News

Trading Standards Scotland (TSS) has released various social media materials aimed at targeting and combating Energy Marketing Scams. The frequent changes in the availability of energy efficiency incentives make it easy for dishonest companies to scam consumers. Scammers say that funding or grants are available, yet ask consumers to pay for the products up front or take out a loan.

National Work Life Week 2020 takes place Monday 12th October – Friday 16th October, aiming to act as an opportunity for both employers and employees to focus on wellbeing at work and maintaining a healthy work-life balance.

The Scottish Women’s Convention (SWC) will hold their “Women and Social Care in Scotland” online conference on Monday 5th October, 3pm – 5pm, via Zoom. The conference is free to attend, covering everything from women’s experiences before and during the COVID-19 pandemic, to what needs to be done in future to make social care work for everyone in Scotland.

Self Management Week 2020 takes place Monday 28th September – Friday 2nd October, with this year’s theme being My Wellbeing, My Life. The national week highlights and recognises self management approaches happening across Scotland, raises awareness across health, social care and the third sector, and engages people to think about how self management can support their health and wellbeing. To celebrate, the Health and Social Care ALLIANCE Scotland has released a toolkit to support people getting involved in the week.

In addition to their other events, Diabetes Scotland is holding: Diabetes UK Learning Zone: An Introduction on Wednesday 30th September at 7pm (with Senior Clinical Advisor, Karen Davis, who will talk about their Learning Zone platform) and Living with Diabetes Q&A for Urdu and Punjabi Speakers on Monday 28th October at 7pm (with Dr Kashif Ali and Dr Naz Ghouri, which will be conducted in English, Urdu and Punjabi).

The School Holiday Food Fund has been set up to support local projects tackling food insecurity in Falkirk communities. Applications for the Fund will be during school holidays in October, and possibly December 2020. Groups can apply for up to £1,000. Groups wishing to apply must be constituted; partnerships involving unconstituted community organisations can apply, but the lead partner must be constituted.

Forth Environment Link (FEL) has developed a Climate Conversation Survey which seeks to better understand how they can offer support to community groups, organisatons, and local businesses to build resilient and adaptable communities that respond to the changing environment. The survey invites local Falkirk communities, residents, local businesses and groups to provide their views on climate change and the ways they want to help their own communities reduce their carbon footprint.

The Virtual Meeting of the Scottish Public Information Forum (SPIF) takes place on Thursday 24th September, 2pm – 3:3pm. SPIF has been organised to celebrate International Right to Know Day, and will be part of global celebrations promoted by UNESCO, focusing on to the right to information in times of crisis. The meeting is open to members of the public and those in the public or private sectors, or civil society.

The Neighbourhood Alert and Neighbourhood Watch Scotland has highlighted a bank transfer scam currently in use, which people should be aware of. Neighbourhood Watch Scotland was alerted to the scam by Fettes Sawmill Ltd (based in Muir of Ord), whose full account of the incident was posted to their Facebook page.