News on how Scotland's voluntary sector is responding to the pandemic
Love Island host speaks up for charity
Scottish comedian, and voice of hit TV show Love Island, Iain Stirling is backing animal welfare charity, Edinburgh Dog and Cat Home’s spring fundraising appeal.
The home is appealing for support this spring following significant financial losses incurred by the coronavirus outbreak. Whilst the home’s donations drop, more animals continue to come to their door in need requiring food, care and veterinary treatment. In addition, the home continues to provide for pet owners who are struggling with the care of their pet through its Pet Food Bank.
The Spring to their Senses appeal focuses on sensory enrichment for the animals who find their way to Edinburgh Dog and Cat Home. This includes the use of plants, herbs and aromatherapy to help calm or create interesting scents for the dogs and cats to discover; puzzle mats and interactive feeders to make mealtimes more interesting or even inexpensive alternatives such as cardboard and paper.
Iain Stirling, who gave a personal donation of £1,000 to the appeal, said: “It’s important that the nation’s dogs and cats are cared for in these bizarre times. They still need food, walks and love! Edinburgh Dog and Cat Home always endeavour to provide just that!”
Distilleries donate hand sanitiser
A social housing provider has been overwhelmed by the kind gestures of two distilleries who have donated hand sanitiser to allow key workers to continue to safely work with vulnerable older people amid the Covid-19 pandemic.
Bield Housing and Care has received two donations from The Port of Leith Distillery and Loch Lomond Group who have collectively donated over 120 bottles of hand sanitiser to a variety of developments across the central belt.
Lynne Douglas, chief executive at Bield, said: “We have seen a global shortage in hand sanitiser over the past month which has resulted in it being extremely difficult to get vital pieces of equipment that our key workers need to carry out their duties.
“When we were made aware of these two kind donations we were overwhelmed and really appreciative. The donations will enable our key workers to continue to work with some of the most vulnerable people in our communities while also keeping our staff safe.”
Support for social care
The Scottish Personal Assistant Employers Network (SPAEN) has succeeded in secured funding to extend the range of support services it can offer social care users during the Coronavirus crisis.
With the support of FirstPort and working in partnership with health and social care partnerships (HSCPs) and other third sector organisations SPAEN will offer free, impartial advice and guidance to social care users across Scotland.
Thanks to the donation of a web-based platform and mobile app from Our Community Hub, SPAEN has launched an emergency care register online.
The platform is free to download, use and to list local or national services.
In partnership with PA Network Scotland, SPAEN continues to invite potential social carers (personal assistants) to register and offer their support and services to people in their local community who may have been affected by staffing shortages or the short-notice withdrawal of social care support. If someone requires to engage with social care support urgently, they can either call or email SPAEN or PA Network Scotland or can now use the website and app to view and engage with local support workers.
Importance of accessibility stressed
Sight loss charity RNIB is urging everyone communicating to the public to ensure print and electronic communications are clearly readable, or that alternative versions - such as audio, braille and large-print - are available as well.
James Adams, director of RNIB Scotland, said: "Right now, clear communication is essential. Even people who don't consider themselves sight-impaired can sometimes struggle with very small print, or with text that doesn't have a sharp enough contrast with the background colour.
"That's why it's absolutely vital that we give full consideration to how accessible our communications are. We've produced guides for the Scottish and UK Governments to help them make sure everything they put out is accessible."
For blind and partially sighted people who use screen-reading software, which reads out text from websites or email attachments, this might not seem a problem. But some graphics can still confuse screen-readers, such as text superimposed on images, photos that don't have alt-tags, text that is justified on both sides, or even just sentences that don't end with a full-stop.
For more information, visit the RNIB website.
