Our Centenary Dinner is fast approaching. We’d love to welcome more former members to the night. We have one former member of the club coming all the way from Australia.
If you would like to come along please let me know so I can add you to one of our Former Members Tables. Tickets are £100 and this includes a champagne reception with canapés, a three course meal with wine and beer.
I hope to see you on the night
Richie
Two scientists who discovered they could use seaweed waste to produce a bio-degradable alternative to chemical plastics are taking their technology to the next level – after spinning out from Edinburgh Napier University (ENU).
Mark Dorris and Dominic O’Rourke founded Mercel after realising they could make high-value nanomaterial from brown seaweed extract, with zero waste.
They made the discovery during their research with the Advanced Materials group in ENU’s School of Computing, Engineering & the Built Environment.
Having appointed Alastair Kennedy as Chief Commercial Officer, the three-strong firm are now planning to set up a new base for the company in Fife, to develop the product’s uses and license the technology for wider production.
They have already started testing it as a replacement for synthetic plastics in a range of practical uses, including as a binder for laundry products, a waterproof coating, and a delivery system for medical ingredients.
The material could offer a sustainable substitute to some widely used synthetic chemicals, such as per-and polyfluoroalkyl substances (PFAS) – known as ‘forever chemicals’ because of the difficulty and cost in disposing of them.
Mercel is now working with nine companies on 13 different projects to explore real-world applications.
The technology has been tested on sargassum seaweed – which has drawn worldwide headlines for washing ashore in huge quantities from the Atlantic Ocean.
By spinning out, Mercel joins an impressive list of companies that began life as projects at the University, including the likes of Cyacomb, ZoneFox, and Celtic Renewables.
Last year ENU was named among the UK’s top ten universities for generating spin-out firms by one of Europe’s largest venture capital teams.
Mark Dorris, Mercel Founder and Chief Technical Officer, said: “There are very few ‘eureka’ moments in science – but this was one of them.
“Coming from industry previously, we had no connections, no money, and no experience of seaweed.
“At many points we were hanging on by our fingertips. We drunk the last chance saloon dry. We had job offers but decided ‘we can’t let this go’.
“We immediately saw the potential of using brown seaweed cellulose from existing seaweed processing to produce nanocellulose.
“The seaweed is typically harvested for alginate, which is used mostly as a food thickener, and the cellulose left behind was historically viewed as a waste product.
“We’re aiming this at hidden plastics, binders, thickeners: many of the chemical ingredients you read on the back of a bottle and wonder what they are. They’re hard to replace, but that’s what this can do.
“Regulation on synthetic chemicals is increasingly being tightened, so we are hoping to create something future-proof – as it is completely natural, sustainable, and non-animal in its origin.
“We want it to be the best choice rather than just being the green option.”
Fiona Mason, Head of Business Engagement and IP Commercialisation at Edinburgh Napier University, said: “The climate crisis demands urgent action, and Edinburgh Napier University is committed to playing a role in finding solutions.
“The creation of Mercel demonstrates our dedication to translating cutting-edge research into real-world applications that can make a tangible difference.
“Mercel’s success is a source of great pride for us, and we commend the devoted research team behind it.
“Their expertise, passion, and commitment, supported by our skilled Business Engagement and IP team from the Research Innovation and Enterprise Office, have been instrumental in making this happen.”
MUSICAL families, top new young talent and a rich mix of cultures feature in the Northern Streams Festival of Nordic & Scottish Music, Song & Dance 2024 in Edinburgh.
Taking place 26-28 April, this year’s festival features artists all based in Scotland with backgrounds and repertoire from Iceland, Finland, Sweden, Denmark, Norway, Shetland, and North-East Scotland:
Event organiser, Fiona Campbell, said: “I’m really excited about this year’s Northern Streams line-up.
“We have amazing talent in Scotland who are exploring the music and song of Scottish and Nordic cultures and coming up with new sounds, whilst respecting the past. This was one of the founding ideas behind the festival. And we have a variety of ways people can take part with concerts, workshops and a session.”
All events take place at The Pleasance, 60 Pleasance, Edinburgh EH8 9TJ.
The outline festival programme is:
Friday 26 April
7.00pm Evening concert
Brian Ó hEadhra & Fionnag NicChoinnich with Órla Ní Eadhra and Ró Ó hEadhra (BFÓR) + Erin Mungall-Baldvinsdottir with Evie Alberti, Becka Gauld and Ben Shanks. Featuring Nordic and Scottish music and song from talented artists based in Scotland, including from Gaelic, Icelandic and Finnish cultures.
Saturday 27 April
Workshops:
11.00am – 12.15pm
Brian Ó hEadhra and Fionnag NicChoinnich North Atlantic Songs
12.30pm – 1.45pm
Erin Mungall-Baldvinsdottir and Ben Shanks Icelandic/Finnish Songs
2.00 – 3.15pm
Miguel Girão Tunes from the Wedding Traditions of Shetland
3.30 – 4.45pm
Sir-Reel Clarks North East Scotland Tunes
7.00pm Evening Concert
Sir-Reel Clarks ft Aaron Clark + Miguel Girão and Amy Laurenson. Featuring Nordic and Scottish music and song from talented young artists based in Scotland, including BBC Radio Scotland Young Traditional Musician of the Year 2023 winner, Amy Laurenson, and North East Scotland champion, Aaron Clark.
Sunday 28 April
2-5pm Open Music and Song Session – FREE entry
For more details of the Northern Streams programme, guest artists or for booking links, visit www.northernstreams.org.
Ticket prices range from £7 for a workshop – £15 for the concert tickets, with concessions and discount deals worth checking if you plan to attend more than one event. Book your tickets in advance for a chance to WIN an IKEA Voucher! (terms and conditions are on the Northern Streams website ‘Contact Us’ page)
Other ways to get details are by email: eltmsa@yahoo.co.uk or tel: 0795 191 8366, or Facebook – TMSAEdinburgh&Lothians and Twitter@northernstream1.
The Northern Streams festival is organised on a voluntary basis by the Edinburgh & Lothians Branch of the Traditional Music & Song Association of Scotland (TMSA) and acknowledges support from Tasgadh Traditional Arts Small Grants Scheme and the Royal Edinburgh Military Tattoo in association with The City of Edinburgh Council.
POLICE are appealing for information after a 59-year-old pedestrian was seriously injured in a crash with a white Citroen Relay van on Trinity Crescent around 5.50pm yesterday (Wednesday, 10 April).
Emergency services attended and a 59-year-old man, the pedestrian, was taken by ambulance to the Royal Infirmary of Edinburgh. His condition has been described as critical.
The driver of the van, a 40-year-old man, was arrested and released pending further enquiries.
The road was closed for around six hours to allow for investigations to take place.
Sergeant Jen Niven said: “Our enquiries into this collision are ongoing and we would like to ask anyone that was in the area at the time who has not already spoken to us to please get in touch.
“We would also be keen to see any dashcam or private CCTV footage from the area around the time of the crash.”
Anyone with information is asked to contact Police Scotland via 101 quoting incident number 2772 of 10 April.
Smartphone Free Childhood, the grassroots parents’ movement, has called on WhatsApp to reverse today’s change in age policy, which lowers the minimum age of use from 16 to 13 years old.
As of April 11th, anyone in Europe over the age of 12 can now legally access the messaging service, after WhatsApp made a planned change to its age restriction policy.
This comes despite growing national calls for greater protections for children around smartphone and social media use, including from the 60,000 parents who have joined Smartphone Free Childhood since it launched spontaneously eight weeks ago.
A recent nationwide poll found that 95% of parents said they wanted big tech companies to do more to protect their children, with 80% believing that age limits on social media were too low.
Daisy Greenwell, co-founder of Smartphone Free Childhood said: “WhatsApp are putting shareholder profits first and children’s safety second.
“Reducing their age of use from 16 to 13 years old is completely tone deaf and ignores the increasingly loud alarm bells being rung by scientists, doctors, teachers, child safety experts, parents and mental health experts alike. This policy boosts their user figures and maximises shareholder profits at the expense of children’s safety.
“Lowering their age restrictions from 16 to 13 sends a message to parents that WhatsApp is safe for those over the age of 12, and yet a growing body of research suggests otherwise.
“Meanwhile parents and teachers in the Smartphone Free Childhood community regularly reach out to us to share that it is a contributor to bullying, sleep disruption and access to harmful content.”
Meanwhile a growing body of research continues to raise serious questions about how suitable closed group messaging apps are for children and young teens. One recent study² found that 56% of students aged 8-18 reported that they had experienced cyberbullying in their class WhatsApp groups.
Elsewhere, heavy use of screen media has been associated with shorter sleep duration and more mid-sleep awakening (in a study of more than 11,000 British children³) and many teachers have anecdotally reported to Smartphone Free Childhood that late night activity on WhatsApp is an increasing problem affecting children’s mood and ability to concentrate in class.
“Young people increasingly exist within digital echo-chambers, which can normalise harmful rhetoric.”
Furthermore, numerous reports link WhatsApp to children accessing extreme content – including sexual imagery, self-harm material5 and videos of extreme violence such as beheadings and terrorist attacks. Studies proves that nearly a quarter of people viewing such content on social media will experience symptoms of PTSD6.
Meanwhile, the end-to-end encryption on WhatsApp threatens children’s safety on the app, making it hard for parents to understand who their children are talking to and leaving them at risk of grooming by sexual predators.
One in ten children report7 using the messaging site to talk to people they don’t already know, and one in six 14-16 year-olds have received something distressing from a stranger on the site.
Despite these significant concerns, WhatsApp have as yet given no indication of how they plan to protect all the new under-16 users on their site, or how they will comply with UK law to remove the millions of under-13s already on the platform.
A joint initiative between the Scottish Government and the Scottish Football Association is supporting low-income families.
Launched by the First Minister with a £2million Scottish Government investment last year, the programme provides before-school, after-school and holiday activities for around 2,700 children each week.
The Extra Time programme aims to tackle poverty by delivering accessible and affordable activity clubs for children from low-income families.
During a visit to Dundee United Sports Club, which received £95,000 from the fund and provides support during term time and school holidays, Deputy First Minister Shona Robison said: “School holidays should be a time for fun and enjoyment for children, but for many families it is a time of added financial pressure.
“Scotland currently has one of the most generous childcare offers in the UK, and our investment in early learning and childcare, and school age childcare, is a key part of our goal to tackle child poverty.
“We are committed to building a system of school age childcare that helps to support parents and carers into employment, training or study. Our investment is helping to reduce inequalities that exist for children from lower income families who might otherwise struggle to participate in activities before or after school or during the holidays.
“Our Extra Time partnership with the Scottish Football Association is in the early stages of delivery, but we are already seeing the positive impacts that access to term time and holiday clubs are having on both children and parents.
“For example, we have early evidence from families that they feel better supported to work, with children seeing the benefits of increased physical activity as well as other benefits such as improved attendance, and improved behaviour at school’.
Chief Executive of the Scottish Football Association, Ian Maxwell, said: “It is fantastic to see the impact this vital programme is already having across the country since its launch last year, building on the initial success of the pilot in Ayr.
“Every child should have the opportunity to experience our national game and play with their friends within their local communities. There is no doubt that initiatives such as the Extra Time programme help remove barriers for children and their families around accessing after school and holiday activity clubs.
“We are appreciative of the continued support of the Scottish Government on this project, as we continue to pursue avenues in which the power of football can make a tangible difference in the lives of people in Scotland.”
It’s #BowelCancerAwarenessMonth.
People living in Scotland aged 50 to 74 are sent a home bowel screening test every two years.
The test can be done in the privacy of your home and returned using the pre-paid envelope provided.
To find out more, visit http://nhsinform.scot/bowelscreening
A charity supporting children and families in Edinburgh has received a £4,000 donation from the team at Amazon Development Centre Scotland.
The donation was made to The Yard, a charity that has been involved with the Edinburgh community for more than 35 years. The Yard supports disabled children, young people, and their families through creative and inclusive play experiences.
The donation from Amazon will go towards The Yard’s ongoing programmes and services, including their family sessions.
Colin Mackenzie is a Software Development Engineer at Amazon Development Centre Scotland in Edinburgh, and he nominated the charity for the support. Colin said: “The team at Amazon Development Centre Scotland has supported The Yard for several years with donations and tech support.
“It’s been a joy to see how impactful the charity’s support can be to families across Edinburgh. Its work in the local community directly benefits families and with Amazon’s donation, The Yard can continue to support those in need.”
Hannah Dunlop, Senior Fundraising Manager from The Yard, added: “It’s wonderful to receive so much support from Amazon Development Centre Scotland.
On behalf of the staff and volunteers at The Yard, I would like to say thank you to Amazon for its continued support.
“This contribution will provide vital support and opportunities for disabled children and their families to connect, play, and thrive together.”
The donation forms part of Amazon’s Volunteer Cash Donation Programme, where Amazon employees nominate causes where they volunteer their time, to receive a cash donation. In collaboration with hundreds of community organisations around the world, Amazon employees are encouraged to volunteer and support causes they’re passionate about.
Community cash donations and employee volunteering are just two of the ways Amazon supports the communities where it operates.
In 2022, Amazon co-founded the Multibank initiative with former Prime Minister Gordon Brown to support families experiencing poverty. The first Multibank, ‘The Big Hoose’, opened in Lochgelly, Fife providing surplus essentials like nappies, toilet rolls, toothpaste and school uniforms, donated by businesses like Amazon and others, directly to those in need.
The initiative has gone on to donate more than 2 million goods to over 200,000 families across Scotland and Greater Manchester.
Amazon also helps community organisations transport meals and other essentials to families in need through its pro bono logistics programme, Amazon Local Good, including more than seven million healthy breakfasts to children at risk of hunger in partnership with Magic Breakfast.
Amazon partners with Comic Relief to help people tackle poverty and is the official home of the charity’s iconic Red Nose. Last year, together with its employees, customers, and partners, Amazon raised over £4.8 million to fund projects that support people struggling with the cost-of-living crisis and tackle issues such as homelessness, mental health problems, and food insecurity across the UK, and around the world.
Amazon has supported more than 500,000 students across the UK with free computer science and STEM education programmes through Amazon Future Engineer.
POLICE have issued data relating to the Hate Crime and Public Order (Scotland) Act 2021.
Data shows there were 7152 online hate reports received 1 April to 7 April.
During this period 240 hate crimes and 30 non-crime hate incidents were recorded.
View the data: https://orlo.uk/pXe8n
Serial or abusive shoplifters will face tougher punishments as the Prime Minister sets out tough new action to crack down on retail crime and protect UK highstreets.
Assaulting a retail worker will be made a standalone criminal offence in England, sending a clear message that there will be tough consequences for this unacceptable behaviour.
Perpetrators could be sent to prison for up to six months, receive an unlimited fine and be banned from going back to the shop where they committed their crimes, with Criminal Behaviour Orders barring them visiting specific premises.
Breaching an order is also a criminal offence and carries a five-year maximum prison sentence. For the most serious cases of assault, such as causing grievous bodily harm with intent, offenders could face a life sentence.
The move to create the new offence follows longstanding campaigning on this issue from Matt Vickers MP, and some of the biggest retailers, calling for more action to better protect their staff.
The UK government is also stepping up action to clamp down on offenders who repeatedly target the country’s high streets, with serial offenders forced to wear tags to track their movements.
These tags will be a constant and physical reminder to offenders that the Probation Service can find out where they have been and when, and that they risk being sent to prison if they refuse to obey the rules. Under an amendment to the Criminal Justice Bill, if an offender is found guilty of assaulting staff three times, or is sentenced for shoplifting on three separate occasions, they should be made to wear a tag as part of any community order.
Ahead of this legislation coming in, the UK government will partner with a police force to pilot a bespoke package of community sentencing measures which can be used by judges to tackle high levels of shoplifting, sending a clear message that repeat criminality will not be tolerated.
The government is also ramping up the use of facial recognition technology to help catch perpetrators and prevent shoplifting in the first place. Backed by a £55.5m investment over the next four years, the police will be able to further roll this new state of the art technology.
This will include £4m for bespoke mobile units that can be deployed to high streets across the country with live facial recognition used in crowded areas to identify people wanted by the police – including repeat shoplifters.
The mobile units will take live footage of crowds in towns and on highstreets, comparing images to specific people wanted by the police or banned from that location. Police in the area will then be alerted so they can track down these offenders.
Prime Minister Rishi Sunak said: “Since 2010, violent and neighbourhood crime in England and Wales has fallen dramatically, showing our plan to keep our streets safe is working. Yet shoplifting and violence and abuse towards retail workers continues to rise.
“I am sending a message to those criminals – whether they are serious organised criminal gangs, repeat offenders or opportunistic thieves – who think they can get away with stealing from these local businesses or abusing shopworkers, enough is enough.
“Our local shops are the lifeblood of our communities, and they must be free to trade without the threat of crime or abuse.”
The action set out today builds on the successes already through the police’s Retail Crime Action Plan, which was commissioned by the Crime and Policing Minister, Chris Philp last year.
This included a range of measures, such as a police commitment to prioritise urgently attending the scene of shop theft involving violence against a shop worker, where security guards have detained an offender or where attendance is needed to secure evidence, which is showing signs of progress.
Home Secretary James Cleverly said: “There is quite simply no excuse for threatening behaviour or stealing – which can run other people’s livelihoods into the ground, while being traumatic for workers.
“To turn a blind eye to retail crime shakes the foundations of law and order which protect our society and that is unacceptable. We are enhancing our plan and doubling down on the zero-tolerance approach needed to fight back.
“The number of offenders being charged for these crimes is increasing and while I want to see more people face consequences for their actions, our plan is designed to help put a stop to these crimes happening in the first place.”
The government has driven forward significant efforts to tackle retail crime in the past year, bringing together policing and business to commit to smarter, more joined up working to reduce criminal behaviour and rebuild public confidence in the police response when it does occur.
Crime and Policing Minister Chris Philp said: “Sadly if you speak to anyone working in retail, they will tell you of the verbal abuse and sometimes violent assaults they’ve been victims of, simply for trying to do their job.
“In no other work place would this be accepted. I have been driving forward action to improve the police response to retail crime since I became Policing Minister, because nothing less than a zero-tolerance approach will do.
“That’s why today we’re sending a clear message to criminals that enough is enough bringing forward further measures to protect retail workers and crack down on those who continuously disregard the law.”
A specialist new police team set up last year is building intelligence on organised retail crime gangs funded through ‘Pegasus’, a first-of-its-kind business and policing partnership backed by 14 of the UK’s biggest retailers, National Business Crime Solutions and the Home Office, launched to radically improve the way retailers are able to share intelligence with police to identify more offenders. The unit forms part of Opal, the national police intelligence unit for serious organised acquisitive crime.
Where CCTV or other digital images are secured, police are committed to running this through the Police National Database, as standard, to aid efforts to identify prolific offenders or potentially dangerous individuals. This builds on the pledge by police forces across England and Wales that they will follow up on all lines of enquiry, where there is a reasonable chance it could lead them to catching a perpetrator and solving a crime.
All police forces across England and Wales made another significant commitment last year to prioritise police attendance at the scene of a retail crime incident where violence has been used towards shop staff, where an offender has been detained by store security, or where evidence needs to be secured and can only be done by police personnel.
Paul Gerrard, Campaigns and Public Affairs Director of The Co-op Group, said: “The Co-op sees every day the violence and threats our colleagues, like other retail workers, face as they serve the communities they live in.
“We have long called for a standalone offence of attacking or abusing a shopworker and so we very much welcome the Government’s announcement today.
“The Co-op will redouble our work with police forces but these measures will undoubtedly, when implemented, keep our shopworkers safer, protect the shops they work in and help the communities both serve.”
Helen Dickinson, Chief Executive of the British Retail Consortium, said: “After relentless campaigning for a specific offence for assaulting retail workers, the voices of the three million people working in retail are finally being heard.
“The impact of retail violence has steadily worsened, with people facing racial abuse, sexual harassment, threatening behaviour, physical assault and threats with weapons, often linked to organised crime. Victims are ordinary hardworking people – teenagers taking on their first job, carers looking for part-time work, parents working around childcare.
“This announcement sends a clear message that abusive behaviour will not be tolerated and it is vital the police use this new legislation to step up their response to incidents. Together, we must stamp out this scourge in crime that has been sweeping the nation and ensure retail workers are given the vital protections they deserve.
Sharon White, Chairman of the John Lewis Partnership, said: “Retail crime is never victimless – it costs retailers over £1 billion every year and can have a huge impact on the shop workers involved.
“We’ve long called for violence towards retail workers to be recognised as a standalone offence so welcome this announcement, which sends a clear message that abuse will never be tolerated. It will help deter acts of aggression, and allow police to drive prosecutions should instances escalate.”
