Scottish Rifle Meeting, Lauder
PLEASE NOTE: Due to storm damage to the range and building development in the danger area, the Scottish Meeting cannot be held at Lauder for the time being. The Earl Haig Scottish Championship is currently being held at Denwood, Aberdeenshire. It is hoped that a full Scottish Rifle Meeting can be held again at some time in the future.
The NSRA Scottish Rifle Meeting has its home in the grounds of Thirlestane Castle, Lauder a small town in the Scottish Borders about 25 miles south-east of Edinburgh.
The Borders is rich in history, with castles, abbeys, gardens and many other visitor attractions to visit during your holiday based around the rifle meeting.
Information on what to do and where to go when in the area can be found at www.visitscotland.com and www.visitscottishborders.com. The Visit Scotland site also provides details of local accommodation and the means of booking direct with local hotels, guests houses and B&Bs, or you can phone 0845 2255121. Thirlstane Castle also has a caravan and camp site within its grounds.
You can also find out about the area at www.lauder.bordernet.co.uk.
The success of the Green Living Fund shows the benefits of working in partnership with communities, the convenor of Perth and Kinross Council's Housing and Wellbeing Committee has said.
More than £220,000 was made available to community groups to support projects providing support to people during the Cost-of-Living crisis and responding to climate change.
Fifty-one eligible bids to the fund were submitted and 46 of these were then put to the public vote to see which would obtain funding. Five projects in Strathtay received funding without the need for a vote.
More than 2,000 people voted with 41 projects receiving grants from the Green Living Fund.
The winners were announced at the Civic Hall at Perth and Kinross Council's 2 High Street headquarters on March 12.
Councillor Tom McEwan, convenor of the Council's Housing and Wellbeing Committee, which will discuss the Green Living Fund on Wednesday March 20, said: "There has been a tremendous response to the Green Living Fund.
"We received a high number of quality applications for funding and more than 2,000 people submitted almost 5,000 votes for the projects they supported.
"This shows the value of working in partnership with the communities we represent. These are projects communities believe will make a real difference to their lives and we are pleased to be able to support the projects that matter most to them."
Projects had to be developed along the following themes:
- Energy - reducing consumption, promoting energy efficiency and use of renewables
- Transport - encouraging active travel, use of public transport and decarbonising transport
- Waste and circular economy - reducing waste, reuse and recycle, including foodshare projects
- Resilience - improving greenspace, biodiversity, local food growing and adapting to climate change, flood mitigation and other community resilience projects set up to respond to climate events
- Engagement - increasing public awareness and engaging communities
Eligible bids then went to a public vote, with the most popular receiving funding. The full list of winning bids is available on the Perth and Kinross Council website.
Councillor McEwan added: "I look forward to seeing how these projects develop. It is fantastic to see community groups working together to tackle common issues."
Perth ‘hospital at home’ service axed as health bosses seek £9M savings.
The loss of the hospital at home scheme will help to save £5.5M across Perth and Kinross
The service was only recently set up as a pilot scheme.
The aim was to provide short-term, specialised care to elderly patients in their own homes, thus preventing the need for admission to an acute hospital.
However, health and social care bosses voted to axe it on Wednesday after hearing it was “not sustainable in the current financial context”.
The Perth and Kinross integration joint board (IJB) was told it would need to make savings of 5%, or just under £9 million, in order to balance the books.
Members voted through a series of measures intended to save £5.5M in the coming year.
They were also asked to approve the transfer of £2.3M from the board’s reserves to help bridge the funding gap.
Chief finance officer Donna Mitchell said funding for health and social care was not keeping pace with demand.
“The financial challenges facing the public sector, and therefore the IJB, have made this one of the most difficult budgets that we have had to prepare,” she said.
Perth hospital at home service not the only casualty
Staff in the hospital at home service were informed of the proposal on Tuesday.
It was set up as a pilot scheme in line with Scottish Government policy.
Holyrood made £3.6M available in 2022 to support the expansion of hospital at home services.
The meeting was told the Perth scheme was set up to cater for up to 10 “virtual beds” at any one time.
However, during the pilot it dealt with a maximum of five, averaging two to three each day.
And a report to the board said the absence of recurring Scottish Government funding meant it was “not cost-effective at this time”.
The medical team will be redeployed in Perth.
However, the package approved on Wednesday could impact up to 35 jobs across a range of services.
It includes a review and re-design of day care/opportunities for older people.
This will include services provided by Perth and Kinross Council at the New Rannoch Day Centre in Perth and Strathmore Day Opportunities in Blairgowrie.
A 5% reduction in prescribing costs is also proposed.
The IJB was told: “A range of options will be used to minimise the impact on employees, including the non-filling of vacancies, the use of natural attrition and redeployment of staff where appropriate.”
Council and health board funding
The Perth and Kinross integration joint board oversees the provision of health and social care services with funding from Perth and Kinross Council and NHS Tayside.
It was allocated just over £83 million when Perth and Kinross Council set its budget at the end of February.
The council is also passing on an additional £7.5M from the Scottish Government towards the cost of adult social care and free personal care.
NHS Tayside has yet to set its budget. But based on 2023/24 funds, the IJB expects a share of £157.7M with an additional allocation of just over £10M via the Scottish Government.
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