We are excited to share with you all our fresh programme of events for 2026-27!
We look forward to welcoming you to this year’s programme full of community connection, wellbeing in the wild, and mindful moments. 
Pop-in to say hi and pick up a copy of the programme or you can view our programme in full here.
As always, if you’ve any questions or would like to find out more, get in touch with us
hello@pchp.org.uk
0131 551 1671
Thousands of children each year end up in hospital through accidental poisoning. But in Take Action Today areas, emergency admissions for under-fives have dropped by almost 50% since 2013.
Take Action Today helps parents keep their young children safe from accidental poisoning through free safety resources, checklists and fact sheets.
Join the 1 million families who have benefited from Take Action Today – access free safety resources at www.rospa.com/home-safety/household-cleaning-products
SCIENTISTS in Glasgow are launching a new Cancer Research UK-funded project to find a way to stop bowel cancer cells hijacking the body.
The team, based at the Cancer Research UK Scotland Institute in the city, will focus on a particular system inside the human body, called the Wnt pathway – a key messaging system controlling growth.
A specific genetic mutation can cause this system to tell cells to grow and produce new cancer cells out of control.
The cancer cells then hijack the pathway and prevent it from growing healthy cells, effectively starving the body of healthy growth. This can eventually lead to the growth of tumours in the lining of the bowel.
Dr Nadia Nasreddin, researcher at the Cancer Research UK Scotland Institute in Professor Sansom’s group, said: “We hope to find a way to help healthy cells fight the mutant cell colonisation of the bowel lining, by using drugs that can promote healthy cell growth.
“If we boost the Wnt pathway in normal cells, we can improve their health, restore their capacity to divide and produce new healthy cells, and reduce the ability of cancer cells to grow in the bowel.”
With funding of £357,759 from Cancer Research UK, the project will help tackle bowel cancer, also known as colorectal cancer, the second most common cause of cancer deaths in the UK.*
Treatment options for bowel cancer remain limited, particularly for patients who are diagnosed at later stages of the disease, making the search for new therapies vital. Scotland is disproportionately affected by the disease with around 4,000 people diagnosed each year. **
Bowel cancer is caused by changes in the DNA (called mutations) in important cells in the intestine called intestinal stem cells.
These cells maintain the intestine’s lining by constantly dividing to replace old or worn-out cells with healthy new ones. These cells live within a specific environment, characterised by high activity of the Wnt pathway.
Eighty per cent of colon cancer cases are caused by mutations in a particular gene which is responsible for controlling the Wnt pathway environment and can be inherited.
When this mutation occurs, it creates a very high Wnt environment which results in the cell’s dividing and producing new cells faster than normal.
It also produces a molecule that deprives normal cells of their Wnt environment causing normal intestinal stem cells to stop dividing and producing new ones.
This results in mutant cells in the lining of the intestine that, over time, replace the normal cells eventually forming into a tumour.
The team will test four different molecules to determine which best supports the health of normal intestinal stem cells in mouse models.
Researchers will further develop any which show a clear benefit to survival into drugs for human use.
Science engagement lead at Cancer Research UK, Sam Godfrey, said: “We are delighted to fund this exciting research project which looks at the beginnings of cancer and seeks ways to prevent it developing.
“Harnessing our own body’s power to support healthy growth and halt the excessive growth which results in tumours could lead to the kind of breakthrough which transforms the way we see, and treat, bowel cancer.”
Bowel cancer kills 16,800 people in the UK (1,700 in Scotland) every year and is increasingly being diagnosed in younger people.*
A recent study by the American Cancer Society published in The Lancet Oncology showed early-onset bowel cancer rates in adults aged 25-49 are rising in 27 of 50 countries studied and are rising faster in young women in Scotland and England than in young men.**
Our clubs are back this week, with an exciting new addition to our What’s New Wednesday!
We will be running a 4-week boxing programme in partnership with BLAST Boxing at Fetlor for P6+.
To sign up, please fill in the link below:
CARERS TRUST are proud to be supporting #CarersWeek 2026!
This year’s theme is Building Carer Friendly Communities and from 8-14 June we’ll explore how to build communities that make a real and lasting difference to the lives of carers.
The first public prostate cancer testing sessions in Edinburgh as part of the newly launched Scottish Prostate Cancer Initiative are underway this weekend (Friday, April 17 – Sunday, April 19), following overwhelming demand across Scotland.
Olympian Sir Chris Hoy, Scotland rugby international Kenny Logan, and leading business figures launched the Scottish Prostate Cancer Initiative earlier last month, triggering a surge in bookings nationwide.
Nearly 10,000 men have already registered for free testing sessions being delivered across Scotland, with strong interest continuing as the Initiative expands into new regions.
The first Edinburgh-based sessions are taking place from Friday, April 17 to Sunday, April 19, marking an important step in bringing the Initiative to communities across the east of Scotland.
High levels of demand have been seen locally with testing events fully booked, reflecting the strong public appetite for accessible prostate cancer testing. One of the first men tested on Saturday was former Scotland rugby international player, Sean Lineen.
During the Initiative, 25,000 men aged between 40 and 80 across Scotland will be offered free PSA testing and will also be invited to donate samples to support vital research into prostate cancer.
Men can book a free PSA test at www.scottishprostate.com, with further dates and locations to be announced throughout 2026. The Initiative will certainly return to the Edinburgh area as additional sessions are scheduled.
The aim of the study is to explore how the existing clinical pathway for detecting and treating prostate cancer can be improved, with findings to be shared with NHS Scotland.
Each participant is asked to provide a simple blood sample to measure Prostate-Specific Antigen (PSA) levels. In addition, a range of more advanced diagnostic tests will be used across selected groups to improve understanding of genetic risk factors and other biochemical markers linked to prostate cancer.
EDX Medical Group, a leading digital diagnostics company, is delivering the Initiative in conjunction with the Graham Fulford Charitable Trust, a prostate health awareness charity.
The project is supported by a wide range of organisations and employers across Scotland, alongside prominent Scottish business leaders who have backed the Initiative since its launch including Sir Tom Hunter, Sandy and James Easdale, Lord Haughey, Eddie Hawthorne of the Arnold Clark Group and Andrew Malcolm, CEO of The Malcolm Group.
Professor Sir Chris Evans, founder of EDX Medical, said: “The response to this project continues to be extremely encouraging.
“The demand we are seeing in Edinburgh reflects what we have witnessed across the country — men are keen to understand their health, and there is also a strong willingness to contribute to research that could improve outcomes for future generations.”
The Scottish Prostate Cancer Initiative has already seen significant uptake during its early rollout, with thousands of men tested in initial sessions across the west of Scotland. The expansion into Edinburgh represents the next phase of a nationwide effort to make prostate cancer testing more accessible.
Further testing sessions will continue to be held across Scotland throughout 2026.
More details will be shared online www.scottishprostate.com.
A new UK Health Security Agency (UKHSA) study Maternal RSV vaccination and reduced risk of hospitalisation for babies in England 2024/25, clearly shows the maternal respiratory syncytial virus (RSV) vaccination programme is providing over 80% protection for newborn infants, including those born prematurely.
The study found vaccination at least 2 weeks before the birth gave 81.3% protection. A narrow range of statistical uncertainty, 78.9% to 83.4%, means there is high confidence in the protective effect of the vaccine.
The study, which analysed data from the first year of vaccine roll out (24/25), is believed to be the largest study in the world evaluating the effect of maternal RSV vaccination in preventing infants being hospitalised for RSV chest infection.
RSV causes bronchiolitis (infection and inflammation of the small airways of the lung) and is a major cause of hospital admission in infants.
The maternal vaccination programme is offered to women from 28 weeks of pregnancy to protect newborns.
The study followed nearly 300,000 babies born between September 2024 and March 2025, representing around 90% of all births in England during this period. Using routinely collected electronic health records, UKHSA researchers assessed the vaccine’s effectiveness in preventing hospital admissions. More than 4,500 hospitalisations occurred in this cohort, the vast majority in infants whose mothers had not been vaccinated.
Getting the vaccine on time was best (in week 28 or soon after that), as babies born at least 4 weeks after their mother was vaccinated had nearly 85% protection. But importantly, even vaccination later in pregnancy still gives some protection, with vaccination as close as 10 to 13 days before birth reducing hospital admissions by 50%.
The study, which will be presented today (18 Apri)l at the European Society of Clinical Microbiology and Infectious Diseases (ESCMID) global conference, also found that premature babies, who are particularly vulnerable to RSV, can be well protected, provided there is at least 2 weeks between vaccination and birth.
Matt Wilson, Epidemiologist at UKHSA, presenter and lead author, said: “Our evaluation of the first season of the programme in England gives important confirmation that maternal RSV vaccination is highly protective for newborn infants, over 80%, and that effectiveness reached nearly 85% when vaccination occurred at least 4 weeks before birth.
“These findings are also particularly important for preterm infants, who are among the most vulnerable to severe RSV infection. With sufficient time between vaccination and birth, we saw good levels of protection in these babies.
“Giving the vaccination early in the third trimester, as recommended by the World Health Organization, could protect most preterm infants, so it’s important that midwives and other healthcare workers offer vaccination on time with the schedule – and that pregnant women promptly take it up.”
Maternal RSV vaccine uptake in England continues to climb, reaching 55% during the study period and the latest data showing uptake rising to 64.1% for women who gave birth in November 2025.
Dr Conall Watson, Consultant Epidemiologist at UKHSA, one of the senior authors and national programme lead for RSV, said: “RSV can cause life-threatening chest infections for babies. Half of newborns will have caught RSV before they are a year old. As an expectant parent you have no idea if they are going to be severely ill or not.
“Our analysis of the RSV vaccination programme in England is important confirmation of the results from the clinical trial, but this study is 40 times bigger and clearly shows the hugely beneficial effect on reducing hospital admission.
“Getting vaccinated in week 28 of pregnancy or soon after gives excellent protection to both term and preterm babies when they are tiny and most vulnerable to severe RSV. The RSV vaccine gives a brilliant boost to the pregnant woman’s immune system so it can pass antibodies through the placenta and protect the baby from the day they are born.”
Three young people in Weymouth, Dorset have been confirmed to have meningitis B, known as MenB.
All-three individuals have received treatment and are recovering well. These cases are not linked to the recent outbreak in Kent and this outbreak is not showing the same speed of transmission or severity of illness.
Meningitis Now CEO Dr Tom Nutt says: “We are concerned to hear of three cases of MenB amongst young people in Weymouth. Our heartfelt thoughts are with them, their families, friends and the entire community. We wish them a good recovery, and are here to provide support at this difficult time.
“Meningitis can progress very quickly and its impact can be devastating. Meningitis can affect anyone. But students and young people are at increased risk because they are more likely to carry the bacteria that can cause meningitis, and because bacteria can spread more easily in settings where students and young people live, study and socialise closely together. We understand that these cases in Dorset are unconnected to the recent outbreak in Kent.
“We urge students, young people, staff and families to remain vigilant for the signs and symptoms of meningitis, which can include a high fever, severe headache, vomiting, sensitivity to light, confusion, cold hands and feet, limb pain, and, in some cases, a rash that does not fade under pressure.
“Symptoms can appear suddenly, in any order and can easily be mistaken for flu, a heavy cold or even a hangover. So, it is vital that anyone who is concerned seeks urgent medical help immediately.
“We welcome the swift response from the UK Health Security Agency (UKHSA) to identify close contacts and provide precautionary antibiotics and MenB vaccinations to young people in school years 7 to 13 in Weymouth, Portland and Chickerell. Rapid public health action is crucial in helping to reduce the risk of further cases.
“We are supporting the schools and wider community and are here to help in any way we can.
“We understand that this news may cause people concern or anxiety, especially so soon after the Kent outbreak. Meningitis Now is here to support anyone in the UK affected by meningitis. You can find our more from www.meningitisnow.org or by calling our nurse-led Helpline on 0808 80 10 388, open Monday to Friday.
“This situation is yet another reminder of why our “No Plan B for MenB” campaign is calling for greater protection for young people. MenB is one of the most common causes of bacterial meningitis in the UK. Its impact is devastating, cruel, life-changing – and preventable.
“Since 2015 only infants have been vaccinated against MenB but we believe all teenagers and young adults should be protected by this vaccine on the NHS. When it comes to MenB, there is no plan B – we must vaccinate young people to protect them.
“The MenB vaccine is currently only available for young adults privately through high street and supermarket pharmacies.
“If anyone is worried about they or a loved one may have meningitis, trust your instincts and seek urgent medical help. Acting quickly can save lives.”
THURSDAY 23rd APRIL drop-in from 10am – 1pm
CCC have joined forces with the MS Society to offer some activities, information and a safe space to come and have a chat and find out more.
Join us on the 23rd April 10am-1pm. No need to book
Drop in
A flexible way for Edinburgh residents to dip into gyms, pools and fitness classes this April – and discover movement that fits real life.
Edinburgh Leisure is inviting people across the city to step into spring with its Spring Pass – two weeks of unlimited access to gyms, pools and fitness classes for just £20.
Available to buy from the Edinburgh Leisure website until 30 April, the Spring Pass is ideal for anyone looking to move more but unsure where to start, getting back into a routine, or simply wanting the freedom to try different activities without a long-term commitment. It’s an easy way to explore and find what feels good.
A Stress‑Free Way to Start Moving
The pressure to have a plan, a goal, or the confidence to walk into a fitness space already knowing what you’re doing can feel intimidating.
The Spring Pass lifts that pressure. It gives you the freedom to move in whatever way suits your day – a quick swim before work, a weekend gym session or your first ever fitness class. No fixed routine and no need to know your “thing”.
Try something out and, if it’s not for you, simply switch it up.
Explore Edinburgh Leisure’s Venues
Spring Pass holders can enjoy all Edinburgh Leisure’s venues, including iconic fitness spaces such as:
Each venue offers a welcoming environment and a mix of activities suited to first‑timers, returners and anyone looking for a fresh start.
A Simple First Step Into Spring
No contracts. No long‑term commitment. No expectations.
Just an easy, affordable way to move a little more this spring – and discover what feels good along the way.
For more information or to purchase the Spring Pass, visit: Edinburgh Gym and Fitness Memberships – Swim, Climb, Golf
Edinburgh Leisure is a charity dedicated to helping people lead more active, healthy lives. With 75 sport, leisure and school venues across the city, it creates opportunities for everyone to get active and stay active.
