Are you a fan of 80s music? Child Bereavement UK needs you! The charity is looking for music fans to give 4 hours of their time to volunteer at Let’s Rock Scotland selling wristbands and raffle tickets to raise funds to support its work.
In return volunteers get to enjoy the rest of the event free of charge!
Child Bereavement UK helps families to rebuild their lives when a child grieves or when a child dies. The charity supports children and young people (up to the age of 25) when someone important to them has died or is not expected to live, and parents and the wider family when a baby or child of any age dies or is dying.
The line-up for Let’s Rock Scotland, which takes place on Saturday 18 June 2022 at Dalkeith Country Park, Edinburgh, includes Squeeze, OMD, Tom Bailey (Thompson Twins), Level 42 and Nick Heyward.
Lorna Murchie, Community Projects Manager for Child Bereavement UK said: ‘This year Child Bereavement UK is delighted to be the beneficiary charity of some of the UK’s most anticipated festivals and gigs.
“Our volunteers tell us they have a great time soaking up the festival atmosphere and seeing their favourite acts, in return for just a few hours of their time helping us raise much-needed funds. If you’re tempted to join in, please visit our website to find out how you can get involved .’
For more information on volunteering or to see a full list of events please visit:
Thousands of volunteers have been supporting efforts to tackle the COVID-19 pandemic through the National Volunteer Co-ordination (NVC) hub established a year ago.
The NVC hub was established by the Scottish Government and NHS Scotland last February. Run by the British Red Cross, it has so far provided more than 7,000 individual volunteer shifts over that period, totalling more 54,000 volunteering hours.
This has complemented the major contribution of community volunteering organised by third sector interfaces (TSIs), NHS volunteers and others across the country, towards the national COVID response effort over the past two years.
Health Secretary Humza Yousaf met with volunteers in Edinburgh today who have helped carry out a range of roles, including support with vaccination, community testing and shielding support, as well as shopping, prescription delivery and social contact.
Mr Yousaf said: “Volunteers have played an essential role in helping to deal with the impact of the pandemic on communities all over Scotland – in many ways they are the unsung heroes of our collective effort.
“The contribution they make, from providing necessary support for shielders and maintaining vital human contact at the start of the pandemic, to assisting the roll-out of the vaccination campaign and handing out COVID test kits, has been pivotal to our collective response. They typify the incredible spirit we have seen throughout the pandemic from communities across Scotland and the individuals and organisations working within them.
“The creation of the NVC hub has ensured that volunteering support is targeted to areas where it is most needed – and participation levels have been remarkable.
“It has complemented the vital role played by a wide range of local community groups and individuals. We owe all volunteers a huge debt of gratitude for their efforts.”
And NHS volunteers have provided 52,000 volunteering hours to Health Boards across the country the last quarter of last year, alone.
Alan Stevenson, CEO, Volunteer Scotland: “Volunteers have given enormous support to others throughout this pandemic and in doing so, mitigated some of its worst effects.
“They’ve provided the response our society needed at that time, from being the first to react – delivering food, prescriptions and social connection – to helping provide successful national testing and vaccination programmes. As Volunteers address the long-lasting impact of COVID-19, largely for the most vulnerable in society, they will need our support and recognition.”
British Red Cross volunteers and staff are ready to support communities as Storms Dudley and Eunice approach Scotland.
Met Office weather warnings have been issued for Wednesday and Thursday with 90mph winds possible in parts.
Red Cross teams are based across Scotland and support communities as part of coordinated responses with local authorities, the emergency services, and the voluntary sector during emergencies.
Just recently, volunteers and staff helped people affected by power outages following Storm Arwen, providing information, food and other essentials to vulnerable people who were in need.
Anyone affected by the storms can contact the British Red Cross Support Line on 0808 196 3651 for emotional support.
British Red Cross tips for preparing for floods
Before floods
Check for local flood warnings online or during weather forecasts and stay up to date with local radio and TV news. You can also download the British Red Cross emergency app here.
In a Covid-secure way, check in with vulnerable people to see what help they need and, if you are vulnerable yourself, let others know you may need a little help yourself.
Buy or prepare sandbags, move vehicles to higher ground and prepare an emergency kit of items you might need in the event of crisis – a first aid kit, drinking water, a snack, a torch and some waterproof clothes might be some choices.
Get hold of a battery or wind-up operated radio to stay in touch with the latest developments.
Make sure you have all the medicines you need, especially if you have conditions such as diabetes or angina.
During floods
Don’t walk, swim or drive through floodwater and don’t walk on sea defences or riverbanks.
Avoid contact with flood water as it can be contaminated with sewage and don’t allow children to play in or near it.
Contact your local council. They will be helping your community respond to this crisis and may have arranged emergency shelter.
After floods
Throw away any food that has been in floodwater.
Boil tap water or use bottled water until you’re told your water supply is safe.
If you’re struggling and need a little help call the British Red Cross support line on 0808 196 3651.
It’s a new year and we hope you’re all raring to go. If you’ve made resolutions, we hope you stick to them!
HoNC certainly intends to. We won the right to purchase the building. We’ve been awarded enough funds from the Scottish Land Fund to pay for it. We have a business plan. We have architects. We have lawyers. We have volunteers at the ready. What we need now are the keys and then it’s all hands on deck.
“So when will that be?” you ask.
Many of you have no doubt seen that the pupils and staff of Victoria Primary School have now moved into their new building and may be wondering when HoNC will be moving in to the old one.
Well the fact is that it probably won’t be until well into March. There are still formalities to be completed and final contracts to be signed, but the HoNC board is on the case and we’re hoping that there will be no hiccups before we can get started on the real work on the ground.
With the onset of Omicron some of our interim projects about which you might have been expecting news, had to be postponed, but they’re waiting in the wings for the right moment to get going again.
We’ll bring you news about them as soon as we have it.
In the meantime, sign up for free membership if you haven’t already done so, which will give you the right to have your say at the next AGM, (if you live in the area of benefit). Or sign up as a volunteer and offer your skills to the community.
Once we have the keys, we will need all sorts of practical help to get the Heart fit for purpose and operating the way the community would like to see.
We’ll need helping hands to clear any old school “rubbish” left behind, more to clean and paint, and repair and all sorts of things, so get ready.
The Hearts Women Team supporting Big Hearts’ Gift Back initiative: Clare Williamson & Addie Handley.
This Christmas, hundreds of families in Edinburgh and the Lothians will receive Christmas essentials thanks to the incredible efforts from 274 award-winning Big Hearts Supporters linked to Heart of Midlothian’s charity.
For this second Christmas of the pandemic, Big Hearts Community Trust is going on the road to bring some festive cheer directly to people’s homes. The official charity of Heart of Midlothian FC, based at Tynecastle Park, is focusing on providing practical support to various groups referred by the local schools, social workers and partner charities.
Earlier this month, Big Hearts revealed that the number of referrals had doubled since 2020. A call for Hearts fans to become Big Hearts Supporters enabled the charity to meet the demand.
No less than 274 individuals have come forward to help, by volunteering in their own time or at the Stadium, making Big Hearts’ festive activity the biggest to date. A total of 400 pre-cooked Christmas dinners, 500 bags of tailored presents and 100 food parcels will be distributed in time for Christmas Day.
Hearts fans volunteering at the Stadium to wrap up and prepare Christmas gifts deliveries
Andrew McKinlay, Big Hearts Trustee and Chief Executive of Heart of Midlothian FC said: “The festive holidays can be a challenging time for many. Throughout the pandemic, football has remained a force for good and it’s heart-warming to see a record number of Hearts fans joining Big Hearts, the charity operating from Tynecastle Park, to help provide much needed support across the community this Christmas.
“They are a credit to our Club, and our shared family and community values. A big thank you to all involved, your kindness doesn’t go unnoticed.”
Hearts Players visit Broomhouse foodbank. L- R: Taylor Moore, Craig Gordon, Alex Cochrane & Beni Baningime.
Craig Wilson, General Manager at Big Hearts Community Trust said: “Our priority this Christmas is ensuring families can enjoy a fresh Christmas dinner from the comfort and safety of their home and receive presents to open on Christmas morning.
“The fact that our charity saw a 100% increase in requests for support this year just shows how many more individuals are struggling over the festive season – with some facing poverty or loneliness for the very first time.
Big Hearts Christmas Hampers distributed to isolated older people in partnership with the SPFL Trust.
“Alongside our dedicated staff team, Big Hearts Volunteers are playing a vital role in supporting the 500 adults and children on our list. Our award-winning Big Hearts Supporters Movement was designed to do just that: use the incredible power of football to join forces and help others in need.
“We are incredibly grateful to all who decided to sign up and donate their time and skills to make a difference. Thank you.”
With 12 days until Christmas, St James Quarter has launched a brand-new gift-wrapping service, giving shoppers a helping hand this festive season.
Located on level one of the Galleria, the St James Quarter volunteers can expertly wrap gifts of all shapes and sizes, in exchange for a charity donation for the shopping destination’s charity partners, Radio Forth’s Cash for Kids and Deaf Action.
The festive service launched on Saturday where the volunteers were joined by The Rolling Hills and St Giles choirs who serenaded shoppers with Christmas tunes to help spread the Christmas cheer this year.
The gift-wrapping service will continue until Christmas eve and is available from Thursday to Sunday, 12 noon until 6pm. St James Quarter is also spreading the festive cheer to the lower levels, with unlimited parking for £5 after 5:30pm this festive season.
UK Government and NHS announce ambition to recruit tens of thousands of volunteers to help get jabs into arms
All eligible adults will be offered the chance to get their jab before the New Year
PM: “We need you to come forward again, to work alongside our brilliant GPs, doctors, nurses and pharmacists, to deliver jabs and save lives.”
Prime Minister Boris Johnson and NHS Chief Executive Amanda Pritchard have joined forces to issue a rallying cry for thousands of volunteers to come forward and support the NHS booster campaign.
The public will be urged to play a crucial role in the UK’s fight against Omicron by helping the NHS to get as many jabs into arms as quickly as possible. No task will be too small to contribute towards this national effort.
Yesterday the Prime Minister announced a new ambition for every eligible adult to have the chance to get their jab by the end of the year.
This follows new evidence that suggest the Omicron variant is extremely transmissible and two jabs are not enough to protect against infection.
The new target means the NHS will be massively ramping up its vaccine operations in the next few days, and it needs as many people as possible to play their part by volunteering their time to help.
Urging volunteers to sign up to the booster drive, Prime Minister Boris Johnson said: “As part of our Get Boosted Now vaccination drive we need to increase our jabbing capacity to unprecedented levels.
“But to achieve something on this scale, we need your help. So today I’m issuing a call for volunteers to join our national mission to get jabs in arms.
“We need tens of thousands of people to help out – everyone from trained vaccinators to stewards.
“Many thousands have already given their time – but we need you to come forward again, to work alongside our brilliant GPs, doctors, nurses and pharmacists, to deliver jabs and save lives.
“So please come forward if you can.”
There are now almost 3,000 vaccine sites across the country, staffed by over 90,000 volunteers who have given up 1.1 million hours of time so far.
In the next week hundreds more sites, mobile units and pop ups will be springing up across the country. These will be in a range of locations that will make it as easy as possible for people to get boosted – such as at football stadia, shopping centres and racecourses.
This means volunteers are needed to perform tasks such as registering patients, managing queues and giving jabs.
Last week the NHS announced a recruitment drive for 10,000 paid vaccinators and support staff and that it will also work with the Royal Voluntary Service and St. John Ambulance to recruit a further 40,000 volunteers for roles such as admin and stewarding queues.
In the last week, 13,000 people have come forward as steward volunteers, and a further 4,500 people have registered their interest to take up one of the 10,000 paid vaccinator roles. The government and NHS now want to go even further.
NHS England Chief Executive Amanda Pritchard said: “In the face of the grave threat posed by the new Omicron strain of Covid, the NHS is seeking to offer vaccine booster protection to all eligible adults by the end of the month, a new national mission in which everyone can play their part.
“There is no doubt that our incredible NHS staff will rise to the challenge but we cannot do this alone – we need the support of the public and volunteers to once again support the Covid vaccination programme.
“Since we first issued a call to arms we have had an outstanding response but Omicron has shifted the goalposts and we are now renewing our plea to the nation – I would urge anyone who has volunteered in the past, or considered it but not taken up the opportunity, to come forward now – search ‘NHS vaccine team’ today and find out more about how you can help us save lives.”
Health and Social Care Secretary Sajid Javid said: “To help us turbocharge our COVID-19 booster programme we need people across the country to join our national mission to get boosted now.
“We are so grateful to the volunteer vaccinators from organisations such as St John Ambulance and Royal Voluntary Service who have made an enormous contribution by administering millions of vaccinations since the start of this year.”
People interested in either a voluntary or paid role are urged to visit the Join Vaccine Team page or search ‘NHS vaccine team’. People who volunteered or were trained for paid roles previously are also being contacted to help out again.
Scotland’s First Minister will make a statement on the situation in Scotland this afternoon. It’s expected that restrictions will be strengthened here as Omicron variant cases continue to rise sharply across the UK.
Armed forces step up to support vaccination drive across UK
Over 100 personnel are currently supporting the vaccine rollout in Scotland. 600 Armed Forces personnel have been made available to NHS England to administer vaccines, working in small teams across the country.
In addition, around 50 personnel will provide planning support to NHS England. 41 planners will deploy to NHS trusts across England and 10 logistics experts will be based at NHS England’s headquarters in London.
Defence Secretary Ben Wallace said: “We have rapidly mobilised Service personnel to work alongside our dedicated health services to accelerate the vaccine booster programme.
“Our Armed Forces will help to get vaccines into arms as quickly as possible as we continue our efforts to support the UK’s response to the pandemic.”
Health and Social Care Secretary Sajid Javid said: “We are turbocharging our COVID-19 booster programme to offer every adult in England a vaccine by the end of the year to protect people from the Omicron variant.
“Building our defences through boosters is a hugely important national mission and it’s brilliant to see the military supporting our NHS staff in our race against the virus.
“Please get boosted now to top-up your immunity and keep yourself and your loved ones safe this winter.”
Chief of the Defence Staff Admiral Sir Tony Radakin said: “I’m proud of our Armed Forces who are once again stepping up to help protect people and communities.
“We have a long history of working hand in hand with the NHS as two organisations with a common goal – to help keep our people safe.”
Planners based at NHS England headquarters will be led by Brigadier Phil Prosser who was previously deployed to support the delivery of the vaccine programme which began in December 2020. They will work alongside NHS England to maximise existing capacity and ensure the vaccine programme can be delivered at pace.
Since March 2020, Defence has supported over 430 tasks as part of Operation Rescript – Defence’s support to the UK’s response to the pandemic.
Defence is currently supporting ambulance services in Wales and Scotland and the vaccine rollout in Scotland among other tasks including testing.
Personnel supporting on Operation Rescript tasks have deployed from across the three services – Royal Navy, British Army and Royal Air Force – and are a mixture of regulars and reservists.
We’re officially moving to our brand new home in Granton THIS WEEKEND! We’ve had an incredible year and a half at the wonderful Leith Theatre, but it’s now time for us to part ways
This means we’re looking to recruit new volunteers across every aspect of our organisation to help us continue the amazing work that’s been done since April 2020. We’ve provided over a million and a quarter meals free of charge and judgement to vulnerable people across Edinburgh and we need your help to keep delivering 5,000+ meals each week.
Can you lend a hand cooking, packing, delivering, cleaning, fundraising, in business, HR, finance (and many, many other things)? Please get in touch today to sign up and join our community!
