Responding to new figures published on Long Covid by the Office for National Statistics (ONS) yesterday, TUC General Secretary Frances O’Grady said: “Around two million people in the UK are living with Long Covid – more than the populations of Manchester and Birmingham combined.
“Economic inactivity is rising almost 10 times as fast for people with Long Covid than for those without the condition. And older workers are being hit the hardest.
“Ministers must ensure everyone with Long Covid is recognised as disabled under the Equality Act. This will give them the support they need to continue to do their jobs and formal protection under employment law.
“And Long Covid must also be recognised as an occupational disease. That would entitle employees to protection and compensation if they contracted the virus while working.
“It’s a scandal that more than two and a half years after the first lockdown, the workers who kept our country going through the pandemic have still been offered no support.”
The ONS figures show that:
Between July 2021 and July 2022, the inactivity rate among working-age people with self-reported Long Covid grew by 3.8 percentage points, compared with 0.4 percentage points among working-age people without self-reported Long Covid.
The relationship between self-reported Long Covid and inactivity (excluding retirement) was strongest for people aged 50 to 64 years, where the higher odds of inactivity compared with pre-infection peaked at a 71.2% increase among people reporting Long Covid 30 to 39 weeks post-infection.
The full ONS figures on Long Covid are available at:
LOCAL GOVERNMENT WARNS OF JOB LOSSES AND SERVICE CUTS
COSLA has launched its campaign in advance of the Scottish Budget on 15 December – an ‘SOS call’ to Save our Services.
It is a rallying call, telling communities everything they need to know about the impact of the Scottish Government’s forthcoming budget on our council services, and our communities in the coming year.
COSLA says the SOS call reflects the extremely precarious financial situation in which Councils in Scotland find themselves, during a particularly challenging period. This is as a consequence of real-term cuts to the core budgets of Scotland’s 32 Councils over recent years.
The call comes ahead of the Deputy First Minister outlining the Scottish Budget on December 15th but reflects the reality of what the government set out in its spending plans last May.
Speaking yesterday, COSLA’s President Councillor Shona Morrison said: “There are many areas in which Local and Scottish Government work together for our communities and I fully appreciate that money is extremely tight – all Governments are having to cope with rising inflation and fuel costs.
“However, with little room left to manoeuver, the Scottish Government’s spending plans as they stand will see Council services either significantly reduced, cut or stopped altogether.
“70% of Local Government’s budget is spent on staffing, so it is inevitable that current spending plans will lead to job losses. The very serious impact of this scenario is that the critical work council staff do on prevention and early intervention will reduce significantly.”
COSLA’s Vice President Councillor Steven Heddle said: “In May, the ‘flat cash’ plans looked difficult for us. Today, with prices increasing across the board, including energy costs, and inflation sitting at almost 10% and at risk of rising still further, Local Government is now on extremely dangerous ground.
“Make no mistake, what we will now face is Councils struggling to deliver even the basic, essential services that communities rely on. To put this into perspective, the estimated £1bn gap for councils in 23/24 is the equivalent of the entire budget for early learning and childcare across Scotland or 17,500 teachers.
“A funding gap of this magnitude will have an impact on all our communities, with the most vulnerable who rely on these services suffering the worst consequences.”
COSLA’s Resources Spokesperson Councillor Katie Hagmann concluded: “We are at a crisis point like never before – the impact for communities is serious and needs to be reconsidered.
“The financial impacts for other parts of the public sector are also serious. When councils can’t focus spend on prevention, for example on preventing ill-health, services like the NHS will end up spending significantly more money when issues become more serious.
“Directors of Finance across Scotland’s Councils are sufficiently concerned about the financial sustainability of councils that they have written to the Deputy First Minister outlining their concerns.
“This really is an SOS call from Scotland’s Councils –people in communities across Scotland will be pulled into further poverty and uncertainty without adequate funding for the vital services that support them.”
For people who find themselves in need of care in the twilight of their lives, and for families who want to support them in their care journey, embarking on a particular course of action may be the most important decision they ever make (writes MIKE COLLIER).
However, though it is crucial at this stressful time to make informed choices, many people do not fully understand which elements of care are which, or where to go and who to speak to in order to get the best impartial advice.
It is more than eight years now since Scotland made a first attempt to put the voice of the supported person at the heart of care processes with the passing of the Social Care (Self-directed Support) (Scotland) Act 2013 (SDS).
It was intended to deliver choice and control when accepting support, with agreement about individual outcomes and a range of options to achieve these outcomes if people were assessed as having identified needs and requiring a budget.
The Act imposed a duty on local authorities to take reasonable steps to facilitate a supported person’s dignity and involvement with the community and to explain the nature and effect of the four options available to them, which are:
A direct payment to individuals to allow them to manage their own budget and procure their own care provider.
The supported person chooses their own provider, but opts for a third party such as a local authority to manage their budget.
The local authority or someone on their framework manages both the budget and the support provision, which was essentially the status quo ante.
Lastly, a mix of all these.
Well-intentioned as these provisions may be, increasingly across the country social workers who are in place to advise clients are not even mentioning these options when they go to do assessments and, as a consequence, people remain in ignorance.
There has been intensive scrutiny by a number of agencies of SDS since it was implemented, mostly concluding that it had not yet been fully implemented and that its potential was not being realised.
Inconsistent knowledge across the workforce has been highlighted, which may explain the silence of social workers about the system, and it has been suggested that traditional care culture has been difficult to shift.
Certainly, option three – that is, direct delivery of services by the council, which prevailed before the Act – remains the dominant kind of provision and research shows that failure by social work staff to discuss the options is a common issue.
Most people would not of their own volition choose to go into live-in care and more needs to be done within the limitations of SDS to highlight alternatives such as domiciliary care, which enables older people to maintain a level of independence while staying in their own home.
In this milieu, professional carers can assist with meals, cleaning, shopping – and simple companionship – at a time and duration of the client’s choosing. It provides a sense of stability and normality which can be beyond value.
This is sometimes known as an hours service, since clients can choose the time carers are with them, in contrast to unpredictable, rushed and short home visits offered by councils which are under significant financial and resource constraints.
The main thing is for people to have a choice, and to be aware of the choices available to them. Speaking to a practicing care professional is often the best first step towards the right decision.
Mike Collier is Managing Director of Plus Homecare Ltd
In a radical enhancement of current sports training thinking, Olympic medallist turned entrepreneur Michael Jamieson is adding Wellbeing Awards to existing certificates for life-saving and performance at his popular Swim Academy.
In a move enthusiastically welcomed by the increasing number of parents whose children attend his private-pool classes across Central Scotland, learners will now be assessed on a number of factors affecting communication, trust and emotional intelligence.
As well as performance-based achievement, pupils at the Michael Jamieson Swim Academy (MJSA) will be able to aspire to awards in areas such as Building Connections, Self-Worth and Resilience. Positive behaviour such as sportsmanship, curiosity and confidence will also be identified by coaches and rewarded.
The assessments are a natural extension of the philosophy expounded by Jamieson – who has spoken openly and frankly about mental health issues he experienced in his competitive career – that sport has a critical role to play in teaching valuable life lessons.
Jamieson, 34, who won Silver at the 2012 London Olympics and has a clutch of other World, Commonwealth and European medals, said: “It is not just the increasing pressure to win medals in the top echelons of sport, but striving to be the best you can be can take its toll at so many levels.
“While I think there should be more formal recognition of mental health issues by sport’s governing bodies, people like us in the mainstream of training can make a very positive contribution by being aware of behaviour and reinforcing the personal benefits sport can bring to individuals.
“On a practical level, our coaches – who are all Level 2 rather than the more standard Level 1 – are being trained to be more aware of behaviour and to guide social skills on a basic, underlying level and to recognise achievement through a certification process and through social media.”
The high-achieving Scot has previously revealed how a brutal training regime led him into depression and how he “just really went too far” with what he perceived as his responsibility to do the best possible job that he could.
Since he founded MJSA in April 2018, he has stood out in a very competitive field by offering parents the smallest class sizes in the sector, with just four pupils per lesson, as opposed to the industry norm of six and council-run classes of up to 12.
He has also increased the number of staff – up from six during lockdown to 34 now – the number of venues with which he is in partnership and the number of learners, now up to 1,700 a week with a target of 2,000 by next year.
Michael said: “Our growth is testament to the hard work and passionate team we have built at MJSW and with our focus on in-house training and development, the team is committed to delivering the best experience possible for the children enrolled.
“If a new child comes into a three- to four-year-old class and introduces him or herself and engages with the other children, that level of social skill should be recognised and encouraged.
“Valuing and respecting yourself and others, staying positive and keeping going in challenging situations are all serious lessons. And it is never too early to learn.”
Environmental campaigners have welcomed the findings of a report published by Zero Waste Scotland that shows that biostabilisation, a way of managing waste, has significant carbon savings over incineration and landfill.
Biostabilisation is a treatment method for managing waste where organic material is broken down in a controlled environment. This greatly reduces the carbon emissions from the waste. The report shows that each tonne of waste biostabilised emits the equivalent of 12kg of carbon dioxide, which is 20 times lower than sending that same waste to incineration.
Kim Pratt, circular economy campaigner at Friends of the Earth Scotland, said: “We know that reducing and recycling are the most important ways of limiting the climate impact of waste.
“The Zero Waste Scotland report shows biostabilisation is a lower carbon option for managing non-recyclable waste compared to incineration or landfill. It adds to the growing body of evidence that incineration must be rapidly phased out if Scotland is to reduce its impact on the climate crisis. Policy makers must now act on the findings of the report and make sure that biostabilisation is economically viable.”
Shlomo Dowen, national coordinator at the UK Without Incineration Network (UKWIN) added: “Zero Waste Scotland has previously shown that incineration is a high-carbon option, and this new report demonstrates that incineration is far worse for the climate than biostabilisation.
“This makes it clear that there is no justification for building any new incineration capacity in Scotland.
“Instead, what we urgently need is an incineration exit strategy that looks to phase out existing burners as we increasingly reduce, reuse and recycle.”
The landfill ban prohibits all biodegradable waste going to landfill by 31 December 2025. Earlier this year, the Scottish Government committed to an effective moratorium on new incinerators, recognising their huge environmental and health impacts. Incinerators are responsible for some of the largest sources of climate emissions in Scotland.
The 2012 the Waste (Scotland) Regulations acknowledged there are two potential disposal routes for biodegradable waste once landfill is banned: biostabilisation and incineration. However, the same regulations create an artificial economic barrier to biostabilisation by requiring that biostabilised waste must pay the higher rate of landfill tax, whilst incinerator outputs are exempt.
A mentorship programme at the National Galleries of Scotland (NGS) has given six West African women the opportunity to tell their unheard life stories through the medium of photography.
Charting their individual physical, mental and spiritual journeys, the photographs will be on display at the Scottish National Portrait Gallery until 8 January 2023.
Today (5 December), the mentees celebrated the publication of a brand-new book. Titled Putting Ourselves in the Picture, the book includes a compelling selection of their photographs created during the mentorship programme.
Designed to develop the skills and confidence of six women, the mentorship programme involved using photography as a means of storytelling, learning how to make photographs using cameras and experimenting with photographic techniques such as collage and photograms.
The weekly sessions were coordinated by workshop leader Sam Rutherford and photographer Wendy McMurdo along with Chief Curator Anne Lyden.
The group took part in a series of workshops held every Monday at North Edinburgh Arts in Autumn 2021. Working with guest facilitator, Morwenna Kearsley, they learned how to use their new DSLR cameras, which they continue to use in their photographic practice.
Now settled in Scotland and residents of North Edinburgh, the mentees who took part chose a subject close to their heart to capture on camera.
The diverse themes explored by the mentees include:
Lovelin’s battle with bureaucracy to obtain settled status in the UK.
Maureen’s adjustment to high-rise living and comparing her new life in Scotland to her home country, Nigeria.
Linda, from Ghana, examined the challenges she overcame in learning how to drive, which was essential for her independence in Scotland.
Grace, an Evangelist from Nigeria, captured her experience of preaching about Jesus in Edinburgh.
Nwanyi’s motivation and study toward the establishment of her law career in Scotland.
Hannah’s weight-loss journey through walking, which helped improve her mental wellbeing during the pandemic.
The photographs along with statements from each of the women are on display in the exhibition You Are Here.
NGS’ mentorship programme was part of a pioneering nationwide project, Putting Ourselves in the Picture. Led by Professor Anna Fox, director and founding member of Fast Forward: Women in Photography, the programme was funded by the Arts and Humanities Research Council, part of the UK Research Initiative.
Putting Ourselves in the Picture is driven by women from communities around the UK. Alongside NGS, it has enabled several organisations—Impressions Gallery, Bradford; Autograph, London; Women for Refugee Women and WorkShowGrow to support marginalised women and non-binary individuals through the means of photography. The mentees were also the subjects of films and podcasts commissioned by Putting Ourselves in the Picture.
The new hardback publication Putting Ourselves in the Picture brings together photographs and creative writing produced by NGS’ mentorship group, alongside work created by sixteen other women working with our project partners across the UK. The powerful narratives and inspiring images that emerge from the pages of this book confront gender discrimination and the marginalisation of women in our societies.
Running throughout 2022 at the Scottish National Portrait Gallery, You Are Here amplifies the ways in which communities can engage with art to benefit their health and wellbeing. Drawing upon collaborative projects between NGS and partner organisations across Scotland, identity and belonging are at the forefront of this exhibition.
Anna Fox said: “This is a storytelling project of immense value and importance. I am bowled over by the powerful stories on display at the Scottish National Portrait Gallery, which also feature in this new book.
“The wonderful book is the result of an 18 month-long project which saw five amazing partner organisations, a dozen photographers and educators, and 21 mentees, come together in collaboration.”
Anne Lyden said: “The mentees shared their experiences as African immigrants to Scotland with us, trusting us with their stories and offering insight into a vital community located in North Edinburgh.
“It is a huge privilege to celebrate the culmination of the mentorship programme today with Lovelin, Maureen, Linda, Grace, Nwanyi, and Hannah.”
The team at the Edinburgh Crisis Centre are delighted to have fundraising support from local band CHIL who are planning a charity gig this month.
The life saving Crisis Centre supports around 2000 people across the city each year who are experiencing emotional distress and often thoughts of self harm or suicide. The Crisis Centre is run by pioneering charity, Penumbra Mental Health.
The team operates 24/7 365 days a year and consists of volunteers who run groups and offer telephone support. Get them on Facebook.
The band members were motivated to do a charity gig for the Crisis Centre because of their own experiences, and they’re hoping the gig will raise awareness of the life-saving work of the Crisis Centre team.
The gig’s taking place on Sunday 11th December at the Leith Dockers Club and doors open at 3pm for a start of 4pm and finish of 8pm.
Nick Bell from the Crisis Centre said: “It’s always great to have this kind of support in the local community and we couldn’t be more grateful to Jack and the rest of CHIL for what they’re doing.
“The Crisis Centre has been in the city for 15 years and each year the number of people we support and who phone in for advice increases. It’s not an overstatement to say that the support our team offers people is life-saving on many occasions and we rely on volunteers who form a big part of our team.
CHIL band member, Jack Hunter said:“We think support for mental health is critical, especially in current times. The band members have experience of these kind of issues within their family and friends group.
“Some of us have worked in the social sector and were aware of the great work of the Edinburgh crisis centre. We hope the gig will raise the profile for the Crisis Centre work and a bit of funding to support this.”
SCOTLAND’s walking charity, Paths for All has increased the maximum amount of its active travel Open Fund available to public, community and third-sector organisations who can now apply for grants up to £100,000.
Supported by Transport Scotland, the Smarter Choices, Smarter Places (SCSP) Open Fund doubled from £2.5 million to £5 million earlier this year as it aims to help cut Scotland’s carbon emissions and improve air quality by supporting people across Scotland to travel in more active and sustainable ways.
Projects will be able to apply for between £5,000 and now up to £100,000 – which is a 50% increase from previous years.
The extension aims to create new opportunities for organisations and projects to extend their ambition to adopt active and sustainable travel in order to reduce the reliance on cars.
Initiatives will be focused on encouraging more people to change their everyday travel behaviours and help provide opportunities to drive less and to walk or cycle as part of their everyday short journeys or to use public transport for longer journeys.
Graham McQueen, SCSP Manager at Paths for All, said: “With the continued support of Transport Scotland, we are delighted to be able to increase the maximum amount of grant available through the Smarter Choices, Smarter Places Open Fund to community groups and charities across Scotland.
“This increase recognises the importance of encouraging people to drive less and to travel in a more sustainable manner. We are facing an immediate climate crisis and we need to act now.
“With these larger grants, applicants can extend their reach to more people and can be more effective in reducing the number of car journeys being made on our roads.”
A total of £13.5 million has been awarded to 542 projects across Scotland after the Open Fund was first launched in 2017.
Kevin Lafferty, CEO of Paths for All, said: “Being able to announce that Paths for All’s funding programme to help Scotland choose smarter ways to travel has increased its fund ceiling from £50k to £100k for the Smarter Choices, Smarter Places Open Fund is fantastic news.
“The grant fund is available to support public, third and community sector organisations in Scotland to deliver innovative behaviour change projects that promote active and sustainable travel.
“The fund is helping cut Scotland’s carbon emissions and improve our air quality by encouraging people to use public transport or other sustainable options such as buses and community car clubs for longer journeys, walking and cycling for short journeys.
“This means the potential average award can now increase and we would like to thank Transport Scotland for their continued support for the Smarter Choices, Smarter Places Open Fund which has left us over the moon.”
Applications for this round of funding are welcome until 31 March 2023 and will be awarded for a period of 12 months. To apply or to find out more, please visit https://www.pathsforall.org.uk/open-fund or take a look at our guidance.
Supported by Transport Scotland, Smarter Choices, Smarter Places is Paths for All’s funding programme that exists to encourage people to choose smarter ways to travel. The programme supports public, third and community-sector organisations across the country to deliver active and sustainable projects, as well as supporting every local authority in Scotland to encourage more journeys by foot, bike and public transport.
To read inspiring examples of how funding has been used to further active travel in Scotland, please visit:
Heart Research UK Healthy Heart Tip, written by the Health Promotion and Education Team at Heart Research UK
Healthy Heart Tip: A Budget Healthy Christmas
Are you feeling the pinch as we head into the festive season? If you answered yes, you are not alone. According to data from the Office of National Statistics, food and non-alcoholic drink prices are increasing at the fastest pace since 1980, and prices have risen by 14.6% over the year leading to September 2022.
With the increase in prices, it can feel more difficult to maintain a heart healthy diet. Here we share some tips for budget friendly and healthy eating this Christmas.
Make a plan
It’s easy to get caught up in the festive fever and buy more food and drink than needed. Lots of us are guilty of panic buying in the days leading up to Christmas out of fear we may not have enough to feed everyone, which leads to lots of waste.
The key here is to make a detailed plan in advance and stick to it.
You could even start buying a few non-perishable items now, to spread the cost over the coming weeks.
Skip the turkey
“But it won’t feel like Christmas without a turkey!” We hear you, but bear with us. Turkeys can be very expensive and the truth is they are fairly comparable to chicken in terms of nutrients and taste.
Why not skip the turkey this year and opt for a chicken (I bet nobody will even notice!) or try a plant-based Christmas showstopper such as a whole roasted cauliflower or nut roast, both of which will save you a few pounds.
Ask guests to bring a dish
If you are hosting Christmas dinner this year, don’t be afraid to ask those attending to chip in and bring a dish with them. Not only will it help spread the cost around, but it will also mean a less stressful day for you, only having to focus on a few dishes.
Many starters, desserts and cheeseboards are easy to transport and don’t require hearing, so get some help with these. If you aren’t hosting but are attending as a guest, reach out now and ask what dish you can bring.
