Tag: health and wellbing

Letters: Children need our support, says NSPCC Scotland

Dear Editor,

Since April last year, our trained Childline counsellors have delivered more than 73,000 counselling sessions with young people who were struggling with their mental and emotional health. And more than 5,000 of these counselling sessions were with children aged 11 or under, an increase of nearly a third when compared to the year before.

However, as a charity that receives 90% of our income from the public, we know this is something we have not achieved alone, and we are hugely grateful for the dedication and commitment of our supporters, which allow us to continue this work.

One way that the public can support us is through the People’s Postcode Lottery, and since 2018, players have provided crucial funding to the sum of almost £6 million to the NSPCC to help the charity keep children safe and well.

The funds have been used to support our vital services across Scotland. This includes our schools service programme, helping primary school children speak out and stay safe from abuse, and our service centre in Govan, Glasgow, providing therapeutic services to families. And, of course, Childline, which provides free and confidential counselling to children and young people in need of support.

Childline is a lifeline for many children and over the past year thousands of young people have needed it more than ever due to the challenges they have faced during the pandemic. Local lockdowns, school closures, isolation and the impact of being separated from family and friends led many children to get in touch with the service over the phone or online.

The money raised by players of People’s Postcode Lottery has been invaluable in helping our frontline staff be here for children during their darkest hours.

Moving forward, as lockdown restrictions continue to ease, it remains vital that children and young people know where they can access help and support.

We can only make a difference for children together, and we simply couldn’t continue to run services like Childline without the public’s support.

To find out more about how you could help us be there for children through fundraising, get in touch at ScotlandFundraisingTeam@nspcc.org.uk

Paul Cockram,

Head of Fundraising for NSPCC Scotland

Bubbles: New support is ‘great news for stressed parents’

Campaigner Rebecca Bell is welcoming the news that the First Minister has told parliament that parents with a baby under the age of one can have assistance with childcare, using a new exemption for indoor visiting.

Rebecca Bell, the mental health spokesperson for the Scottish Liberal Democrats, had launched a petition to allow for ‘bubbles’ for those with newborns, like they have in place in England and Wales.

She was prompted to do so after speaking to her friends with children in Leith, and also during phone canvassing in recent months, she and other volunteers kept hearing how much parents were struggling.

Speaking after the announcement at Parliament, Rebecca said: “We’ve been campaigning for this since last year, so I’m delighted to hear that finally parents with a baby can get some much needed support in their homes.

“This is so vitally important for the mental health and wellbeing of new families, but also for the development of these babies to interact with other people. Most of these children were born during lockdown.

“However, I will continue to stay in touch with those I’ve spoken to, to see if this restriction edit goes far enough. My petition called for a full baby bubble – like families in England have enjoyed since the start of December, and since last month in Wales.

“What the Scottish Government are introducing is not quite the same. As we ease restrictions there may still be a case for allowing bubbles, such as the one we (rightly) offer here to single parents. I believe a bubble is a more stable arrangement for planning childcare in the next few months, so I will be monitoring the success of this policy closely.

“Now we have eclipsed a year into this pandemic, it’s easy to see why fatigue has set in and mental health has been put under strain. Anyone with a newborn is sleep deprived, and around 1 in 10 new mothers experience post-natal depression, and this condition can also affects fathers too, of course.

“Any parent knows that you need lots of energy for it, and just having someone able to come into your house to hold your baby so you can eat some food, or shower can make a huge difference to your wellbeing. That’s why so many I’ve spoken to are really struggling to juggle parenthood and working from home.

“I’m so glad we finally got some movement from the Government on this, I just wish they’d done so sooner.”

New Year, new fitness classes with Edinburgh Leisure

We know how popular our Les Mills classes are at Edinburgh Leisure, so we’ve introduced some new classes for you to try around our different venues, in 2020!

With both morning and afternoon sessions available, there’s a class to suit everyone!

Book your space or talk to a member of staff at one of the below venues.

For more information, click here.

Continue reading New Year, new fitness classes with Edinburgh Leisure

Mix up your fitness regime with a free fitness taster

Join in at ‘the biggest club in town’ with a free Les Mills class taster event, open to members and non-members, being held at Edinburgh Leisure’s Ainslie Park Leisure Centre on Wednesday, 27 March from 6pm – 9pm. Continue reading Mix up your fitness regime with a free fitness taster

Drumbrae Leisure centre reopens after £1m redevelopment

Drumbrae Leisure Centre reopened it’s doors yesterday following a £1 million revamp

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There’s something for everyone at Drumbrae now, no matter what age or stage. And just to prove that point Triple Olympian swimmer and Rio Silver medallist Robbie Renwick and 79 year old fitness instructor Helen Flannigan, helped to relaunch the Leisure Centre which officially reopens to the public on Monday.

Helen led a Pound workout, which fuses cardio interval training with drumming, and is new to Edinburgh Leisure and one of the few places you can experience the class in the city, while swimmer Robbie conducted a Masters Class for intermediate members looking to improve their front crawl.

Also on hand to ensure the day went without a hitch were General Manager, Emily Neil at Drumbrae Leisure Centre and Head of Customer Operations, Lindsay Renwick (who’s Robbie’s uncle!).

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PICTURES: Phil Wilkinson

Report reveals the dangers of ‘legal highs’

highs

Plans on how to tackle New Psychoactive Substances (NPS) – so-called ‘legal highs’ – and the health and social problems associated with them will be presented to city councillors next week.

In a report to the City of Edinburgh Council’s Health, Social Care and Housing Committee on Tuesday (January 27), elected members will learn about the multi-agency work going on to deal with the dangers linked to so-called “legal highs” in the capital.
The Council is working closely with Police Scotland, NHS Lothian, the Scottish Fire and Rescue Service, Edinburgh Alcohol and Drugs Partnership and the Community Safety Partnership to raise awareness.
The city-wide Community Improvement Partnership has drawn up a draft framework to monitor the use of NPS and how to respond to the developing situation.
One difficulty is the fact that while these substances are known to be harmful, they are often not illegal. Talks are ongoing with the Crown Office and Procurator Fiscal to agree how Trading Standards can best use legislation to tackle the problem.
The report highlights an increase in the substances being injected by existing drug users along with illegal drugs. This has been linked to a rise in wound infections, physical and mental health issues, violence and anti-social behaviour. Community safety wardens have also reported a rise in the number of discarded needles being found.
Councillor Ricky Henderson said: “There is a lot of concern about the availability of these substances, which have similar properties to illegal drugs and can be very dangerous to the people who take them. As well as harming their own health, they can also have a knock-on effect on communities because they are believed to cause anti-social behaviour, and users are leaving used needles in public places.

“Unfortunately, as they are sometimes not illegal, it is very difficult to stop shops from selling them. We’re talking to the Procurator Fiscal’s office about what we can do to change that.

“The Community Improvement Partnership will continue to raise awareness of the dangerous side effects of using New Psychoactive Substances so that people won’t use them. We’re committed to protecting people’s health and ensuring that communities are safe places to live in.”
Superintendent Matt Richards of Police Scotland said: “Frontline officers are trained to deal with cases where people have become aggressive and are acting in a chaotic and out of character way, but we are seeing an increasing link between this behaviour and NPS – and people being very unwell.
“We are also genuinely concerned about the information that Council and NHS colleagues have shared with us. Our message is simple: don’t take NPS and if you have and see any signs of infection, speak to a healthcare professional immediately.”