
Charity abseil raises funds for scores of charities
Spina Bifida Hydrocephalus (SBH) Scotland has raised around £100,000 for 40 different Scottish charities with their new event The Port of Leith Distillery abseil.
In May, more 350 people abseiled down the side of The Port of Leith Distillery, the tallest distillery in the world, to raise funds for charity. Participants descended 100ft down from the top of the distillery, hopefully while enjoying the breathtaking views across Edinburgh's skyline and of the historic Royal Yacht Britannia.
SBH Scotland organised the new fundraising event and partnered with other Scottish charities. A total of £48,000 was raised for SBH Scotland through the event. These vital funds will help SBH Scotland support people with spina bifida and hydrocephalus in Edinburgh and beyond to ensure that no-one is left to cope alone.
Scottish businesses also signed up to take part in the abseil, including staff members from The Port of Leith Distillery, with CEOs Paddy Fletcher and Ian Stirling the first to abseil down the building. Chisholm Hunter also had a team of employees take part and staff members from Orbit Communications, YourGB, Rollos and Whitelaw Wells, who took part and raised money for SBH Scotland.
Lawrence Cowan, CEO of Spina Bifida Hydrocephalus Scotland, said: 'Thank you so much to everyone who took part in The Port of Leith Distillery abseil for making it a massive success! We are absolutely delighted that the event has raised an incredible £100,000 for 40 different Scottish charities.
'I want to say a special thank you to everyone who took part and raised money for SBH Scotland. You helped raise a whopping £48,000 for our charity that will help us deliver our vital services and ensure the families we support feel unstoppable.'
Ian Stirling, co-CEO and co-founder at The Port of Leith Distillery, said: 'From the moment The Port of Leith Distillery took shape we've imagined abseiling down the side of it. My co-founder Paddy and I were thrilled to be the first people to take the leap.
'What a tremendous weekend – it was amazing to see so many people come together and support such a fantastic charity.'
SBH Scotland hosts The Port of Leith Distillery Abseil and works in partnership with other Scottish charities, whose supporters are also taking part to raise much-needed funds for a range of worthy causes.
For more information, visit: https://www.sbhscotland.org.uk/leith-abseil
Like this:
Like
Related
Hashtags

Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles


BBC News
5 hours ago
- BBC News
Breastfeeding buddies closes down after funding cut
A breastfeeding support service which has helped mums of newborn babies for a decade has closed down after funding was Buddies was run by the National Childbirth Trust (NCT) charity in five hospitals in Greater Glasgow and Lothian, offering peer support to mothers who wanted to Scottish government had previously funded the scheme directly but this year it said it had allowed the health boards to decide how to meet local Greater Glasgow and Clyde and NHS Lothian will no longer fund the scheme but said they remained committed to ensuring women get the breastfeeding support they need. Parents who had used the service told BBC Scotland News they were concerned that midwives and health visitors were already overstretched and would not have enough time to devote to dedicated breastfeeding mum Katie said she relied on the help of Breastfeeding Buddies when she was in hospital with her son Oliver last was born premature after a high-risk pregnancy and, at first, she found positioning him for feeding said: ''They were able to come and check that his latch was OK and just give me that bit of emotional support because it is quite a vulnerable time for a new mother."My buddy was able to check the feeding position I had him in to make sure I was OK and help me make some changes to get the best out of initiating breastfeeding.''Katie said she got a lot of practical support which gave her the confidence to begin breastfeeding in public."It's something you think is going to come so naturally to you, however it isn't always that easy, especially with him being premature," she said. New mother Sophie told BBC Scotland News the breastfeeding support service had been a lifeline when her daughter Nora was born last year.''I was quite unwell before I had Nora so she had to come a bit early which meant she was taken to intensive care for a couple of days and we didn't get off to the easiest of starts," Sophie said."'That put us on the back foot with our breastfeeding.''Sophie said the maternity wards were busy and staffing was tight and it was not until she got home that issues around breastfeeding became said that being able to go to a community group offering breastfeeding support proved crucial."Being able to go to groups with other mums and sharing your experiences and also having the expertise of the peer supporters was really key for us in helping us to continue," Sophie said. Sadia Malik is a former Breastfeeding Buddy, who volunteered to help in Edinburgh after her baby spent time in intensive she's training to become a said: "I've seen how little time the midwives have and every time you go in the wards the midwives appreciate us so much - and the parents."As a student midwife, as a mum and a volunteer, I think it's devastating to see that support is going which was so much needed in the hospital and the communities." Public Health Scotland said there is strong evidence that breastfeeding protects the health of children and said that over the past decade increasing rates among younger women and those from ethnic minorities and more deprived areas had reduced health Breastfeeding Buddies service was run by the NCT charity in five hospitals and seven community had a staff team of nine and a volunteer pool of 82 specially-trained peer supporters, split between Glasgow and last services closed on 6 June and pregnant or new mums are being advised to go online for support or contact their midwife or health visitor for help and advice. Former NCT Glasgow services manager Kirsteen Buckney said: "When we first found out that we weren't getting funded, everybody that I work with was worried about the families we support and not about ourselves losing our jobs."Statistics show that 90% of parents stop breastfeeding because they didn't have the support to continue, so without the support there that's not a choice for them anymore.''It's quite heartbreaking.''A Scottish government spokeswoman said breastfeeding rates were the highest on record, with 49% of mothers breastfeeding between six and eight weeks after birth. She said a small number of areas had previously seen support provided by third sector organisations through direct Scottish government funding, but this year a decision was taken to only provide funding to NHS boards. "This will allow them to decide how best to meet local need, in a sustainable way, over the long term," she said. NHS Greater Glasgow and Clyde said it understood the concern the service being discontinued may bring and it ''remains committed to supporting breastfeeding women''.NHS Lothian's director of public health Dona Milne said: "We are aware of recent changes to the funding model from Scottish government and are committed to working alongside partners to ensure that women across Lothian get the support that they need."


Glasgow Times
5 hours ago
- Glasgow Times
Care reform Bill passed unanimously at Holyrood
The Scottish Government proposed to shift accountability for providing social care to ministers and create local bodies that would be responsible for administering care. But serious opposition from political parties, local authorities and trade unions resulted in the plans being ripped out of the Bill despite around £30 million being spent on its development. The name of the Bill was eventually changed to the Care Reform (Scotland) Bill and it was passed with the support of 116 MSPs on Tuesday. Speaking about the failed proposals for the creation of a National Care Service, Scottish Tory health spokesman Dr Sandesh Gulhane said: 'Let's not pretend we've arrived at this moment by design. 'We're here because of yet another SNP policy that promised the world and delivered a fiasco. 'The now defunct National Care Service Bill was once hailed as the most significant reform to health and social care since the creation of the NHS. 'But, in reality, it was a half-baked plan dreamt up by ministers, clearly in an ivory tower that was dead in the water before the ink had dried on the first draft.' While Scottish Labour deputy leader Jackie Baillie said: 'The way we care for our most vulnerable is more important than party politics. 'That is why Scottish Labour committed to help the Scottish Government deliver such a service, but as I warned at the time, the devil would be in the detail.' The Scottish Government, Ms Baillie claimed, 'attempted a power grab'. 'Four years later, three first ministers later, three health secretaries later and £31 million later and what we have before us is a drastically reduced Bill with not a National Care Service in sight, and not a single extra penny of that money going directly to social care,' she added. Despite the changes, social care minister Maree Todd said the Government remained committed to the creation of a National Care Service. The remaining provisions will implement changes to the existing care system, the biggest of which has been dubbed 'Anne's Law'. The change will allow family and friends to be named as 'essential care supporters' and require care homes to facilitate visits from them in all but the most extreme circumstances. The proposals grew from a Scottish Parliament petition by Natasha Hamilton, who was unable to visit her mother Anne Duke in her care home during the pandemic, ultimately missing her death. Speaking in Holyrood on Tuesday, Ms Todd praised the work of campaigners for Anne's Law, some of whom were watching proceedings from the public gallery. 'I have been profoundly impacted by the conversations that I have had with them,' she said. 'The emotional harm and trauma that they and their loved ones and many others suffered from being unable to see one another for such long, isolating periods during the pandemic must be acknowledged to make sure that this never happens again.' As well as Anne's Law, the legislation will also give unpaid carers the right to take breaks.


Daily Mail
6 hours ago
- Daily Mail
Cash strapped NHS board to cut nappies for newborns in bizarre bid to slash costs
Bosses at a cash-strapped health board are to axe the free provision of disposable nappies in maternity wards – to save just £8,000 a year. Executives at NHS Grampian decided parents of healthy newborns can foot the bill for the absorbents as they struggle to manage the board's budget. The development comes despite the fact a study last month revealed the board had the highest-earning manager in Scotland's public health service. Scottish Conservative MSP Tess White MSP said: 'It's a measure of the SNP 's chronic underfunding of NHS Grampian that they've axed the provision of nappies for newborns. 'With NHS Grampian paying a medical director a whopping £242k a year, making him the highest earning NHS manager in Scotland, new mums will rightly question whether huge wage bills at the top should be prioritised over the needs of patients.' NHS Grampian needs to reduce a deficit of £23million but the anticipated savings form the nappies would amount to just 0.035 per cent of the total required. Other planned belt-tightening proposals include the reduction of services over public holidays while spiritual care would also be scaled back. Last month, it emerged that the health board has been escalated to stage four of NHS Scotland's National Performance Framework amid concerns over finances and governance. Holyrood ministers decided to step up scrutiny at NHS Grampian after it needed a loan of more than £67million to tackle overspend. Documents put before the board tomorrow (Thu) say about the nappies: 'This proposed saving relates to discontinuing the provision of disposable nappies for all well babies born in Aberdeen Maternity Hospital, Dr Grays Hospital, Inverurie Community Maternity Unit and Peterhead Community Maternity Unit. 'Note that a reusable nappies voucher is provided in the baby box supplied to all pregnant women in Scotland by the Scottish Government.' It goes on to say the proposal has 'potential negative impacts' as it could be seen discriminatory against babies or pregnant women and it would impact those on lower incomes. However, to mitigate the lack of kit in maternity wards it adds: 'It is intended that pregnant women will bring their own supply of nappies for their babies who are born well and not admitted to the neonatal unit.' The paperwork clarifies the move would not affect babies who require special-sized nappies that are admitted to the neo-natal unit. But the overall savings from the move are understood to be in the region of just £8,000 a year. In 2024, NHS Grampian welcomed around 4,800 babies. On average each newborn needs up to 10 nappies a day putting the annual requirement for the health board to around 50,000 per year. In January 2022 a consumer website said the average price of a nappy was 14.6p and allowing for inflation it could now be around 16p costing NHS Grampian the total of £8,000. A recent study by the campaign group Taxpayers' Alliance (TPA) revealed the health board manager earning most in Scotland in 2023/24 was Paul Bachoo, acute medical director and portfolio lead (surgery and clinical support) at NHS Grampian, with a total remuneration of £242,500 – enough to pay for the nappy provision for the next 30 years. A spokesman for the National Childbirth Trust, or NCT, warned of the impact on new parents and said: 'The early hours and days of having a newborn can be a challenging period for parents, and postnatally the NHS has a responsibility to support new babies. 'Parents may have arrived in hospital unexpectedly, following a traumatic birth, or may not have arrived with a packed birth bag with newborn nappies. 'Offering a supply of free to access nappies is an essential item in the immediate hours after birth, and giving parents a moment to catch their breath, and find the appropriate nappies for their baby upon discharge from hospital.' Critics said the move to axe the free provision of nappies is just the latest example of the Scottish Government's failures over the National Health Service. Scottish Liberal Democrat leader Alex Cole-Hamilton MSP said: 'Health board budgets are facing the squeeze, but cruelly snatching away nappies that don't even cost much is hardly the way to deal with it. 'What's next? Cots and blankets? 'The Scottish Government should be working with health boards to devise a proper strategy to ease these budget pressures. But as usual, the SNP are failing to step up and deliver for our NHS.' Scottish Labour health spokeswoman Jackie Baillie added: 'Right across Scotland NHS boards are being forced to make difficult choices as pressure mounts on frontline services. 'The SNP has taken NHS Grampian into special measures so it is directly responsible for these cuts. 'This cut will take a toll on new families and barely make a dent on the board's eyewatering deficit. 'The SNP must work with Health Boards to ease the dangerous financial pressure on local services and protect patients.' Shimeon Lee, policy analyst at the TaxPayers' Alliance said the plan to cut disposable nappies was a 'poorly targeted move which will save very little' when top bosses were paid such large amount. He added: 'Recent TPA research found that the NHS wastes hundreds of millions on electricity and postage costs, highlighting where trusts could make better use of their resources. 'Instead of penny pinching from babies, the health bosses should focus on meaningful efficiencies to cut costs.' The NHS Grampian paperwork also warns that any increases in costs would minimise the impact from the planned savings. It adds: 'There are a number of risks associated with the financial recovery plan for 2025/26 which would leave NHS Grampian with no flexibility to manage any in year cost pressures that arise.' A spokesman for NHS Grampian said the 'board is being asked to approve those savings at the meeting on Thursday'. Health Secretary Neil Gray said: 'The Scottish Government has received the financial recovery plan from NHS Grampian and we will continue to work with them as they work towards a position of financial sustainability. Our expectation is that proposed savings are proportionate, while also protecting frontline services. 'As part of the escalation to Stage 4 of the NHS Scotland Support and Intervention Framework there is a programme of enhanced scrutiny and support from the Scottish Government. I am confident that, through these actions, we will soon have a clear plan to stabilise the system and set the right conditions for the necessary, longer term transformational work – with the key aim being to ensure the sustainable delivery of high quality healthcare services for the benefit of local people.'