OntheSilverSide.co.uk

Scottish Teenagers in Despair

Lin — Tue, 06 Jan 2009 19:00:17 +0000

New findings released by the British Journal of Psychiatry have shown that 14% of teenage youngsters in Scotland have self-harmed; a further 14% have harboured thoughts of self harm; 4 in ten expressed a wish to be dead. This is a cry for help which cannot be ignored. The results have been released at the same time as a report by the ‘Prince’s Trust’ which shows that Scotland’s youth feel alienated, unable to cope with the world around them and live with despair and despondency all, or most of the time. Many have considered suicide as the only way out.

What has gone wrong? Is it enough to blame this on the school bully?

These are the same children who have more posessions, better healthcare, better schools, better housing than most of their parents- but something fundamental and vital is missing in their lives. It is maybe not politically correct to say it; but this generation of teenagers are the first to have come through the ‘nursery from birth’ regime. The ‘playground jungle’ started for many of these teenagers at the age of three months, fighting for attention from nursery helpers little more than teenagers themselves. We need to look at ourselves and ask if we are giving today’s youngsters the life we would have wanted; or are we pushing them aside and ignoring them in order to give us time and money for the life we want now?

Financial Health Check for Pensioners

Lin — Tue, 06 Jan 2009 18:29:59 +0000

The Scottish Government has released figures which show that since April 2008 almost 700 Scottish pensioners who applied for a free benefits check have received £801,456. Most of the money came in the form of increased Pension Credit, Attendance Allowance or a full Council Tax rebate.
Every pensioner who applies to the central heating programme (CHP), which is managed by Scottish Gas, has the option of getting a free benefits check from the Pension Service. The average successful claim amounts to more than £1300 per household.
Scottish Gas has launched a nationwide marketing drive to increase the number of people applying to get a central heating system this financial year.
Communities Minister Stewart Maxwell said:
“In these challenging economic times this government is committed to making sure households have as much help as possible.”

Funding for Core Skills

Lin — Tue, 06 Jan 2009 18:16:54 +0000

With financial doom and gloom all around it is encouraging to hear that almost 300 Scottish projects will benefit from the first round of the 2007-13 European Structural Funds programme. Something in the region of £200 million has been allocated to support economic development, enhance skills, increase turnover and help create new jobs.
Projects cover a wide range of industry and hope to develop the ‘core skills’ of the workforce by improving standards in numeracy, literacy and problem solving.
John Swinney, Cabinet Secretary for Finance and Sustainable Growth, said:
“At a time of global uncertainty, the Scottish Government decided to front-load European Structural Funds to provide a direct stimulus to the Scottish economy. We are now seeing the benefits of this, with projects such as North East Work Skills helping to ensure hundreds of workers are gaining the skills needed to succeed in the job market.”
“European funding has always provided a major opportunity to help create a wealthier and fairer Scotland, but in the current climate it is all the more important that we use the tools at our disposal – including structural funds – to help stimulate investment and job creation.”

No Budget for Bridge

Lin — Mon, 05 Jan 2009 12:31:33 +0000

The new year is starting with a major row between the Scottish Government and Westminster over the funding of a new Forth road bridge. Scottish ministers want the Treasury to bring forward money due to the Holyrood administration over a number of years to pay for the crossing. The bridge comes with a price tag of between £1.7billion and £2.3billion. However, Chancellor Alistair Darling on Sunday said the cash advance had been ruled out, prompting First Minister Alex Salmond to insist he would not “take no for an answer”.

The Scottish Government had hoped to spread the cost of the project, rather than take huge chunks out of the annual capital budget which would halt the development of other projects. The annual capital budget amounts to only £3.5billion each year.

Chancellor Darling is in agreement that the bridge project is vital but will not “bring forward spending 15 or 20 years out in budgets that haven’t been allocated. If you are contemplating large transport projects like this you do have to make choices. The Scottish Government is no different from any other organisation. If you want to spend a large sum of money on a particular project it does have consequences.”

Homecoming 2009 Events in January

Lin — Mon, 05 Jan 2009 12:08:03 +0000

* To commemorate the year of Homecoming the Royal Scottish Country Dance Society have commissioned a special ‘Homecoming Dance’. Following in the tradition of reels and strathspeys danced the world over the new dance will be spreading through dance societies around the globe.

* Witness Scotland’s historic Border towns compete in the World’s oldest rugby tournament. This rugby heartland is also home to the 7-a-side game and the fiercely contested Kings of the 7s series. Events start on the first of January and continue at rugby grounds throughout the Borders region until the end of November.

* The Royal Scottish National OrchestraScotland begins its year of Homecoming celebrations with the world premiere of the Homecoming Scotland Suite in January. The Scottish Prom follows in June, with performances in November by Scotland’s classical superstar, Nicola Benedetti, and a St Andrew’s celebration featuring Aly Bain and Phil Cunningham to end the year of festivities.

This is just a small taster: for the full events listing check out the HomecomingScotland2009.com website

Highland Heartbeat

Lin — Mon, 05 Jan 2009 11:46:17 +0000

Source: Scottish Government:

Highland Heartbeat, a popular Scottish music entertainment programme, will capitalise on the interest in Scottish culture and Homecoming 2009 when it airs across the US in February on the US ‘free-to-air’ channel PBS.
The programme will include the Homecoming Caledonia advert and will reach tens of millions of viewers. Produced in Scotland, the show brings together singer and broadcaster Fiona Kennedy with an outstanding cast of singers, musicians, choirs, pipers and dancers. Traditional songs are played alongside contemporary works such as award-winning musician and composer Phil Cunningham’s anthem ‘Raise the Flag’ and American song-writer Beth Nielsen Chapman’s specially composed song ‘The Kist’.
Scotland’s First Minister Alex Salmond has lent his personal support to the programme and recorded a message of support to be shown at the launch event in New York at the end of February:

“There can be no doubt that Scotland’s Year of Homecoming is reconnecting people around the globe with Scotland and our great contributions to the world;and creating an appetite for more. With opportunities like this opening up in 2009, there has never been a better time to invite our friends and family to come back and visit the heart of Scottish culture.
Highland Heartbeat is the biggest independent TV project to be staged in Scotland for many years. With stars such as Brian Cox, Fiona Kennedy and Phil Cunningham flying the flag for Scotland – it will be a great showcase of Scottish talent, on the same network that launched Il Divo and Celtic Women in the United States. It’s also a fantastic example not only of traditional music but of the bright young Scots who are driving our heritage into the future.
With location filming comprising about one quarter of the show, Highland Heartbeat will also bring Scotland’s stunning scenery to an American audience. Together with the Homecoming Caledonia advert, this programme represents a compelling call!
Already the ‘I am a Scot’ campaign has reached 95 million people worldwide and 75 per cent of people registered for Homecoming information have shown positive interest in booking a trip to Scotland next year.

Now I hope many more will feel our Highland Heartbeat and return to join the celebrations in 2009.”

The PBS network will show Highland Heartbeat on their 354 channels across the US. It will be followed by an extensive tour involving some of the musicians taking part.
The Scottish Government has provided £50,000 sponsorship to allow the broadcast of the Homecoming Caledonia Advert.

Scottish Schools go greener

Lin — Mon, 05 Jan 2009 11:34:36 +0000

The Scottish Government has announced its plan to make Scotland’s schools greener under a new initiative to promote renewable energy and energy efficiency. To tie in with the requirements of the Scottish Climate Change Bill the local government education departments will have to work closely with ‘Carbon Trust’ in order to acquire the necessary knowledge and skills within new build projects. Two ‘Schools Renewables Development Officers’ will work with authorities to increase the uptake of micro-renewables in schools by developing packages of funding from public and private sources to support microgeneration installations. There will also be a schools ‘web-portal’ created on the Scottish Government website which will act as a source of advice and guidance on creating a low carbon school estate.
Education Secretary Fiona Hyslop said:

“The green message to be conveyed through environmentally-friendly school buildings and facilities cannot be stressed enough.”

“All of the measures will be important in helping tackle climate change and, at a time of high fuel prices, both renewable generation and energy efficiency measures will be important in helping local authorities reduce consumption, carbon emissions and energy bills.”

Pittencrieff Percy parades in Peacocks

Lin — Fri, 19 Dec 2008 10:55:46 +0000

Shoppers in Dunfermline have been enthralled by the antics of one of the peacocks from the town’s Pittencrieff Park. In an effort to beat the winter chill the birds often wander up in to the town for a bit of retail therapy, but one particular peacock has taken a particular liking to the chain store ‘Peacocks’ and dodges his way in, past the shoppers, to nestle under the racks of brightly coloured dresses and blouses. Sounds like a tall tale [or in the case of this bird -a long feathered tail] But it has been proved by the video taken by the Fife Police CCTV cameras which shows “Percy” having a great day out.

Turkey Triumphs

Lin — Fri, 19 Dec 2008 10:27:52 +0000

Some fascinating research has shown that here in Scotland we still like our Christmas traditions to include turkey and steak pie; and that we actually want to, and like to, buy local produce despite the overwhelming range of goodies offered by the supermarkets.

66% of Scots will choose a traditional roast turkey lunch on Christmas Day
27% of the remainder would go for steak pie as their meal of choice. Around 75% of those surveyed tried to always choose Scottish ingredients
Only in the Edinburgh area were there any major moves away from tradition; easily explained by the more multi cultural nature of its citizens. All in all we like our Christmas food to be plain and traditional; so get the sprouts on now and pass the cranberry sauce.

Homecoming 2009 Programme Launch

Lin — Fri, 19 Dec 2008 10:04:58 +0000

The political leaders in Holyrood joined together to announce the release of an updated events guide for Homecoming Scotland 2009.
More than 300 events and festivals are planned, all aimed at celebrating Homecoming through culture, heritage,Burns, whisky, golf, innovation and ancestry.
Among the many new events just announced is ‘Iconic Burns’, an outdoor event in Alloway as part of the Opening Celebrations; the ‘Intercontinental Rally Challenge’, an international motorsport event highlighting Scotland’s contribution to motorsport, taking place in Perth and Kinross and Stirling in November; and ‘Spirit of the West’, a new two day whisky festival at Inveraray Castle taking place as part of Whisky Month in May.
First Minister,Mr Salmond said:
“Scotland’s Year of Homecoming is about reuniting Scots and friends of Scotland with the aspects of commonality that bind them together, allowing them to share the pleasure and pride of our culture and heritage. That’s why it is so fitting that party leaders, from across the political spectrum, have united to launch the updated programme of celebrations.
The ever-expanding programme is bursting with fun, festivals and family-friendly events. The Year of Homecoming really does have something to offer everyone.”

Events and festivals will take place in every local authority area in the country. Further events will be added, including a series of projects from the Scottish Arts Council. Copies of the updated guide are free and will be available from airports, train and bus stations, Visitor Information Centres, visitor attractions, theatres, cinemas, shopping malls, libraries, arts venues and hotels from December 29, 2008. In order to make something available to everyone a quarter of all the events in the programme are free.