Tag: Health and wellbeing

Children are ‘hidden victims of coronavirus crisis’

  • More than 480 referrals made by the NSPCC helpline to Scottish agencies in three months following lockdown
  • Parental behaviour, neglect and physical and emotional abuse were the top concerns of adults contacting the helpline
  • Charity calls on Scottish Government to explain in detail how it will aid children’s physical and mental recovery from abuse and trauma suffered during the lockdown

A 40% increase in referrals made to police and local authorities in Scotland by the NSPCC helpline during lockdown highlights how children have been the hidden victims of the coronavirus crisis.

NSPCC Scotland reveals that in April, May and June the helpline made a monthly average of 161 referrals compared to an average of 114 in the three months prior to lockdown.

Last month, Scotland’s Deputy First Minister John Swinney announced plans for young people to return to school fulltime in August, and the NSPCC is today urging the Scottish Government to ensure the recovery plan addresses the full range of children’s needs. This includes ensuring schools are ready to help all children who need it – particularly those who may have suffered abuse, neglect or other traumatic experiences during the lockdown – and investing in children’s social care.

During the past three months, the helpline has heard from more than 22,000 adults across the UK concerned about the wellbeing of a child. 

This is an increase of almost a third (32%) on the monthly average for the three months prior to lockdown, with May seeing 8,287 contacts – the highest number ever made to the adult helpline in a single month on record.

During lockdown, the main issues confronting NSPCC child safety experts were parental behaviour, physical and emotional abuse and neglect.

Around 40% of the total contacts received were referred on to local authorities or the police for further action.

One adult who spoke to the NSPCC helpline during the lockdown said: “I’ve become increasingly disturbed by the noises coming from one of one my neighbours – it’s been getting worse since the lockdown. I can hear the mother shouting and swearing at her two little ones, it sounds vengeful and aggressive.

“Sometimes the mother locks her kids out in the front garden as punishment – last time this happened the youngest was crying hysterically for half an hour, it was awful. Is there anything you can do?”

These figures released by the charity today back up the findings of a research report it recently published – ‘Social Isolation and the risk of child maltreatment in the lockdown and beyond’ –  which underlines how increasing parental and family stress, reductions in protective services and the intensification of pressures on children’s emotional wellbeing caused by lockdown can increase the risk of abuse and neglect.

These traumatic experiences can have a devastating impact on children’s health and wellbeing and can stop children from learning, with the long-term effects following them into adulthood.

However, with the right support young people can recover and be helped to move on with their lives.

Now the charity is calling on the Scottish Government to urgently commit to a children’s recovery plan which sets out how it will:

  • Deliver the long-term investment in children’s services that is needed to provide high quality preventative and therapeutic services for children in every part of the country;
  • Invest in rebuilding support for families with babies and young children who have missed out on the normal support from health visitors during the lockdown;
  • Support multi-agency partnerships of the local authority, NHS and police to work with schools to review support for children known to the designated child protection lead, and identify those who continue to miss class with a plan to understand and address any barriers to a child’s school attendance;
  • Ensure schools are ready to help all children who need it – particularly those who may have suffered abuse, neglect or other traumatic experiences during the lockdown. Schools must be equipped to recognise and respond sensitively to children who have experienced physical or mental harm, trauma or adverse experiences when they return to the classroom. This includes putting in place support for teachers to enable them to support children confidently, including training on child development science and how trauma can manifest in behavioural problems or poor emotional regulation.
  • Support recovery services across health, education and social care, including through the provision of additional investment, to develop a coordinated plan to respond to what is likely to be an increase in need for therapeutic services.

Matt Forde, NSPCC Scotland head of service, said: “The increase in referrals from our helpline during the lockdown highlights how some families have been driven to crisis point and the home has become an increasingly unsafe place for some children.

“It is vital that children are now supported to help them recover from any mental and physical harm that many will have suffered these past few months.

“Government’s role is crucial, and it must put in place a detailed recovery plan that makes sure children and young people can receive the expert help they need if they have had difficult or damaging experiences.

“Putting children at the heart of recovery planning and taking this action quickly will mean the crisis of the last three months does not scar the childhoods of a whole generation.”  

The Hunger Virus

More people could die as a result of hunger linked to COVID-19 than could die from the disease, Oxfam warns in a new report published today.

The report, The Hunger Virus, reveals how an estimated 122 million more people could be pushed to the brink of starvation this year as a result of the social and economic fallout from the pandemic including through mass unemployment, disruption to food production and supplies, and declining aid.

This equates to as many as 12,000 people dying every day while the global mortality rate for COVID-19 reached a peak of 10,000 deaths per day in April 2020.

Eight of the largest food and beverage companies in the world have paid out over $18 billion to their shareholders since the start of 2020 – more than 10 times the funding required for food and agriculture assistance to the most vulnerable communities in the UN COVID-19 humanitarian appeal.

Danny Sriskandarajah, Chief Executive of Oxfam GB, said: “The knock-on impacts of COVID-19 are far more widespread than the virus itself, pushing millions of the world’s poorest people deeper into hunger and poverty.

“It is vital governments contain the spread of this deadly disease, but they must also prevent it killing as many – if not more – people from hunger.

“Governments can save lives now by funding the UN COVID-19 appeal and supporting the call for a global ceasefire to end conflict in order to tackle the pandemic. The UK could make a real difference by championing debt cancellation at the G20 finance ministers meeting next week to pay for social protection measures such as cash grants to help people survive.

“For many people COVID-19 comes as a crisis on top of a crisis. To break the cycle of hunger, governments must build fairer and more sustainable food systems that ensure small-scale producers and workers earn a living wage.”

The report reveals the world’s ten worst hunger ‘hotspots’, including Afghanistan, Syria and South Sudan where the food crisis is most severe and getting worse as a result of the pandemic. It also highlights emerging epicentres of hunger – middle income countries such as India, South Africa, and Brazil – where millions of people who were barely managing have been tipped over the edge by the pandemic.

For example:

  • Yemen: Remittances dropped by 80 percent – or $253 million – in the first four months of 2020 as a result of mass job losses across the Gulf. Borders and supply route closures have led to food shortages and food price spikes in a country that imports 90 percent of its food.
  • Afghanistan: Border closures have hit food supplies and the economic downturn in neighbouring Iran has caused a drop in remittances. The number of people on the brink of famine has risen sharply from 2.5 million in September 2019 to 3.5 million in May 2020.
  • India: Travel restrictions left farmers without vital migrant labour at the peak of the harvest season, forcing many to leave their crops in the field to rot. Traders have also been unable to reach tribal communities during the peak harvest season for forest products, depriving up to 100 million people of their main source of income.

Women, and women-headed households, are more likely to go hungry despite the crucial role they play as food producers and workers.

They make up a large proportion of already vulnerable groups, such as informal workers, that have been hit hard by the economic fallout of the pandemic and have also borne the brunt of a dramatic increase in unpaid care work as a result of school closures and family illness.

Kadidia Diallo, a female milk producer in Burkina Faso, said: “COVID-19 is causing us a lot of harm. Giving my children something to eat in the morning has become difficult.

“We are totally dependent on the sale of milk, and with the closure of the market we can’t sell the milk anymore. If we don’t sell milk, we don’t eat.”

Since the pandemic began, Oxfam has helped 4.5 million of the world’s most vulnerable people with food aid and clean water, working together with over 344 partners across 62 countries. The international agency aims to reach a total of 14 million people by raising a further $113m.

HUGE Lottery boost for North Edinburgh Childcare

An award of £770k announced today to North Edinburgh Childcare means they will be able to transform and expand their existing premises allowing them to increase the services they already provide and support even more families across the city.

The award is one of 32 groups across Edinburgh sharing in £1,299,743 of funding from The National Lottery Community Fund.

Welcoming the award, Theresa Allison, General Manager, North Edinburgh Childcare, said: “We are absolutely delighted at this award which will go towards a new build and renovations of our existing building which will enable us to create an additional 84 full-time equivalent childcare places.

“Once built this has the potential to support approximately another 200 parents/carers to lift themselves out of poverty.  We are so excited about the new build and refurbishment but even more excited that, for the first time ever, we will be able to offer a number of places to people aspiring to get into work or training. This is all possible thanks to people who play The National Lottery.”

Another capital organisation celebrating this morning is Leith’s Multi Cultural Family Base (MCFB), who receive £233,000 to deliver support services to vunerable children and families from primarily minority ethnic communities.

A spokesperson for MCFB said: We are thrilled to receive continued funding from the The National Lottery Community Fund Scotland to continue supporting children from minority ethnic communities in Edinburgh with the important transition from home and nursery to school via our 4-2-7 project.

“As well as supporting children one to one and, when possible, within school settings, this will include our continued work supporting parents by providing them a space to meet once a week to build confidence, make friendships and share experiences.

“We look forward to continuing to work with schools and families both virtually and, when we can, face to face at our offices and within schools.”

There’s also £8750 for Blackhall Playgroup, who will use their award to prepare for the easing of lockdown, putting measures in place to enable the return of some children and also provide resources to those who cannot.

And Granton Parish Church will be cooking with gas – the church on Boswall Parkway receives £10,000 for a new kitchen in the church hall, supporting numerous community groups who use the popular local facility.

Announcing today’s funding to 311 projects across Scotland, The National Lottery Community Fund’s Scotland Chair, Kate Still, said: “These awards, made possible by National Lottery players, recognise the incredible work happening  across Scotland to create stronger, more connected communities.   

“I am delighted that some of this funding will be used to transform existing buildings into vibrant community hubs that will carry on the strong community spirit that has been so evident in recent times. 

“National Lottery players can be proud to know that money they raise by buying tickets is continuing to make such a difference.” 

National Lottery players raise £30 million every week for good causes in the UK. The National Lottery Community Fund in Scotland is currently focusing its funding on those projects that supporting organisations and communities to respond to the challenge of COVID-19.  

To find out more visit www.TNLCommunityFund.org.uk       

Baby loss charity launches epic virtual race to Brisbane

This month, Held in Our Hearts is encouraging family, friends and colleagues to take up the baton and ‘PassTheK’ to reach our neighbours down under in Brisbane, Australia.

The charity should have been travelling there for an international conference to share learning about their work.

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Scottish dementia researchers head back into lab

Some dementia researchers funded by Alzheimer’s Research UK have been given special access to head back into the lab at the University of Edinburgh, while ensuring they comply with the strict government guidelines on social distancing.

While resourceful scientists funded by the UK’s leading dementia research charity were still managing to do some work in innovative ways wherever possible from home, this return marks a change in pace with scientists physically allowed back in the lab to resume their pioneering research.

Almost one million people in the UK are living with dementia, and over half of us know someone affected – in Scotland alone, 90,000, people live with the condition.

People with dementia experience memory loss, confusion, personality changes and gradually lose the ability to manage daily life. And sadly, it has become clear that people with dementia are more at risk of experiencing severe effects of COVID-19.

Dr Katie Askew from the University of Edinburgh is still predominantly working from home, but has now been given special dispensation to resume experimental work.

Research will not return to 100% capacity for some time, but this return will allow Dr Askew to set up new experiments and complete time-critical work after being unable to access the lab for three months. 

With only limited treatment options available for people who develop dementia, Dr Askew’s work funded by Alzheimer’s Research UK aims to examine the relationship between reduced blood flow and inflammatory changes in the brain.

It will also look for the effect these changes have on memory and thinking in Alzheimer’s and vascular dementia.

As there is considerable overlap in the symptoms caused by the two different forms of dementia, tests that can distinguish between these different underlying diseases could be very valuable.

Not only would this allow people with memory problems to receive a more accurate diagnosis, it would also help make sure the right people are being given potential future treatments at the right time.

Speaking about yesterday’s return to the lab, Dr Katie Askew from the University of Edinburgh, said: “Just as research is vital in the fight against COVID-19, we know that research will help us to overcome dementia.

“We are looking forward to resuming experiments that were postponed due to lockdown. I am able to return to the lab, albeit in a much-reduced capacity, to set up complete experiments and set up new long-term studies due to special dispensation from the University as my research project has significant time constraints.

“Dementia research has been hit hard and while we won’t be at full strength for a while, our lab is looking to start new experiments to complete our projects when it is safe for us to do so. We will ensure we are working safely to help avoid vital work like this stalling again as COVID-19 is still out there and remains a significant threat to our communities as well as our research.”

Any wider return to labs across Scotland will be based on Scottish Government guidance and approval from the host university.

Dr Rosa Sancho, Head of Research at Alzheimer’s Research UK, said: “Dementia affects 90,000 people in Scotland, and nearly one million people across the UK. Research carried out by dementia experts like Dr Askew is the only way we will create a world free of the fear, harm and heartbreak of the condition. 

“Alzheimer’s Research UK estimates it could be facing a potential drop in income due to COVID-19 of up to 45%, and dementia research has been hit hard by the pandemic. While all researchers will still have challenges to face, this physical return to work gives them and everyone affected by dementia hope that we will see progress in dementia research continue.

“Our funding for research like this would not be possible without donations from our fantastic supporters. Now more than ever, dementia research needs our backing. Anyone can donate to help dementia research regain momentum at alzres.uk/make-donation or by calling call 0300 111 5555.”

£4 million from UK Government to support delivery of social care in Edinburgh

Lothian MSP Miles Briggs has hailed over £4 million worth of UK Government funding to Edinburgh to provide vital support for social care to deal with the ongoing Coronavirus pandemic.

The Scottish Conservative and Unionist MSP, who is also his party’s Shadow Health Secretary, says the UK Government have provided £58 million worth of direct funding to care homes in Scotland, with over £4 million allocated to the capital’s health and social care partnership.

Mr Briggs says the millions of pounds in funding will help to protect care home staff and residents and help to reduce any transmissions and highlights the UK Government’s commitment to provide care homes with the protection they need.

He added that he hopes that the funding will be backed up by urgency from the SNP Government in carrying out widespread testing of care home staff, which was promised back in May by Jeane Freeman.

Commenting, Miles Briggs MSP said: “The UK Government have shown a real commitment to supporting our care homes through the Covid-19 pandemic.

“With Edinburgh receiving over £4 million in direct funding, this is a hugely welcome funding boost to help our care homes and their staff who have been on the frontline during this unprecedented crisis.

“Our care homes have cared for our loved ones and they deserve our full support to stop transmission of the virus.

“With the UK Government stepping up to provide funding for the capital’s social care, it must be backed up by the SNP carrying out rigorous testing which has been sadly lacking since they promised it back in May.”

Meanwhile, Briggs’ Westminster boss PM Boris Johnson has blundered into a row about care homes. Johnson has been widely criticised for saying “too many care homes didn’t really follow the procedures” during the coronavirus outbreak.

Mark Adams, CEO of charity Community Integrated Care, told the BBC the PM’s comments were “clumsy and cowardly” and he accused Mr Johnson of uttering ‘a massive untruth’.

Liz Kendall MP, Labour’s Shadow Social Care Minister, said: “There have been 30,000 excess deaths in care homes and at least 20,000 of these caused by Covid-19. 25,000 elderly people were discharged from hospitals to care homes without any tests whatsoever and frontline care workers were left without vital PPE.

“Staff who have gone the extra mile to care for elderly people, and experienced things the rest of us can only imagine, will be appalled to hear the Prime Minister’s comments.

“Boris Johnson should be taking responsibility for his actions and fixing the crisis in social care, not blaming care homes for this Government’s mistakes.”

Heart Research UK Healthy Tip – Portion size

Heart Research UK Healthy Heart Tip, written by Dr Helen Flaherty, Head of Health Promotion at Heart Research UK:

Control your portions!

If you need to lose weight, it is important to think about the quantity of food you are eating as well as the types of food and drink you choose. Food portions tend to be larger today than they were thirty years ago and this is contributing to weight gain. Controlling your portion sizes doesn’t mean you have to go hungry. We provide you with some tips to control your portion sizes and achieve a healthy weight. 

Weigh your portions

Check food labels for recommended portion sizes and make sure you weigh out the correct amount. If you are following a recipe, weigh out the ingredients correctly and take note of how many people the recipe serves. You can adapt recipes according to the number of people you are cooking to avoid having too much food. 

You can access more information about portion sizes from the British Nutrition Foundation: https://www.nutrition.org.uk/healthyliving/find-your-
balance/portionwise.html

Eat more slowly

If you eat quickly, it is easy to overeat. By eating more slowly, you allow time for your brain to recognise when you are full. If you still feel hungry after eating a meal, don’t be tempted to reach for the snacks. Wait twenty minutes after a meal for your food to settle. If you are still hungry after that time, try eating some fruit.

Use smaller plates or bowls

If you serve meals onto a large plate or bowl, you may find that you are serving portions that are too large. Try using a smaller plate or bowl for your meals and you should still feel satisfied.

Avoid supersize portions

When buying food, avoid being tempted by offers of supersize portions or discounts for buying in bulk on less healthy food and drinks. These offers can tempt you into buying more than you need, which can lead to you eating more than you need.

Turn off the TV

Try eating your meals and snacks away from the TV as this can lead to overeating because you are not thinking about your food.

New Zealand women complete the Dundee Virtual Kilt Walk while UK sleeps

While Scotland slept on Thursday night, two women finished the virtual Dundee Kiltwalk almost as far from the city as it is possible to get.

Jane Ludemann and her mother Elspeth walked up Signal Hill in Dunedin, New Zealand, three times. They began at 9:30am on Friday the 3rd of July New Zealand time, which is 10:30pm on Thursday GMT.

Signal Hill is 393 metres (1289 feet) high.

They chose this  hill because the monument at its summit is hewn from the rock on which Edinburgh Castle stands and they completed the Kiltwalk to raise money for research into low grade serous ovarian carcinoma at the University of Edinburgh.

When Jane was diagnosed with this rare form of cancer at the age of 32, three years ago, she discovered that there was very little research on the disease and no way to fund research into it anywhere in the world.

That spurred her to establish Cure Our Ovarian Cancer, a charitable trust dedicated to increasing awareness of LGSOC, supporting women with the disease and raising funds for research into better treatments and an eventual cure.

The University of Edinburgh is their UK charity partner. Cure Our Ovarian Cancer hopes to part fund a researcher at the University of Edinburgh to develop better laboratory models of the cancer to help find new treatments.

Since 2019 they’ve raised over £10,000 of their £25,000 target.

“University of Edinburgh’s Professor Charlie Gourley has provided national leadership of low-grade serous clinical trials in the UK.  Furthermore the work of his research team is world renowned,” Jane said.

“Historically low-grade serous ovarian cancer has been overlooked. It disproportionately affects young women and the overall survival rates are really poor. It’s really confronting to stare death in the face at such a young age. If I don’t survive, the thing I want most in the world is to know this won’t happen to someone else. Knowing that Professor Gourley is on the other side of the world, working hard to improve survival, makes life that bit easier”, says Jane. 

Elspeth said that when Jane was diagnosed she and her husband Grant said they would do anything they could to help her: “I didn’t think that would entail climbing a steep hill three times, but thankfully the Kiltwalk is about distance not speed.”

The rock at the top of the hill isn’t the only link between the Ludemann’s Kiltwalk and Scotland. Elspeth’s father, Charles Sime, was born in Dundee and lived there until he immigrated to New Zealand in his 20s.

“Although Dad ended up living in New Zealand longer than he lived in Scotland, he retained his accent and took great pride in wearing his kilt,” Elspeth said.

“He would be very sad that his granddaughter has cancer but so proud of what she is doing to raise awareness and funds. He loved tramping and would be tickled pink that we are doing the Kiltwalk with its link to him home town.”

Six hours and 30 000 steps later the pair finished their walk. Jane said: “I don’t think we’ll win any prizes for speed but we put in a lot of effort. I’m looking forward to an early night.

“I’m thrilled that we have been able to support the University of Edinburgh’s cancer research today, from the other side of the world.”

To make a donation to Jane’s efforts go to: https://dundeekiltwalk2020.everydayhero.com/uk/jane-3