Tag: rescue

Thomas meets SAS staff who saved his life after crash

A youngster who suffered serious injuries after being trapped in a vehicle after a serious crash has been reunited with the SAS responders who helped him.

Thomas Bell, of Edinburgh, aged 12, was involved in the incident on May 8, which left him with serious injuries.

His dad, Grahame and Charlie, aged 10 at the time, were also in the vehicle.

The incident involved multiple SAS assets, including East SORT and EMRS West.

Thomas visited the Scottish Ambulance Service’s ScotSTAR base to meet up with some of the staff who assisted him, including Dr Tim Parke and Dr Jon McCormack.

Mum Orla said: “It was a very exciting day for the boys and an emotional one for my husband and I. Thomas spent more than 4 months in hospital, undergoing multiple complex surgeries.

“All of the emergency services helped save our son’s life and the NHS doctors and nurses gave him his future back. As parents, we simply could not have asked for better care, empathy and expertise. We will be forever grateful to all of the people involved and I will never stop saying thank you to you all.”

Dr Tim Parke, an emergency doctor who was on duty at the EMRS base in Glasgow, said: “Throughout the entire incident, Thomas remained completely calm and controlled. This was extraordinary considering the trauma of the accident and the injuries sustained.

“It was an honour to have played a small part in that journey.”

Resilence Fund support for city’s small third sector organisations

DEADLINE FOR APPLICATIONS: FRIDAY 4 JULY 1pm

Phase 2 of the City of Edinburgh Council Resilience Fund aims to provide short-term support to small and medium third sector organisations in Edinburgh that work to end poverty.

Grants: Up to £10,000

Deadline: Fri 4 Jul, 1pm

Phase 2 aims to provide short-term support to small and medium third sector organisations in Edinburgh that work to end poverty. The fund helps organisations facing financial difficulties maintain their services and financial stability during 2025/26.

Eligibility criteria 

To be eligible for this funding organisations must

  • deliver activities which address or prevent poverty and which align with the city’s End Poverty in Edinburgh framework (further details about this can be found in the fund specification)
  • be headquartered in Edinburgh
  • have registered charitable status or be a non-profit distributing organisation
  • have a gross annual income of less than £500k
  • be experiencing financial challenges, for example
    • an unexpected drop in grant funding or other income
    • an unexpected increase in running or delivery costs, or
    • an unexpected increase in service demand
  • not be in receipt of funding from the Council through Phase 1 of the Third Sector Resilience Fund or the Income Maximisation Grant Programme.

Organisations can apply for up to £10,000 from this phase of funding. Funding can be used to support core costs or to maintain service delivery where this is at risk from the loss of expected grant funding, increased costs or unexpected increases in demand.

You will find detailed information in the Third Sector Resilience Fund Specification and a summary in our Frequently Asked Questions.

How to apply

To apply, please complete our online form.

Before submitting your application, you will need to confirm that you have read

Please attach a copy of your most recent years Annual Accounts via email to policyandinsight@edinburgh.gov.uk.

Applications close at 1pm on the 4th of July 2025.

If you have any questions, please contact policyandinsight@edinburgh.gov.uk

Storm Arwen: Community comes to the aid of stricken log boat

Storm #Arwen tossed the Iron age logboat around and damaged the side. Granton:hub received reports that the boat, which was moored in #Granton #harbour, was in danger.

A big community effort resulted in the boat being paddled away from the harbour wall. Volunteers then pulled it across onto the shore where it is now safe from any further storms.

There will be a repair carried out with the School of Ancient Crafts following ancient methods so an update will follow.

In the meantime we would like to thank everyone for their kind support. Without the local community this would not have been possible.

Granton:Hub

Five star lifesavers!

Woman rescued from icy water off Gypsy Brae following boys’ prompt action

boys
Officers in Edinburgh have commended the actions of five 11 and 12 year-old boys after they saved a woman’s life.

Last Sunday, at around 4.30pm,  a woman entered the very cold waters at Gypsy Brae and started to swim out towards Fife, despite advice from Wacka Ceesay (11), Andrew Bell (11), Tyler Jay Anderson (12), Aleks Czernecki (12) and Kian McGee (11) not to do so.

When the boys were unable to persuade the woman against swimming, one of the lads raised the alarm with an adult and asked for the Coastguard be called.

Police and Coastguard arrived and the boys were able to identify the area where the woman was and provided footage of the woman entering the water to assist the emergency team.

The woman was rescued from the water and taken for treatment and is now recovering from her ordeal.

The boys were very helpful to police and they were taken for a tour of Drylaw Police Station as a reward – officers then took them home and praised them in front of their parents.

The boys told police that they knew what to do due to what they learned at The Risk Factory, a Police Scotland-sponsored interactive safety centre. The Edinburgh-based initiative is sponsored by local authorities and emergency services in the Lothians area, and is available to all local children in Primary 7.

Police Sergeant John Brock said: “This incident could have quite easily had a tragic ending. Due to the swift and conscientious actions of these boys a woman’s life was saved. Police Scotland commends them for their bravery and quick thinking. Thank you to these five boys for demonstrating outstanding community spirit.”