This summer, The Centre, Livingston is inviting families to take part in a free ‘Around the World’ travel trail and learn fun facts about 30 countries, through a variety of different puzzles and games at six stations located around the shopping centre, for five weeks from Monday, 7th July until Sunday, 10th August from 11-4pm.
Visitors can pick up a free ‘Around the World’ passport at the ‘check-in’ desk, situated next to New Look, and get it stamped at every station, which will change every week, with Kenya, Brazil and Australia included in the first week.
Passports which have been stamped can be entered into competitions to be in with a chance of winning a variety of prizes from retailers, which includes a family travel voucher worth £4,000 from TUI, £3,000 from Hays Travel and £1,500 from Barrhead Travel. Other prizes include a £100 Voucher from Aerial Adventures, a suitcase from Ryman and four, £25 Gift Vouchers from Primark.
Beach themed activities and games and storytelling sessions will also take place at the ‘check-in’ desk every day and a variety of different travel and holiday-themed arts and crafts, which includes making animal wind chimes and an Egyptian wooden bookmark.
Tess Sundberg, Marketing Manager at The Centre, Livingston said: “We are really looking forward to hosting our globe-trotting, ‘Around the World’ travel trail free activities at The Centre, Livingston this summer.
“The five-week event will provide a great opportunity for families to take some time out over the holidays and learn some fun facts about 30 countries by participating in lots of puzzles and games in the trail, located around the shopping centre, and also join in the daily travel-themed arts and crafts activities.”
For more information check out The Centre, Livingston social channels, @shopthecentre, and the website, www.thecentrelivingston.com, for competition Terms & Conditions.
Soft play, bookings start from £2 for members and £2.50 for non-members
Great deals on outdoor toys
This summer, gather the whole family and head to Dobbies’ Edinburgh store for a day of fun-filled activities that will keep costs down.
Little Seedlings Holiday Club is back by popular demand to entertain children over the school break with a sensory workshop, and families can enjoy low prices on the soft play experience and Kids Eat for £1.
Families can also get 20% off all outdoor toys and play equipment on top of existing promotions for a limited time at the Edinburgh store, giving the kids plenty to keep busy with right through summer. From hippo sandpits, flower pools and toddler swings, to slides, activity towers and trampolines, there is something for all ages. Deals include
Plum 10ft fun springsafe trampoline, now £95.99 (was £149.99)
Set of 2 flower pool, now £7.99 (was £19.99)
Hedstrom folding toddler swing, now £35.99 (was £54.99)
Hedstrom wavy pool, now £71.99 (was £99.99)
Little Seedlings Holiday Club
Dobbies’ Little Seedlings Holiday Club returns to the Edinburgh store this summer with an exciting workshop, Summer Scents. This session takes place on various days across July and August, and is perfect for children aged 4-10 years old.
Attendees will become scent explorers and learn all about the sweet smells of summer in gardens, homes and parks. Children will discover how and why flowers have scents, the happy herbs with the most fragrance, and the long history of perfume making, before getting the chance to mix their own petal perfume to take home.
It’s a hands-on workshop that celebrates beautiful summer scents and is perfect for keeping the little ones busy over the school holidays.
Dobbies offers Kids Eat For £1, allowing children under the age of 16 to enjoy their food for less with every traditional adult breakfast and main course meal at lunch. Children can pick from the kids’ breakfasts, lunch menu or pick ‘n’ mix meal, including a drink.
Restaurants are open Monday-Sunday from 9am, location times may vary and customers are advised to visit dobbies.com to check the restaurant opening hours for the Edinburgh store.
Soft play
Families are invited to come and join in the fun at Dobbies’ Little Seedlings soft play at the Edinburgh store, where children of all ages, from babies and toddlers to young kids, can let off some steam and play in a safe environment.
The soft play area is in Dobbies’ restaurant, where families can enjoy tasty meals and snacks, plus kids eat for £1 with every adult main meal.
Pre-booking is recommended to avoid disappointment, but there may be walk-in spaces available on the day, prices and age ranges vary for each store, starting at £2 for members and at £2.50 for non-members.
For more information on the Little Seedlings Holiday Club at Dobbies’ Edinburgh store and activities for families this summer, visit www.dobbies.com/events.
Edinburgh International Festival Director and Scottish violinist Nicola Benedetti performed for staff, patients, families and volunteers at the Royal Hospital for Children & Young People Edinburgh on Thursday
The International Festival’s NHS Festival Sessions, in partnership with NHSd Lothian Charity: Tonic Arts, bring Festival artists into hospitals year-round, creating moments of musical connections that recognise the powerful impact music can have on wellbeing
As part of a wider vision to remove barriers to cultural discovery, the International Festival’s range of affordability initiatives include over 1,000 donated tickets for NHS staff, charity workers and low-income benefit recipients, and £10 Affordable tickets for every event in the programme
2025 FESTIVAL PROGRAMME RUNS FROM 1–24 AUGUST 2025
Edinburgh International Festival Director and Scottish violinist Nicola Benedetti performed alongside guitarist Plínio Fernandes as part of a series of NHS Festival Sessions, a heartfelt partnership between the International Festival and NHS Lothian Charity: Tonic Arts bringing transformative live performances directly to patients, families, staff and volunteers across healthcare settings.
Now in its second year, the NHS Festival Sessions take place regularly year-round, bringing an exciting array of International Festival artists into NHS Lothian spaces to create curated moments of musical and emotional connection.
Previous artists include the Royal Scottish National Orchestra, Bamberger Symphoniker and the Philharmonia Orchestra, visiting sites such as the Royal Infirmary of Edinburgh, Royal Edinburgh Hospital and St John’s Hospital, Livingston.
Ms Benedetti’s performance is part of her wider Festival vision: to ensure that the joy of life-altering live performance is accessible to the broadest possible audience.
This year, the International Festival continues to break down barriers to cultural participation with a range of affordability initiatives. These include:
£10 Affordable tickets for every event in the programme, available for anyone who needs them by quoting the promo code ‘INVITED’.
Over 1,000 donated tickets for NHS staff, charity workers, and low-income benefit recipients in partnership with Tickets for Good.
Over 2,500 free tickets for Scotland’s young musicians aged 8–18 through the Young Musician’s Pass.
Half-price tickets for under 18s and D/deaf, disabled & neurodivergent people for all Festival performances.
Festival Director Nicola Benedetti said: “I believe in removing barriers to cultural discovery. Everyone is invited to the International Festival – that’s why half of our tickets will be sold for £30 or less, and by extending our performances into community and healthcare settings, we’re reaching people where they are, and bringing a taste of the Festival to those who may be unable to attend.”
Len McCaffer, Tonic Arts Manager at NHS Lothian Charity, said: “Our partnership with the Edinburgh International Festival through the NHS Festival Sessions is a fantastic way to bring the transformative power of music directly into our hospitals.
“These year-round performances are a hugely anticipated part of our participatory arts calendar, making live performances accessible for those who would otherwise be unable to attend.
“It is such a privilege to work together to bring world-class artists and musicians like Nicola Benedetti to perform directly to our patients, staff, and volunteers. Witnessing the joy and emotional connection these live sessions create, really demonstrates the importance and positive impact of the arts on wellbeing.”
This summer’s International Festival will also see flagship projects that bring groups into the heart of August’s performances, developing long-term connections with Edinburgh’s communities to find enrich local life and reflect the ideas, ambitions and creative interests of different groups within the International Festival’s year-round work.
This year’s activities focus on three key areas identified with staff and residents: Dementia Friendly activities, Skills and Training Development, and tackling Social Isolation. Throughout the year—and during August’s Festival— the range of creative, community-led projects includes a six-week artist-led course for New Scots that culminates in a co-designed August festival event featuring musicians from the Aga Khan music programme.
A multi-year Community Connections Hub partnership with Space @ Broomhouse Hub includes collaboration with citizens from across the neighbourhood connecting with Festival artists. The residents respond creatively to music by the London Symphony Orchestra, inspired by the 2025 Festival theme The Truth We Seek and their work will be shared with the community at Space @ Broomhouse Hub.
In partnership with the Wellbeing onto Work (WOW) project, an eight-week course has also been delivered for 10 young people. The course focuses on building confidence and communication skills within Festival environments, with graduates offered supported, paid work experience during the Festival.
For the first time, the International Festival will also present a Dementia Friendly Concert in collaboration with the Scottish Chamber Orchestra—a relaxed, welcoming performance designed for people living with dementia and their caregivers.
For more information on the range of tickets for performances across music, dance, theatre and opera at the 2025 Edinburgh International Festival, visit:
From guided relaxation to cooking, knitting, chatting or even try yoga for the first time! Some DROP IN, some you need to BOOK – get in touch on 0131 551 1671 or email us hello@pchp.org.uk
The Scottish Parliament’s Health, Social Care and Sport Committee is seeking views on the Scottish Government’s mental health spending for 2026-27, as part of its pre-budget scrutiny.
The Committee is considering the effectiveness of current spending and whether investment is aligned with the right priorities.
In 2023-24, mental health services received £1.5 billion in funding—equivalent to 9% of total NHS expenditure. The Committee is now seeking views on whether this level of investment is appropriate, how spending decisions are made, and the extent to which preventative approaches are being supported.
The Committee is particularly interested in:
The adequacy and transparency of current mental health spending;
Evidence of preventative investment in mental health;
Whether national priorities—such as CAMHS, suicide prevention, and community-based support— are the right priorities for mental health investment and to what extent these priorities are reflected in mental health service delivery.
The Committee’s scrutiny takes place ahead of the publication of the Scottish Budget, expected later this year, and aims to inform Scottish Government’s spending decisions while they are still in development.
Speaking as the call for views was launched, Clare Haughey MSP, Convener of the Health, Social Care and Sport Committee, said:“It’s vital people dealing with mental health issues are able to access appropriate and effective care, support and treatment.
“That’s why we are scrutinising the funding for these services and ensuring any money spent is going to the right places to help people get the support they need.
“Through this call for views, we want to hear from individuals, professionals and organisations about what’s working, what’s not, and where investment should be focused for the greatest benefit.
“Your insights will help us hold the Government to account and ensure that mental health services are properly resourced and effectively delivered.”
Funding of over £4 million to establish new secure care houses has been announced by the Scottish Government.
The funding will allow for restored capacity and enable a different approach to be developed to ensure children with the greatest need are able to access intensive support. Additionally, this investment will support the creation of three four-bed secure houses, as well as a further four-bed contingency resource.
There are currently 82 contracted secure places provided by four independent charitable organisations in Scotland – Rossie, Good Shepherd Centre, Kibble and St. Mary’s Kenmure.
Children’s Minister Natalie Don-Innes said: “It is imperative that we continuously improve how we care for those children who have the greatest need of support.
“We also need to address the challenges currently facing the secure care system, and this funding will ensure that both these aims can be met.
“Scotland is rightly proud of our unique, welfare based and focused approach to care and justice for children and young people. We want to build on that tradition and the current strengths of the system, while embracing a future vision for change as set out in the ‘Reimagining Secure Care’ report. And with that change, it is important that we maintain a resolute focus in ensuring that children and young people’s needs and rights remain at the heart of this process.”
This follows the publication of the Children and Young People’s Centre for Justice’s (CYCJ) report on ‘Reimagining Secure Care’ which outlines a transformative vision for the future of secure care, and broader children’s care, in Scotland. The Scottish Government has responded to this report.
Scotland-born charity reaches global goal FIVE YEARS EARLY!
A WORLD-LEADING surgical charity is marking a major milestone in its efforts to transform global access to children’s surgery, celebrating the opening of both its 100th and 101st dedicated operating rooms.
Kids Operating Room, headquartered in Edinburgh, will hit its 100th operating room on Tuesday 24 June with the opening of a new high-tech and specialised surgical theatre in Gaborone, Botswana.
Just two days later, the team is set to open its 101st facility in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia, underscoring the rapid pace and sustained impact of the charity’s work.
The charity, founded in 2018 by husband-and-wife, Garreth and Nicola Wood MBE, set a bold target to install 100 operating rooms for children in low and middle-income countries by 2030. That goal has now been met five years ahead of schedule.
Its paediatric rooms, often the only specialised spaces for children’s surgery in a country, have to date enabled more than 680,000 life-changing operations, across Africa, South and Central America, Bangladesh and Afghanistan.
Dr Kutlo Moalosi, Head of Paediatric Surgery at Princess Marina Hospital in Gaborone, said: “This new operating room will be truly life-changing for children in Botswana. It allows us to treat conditions earlier, avoid complications and help children grow up healthy and strong.
“More than that, it provides hope. It signals that children here matter just as much as children anywhere else in the world.”
Nicola Wood, Co-Founder, said: “To have completed 100 dedicated operating rooms is a deeply emotional moment for all of us.
“This is not just a number. It represents lives saved, disabilities prevented and a global movement that believes every child deserves access to safe surgery.”
The 100th operating room was made possible by the philanthropic support of entrepreneur Steve Lansdown and his wife, who have been central to the charity’s wider surgical initiative across Botswana.
Each Kids Operating Room is designed to create capacity for around 2,000 lifesaving or life-changing operations every year. The global network now enables approximately 200,000 procedures annually.
Working across more than 40 countries, Kids Operating Room has embedded permanent surgical infrastructure, trained clinical teams, and delivered vital resources to regions where paediatric surgical care was previously unavailable or inconsistent.
As well as providing the infrastructure for safe surgery, the charity ensures its operating rooms are uplifting and child-focused, with colourful murals and specialist paediatric surgical equipment designed to create a calming environment.
The charity’s approach is centred on sustainability and local empowerment. Its solar-powered surgical systems help hospitals operate safely during blackouts and its training model builds long-term capacity in each region.
Garreth Wood, Co-founder and Executive Chairman, said: “When Nicola and I founded Kids Operating Room, it was with a vision that no child should suffer or die simply because they were born in the wrong place.
“This milestone shows what can be achieved through collaboration, local leadership and relentless commitment. But we are not stopping here and have already re-focused on how we build on this success, so no child is left behind.
“We believe surgery is not a luxury, it’s a fundamental right. The children we serve deserve dignity, opportunity and care. This is the work we’ll continue to do until every nation can provide for its children independently.”
David Cunningham, Chief Executive at Kids Operating Room added: “Since we began this work, every 27 days our team has opened a new operating theatre, always in complex and/or low-resource settings.
“These are world-class, solar powered surgical facilities but before they’re deployed the hospitals have to be surveyed, the staff interviewed, the patient demand assessed, and the funds raised. Then, despite often working around conflict and natural disasters, our amazing people build amazing facilities.
“I could not be more grateful to everyone who has contributed to this success and look forward to continuing to scale that impact in the years to come.”
First Minister announces formal apology for historical policies
First Minister John Swinney has told Parliament that policies historically applied to Gypsy/Traveller individuals and families were unacceptable and has formally apologised to those communities.
Responding to the publication of research into how Gypsy/Traveller communities were affected by the so-called ‘Tinker Experiments’, Mr Swinney said that while the policies are no longer in effect, and pre-date the Scottish Parliament, they caused significant and lasting trauma to families.
Unjust attitudes and practices resulted in children being removed from Gypsy/Traveller families and families being forced to live in substandard accommodation and degrading conditions.
Extending a formal apology to those affected, Mr Swinney said the Scottish Government is whole-heartedly committed to ensuring mistakes are not repeated in its current and future work.
Today, Scotland's First Minister issued a long-awaited apology to victims of the Tinker Experiments. You can watch the video of his apology below and on our website: https://t.co/J7rPrECMJ3pic.twitter.com/OIL6qKB8fa
The First Minister said: “It seems clear to me that stark prejudice and lack of cultural awareness led to a series of unfair and unjust policies. Policies that resulted in children being removed from families, and families being forced to live in substandard accommodation and degrading conditions.
“The trauma that this has caused to individuals, families and groups, including those who regard themselves as ‘victims of Tinker Experiments’, is significant and lasting.
“So, as First Minister, I want to say this directly to Gypsy/Traveller communities: The ‘Tinker Experiments’ should not have happened. It was wrong. And we recognise how much it is still hurting so many. And more than anything else I want to say this. On behalf of Scotland, we are sorry.”
Clare MacGillivray, Director of Making Rights Realsaid: “We welcome the Scottish Government’s apology to victims of the Tinker Experiments.
“This feels like a pivotal moment in the victims’ courageous quest for justice. Roseanna and Shamus McPhee has campaigned for an apology for many years- they have worked tirelessly to shine a light on the hidden history of how Gypsy Travellers suffered egregious human rights abuses over many generations.
“Last year the United Nations Committee on the Elimination of Racial Discrimination recommended that “the State party, including the government of Scotland, adopt all measures necessary to tackle the causes and legacy of the forced assimilation of Gypsy and Traveller communities”.
“We look forward to the Scottish Government taking further steps to provide redress to the victims.”
THE Scottish Human Rights Commission has also welcomed the apology. They said: “The Scottish Human Rights Commission welcomes the apology from the Scottish Government to members of the Gypsy Traveller Community for the ‘Tinker Experiment’.
“Victims of the experiment, alongside organisations like RAJPOT, have long campaigned for recognition of this issue and an apology is an important first step towards redress for historic injustice.
“We will publish our human framework analysis and steps to full redress in November 2025 and we look forward to continuing to engage with victims of the experiment and human rights defenders on this topic.
“Once completed we will share our findings with both the Scottish Parliament and the Scottish Government to ensure redress is delivered.”
