During The King’s recent hospital procedure for benign prostate enlargement, a separate issue of concern was noted. Subsequent diagnostic tests have identified a form of cancer.
His Majesty has today commenced a schedule of regular treatments, during which time he has been advised by doctors to postpone public-facing duties. Throughout this period, His Majesty will continue to undertake State business and official paperwork as usual.
The King is grateful to his medical team for their swift intervention, which was made possible thanks to his recent hospital procedure. He remains wholly positive about his treatment and looks forward to returning to full public duty as soon as possible.
His Majesty has chosen to share his diagnosis to prevent speculation and in the hope it may assist public understanding for all those around the world who are affected by cancer.
New analysis of Google search data reveals that mental health is amongst the most-searched for topics by parents in the UK.
Anxiety is the most Googled mental health condition for children, with searches looking for help diagnosing children with the condition rising by 190 percent in the past five years, and queries about panic attacks in young people increasing by an incredible 5,000 percent during this period.
This is closely followed by searches for neurodiversity, with 1,000 UK parents per month turning to Google for advice on whether their child has autism.
The analysis, which was conducted by leading name-label manufacturer MyNametags.com, further highlights British parents’ growing reliance on Google to help with all aspects of raising children. In fact, parents across the country use the search engine to answer questions about their children over 10,000 times per day, a third more than this time five years ago.
Alongside mental health, children’s physical health was one of the most commonly Googled aspects of parenting in the last 12 months, with searches concerning chickenpox, croup, and asthma topping the list.
This was followed by more practical, everyday queries about parenting. For instance, searches for what age a child can be left on their own have increased by 280 percent, whilst queries about what age their child can use a booster seat have spiked to 540 percent higher than this time five years ago.
Lars B. Andersen, Managing Director at My Nametags, comments: “We offer parents advice on preventing lost belongings every day, so we were interested to find out what more about what other pressing questions families have.
“It was eye opening to discover how many parents are turning to Google for information and resources to help them manage their children’s mental health.
“Whilst the internet is an incredibly valuable tool for parenting advice, we’d always recommend families use trusted sources for information on health and wellbeing, such as the NHS and established mental health charities.”
Top 10 most Googled parenting questions last year:
In response to the growing demand for affordable, net-zero-ready housing in the Edinburgh and South East Scotland City Region Deal (ESESCRD), the partners behind the Edinburgh Home Demonstrator (EHD) programme are putting out a call to house builders to engage with the programme and expedite the delivery of planned housing projects.
The EHD pipeline initiative aims to expedite the construction of 11,000 homes within the next five years that have been identified as part of a larger pipeline of 25,000 homes spanning the six local authority areas in the ESESCRD area.
House builders who engage will implement the EHD typologies for affordable net-zero-ready homes which have been developed, tested, and optimised throughout the programme’s three pilot projects.
The EHD model is centred around collaborative procurement, whole life costing, development pipeline, and increased standardisation of housing types.
Now, the focus of EHD is on leveraging the lessons learned through the pilot projects to streamline the delivery of high-quality, affordable net-zero-ready homes in the region. This open call by the South East Regional Delivery Alliance is for industry and public sector house builders to actively participate in the expedited delivery of 11,000 net zero homes.
House builders engaging with the South East Regional Delivery Alliance’s open call will benefit from access to EHD’s resources and expertise to support the adoption of the EHD delivery model through collaborative procurement by bundling sites, standardising products and embracing offsite manufacturing. By doing so, house builders will be able to drive economies of scale, realise whole life cost savings and support the Scottish Government’s net-zero targets for affordable homes.
Figure 1: Regional Delivery Alliance Model and Outcomes
House builders who are interested in finding out more about how to engage and benefit from EHD are encouraged to contact Sinclair Young, EHD Programme Manager – Development & Regeneration at The City of Edinburgh Council through the Edinburgh Home Demonstrator website: https://edinburgh-home-demonstrator.org/contact
The Scottish Futures Trust construction forecast tool is also available to provide a comprehensive understanding of the construction pipeline across the whole of Scotland.
Marjory Mackie, Housing Strategy and Development Manager at West Lothian Council, said: “Along with the other local authorities in the Regional Delivery Alliance, we are excited to invite home builders to engage with the Edinburgh Home Demonstrator programme.
“By embracing the EHD typologies and leveraging the collaborative approach, builders will not only contribute to meeting the growing demand for housing but also reap the many economic and design benefits.
“If we can accelerate the delivery of high-quality, affordable, net-zero-ready homes, we can make a significant impact on the affordable housing landscape in the City Region Deal area, while lowering emissions.”
Alex Goodfellow, CEO at Donaldson Offsite, said:“The EHD programme is an excellent example of industry working in partnership with government bodies and with the support of academia.
“The high-quality research and development work has helped to produce a commercially viable contribution to the current housing challenges we face, while the suite of low carbon home designs created using offsite timber systems demonstrate the collective capability of the Scottish design, manufacturing and development community. ”
Care home residents have put out a call for their foreign care home counterparts to get involved with an engaging new pen pal scheme.
This cross-cultural endeavour aims to promote language learning and build meaningful friendships among seniors in both communities.
The call comes after residents at Renaissance Care Group homes engaged in foreign language lessons with Glasgow based charity, Lingo Flamingo.
Residents are now eager to expand their horizons and delve into the language learned through correspondence with pen pals from a care facility across the globe.
The initiative not only provides an enriching language learning experience but also creates an opportunity for residents to share stories, experiences, and foster lasting connections across borders.
Two residents of Renaissance Care’s Glencairn Care Home in Edinburgh, Tom Caskie, 83, and Charles Menzies, 86, started German lessons three months ago, building on a lifelong love of languages.
Tom, 83, a retired civil engineer from Islay, first developed his love of languages after emigrating to Canada to pursue a career in civil engineering. He became fluent in French and picked up a good understanding of Italian and Spanish as he travelled the world, living in a variety of exotic locations, including East Pakistan, Tanzania and Nigeria.
Tom said: “I’ve always been fascinated by different languages and cultures. I chose to learn German this time around as this was completely new challenge to me. The lessons have been incredibly interesting, including German geography, culture and music throughout. I find the culture fascinating and listening to more German music in my free time.
“If I could give young people one piece of advice, it is to try and pick up a new language. It opens you up to a different world – there’s a whole new treasure chest of music, films and books out there to enjoy.”
Joining Tom on his language learning mission is 86-year-old Charles Menzies. For Charles, the Lingo Flamingo sessions are a refresher on the German language, which he originally picked up while working in Germany as a teacher.
A true language aficionado, Charles is also fluent in French and Russian, along with having a strong understanding of Spanish and Polish.
Charles said: “The German lessons have made me feel nostalgic for my time in Germany as a young man. I loved living there and made so many happy memories. I very nearly never left!
“It’s great to be using the language again. I look forward to our weekly lessons. They get your brain engaged and challenge you to think outside the box. That’s important to staying sharp.
“My interest in languages has been a true asset throughout the years. I’ve been able to experience so much, like living in a foreign country independently, because of them. You never know where life is going to take you – a second language can open so many doors for you.”
Activities like Lingo Flamingo are central to Renaissance Care’s wellbeing strategy. Residents are encouraged and supported to take part in events that are tailored to their specific needs and interests, benefitting both their physical and mental health.
Jozi Stables, care home manager at Glencairn said:“Charlie and Tom are proof that it is never too late to learn a new skill.
“At Glencairn, we pride ourselves on catering to residents’ actual interests and hobbies. It’s all about creating meaningful activities that residents can fully engage with and feel fulfilled by. We try and facilitate any activity that our residents would be interested with – even if that is creating new friends across borders. No ask is too big or small for us.”
Glencairn is a bespoke private residential home offering residents accommodation akin to that found in a small boutique-style hotel. It is located in the prestigious Grange area of Edinburgh and just a short walk to the popular Meadows.
Glencairn Care Home is part of the Renaissance Care Group, it currently operates 17 homes located across Scotland and currently provides care provision for 760 residents and employs around 1,150 staff.
Pen pal slots will be subject to availability across the 17 Renaissance Care owned homes. For more information, please contact renaissance@bigpartnership.co.uk.
This week marks Children’s Mental Health Week (5th-11th February), shining a spotlight on the importance of children and young people’s mental health.
The rise in such problems over recent years has previously been labelled as a mental health energy and one of the greatest public health challenges of our times. These problems are even more worrying when they concern the mental fitness of our younger generations, and how we are preparing them to face the growing challenges of entering adulthood.
Against this backdrop, our mental health services are however facing overwhelming and unprecedented pressures, which existed even before the pandemic and are becoming further exacerbated by the cost-of-living crisis.
Too many of our young people are waiting too long for treatment and the rapidly escalating number of those seeking support, faced with inadequate services, could potentially lead to a lost generation of vulnerable children and young people who are missing out on the support they vitally need.
Against the perfect storm of a mental health crisis combined with the long shadow of lockdown and the rising cost of living, we must not lose sight of the challenges that our children and young people are facing, renewing our efforts in a national crusade to ensure that they receive adequate mental health support.
Duncan Place Community Choir in Leith are welcoming new members! Come and give-it-a-go at our trial session tomorrow – Tuesday 6th February – 7pm til 8:45pm. £5 per person.
If you enjoy the trial session, we’re inviting folks (who can come along regularly) to join our upcoming eight-week block (£40) which runs Tuesday 20th February until Tuesday 9th April.
To book a space on the trial session, or for more information, get in touch via email on events@duncanplace.org or by calling 0131 3644350.
