A Sainsbury’s store in Edinburgh has become the first in Scotland to stop selling tobacco. The move is part of a trial, which has no set end date, will look at the impact of the removal of tobacco from stores. The trial is being carried out because of the Scottish Government’s public health levy, and has lead Sainsbury’s to undertake a review of the sale of tobacco in company’s Scottish stores.

If you would like to read more see the link below:

http://news.stv.tv/scotland/104409-sainsburys-stop-tobacco-sales-in-edinburgh-store-due-to-new-policy/

This week sees the launch of a new education pack which will enable secondary school teachers and other youth workers to address some of the issues around mental health and wellbeing.  ‘That’s Not Me…’ uses the medium of film to explore mental health through the eyes of young people.  The 12 minute drama was written and performed by young people with professional advice and input from adult health professionals and film makers.  The project was jointly funded by two projects within Scottish Borders, Choose Life which aims to reduce the rate of suicide and Voice of My Own (VOMO) which gives young people an opportunity to express themselves through the moving image.  The project also received input from Penumbra Youth Project, a community based mental health project working with 16-21 year olds in Scottish Borders.

The film was well received by young people, schools and health professionals as well as winning acclaim as an artistic endeavour in the wider world of film making.  Not surprisingly, it was felt that it was important to make it available to a wider audience and after securing additional funding, VOMO and Choose Life worked together to create this pack.

Robert Sproul-Cran directed the film and designed the pack. He said ‘The group which developed the project drew on personal experiences and emotions, which gives the film a real authenticity. The powerful performances by Perri Walsh as Rosie and Shelagh Hynd as her mother really strike a chord. I’m just delighted that we now have the chance to take this significant work to a wider audience, supported by the excellent material created by Haylis in the education pack. It may just be the most important project I’ve ever been involved in.’

The pack will be distributed to all schools and youth groups in Scottish Borders and is available to buy for other organisations across Scotland.  For further information, please contact Haylis on hmackay@scotborders.gov.uk tel 01835 824000.

Fighting Fire with Fire
Article in the Sunday Herald, which discusses, women and smoking. The article discusses how tobacco companies and public health campaigns have used marketing to target women. The essay also talks to young women about why the smoke and their views on tobacco branding and what effect plain packaging may have.

If you would like to read more, follow the link below:

http://www.heraldscotland.com/comment/columnists/fighting-fire-with-fire.12723018

There was an interesting article in The Guardian on 25th April 2012 –

Britain has the third-highest proportion of teenagers who are sexually active at an early age and also ranks badly among high-income nations for harmful teenage drinking, according to a series of studies published in the Lancet medical journal on Tuesday.

The research, plus a report by Unicef, call for more attention to be paid to the changing needs of the young, warning they are at risk of mental and physical illness, vulnerable to unhealthy product marketing and that too many will die early.

Follow the link below to read more –
http://www.guardian.co.uk/society/2012/apr/25/uk-third-highest-proportion-sexually-active

The healthy way to get to school – Travelling Green.

Travelling Green is a complete six-week programme aimed at P5 level; it comes with lesson plans and wall charts. It gives children and their parents the skills and confidence to walk to school. Walking to school is good for children’s development as well and their physical and mental health. Travelling Green has strong Health and Wellbeing Curriculum links covering topics like for example; the circulatory and respiratory systems.

For more information, see link below;

http://www.sustrans.org.uk/what-we-do/safe-routes-to-schools/whats-in-your-area/scotland/travelling-green

Recent research has shown that children who do Travelling Green are generally more physically active than children who do not. Increasing children’s daily physical activity is essential for tackling the obesity epidemic, one of the key challenges facing Scotland’s population as described in Scotland’s Chief Medical Officer’s annual report. We need to make active modes of travel children’s first choice and make physical activity an everyday habit for Scottish children.

It has been shown that active children become active adults. Physical activity has recently been made a national indicator in Scotland. Walking to school is an excellent everyday opportunity for children to get the recommended amount of physical activity which is vital for maintaining their health and wellbeing. In addition, active children do better at school. When asked children want to be more physically active and they want to travel actively to school. Travelling Green is a resource that increases children’s physical activity in small manageable steps.

The resource was popular with teachers; they gave the following feedback;

“Well thought out and children benefited from it, many changed their route and started walking together in groups”.

“Easy to use with lots of additional resources and support materials”

“Good resource, making cross-curricular links”.

The Travelling Green resources were developed in partnership by West Dunbartonshire Council and are available for free to all Scottish schools. 

There are also free Travelling Green flipcharts for interactive whiteboards available from Promethean Planet (see included step by step guide). We also include a guide for the Travelling Green resources and a flyer to circulate to your schools.

To get the resources sent to your school contact;

cecilia.oram@sustrans.org.uk 0131 346 9777