Adopted young people are to share their own powerful and personal stories, some of which will never have been told before, during this year’s Adoption Week Scotland (18 – 23 November).
Around a dozen youngsters will showcase their collection of poetry and short stories to an audience including Scotland’s Deputy First Minister John Swinney, at Edinburgh’s Scottish Poetry Library on 21 November. Continue reading Young people tell their stories during Adoption Week Scotland 2019
Moon Dragon the interactive preschool theatre production is a must for families with young children this December. Sold out at the Edinburgh Fringe, this fully interactive show tells the story of Bertie the Moon Dragon searching for the lost Moon.
With the help of his forest friends and the audience, will he succeed in his task? With new material there are plenty of shows based at the LifeCare Centre in Stockbridge every weekend up to the 22nd December.
Tickets are £8 for children/£8 for adults and your child will receive a gift.
There is a mixed age show for Under 5’s and a Baby show for babies under 1.
To book your ticket just click on the link or go to our website www.dragonsongproductions.
Limited children’s places per performance so book now to avoid disappointment! You don’t want to miss it!
Childline’s annual report has revealed the service carried out on average 12 counselling sessions every day in 2018/19 with children who have been sexually exploited.
The NSPCC’s round-the-clock service delivered 4,500 counselling sessions – up 16 per cent from the previous year – to children and young people, the youngest aged nine, who were coerced or forced into sexual activity. More than 200 of these contacts were from children living in Scotland, which was a 28% increase from the previous year.
In more than a third of counselling sessions young people disclosed they were targeted online – usually through social media or video games – often by their peers or people known to them.
Most commonly children received help from Childline because they were forced to perform or watch sexual acts or had been persuaded into sending naked images or videos of themselves – some were threatened with the images being told they would be shared with friends and family.
In the total number of counselling sessions about sexual abuse (8,841) exploitation featured in more than half.
Young people told Childline their experience with sexual exploitation also included receiving affection or gifts in exchange for sexual activities.
To help address the problem the NSPCC is calling on the Scottish Government to provide proper training to teachers so they can deliver effective and relevant lessons about healthy relationships, consent and sex; and support young people to get help from a trusted adult.
One 15-year-old girl told a counsellor she was feeling suicidal after being sexually exploited by a gang of boys:
“I never thought I would ever be the sort of person who could be sexually exploited. One day I met up with some boys and they made me feel worth something. It started off small, complimenting me, stroking my hair. One day one of them started kissing me so I pushed him away and said no, but he wouldn’t stop.
“I ended up having sex with him because I was scared about what would happen if I said no. This pattern continued between the gang. I didn’t see a problem with it until school found out and told me what was happening was a crime.”
The Childline Annual Review also shows the biggest jump – up a quarter – in the amount of 16-18 year olds receiving counselling for sexual exploitation.
An 18-year-old girl revealed to Childline:
“When I was younger I kept going online to talk to people mainly because I felt so alone. Some older guys started chatting to me and I sent nude pictures and videos of myself to them. I got compliments and didn’t know how to say no.
“Most of them knew I was just 13 and some of them threatened to post the pictures online if I didn’t send more. I feel sick just thinking about it and feel so insecure about this all coming back to haunt me.”
Matt Forde, National Head of Service for NSPCC Scotland, said: “Sadly, we are hearing from young people every day who are being manipulated or blackmailed into carrying out sexual acts. For many this impacts on their mental health and leaves them feeling isolated from the people closest to them. Some turn to self-harm, alcohol or substance misuse as ways of coping with their experiences.
“Everyone must be prepared to confront this problem, from government right through to schools, parents, professionals, and us at Childline. Earlier this year, the Scottish Government made 16 recommendations after reviewing personal and social education in its schools.
“It needs to now ensure that when these recommendations are implemented, teachers are confident to deliver the improved messages. Childline needs to recruit more volunteers to make sure they can be there for every child who needs our help, at all times of day and night.”
Parents of children and young people with underlying health conditions are being urged to protect their child from flu, by making sure they receive their flu vaccine. Continue reading NHS Lothian urges parents to ensure their kids get flu vaccine
TURTLE Tots Edinburgh & East Lothian is delighted to announce it has raised an incredible £11,246 for local charity, Simpsons Special Care Babies.
A nominated charity for the Edinburgh-based swim school, over the past four years, Turtle Tots has now raised over £20,700 for the charity. Continue reading Turtle Tots raises over £11,000 for neonatal unit
Interested in a job in Childcare? The Childcare Academy could be for you:
THE CHILDCARE ACADEMY IS AN EMPLOYABILITY FUND STAGE 3 PROGRAMME WHICH WILL PROVIDE YOU WITH THE OPPORTUNITY TO:
Our next Childcare Academy starts on MONDAY 2nd March 2020
Why not come along to our Childcare Academy information session? This will last approx. 1 hour and will give you the opportunity to find out what is involved in our Academy programme, ask any questions and take away an application pack.
If you would like to find out more, please contact Audrey O’Neill (our Communications & Compliance Officer) on 0131 311 6931 or e-mail audrey.oneill@northedinburghchildcare.co.uk
COUNTDOWN TO BONNIE WEEKEND IS ON! 🔥🎃👻
We’re taking young people from P7-S6 to Ratho on Friday 1st November, Monday 4th and Tuesday 5th November!
We are doing pick up points at a number of youth organisations in the local area (see poster).
If you would like to come please pop in to the MYDG office in Craigroyston Community High School in the next few days to pick up a form or speak to your local youth organisation that you attend (GYC, Fetlor, Spartans and MYDG) – spaces are filling up!
We would love to see as many of you along for Halloween and Bonfire night celebrations!
Muirhouse Youth Development Group
Recorded sexual offences against children have reached an all-time high, data obtained by the NSPCC has revealed.
In Scotland, there were 5,325 recorded offences including rape, grooming and sexual assault against children in 2018/19. Across the UK, in the same period, there were 76,204 of these offences – an average of one every seven minutes. Continue reading 15 sex crimes against a child recorded EVERY DAY in Scotland
Lidl is giving primary school children across Scotland the chance to win £5,000 of vouchers to be spent on providing a better breakfast for their fellow pupils.
The supermarket is running the nationwide competition with its charity partner, the NSPCC, to give a boost to one school’s Breakfast Club. Continue reading Lidl offers children the chance to make breakfast time a better time at school
Work is underway to minimise any potential disruption to the childhood flu immunisation caused by a delivery delay in some batches of a nasal spray flu vaccine. Continue reading Possible flu vaccine delivery delays: health chief comments
