People can’t just turn around and say and do things like that .. it’s not right
Inspirited pick up three gongs at Worlds
Stephen Beattie
“Everybody likes to see them and talk to them and be happy with them. You want to go out and meet your family and friends and do whatever you were doing before all this happened.”
Asked how his friends would describe him, modest Stephen says he’s just like everyone else.
But ENABLE Scotland’s regional co-ordinator for campaigns and activism, Charlotte Scott, told him: “You are a really good listener. You pay a lot of attention. And you’re always watching and listening, and making sure everybody gets a chance to be heard.”
And with those admirable qualities, there could be no greater advocate for a campaign to turn up the volume of the voices of people who have a learning disability and autistic people than Stephen Beattie.
To join ENABLE Scotland and find out more about the campaign, visit www. enable.org.uk, email: enabledirect@ enable.org.uk or call: 0300 0200 101
A Strathaven gin distiller has had plenty to raise a glass to recently having scooped three gongs at the World Gin awards.
Inspirited Dry Gin received two bronze awards and a silver award for three of their creations at the recent industry bash – this year held online.
And head distiller Lawrence Nicholson said the team were “simply over the moon” at the success.
He told the News: “We are absolutely delighted with these awards.
“We cannot thank everyone enough for the support we have received and continue to receive. As it was for so many other businesses, 2020 was a challenging year for us. However, picking up these awards fills us with immense pride.
“We look forward now to 2021.” Lawrence and the team were given bronze awars for their ‘Summer Berries and Hibiscus’ and ‘Bergomot Orange and Golden Kiwi’ gins, picking up a silver award for their ‘Navy Strength Spiced’.
Described as “bold, complex and shockingly smooth,” the company’s navy strength gin is classed one for the connoisseurs and ideal in a negroni or simply over ice.
Meanwhile their summer berries gin has been a fan favourite since launching, and is said to be the “perfect gift for mother’s day,” with personalised labels.
And their bergomot orange gin is always snapped up quickly upon release.
Last year we told you how Inspirited joined forces with Kilmarnock FC to become the club’s first official gin partner.
That sees their specially-branded dry gin available to fans of the club and those attending match day hospitality events.
We also told you how they had joined up with fellow Avondale distiller, McLean’s Gin, to offer up hand sanitiser to organisations in need.
The pair managed to crowdfund an impressive £2000 in just days, providing 341 x 70cl bottles to hospitals, GP surgeries, chemists, community care workers, charities, and police stations.
In fact, pretty much every frontline service provider in their area was given a helping hand by the resilience of the pair.
Lawrence and his team then moved to distilling over 1000 litres a day, supplying the not-for-profit gel to the Ministry of Defence, Marines, telecom workers, the St Andrew’s Hospice and Richmond Foundation.
An East Kilbride driving instructor has warned that those wanting to get behind the wheel are facing a long wait.
Instructor, Susan Miller, also said a lack of clear guidance from their governing body the Driver and Vehicle Standards Agency (DVSA) – has left many in the industry struggling.
Boris Johnson announced that driving lessons could resume on April 12 south of the border, with driving schools here awaiting further clarification this week from the First Minister.
But with a backlog of tests – both practical and theory – and long waiting lists for lessons, Susan believes that it could be many months, if not years, before the industry has recovered.
She told the News: “Since last March we have actually only worked around 10 weeks all in.
“In East Kilbride the majority of driving schools are independent operators and self employed.
“But we all know each other and try to help out where we can, but everyone is desperate to get back to work.
“The way some instructors have set up their business they have fallen through the cracks for grants, some have had no financial help at all and that’s been really, really difficult.”
However, she said that she feels especially for students who are desperate to get their licence.
“When we return the sheer demand of both theory and practical diving tests will be horrendous,” she went on.
“In the UK around 420,000 practical tests are overdue.
“There will be at least a waiting time of 20 weeks to book a test and around 380,000 theory tests are overdue.
“On average in East Kilbride the test centre, which is part-time, does between 35 to 50 tests a week – the waiting list is going to be very long.”
Susan said that as theory tests are only valid for two years, some will have to resit that before they can even think about a practical test.
She continued: “We have all been inundated with calls to book lessons once we are up and running.
“There have been thousands of kids who have turned 17 in the last year desperate to get a licence.
“But it’s going to be a long wait to get started and then try and book a test.
“It could be months if not years before things settle down.”
And she said the last year has proved to be a massive challenge for many instructors.
“There are people in the industry who are looking for different employment – rather than being self-employed,” Susan continued.
“There are others that are due to retire in the next year or two who will just decide to go now rather than wait.
“And as the majority in EK are independent, I know of other instructors who have taken jobs in supermarkets or as delivery drivers just to help make ends meet.
“At the minute we are working to be provisionally back from April 26 going by what we know at minute with test resuming probably a week or two later but we just have to wait and see.”
And Susan feel far more could have been done to upport instructors.
She added: “We feel that the DVSA have been very uncommunicative with very little support or acknowledgement.
“Given that the whole industry has ceased to exist for a whole year – we have very much been left alone.
“Our governing body could have definitely done more to keep us included and communicate with us.”
It could be months, years, before things settle
Councillors have overwhelmingly approved a motion calling on the UK Government to make the £20 Universal Credit uplift permanent.
A letter will now be sent to Chancellor Rishi Sunak and Prime Minister Boris Johnson urging them to go further and extend the payment to those on legacy benefits and to scrap the five-week wait and two-child cap.
Deputy leader of the Labour group, Councillor Gerry Convery – who proposed the motion – said “this is not a political motion” because “it is immoral in this day and age” that people have to decide between eating and heating their homes.
Only the Conservative group and independent councillor Colin McGavigan – who is currently
suspended from the Conservative party – voted against the motion.
In an impassioned debate, councillors clashed over whether the Tory UK Government would be able to balance the books and afford to make the £20 uplift permanent, and whether or not Scotland would be better off independent.
Emploring colleagues to support the motion, Councillor Convery said: “This lockdown has proved quite categorically the need to update Universal Credit money.
“When you look at people queuing up at food banks, the amount of people that are involved in giving out food parcels, it is an absolute scandal.
“If the £20 was made permanent, that would be a cash injection to the South Lanarkshire economy of £595,000. That would be a major boost.
“There is no hidden agenda here, it
is to give people who are less fortunate than ourselves an uplift which they quite rightly deserve.”
Councillor Josh Wilson “agreed with everything Councillor Convery said,” but wanted to see the motion go further.
He wanted it to include demands that the UK Government end the five-week wait, scrap the two-child cap, and match the “game-changing” Scottish Child Payment.
He added: “Making the uplift permanent and extending it to legacy benefits is the bare minimum UK ministers should do to make up for their poverty-inducing austerity agenda.
“We should also use the word increase lightly because people out of work today are still £1000 per year worse off compared to 2011.
“Even before the pandemic, the UN Special Rapporteur on Extreme
Poverty said that poverty in the UK was systematic and tragic.
“Universal Credit is broken and needs an urgent overhaul.”
Deputy leader of the Lib Dem group Mark McGeever said his party would be supporting the motion.
Conservative group leader, Councillor Alex Allison, proposed the council should write to the UK Government and congratulate them for what they have done over the past year.
He said: “When I first saw this motion, a saying came to mind: ‘a day late and a dollar short’.
“I don’t think it’s actually that accurate, I would maybe go a week late and £20 short.”
Conservative councillor Graeme Campbell admitted that the Chancellor “clearly isn’t able to balance the books” and that he didn’t know how the country could afford it.
A national charity has launched a manifesto urging real change for the nation’s mental health.
SAMH (Scottish Association for Mental Health) has launched its manifesto for Scotland’s mental health, calling for the next Scottish Government to take radical action in order to combat a growing mental health crisis in Scotland.
Informed by over 2500 people across Scotland, many of whom have lived experience of mental health problems, Standing Up for Scotland’s Mental Health, sets out 38 actions to make mental health a national priority.
Among their recommendations for real change, the charity is calling for redoubled efforts on suicide prevention, action now to support children and young people and rapid access to psychological wellbeing support for adults.
Billy Watson, chief executive at SAMH insisted: “Scotland’s mental health deserves better.
“A growing number of people across the country are facing mental health problems and are struggling to access help.
“There have been too many promises on mental health and not enough action.
“With the added pressure brought about by the pandemic, we need a radical new plan.”
Now Conservative MSP, Graham Simpson, has slammed the SNP Government for failing to address ever increasing mental health waiting times for children and young people.
Mr Simpson has highlighted shocking new figures that 137 young people have been waiting more than a year for vital mental health treatment as of December 2020 in NHS Lanarkshire.
Across Scotland, a total of 1560 children and young people had been waiting more than a year for treatment.
The Central Scotland list MSP says that lockdown restrictions over the last year have increased the mental health pressures on vulnerable young people and that the SNP need to address the rising waiting times urgently.
And he believes that, even prior to the pandemic, the SNP were failing to hit mental health waiting time targets and that they have had years to address the chronic lack of underfunding for mental health services in NHS Lanarkshire.
Now the Tories are calling for the SNP to use these figures as a wake-up call to deliver the funding required to ensure those who need mental health support get it as quickly as possible.
He told the News: “It is incredibly alarming to see the vast number of young people who have been waiting more than a year for vital mental health treatment in NHS Lanarkshire.
“The lockdown restrictions over the last year have only increased mental health pressures on our young people in particular. The SNP must address these appalling figures as a matter of urgency.
“Even prior to the pandemic, the SNP were routinely failing to hit mental health waiting time targets. Enough is enough.
“They need to use these figures as a wake-up call once and for all in order to get our young people treatment as quickly as possible.
“Too many of them are falling through the cracks as a result of the SNP’s failures to properly fund mental health services.
“The time for warm words is long gone. “SNP Ministers must outline how they will support health boards, charities and support organisations in tacking mental health waiting times and drive down these shocking figures.”