Campaigners respond to annual Scottish child poverty reports
Child poverty campaigners respond to latest child progress reports from Scottish Government and independent Poverty and Inequality Commission.
One in four children still living in poverty, against 2030 target of less than one in ten.
“Reports are crystal clear that progress has stalled” say campaigners.
John Dickie, Director of the Child Poverty Action Group (CPAG) in Scotland, has responded to the publication of the Scottish Government’s sixth Annual Tackling Child Poverty Progress Report and the Poverty and Inequality Commission independent scrutiny report.
The annual report is a statutory requirement under the 2017 Child Poverty (Scotland) Act and sets out the progress made towards meeting legally binding child poverty targets. The Act requires Scottish Ministers to consult the Commission in preparing its report.
Mr Dickie said; “We have seen very real action on child poverty in Scotland, not least the roll out of the Scottish child payment, but today’s reports are crystal clear that progress has stalled and that the policies in place are not enough to meet statutory targets. If child poverty really is the First Minister’s number one priority, then investment decisions need to back that up.”
Responding to the Cabinet Secretary’s statement to Parliament yesterday in which she said it had “not been possible to invest in all of the actions the government would have wished“, Mr Dickie said: “The failure of the 2024/25 Scottish budget to fully fund the childcare, employment and housing actions in the government’s own plan must never be repeated. The Scottish government’s child poverty delivery plan needs to be turbocharged, not underfunded.
“All political parties need to act at every level of government to deliver the economic, tax and spending plans that will ensure every family has the resources needed to protect their children from poverty. Here in Scotland the first step needs to be an immediate real terms increase to the Scottish child payment, and a commitment to ensure it reaches £40 per week by the end of the Parliament.
“At UK level all parties must commit to scrapping the poverty producing two-child limit and to increasing child benefit by £20 per week.
“Our children deserve nothing less.”
The Child Poverty (Scotland) Act 2017 requires Scottish Ministers to ensure less than less than 10% of children are living in poverty by 2030.
The latest official statistics (for 2021 to 2023) show that 24% of children (250 000 children) were living in poverty in Scotland.
As Taylor Swift arrives in Scotland to kick off her long-awaited UK Eras Tour at Murrayfield, Scottish Swifties have the chance to get Ready for It at St James Quarter, Edinburgh – whether they have a ticket or not.
The Quarter is calling on all Swifties to Shake it Off ahead of the big event on 7th, 8th and 9th June with a free Bejewelled bracelet making station. Fans can make their very own beaded creations, complete with song title, lyrics and phrases, ready to swap with other fans at the concert. 30 minute slots are bookable from 11am – 4pm each day on the St James Quarter website.
Fans can find the finishing touches to their Eras outfits in the Galleria, and on Level 1 at a pop-up beauty bar, makeup artists from MAC and Urban Decay in Boots are on hand to offer touch-ups or recreate Taylor’s signature red lip.
Over the weekend, the Quarter will be filled with feel-good tracks including Taylor’s top hits, performed by a live singer.
If you’re grabbing something to eat before the big event, there’s plenty of choice in the Quarter from Eras themed cocktails in Duck & Waffle to brunch and live DJ sets in The Botanist. The Alchemist, Ka Pao, Gordon Ramsay Street Burger and Bonnie & Wild will also be embracing the Swiftie spirit.
Susan Hewlett, St James Quarter Brand and Marketing Director, said: “Swiftie fever has well and truly taken over the city and the Quarter, with fans coming to find the outfits that represent their ‘Era’.
“We’re excited to be part of the action, offering a Taylored weekend of fun and creativity before guests head to Murrayfield. And for anyone who didn’t manage to get their hands on a ticket, they can still come to meet like minded fans, make friendship bracelets and soak up the pre-concert atmosphere.”
Swifties are invited to join in the fun on Level 1 of the Quarter from 11am on 7th, 8th and 9th June.
Bracelet making is free, however timeslots are limited and should be booked in advance on the St James Quarter website:
Road policing officers are appealing for information following a fatal collision in Edinburgh.
Around 9am on Saturday, 1 June, 2024 officers were called to reports of a single vehicle crash on the A1 at the Newcraighall junction involving a silver Ford C-Max.
The driver of the car, John Fairgrieve, 75, was taken to the Royal Infirmary of Edinburgh where he later died.
John’s family have released the following statement via Police Scotland:
“While we’re grateful that no one else was injured in the incident, we’re deeply saddened by the loss of a much loved husband, father and grandfather.
“We would like to give our thanks to all the emergency services for the care and support they provided and also to those that stopped to help at the scene.”
Enquiries are ongoing to establish the full circumstances of the crash.
Road Policing Sergeant Louise Birrell said: “Our thoughts remain with John’s family and friends as they continue to try to come to terms with what has happened. We’ll support them and keep them updated as our investigation progresses.
“We would like to thank the members of public who stopped at the time to help Mr Fairgrieve and those who have come forward with information so far.
“We’re keen to speak to anyone else who saw what happened or has dashcam footage from the area around the time.”
Anyone with information is urged to contact Police Scotland on 101 quoting reference 1099 of 1 June, 2024.
First Minister John Swinney will represent the people of Scotland at national commemorations honouring the 80th Anniversary of the D-Day landings.
Today (Wednesday 5 June) he will attend the main UK ceremony in Portsmouth, to celebrate the work of UK and other forces at the port city from which the Allies left for the beaches of Normandy.
Tomorrow (Thursday 6 June) he will attend the first ever National Commemoration ceremony to be held at the British War Memorial in Ver-sur-Mer, France, to pay tribute to all who served in the Normandy Campaign.
In Scotland, a National D-Day 80 Commemoration Concert is being held in Edinburgh, supported by the Scottish Government. Minister for Veterans Graeme Dey will be in attendance.
The First Minister said: “Scotland owes a great debt of gratitude to all those who served during the Second World War, especially to those who made the ultimate sacrifice.
“Were it not for the actions of these brave men and women 80 years ago, we would not enjoy the freedoms which we now take for granted.
“It is important that current and future generations continue to learn of the events that took place in Normandy so that we ensure such a conflict is never repeated.
“The Scottish Government is wholehearted in our commitment to supporting our Armed Forces, veterans and their families in Scotland.
“We will never forget those who have, and continue to, lay down their lives in the service of their country.”
Scotland’s Salute to D-Day 80 takes place at the Usher Hall on 6 June. The Scottish Government provided £22,000 funding towards the concert.
Dance Base and Assembly announce 2024 Edinburgh Festival Fringe Programme
Dance Base Festival 24 in partnership with Assembly Festival will present the landmark venue’s 23rd festival programme, welcoming dance companies across the globe to Edinburgh, as well as showcasing home-grown talent and giving a stage to some of Scotland’s most exciting dancers and choreographers at the world’s biggest arts festival.
The unique partnership between Dance Base and Assembly Festival, now in its second year, combines Dance Base’s expertise in dance curation with Assembly’s expertise in delivering a world-renowned festival programme.
The 2024 programme is the first full programme curated under the tenure of Dance Base Artistic Director Tony Mills.
33 companies from 16 countries will present 274 performances of 29 dance and physical theatre shows exploring, celebrating, and questioning the human experience with all its challenges and joys.
New for 2024, Dance Base introduce Fringe Fragments, a new pitching platform showcasing dance talent from around the world, bridging the gap between public event and industry showcase.
Dance Base will continue to help dance flourish and change lives in the Scottish capital with public classes taking place in August for regulars and visitors alike.
Dance Base, Scotland’s National Centre for Dance, is thrilled to announce its 2024 Edinburgh Festival Fringe Programme. Delivered in a unique partnership with Assembly Festival, the 2024 programme will present 274 performances of 29 shows from 33 companies in the home of dance at the Edinburgh Festival Fringe.
This multi-genre showcase celebrates, interrogates and shares different perspectives on shared human experiences in all their joys and challenges, bringing important themes to centre-stage including ageing, sexuality, gender, societal expectations of bodies, the climate crisis and more.
The unique partnership marries Dance Base and Assembly’s commitment to building strong relationships with some of the world’s most daring and innovative artists and dance companies, andthis year’s programme welcomes performers from across the globe, as well as providing a continued platform to nurture local talent.
Dancers and choreographers from countries and territories including Australia, Taiwan, South Korea, Hong Kong, Belgium, Denmark, and Germany will arrive in Edinburgh this August to share their dance talent on the world’s biggest stage.
The venue will also host some of the most exciting professionals working in Scotland today including Charlotte Mclean, Matthew Hawkins, Alan Greig, Bridie Gane and Rob Heaslip.
Dance Base is proud to support dancers at every stage in their career no matter their age, and this year’s programme features emerging stars aged 10 to 80+. International rising stars such as Lewis Major and Jessie Thompson will be performing in the venue, as well asDance Base’s own Christine Thynne, who is set to make her solo debut at the age of 81.
This is the first full programme to be curated under the tenure of Dance Base Artistic Director Tony Mills, who assumed the role in 2021 succeeding Morag Deyes MBE.
This year’s programme champions and challenges, inviting a diverse range of performers to take centre-stage and share their perspective and their practice with audiences from around the globe.
With the return of the Industry Hub and the introduction of new pitching platform Fringe Fragments, the programme also reflects Dance Base’s desire to strengthen the sustainability of the Fringe for both performers and venues, creating a space where arts professionals can forge new relationships and strengthen lasting ones.
Artistic Director of Dance Base, Tony Mills, said:“I am beyond happy to present to you our festival programme for 2024. It has been a huge privilege to meet and see artists at home and abroad and have the chance to bring the world to Dance Base once more.
“This year, we will be hosting emerging to established artists from 16 countries, each sharing their own perspective on different and similar topics and aesthetics. It is my hope that you might just encounter those different perspectives as they co-exist in our programme.
“Making that possible is something I think cultural spaces should do.
“This year’s programme has been a massive team effort between Dance Base and Assembly Festival and we are grateful for their partnership and support to make this programme happen in what are difficult times.
“I wish to make our festival platform more of a launch pad for Scottish artists, leverage more industry activity for partners and artists, build more relationships to secure routes for artists to our platform and create an exciting and diverse programme of thoughtful, provoking and entertaining dance from around the world.”
Artistic Director of Assembly Festival, William Burdett-Coutts said:“We are proud to be partnering once again with Dance Base for the Edinburgh Festival Fringe 2024. Assembly and Dance Base hold a shared global outlook which is reflected in the diverse programme curated by Tony Mills.
“We delighted to support them in this endeavour and to welcome all the artists performing this summer into the Assembly programme.”
PROGRAMME HIGHLIGHTS
Presented by House of Oz, rising star of Australian dance, choreographer-director Lewis Major, is set to bring two UK premieres to this year’s Fringe. In a unique collaboration between Lewis, his company, and his mentor “Britain’s leading modern dance creator” (The Daily Express), the legendary Russell Maliphant OBE, Triptychis a captivating evening of dance, of connection between internal and external worlds – of non-duality – all set within a whirling maelstrom of movement, sound and light.
Experience a show like none other in Lewis Major’s intimate and moving Lien. In this extraordinary exchange, one audience member and one dancer come together on an otherwise empty stage for a singular ten-minute encounter that will never be repeated. Lien reimagines shared performance as a deeply personal, spiritual event. With limited performance slots, Lien is the hot ticket at this year’s Fringe!
Drumming to her own beat, up and coming Irish artist Jessie Thompson makes her Fringe solo debut with the world premiere of CRAWLER. Collaborating with street performer Jason McNamara, they mix adrenaline, mind-stretching sound and extreme physicality to embark on a journey of chaos, calm and collaborative climax. This euphoric mix of dance, drums and electronic music conceived through improvisation will be moving audiences between 2 and 11 August.
In its UK premiere after debuting at Dublin Dance Festival, Mufutau Yusuf presentsImpasse, a powerful work featuring two performers which attempts to understand the politics of the black body in a contemporary western society. By challenging the historical racial projections of blackness – its crudeness, threat, sexuality, rage and immorality – the performance unveils its power, grace, sensuality, tenderness, intelligence and love.
Dutch performers Charles Pas and Courtney May Robertson bring two explosive but intimate physical poems to this year’s programme:Victory Boogie Woogieandthe pleasure of stepping off a horse when it’s moving at full speed. Desires and fears collide in an attempt to embrace the contradictions that make up a multifaceted human in this exhilarating double bill which will be providing late-night entertainment for audiences from 13 to 25 August.
SCOTLAND AND BEYOND
Scotland-based dance artists Rudy Mbunzama and Laura Mathana & Chinyanta Kabaso present a double bill exploring African history, culture, and artistry in King Bantu & Stories From The South. Created and performed by Rudy Mbunzama, King Bantu follows a young Congolese prince from the Musakata Tribe who was born with extraordinary powers unknown to him. Early-career artists Laura Mathana & Chinyanta Kabaso weave dance and spoken word to illuminate the history of African migration and colonisation in the exciting duet Stories From the South.
Bringing old traditions into new places and a new time, Rob Heaslip’sMan & Board features the unlikely pairing of Rob’s moving body with a ritualised wooden board with which he sings, he dances, he wins, and he loses. This is an impassioned and moving show about tradition, heritage, and masculinity where a gay father celebrates his own Irish cultural heritage as he passes it on to his son.
In shows for younger audiences, Scotland’s longest running children’s theatre company Catherine Wheels is set to present The Last Forecast, their first ever dance piece. Created and choreographed by the incredibly stylish Bridie Gane, the show is set on an island where Gael, a gecko-like creature lives alone, in harmony with the surroundings, until a stranger arrives, disturbing this island sanctuary…
ARTISTS OF ALL AGES
In a sensitive and rich performance piece making its world premiere and Dance Base this August, Robbie Synge – aged 44, and Edinburgh-bornAlfie aged 10, explore the question of what it is to be a man today through dance and play in The Show for Young Men. Directed by Eoin McKenzie, this is a funny and tender new contemporary dance performance for audiences aged 8+ that considers familiar and unexpected ideas about masculinity and friendship.
Weaving stories with dance and physical objects, Compagny Abis and Julien Carlier present Golem, an artistic dialogue between dancer and choreographer Julien Carlier and 75-year-old sculptor Mike Sprogis. This melting of two disciplines is an organic, sensitive and beautiful piece that speaks to us about the passage of time, our repeated gestures and their impact on body and mind.
Reflecting Dance Base’s commitment to supporting dancers’ careers at every stage of life,Timeless by Dance Base’s own PRIME & Lothian Youth Dance Company Scotland, is a life-affirming showcase that brings together dancers aged 14 to 80+ for a joyful celebration of the dance of life, regardless of where you are on the road.
81-year-old emerging artist, PRIME’s own Christine Thynne, is teaming-up with co-creator Robbie Synge to present her solo debut, These Mechanisms. Among precarious assemblies of materials, Christine performs and informs, evolves and dissolves, splashes and crashes. Committed to the joy of playful experimentation, this performance takes us to absurd and surprising places.
A regular collaborator with Dance Base, Alan Greig is set to deliver a site responsive solo dance performance, Within Reach, that looks at the ageing body and plays with gender, identity, and LGBTQ+ icons including Quentin Crisp, Joan Crawford, Bette Davis and Tennessee Williams. Delivered through a combination of eccentric spoken word monologues and crisp choreographed vignettes as he traverses the halls of Dance Base, the work provides a captivating, engaging and humorous exploration of identity, culture, and the cracked glamour of fame.
Matthew Hawkins’READY weaves around a series of Beethoven piano sonatas which are purposely selected for each performance. Set to be performed in the Dance Base garden exclusively for the opening weekend, this low-tech site-sensitive solo performance marks and celebrates over half a century of dance practice with immediacy and ample variation.
BODIES THAT DEFY EXPECTATIONS
Enter a mesmerizing world of illusion in Macarena Recuerda Shepherd’s Fringe debut The Watching Machineas she plays with light, shadows and reflections to experience what is illusion, what is representation and what is theatrical convention.
In the European premiere of Taiwan Season: Palingenesis by D_Antigone Production Taiwan, three lithe, masked bodies emerge as if from a primordial ooze and proceed to morph their way through a series of carefully crafted chain reactions. Inspired by a biological concept of regeneration, hot-shot Taiwanese choreographer Chuang Po-Hsiang’s timeless, absorbing dance trio is an extreme expression of intimacy, trust and transformation.
Next Zone makes its Fringe return as part of #DANISH inTRANSHUMANIST, a popping duet between two male dancers who unfold in an alluring universe where the boundaries between artificial and human nature dissolve. In an electronic soundscape, they take the audience into what feels like another reality in this journey of heart and mind.
Hong Kong artists Wong Tan-Ki and Dick Wong team up to present a double bill. Wong Tan-Ki’sIt’s not my body – Chapter 3.5 looks to visual art to reinvestigate time, space and the body on stage, while Dick Wong wrestles with his own shadow, as pause and limbo on stage construct a strong proposition about his dance life in This is. Presented as part of Hong Kong Soul 2024.
In its Fringe debut, Miller de Nobili bring PACK to Dance Base. This energetic performance features five dancers performing hip-hop, breaking, contemporary and everything that fits in between. Presented as part of the Made in Germany Showcase, this dynamic show plays with group dynamics, exploring what rules and roles make up togetherness.
THE PHYSICAL AND THE SPIRITUAL
Having mesmerised audiences and critics alike with her 2022 performances of AND, Arbroath-born Charlotte Mclean returns to Dance Base alongside collaborators to present Futuristic Folktales.Part of the MADE IN SCOTLAND Showcase, this dance for hope scrutinises reproductive injustices by re-imagining the tale of the first womb, a folkloric creation narrative often silenced. Two dancers perform alongside an evocative soundscape of experimental bagpipes composed by Malin Lewis in this beautiful, emotive, and at times humorous, show.
In Nak Dara, Hasyimah Harith’s body is interwoven with the batik fabric, which often accompanies a Malay woman’s life at different stages from cradle to death. Likewise, the batik accompanies Hasyimah on stage in a dance embodying the twists and knots of life, breaking boundaries between action, performance, play and ritual. This European premiere tackles womanhood, sensuality and sexuality from a Southeast Asian perspective, and questions the ownership and intersections of a woman’s body against the backdrop of feminine pleasure and erotic agency.
Described as “soulful, imaginative, and rhythmically contagious” (The NY Times), Ragamala Dance Company is one of the USA’s most highly regarded companies of the South Indian diaspora. Their new work by Artistic Director Aparna Ramaswamy, Ananta, The Eternal, is the first duet performance featuring sisters and acclaimed Bharatanatyam artists Aparna and Ashwini Ramaswamy, in a performance describing the eternal relationship between the deity and the devotee.
STORIES TO MAKE YOU THINK AND FEEL
Sit back and enjoy your flight as ACCA Dance Theatre presents its first full-length show: Occupational Hazard. Fusing comedy, clowning and choreography, Occupational Hazard follows a day in the life of air hostesses Becky and Linda as they navigate consent as a woman in the service industry. Recipients of the 2024 Keep it Fringe Fund, this comedic Fringe debut from ACCA Dance Theatre will be landing in Dance Base for 2-4 August only so be sure to make it to the gate on time.
The Passion of Andrea 2 by Simone Mousset, Associate Artist at The Place, is a stylised, contemporary, laugh out loud piece of dance theatre about feelings of uneasiness, the inability to fully understand, and the painful desire for more. It is a medieval fable, a magic trick, deadly game, bizarre dance-off, absurdist musical, sci-fi epic – all in one! – that explores the feeling of overwhelm and uneasiness during an age of confusion, confrontation, and power struggle, in a surreal, silly and magnificent way.
Award-winning choreographer Mathieu Geffré with his production company Rendez-Vous dance present What Songs May do… A traditional love duet through a queer lens, two dancers expose the fractured relationship of a once romantic couple as they delve into the past in an attempt to rebuild their future together. This moving piece is performed to the evocative songs of Nina Simone.
From across the pond, Canadian dancer and choreographer Éowyn Emerald returns to Edinburgh following her acclaimed Fringe runs with a riveting jazz programme, which showcases her dazzling dancers and stunning choreographic vision. Featuring 144 Ferrero Rochers, this is a show that follows a couple from their post-war meet-cute through the journey of their life, and leaves audiences feeling the highs and lows of the emotions they convey through stunning dance technique.
RESPONDING TO THE CLIMATE CRISIS
As our planet’s voice gets louder, are we ready to listen? Lila Dance’s Fault Lines pulls at the tension in our relationship with nature, blending stunning dance, immersive imagery, evocative writing and cinematic music. Fault Lines explores our environmental impact, but asks what happens when we stand together in hope?
In its European premiere, Jajack Movement’s, Sleeper presents a beautiful partnership for a sustainable tomorrow. Part of Korean Season and presented by Atobiz Ltd, choreographer Kim Yu-mi’s unique dance language replaces the words we use to deal with the climate crisis with tying and untying knots, a traditional act of Korean community spirit, and praying for the restoration of life.
THE HOME OF DANCE
New for 2024, Fringe Fragments is a platform showcasing dance talent from around the world. Designed as a public event and industry showcase, audiences can see excerpts from tour-ready performances by artists from Sweden, England and Canada represented by Nordberg Movement, The Place and ArtCirculation. As well as enjoying a jam-packed hour of new choreography, there will also be an opportunity to hear from and get to know the artists. Whether you’re an industry professional or simply a lover of dance, Fringe Fragments will give you fresh insight into new international dance work.
As part of Fringe Fragments, Sensory and immersive experienceRadiomatonarrives in Dance Base from 15 – 19 August. Installed in a cubicle resembling a photo booth and equipped with headphones broadcasting live a local radio station, Radiomaton questions the construct of truth, media contamination, “fake news” and the role of the body in the perception of information. A coproduction and artistic partnership between MARIBÉ – SORS DE CE CORPS and Montréal Danse, Radiomaton is another way for Fringe audiences and Dance Base regulars to engage with dance this August.
Dance Base is delighted to welcome the return of its Festival public dance class programme this August. On each Sunday during the Festival, a selection of dance classes will be offered, affirming Dance Base’s commitment to providing a home for Scotland’s thriving year-round dance community and those inspired to try something new amidst the excitement of the festival season.
The Industry Hub Operating with support from the British Council, Dance Base’s Industry Hub returns for the third year. Located in Dance Base’s Grassmarket building in the heart of Edinburgh, this space provides a much-needed location for arts professionals and delegations to meet, network and collaborate amidst the bustle of the festival season.
The Scottish Government is estimated to have invested almost £1.4 billion to benefit children in low income households in the last financial year.
The investment is detailed in an annual progress report which highlights key actions to tackle child poverty including:
Awarding almost £430 million to families through the Scottish Child Payment, supporting more than 329,000 children as of 31 March 2024
Widening eligibility for Best Start Foods, the benefit which helps low-income families access nutritious food, so thousands more children and pregnant women can benefit
Supporting around 4,400 children through continued work to develop a system of school age childcare and continuing to provide 1140 hours of funded childcare for all eligible children
Providing free bus travel to over 2.3 million people, with 727,000 children and young people registered as of March 2024
Delivering 6,045 affordable homes across Scotland, with two thirds for social rent, between April and December 2023 – helping an estimated 2,015 households with children into affordable housing
Ms Somerville said: “Eradicating child poverty is the First Minister’s top priority and the actions we are taking are making a difference. Modelling published in February estimates that our policies will keep 100,000 children out of relative poverty this year.
“Over the last year we have continued to provide immediate support to families through investment in the likes of our ‘game-changing’ Scottish Child Payment, and by mitigating the Benefit Cap as fully as possible within the scope of devolved powers.
“We have set out, through our Building a New Scotland series, how we would deliver differently in an independent Scotland. Only with the full economic and fiscal powers of an independent nation can we use all of the levers other governments have to tackle inequalities, and we will continue to make this case. However, this will not stop us from taking all the action we can towards our goal now.”
Following a further increase in the value from 1 April 2024, together the Scottish Government’s five family payments of Scottish Child Payment, Best Start Foods and the three Best Start Grant payments could now be worth over £10,000 by the time an eligible child turns six, and around £25,000 by the time they turn 16.
For the second year running, Under 12s football clubs in West Lothian have been given the opportunity to enter a sports kit sponsorship competition, courtesy of The Centre, Livingston, following the success of the partnership with Mid Calder Colts 2014s team last year.
The sponsorship is part of The Centre, Livingston’s ‘Support in the Community’ initiative aimed at helping various local sports clubs, organisations and local charities and social enterprises to raise awareness, funds and to benefit from sponsorship opportunities.
All football clubs with Under 12s teams are being invited to enter the competition by highlighting why their team should be picked to win the kits.
Last year the management team were inundated with entries, with the Mid Calder Colts 2014s application standing out for many reasons including the dedication and team spirit of the young players, the commitment from all of the coaches all year round to make sure all the kids have fun and the welcoming of players from Craigshill Thistle FC which folded due to financial difficulties.
Applications should be emailed to enquiries@thecentrelivingston.com by Thursday, 20th June at 5pm, to ensure the winning team receives the new shorts and branded tops in time for their first football match after the summer holidays.
Gary Anderson, Operations Manager at The Centre, Livingston, said: “Supporting organisations in our community who are going the extra mile and local sports clubs is very important to us.
“By sponsoring another local football club it gives us the chance to help build the team morale even more, by looking and feeling the part when they play their first match in the Autumn, and help them to get off to a flying start.”
All details and terms and conditions can be found at www.thecentrelivingston.com
THIS Child Safety Week, The Royal Society for the Prevention of Accidents (RoSPA) has identified three products that can cause devastation if used incorrectly and urges parents and carers to skill up on the risks.
Following devastating stories in the press about babies who have died, RoSPA says there’s still more work to do when it comes to education around baby slings, nappy sacks and baby baths.
Baby slings
Baby slings have become a popular choice for parents, offering a convenient way to carry their infants while keeping their hands free. However, safety is largely dependent on the safe usage of slings.
As with all child-related products, RoSPA says it is vital to follow safety advice and manufacturer’s guidelines, and that parents should always check the instructions relating to size, weight and age. Importantly, baby slings should never be used for premature or underweight babies, as these scenarios pose a risk of death.
RoSPA advocates products that keep babies upright and allow parents to see their baby and to ensure that the face isn’t restricted. Babies should be able to breathe easily, be at a comfortable temperature, and held in positions that are healthy and beneficial for them.
The Consortium of UK Sling Manufacturers and Retailers provides the following advice to baby sling wearers: “Keep your baby close and keep your baby safe. When you’re wearing a sling or carrier, don’t forget the T.I.C.K.S acronym”:
Tight
In view at all times
Close enough to kiss
Keep chin off the chest
Supported back.
Philip Le Shirley, Product Safety Advisor at RoSPA, said:“Baby wearing is a natural phenomenon that has been around since the dawn of time – and while we encourage people to find a way to carry and connect with their children, we are keen to highlight how to do so safely.
“We urge people to be aware of the TICKS advice and to always ensure the carrier they are using is suitable for their child’s height and weight – they should never be used for underweight or premature babies.”
Bath seats
Since 2019, RoSPA is aware of at least 5 deaths that have been reported where babies have drowned in baths using baby bath seats.
There are several bath seats and other devices on the market that enable a young child to remain seated whilst in the bathwater.
The main risk with these products is the baby being left unattended (even for short periods of time), the seat then tipping over or become detached and the baby sadly drowning.
If parents do choose to use a bath seat, they should:
always keep the child within arm’s reach
never leave the child, even for a second
do not let bath seats give you a false sense of security – bath seats are NOT safety devices
Philip Le Shirley, Product Safety Advisor at RoSPA, said:“A child can drown in a bath very quickly and quietly in very shallow water.This situation can be made worse by a young child’s inability to self-rescue – their heads still weigh proportionately more than their bodies compared to adults and their muscular control is not yet fully developed.
“We therefore would like to remind parents and carers that they should always stay within arms reach of their baby at all times when they are in the bath, and that it’s not safe to leave them unattended, even for a few seconds.”
Parents and carers are generally aware of the dangers posed by plastic bags, but in many cases do not make the same link to nappy sacks and so may be less likely to take the same safety precautions.
RoSPA is aware of at least 22 deaths since 2001 where a baby has been suffocated by a nappy sack. The typical scenario associated with deaths is that the nappy sacks are stored within the baby’s reach, close to the baby’s cot, including under the mattress.
This method of storage is often for the convenience of the parent or carer. In some of the cases, the nappy sacks had been left near to or in the baby’s cot for ease of changing the baby’s nappy in the night.
In many homes these loose nappy sacks are kept within easy reach of babies, under the baby’s pram, or close to the baby’s cot. In other cases, nappy sacks are left loose on the side are at risk of blowing into the cot from the wind, or being accessed by the child’s young siblings who don’t understand the risks.
Philip Le Shirley, Product Safety Advisor at RoSPA, said: “Young babies naturally grasp at anything and put it in their mouths, and once they have grasped a nappy sack, they find it more difficult to let go. Nappy sacks are flimsy and can easily fit over a baby’s mouth or nose or into a baby’s mouth.
“Babies under one-year-old are particularly at risk of suffocation and choking from plastic sheets and bags. Once the nappy sack is over their face, they do not have the manual dexterity to remove the nappy sack, which can result in suffocation.
“We therefore advise parents and carers to make some simple changes that can increase their child’s safety, such as always keeping nappy sacks and other plastic bags away from babies and young children, and to always store them out of reach, ideally in a drawer or cupboard, and out of close proximity to cots, sleepers and prams.
“Nappy sacks should be kept in their packaging, including on a roll if supplied that way, and never stored loose”
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