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Tag: Children and Families
Miller Homes helps Edinburgh children get Home Safe this October
Homebuilder donates high-vis vests to school children
It’s Walk to School month, and leading homebuilder, Miller Homes, is helping children in Edinburgh travel to and from school safely by donating high-vis vests to children local to its West Craigs Manor development, as part of its Home Safe initiative.
After a successful two years in Scotland, Miller Homes has expanded its Home Safe campaign for a third year, this time across the entire UK. Children’s high-vis vests will be available to collect from the marketing suite at Miller Homes’ development on Craigs Road.
As the morning and afternoon walks get a little darker, it’s hoped the bright yellow bibs will ensure local children are visible to drivers whether they are walking, cycling or scootering to school.
According to the most recent Government reports, the national average for children who walk to school is 46%. This is likely to increase in 2022, as families look to be healthier and more energy efficient.
Lynsey Brown Regional Sales Director for Miller Homes Scotland East said: “Getting to and from school safely is such an important part of a child’s routine, and being active while doing it is great for both their mental and physical wellbeing.
“Our Home Safe initiative is designed to help kids to be as safe as possible on those journeys, educating them on the importance of being visible to road users, especially as the days get darker, which will encourage good safety habits for years to come.”
Suitable for all primary school children, the high-vis vests will be available on a first come first served basis and can be collected from the marketing suite at West Craigs Manor from Thursday to Monday, 10:30-5:30pm.
For more information on Miller Homes and the Home Safe initiative, visit the website:
“Grans Eat Free” this October holiday at Mclarens on the Corner
This October Half-Term Break, McLarens on the Corner in Morningside is introducing a limited offer to celebrate grandparents with a “Grans Eat Free” deal throughout the October holidays.
The family-friendly restaurant that believes in serving up sumptuous food, delicious cocktails, and a whole lot of love has created the offer as a thank you to the grandparents that will be home with the kids while they’re off from school.
Grandparents are beloved for spoiling their grandchildren with love, affection, and all the treats mum usually doesn’t allow. It’s time that they get spoiled in return! Signature Group has decided to turn the tables, and instead of having kids eat free this half-term holiday, we’re giving the free meal to Gran.
The deal was created to acknowledge the unsung heroes at the heads of our families that rarely get a day devoted to treating them with the same care that they exhibit each day.
Including anything from a bacon cheeseburger for lunch to blackened salmon for dinner, grandparents can choose the entrée that suits their appetite for no charge for two weeks in October. Now, the kids can start pooling together their pocket money and get ready to pick up the bill for their meal, because this meal is on them.
The limited offer will be available on weekdays between 10th and 21st October. One grandparent can receive a free main course per visit when they dine with their grandkids. Kids must also order a main dish from the children’s menu or main a la carte menu. Free main excludes steak.
Picture book ‘Slug in a Mug’ aims to raise funds and promote confidence
- A slug-inspired picture book promoting confidence aims to raise money for free children’s activities held at creative hub Made in Stirling.
- Scottish speechwriter Laura Westring’s first picture book, for children aged 3 to 7, Slug in a Mug is illustrated by Perthshire greetings card illustrator Jon Bishop.
- Laura Westring is a finalist for Business Women Scotland’s 2022 ‘Inspirational Woman of the Year’ award.
- Slug in a Mug is available to pre-order online via The Grey Earl and Made In Stirling and available to purchase in selected independent stores from 8th October.
A children’s picture book promoting confidence, and inspired by cottage life in Scotland, aims to raise money for children’s activities as the cost of living continues to rise for families.
Slug in a Mug, written by Scottish speechwriter Laura Westring and illustrated by greetings card creator Jon Bishop (The Grey Earl), is the tale of a slug whose taste for sweet treats leads him to unexpected places.
The “almost true” story was inspired by Laura’s move to an empty cottage in 2020. Having woken one morning to find a slug in her mug, she began inventing stories with her young son to relieve the stress and social isolation of pandemic lockdowns.
Laura Westring believes imagining and reciting stories can be a beneficial activity for the whole family and increase the confidence of young children as they learn to speak and empathise.
Through Creative Stirling, a social enterprise supporting local artists and makers, Laura contacted Perthshire-based illustrator Jon Bishop and both set out on an almost two-year, self-funded project to bring their slug to life.
Collaborating with Gerald Richard, CEO of Scottish charity Super Power Agency, the book also includes an activity to help children with writing skills.
Illustrator Jon Bishop said of receiving the manuscript for Slug in a Mug in January 2021: “It was the first children’s story I wanted to illustrate from the first reading.
“From the subtly sick sense of humour to the message that it’s okay to be bold and think differently to those around you, everything told me this slug had legs.”
Laura Westring is keen to ensure that the cost of living doesn’t remove opportunities from diverse and under-resourced communities, and so both Westring and Bishop hope to support a variety of community workshops and children’s activities run by Creative Stirling through sales of the book.
Commenting on the book, Laura Westring said: “Families with young children have gone through the lonely trial of providing care while working in pandemic conditions only to see the cost of living rise astronomically as they begin to tackle the longer-term emotional and developmental consequences of those difficult years.
“I hope people enjoy reading Slug in a Mug as much as Jon and I have enjoyed making it, so that we can fulfil our ambition to reach revenue and pay it forward.”
West Pilton Neighbourhood Centre sets date for Annual General Meeting
THURSDAY 20th OCTOBER at 6pm
Support your local community centre – all welcome!
Spartans October Holiday Programme
Youth Work October Holiday Camp – just come along and join in!
If you’ve not registered with us before you can find the form here or we’ll set this up when we see you: https://app.upshot.org.uk/signup/5f23b8a1/…
Amazon Goes Gold for Kids with Cancer in September
The team at Amazon’s fulfilment centre in Dunfermline made a £3,000 donation to Children’s Hospices Across Scotland and a £1,000 donation to Edinburgh Children’s Hospital Charity as part of the company’s global Amazon Goes Gold for Kids with Cancer campaign during September’s Childhood Cancer Awareness Month.
Now in its sixth year, Amazon Goes Gold for Kids with Cancer raises funds and awareness for organisations working to increase survival rates for those with childhood cancer through life-saving treatments and research.
A gold ribbon is the universal symbol for childhood cancer, so this year, Amazon employees from Dunfermline held a month-long series of gold-themed events in recognition of the international emblem.
The team also showed solidarity to children with cancer by donating £3,000 to Kinross-based charity Children’s Hospices Across Scotland and £1,000 to Edinburgh-based charity Edinburgh Children’s Hospital Charity.
One of the events this year at Amazon in Dunfermline was a Pyjama Day, which saw the fulfilment centre team join with colleagues across the UK to wear pyjamas to work in honour of children who spend every day in their pyjamas during treatment.
Amazon Dunfermline General Manager, Jamie Strain, said: “We are proud to support CHAS and Edinburgh Children’s Hospital Charity in honour of Childhood Cancer Awareness Month and this year’s Amazon Goes Gold for Kids with Cancer campaign.
“We look forward to doing our bit for children with cancer every year, and hope that this donation offers encouragement to the charity’s brilliant team and the families it supports.”
One of the Amazon employees who took part in Amazon Goes Gold for Kids with Cancer is Aoife Considine. She added: “It was great to take part in Amazon in Dunfermline’s Pyjama Day and help spread awareness of the realities of childhood cancer. I’m so pleased that we could offer support to such an excellent charity.”
This year, Amazon employees in the UK also had the opportunity to support children and families affected by childhood cancer by volunteering with childhood cancer charities and organisations, or by putting together activity packs for children facing cancer, which were distributed to nearby hospitals and hospices.
Amazon Goes Gold for Kids with Cancer takes place annually as part of Amazon’s programme to support the communities in and around its operating locations across the UK.
Challenge Poverty Week: Close the Gap
As a part of this year’s #ChallengePovertyWeek, we wrote a blog where we explain why women are being hardest hit by the cost-of-living crisis & discuss actions that need to be taken to #TurnTheTide on women’s poverty.
Read now here: https://bit.ly/3SZG3br
Condemned flats to be brought back into use to support Ukranian refugees
Funding allocation to increase housing supply
North Ayrshire Council has been awarded funding through the Scottish Government’s Ukraine Longer-Term Resettlement Fund to refurbish properties to be used on an interim basis by people who have fled the conflict in Ukraine.
Through the fund, up to £50 million has been made available to Councils and Registered Social Landlords to bring properties back into use that would otherwise not be available to let.
Minister with Special Responsibility for Refugees from Ukraine Neil Gray said: “Scotland continues to stand with the rest of the UK, Europe and the world, in condemnation of Russia’s unprovoked invasion of Ukraine.
“Since the conflict began, more than 20,000 people with a Scottish sponsor have arrived, representing 20% of all UK arrivals – the most per head of any of the four nations. More than three quarters of these arrivals have come through our Super Sponsor Scheme.
“This fund is going to help us meet the housing needs of displaced people from Ukraine by providing them with longer-term, sustainable accommodation. I want to thank North Ayrshire Council for their creativity in finding local solutions that boost the overall supply of homes at a time when they are needed most.
“This week, I have written to local authorities and social landlord representatives across the country to encourage them to look at their current housing supply and identify unused accommodation so that we can increase the supply of available accommodation and provide people from Ukraine with safe and secure homes for their time here.”
The award of £486,000 will allow five blocks of three-storey flats at Glebe Place, Saltcoats, – previously earmarked for demolition – to be upgraded and brought back into use for a period of 3 years after which they will be reassessed as part of the council’s new build housing programme. This enables the council to retain their commitment of 1,625 new homes by 31 March 2027.
North Ayrshire Council Leader Marie Burns said: “We have welcomed more than 200 Ukrainians to North Ayrshire and are ready to welcome more in the coming weeks and months.
“With funding now secured from the Scottish Government’s Ukraine Longer-Term Resettlement Fund, we are looking to begin improvement works within the next few weeks.
“While there is understandable uncertainty for anyone arriving here from Ukraine, it’s important that they feel secure and supported – having that secure tenancy will help. We want them to feel like North Ayrshire is a home away from home.”
The Cost of Caring: Report reveals families raising disabled children are ‘struggling to survive’
Stark research findings released today by national charity Family Fund show that families raising disabled, or seriously ill, children and young people across the UK now face serious financial jeopardy and are struggling to survive, due to the scale of the cost-of-living crisis.
“The Cost of Caring” covers research with 4,264 families across the UK, with a disabled child, showing that nine in 10 families are struggling, or falling behind on their regular household bills and many are forced to forego living essentials such as food, heating, basic furniture like beds, flooring, washing machines and fridges, to try to make ends meet.
Over half of parents and carers (54%) report skipping or cutting the size of their meals because there wasn’t enough money for food (a 9% increase since September 2021) and more than one in ten (13%) say they have had to cut back on items that are essential for their disabled children.
Four in five families (83%) raising a disabled child or young person are in debt, with rising debt levels for two in five families (43%) polled, and over 40% report they can’t afford to keep accommodation warm – a 13% increase since last December.
On average, families raising a disabled child live on £17,000 a year and spend 60 hours a week caring for their disabled children, with one third caring for over 100 hours a week. Families receive only one hour a week of respite and support, on average, and less than one in four parents and carers are able to work full time, with over half not able to work at all.
Family Fund’s report highlights the, now, unsustainable strain on families raising disabled and seriously ill children and young people , as they try to cover sky-high costs on top of severely reduced incomes due to intense caring responsibilities, three times higher costs to look after a disabled child and critical levels of debt.
With sustained cuts to support services, which have not recovered post-pandemic, families are now having to pay, themselves, for therapies and specialist equipment for their children, such as educational and sensory items and toys.
As the UK’s largest grant-making charity for families raising disabled and seriously ill children on the lowest incomes, Family Fund provides essential goods for families including kitchen appliances, clothing, bedding, play and sensory equipment and much-needed family breaks.
Last year, it delivered over 170,919 grants and services, worth over £37 million, to families on low incomes across the UK.
Wider research findings include:
· Almost all families raising disabled children (98%) report paying more than families with non-disabled children due to specialist needs – clothing (74%), food and groceries (73%), technology such as tablets (66%), toiletries and hygiene products (60%) and replacing worn or broken household items (60%);
· In September 2021, families raising disabled children reported an increase in their household bills of, on average, £800 a year. By June 2022, even before current price rises, this increase was over £1,500.
· Three in five families (62%) reported cutting back on play, leisure and recreational activities with their disabled children during the last year;
· In the past year, 50% of families report their disabled children’s physical health has worsened and 68% say their disabled children’s mental health has deteriorated.
· 1 in 5 families report taking on more credit to keep up with existing credit commitments
Cheryl Ward, Family Fund Chief Executive, said: “The outlook for families raising a disabled, or seriously ill, child is now graver than ever. They are unsure how to cope with ever-rising caring costs with winter approaching, they are having to borrow more credit to pay for intense levels of debt and feeling more isolated than ever, with worsening mental and physical health.
“These are families on the lowest of incomes, due to caring for their children round-the-clock and having far-reduced available support services, post-pandemic.
“When caring costs have spiralled so far out of control that families are having to cut back on the very essentials their disabled child needs, something has to change.
“Along with our sector partners, we are urging Government to ensure that family benefits are increased in line with inflation, rather than reducing at a time when the escalating costs of caring are already jeopardising families’ lives.”
West Midlands parent: “How will I be able to keep my disabled child warm for medical reasons…this coming winter when I’m struggling to pay gas and electric in summer?
“How will I afford petrol, which I need as I have two children with physical disabilities including one in a wheelchair. And the cost of food, and availability of safe food for an autistic child if shortages start happening. I worry every day and night over this.”
North West England parent: “Caring for our child is not the issue, she is the light of our lives. Being able to access the right care, education and support in order to provide me the opportunity to work is the key.”
The Cost of Caring features research from the charity’s last four quarterly family polls, from September 2021 to June 2022, ahead of a new September poll coming soon.