers indicate a reduction in bag use of around 80 per cent since 20 October 2014 – equivalent to at least 650 million fewer bags being handed out annually compared to previous years – with funds of around £6.7 million being donated to good causes as a result of the charge.

Boots, one of Scotland’s Carrier Bag Commitment signatories, has reported an estimated 80 per cent reduction in carrier bag use in Scotland. The Cabinet Secretary was at its store in Aberdeen to speak to shoppers about their experiences of the change so far.

Mr Lochhead said: “The 5p charge has been a major success with the number of single use bags down by a staggering 650 million, and with nearly £7m raised for good causes.

“Previously statistics showed that people in Scotland used more than 800 million new single-use carrier bags every single year – more per head than anywhere else in the UK.

“I thank Scotland for embracing this policy and showing we’re serious about tackling litter, reducing waste and creating a cleaner, greener environment for everyone to enjoy.

“It’s now becoming second nature to shoppers to reuse their carrier bags and hopefully to think more about our impact on the environment. I am confident that Scotland is going to go from strength to strength in its bid to tidy up our streets and beaches, where litter has been a highly visible problem in the past.”

Iain Gulland, Chief Executive, Zero Waste Scotland, said: “With retailers in Scotland reporting a reduction of 80% in the use of single use carrier bags, it’s evident that Scottish shoppers have embraced a new shopping habit. It’s not always easy to change our habits, but Scotland is proving it has this in the bag.

“Many organisations have already agreed to donate money raised by the 5p charge to good causes, by signing up to Scotland’s Carrier Bag Commitment. Other retailers across the country are now being urged to follow suit.”

Nationwide retailers that signed up to Scotland’s Carrier Bag Commitment – an agreement to disclose information on the charge, and donations made, to a central publicly available portal – are reporting that various charities up and down the country have also benefited from funds raised by the charge, with at least £6.7 million being donated to good causes.

Morrisons, the Co-operative and Waitrose have indicated a reduction of 80 per cent, with Asda reporting a drop of 90 per cent. Sainsburys have seen 100 per cent reduction of single use carrier bags as they no longer offer them to shoppers.

Stephen Watkins, head of customer experience North & East Scotland at Boots UK, added: “We want to help our customers care for the environment while making a difference in their local communities. We’ve seen a really positive effect in our stores in Scotland since the introduction of the charge in 2014, with an estimated reduction of around 80 per cent in carrier bag usage. We’ve also been able to offer significant support to Macmillan Cancer Support and the important work that they do for those affected by cancer in Scotland.

“From 5 October 2015 we are donating the net proceeds of the sale of these bags to BBC Children In Need. Together with our customers we can help make a difference to our environment and support community projects across Scotland the rest of the UK.”

The painter that Britain forgot: city Gears up for new exhibition

William Gear exhibition opens this weekend

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The story of a former Edinburgh College of Art student who became a highly-acclaimed abstract artist before slipping into obscurity will be remembered at a major retrospective exhibition arriving at the City Art Centre this Saturday.

Featuring around 120 works spanning his colourful career and coinciding with the centenary of his birth, William Gear 1915-1997: The painter that Britain forgot seeks to re-position William Gear in his rightful place as one of the most advanced British abstract painters of his generation.

Following a successful first run at the Towner Art Gallery this summer, the partnership exhibition between Eastbourne and Edinburgh will run alongside Jagged Generation: William Gear’s Contemporaries and Influences, an exhibition drawn from the City Art Centre’s collection which explores the artist’s links to Scotland.

Raised in Methil, a Fife mining community, Gear (self portait, above) studied at Edinburgh College of Art during the 1930s where he was taught by influential figures such as S.J. Peploe, John Maxwell and William Gillies.

He went on to train in Paris under the Cubist artist Fernand Léger before travelling widely during the Second World War, even becoming one of the ‘Monuments Men’ whose job it was to help save parts of Europe’s culture during and after the conflict.

After returning to Paris in 1947, Gear met the avant-garde artists of the CoBrA group and exhibited with them in Amsterdam and Paris in 1949. In the same year his work was shown in New York alongside paintings by Jackson Pollock. He eventually returned to live in the UK in 1950, and continued to exhibit both at home and internationally until his death in 1997.

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Councillor Richard Lewis, Culture Convener for the City of Edinburgh Council, said: “How and why William Gear fell into obscurity is quite remarkable. Gear was an artist who was born in Fife 100 years ago, trained in Edinburgh and then went on to create some of the most radical compositions of the 1950s. He was one of the greats of British abstract art and his career and his works tell a fascinating story. These exhibitions cement his place as a pioneer and he is finally getting the recognition he deserves.”

William Gear 1915-1997: The painter that Britain forgot has been created in partnership with the Towner Art Gallery where Gear was curator from 1958 – 1964. It traces his prolific career, from his early pen and ink drawings and experiments in colour during the 1930s and 1940s, to his radical monochrome and block paintings of the 1950s and mature works created during the 1960s and beyond.

As one of the first British artists to present screenprints as works of fine art, the exhibition also presents Gear as a printmaker. This exhibition includes loans from The Estate of William Gear, the Royal Academy of Arts, London and The Redfern Gallery amongst many other lenders.

Jagged Generation: William Gear’s Contemporaries and Influences presents a selection of artworks from the City Art Centre’s own collection. This exhibition focuses on the vibrant circle of Scottish artists associated with Gear – his tutors, friends and contemporaries. It was at Edinburgh College of Art that Gear met like-minded fellow students including Wilhelmina Barns-Graham, Margaret Mellis and Alan Davie, who also made innovative contributions to the post-war art scene.

Gear spent most of his career outside Scotland, yet he retained many Scottish ties and friendships. Jagged Generation showcases Gear’s work within this wider Scottish context, shedding light on his personal and professional relationships, as well as his artistic development.

Find out more at the Council’s Museums and Galleries website

 

Hair today … College staff and students get the chop to support children with cancer

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Edinburgh College Rapunzels have let down their hair for a good cause and donated their locks to make wigs for child cancer patients who have lost theirs.

Students from HN Sport Therapy and Fitness, Health and Exercise courses joined their lecturers to have the chop to help children’s charity the Little Princess Trust, which makes wigs for children undergoing chemotherapy.

Lecturers Laura Craig and Louise Ball, Louise’s sister Denise Farrell, and five students went under the scissors to donate at least eight inches of their hair each. Altogether, they gave two metres of hair to the charity.

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Laura Craig said: “Donating their hair was a scary thing for most of my students because they have had long hair all of their lives. I think everyone looks great with their new haircuts, especially Louise, whose hair hasn’t been this short since she was a teenager. We are now trying to raise money to help pay for the wigs to be made.”

Students from the Level 3 Hairdressing course provided the haircuts under the watchful eye of their lecturer Rosemary Martin, and also styled the newly shorn hair at the Granton Campus training salons. This follows a great run of community engagement by hair and beauty students last year, which included last year’s Level 3 students helping George Watson’s College pupils with their own Little Princess Trust donations.

Each Little Princess Trust wig costs £350 to make, and the charity relies on donations to help make these. To make a donation in support, visit Laura’s fundraising page www.justgiving.com/laura-craig4 or the Little Princess Trust.

Pictured: 

(Top) Edinburgh College lecturer Louise Ball and her sister Denise Farrell show off their donations.

Hairdressing students Gillian Muir (right) and Amy Lothian (left) gave haircuts to sports and fitness students Kelsie Boyle and Shannon Leishmann (centre).

What can we do to make Scotland fairer?

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There’s another opportunity to have your say on creating a fairer Scotland this week. Pilton Community Health Project will be hosting a session at their office on Boswall Parkway this Thursday from 10 – 11.30am.

All welcome – come along and share your views!

 

Scottish SPCA invites dog lovers to meet super staffies

‘Staffies are actually  friendly, affectionate and loyal’ – Mike Flynn, Scottish SPCA 

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The Scottish SPCA is inviting dog lovers to visit its Balerno centre to meet its Staffordshire bull terriers in need of new homes.

Scotland’s animal welfare charity launches its annual Staffie Awareness Week today and is urging potential new owners to meet the “fantastic breed”.

Chief Superintendent Mike Flynn said, “Last year our Balerno centre rehomed 21 staffies and have more looking for homes. However, we know many people still overlook them because they think they may be aggressive.

“Staffie Awareness Week is our opportunity to highlight that staffies are actually friendly, affectionate and loyal.

“Many people who visit our centres looking to rehome a dog tell us they have already discounted the breed. But when they meet a staffie their opinions often change once they have been showered with kisses and affection.

“Lots of our staffies have found new homes after people have got to know them and that’s why we are inviting anyone thinking of taking on a dog to visit our centres.

“We are sure if they spent just a small amount of time with a staffie, they’d see what a fantastic breed they are.

“Just like other dogs in our care, some of our staffies have been mistreated and need particular homes but we also have many who would suit a family home with children and pets.

“We are challenging the negative labels staffies have been given because it’s truly heart-breaking to see how many of them are living in our kennels instead of the loving homes they deserve.”

Those interested in giving a staffie a loving home can visit the charity’s Balerno centre which is open seven days a week between 10am and 4pm.

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Trevor (above) has been in our care for nearly a year now and we can’t understand why he is overlooked as he is such a great, loving dog.

Trevor is very much a people dog who enjoys spending time with his human friends. He is looking for someone who can continue his training and socialisation and will require a home with an enclosed garden. He is a joy to walk on the lead and will give you heaps of affection!

Trevor would like to live in a home without any canine companions as he’s not keen on other dogs and can get very worked up when walking past them.

NOTE to Trevor:

Ditch the rugby ball – following yesterday’s heart-breaking defeat most Scots won’t want to see one of those things again for a long, long time!

Finding new ways to tackle food poverty

New group will explore ways to reduce reliance on foodbanks

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The scourge of food poverty and possible solutions to Scotland’s increasing reliance on foodbanks will be investigated by a new group when representatives from poverty organisations and charities convene for their first meeting today.

The short term working group will identify the issues which push people into food poverty and discuss how they can be addressed.

The group, chaired by the Secretary of the Church of Scotland’s Church and Society Council Rev Dr Martin Johnstone, has been asked to make recommendations to the Scottish Government by February 2016 on the actions required to eradicate food poverty in Scotland.

The first meeting coincides with the Poverty Alliance’s annual Challenge Poverty Week which runs from October 17 to 23 and aims to challenge the stereotypes around poverty and increase public support to combat it.

The latest statistics from the Trussell Trust show that a total of 117,689 people picked up a three-day supply of groceries from their Scottish foodbanks in 2014-15. Of those, 36,114 were children. This is more than EIGHT TIMES the number helped just two years ago.

Social Justice Secretary Alex Neil said: “It is heart breaking that anyone should be left hungry and unable to afford to feed their families in a country as prosperous as Scotland.

“UK Government welfare cuts and benefit sanctions have continually pushed more and more people into food poverty and increased the demand and number of food banks in Scotland. This shocking trend has to stop.

“By bringing together a range of experts who support people in food poverty we hope the group will come up with a food strategy that will reduce the need for foodbanks over time.

“Food poverty cannot be solved overnight which is why the group will look at how we can address some of its long-term causes and whether we can take a more joined up approach to welfare benefits advice, health and employment support services.

“I look forward to hearing the group’s recommendations on how we can ease the pressure on food banks, tackle food poverty and create a fairer Scotland.”

The Scottish Government currently invests £1 million into the Emergency Food Action Plan which helps support 26 local emergency food aid projects and the charity Fareshare to redistribute surplus food from retailers to communities across Scotland.

The group’s recommendations will feed into the Scottish Government’s Social Justice Action Plan. This will be published in the new year with milestones to the next Parliament and beyond to help tackle poverty and create fairer opportunities for all.

The chair of the group, Rev Dr Martin Johnstone, said: “I am delighted to be chairing this independent Working Group on Food Poverty, whilst appalled that in a country as wealthy as Scotland the number of people going hungry is increasing by thousands each year.

“Our starting point will be that we need to reverse that trend. The group will bring together people with a wide variety of experiences of tackling food poverty including, critically, those with direct experience of what it means not to have enough for you and your family.

“I hope that together we can highlight what is working, what needs to change and what the Scottish Government and others can do to bring about a hunger free Scotland.”

Peter Kelly, director of the Poverty Alliance said: “The growth of foodbanks in recent years is the surest sign that we need to do more to tackle poverty in Scotland.

“Challenge Poverty Week is aimed at highlighting that solutions to poverty do exist, and the work that volunteers across Scotland do week in and out providing emergency food aid shows that people are committed to tackling the scandal of food poverty.

“But it is necessary that we find longer term solutions to food poverty. So we welcome the Scottish Government convening this new group to find lasting solutions to the problem. Through it we will be able to draw on the experience and expertise of those volunteering in foodbanks, people using emergency food aid and those involved in community food projects to make a real difference in the future.”

University Open Days at Edinburgh College

University advice at Granton Campus tomorrow

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Edinburgh College will be hosting a series of university open days to give students, school pupils and members of the public the opportunity to find out which routes to university would be best for them.

Representatives from universities across Scotland will be on hand to provide advice on the courses they have to offer. The Scottish Institute of Enterprise and Skills Development Scotland will also be there to talk about the support they provide for students. There will also be a chance to talk to SAAS about funding options.

The university open days will take place at 11am-2pm at Edinburgh College’s Granton Campus (20 October), Milton Road Campus (21 October) and Sighthill Campus (22 October).

Attendees:

Granton: Tuesday 20 October. 11am-2pm.

University of Edinburgh, Heriot Watt University, Edinburgh Napier University, Queen Margaret University, University of Stirling, University of Dundee, Glasgow Caledonian University, SAAS, Scottish Institute of Enterprise and Skills Development Scotland.

Milton Road: Wednesday 21 October. 11am-2pm.

University of Edinburgh, Heriot Watt University, Edinburgh Napier University, Queen Margaret University, SAAS, Scottish Institute for Enterprise and Skills Development Scotland.

Sighthill: Thursday 22 October. 11am-2pm.

University of Edinburgh, Heriot Watt University, Edinburgh Napier University, Queen Margaret University, University of Stirling, University of Dundee, Glasgow Caledonian, Glasgow School of Art, Robert Gordon University, Abertay Dundee University, University of Aberdeen, SAAS, Scottish Institute for Enterprise and Skills Development Scotland.

We can all be lifesavers: Save a Life for Scotland CPR campaign launched

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Save a Life for Scotland, a national campaign which aims to train half a million people to carry out life-saving CPR, was launched on Friday – European Restart a Heart Day.

Save a Life for Scotland is the campaign behind Scotland’s new strategy to improve survival rates for out-of-hospital cardiac arrest. The aim is to train a further 500,000 people in CPR and save an additional 1,000 lives over the next five years.

The campaign was launched at an event on Princes Street organised by the Resuscitation Research Group at the Royal Infirmary of Edinburgh.

It was attended by Maureen Watt, Minister of Public Health, and representatives of the partners involved in the campaign, including Scottish Fire and Rescue Service, Scottish Ambulance Service, Defence Medical Services, Police Scotland, St Andrew’s First Aid, British Red Cross, British Heart Foundation, Chest Heart and Stroke Scotland and the British Association for Immediate Care (BASICS).

Ms Watt said: “When a person goes into cardiac arrest it means their heart has stopped completely. The only chance of saving their life is to restart the heart as soon as possible. If they aren’t in hospital the chance of a medical professional being close at hand is slim.

“That is why it’s so important that members of the public know how to do CPR and are confident enough to try it. The Scottish Government fully backs Save a Life for Scotland. Training an extra 500,000 people in this life-saving skill could save thousands of lives over the next few years.

“CPR is one of the most valuable skills anyone can have. There are many opportunities to learn, just visit savealife.scot or the Facebook page for more details.”

Dr. Gareth Clegg, NHS Lothian Consultant in Emergency Medicine and Resuscitation Research Group lead, said: “Across Scotland, around 3,500 people who suffer an out-of-hospital cardiac arrest undergo attempted resuscitation but only 1 in 20 survive to hospital discharge.

“Receiving really good CPR from a bystander before paramedics arrive can more than double chances of recovery. That is why it is crucial that more people are made aware of how and where they can access CPR training and sign up to take part. Everyone has lifesaving equipment on them – but you need to know how to use it.”

The campaign is also being backed by East Lothian father-of-two Gregor Newton, 45, who received CPR from his wife after unexpectedly collapsing at home in April last year.

Gregor said: “It was totally out of the blue. I was fit with no health issues and no health concerns and never expected I would have a cardiac arrest. My son, Harry, found me on the floor and immediately called for his mum, Judy, who was able to start CPR.

“She continued with other bystanders until a local Community First Responder made it to the scene and took over, using a defibrillator to shock my heart back into rhythm. I’m very lucky to still be here and now know how crucial it was to have this early intervention. ”

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Dave Boyle, Assistant Chief Officer and Director of Service Delivery, Scottish Fire and Rescue Service, said: “Scottish Fire and Rescue Service is proud to be working in partnership with the British Heart Foundation in a bid to help train as many people as possible in the use of CPR across Scotland.

“This partnership is one part of the Scottish Fire and Rescue Service’s commitment to support the Scottish Government’s Out of Hospital Cardiac Arrest Strategy and Save A Life for Scotland campaign. We want to contribute to saving an extra 1000 lives in Scotland by 2020.

“We have a network of fire stations across Scotland and each of them will house a CPR kit. Members of the public are encouraged to contact their local fire officer or fire station and arrange a visit and some training. The training will empower people and give them the skills they need to deliver life-saving assistance to anyone suffering from cardiac arrest.

“We are extremely grateful to the British Heart Foundation for providing the CPR kits and we hope this initiative will save hundreds of lives in the weeks, months and years to come.”

A number of events took place all over the country on Restart a Heart Day to mark the launch of Save a Life for Scotland. These included awareness days and free training stations taking place at fire stations, ambulance stations and events hosted by St Andrew’s First Aid.

Members of the public will be encouraged to learn the basic skills of CPR, and when to use them. It is estimated that improving knowledge of CPR techniques could more than double survival rates. Big screens around the marquee will show videos telling the stories of survivors, bystanders and also giving information and news from the relevant charities involved.

For more information visit savealife.scot

follow facebook.com/savealifeforscotland

and/or @savealifescot on Twitter.

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