Monthly Archives: January 2009

BT scraps Friends & Family discount scheme

Posted on by

BT admitted earlier this week that it has had to write off £340million linked to its global business.

In possibly not unconnected moves, the company has now announced that it is dropping the 17 year-old domestic discount scheme, Friends & Family as well as its BestFriend scheme.

Friends & family offers BT’s 14million customers 10% off all calls made to up to 15 landlines. Chopping the scheme is said to ‘save’ – meaning gain -  BT £250 milion. That is, of course, if all of its customers stay on.

Mark Hunter MP, who fights for consumer interests against  rising telecom charges, says: ‘It is clearly unfair to ask customers to pay for the mistakes of the management’.

BT says that the increases in these phone charges are being offset by £200million a year in other discounts – but unlike the Friends & Family type of discount, BT’s new offers will require a monthly subscription.

Experience teaches that any offer by BT is invariably of less benefit to its customers that the company’s promotions suggest – and that savings in one area will be clawed back in another. In this instance there is to be a 45% – yes, a 45% – increase in the cost of caller services siuch as ring back, call waiting, call barring and caller display and an increase in line rental charges.

Caveat emptor indeed.

Helensburgh Heroes go for a community ‘Live Aid’ record remix of David Bowie’s Heroes

Posted on by

Helensburgh heroesDavid Bowie’s iconic 70’s song ‘Heroes’ is getting a 21st Century makeover on 24th January, thanks to the charity, Helensburgh Heroes. This is believed to be the first community attempt at a ‘Live Aid’ style recording.

Helensburgh Heroes has been given permission by Fairwood Music Publishing to record a version of the song in an effort to raise awareness of both the area’s famous sons and daughters and also its efforts to bring some much needed music and arts facilities to the town. Continue reading →

ICE your mobile phone – now

Posted on by

The Scottish Ambulance Service is spreading information – and asking everyone to do the same – on the ICE Campaign, In Case of Emergency.

We all carry our mobile phones with names & numbers stored in its memory. If we were to be involved in an accident or were taken ill, the people attending us would have our mobile phone but wouldn’t know who to call.

Yes, there are hundreds of numbers stored there – but which one is the contact person in case of an emergency?

Hence this ‘ICE’ (In Case of Emergency) Campaign concept, which is quickly catching on. It is a method of contact during emergency situations. All you need to do is store the number of a contact person or persons who should be contacted during emergency under the name ‘ICE’ ( In Case Of Emergency).

The idea was the brainwave of a paramedic who found that when he went to the scenes of accidents there were always mobile phones with patients but they didn’t know which number to call. He therefore thought that it would be a good idea if there was a nationally recognised name for this purpose.

In an emergency situation, Emergency Service personnel and hospital Staff would be able to quickly contact the right person by simply dialling the number you have stored as ‘ICE’.

Please email the page address of this story to your family and friends. The simplest way to avoid spam filters in doing this is to send the email to yourself and put the emails of everyone else in the BCC (blind copy) line – not in the CC line. This really could save your life and put a loved one’s mind at rest.

  • For a single In Case of Emergency Contact on your mobile, enter ICE
  • For more than one contact name simply enter ICE1, ICE2 and ICE3 etc.

The service has been endorsed by Argyll’s MSP, Jim Mather, who is encouraging everyone to use it. He says: ‘This is a great initiative and a relatively simple idea for the services to promote. Most people now carry mobile phones and this is an easy way of helping emergency staff contact your family or friend. Time is always at a premium during emergencies, and though many people will take the attitude that ‘it will not happen to me’, it is sensible to plan ahead and doing this will mean emergency services can contact loved ones in seconds rather than in minutes.

A simple entry in the mobile phone’s directory for “ ICE”  would direct emergency services to the nominated contact.

I would urge everyone to heed the advice of the Police, Fire and Ambulance services and do this simple thing which could make a significant improvement in dealing with emergencies’.

Clamjamfrie and Puppet Lab signed up for Easdale in April

Posted on by

Two more diary dates for events in the programme for Easdale Island Community Hall

ClamjamfrieFirst, there’s an Easter Ceilidh – well, a little bit ahead of itself – maybe a Pre-Easter ceilidh. But the invitation is: ‘Swing yer sporran and dance your socks off to Ayrshire’s Clamjamfrie from 7.30pm on Saturday 4th April 2009. Tickets: £6, Concessions £5

Then there’s a great afternoon show for children – forty-five minutes work of puppet theatre from Puppet Lab: Funny Bones at 2.30pm on 10th April. Tickets: £3.50

If you’d like an advance peek into the story, here it is…

Puppets - Bones & ThumbThere once were three skeletons who were lonely: a big skeleton, a little skeleton and a third skeleton… who was a dog. Together these three skeletons were looking for people to scare, but everyone was asleep! So they decide to scare each other, but how easy is it for one scary skeleton to scare another one?

This is a show of fun and friendship for family audiences, based on the Funnybones series of books. Suitable for children from  3 years old to 103.

Consultation on the future of Vale of Leven Hospital

Posted on by

Conditions and performance at the Vale of Leven Hospital have been a matter of serious concern for some time.  NHS Greater Glasgow and Clyde have now issued a consultation document on the future of the hospital – ‘Vision for the Vale of Leven Hospital’.

This was welcomed by Argyll and Bute Council’s Executive Committee has welcomed at a meeting in the Council’s HQ at Kilmory in Lochgilphead on 22nd January. Members look forward to receiving more information as the consultation progresses. They also expressed their commitment to assist and participate in future discussions on this.

Council Leader, Councillor Dick Walsh, says: ‘The move towards strategic planning for the hospital as a whole, rather than planning for the individual parts and services separately, is most welcome.

‘Clearly there are some issues which require further clarity on how they will impact on users, specifically the people of Argyll and Bute. Likewise, feedback on the progress and viability of the Unscheduled Care Model would be welcome at an early stage of implementation.

‘The issues relating to services for Adult Acute Mental Health services will also no doubt present challenges to NHS Greater Glasgow and Clyde but I look forward to working alongside them in order to obtain the best possible outcome for the people who rely on the Vale of Leven Hospital and the vital services it offers’.

Editorial Footnote: The word ‘vision’ should probably be awarded protected status as it is at serious risk of abuse.

8% more social housing starts in Argyll last year

Posted on by

The current Scottish Government committed itself at an early stage to addressing the hue shortfall in social housing – affordable houses to rent.

Argyll’s MSP, Jim Mather, says that In 2007/2008, the first year of this Scottish Government, starts were made on 168 public sector homes in Argyll & Bute. This is an increase of 8% on the figures from the previous year, the last year of the previous Scottish Executive. The annual average over the eight years of the previous administration was 96 starts per annum for Argyll & Bute.

Mr Mather says: ‘If we can sustain present performance and, we hope, improve upon it, we may at last start to make progress into tackling our long standing deficit in affordable homes’.

In welcoming the progress made, Mather recognises that the chronic shortfall of social housing in Argyll will take many years to address fully. He sees the current and worsening recession, with the shortage of finance and the operations of the banking industry as very real obstacles to progress in this field. Nevertheless he says: ‘I am encouraged to note that the trend of housebuilding starts in Argyll & Bute and elsewhere across Scotland is rising and that has to be a welcome sign.

‘A record number of 5,700 public sector house starts were made across Scotland in 2007/2008 and the Government has announced a forward investment of £640million as part of its Affordable Housing Investment Programme for 2009/2010.

‘This is of vital importance in the face of the need for such housing and also for the creation of sustained employment in the building industry at a time when that is under extreme pressure from the economic downturn.

‘There are unique problems in Housing in constituencies across the Western Highlands and Islands where pressure for second homes has distorted the market and created huge difficulties for young people who wish to live and work and bring up their families close to their roots. I am pleased to see that the Scottish Government, in partnership with Registered Social Landlords, is making inroads into tackling this’.

Programme for May’s Spirit of the West Festival almost complete

Posted on by

Inveraray Castle John PatrickSpirit of the West – Scotland’s first whisky culture festival – to be hosted at Inveraray Castle in May, now has most of its programme tied up.

Run in conjunction with Whisky Coast and part of the programme of Homecoming Scotland 2009 events, the event brings together Scotland’s – mainly Argyll’s – west coast whiskies with the best of local food producers’ delicacies, crafts, cookery demos from the whisky coast’s top chefs and a raft of entertainments.

Bagrock wow band, the Red Hot Chilli Pipers, pipes & drums tribal group Clann an Drumma, folk singer/songwriter Robin Laing, the Argyll Homecoming Gaelic Choir, and the silken voice of Islay’s Norma Munro are the latest acts to be announced.

The Red Hot Chilli Pipers – voted ‘Live Act of the Year 2007’ at the Scots Traditional Music Awards – will blast the event into life on 16th May.

The programme has added some family-oriented open air activities including crowd pleaser Big Rory, Ochi & The Giant Seagulls and sheepdog & duck display team, Drakes of Hazzard, as seen on Blue Peter.

There will be an Arts & Crafts marquee with craftsmen demonstrating their skills, fabulous gifts and crafts to shop for and advice on tracing your family tree.

Moving to the food elements – you can wait a little longer for the news on the whisky content – celebrity chef Nick Nairn joins the event on Sunday 17th May, cooking up for Argyll along with other well known west coast chefs. Across the weekend over 20 top local food producers will serve delicious dishes from stovies to venison stews.

16 world famous whisky distillers – 13 of which are from Argyll – including Springbank & Glengyle from Campbeltown, Isle of Arran, all eight distilleries from the Isle of Islay including Ardbeg, Bowmore, Bruichladdich, Bunnahabhain, Caol Ila, Kilchoman, Lagavulin and Laphroaig, Isle of Jura, Oban, Tobermory from the Isle of Mull, Ben Nevis from Fort William and Talisker from the Isle of Skye will join the Dram Room. This is of course the star attraction.

Then the Whisky Theatre will hold 12 whisky masterclasses with key industry figures and feature whisky bards and industry celebrities in their own right, including Charles Maclean.

An evening ceilidh on Saturday 16th May will be hosted by Len Murray, one of the foremost speakers on Rabbie Burns.  From 7pm till midnight on the Saturday night, the event will celebrate the Spirit of the West with a five star, five course Rabbie Burns supper, charity auction, after dinner entertainment including music from Ceilidh Minogue and inescapable volumes of traditional mad ceilidh dancing.

Spirit of the West tickets are now available to buy online.

  • Standard adult ticket prices for the day time event are £14.50 per day or £22 for the weekend.
  • Family, concession and children tickets are also available.
  • Whisky masterclass tickets cost an extra £10 per class and will be available for purchase on the day, based on a first come first served basis.
  • Ceilidh tickets cost £65 per person, for over 18s only, with a percentage of the proceeds going to a chosen charity.

For details on how to book tickets for the Whisky Coast Ceilidh please email your interest to info@spiritofthewest.co.uk and check out the event’s website for more information.

Photograph of Inveraray Castle above is reproduced with permission and is by John Patrick.

McGrigor pays Holyrood tribute to Dalmally Community Company

Posted on by

Speaking in the Holyrood debate on school playing fields earlier today, Highlands MSP Jamie McGrigor paid tribute to Dalmally Community Company and to its officials, Kenny Black and John Burke.

The debate was concerned with school playing fields still being sold off for development in spite of laws intended to protect them.

Jamie McGrigor drew attention to the enduring value of the work done by Fields in Trust Scotland, which is particularly important since little central data on school playing fields is put together by the Scottish Government.

He underlined the fact that school playing fields are almost always a general community resource and then noted that: ‘the vital and valuable role that school playing fields make in providing our children with places to take part in physical activity, including competitive sport, through PE when they are at school, and through extracurricular activities outwith school time’.

He went on to say:  ‘The school in my local village in Argyll, Dalmally primary, has no playing field, but for many years it has managed wonderfully well—thanks to its staff—with a tarmac playground and a small area of grass around it.

‘It cannot use the local Dalmally shinty pitch, which is next to the livestock market, because of worries about animal manure on the field.

‘The teachers and pupils of the school are therefore hugely excited by the progress that has been made by the Dalmally Community Company, which has secured funding for stage 1 of the community hall project. I congratulate the company officials, Kenny Black and John Burke, for the staggering amount of work that they have done and the enormous amount of money that they have raised to achieve the building of what will be a community and indoor sports centre. Phase 2 is the playing field that is nicknamed locally “the field of dreams”. I hope that the field of dreams will become a reality for that village.

‘Having spoken about the progress in Dalmally, I must say that I share the concerns of communities throughout Scotland that have faced, or which currently face, the loss of school playing fields. It is a real concern that playing fields are still being lost despite SPP 11, which makes clear the exceptional circumstances that must exist before a school playing field can be sold off for development. Those sales are taking place, despite the fact that local communities such as Cuiken in Penicuik are united in their opposition to local authority plans to sell off their playing fields.

‘Given the focus of the Government—and members of all parties—on encouraging our young people to live more active lives, and on tackling the increasing problem of child obesity, Christine Grahame’s suggestion that sportscotland should become a additional mandatory consultee has great merit and should be explored.

‘Sportscotland has already done great work in that area, through the helpful document that it published in early 2007, “School Playing Fields: Planning and Design Guidance”, which recognises that there is little up-to-date design advice on school playing fields. I hope that the minister will address that issue when she sums up in tonight’s debate. Her party raised hopes in its 2007 manifesto when it promised.’

Unlike Scottish Borders Council, Argyll and Bute offers alternative to controversial Young Scot Card in schools’ cashless catering

Posted on by

As Argyll and Bute Council announces Oban High School as the latest secondary school in Argyll and Bute to introduce Cashless Catering, it has neatly sidestepped the ruckus reported earlier this week at Scottish Borders Council (SBC).

Cashless catering sees pupils paying for their school dinners with a special personal debit card in stead of cash.

Argyll and Bute accepts two cards for use in its system. Fortunately one is an alternative to the controversial Young Scot Card which effectively lures the young into the maw of a national database.

This has recently been highlighted in the row at SBC and pupils and their parents are advised to think carefully about whether to accept a Young Scot Card or opt out of it. There alternatives  – as here – without the invasion of privacy the Young Scot Card enables.

There are serious concerns that the UK Home Office is using the Young Scot Card as a ‘back door’ strategy to foist the Home Office’s National Identity Register on unsuspecting young Scots.

The recent and major trouble in SBC was because its Education department was accused of trying to force secondary pupils to carry the ID cards by refusing to serve school dinners to any who refused. SBC told parents by letter that any children who were not carrying the Youg Scot Card would get no dinner.

The Young Scot Card is an electronic microchipped National Entitlement Card (NEC).

SBC’s dictat is in direct contravention of a Scottish Government assurance to Parliament last year. Finance minister John Swinney then promised that payment for school meals would not be tied into the card.

The Scottish Government has now warned that councils may break the law if they do anything to discourage or obstruct children from eating school dinners.

A Government spokeswoman said: ‘Authorities and schools who use the card to access school meals must also provide an alternative method for those students who do not wish to carry a card. The Schools (Scotland) Act 2007, among other things, ensures local authorities promote the uptake and benefits of school meals’.

She added: ‘The Scottish government does not support compulsory use of National Entitlement (Young Scot) Cards for local public services’.

The National Entitlement Card (NEC) was introduced in April 2006 by the last Scottish Government as a replacement for pensioners’ bus passes. Since then its use has been broadened to include students and children and it is now being used to enable access other public amenities.

Ministers want all Scots eventually to use the cards when dealing with local authorities and more than a million have been issued.

Campaigners then noticed similarities between the NEC Card and the highly controversial ID Card schemes.

Scots who sign up to Young Scot or any other NEC Card are given a unique number. Their use of the card is trackable by a computerised record called a Citizen’s Account.

Campaigners believe the system is an ID card by any other name.

Whatever young people in Argyl and their parents think of this, the safe option is the alternative card

Main access road to Taynish Nature Reserve closed for 3 weeks in February

Posted on by

The main access route into Taynish National Nature Reserve (NNR), by Tayvallich, will be closed for a period of about three weeks from the first week in February 2009, including weekends. A failing retaining wall on the public road near the entrance to the nature reserve means that Argyll and Bute Council have to do some road realignment. So, while this is being done and for safety reasons, the road will be closed to pedestrians as well as vehicles.

Scottish Natural Heritage (SNH), which manages the Taynish Reserve, is working with the Council to manage the disruption for people visiting the nature reserve.

SNH Reserve Manager, John Halliday, says: ‘Visitors will still be able to access the reserve by following a temporary diversion which will leave the public road between the Tayvallich primary school entrance and the site of the road works.  Please be aware that this will be a rough waymarked trail over very steep terrain, which rejoins the public road a short distance beyond the roadworks. Due to the nature of the terrain, this temporary route is only suitable for walkers.

‘Visitors to the reserve arriving by car can park as usual in the nearby public car park opposite the Tayvallich Village Hall but will have to walk in using the temporary route.  We hope people will take advantage of the
alternative walking route and enjoy this beautiful woodland reserve while the work is going on.

‘As an alternative, visitors could consider visiting nearby nature reserves at Barnluasgan at the Tayvallich – Achnamara road junction or the Moine Mhor on the Bellanoch – Kilmartin road where car parking and paths for all-abilities are always available’.

Anyone planning to visit the Taynish Reserve may wish to contact Taynish Reserve staff at Scottish Natural
Heritage in Lochgilphead on 01546 603611.