New figures showing there were almost 1200 drug-related deaths in Scotland last year have been described as shocking by Public Health Minister Joe FitzPatrick.
The National Records of Scotland statistics reveal there were 1,187 drug-related deaths registered in Scotland in 2018, the largest number ever recorded. Continue reading “Shocking”: Statistics show highest ever level of Scottish drug deaths
Local residents are set for up to five days of flaring as Exxonmobil has informed residents that essential maintainance and repair work will take place this week. Community campaigners are questioning whether the Mossmorran site is too old to operate safely. Continue reading Community braced for five days of flaring at Mossmorran
North Edinburgh has a new Community Alcohol Partnership (CAP) based at Drylaw covering the Forth and Inverleith wards. The CAP was launched at Spartans Community Football Academy yesterday, and over the coming weeks more community groups and youth organisations will have the opportunity to help develop and contribute to a local Action Plan. Continue reading Community Alcohol Partnership launched in North Edinburgh
THOUSANDS of young swimmers in Edinburgh are to get a lesson covering self-rescue and life-saving skills in the largest coordinated water safety lesson ever seen in Scotland. Continue reading Edinburgh kids take part in biggest ever water safety lesson
A new public health campaign, Keeping Kids Safe in the Home, which aims to reduce the number of domestic accidents involving under 5s in Edinburgh, has been launched by the Royal Society for the Prevention of Accidents (RoSPA). Continue reading New campaign aims to prevent accidents among Edinburgh’s under-fives
Police in Edinburgh with the Edinburgh Health and Social Care Partnership have launched a new protocol locally to help officers in searching for missing people with dementia. Continue reading Protocol to assist in search for missing people with dementia
Saturday 18th May 2 – 4pm
As wildfire raced through even more acres of British countryside last week, a business waste company has called for disposable barbecues to be banned to prevent further damage. Continue reading Call for disposable BBQ ban
The Herbert Protocol is here to give you some reassurance and help keep your loved ones safe. This is a local initiative for residents living in the Edinburgh. The system provides the police with everything they need to know to search for the person living with dementia. Continue reading The Herbert Protocol: keeping loved ones safe
What is Keep Safe?
Keep Safe is an award winning initiative developed in partnership with Police Scotland and I Am Me Scotland.
The initiative works with a network of local businesses to create ‘Keep Safe’ places in the community for anyone feeling lost, frightened or who has been a victim of crime. Keep Safe staff are trained to offer assistance if required.
What is the aim of the initiative?
The initiative aims to ensure that people feel safe when participating in community life. Many people can feel scared, frightened or vulnerable when out in the community and this can in many cases lead to social isolation.
Keep Safe aims to offer a network of safe places to help encourage people to participate in daily community life free from the fear of harassment and abuse.
Sometimes due to disability or age related illness, people can easily become disorientated, lost or become confused, especially in and around unfamiliar surroundings. Keep Safe can offer a reassurance that there is somewhere people can seek assistance if required.
What is the Keep Safe Card?
Keep Safe cards are available for elderly, disabled and vulnerable people. The cards detail information such as communication requirements, health concerns and who to contact in the event of an emergency.
The cards are particularly useful for people who have a learning disability or have dementia/Alzheimer’s.
How can a business become a Keep Safe place?
If a business wants to become a Keep Safe place, they can either contact their local Police Office directly to ask if they are supporting the initiative or they can contact I Am Me project on iammeproject@yahoo.co.uk.
What is involved?
If a business wants to become Keep Safe, a criteria form is completed and sent to Police Scotland to check that the premises are suitable to become Keep Safe. If approved, a training date will be arranged.
This can be tailored to suit each business and can be anything from 20 minutes to 2 hours depending on what the business would like delivered.
When staff training is complete, the Keep Safe sticker will be displayed in the window and the business will be advertised on I Am Me Scotland webpage and the new Keep Safe App.
A business pack is left with each Keep Safe place to ensure that any new staff can be made aware of the initiative.
What is the Keep Safe App?
A phone app called ‘Keep Safe Scotland’ has been developed and is available to download. The app maps out all Keep Safe places across Scotland and can help people to plan routes, highlighting Keep Safe places along the route.
The app also enables people to report hate crimes directly to the Police if they have been a victim or have witnessed an incident.
It is available via iTunes or Google Play.
Is there any cost involved?
There is no cost for participating businesses and all resources for the initiative are provided free from iammeproject@yahoo.co.uk.
Are there any restrictions?
A criteria form must be completed and all new Keep Safe places must be approved by Police Scotland. This is to ensure that Keep Safe places are safe and accessible places for people to seek assistance.
The Keep Safe premises information must be sent to the I Am Me project to ensure that there is a national database of Keep Safe places and that all Keep Safe places can be identified on the phone app.
The Keep Safe logo and resources must remain unchanged as this will ensure recognition when people are travelling across local authority boundaries. Local information and advertising can be inserted into the business packs, if required.
What is I Am Me?
I Am Me Scotland is a community based charity based in Renfrewshire. The Charity works with Police Scotland and Crown Office and Procurator Fiscal Office to raise awareness of disability hate crime.
Although the focus of the charity and the training resources is Disability, Keep Safe has been designed and developed to support any person who may require support and assistance when out in the community.
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More information on the charity is available from www.iammescotland.co.uk or twitter @IammeScotland
