Tag: letters

Letter: Support reading for blind people at your local library

Dear Editor, 

Here at The Royal National Institute of Blind People (RNIB), we’re gearing up for our biggest volunteering opportunities of the year so far.

This June, we’re asking people to take just an hour of their time to help make a vital difference for blind and partially sighted people in their local areas.

Reading and books are absolutely crucial to children with vision impairment and blind and partially sighted adults. Books in accessible formats like audio and large print help to open up a world of information and learning and open doors to the imagination which would otherwise remain hidden.

As RNIB’s Library Services Manager, I am writing to encourage you to take part by visiting your local library between 1-14 June to check what books are available for blind and partially sighted readers.

It only takes a few minutes to ask the library staff and find out whether their library shelves include large print, braille or audiobooks.

We’d then love you to share what you find with us using our quick online form, or by calling our Library Team.

This simple action will help RNIB build a far clearer picture of accessible library services across the UK and support our work to ensure everyone can enjoy reading in a format that works for them.

I would be grateful if readers who would like to take part could complete our quick form online at https://tinyurl.com/7xh99ppz, or if you are unable to do so online, contact our Library Team byy calling 0303 123 9999.

For this opportunity RNIB is working alongside The Big Help Out – a UK-wide event which runs from 5-8 June and sees millions of volunteers turn out to help community causes.

The first two weeks of June also marks Hi-Vis Fortnight – an event organised by charities Share The Vision and RNIB; this celebrates library services for blind and partially sighted people and highlights the importance of books in accessible formats.

By taking just a little time to support us, you will be helping improve access to vital reading resources for blind and partially sighted people in communities right across the country. Thank you!

Yours faithfully,

Lara Marshall
Library Services Manager, RNIB

Letter: Remembering Quintinshill

Today (22nd May) marks the anniversary of the worst rail disaster in British history, the Quintinhsill Rail Disaster, which will be marked at an annual Memorial Service at Rosebank Cemetery in Edinburgh on Saturday.

Taking place on 22nd May, 1915, at the height of the First World War, the event occurred at the Quintinshill signal box near Gretna Green. A train packed with nearly 500 members of the Leith Battalion of the Royal Scots, travelling from Larbert, collided with a local passenger service at Quintinshill.

Straight afterwards, a Glasgow-bound express train smashed into the wreckage at Quintinshill, setting off a devastating fire which engulfed the troop train. In total, around 226 people were killed (215 of whom were soldiers) and a further 246 people were injured.

Some bodies were never recovered, having been wholly consumed by the fire, and when the bodies of the men of the Royal Scots were returned to Leith, they were buried together in a mass grave in Rosebank Cemetery.

As we mark the 111th anniversary of this disaster, it is heartening to see continued recognition of this event, which I suspect few are aware of.

Yours faithfully

Alex Orr

2/3 Marchmont Road

Edinburgh EH9 1HZ

Letter: Apathy reigns supreme

Dear Editor,

The recent Scottish Parliament election should give all of us cause for reflection. With voter turnout sitting at just over 52 per cent, nearly half of eligible voters chose not to participate in one of the most important democratic exercises in our nation.

The troubling story here is the growing sense of apathy and disengagement among the public, with the election campaign failing to ignite the public’s enthusiasm.

The SNP clearly won the election, but attracted only about one in five potential voters, and the Labour Party one in ten.

When almost one in every two voters stays at home, it raises profound questions about trust in politics, political representation, and whether our institutions are genuinely connecting with the people they serve.

Low turnout should not simply be accepted as the new normal. It should serve as a warning sign that democratic participation in Scotland cannot be taken for granted. The alarming lack of interest is a crisis that should concern all parties, and they should devote themselves to addressing this apathy by engaging the public.

If this trend continues unchecked, the Apathy Party risks further eroding the legitimacy of our institutions and undermining public confidence in government, paving the way for the rise of more extreme parties.

Politics must once again become something people feel part of — not something done to them from a distance.

Yours faithfully,

Alex Orr

Marchmont Road

Letter: Deaf Awareness Week

This week (4-10 May) marks Deaf Awareness Week, which aims to raise awareness of deafness while celebrating the UK’s deaf community.

This year, the National Deaf Children’s Society is highlighting the early signs of deafness in children and reassuring families that support is available from the very start.

Deafness isn’t always obvious. Many children have mild or one‑sided hearing loss, meaning signs can be easy to miss. A child might not respond when called, struggle in noisy places, seem tired or withdrawn, or miss parts of conversations.

Spotting these signs early can be life‑changing. With the right support, deaf children can develop strong communication skills and grow up confident and proud of who they are. Sometimes, simply knowing what to look for makes all the difference.

If you’re worried about your child’s hearing, it’s important not to dismiss concerns. The National Deaf Children’s Society supports families of children with all levels of hearing loss, offering free information and advice.

Find out more at https://www.ndcs.org.uk/ or call the charity’s free Helpline on 0808 800 8880.

Yours faithfully,

George Crockford,

Chief executive of the National Deaf Children’s Society

Letter: Mental Health Awareness Week

Dear Editor

Next week (11-17 May) marks Mental Health Awareness Week 2026. Led by the Mental Health Foundation, it is focused on the theme “Take Action”, looking at what proactive steps individuals can take to promote good mental health.

This is a major, nation-wide initiative involving schools, workplaces, and communities.

The week also marks the first few days for our newly elected MSPs, and, as a collection of organisations that support vulnerable children and young people, we urge them to make mental health a key priority.

Parity of esteem is vital, ensuring mental health needs are addressed with the same urgency as physical ones. Placing mental health on an equal footing with physical health will ensure equal access to funding and quality of care. While recognised in policy, Scotland still fails to fully achieve this.

Our mental health services frequently face lower funding relative to their disease burden, and if unaddressed, those children and young people with mental health problems will carry this into adulthood.

The costs of failing to address mental health problems are well-established. For example, those affected are more likely to be unemployed, homeless, get caught up in the criminal justice system, or be in extremely costly long-term care.

Our new MSPs have an incredible responsibility, and we urge them to make tackling the mental health emergency their number one priority.

Yours faithfully

The Scottish Children’s Services Coalition:

Patrick Gannon, Falkland House School

Lynn Black, LOVE Care

Kenny Graham, Spark of Genius

Niall Kelly, Young Foundations

42 Charlotte Square

Edinburgh EH2 4HQ

Tel: 0131 603 8996

Letter: Accessible Voting

Dear Editor,  

Scottish voters will be going to the poll to elect a new parliament on 7 May – but, as someone with sight loss, I know from experience that doing so independently and in secret is far from guaranteed.   

Voting is still an overwhelmingly visual process of reviewing a list and marking a cross in a box. Without the right equipment, many blind and partially sighted people are forced to rely on others to mark our ballot in the way we wish, compromising our privacy and dignity. That simply isn’t good enough in a modern democracy.   

After a number of years of RNIB Scotland working with election authorities, voters across Scotland who are blind or partially sighted will have the option to use a new card ballot paper overlay at this year’s Scottish Parliament election.   

The new overlays are designed to fit the ballot paper for each constituency and region and have embossed and braille numbers with cut-out boxes that align with each box on the ballot paper. The accompanying audio allows voters to listen to an audio recording of the candidate list as many times as is necessary to make their mark confidently in the right box.  

We welcome the introduction of this after so many years, with the ballot card and audio having been tried and tested by people with sight loss. This is a unique offering to voters in Scotland and will enable people with sight loss to cast their vote more independently and in secret.  

The overlays will be available at every polling station in Scotland. We strongly urge anyone wanting to use the overlay to listen to their audio ballot paper before going to vote on 7 May. These can be accessed by visiting your local council website, ringing their election office, or via the RNIB Scotland elections webpage. 

A truly fair election is one where everyone can vote independently and with confidence. On 7 May, blind and partially sighted voters deserve nothing less.  

Sincerely,  

Anna Tylor  

Chair of Trustees at the Royal National Institute of Blind People (RNIB) 

Letter: The D’Hondt Disaster

How the Independence Movement is Mathematically Defeating Itself

Dear Editor,

For years, the Scottish independence movement has been shackled by a fundamental misunderstanding of Holyrood’s Additional Member System.

The persistent rallying cry of “SNP 1, SNP 2” has not only failed to maximise our representation, but it has actively handed parliamentary power to unionist MSPs. The electoral facts prove that millions of pro-independence votes are being routinely wasted.

In the 2016 Scottish Parliament election, the SNP dominated the constituency ballot, winning 59 seats. However, the regional list system mathematically penalises parties that win heavily in the constituencies.

Consequently, the SNP’s 953,587 regional list votes yielded a mere 4 list seats.

The D’Hondt formula rendered nearly a million peach ballot votes virtually worthless, allowing the Scottish Conservatives and Scottish Labour to use their regional votes to sweep 24 and 21 list seats, respectively.

In 2021, this electoral tragedy repeated itself. Pro-independence voters dutifully followed the dual-vote strategy, helping the SNP win a record 62 constituency seats.

Yet, despite securing over a million votes on the regional list, the SNP returned just 2 regional MSPs. Over a million independence votes were essentially torched. This inefficiency directly enabled unionist parties to comfortably fill the regional lists, artificially inflating their influence in parliament.

I argue that some still argue for an “Indy 1, Indy 2” approach, assuming that backing the same dominant independence party on the peach ballot paper will secure victory. It fundamentally does not work for the Scottish Independence movement. Continuing to pile list votes onto a party that has already swept the constituencies is mathematically self-defeating.

To break this deadlock and secure a genuine pro-independence supermajority, our strategy must evolve. We must stop throwing our regional votes into the D’Hondt trap. The formula for success is clear: it has to be Indy 1 on the constituency ballot, and Alliance to Liberate Scotland 2 on the regional vote on the peach ballot paper.

Only by splitting our votes strategically can we capture the regional lists, lock unionist MSPs out of Holyrood, and finally deliver the parliament Scotland needs to secure its independence.

Yours for Scotland,

Dhruva Kumar
Glasgow Region List Candidate
Alliance to Liberate Scotland
Former MP Candidate, Glasgow, ALBA Party

Letter: It’s time for politicians to hear deaf people

Dear Editor, 
 
With just a few weeks to go before a pivotal election in Scotland, now is the time to urge our local representatives to address a major public health issue that has been overlooked for far too long.  
 
As I write, the needs of the 1.5 million people in Scotland who are deaf, have hearing loss or tinnitus are being neglected, and this must change.  
 
It’s unacceptable that people with hearing loss in Scotland face routine waits of up to 18 months for audiology services, with some forced to wait even longer.  
 
Too often, healthcare services in Scotland also fail to meet the communication needs of deaf people and those with hearing loss, such as providing an accessible alternative to the telephone, or a BSL interpreter for those who need one. This leaves people unable to fully understand or participate in decisions about their own care.   
 
We want Scotland to be a country where the 1.5 million deaf people and people with hearing loss or tinnitus are fully included and treated with respect, dignity and understanding.  
 
In the run up to the election, RNID is urging people to raise these issues with their local MSP candidates. You can contact your local candidates by visiting www.rnid.org.uk or by clicking here.
 
Regards,  

Ruth MacLeod,  

Health Policy Advisor, RNID – the national charity supporting people who are deaf, have hearing loss or tinnitus.  

Letters: The Scottish Government must play their part in keeping children safe online

Dear Editor,

Two recent court cases in the US have marked significant moments in the battle to keep young people safe online.

First, Meta was fined hundreds of millions of dollars for misleading users over the safety of its platforms for children. Then Meta and Google were sued for damaging a woman’s mental health in childhood through addictive platform designs.

These cases highlight how children and families are being failed by tech companies, who continue to expose young users to sexually explicit material, contact with dangerous adults and other preventable risks.

The online world is a central part of children’s lives. They learn, play and socialise online, and enjoy many benefits from social media, messaging apps, gaming and other digital platforms.

Children often don’t distinguish between their online and offline lives – both shape who they are. But alongside the positives, the online world also brings serious risks to children that must be addressed.

The scale of risk and online harm children face is unacceptable. Effective regulation of social media, a power reserved to Westminster and introduced through the Online Safety Act, is vital but not the only solution. The Scottish Government must play their part too. Devolved child safety online policy must also keep up with the fast‑changing digital landscape, including the challenges posed by generative AI.

The NSPCC wants to see a Scotland‑wide approach that brings together early years, education, child protection, the voluntary sector and law enforcement to keep children safe online.

We are calling on the next Scottish Government to provide clear leadership on prevention by retaining a strong, ambitious National Child Safety Online Action Plan, updated every year, aligned with the Online Safety Act, which is a key part of a wider public health approach to preventing child sexual abuse.

Yours sincerely,

Joanne Smith

NSPCC Scotland Policy Manager

Letters: RNID Public Transport Survey

Dear Editor,

Public transport is an essential part of everyday life, but for people who are deaf or have hearing loss – journeys by services like trains, buses or ferries can be a huge challenge.

Inaccessible audio announcements, a lack of deaf awareness amongst staff and no signed information for deaf British Sign Language (BSL) users are all barriers that can lead to stress, missed journeys and seriously affect people’s confidence when using public transport.

That’s why RNID is asking people who are deaf and have hearing loss to take part in a major survey. Whether you use public transport regularly, or avoid it altogether, your answers will be invaluable and help us work with transport providers, policymakers and technology companies to push for real, lasting improvements.

The survey, which closes on the 13th April, is part of a major project funded by the Motability Foundation and can be accessed here: www.rnid.org.uk/transport-survey  

Kind regards,

Victoria Boelman, Director of Insight and Policy, RNID

– the national charity supporting the 18 million people in the UK who are deaf, have hearing loss or tinnitus.