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Daily Record
an hour ago
- Entertainment
- Daily Record
Airdrie Library embracing the future with launch of state-of-the-art immersive room
Visitors can explore a wide range of topics such as Ancient Egypt, dinosaurs, volcanoes, and art galleries, or enjoy calming mindfulness sessions and interactive wall colouring. Airdrie Library is embracing the future while celebrating its past, with the launch of a state-of-the-art immersive room and a series of events to mark the building's 100th birthday this September. The immersive room, open by appointment, offers a fully interactive 360-degree digital experience. Visitors can explore a wide range of topics such as Ancient Egypt, dinosaurs, volcanoes, and art galleries, or enjoy calming mindfulness sessions and interactive wall colouring. The space is designed to support education, creativity, and wellbeing for people of all ages. 'This is a fantastic example of how we are reimagining our libraries as vibrant, forward-thinking community hubs,' said said Councillor Jim Logue, Leader of North Lanarkshire Council. 'The immersive room in Airdrie Library is a powerful tool for education, creativity and wellbeing. 'This room is just part of our overall plans to promote Airdrie Library as a key destination within the town centre and celebrating its rich history.' The launch coincides with the library's 100th birthday, which will be marked in September with a series of celebratory events, including exhibitions, talks, and family-friendly activities. Russell Brown, Libraries Manager at North Lanarkshire Council, added: 'We're incredibly proud to offer this immersive experience. It's designed to inspire curiosity and provide a unique space for schools, community groups, and individuals to explore and learn in new and exciting ways.' In 2023, North Lanarkshire Council secured £150,000 from the National Lottery Heritage Fund and Historic Environment Scotland to support the development phase of 'Rediscovering Airdrie', a heritage-led regeneration project. This initiative will deliver a range of physical improvements and community heritage activities in Airdrie town centre. Council staff are currently preparing Heritage Fund and HES funding bids for 'delivery phase' of the project, which, if successful, will be supported by match funding from the council. or contact Airdrie Library directly. *Don't miss the latest headlines from around Lanarkshire. Sign up to our newsletters here.
Otago Daily Times
20-05-2025
- Business
- Otago Daily Times
100-plus years on farms marked
Organisers praised the "ticker and tenacity" of farming families receiving Century Farm awards in Lawrence on Saturday. The awards were established by local man Russell Brown and friends in 2005 to honour families who had farmed the same land for 100 years or more. This year three families received awards marking 150 years on the same land. Among them were the Dalziels, of Lawrence, whose forebear Christopher had landed at Port Chalmers — via a circuitous route — from Shetland in 1861. From there he had joined the Lawrence Gold Rush, and saved sufficient capital through his mining exploits to buy 100 acres (40.5ha) in nearby Tuapeka West in 1874. A fifth generation of Dalziels now farms the land. They were among 22 families from across the country receiving the awards this year, meaning a smaller-than-usual crowd of about 220 attended the awards at Simpson Park on Saturday night. Clutha Mayor Bryan Cadogan introduced the guest of honour, Minister for the South Island James Meager. In his opening address, Mr Cadogan praised the "ticker and tenacity" of those families receiving the awards. "This celebrates everything that's good about being a Kiwi and living off the land. It's something special," he said. In a humorous response, Mr Meager said he was pleased to see many North Islanders among those present. "We welcome the direct foreign investment of all those visiting from the North Island tonight," he said. He said the awards acknowledged farming families who had "done it tough, and done it well". Awards chairman Eddie Fitzgerald said, despite the smaller numbers, no less effort had gone into organisation. "We had a social at the Tuapeka Vintage Club on Friday night, and our awards ceremony tonight. It's a huge effort from the whole of the community that's months in the planning, and what you see here is a credit to all those who have contributed through volunteering time, goods, skills and sponsorship." He said next year's event was likely to be bigger, as several applications had already been received. Applications close at the end of November.
Glasgow Times
11-05-2025
- Business
- Glasgow Times
Shaw Healthcare celebrates five years of employee ownership
Shaw Healthcare, which has more than 60 services across the UK, including Surehaven Glasgow in Drumchapel, became employee-owned in May 2020. Since then, the company has placed more than 3,300 employees at the heart of its business, which has led to boosts in morale, care outcomes, and national recognition. Read more: Moving baby loss remembrance service will be held at Glasgow Cathedral The company was named Employee-Owned Business of the Year in 2024, with recognition of its dedication to staff-led culture. Russell Brown, chief executive, said: "Employee ownership has made a huge difference. "We've seen stronger communication, greater accountability, and a real sense of pride in what we do. "That culture directly impacts the people we care for — and that's what matters most. "Winning the EOT Business of the Year award last year was the icing on the cake. "It was fantastic recognition of the hard work, care and dedication shown by every single employee over the past five years and I would like to personally thank them for helping Shaw to continue to deliver the quality of care that we would expect for our own loved ones." Read more: Glasgow's unsung WWII heroes honoured for bravery Shaw commits to reinvesting its profits into salaries, profit share bonuses, and improving care environments and technology. This model is designed to support workforce retention and delivering long-term value to local communities. The company is now the largest employee-owned healthcare provider and the third largest employee-owned business in the UK.
NZ Herald
30-04-2025
- Climate
- NZ Herald
Russell Brown: The flaws in Auckland's weather warnings
Russell Brown: "For all the soul-searching after the events of 2023, it seems official agencies still haven't worked out how to tell us important things urgently." I was preparing for bed before midnight on Good Friday when I heard the first peal of thunder, somewhere in the distance. Then another. I walked into the office and loaded the rain radar on the MetService website. It was clear things were about to kick off. A line of rain storms, north to south, was descending the map and beginning to slam into Auckland. I knew that set-up: it was how the radar looked during the extraordinary rain event of Auckland Anniversary weekend 2023, when it felt like reality itself had torn. I knocked on the door of our younger son, an autistic night owl who appreciates a heads-up about sudden loud sounds, then lay in bed listening to the rain sheeting down, punctuated by cracks and bangs of thunder overhead. By morning, the Mt Albert New World, which closed for 20 months after the 2023 storm, had flooded again, and the footbridge over Oakley Creek, which had just been replaced after washing out in 2023, was washed away again. Several shelters and civil defence centres had opened while I slept. Many people who talked to reporters had the same question: 'Why weren't we warned?' In truth, we were. As ex-Tropical Cyclone Tam loomed before the holiday weekend, we received all the usual advice about tying things down and cleaning out guttering. We were even told there could be a thunderstorm or two on Friday evening. Thunderstorms, by their nature, are hard to precisely predict; the most you can generally do is say that the conditions exist. MetService issued a warning about Friday's thunderstorms just after midnight, and it was reposted on Facebook by Auckland councillor Richard Hills, who had already lost electricity on the North Shore. Auckland Emergency Management, whose teams had stood down as Tam's winds eased on Friday, shared it around 2.30am, half an hour before the warning was due to expire. Most of us were asleep in our beds at the time. Should the authorities have used their ability to turn our phones into emergency sirens? The residents of East Auckland, who had a mere 5mm sprinkle that night, may not have been impressed. But MetService, perhaps stung by the criticism, asked Auckland Emergency Management to do just that the following day. I was in the fruit shop at 2.04pm, when everyone's phone went off with a message that blared 'URGENT ACTION REQUIRED' and warned of severe thunderstorms 'until 2.15pm?' It was nearly two hours since I'd looked at the rain radar and posted to my friends on Bluesky that 'it's about to kick off again in Auckland. Out west, anyway.' A second siren 20 minutes later extended the warning to 3pm, without the stray question mark. The weather event itself had not reached central Auckland and was leaving the region. The alerts, however, were still with us. A third phone klaxon sounded at 6.39pm on Sunday, warning urgently of the potential for 'torrential rain' in the north, west and centre of the city. But according to MetService's own radar, a long line of intense rain storms had already been ploughing down through the west and over the Manukau Harbour for an hour and a half. The front of it was nearly over Raglan. I messaged a friend there to tell him he had incoming weather. For all the soul-searching after the events of 2023, it seems official agencies still haven't worked out how to tell us important things urgently. Perhaps the system should focus more on risk – tenants and owners of flood-prone properties might be keener than the rest of us to sign up to be woken. But it's hard not to feel there is something more broken in the system. And unless it's fixed, the risk is that we'll stop listening.
BBC News
28-04-2025
- Business
- BBC News
Lincolnshire mayoral election: Is Scunthorpe seeing green shoots?
The battle to save Scunthorpe's steel industry coincides with an election campaign to choose the first mayor of Greater Lincolnshire. Ahead of the 1 May election, BBC News went to Ashby, in the shadow of British Steel's plant, to see how uncertainty around the industry could swing votes. Ashby Market is less than two miles (3.2km) from the steelworks, which dominate the skyline. Many in this North Lincolnshire community breathed a sigh of relief when the government took over the running of British Steel; a move that kept the blast furnaces firing and ended a consultation over 2,700 redundancies, announced by the firm's Chinese owners, Jingye, in more than a century, the economy here has been largely reliant on steelmaking, but there are lingering fears the future may not mirror the vibrancy of the market's cut flowers and bouquets for which it is known. Maxine Greaves, 65, and Russell Brown, 67, run a stall selling flowers and plants, and they tell me they are worried about the number of empty shots in the town. They fear any further uncertainty over the future of steel jobs could dent confidence in the area."When they announced they were going to close the steelworks, the rest of the market - except for us - was dead," says Ms Greaves."It was like fear had gripped everybody. When they suffer, we suffer."Clothing stall owner Rob Maini, 69, agrees that when British Steel sneezes, many in this town catch a would like to see some long-term security for the steel industry, for the sake of the area. Mr Maini says: "The majority of workers are from Scunthorpe and when they suffer we suffer. Let's get the steelworks back on the road."Fishmonger Graham Garrod, 66, believes Scunthorpe has not fully recovered from the Covid-19 pandemic."People aren't coming here and spending money like they used to be, it's declined since the first lockdown," he says."We need all that back and people having jobs and money to spend." Francesca Cassie, 18, believes the mayor should help young people learn new bakery worker tells me: "We don't have a lot of opportunities, especially in and around Scunthorpe. "There's not a lot of places for young people to get the skills and opportunities they need to be able to put on a CV, because a lot of it is for the older generation." On 1 May, voters in Greater Lincolnshire will choose a mayor to oversee a combined authority with an annual budget of £ is elected will represent 1.1 million people from the Humber Estuary to The Wash. The new role will include powers over transport, housing, skills and regeneration. POSTCODE LOOKUP: Check if there is an election in your areaSIMPLE GUIDE: Everything you need to know about the local electionsGET IN TOUCH: Tell us the election issues that matter to youFULL COVERAGE: Catch up on all our election stories The candidates, listed by surname alphabetically, are:Sally Horscroft – Green PartyDame Andrea Jenkyns – Reform UKMarianne Overton – IndependentJason Stockwood – LabourRob Waltham – ConservativeTrevor Young – Liberal DemocratsListen to highlights from Lincolnshire on BBC Sounds, watch the latest episode of Look North or tell us about a story you think we should be covering here.
