Happy Burns Day everyone, we are all going out tonight to enjoy some haggis - hope you are too.

Forget the Oscar nominations, we have a winner in our search for Scot of the Year (drum roll).......

We have just finished making a film about ScotsCare which focuses on our community of people and the important role that everyone plays.  It’s nice to be part of a community in a big city like London where it’s easy to feel alone and like no one is really interested in you.  At ScotsCare, our community consists of;  charity trustees, clients of ScotsCare, staff, volunteers, fundraisers,  donor and legators.  Sometimes people are more than one thing, I can think of one guy who is a client, volunteer and fundraiser.

If people don’t need help from the charity then they can often become involved in simple ways like putting up posters about the charity or running a 10k to raise funds.  Volunteering is a really popular way to become part of our community.  If you don’t have a lot of time, you could help out on a summer or winter day trip or spend one day working on reception answering phones.

A new report out today confirms that children from poorer background don’t do as well in exams than those from more affluent families.  This is a really unfair, but a sad reality.  How well a child performs academically can impact on the rest of their life and unfortunately this seems to be a lottery of birth.

The cycle of poverty is defined as;

All over London Children are finishing school for the summer.  For them,  it is normally a time of huge excitement, at least until the boredom sets in.  For many families it is often a huge financial pressure. as keeping kids entertained doesn’t come cheap.  It can mean extras childcare costs not to mention the costs of days out – travel, entrance fees, ice creams and the endless demands for cold drinks.  Every parent wants their children to have the best possible experiences while growing up but this can come at a cost that parents often can’t meet.

ScotsCare tries to help by offering families a free day out.  This year, families that receive a regular allowance can attend our families day out which is likely to be a riverboat trip.

As I am sure we have all experienced at some point, living in London can be a very lonely experience, particularly for the elderly who can be less able to get out of their own home.

ScotsCare has launched a Blether Buddy service that enables an elderly Scot in London to receive a weekly phonecall from a ScotsCare volunteer.  This simple phonecall is proving to be the highlight of some of our clients' week, helping to break isolation.  We have received comments like: