Latest news with #NeilHanna
Scotsman
4 days ago
- Health
- Scotsman
New Edinburgh centre will help people with dementia experience health benefits of nature and the outdoors
A new centre which aims to unlock the power of nature to help people living with dementia has been officially opened in the grounds of Edinburgh's Lauriston Castle. Sign up to our daily newsletter Sign up Thank you for signing up! Did you know with a Digital Subscription to Edinburgh News, you can get unlimited access to the website including our premium content, as well as benefiting from fewer ads, loyalty rewards and much more. Learn More Sorry, there seem to be some issues. Please try again later. Submitting... It follows the success of the UK's first outdoor dementia resource centre at Badaguish in the Cairngorms National Park. Edinburgh Lord Provost Robert Aldridge was joined for the opening by the late Barbara Windsor's husband Scott Mitchell and Henry Simmons, chief executive of AlzheimerScotland, which is behind the initiative. The new centre will encourage people living with dementia, their families and carers to experience the mental and physical benefits of spending time outdoors. Picture: Neil Hanna. | Neil Hanna Advertisement Hide Ad Advertisement Hide Ad The East Enders legend was diagnosed with Alzheimer's Disease in 2024 and Mr Mitchell, who was married to her for 20 years before her death in 2020, was her carer for the last six years of her life. The new centre will offer a wide range of activities to help people with dementia connect with nature and the outdoors, such as gardening, cycling, walks and outdoor yoga. And it also aims to help families and carers to experience the mental and physical benefits of spending time outdoors. Lauriston lodge, in the castle grounds, has been restored to its former glory, with dementia-friendly design throughout. And the garden includes a red phone box and a bus stop designed to stimulate memories and conversation. Lord Provost Robert Aldridge and the late Barbara Windsor's husband Scott Mitchell cut the ribbon at the official opening. Picture: Neil Hanna. | Neil Hanna Mr Simmons said: 'People living with dementia can often become socially isolated, or struggle to access the outdoors, but our Lauriston centre will help to bring the benefits of nature directly to them. Advertisement Hide Ad Advertisement Hide Ad 'It has taken a lot of work to restore and adapt the old Lauriston lodge but it now looks fantastic. A special thank you goes to the former Forget-Me-Not Trust and Edinburgh City Council who helped make this project a reality." The Badaguish centre in the Cairngorms National Park opened two years ago as a flagship project of the Cairngorms 2030 programme, which aims to create the UK's first net zero national park and inspire communities across Scotland and beyond to take climate and wellbeing action. Lauriston Lodge as been extensively renovated and designed to be dementia friendly. | supplied Kenny Wright, manager at Badaguish, said: "We began our outdoor work with people living with dementia in the autumn of 2017, launching a pilot project based in a tipi tent near Loch Morlich once a month. Local people living with dementia clearly had a passion for connecting with nature - we could see there was scope to grow this idea. 'In 2022 we secured funding through the Cairngorms 2030 programme. This enabled Alzheimer Scotland to set up what might be the world's first dedicated outdoor resource centre for people with Dementia at Badaguish Outdoor Centre. Advertisement Hide Ad Advertisement Hide Ad "We've really put our roots down there and branched out into local communities. Our colleagues at Alzheimer Scotland have really nurtured this idea and have now invested in this second outdoor dementia resource centre at Lauriston Castle. 'I'm delighted to see green health flourish within Alzheimer Scotland and become an important part of how we support people to live well with dementia across Scotland." David Clyne, head of Cairngorms 2030, said: "The project has become a supportive and vibrant community for people living with dementia and their loved ones, offering therapeutic nature-based activities and tailored support. "The creation of a second Outdoor Dementia Resource Centre in Edinburgh is a fitting legacy of Cairngorms 2030 and I wish the team at Lauriston Castle every success as they bring this pioneering green health initiative to a new audience."
Yahoo
06-03-2025
- Science
- Yahoo
Jurassic dinosaur fossil extracted from cliff in Scottish island
A FOSSIL first spotted in a Scottish island over 50 years ago has finally been extracted from the base of the cliff where it was found and, following analysis, formally identified as a Jurassic dinosaur. The fossil was first discovered in Skye in 1973, making it Scotland's earliest recorded dinosaur find. It was not fully identified at the time and remained uncollected until a team led by Dr Elsa Panciroli returned in 2018 to the location near Elgol, in the south of the island, to undertake a challenging extraction from the rock. READ MORE: While the Elgol dinosaur is preserved only in fragments compared to some specimens found elsewhere, researchers have identified part of the spine, ribs and hip bones, making it the most complete dinosaur skeleton found to date in Scotland. Close study of these bones has led researchers to believe that it is an ornithopod dinosaur, a group of which includes notable later dinosaurs such as Iguanodon, Parasaurolophus and Edmontosaurus. The Elgol dinosaur dates to around 166 million years ago, in the Middle Jurassic, making it one of the earliest known ornithipod body fossils, as that group of dinosaurs became far more prominent in the later Cretaceous period. Analysis of the bone structure indicates that the animal, which would have been roughly the size of a pony, was at least 8 years old. The new description of the Elgol dinosaur is published in the Earth and Environmental Science Transactions of the Royal Society of Edinburgh. (Image: Neil Hanna) Lead author, Dr Elsa Panciroli (above), the NERC independent research fellow at National Museums Scotland said: 'This was a really challenging extraction, in fact we'd previously felt it was too difficult to collect the fossil, but I thought it was really important to study it. I was able to persuade the team to give it a try. It took a lot of hard work from a lot of people, but we did it: finally we can confirm and publish Scotland's first recorded and most complete dinosaur, and that makes it all worthwhile.' The difficult excavation was made possible with the support of a specialist team from Research Casting International, based in Canada. A local crew from Elgol's Bella Jane Boat Trips piloted the rigid inflatable boat and dinghy to the shore at the foot of the cliff, where the specimen was loaded and taken back to port. Dr Stig Walsh from National Museums Scotland added: 'This is a wonderful addition to the rapidly growing set of Jurassic finds from the Isle of Skye which are enabling us to learn more and more about the rich ecosystem of the time. We've known there were dinosaurs there for a while, most obviously from the famous footprints at An Corran, Brother's Point and Duntulm and from individual bones, but it's exciting to see a more complete, if still partial, skeleton. We're delighted to add it to the other amazing finds now in the National Collection'. Other recent Jurassic discoveries from Skye include the description of adult and juvenile mammals of the same species, Krusatodon, which revealed that these mammals grew more slowly than mammals today, and the world's largest Jurassic pterosaur fossil, Dearc sgiathanach.
