80 percent of us drop our fitness resolutions by early February
The founder of one of the UK’s leading health charities is sharing her five brand new tips for making walking a habit
Research conducted by YouGov* shows that by the second week in February, 80% of us have thrown in the towel, particularly in relation to fitness goals.
But Nina Barough CBE, Founder and Chief Executive of health charity Walk the Walk has the perfect solution for us all – make walking part of your life!
Nina’s new tips for making walking a habit:-
1. Put a walk in your diary! Having a routine, no matter how small, makes it easier to turn going for a walk into a habit. Pick a time of day which suits you best and add it into your diary as an appointment.
2. Plan several walking routes for different distances and times Whether you have time for a quick ten- minute walk or a longer session, having different routes planned means you will always know where you are going, how far and for how long
3. Have suitable comfortable clothing and shoes for any weather Never let the weather stop you walking. The weather doesn’t change the impact a walk can have – some of the worst weather days can deliver the best walks!
4. Invest in a tracking device or app A device or app which can track your walking steps and distance each day can be really motivating, tracking how far you go each day and helping you watch your progress.
5. Every step counts! Whether you walk one mile, or the distance from your desk to the kettle to make a tea – engage your core, allow your shoulders to relax and think about your posture!
Nina’s tips are backed up by Public health expert Prof Nick Cavill, who is a huge advocate for physical activity including walking:-
“I’m often asked about what I think is the best exercise. My reply is that it’s the exercise you will do every day and keep doing for life. For most people that is walking – for fun, for relaxation, for exercise or for transport.
“Walking for half an hour a day is associated with improvements in over 20 health conditions, from reducing the risk of heart disease and some cancers to improving mental health and wellbeing.
“So, if you’ve ditched the New Year’s fitness resolutions, try the most natural exercise around – walking!”
Only two months left to boost State Pension by filling gaps in National Insurance records from 2006 onwards
Since the launch of the digital service last April, 37,000 people have topped up more than 68,000 years, worth £35 million
People wanting to maximise their State Pension by plugging gaps in their National Insurance record have contributed to a total of 68,673 years, worth £35 million, using the online service since April last year HM Revenue and Customs (HMRC) has revealed.
Analysis of the digital service has shown:
more than 37,000 online payments have been made through the service
65% of the years topped up by customers are from 2017 onwards
the average online top-up payment is £1,835
the largest weekly State Pension increase is £113.76
HMRC and Department for Work and Pensions (DWP) are reminding customers they only have 2 months up until 5 April to check their National Insurance record and fill any gaps from 6 April 2006 onwards.
From 6 April 2025, people will only be able to make voluntary National Insurance contributions for the previous 6 tax years, in line with normal time limits.
The Check your State Pension forecast service on GOV.UK is the quickest and easiest way customers can check what their pension will be in retirement and take action if they need to. People can also use the HMRC app to check their State Pension forecast.
Angela MacDonald, HMRC’s Second Permanent Secretary and Deputy Chief Executive, said:“There are just 2 months left to check and fill any gaps in your National Insurance record from 2006 onwards to boost your State Pension entitlement.
“Don’t delay – it is quick and easy to check your National Insurance record on GOV.UK and it could help your finances in retirement.”
Since the launch of the enhanced digital service in April last year, more than 4.3 million people have used it to check their State Pension forecast.
The end-to-end service means customers can also use it to check and view gaps in their National Insurance record, calculate the difference any payment will make to their State Pension and then make one payment for however many years they need to top up.
Everyone should be aware of the risk of falling victim to scams and should never share their HMRC login details with anyone. HMRC scams advice is available on GOV.UK.
With worrying levels of children experiencing anxiety, distress and fear, this children’s mental health week, Children First is asking people to leave a gift in their Will to help protect the next generation of children in Scotland.
With Scotland’s children in the grip of a mental health crisis, Scotland’s national children’s charity predicts their support services will be needed more than ever.
In November, the charity revealed that nearly 100 referrals a day were being made to child and adolescent mental health services (CAMHS) across Scotland, following a freedom of information request (FOI). More than 60 percent of people who call Children First’s national support line are worried about a child’s emotional wellbeing.
The charity has launched a campaign asking the public to make their legacy a brighter future for Scotland’s children.
Michelle Supple, director of fundraising, marketing and communications at Children First, said: “There is a childhood emergency in Scotland and an increasing need for the vital services we offer children and families across Scotland.
“By leaving a gift in your Will to Children First, you are leaving a legacy to protect Scotland’s children and give them a brighter future, a gift for generations.
“These special gifts ensure we can keep babies, children and young people safe and help them recover from trauma today, tomorrow and in the years to come.”
For over 140 years Scotland’s national children’s charity has protected children from harm and supported them to recover from trauma and abuse through its national and local services, including a support line for anyone in Scotland who is worried about a child.
Thanks to gifts left in Wills to Children First, young people can have a better future, due to the emotional and practical support the charity provides for children and young people to recover and move forward after difficult experiences.
Reflecting on their experience with Children First, one young person said: “Children First really helped me. I’ve grown more confidence, have volunteered at a mental wellbeing group and got my first proper job.”
Anyone interested in leaving a gift in their Will to Children First or receiving a free legacy guide can visit www.childrenfirst.org.uk/legacy.
Today, 05 February,the Edinburgh Festival Fringe Society receives the keys to the new home for the Fringe.
The former Southbridge Community Resource Centre on Infirmary Street will be a permanent home for the Fringe and Fringe Society, enhancing year-round artist services delivery, maximising accessibility for all, and reducing the Fringe Society’s carbon footprint.
The new home will secure the long-term sustainability of the Fringe Society and their services and operations, as well as provide the opportunity for a publicly accessible space for artists and the Fringe community (including long-term Infirmary Street resident youth group Canongate Youth), and much needed space in the city dedicated to supporting the performing arts.
This new home has been made possible through generous capital funding from the UK Government and additional funds through grants from the Foyle Foundation and SP Energy Networks’ Transmission Net Zero Fund.
In the 2023 UK Spring Budget, the Chancellor announced £7 million of capital funding for the Edinburgh Festival Fringe Society to develop its new home. The Fringe Society are incredibly grateful to them for recognising the opportunity that this exciting project offers and that it will be transformational for the year-round support services for artists from across the UK and overseas.
In addition to developing the new home, this funding will aid the Fringe Society in delivering the Keep it Fringe fund and investment in digital architecture which is essential to its services to artists, media, arts industry and audiences.
The Fringe Society are also delighted to today announce a major legacy gift of £1 million from the Foyle Foundation to the Edinburgh Festival Fringe Society, and £250,000 from SP Energy Networks’ Transmission Net Zero Fund – a £5m pot set up to support community groups and organisations with their low carbon ambitions.
The project will focus on the renovation and restoration of a Grade B listed former schoolhouse (1885) in Edinburgh’s Old Town. Plans include preserving the building’s rich history while modernising it to maximise accessibility and sustainability.
This includes the installation of a lift and a Changing Places toilet; energy efficiency upgrades such as heritage-appropriate windows, improved insulation, and the replacement of gas heating with air source heating pumps which will significantly improve the building’s environmental sustainability.
Shona McCarthy, Chief Executive of the Edinburgh Festival Fringe Society, said: “This is an exciting moment which has taken nearly two years of planning and discussion to get to this point.
“The conversion of South Bridge Resource Centre into a year-round Fringe home will allow local cultural and community organisations and Fringe artists the opportunity to utilise this space as well as being a new space for the Fringe Society team.
“It will allow a permanent home for our August community hub, known as Fringe Central, which artists, arts industry, media and international delegates access each summer for events, networking and industry gatherings.
“This is a significant moment for the Fringe in ensuring a permanent home for the festival. Our grateful thanks the UK Government, the Foyle Foundation and SP Energy Networks for recognising our vision and supporting us in bringing it to life.’
Arts Minister Sir Chris Bryant said: “The Edinburgh Fringe is one of the UK’s finest cultural festivals, attracting audiences and performers from all over the world every August.
“But the Fringe is not just for August. This new permanent home means that the Fringe Society can have a secure and meaningful presence in the city all year round, to support artists and provide the local community with access to arts spaces.”
David Hall, CEO of The Foyle Foundation, said: “The Foyle Foundation was seeking a Scottish project of strategic importance and long-term transformational benefit to support.
“The new Fringe home answers perfectly and is our legacy project for Scotland. It provides a permanent base, stability and excellent new facilities for the Fringe Society, as well as a year-round additional resource for Scottish performers and artists. The Foundation is delighted to partner with the Fringe to enable this project to happen.”
Guy Jefferson, Transmission Managing Director at SP Energy Networks, said: “We’re proud to support the Edinburgh Festival Fringe Society as they take their first steps in this exciting new venture.
“With our help, the team are creating a space where the local community can experience all of the cultural benefits of the city’s arts festival, year-round – using low carbon technology to reduce the site’s emissions by as much as 80%.
“Our Transmission Net Zero Fund was launched to support community groups and organisations across central and southern Scotland who are making bold strides towards their own net zero ambitions.
“It’s brilliant to see Edinburgh Festival Fringe Society reach this milestone and we’re excited to watch the project come to life.”
The fundraising for this project is a continuous effort and updates will be provided as the project progresses.
Projects working to improve the confidence and wellbeing of young people across Scotland are today (WEDNESDAY 5th FEBRUARY) sharing in £1,271,922 of Young Start funding this Children’s Mental Health Week.
The funding, which comes from dormant account cash and is delivered by The National Lottery Community Fund, is used to support thousands of children and young people annually all over Scotland, many of whom face mental health and wellbeing issues.
Three Edinburgh projects receive funding in the latest round of grants:
Big Hearts Community Trust receives almost £85,000 to support the expansion of their Welcome Through Football initiative, using football to engage young refugees, migrants and asylum seekers aged 15-24 facing trauma, hardship and social exclusion.
Across the city in Leith, Hibernian Community Foundation also score with £95,000 to support neurodivergent young people aged 16-25 to develop essential life skills by delivering a structured programme of activities and community participation. Over the next three years 240 young people are expected to take part and supported by 40 volunteers.
Making it a hat-trick for the capital is Castlebrae-based Edinburgh Development Group, who receive £100,000 to provide a three-year project, supporting neurodiverse and disabled young people, who are working towards employability.
Founded in 2005, Lochaber Hope supports young people facing crisis periods in their lives. In recent years the charity has concentrated its efforts on a number of peer support projects and activity groups which focus on the well-being and improvement of young people’s mental health and from this the Bright Minds Project was born.
Bright Minds is a local youth initiative, created for young people and guided by a youth advisory board. The project offers events and training opportunities, as well as campaigning for changes in mental health culture and advocating for better support systems for young people.
An award of £54,220 means they can help more young people like 24-year-old Shaun Wallace fromLochaber.
Shaun previously worked with the charity as a project assistant but left to go to college and study to be a veterinary care assistant. When he was going through a difficult time, Lochaber Hope offered him seven free counselling sessions.
Shaun explained: “I’ve always struggled with my mental health, all the way through high school I was dealing with anxiety, depression and bi-polar disorder.
“This would, at times lead to suicidal thoughts or thoughts of self- harm and did result in an incident where I had to be taken to hospital. Thankfully I decided to seek out support and this was the beginning of me getting better and going to counselling sessions provided by Lochaber Hope. I owe so much to Lochaber hope and don’t know where I would be today, if it wasn’t for them.
“I loved giving something back by helping at events and when the chance to get involved with the Bright Minds project came up, I was more than happy to. I might be the oldest in the group, but we all have big ambitions and I’m able to offer support and advice to the younger members of the group.
“We’re only small but we’re making a big impact. Ideally, I would love a lot more people to get involved and experience the huge changes in their lives that I have.”
Alyson Smith, Founder Manager, Lochaber Hope said: “Young Start has been a very special fund for Lochaber Hope.
“We can see how young people are better managing their mental health by building resilience and confidence, and we look forward to the events and activities they have organised that will be taking place over the coming months.”
Another organisation nurturing young people’s talent and wellbeing is Toonspeak Young People’s Theatre.
The north Glasgow based charity receives £100,000 to run its PROGRESS: Empowering Young People for Creative Careers project which provides a range of entry points and routes for training and employment for young people to enter the creative industries.
Jennifer Belle Baird, 25, from Glasgow,is a published writer but would never have dreamed of speaking in public before she joined Toonspeak three years ago.
Jennifer said: “I had gone through school living with anxiety and was diagnosed with generalised anxiety disorder at 14. Being part of the project I was able to get feedback in a supportive way, without criticism. It was so good for my self-confidence and helped rid me of imposter syndrome.
“There’s no pressure to perform because it’s not all about performance, they value all areas of creativity here. Being a writer can be so isolating and now I actually enjoy performing too. I’m a member of the Toonspeak performance collective, the Young Company and have even written a play for The Merchant City Festival.
“I now view myself as a working artist and hope to work in a theatre. I often think how lucky the younger people here are to have Toonspeak at their age, Hopefully I can continue being part of the organisation and my work can uplift younger people.”
Chi Nguyen, Funding Officer, Toonspeak Young People’s Theatresaid: “We’re incredibly grateful for the support from Young Start.
This funding allows us to create life-changing opportunities for young people to develop skills, confidence, and networks in the creative industries. Already, PROGRESS is helping them take big steps toward their future careers, and we’re excited to see the continued impact this will have.”
The National Lottery Community Fund, Scotland Chair, Kate Still, said: “We are so pleased to announce our latest Young Start funding, which helps enable organisations to directly support the health and wellbeing of children and young people.
“Shaun and Jennifer’s stories are two examples of the many young people who’ve benefitted from Young Start funded projects and we are always keen to support more ideas. If your group has a project that could improve the lives of young people in Scotland, then we’d love to hear from you.”
World Cancer Day is an opportunity to inspire Scotland’s diverse healthcare innovators to unite for patient equity in the fight against the country’s leading cause of death, says an NHS partner.
Taking place today on Saturday 4 February, the theme of World Cancer Day 2025 is ‘United by Unique’ with organisers, the Union for International Cancer Control (UICC), believing that the day’s focus on a people-centred, tailored approach to cancer care is a vital one.
With around 16,000 people in Scotland dying from cancer every year, UICC say that everyone’s experience of it is unique and are encouraging the sharing of personal stories and help in shaping the call to action.
Formal NHS Scotland partner InnoScot Health insists that health service innovators must also be ‘United by Unique’ in putting forward their ideas to improve cancer care, highlighting the diverse skillsets that the country’s workforce can draw on in finding new ways to identify and treat cancer.
Executive Chair of InnoScot Health, Graham Watson said: “The World Cancer Day 2025 campaign explores different dimensions of people-centred cancer care and new ways of making a difference. That represents real opportunity for positive change.
“Healthcare innovators here in Scotland can reach out, answer that call with their unique perspectives, and make real progress in reducing the global impact of cancer, in turn helping to realise equity of access to innovative treatments.
“It is paramount that NHS Scotland patients get the care they need, and innovation holds the potential to offer more equal access to new treatments and technologies, while empowering patients to actively participate in the decision-making process.
“Scotland is also uniquely placed to contribute to such patient-centred, innovation-driven endeavours by bringing together the NHS, industry, and academia thanks to its history of effective collaboration, and lack of geographical barriers.”
UICC is dedicated to taking a lead in uniting the cancer community to reduce the disease’s global burden and integrating cancer control into the world health and development agenda.
World Cancer Day 2025 is the start of a three-year journey – from raising awareness to taking action, according to UICC.
Mr Watson added: “This important date will be marked by hundreds of events happening across the globe, all envisioning a future for cancer care where the needs of people and communities come first.
“The World Cancer Day ethos of ‘United by Unique’ is something that touches us all – and it can be a meaningful call to action for NHS Scotland innovators who can feel inspired in the knowledge that their unique thinking is more welcome than ever in tackling challenges.
“This includes sustaining the significant progress made in the fight against cancer in recent years.
“InnoScot Health believes that fresh ideas have the power to significantly improve health and social care, while supporting an ambitious, forward-thinking NHS.”
On World Cancer Day, InnoScot Health is encouraging healthcare staff to make a difference to NHS Scotland by submitting new ideas with innovative potential.
It is all part of collective efforts to use technology to drive forward cancer diagnosis, treatment and care with Scotland’s Chief Scientist for Health Professor Dame Anna Dominiczak recently highlighting that AI innovation in cancer was continuing to develop apace in Scotland.
She commented: “These programmes are developing and progressing and will be perhaps gaining momentum as we go forward.”
Supportive care is an emerging area of research which looks at improving the care surrounding cancer treatment, rather than finding cures. It includes treating side effects, managing pain and reducing infection.
Initial investment from Candlelighters enabled the opening of the groundbreaking centre – the first to focus on improving care for children with cancer. The CSCRC is led by Professor Bob Phillips, one of the world’s leading experts in childhood cancer research.
Almost 400,000 people are diagnosed with cancer in the UK each year, including over 2,400 children and teenagers. An often-overlooked issue is the impact of treatment and management of side effects which can be debilitating and, at times, deadly.
Emily Wragg, CEO of Candlelighters says: “Amazing progress has been made in understanding and treating childhood cancers. Today, around 80% of children or young people diagnosed with cancer will survive.
“This is an incredibly encouraging statistic, but despite advances in curative medicine, little has been done to improve the experience of living through and beyond cancer. Children and young people often receive cancer treatments designed for adults and the impact on their smaller bodies can be severe. They suffer horrible side effects which can be traumatic, permanent, and even deadly.”
Emily explains that of all children who sadly die with cancer, one in three die not because of the cancer itself, but because of the side effects of their treatment. Worse still, research into reducing these side effects for children is under-resourced, sparse, and inadequate.
She adds: “A significant part of the first year’s work for the Candlelighters Supportive Care Research Centre has been on the physical side effects of cancer, including the prevention of mucositis – the ulcerated mouth, sore stomach and diarrhoea that can happen after cancer treatment.”
Professor Bob Phillips explains: “Mucositis is a side effect that’s not well known about. It’s when chemotherapy or radiotherapy causes ulcers, anywhere in the guts, from the mouth down to the bottom.
“It can be extremely painful, so much that children can’t eat or drink, and need to be in hospital, on strong painkillers and intravenous fluids. Young people who have this tell us it’s extremely distressing as it chains them to the hospital and makes even communicating difficult.”
Bob adds: “There are things we can do to reduce the chance of this happening or try to make it heal better, using ‘photobiomodulation’ or PBM.
“This is a light therapy which can prevent or treat ulcers and is mainly used in the mouth and throat area. We’re working with The Leeds Dental Institute to help more children access this therapy at hospitals around the country. We’re also looking to develop more techniques to use this in other areas of the body affected by ulcers.”
Jorden’s story:
Jorden Slack, a childhood cancer survivor, now 34, was diagnosed with rare acute promyelocytic leukaemia, aged 11. She endured a gruelling six rounds of chemotherapy, across more than six months in hospital.
Jorden says: “For me, a big impact of the chemotherapy was the mouth ulcers – it’s not just a single ulcer, it’s an entire mouth of ulcers, from your mouth down your throat and digestive system.
“The treatment makes you prolifically sick, which then aggravates the ulcers that you’re trying to heal. You get all these cravings for food, but you can’t physically eat. It’s a horrendous cycle and it’s miserable.”
Commenting on the research work on mucositis, Jorden says: “The chemotherapy treatment is hard enough as it is, without then having that extra pain and discomfort on top.
“If there’s a way to make children a bit more comfortable during a scary, horrible time, that’s what we need to do. And for parents to not have to see their child so poorly is a bonus; I couldn’t communicate at points because I was that poorly with the side effects.”
We’re so excited to announce that we will be having EDINBURGH ZOO come to Muirhouse Library on the first Saturday of every month!
They will be talking about their animals, answering questions about the animals, and running an animal-themed craft session.
This will be at 11am on Saturday 1st March.
A *must* for animal lovers! This event is suitable for children aged 5 to 11, but if your slightly younger or older child is interested in animals, the event is likely to be suitable for them too.
On Monday 10th February at 6:30pm, members of The Ripple project and residents of Ward 14 will get the chance to speak to their local councillors.
Have you ever seen Question Time or even better Debate Night? If the answer is yes, then you know how important a local event like this can be.
If not, then read the quick explainer on the event below.
Members of The Ripple project and the wider community of Ward 14 will have the opportunity to put questions to our local representatives. After a question-and-answer session each councillor will have the opportunity to detail their priorities for the upcoming year or make any other address they deem appropriate.
Tristan Green, The Ripple Community Action Worker who will be chairing the evening said: “‘I am delighted that all four of our local councillors committed to this event with such enthusiasm.
“Events like this can help reduce the barriers that make it so hard for regular people to engage with politics at a local level. It is a groundbreaking evening for this ward and I am looking forward to some healthy debate’.
Rachel Green, Director added: ‘Genuine engagement by elected members is becoming essential at a time when more and more is being asked of the third sector and local communities.
” Only by knowing what is important to local people can our councillors serve the communities who elected them”.
Open Letter from SHONA McCARTHY, Chief Executive, Edinburgh Festival Fringe Society
What a fantastic week for the cultural sector of Scotland. All the lobbying, advocacy and effort from so many, for so long, has resulted in some desperately needed stability and longer-term security; and Culture Counts did a sterling job in leading the charge.
It has been uplifting and joyful to see so many brilliant theatres, companies, community art centres, creatives and festivals across Scotland, invested in, and supported to make new work and do ambitious things.
A special nod to the success of our sister festivals – the Film, Children’s, Art, Book and Jazz festivals; and with over £5million in public sector support per year, the Edinburgh International festival will be enabled to undertake some truly wonderful commissions and programming. Perhaps this will be the moment for some shared resource into a collaboration of all six summer festivals to create a spectacular, free-to-access opening and closing of the whole season for Edinburgh’s residents. Exciting times and I look forward to the imaginative programming to come.
It is also wonderful to see Hidden Door secure some core support – its devolved curatorial approach and fusions of genre and imagination have brought something new to the whole festivals landscape. Congratulations are due all-round and hats off to the Scottish Government for recognising the value of the arts to the heart and soul of the nation, to job creation, well-being and the economy. All of this in the same week that the Fringe Society has had its own news to share, with the announcement of our new Chief Executive coming in to post in April this year.
However, I hope support can also be found for those who didn’t make the list this time.
The Fringe is a different beast. It is complex, but only if you want it to be. However, its complexity should not be a reason not to support the very event that gives Edinburgh’s festivals their global brand, economic success and enormous impact for the performing arts across Scotland, the UK and the world. It truly is an access point for so many artists and audiences alike, into the arts.
Here’s where we are:
The Edinburgh Festival Fringe is made up of thousands of moving parts. All of those are important and are what make it unique. The Fringe is not a funded, curated arts festival, it is a platform and a marketplace that is open to anyone. Every artist or show that comes to Edinburgh does so at their own financial risk, and with their own set of objectives for what they want from participating in the Fringe. There are many producers who will annually develop and support a selection of shows to present at the Edinburgh Fringe, who share the risk with their artists. The venues that host them are all different models, but many of them also take significant risk, or share risk with producers and artists.
Then there is the Fringe Society – the small charity that is made up of Fringe members and provides core services to the festival: artist support, box office, marketing, promotion, and audience navigational tools. Income generated from participants through registration fees and box office commission pays for these services. The Fringe Society delivers a whole programme of added value that is designed to remove barriers to participants and audiences and ensure inclusion. This work isn’t financed by income from the Fringe, but is supported by donations, fundraising and ring-fenced public funds for projects. In keeping costs to participants low or frozen for 18 years, the income generated from registration fees and tickets, has long-since come far short of covering the costs of services to the Fringe.
Once upon a time the Fringe was a self-financing ecosystem with a collective effort from all the fringe-makers on keeping it affordable for artists and audiences. However, the well-documented economic context of recent years changed that. In this moment, if Edinburgh, Scotland and the UK wants to keep the Edinburgh Festival Fringe, then the whole thing needs support, and that has to come from multiple sources and has to support both the Fringe and the Fringe Society.
The Fringe Society needs core annual public sector support if it is to continue to provide services to the Fringe at an affordable level. It also needs to be able to adjust its fees to meet some of the rising costs too. A stable Fringe Society can continue to play a positive convening role for the wider Fringe community and in recent recovery years we have been able to redistribute some £6.3million out through the Fringe ecology in funds for artists, producing venues and support for Scottish work, to help it survive and stabilise.
The Fringe Society will continue to use its convening role to raise funds to support artists through the Keep it Fringe fund and Made in Scotland. We must also ensure that the essential digital infrastructure that supports festival systems – online tools and wayfinding, are future-proofed, and will seek support and donations to retain our 32 community partnerships across the city so that they can continue to experience their Fringe their way, both during August and year-round.
What could a whole Fringe support strategy look like.
For a stable, healthy Fringe we need a joined-up investment strategy that includes the Scottish Government, the City of Edinburgh Council and the UK Government. We have continuously made the case and both UK and Scottish Governments have recognised the unique place that the Fringe occupies as a platform, a showcase, a marketplace and global expo. There is nothing else like it on these islands, and it offers something unique in the world as an annual global meeting place to celebrate the performing arts in all their glory and for the business of the performing arts to be done.
We of course need a stable Fringe community with companies, producers and theatres able to produce work, and the investment from the Scottish Government last week goes a long way towards this. We will continue to lobby until Scotland is on a par with the best of Europe.
The Fringe Society’s new year-round Fringe Central secured a capital grant that will create new affordable rehearsal spaces for artists, and also unlocked £1million in Keep it Fringe funds for direct bursaries to 360 artists over 2024 and 2025.
The Fringe Society are aiming to sustain the Keep it Fringe fund in some form, and producer James Seabright has already committed financial support.
Investment in the Fringe Society from the Scottish Government is needed to ensure the charity can continue to provide core services to this vital event.
The Scottish Government have recognised that this organisation falls between the cracks and have made the commitment to support, and this is a work in progress. Scottish artists, companies and many local producing theatres and venues are supported through the multi-year funding programme, the Open Fund, and the Made In Scotland showcase at the Fringe and this helps. Yet there is still a gap in support for the whole Fringe operation, and there is a continuing disparity between the infrastructural needs and financial support made available for major sport events as opposed to the investment in sustained, annual arts events with longitudinal impact, like the Edinburgh Fringe.
For the UK Government – the Edinburgh Fringe hosts artists from all over the UK, with over 2,000 shows coming from England alone every year; with producers and promoters bringing work to be showcased and booked for onward opportunities. The Fringe ecosystem needs support to host all of this.
The UK Government have so far provided a Capital Grant to the Fringe Society to create a year-round Fringe Central space, and we have been making the case to build on this investment for the whole ecology. This could happen in several ways:
Theatre Tax Relief could be extended to support the venue infrastructure set up at the Fringe that is undoubtedly part of the production process
The Fringe should be supported by UK Government for its role as a driver of the Creative industries – Industrial strategy, and well-positioned for support from the £65 million recently announced by Secretary of State Lisa Nandy
It should be recognised as a Major Event for the UK, and its operating structures supported as would so readily be done with a sporting event of this scale and reach, such as an Olympic or Commonwealth Games
Arts Councils across UK should be investing in their artists to support them coming to the Fringe, as international showcases already do
The City of Edinburgh Council is crucial in providing a supportive operating context:
The Fringe will generate over £1million in Visitor Levy – this money should be ring-fenced to be redistributed in supporting the event
Affordable accommodation is the single biggest barrier to making the Fringe truly inclusive for creatives, workers and audiences. There are three ways this could be alleviated
Exemptions on home-letting and home-sharing being real, effective and immediate
A mechanism for HMOs (houses of multiple occupancy) privately run student accommodation to be made available to artists during the summer months
A map of accommodation capacity within a one-hour commute of Edinburgh and the supporting transport routes to make that underused capacity viable
New structures have already been set up to create this joined up approach through a National Festivals Partnership and a Festival City Infrastructure group. Let’s hope these structures can finally bring a strategic and supportive approach, to enable the Fringe to sit comfortably within Scotland’s national cultural asset base whilst also being properly enabled to welcome the emerging performing artists and breakthrough work from across the UK and the world.
The Edinburgh Fringe is unlike any other cultural event in the world, in that it is largely self-financed by those who take the risk to make and show work. It is made up of hundreds of parts, all of which are important. It is a wonderful balance of ticketed venues, street performance, free shows and pay what you want shows; from new discoveries to world-class and established artists.
It is the sum of these parts that makes it distinctive, inclusive, extraordinary and with something to say in the world. The stability of the Fringe is dependent on a recognition by everyone involved in it; that it is not owned by anyone – no organisation, group, or collective. It has no super league or participant base that is any more important than any other. It is a platform for freedom of expression like no other – ever evolving, growing, contracting and contorting.
It is not stuck in any one period of time, and should never allow any single interest group or sense of entitlement to derail its beautiful, messy and joyful mission for inclusion and cultural democracy
Its mantra is to give anyone a stage and everyone a seat – and that’s a mantra worth protecting and championing. That’s the Fringe. What a welcome it would be for the incoming CEO of the Fringe Society, if this extraordinary event was set on a new foundation stone where both the Fringe itself and the charity that supports it are validated and supported. With that support and validation, the whole Fringe community can move forward together collaboratively to secure the future of this vital event.
The cultural sector review will perhaps take a closer look at why the Edinburgh Fringe doesn’t sit comfortably within the established mechanisms of investment in the cultural sector, and a new way may be found to give it investment and support. Edinburgh is a city that has given huge recognition to new infrastructure and investment in classical music and the classic artforms.
It would be wonderful to see some validation of the forms of creative expression, such as comedy and street performance, which allow a significant point of access into the arts, and anyone to step into the opportunity to perform.
Often all that is required is space, a microphone and a story to tell.
Shona McCarthy, Chief Executive, Edinburgh Festival Fringe Society
