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Edinburgh Reporter
05-07-2025
- Sport
- Edinburgh Reporter
Teenager Janik celebrates winning gold with Scotland
Edinburgh schoolboy, Eryk Janik, helped Scotland's under-16 shore fishing squad to hook the gold medal in the Home Nations for the first time since 2003. What's more, the team went into the three-day event in Coleraine, Northern Ireland, with only four anglers instead of five, with one member aged only 12, and including three debutants and under the wing of a manager in his first major competition. And the youngest member, Franky Hamilton from Angus, aged 12, won his zone on each of the three days. Gold was achieved despite the boys arriving just before the official opening due to cost, and without any practice at the two nominated venues. Nuno Santos, the squad's Glasgow-based manager, said: 'It's like a fairy tale. The squad came together only three months ago and, if anybody had suggested we would win gold, then I would have said we had no chance. 'However, the boys and their parents went with it and now look what we have achieved.' Hamilton plus Janik, who has only one cap, earned last year, Loui Wemyss (Tayside), and Jai McKinney (Ayrshire), faced tricky conditions on the beach for two days at Longfield Wall on the Foyle Estuary and Benone Strand. Santos, and his assistant, Billy Buckley (Uddingston), who stepped in when the nominated assistant, Sean Baxter, a Cowdenbeath-based tackle shop owner, could not make the trip for business reasons, said: 'The boys were phenomenal. 'They came together three months ago and they listened. We fast-tracked them through, we had practices and they delivered under pressure.' Going into the prestige event with only four anglers meant the team could not slip up and Santos explained: 'The other teams had five members and so we knew that we could not afford to have a blank or come last in any of the three days, otherwise that would have been it for us. 'However, we won the first day and I told the boys to go out and do their best in Day Two. They did and we came second. 'It was all to play for on Day Three. England and Ireland were close and in with a chance. We knew it would be tough. 'The boys came through and we won all of our zones which was amazing to clinch gold. To be frank, we pulled a rabbit out of a hat here.' He added: 'The boys were brilliant, they were well-behaved, we had great banter in the squad and this is the first time since 2003 since Scotland last won gold at Junior (under-16) level in the Home Nations. 'I cannot speak highly enough about the group. They learned fast. Franky has only been fishing for about a year, Eryk, Loui and Jai only took up fishing about two years ago, and their hard work in preparing for this has paid off with gold.' The ladies team won gold in their event for the first time after three silver medals. The squad included Aberdeen-born Buffy McAvoy, formerly from Edinburgh but now living in Glenrothes, plus debutant, Margo Robinson, from Dumbarton, Aussie-born Joanne Barlow from Brighton – she qualifies because of her Scottish-born mother – Gill Coutts from Largs and Lesley Maby (Cumbria). McAvoy said: 'Well, we've just gone and done it, winning gold.' Their manager is Kevin Lewis from Broughty Ferry, Tayside, and Robinson is a member of Scotland's ladies carp fishing team and Barlow is a former captain of the carp team. Lewis confirmed that Coutts won her zone on all three days, an 'amazing' achievement, and Robinson performed well in her first sea fishing international. He added: 'What can I say as the Scottish ladies manager, we have finally done it and won gold. I'm so proud of the ladies in the way they fished and listened (in the build-up).' PICTURE: Scotland (left to right): Billy Buckley (assistant manager), Jai McKinney, Eryk Janik, Franky Hamilton, Loui Wemyss, Nuno Santos (manager). Supplied by Nuno Santos. Like this: Like Related
Times
20-06-2025
- Business
- Times
Junk food TV ad ban won't solve obesity crisis, says Tunnock's boss
A senior director at Tunnock's has criticised a ban on junk food advertising as he warned the industry was 'being blamed for societal problems which are most definitely not of our making'. The confectionery brand, based in Uddingston, Lanarkshire, is famed for its snowballs, teacakes and caramel logs that are exported around the globe. But junk food adverts are soon to be banned from being broadcast before the TV watershed of 9pm, as part of the government's UK-wide drive to improve public health. In addition, online adverts for products that are high in fat, salt and sugar will be banned. In an interview with the Scottish Grocer, Fergus Loudon, sales director at Tunnock's, said: 'What we really need to guard against is, as an industry, being blamed for societal problems, which are most definitely not of our making. 'Obesity is a serious issue but it's an issue that only education will address. 'Banning chocolate biscuit ads on TV before nine o'clock to prevent obesity is rather like banning foreign holidays to prevent skin damage from too much sun.' Westminster plans to introduce the new advertising restrictions on October 1, 2025 across the UK. One in three adults (33 per cent) in Scotland are classed as obese, according to Scottish government figures for 2023, up from about 24 per cent in 2003. A recent survey by Obesity Action Scotland showed a majority of Scots would support a ban on junk food advertising before 9pm. The poll, which was carried out by YouGov on behalf of the campaign group, found 74 per cent supported a ban on such adverts on TV before 9pm, with 69 per cent supporting a similar ban online and 66 per cent a ban on adverts outside the home before 9pm. Loudon added that biscuit makers are already contending with problems of price and supply, and could do without the government making its marketing more difficult and costly. In its February advertising campaign, Tunnock's criticised rival brands that had reduced the size of their products. The company teamed up with Taggart star Alex Norton to investigate other chocolate makers 'getting away with murder' by shrinking their bars. The actor played the role of a detective probing the growing trend of 'shrinkflation' in the confectionery industry. A UK government spokesman said: 'Obesity robs our kids of the best possible start in life, sets them up for a lifetime of health problems, and costs the NHS billions. 'This government is taking action now to end the targeting of junk food ads at kids, across both TV and online. 'This is the first step to deliver a major shift in the focus of healthcare from sickness to prevention, and towards meeting our government's ambition to give every child a healthy, happy start to life.' Reflecting on the challenges in the industry, Loudon added: 'To borrow a famous Oscar Wilde observation, the only thing worse than being in the chocolate biscuit business is not being in the chocolate biscuit business.'
Daily Mail
05-06-2025
- Business
- Daily Mail
EXCLUSIVE GPs send urgent sex warning to NHS patients on skinny jabs - after health chiefs' 'surprise pregnancy' alert
Thousands of people in Scotland are being sent urgent text alerts from NHS GPs, warning them to use condoms during sex when first starting to use weight loss jabs. The move follows last night's warning from UK health watchdog, the Medicines and Healthcare products Regulatory Agency (MHRA), that blockbuster injections like Ozempic and Wegovy could make contraceptive less effective and be harmful to unborn babies. Those using the 'King-Kong' of weight loss jabs, Mounjaro, were told to 'double-up' their methods of contraception if using the Pill. Doctors at Lincluden Medical Centre in Uddingston, Lanarkshire, which has around 9000 patients, yesterday sent out text alerts encouraging the use of condoms while using the jabs. The text read: 'These injections can make the contraceptive pill and HRT less effective. 'If you take the pill with these injections you need to use condoms for four weeks after starting the first injection and for four weeks after any dose increase. 'If a private clinic is prescribing your weight loss injections make sure you tell them about all the medications you are taking.' The practice added that it had noticed a spike in patients sourcing jabs like Mounjaro from private clinics. Experts say strong evidence that weight loss injections can make contraception redundant is yet to be found, but leaflets that come with the drugs already tell patients to use contraception, and to stop taking the drugs if they get pregnant. Meanwhile, some women have reported becoming pregnant while using the jabs to lose weight despite using hormonal contraception. One woman, who posted on a Reddit forum, revealed she had become pregnant while using Mounjaro, despite taking contraception. She shared an image of her positive pregnancy test and wrote that weight loss jabs 'make it hard for oral medications (like the Pill) to be effective'. Professor Sir Stephen O'Rahilly, co-director of the Wellcome-MRC Institute of Metabolic Science, told The Guardian the reduced efficacy of contraception could be explained by nausea and diarrhoea some people who use the jabs experience. He said: 'People treated with these drugs can develop gastrointestinal side-effects including diarrhoea, so it is not implausible that some women may find that their oral contraceptive pill is, at least intermittently, not as reliably absorbed as it was previously.' He suggested that women keen to avoid pregnancy who are using skinny jabs while on the Pill use additional methods of contraception like condoms 'until their weight stabilises'. The MHRA warning also stated that 'there is not enough safety data to know whether taking the medicine could cause harm to the baby.' Officials added that women who become pregnant while using the medications must cease taking them immediately. The regulator added that, to date, it had received more than 40 reports relating to pregnancy—including birth defects, miscarriages and unplanned pregnancies— among women on the drugs. Weight-loss injections belong to class of drugs known as GLP- agonists, which help encourage fullness by mimicking a natural hormone released after eating. Some, like Mounjaro, also act on a second hormone involved in appetite and blood sugar control.
BBC News
27-05-2025
- General
- BBC News
Hamilton, Larkhall and Stonehouse by-election: Who are the candidates?
Voters in Hamilton, Larkhall and Stonehouse are to elect a new MSP following the death of the SNP's Christina result is keenly awaited as the vote takes place less than a year before the Scottish Parliament ballot will be held on Thursday 5 June. Here are all the candidates in alphabetical order: Collette Bradley, Scottish Socialist Party Scottish Socialist Party (SSP) candidate Collette Bradley, 46, says she comes from a staunchly socialist family with a tradition of trade union activism going back mother of two daughters also has two grandsons and is a member of the support staff for further education colleges in Bradley, from Rutherglen, is the elected chair of the SSP's Scotland union branch and has led campaigns for decent pay, equality and job has pledged to remain on the average worker's salary if elected rather than an MSP salary so she remains in touch with the realities of the cost-of-living says she supports a massive redistribution of wealth from millionaires to the millions who need SSP did have representation from Central Scotland following the 2003 Scottish Parliament election but their fiery socialism was extinguished at the next election. Andy Brady, Scottish Family Party Andy Brady, from Uddingston, says he's a happily married man with four says he felt the devastating effects of being a child going through his parents' Brady says it's his personal experience that a strong family helps to build strong says he cannot see any other party that truly has that as a core Brady adds that through open and honest dialogue, listening to people's needs and with no hidden agenda, Scotland can be a better place to live and grow. The Scottish Family Party opposes abortion and assisted dying, as well as calling for an end to identity politics. It has been contesting elections in Scotland since 2017. Ross Lambie, Reform UK Ross Lambie was born and raised in a small mining village in South Lanarkshire to working-class parents from graduated as an architect and set up his own practice, and now also teaches architectural students at various universities across the starting his career in London, he moved back to the local area to raise kids, a dog and says he got involved in politics to try to improve his area. Lambie was a Conservative councillor but defected to Reform UK, saying he believes that urgent and impactful changes are needed to arrest economic, cultural and societal says that only Reform has the policy platform to make the big decisions eyes are on Reform in this by-election following the momentum the party built up in the English local watchers are wondering how far they can advance and the potential damage they could inflict on other pro-union parties. Katy Loudon, Scottish National Party Katy Loudon, 45, is originally from North Ayrshire and moved to South Lanarkshire in has been married for 20 years and her husband is originally from Hamilton. They have two has been a South Lanarkshire councillor since 2017 and had been a teacher for 10 years before says Labour have let down the people of the constituency and Scotland, while her party is offering hope at this election and is focused on says the SNP has a strong track record, citing moves to scrap peak rail fares, deliver 150,000 extra NHS appointments and procedures, reverse the UK government winter fuel payment cut and mitigate the two-child benefit is a critical test for the SNP. If it retains the constituency it demonstrates that leader John Swinney has steadied the ship of state after the general election upset last year. Janice MacKay, UK Independence Party Janice MacKay, 63, lives in South Lanarkshire. She spent 35 years working in financial services and then a number of years in the retail retired now, she has two Mackay says she is offering the electorate the opportunity to vote for a unionist candidate who views the Scottish Parliament as nothing more than an additional local authority tier, while regarding Westminster as is urging voters to back UKIP if they abhor "draconian" rules and has pledged to give 40% of her salary to veterans' has a long political history but has faded from public view in the post-Brexit world, being rather eclipsed now by its descendant, Reform UK. However, it still has its committed followers here in South Lanarkshire. Ann McGuinness, Scottish Green Party Ann McGuinness is the director of a charity which promotes rural connections and champions rural diversity. The mother of two says her own lived experiences of poverty and disability give a valuable insight into the challenges faced by many whose voices are often says that as a dedicated feminist and environmental justice campaigner she has promoted climate education and has a strong track record of working across party lines to support women in says every vote for her party will be a positive vote for a fairer and greener Scotland and a brighter future for the constituency. The Greens didn't stand here in 2021 but they will be planning ahead for the Holyrood election next year in an area which is part of the Central Scotland list region. Aisha Mir, Scottish Liberal Democrats Aisha Mir was raised in Edinburgh and is the daughter of immigrant was the first in her family to attend university, graduating from the University of the West of Scotland.A career in business and finance then followed and she continues to live in this part of the Mir has been an unpaid carer for her mother through several serious illnesses over many years and says that is a big part of why she is putting local health and care services at the heart of her campaign. She first joined the Liberal Democrats in 2013 and served as spokesperson for human rights and older Mir says she is a passionate and experienced local champion and fights hard to give communities Lib Dems received little more than 1,000 votes in the constituency in the 2021 election. Richard Nelson, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party Richard Nelson has worked in the NHS for 25 years, with most of that time spent in forensic mental health. He has also been a Conservative councillor since 2017, representing Larkhall. He says he has seen first hand the dedication of frontline NHS staff and the strain they are working under. Nelson says he is also a committed trade unionist and was motivated to step into politics when the issue became personal - after his wife was left lying on a hospital trolley for over 50 hours without access to a toilet or washing says the SNP has failed to support the frontline for too long and this by-election is an opportunity to give a voice to the people and constituency has been described by some as a three-way split - with the SNP, Labour and the Conservatives in Reform UK is now part of the dynamic and a lot of attention is being given to how Nigel Farage's party will impact on the Tory vote. Davy Russell, Scottish Labour Party Davy Russell, 63, was raised and still lives in the village of Quarter in the started out as a local apprentice, fixing roads, and went on to work at a senior level in local government. Mr Russell is a charity trustee, raises money for a hospice and has served as deputy lord lieutenant, representing the King at local events. Russell says his top priority is fixing the NHS and bring down waiting lists. He says he will campaign to end the 08:00 rush for GPs and fight Scottish government plans to downgrade Wishaw neonatal unit. He also says he will work hard to revitalise towns and villages, with investments in high streets, road and leisure the SNP, this by-election is a critical test for Scottish Labour after almost a year of Labour rule at Westminster. Speculation continues about the potential impact of Reform UK on the Labour vote and whether that will allow the SNP to retain the seat. Marc Wilkinson, Independent Marc Wilkinson is a pizza shop owner from Morningside in Edinburgh who was in the news two years ago after an overwhelming take-up of his free pizza businessman established the Edinburgh People party and is now setting up the South Scotland People party – as part of an attempt to establish regional parties across Scotland for the Holyrood list vote next Wilkinson's aim is for "the people of Scotland to choose to vote for themselves". He says he would take instruction directly from members of South Scotland People from within the constituency, establishing direct democracy and giving people on-going also initiated a petition calling for political parties to stop block voting and the party whip.
Glasgow Times
03-05-2025
- Sport
- Glasgow Times
More than 900 youth rugby players at Dalziel Park festival
Dalziel Rugby Club hosted their 33rd annual Festival of Youth Rugby at Dalziel Park on Saturday, April 26. The event is a tribute to the late Alan Calder, who started the tournament in 1991. Quickly becoming a key event on the youth rugby calendar, the event hosted players from across the UK. These included teams from Hamilton, Strathaven, Uddingston and East Kilbride, as well as travelling sides from Ulster, Sale, and Bowdon. Read more: Fostering agency celebrates major anniversary milestone Teams competed in various age groups, with Dalziel winning in the U14 boys' and girls' categories. John Mathieson, club president, said: "To see Dalziel Park packed with young talent, proud families, and passionate volunteers is a true reflection of what our club stands for. "This is our 101st year as a club – and to mark that with our 33rd festival is something really special. "The legacy of Alan Calder continues to inspire and unite people from near and far." Millburn Construction, the main sponsor for this year, was thanked by the organisers, along with other sponsors and volunteers. Read more: Special screening of Scottish football documentary to be held in Glasgow Graham Calder, festival coordinator and Alan's son, said: "We simply couldn't do this without our sponsors, and I want to give particular thanks to Millburn Construction for their outstanding support. "Behind the scenes, it's the effort of dozens of individuals – giving up their time, energy, and resources – that keeps this festival growing from strength to strength. "My dad believed in creating opportunities for every child, regardless of ability, to fall in love with rugby. "That spirit lives on here."
