key workers – The NEN – North Edinburgh News

Enertor gives thanks to RIDU at Western General Hospital

Save the Nation’s Soles campaign

Healthcare company, Enertor, has announced its support for the exceptional work of the Regional Infectious Diseases Unit and staff at the Western General Hospital in NHS Lothian. As part of the Save the Nation’s Soles campaign, Enertor wishes to give thanks to all those who have and continue to work hard on their feet throughout Covid-19.

Through the month of July, for every 5 pairs of protective insoles purchased at Enertor, 1 pair will be donated to the hospital staff. A presentation will then take place in August.

The Western General Hospital is the second group to receive thanks from the UK insole manufacturer. Through June, and the efforts of communities across the UK, 500 pairs of gifted Enertor insoles were secured for the District Nurses across Braintree, Witham and Halstead, Essex. A presentation is planned next week, to deliver the 500 insoles to the key workers.

Chris Stirling, Western General Hospital Director says: “The RIDU has been at the heart of the Covid-19 response, in fact Western General Hospital looked after Scotland’s first inpatient at the start of the pandemic.

“Every single one of our staff, from nurses to doctors, porters to therapists, receptionists to pharmacists have been working tirelessly, often in excess of 12 hour shifts to ensure their patients’ health and wellbeing. Our ward nurses can log over 20,000 steps in just one shift so you can imagine how tired their feet feel.

“We are incredibly touched by the support of Enertor and excited to receive the gifted insoles in August for our team. It’s so important we keep our staff on their feet and injury free. We know these insoles will help to keep our staff mobile, aid their posture and generally reduce the stress on their bodies.

“We are a real team at WGH and we want to show our appreciation in any way we can for their continued efforts at this incredibly tough time.”

Over a single day our feet can support hundreds of tons, with just one step exerting a force twice our body weight. Imagine the stress on the bodies of our health care professionals and community services through the pandemic.

In order to send thanks, Enertor needs your help …

The company are calling on local communities to nominate groups of people they’d like to thank – be it volunteers or key workers, hospital staff to Covid test and vaccination centre volunteers, postal staff emergency services to school teachers – groups who you think are making a huge difference with their efforts day in, day out.

Nick Beresford, CEO of Enertor says: “When the local community nominated the RIDU at Western General Hospital, we were thrilled, as we couldn’t think of more worthy recipients. They have been at the front line of this terrible pandemic, putting themselves at risk and we would really like to thank them for all their tireless and wonderful work.

“This campaign has been created to recognise the many extraordinary people across the country that have and are still spending a huge amount of time on their feet as key workers, volunteering, delivering, cleaning, caring and many other important roles through the pandemic.

“We all know how debilitating lower limb and foot pain can be – 90% of impact comes through our feet with little realisation of the damage this can do to the body. Now more than ever, injury prevention is becoming crucial, in helping to keep our key workers and community heroes healthy and mobile.

“We will come through this crisis, but the only way through is together and so we wanted to do our bit to support and send our thanks for their continued efforts and devotion to saving the nation.

“Our insoles are trusted by podiatrists, the NHS and the British Army. They help all kinds of foot and leg injuries and pain such as stress fractures, Achilles tendinopathy, plantar fasciitis and shin splints.”

HOW CAN YOU SHOW YOUR SUPPORT?

To give thanks to your local heroes and heroines, visit

https://enertor.com/pages/save-our-nations-soles

to nominate your chosen group and learn more about the vital role insoles can play in keeping you safe, mobile and injury free.

The nominated organisation must comprise over 50 people and each nomination will require the name of the group, a named contact to receive the donation if chosen and a short reason as to their hard work and deserving of the protective insoles. Each month, one chosen organisation will be presented with their donation.

Enertor PX1 insoles offer the first shock-absorbing technology specifically developed for protecting the feet and body from ground forces. Transmitting impact forces horizontally through the insole, shockwaves are greatly reduced through the leg.

The shoe inserts also help to improve lower limb alignment, reduce fatigue and reduce tibia and femur rotation and the stress this puts on joints. 91% of foot pain sufferers reported an improvement in the level of pain and 75% confirm that our insoles healed their plantar fasciitis.

Trusted by podiatrists, the NHS and British Army, the PX1 insole boasts flexibility, comfort, durability and energy returning properties, priced at just £34.99

www.enertor.com

One million children in key worker households live in poverty

New research published by the TUC (produced by Landman Economics) finds that over a million children of key workers are currently living in poverty.

The research, which used the government definition for key workers, found that in some regions more than a quarter of children in key worker households are living in poverty.

Key worker families in the North East have the highest rate of child poverty (29%), followed by London (27%), the West Midlands (25%) and Yorkshire and the Humber (25%).

Government policies could worsen key worker poverty

The TUC says the main reasons for key worker family poverty are low pay and insecure hours – factors that often coincide in occupations such as care workers, delivery drivers or supermarket staff.

High housing costs further reduce keyworker family budgets for essentials like groceries and utility bills. And support through Universal Credit is not enough to guarantee families avoid poverty.

Current government policies are likely to increase child poverty rates. Ministers have capped pay rises for key workers in the public sector, which in some cases will mean real wage losses. And the chancellor is planning to cut Universal Credit for low-income families by £20 per week in October.

The TUC warns that these policies will put the brakes on the nation’s economic recovery by curbing household spending. This will restrain business activity, and impact on wage growth for other workers across the economy.

TUC General Secretary Frances O’Grady said: “Every key worker deserves a decent standard of living for their family. But too often their hard work is not paying off like it should. And they struggle to keep up with the basic costs of family life.

“The prime minister has promised to ‘build back fairer’. He should start with our key workers. They put themselves in harm’s way to keep the country going through the pandemic. Now, we must be there for them too.

“This isn’t just about doing right thing by key workers. If we put more money in the pockets of working families, their spending will help our businesses and high streets recover. It’s the fuel in the tank that our economy needs.”

Support needed for key worker families

The TUC is calling on the government to guarantee decent living standards for key worker families by:

Raising the national minimum wage to £10 per hour immediately.
Ending the freeze on public service workers’ pay and give all public service workers a decent pay rise.
Funding the public sector so that all outsourced workers are paid at least the real Living Wage and get parity with directly employed staff.
Canceling the £20 cut to Universal Credit, which is set to hit low-income families in October, and set out plans to increase child benefit above inflation each year across the parliament.

– Children in poverty in key worker households by UK nation and region

Region	Children in poverty in key worker families	Proportion of children in poverty in key worker families
North East	56,198	29.1%
North West	101,481	18.1%
Yorks & the Humber	100,214	24.9%
East Midlands	80,653	21.2%
West Midlands	111,577	25.2%
East of England	83,719	15.5%
London	164,548	26.5%
South East	143,372	18.7%
South West	66,678	15.6%
Wales	60,378	23.4%
Scotland	74,376	18.7%
TOTAL	1,062,586	20.6%

One in 12 key workers do not qualify for statutory sick pay

A third of key workers (33%) say they do not get full sick pay
A quarter of key workers (24%) say they get only £96pw statutory sick pay
Extending sick pay protection to all workers would cost the same as just 1% of the test and trace budget

New analysis published by the TUC shows that one in 12 key workers (788,000 people) do not qualify for statutory sick pay (SSP) – despite many of them being at greater risk from Covid-19 due to the frontline nature of their job.

The analysis uses the same definition of key worker as government. It finds that those excluded from SSP include more than a quarter of cleaners (27%) and retail workers (26%); nearly one in 10 teaching assistants (9%); and over one in 20 care workers (6%).

Additional figures from polling for the TUC by BritainThinks show that, for those who self-identify as key workers in the context of the Covid pandemic, a third (33%) report getting less than full sick pay (below their usual rate of pay); and a quarter (24%) report getting only the minimal protection of SSP at just £96 per week.

The TUC is calling for sick pay to be reformed so that:

The lower earnings limit rule is removed, allowing the lowest paid workers to qualify for statutory sick pay for the first time
The rate of SSP is raised to at least the level of the real living wage (£330 per week).

Research commissioned by the TUC from the Fabian Society shows that the cost of raising SSP to the equivalent of the real Living Wage for employers without an occupational sick pay scheme would be around £110 per employee per year – or just over £2 a week.

The research also shows that removing the lower earnings limit, which prevents those on low earnings from accessing statutory sick pay, would cost employers a maximum of £150m a year. And it would cost the government less than one per cent of the test and trace scheme to support employers with this cost.

TUC General Secretary Frances O’Grady said: “Nobody should have to choose between going into work if they’re sick or should be self-isolating, or doing the right thing by staying home, but facing hardship as a result. But that’s the choice facing many key workers who kept the country going during the pandemic.

“Our key workers deserve the dignity, security and safety of proper sick pay and a decent pay rise too. They have earned it, often in frontline jobs with much greater risk of infection than those who could work from home.

“The cost of fixing the UK’s broken sick pay system is small compared to other public health measures like test and trace. Ministers must urgently make every worker eligible for statutory sick pay. And it should be worth at least as much as the real Living Wage.”

The Fabian Society report Statutory Sick Pay: Options for reform is available here:

https://www.tuc.org.uk/sites/default/files/SSPreport.pdf

Key workers: “We’re worth more!”

Ahead of the start of the 124^th STUC Annual Conference today, GMB Scotland members from care, nursing, refuse, ambulance, and school support services, will tell Ministers, “We’re worth more!” as they campaign for a rejection of the NHS and COSLA pay offers for 2021.

GMB workplace representatives in NHS Scotland and COSLA are strongly urging members to reject the respective 4 per cent and £800 increases for the lowest paid workers, arguing the Scottish Government can and should go further after the last twelve months.

The union’s consultative ballot in COSLA will run until Thursday 22 April, and until Wednesday 5 May in NHS Scotland.

GMB Scotland Senior Organiser Drew Duffy said: “We were told at the start of the pandemic that Scotland was prepared for COVID-19, but nothing could have been further from the truth.

“Health and social care staff tackled the first wave of COVID-19 without proper PPE, home carers were left without workplace testing until January, and school support staff were an afterthought in the education recovery plan.

“From PPE, testing, sick pay support and socially distanced working arrangements, everything that’s been put in place to protect the workers on which we all depend had to be fought for by the workers’ themselves.

“And after a wretched year and desperate decade, where their modest incomes have been cut by thousands of pounds, our members are prepared to fight again for their proper value, against pay offers that don’t amount to much more than a £10 a week increase for many.

“They’ve heard the applause and they’ve read all the political platitudes, but now they are telling the Scottish Government to listen, and the message is clear: “We’re worth more.”

The continuing safety concerns due to COVID-19 means that the 2021 annual Congress will be held as a digital event.

Delegates from over 50 affiliated unions and trades union councils, as well as the STUC equalities committees, will meet over three days to debate and agree new policies.

We will also hear from sisters and brothers from other Trade Union Centres and from politicians.

The STUC General Council will deliver its report of the past 6 months work.

The digital format of Congress limits some of the things we can do but we still have a busy fringe event as well as expo sessions from our sponsors and supportive organisations.

You can watch the whole of Congress live on Facebook or YouTube!

Roz Foyer, STUC General Secretary

Edinburgh’s Hogmanay thanks Scotland’s NHS and key workers

Edinburgh’s Hogmanay presents a fantastic Torchlight Moment pyro show as part of this year’s online celebrations

The dazzling Torchlight Moment is a stand-alone tribute to thank all of Scotland’s NHS and key workers who have worked so tirelessly and selflessly in 2020

The Torchlight Moment will be followed by Fare Well, the UK’s largest ever swarm drone show , narrated by an array of Scottish voices including David Tennant

After an unprecedented year, in which Covid-19 has impacted every part of society in Scotland, Edinburgh’s Hogmanay kicks off the celebrations with a heartfelt thank you from Scotland’s capital city to NHS staff and key workers throughout the country.

Opening this year’s series of virtual celebrations, the stunning multi-coloured flare display was ignited on the Esplanade at Edinburgh Castle. Historically the launchpad for thousands of fireworks lighting up the sky at midnight on Hogmanay, this year pyrotechnics came to life in a flaming tribute to NHS staff and key workers for their continued efforts throughout 2020 in keeping everyone safe and well.

Each letter depicts a different rainbow colour, taking inspiration from the rainbows Scotland the rest of the UK placed in windows and homes across the country during the past year to show support for NHS and key workers.

Over 193 custom-made flares were used to create the moment, which was facilitated by Titanium Fireworks, who have historically delivered Edinburgh’s Hogmanay firework midnight moment.

Forming part of a week-long programme of remarkable online celebrations, the Torchlight Moment will be followed by a three-part film, titled Fare Well, to be released in the three days leading up to Hogmanay.

Fare Well brings together the words of Scots Makar Jackie Kay, the music of NiteWorks from the Isle of Skye, the voices of acclaimed Scottish talent including David Tennant and the pioneering drone technology and filming of Celestial to create the UK’s largest swarm drone display.

Taking inspiration from Scotland’s land and air, the new work takes viewers on a breath-taking visual journey with the help of 150 individual drones from the Scottish Highlands to the capital city, Edinburgh – a journey that closes the year on 2020 and looks forward to a more hopeful year of 2021.

We swing aroon and turn tae the day.

We give thanks fir solidarity;
Drap parcels tae food banks.
Clap oor haunds frae balconies

fir the gift o’ nurses.

Jackie Kay, Fare Well, Edinburgh’s Hogmanay 2020

Charlie Wood & Ed Bartlam, Directors of Underbelly who produce Edinburgh’s Hogmanay, commented: “At the end of a year no one could have imagined, it was important that we started our week of Edinburgh’s Hogmanay celebrations with a heartfelt thank you to those across the UK who have worked so tirelessly to keep us safe during 2020.

“The NHS and our key workers have provided an immeasurable level of help and support and this Torchlight Moment sings Scotland’s gratitude with flaming torches in front one of our greatest national monuments, Edinburgh Castle.”

City of Edinburgh Council Leader, Councillor Adam McVey, said: “Edinburgh is the home of Hogmanay and this year’s digital celebrations will continue, albeit very differently.

“This is a fantastic and innovative way to pay tribute to all of our front-line workers – both in Scotland and across the globe – that have done so much to support us and keep us safe throughout this year.

“To our NHS staff and key workers – for those in the labs working on vaccines, those in food preparation and delivery, for our refuse collectors, postal workers, supermarket workers, police and so many more – we thank you all from the bottom of our hearts and hope that 2021 brings with it positive change as we battle to suppress and eradicate this virus.

Depute Leader, Councillor Cammy Day said: “We all clapped for carers and put up rainbows in our windows over the summer and now we light rainbow torches to show our enormous gratitude at the end of this year of tremendous strain on all of our communities.

“It’s wonderful to see this excellent online programme coming to life so that the undisputed Home of Hogmanay can still reach so many people around the world. It will serve as a virtual invitation for everyone to look forward to visiting us again when we’re all able to travel and live more freely in the future.”

Culture Secretary Fiona Hyslop said: “Scotland is the world-renowned home of Hogmanay and every year thousands of people, right across the globe, look forward to the spectacular of Edinburgh’s Hogmanay to welcome in the New Year.

“Although we’re not able to come together physically to bring in the bells this year, we can enjoy a fully digital programme that continues the tradition of celebrating Hogmanay with poetry, music and performance. I encourage everyone to take part in this year’s series of virtual events and celebrate Hogmanay safely at home.”

Paul Bush OBE, VisitScotland’s Director of Events, said: “The Torchlight Moment is the perfect way to kick off Edinburgh’s week-long programme of online Hogmanay celebrations while also recognising the incredibly work of our NHS and frontline workers in keeping us safe and well this year.

“By taking this year’s celebrations online, audiences around the world will still be able to enjoy the magic of Edinburgh’s Hogmanay while staying safe at home.”

Fare Well will be show on www.edinburghshogmanay.com at 7pm each night from 29-31 December 2020.

“After The Applause, Pay Up For Key Workers”

Public service staff will deliver a petition to the First Minister Nicola Sturgeon today on behalf of thousands of key workers, calling on the Scottish Government to recognise the sacrifices of those on the frontline by bringing forward a coronavirus bonus payment.

GMB Scotland members are campaigning for a £2 an hour additional payment for every hour worked during the lockdown, a figure that would deliver a retrospective payment of as little as £85 extra per week on the basic rate of pay for frontline staff, many of whom earn just under or over £10 an hour.

The union is citing the example of the devolved Welsh Government’s decision to award carers a £500 bonus, retailers like Tesco who have increased the basic rate of pay by 10 per cent for their staff, and the decision of the French Government to award health workers a €1,500 bonus – in addition to a further €8 billion worth of additional funding for future pay increases.

GMB Scotland Senior Organiser for Public Services Drew Duffy said: “The frontline response to the coronavirus crisis across the public sector has been largely delivered on the backs of the lowest paid – cleaners, carers, porters, refuse workers and school support staff.

“When the rest of the country went into lockdown they kept our hospitals clean, lifted our rubbish, looked after the kids of our other key workers in hub schools across Scotland, and they continue to face the crisis within a crisis that is social care.  

“And while the magnificent public support they received really boosted their morale, they are rightly looking for recognition from the employers and politicians who were quick to clap them.

“Employers and governments across the UK and beyond are starting to appreciate the real value of this low-paid army and are committing to tackling the damage caused by a decade of cuts.

“If Scotland really aspires to be a nation of fair work, then the Scottish Government should do the right thing and recognise that there needs to be a reckoning on the value of these workers.

“The message is loud and clear: After the applause, pay up for our key workers. It’s the very least they deserve for everything they have done for all of us.”

Binmen are tops in new key workers game

The unsung heroes and heroines of the Covid-19 pandemic are bin men and women, alongside couriers, shop workers, journalists and of course, doctors and nurses.

A brand new edition of Top Trumps, honouring Covid 19 key and essential workers, has hit shops … with profits being donated to the NHS.

The game lauds and applauds those key and essential workers who have saved Britain during the Pandemic : from doctors and nurses to less high-profile professions such as pest controllers, midwives and sea merchants.

Politicians, who are depicted on the Top Trumps card by Boris Johnson, and journalists are included too.

One of the four scoring sections in the new game is ‘Unsung Heroes’, and in that category it is the partners of key workers who come out top – they get a maximum 10 out of 10. Binmen and binwomen scored a point lower at nine out of ten. Less unsung heroes like doctors (8), nurses (8) and police (7) fare lower.

In its card citation Top Trumps point out that being a partner of a key worker is “stressful and worrying”.

Claire Simon, from Top Trumps, says: “Every single front-line key worker is, of course, a heroine and hero and would each score 10 (or even 11) out of 10 by any reckoning if we had devised a Hero category.

“By creating an Unsung Heroes category we have ensured varying marks, in keeping with the game’s core classic and its unique and much-loved branding.

“From our research, which has been intensively conducted over the six weeks, partners of key workers came out top in this section. There are an estimated one and a half million partners of key workers in Britain so that’s a lot of Unsung Heroes and Heroines.

“Many of the public we spoke to pointed out that partners too are putting their lives on the line, albeit less directly. As well as being there physically they are providing emotional support. For that reason we listed partners as key workers.”

Other features of the pack include:

Binmen and binwomen being named as the most stylish of all the key and essential workers. That’s because of their fluorescent and neon clothing, which is all the fashion rage at the moment. They score 10 /10 on ‘Street Style and as they are also runners-up in the ‘Unsung Heroes’ section then they are very much the card not to bin during the game! In its card citation Top Trumps point out that refuse collectors first began their profession during the 14^th Century Black Death that swept across Europe and add: “In terms of facing a pandemic, refuse collectors can rightly joke that ‘we’ve bin here before’ ”.

Stuffy politicians score just 1/10 in the style section – with teachers not doing much better and obviously in need of extra fashion homework. They get just 2/10. Journalists only manage 5/10.

Religious and spiritual workers are listed by Top Trumps as the very oldest profession of all the workers in the pack in an ‘Originated’ section. They are named as first appearing in 50,000 BC, which easily wins this category.

Gadgets and gizmos winner is the journalist, which isn’t surprising bearing in mind the lightening media advances with Zoom and the like – since the start of the Pandemic. The profession with the least formal gadgets and gizmos includes mental health workers.

One of the very best cards to hold in Top Trumps terms is the courier. That’s because it features very well in the Originated section: at 2400 BC. It also scores very highly in the Unsung Heroes category – notching up a nine out of ten. And in terms of gadgets and gizmos it is only shaded by journalists.

Claire Simon, who is Global Marketing Manager at Top Trumps, added: “We are sure that this new edition of Top Trumps can lift spirits in this very challenging and unprecedented period of time, as well as raising money for the NHS, with all net proceeds going direct to the NHS.”

In this version of the celebrated card game 30 different professions are listed, each marked in typical Top Trumps style across four separate scoring categories:

Unsung Heroes: In the pack Top Trumps explains: “All our key workers are heroes, but some jobs are often less praised. We want to make sure key workers are given the praise they deserve”.

Street Style: Top Trumps explains: “Neon is in! This section assesses the gear and garb a key and essential worker wears”.

Gadgets & Gizmos: “What equipment the worker uses and carries to do their job.”

Originated: “The year in which profession was established (or in the case of religious and spiritual workers the estimated year: 50,000 BC!).

Top Trumps Britain at its Best: Key Workers is available priced £5 exclusively at: winningmoves.co.uk and comes in a twin deck (the other pack being Britain at its Best: Hospitals.

Psychologists publish advice for key workers and their children

Psychologists from the British Psychological Society have produced guidance for key workers and their children on navigating the emotional effects of the Covid-19 pandemic.

Children are likely to be feeling unsettled by the upheaval of the Coronavirus lockdown, and some may be more worried because of having a parent who is still going to work.

The booklet for parents gives some straightforward tips on how they can help their children to cope, which includes:

Asking the child questions and talking to them
Giving the child choices over their time
Making their routine as consistent as possible, particularly at bedtime
Helping them to understand and share their feelings

It also provides guidance on finding a balance between work and home life at a time when there are many different things for key worker parents to manage at once.

Dr Bethan Phillips, a member of the Division of Clinical Psychology’s Faculty for Children, Young People and their Families that produced the documents, said: “We are all extremely grateful to key workers for the role that they are playing in keeping everyone safe and the country going, but we also appreciate the vital role of parenting.

“We hope that this information will be helpful to both key workers and their children in navigating these difficult times.”

In addition to the guidance for parents, there is also an advice sheet aimed at their children to answer the questions they may have.

It explains what a key worker is and why they have to spend so much time at work right now, discusses Coronavirus safety on a basic level and encourages young people to talk to their parents when they’re feeling worried.

Advice for keyworker parents – helping your child adapt

Key workers recognised in new pack

A brand new edition of Top Trumps, honouring Covid 19 key and essential workers, hits shops tomorrow (Monday 4^th May).

The game lauds and applauds those key and essential workers who have saved Britain during the Pandemic: from doctors and nurses to less high-profile professions such as pest controllers, midwives and sea merchants.

Politicians, who are depicted on the Top Trumps card by Boris Johnson (controversial! – Ed.) and journalists are included too.

One of the four scoring sections in the new game is ‘Unsung Heroes’ … and in that category it is the partners of key workers who come out top. They get a maximum 10 out of 10.

Binmen and binwomen scored a point lower at nine out of ten. Less unsung heroes like doctors (8), nurses (8) and police (7) fare lower.

In its card citation Top Trumps point out that being a partner of a key worker is “stressful and worrying”.

“By creating an Unsung Heroes category we have ensured varying marks, in keeping with the game’s core classic and its unique and much-loved branding.

Other features of the pack include:

Binmen and binwomen being named as the most stylish of all the key and essential workers. That’s because of their fluorescent and neon clothing, which is all the fashion rage at the moment. They score 10 /10 on ‘Street Style and as they are also runners-up in the ‘Unsung Heroes’ section then they are very much the card not to bin during the game! In its card citation Top Trumps point out that refuse collectors first began their profession during the 14^th Century Black Death that swept across Europe and add: “In terms of facing a pandemic, refuse collectors can rightly joke that ‘we’ve bin here before’ ”.

Stuffy politicians score just 1/10 in the style section – with teachers not doing much better and obviously in need of extra fashion homework. They get just 2/10. Journalists only manage 5/10.

Religious and spiritual workers are listed by Top Trumps as the very oldest profession of all the workers in the pack in an ‘Originated’ section. They are named as first appearing in 50,000 BC, which easily wins this category.

Gadgets and gizmos winner is the journalist, which isn’t surprising bearing in mind the lightening media advances with Zoom and the like – since the start of the Pandemic. The profession with the least formal gadgets and gizmos includes mental health workers.

One of the very best cards to hold in Top Trumps terms is the courier. That’s because it features very well in the Originated section: at 2400 BC. It also scores very highly in the Unsung Heroes category – notching up a nine out of ten. And in terms of gadgets and gizmos it is only shaded by journalists.

In this version of the celebrated card game 30 different professions are listed, each marked in typical Top Trumps style across four separate scoring categories:

Unsung Heroes: In the pack Top Trumps explains: “All our key workers are heroes, but some jobs are often less praised. We want to make sure key workers are given the praise they deserve”.

Street Style: Top Trumps explains: “Neon is in! This section assesses the gear and garb a key and essential worker wears”.

Gadgets & Gizmos: “What equipment the worker uses and carries to do their job.”

Originated: “The year in which profession was established (or in the case of religious and spiritual workers the estimated year: 50,000 BC!).

Top Trumps Britain at its Best: Key Workers is available priced £5 from Monday (4^th May 2020) exclusively at: winningmoves.co.uk and comes in a twin deck (the other pack being Britain at its Best: Hospitals* see further below for some details on this pack).

And the dual Britain at its Best deck really IS Britain at its very best, literally. The whole product – from concept to completion – is 100% British, with the cards being manufactured by The St Austell Printing Company in St. Austell, Cornwall.

The £5 price for both packs includes postage and packaging and the Top Trumps makers say £1.50 from each dual deck sold go to the NHS.

TOP facts about Top Trumps Britain at its Best: Hospitals pack

The pack features UK Hospitals from Britain’s oldest (Barts – 1123) to one of its very newest (Nightingale, London – 2020).
It’s full of fascinating facts and the 30 different cards feature leading UK hospitals inc. Guy’s, Addenbrooke’s, St Thomas’, John Radcliffe and Manchester Royal Infirmary.
The four scoring categories are: ‘Year Opened’ ; ‘No. of beds’ ; ‘Fame’ and ‘Rainbow Rating’.
St. Thomas’ Hospital, where PM Boris Johnson was successfully treated during his recent Covid 19 confinement, features as one of the 30 cards.
Highest in the ‘Rainbow Rating’ section is Great Ormond Street Hospital, which has a rainbow theme throughout.
But arguably Britain’s most crucial hospital is a moving one, not a permanent structure or even semi-permanent as in the case of the Nightingale. And that is ‘The Ambulance’ (which features on its very own card)..
.. ‘The Ambulance’ has just the one bed so in terms of Top Trumps that’s a low rating. However it comes high in the OLDEST category, dating back to 1487.

TOP facts about Top Trumps generally:

Top Trumps first hit shelves 40 years ago – very rapidly becoming a playground sensation.
Early packs tended to focus on younger themes such as ‘Awesome Animals’ and ‘Pop Stars’ but by the 1990’s – with the initial fan base now in their twenties – all themes became universal.
More than 1,000 different topics have had the Top Trumps treatment .. from ‘007 James Bond’ to ‘Great British Bakes’ to ‘Harry Potter’.
The biggest selling deck ever is ‘Dinosaurs’ – and overall more than 50M packs of Top Trumps have been produced since inception.
The game is enjoyed and played all over the world and in 16 different languages, including Icelandic and Japanese.
Top Trumps is owned and produced by Winning Moves UK, which makes a host of other classic Brands too, including: Official versions of MONOPOLY, Waddington’s Number One playing cards and very many more.

Edinburgh Airport COVID-19 testing centre opens to Key Workers

Key workers can now use the newly opened testing centre at Edinburgh Airport to confirm if they have the coronavirus.

A drive-through coronavirus testing facility has opened at Edinburgh Airport as part of the Government’s UK-wide drive to increase testing for thousands more NHS and other key workers.

The Edinburgh Airport site sits alongside a rapidly expanding network of testing sites being set up around the UK, and is operating on an appointment-only basis for NHS staff and other key workers. The facility will be piloted for its first few days of operation.

This follows the launch of the Government’s partnership with universities, research institutes and companies to begin rollout of the network of new ‘lighthouse’ labs and field testing sites across the UK, with 27 testing sites opened to date.

This network will provide thousands more PCR swab tests – which are used to identify if you currently have the virus – for critical key workers, starting with NHS front line staff. This means those who test negative for coronavirus can return to work as soon as possible, and those who test positive are able to recover.

The Edinburgh Airport testing centre is being operated in partnership with Sodexo, with Boots medical staff administering some tests and others being self-administered. Those tested will receive their results within 48 hours.

Health Minister Lord Bethell said: ““The UK Government is rapidly scaling up the national effort to boost testing capacity for coronavirus to protect the vulnerable, support our NHS, and ultimately save lives.

“This new service will help end the uncertainty of whether NHS and social care staff need to stay at home meaning those who test negative will be able to return to work.

“This is a national effort and we are proud to be working with a number of partners to turn this ambition into a reality and roll out additional capacity to where it is needed.”

Scottish Secretary Alister Jack said: “This new testing centre at Edinburgh Airport, which is funded by the UK Government, will help key workers continue to do their lifesaving work and look after those who need it most.

“The UK Government has committed to expand our testing capacity right across the UK and this new centre is now one of three in Scotland. We will continue to work for everyone in the UK to save lives and protect our NHS.”

Professor John Newton, National Coordinator for the UK Coronavirus Testing Strategy, said: “New testing sites such as this one are a key pillar of our 5-pillar plan to scale up testing, and are critical in supporting NHS staff who are isolating at home to return safely to work if the test is negative.”

“This is a brilliant example of industries and businesses turning their resources to creating and rolling out mass testing at scale, which will help to deliver on our aim of carrying out 100,000 tests a day across the UK by the end of the month.”

A Boots UK Spokesperson said: “We feel incredibly proud to be supporting COVID-19 testing for critical workers in Edinburgh.

“Boots has been at the heart of UK healthcare for 171 years and has always come forward to support the community in times of need. Our team in Edinburgh is no exception. Some of our colleagues have already stepped forward to volunteer to run this COVID-19 testing station, which will start testing its first critical workers today.”

Sean Haley, regional chair of Sodexo UK & Ireland said: “Sodexo teams have moved quickly to set up COVID-19 testing centres as part of the industry-wide effort to tackle the COVID-19 pandemic.

“The opening of the Edinburgh Airport testing site will mean more frontline NHS and other staff can be tested and cleared to provide care to those who need it most. I am proud of our colleagues who are working together with pace and dedication to support the NHS.”

Gordon Dewar, Chief Executive of Edinburgh Airport said: “We understand that the coronavirus pandemic is a national issue that requires a national response, and we realise we have a role to play by offering up space that can be utilised for crucial testing.”

The Government is also urgently working on setting up a home-testing service for critical key workers, supported by Amazon’s logistics network and other commercial partners.