Tag: charities

Fort Kinnaird volunteers deliver garden makeover at Craigmillar community centre

The gardens at Caring in Craigmillar’s community centre have been given a new lease of life thanks to a team of volunteers from Fort Kinnaird.

Caring in Craigmillar offers support services to elderly, disabled and vulnerable members of the local community. Service users are collected from their homes and brought to the care centre where they enjoy tea, lunch and a programme of activities, which often take place in the garden.

Fort Kinnaird Deputy Centre Manager Lindy Watson recently attended a meeting at Caring in Craigmillar and saw the opportunity to transform the garden into a space that was welcoming and inspiring for the centre’s community.

She then invited property and construction consultants from Gleeds and Thomas & Adamson, who work on site at Fort Kinnaird, to join a team of staff from the retail centre to makeover the garden.

Lindy Watson said: “We are extremely proud to have worked together to transform the garden at Caring in Craigmillar.

 “The centre does an incredible job of looking after the most vulnerable people in our local community, so donning some gardening gloves and picking up some tools was the least we could do.

“We hope the Caring in Craigmillar community enjoy the new space, and feel inspired and very much at home in the garden.”

The project involved the creation of new landscaped spaces, including the installation of a healing path with rock borders, as well as a general clean-up and planting.

Kellie Mercer, Manager at Caring in Craigmillar said: “Everyone at Caring in Craigmillar would like to thank the volunteers who gave their time effort and put in so much hard work to help us achieve a lovely space for our members.

“It has made a huge difference for our members who now enjoy spending time in the garden.

“Some of our members are no longer able to get outside in their own gardens at home, so with your help we have achieved a fabulous bright and safe space for everyone to enjoy.” 

EVOC says thanks to Edinburgh’s voluntary organisations

Today is the International Day of Charity, and to mark the occasion Edinburgh Voluntary Organisations’ Council (EVOC) staff, along with an elderly black Labrador called Sally, are to deliver ‘thank you cards’ to voluntary organisations across the city Continue reading EVOC says thanks to Edinburgh’s voluntary organisations

Ministers act following aid abuse allegations

Following allegations of abuse and misconduct by staff in the international development sector, Holyrood’s International Development Minister Dr Alasdair Allan has written to all non-governmental organisations working overseas and funded by the Scottish Government.  Continue reading Ministers act following aid abuse allegations

£330 million from dormant bank accounts to help good causes

Up to £330 million from dormant bank and building society accounts will be used to help the homeless, disadvantaged young people, local charities and other good causes in the UK over the next four years, Tracey Crouch, Minister for Sport and Civil Society, announced today. Continue reading £330 million from dormant bank accounts to help good causes

Charities call for end to postcode lottery of care for bereaved parents

A coalition of more than 40 charities working to prevent baby deaths and pregnancy loss is today urging an end to the postcode lottery in bereavement care for parents.

Pregnancy and baby loss affects thousands of families each year across the UK and it is vital to offer bereavement care and support to anyone who has lost a child or pregnancy. However, the care offered to parents in hospital is worryingly inconsistent. It can depend on where parents live, at what stage of pregnancy or birth the loss occurs, and whether individual healthcare professionals know how to respond.

Currently, fewer than half (46%) of maternity units in the UK provide mandatory bereavement care training, while one in three Health Trusts and Boards have no dedicated bereavement rooms in each maternity unit they cover. And in neonatal units, 41% of services have no access to a trained mental health worker. 

The charities are now calling for:

  1. All UK hospitals to be required to offer excellent bereavement care to parents.
  2. A member of staff appointed to lead on bereavement care in every hospital department where pregnancy loss and baby death occurs.
  3. Bereavement rooms to be available and accessible in all hospitals.
  4. All health and social care professionals to receive the highest standard of bereavement care training.5

The call is timed to coincide with the start of Baby Loss Awareness Week (9-15 October) when bereaved parents, their families and friends, unite across the world to commemorate their babies’ lives.

Dr Clea Harmer, Chief Executive of Sands (Stillbirth and neonatal death charity), said: “It is long overdue that NHS Scotland makes the provision of excellent bereavement care mandatory across the country.

“Despite claims that it is a priority, there is still a shortage of dedicated bereavement rooms and too few health care professionals are getting the essential training they need to sensitively support grieving parents.

“Good bereavement care is rooted in simple acts of kindness and respect, giving a family whose world has fallen apart the time they need with their baby, and minimising anything that could add to their suffering. So it is very worrying that parents have told us they can hear the sounds of crying babies, and mothers and fathers congratulating each other on the birth of their healthy babies, while they grieve.

“We believe every parent should be offered the bereavement support they need, when they need it, for as long as they need it. In Scotland, one way to make this happen is for a National Bereavement Care Pathway6 to be mandated and monitored through a new set of guidelines, and to ensure a similar approach is taken across the UK. I urge all those responsible to make sure no parent is left to cope with the death of their baby alone.” 

Baby Loss Awareness Week helps raise awareness of how pregnancy and baby loss affects thousands of families each year across the UK. It is a unique opportunity to help families remember their babies, whether it be in public or private, and feel less isolated and alone by giving them the opportunity to join with others.

The Week culminates in a global Wave of Light at 7pm on 15 October when candles will be lit across the world to remember all those babies who have died too soon. Landmark buildings will be lit up pink and blue – the colours of Baby Loss Awareness Week.

For further information on Baby Loss Awareness Week 2017 visit: www.babyloss-awareness.org

Charities urge Westminster: call a halt to Universal Credit

A raft of leading Scottish charities have joined forces to urge the Westminster government to rethink plans for the full rollout of Universal Credit from October. They argue that the introduction of the new benefit has already caused real hardship for thousands of claimants and say problems must be addressed before many more vulnerable people are thrown into poverty when the full roll-out takes place. Continue reading Charities urge Westminster: call a halt to Universal Credit