News

7 May 2008 - Great Scottish Walks, Marshalls needed
We have received the following request from the organisers of the Great Scottish Walk. Are you able to help ? If you think you might be, read on ....

The Great Scottish Walk in taking place in Glasgow and Edinburgh this May and June and we urgently need volunteers to help marshal at the event. As an affiliated charity we are relaying on your support! Marshals are vital to the smooth running of the event and to the walks success. We currently have a very low number of marshals so really really need your help!

We require marshals at the Great Wee Walk in Glasgow this Sunday: 11th May Glasgow Green

And Great Scottish Walks in Edinburgh and Glasgow:

25 May Glasgow Bellahouston Park
22 June Edinburgh Meadowbank Stadium

Please see below for marshal duties. Marshals will receive lunch and refreshments as well as a Great Scottish Walk T-shirt. We would be grateful for how ever many volunteers you can supply, for both walks if possible.

Please do all you can to help us, I look forward to hearing from you,

Route Marshall Duties

1 To be visible and located within the designated point.
2 To ensure the proper direction and safety of walkers.
3 To deal with any queries by walkers or members of the public.
4 To communicate any areas of concern to team leader, including first-aid issues
5 To give out water if situated at a water station
6 To ensure that the walkers do not run
7 To keep walkers walking on the prescribed route eg pavement
8 To advise walkers to stop at pedestrian lights and not to walk into oncoming traffic
9 To take note of the number of any competitive walkers who run or who are a hazard to other walkers or themselves or members of the public
10 To report to their team leader the number of any competitive walkers who run.
11 To check the route for cleanliness after the walkers have passed.
12 To help with removal of mile markers and other route signs after the walk.

If you think you will be able to assist with any of the walks, please get intouch with our secretary Gill Mitchell at the following e-mail address and she will pass on your details to the organisers : info@sscb.org.

4 January 2008 - Committee Meetings
We have set the dates for our next three meetings. They will all take place in the Seminar Room within the Neo Natal Unit in Simpsons, and the times are 7.15pm for a 7.30pm start. Anyone is welcome to attend - all we ask is that you drop us an e-mail so that we know to expect you and so we can make sure there are enough chairs ! E-mail us at info@sscb.org, and the dates are as follows :

4 February 2008
14 April 2008
9 June 2008 - Annual General Meeting

6 December 2007 - News Update

Festive Charity of 2007

We are delighted to have been chosen as McLure Naismith Solicitors "Festive Charity of 2007. We will receive a donation in lieu of them sending Christmas cards.

Culverwell's have also made a similar decision and have donated £750 to us in lieu of sending Christmas Cards to their clients. This is not the first time they have donated to us in this way, and we are delighted that the continue to support us.

26 October 2007 - A few other updates .....

Christmas Sale, Greenbank Parish Church - we are taking part in this Christmas Sale at Greenbank Parish Church in Braidburn Terrace, Edinburgh, on Saturday 3 November. The sale is on from 10am to 3pm and we will have our Christmas Cards and other merchandise on sale. Please come along and support us, or even just to say hello ! We are also looking for volunteers to man the stall, so if you would like to help, please let us know.

Edinburgh Marathon 2008 - the date for the next years marathon has been confirmed as 25 May 2008. Entries are now open and once again, we are able to provide places for prospective runners - if you are interested in booking one of the places please contact our secretary on info@sscb.org. Teams wishing to enter can also contact us for more information, or download the form from the Edinburgh Marathon Website.

Great Scottish Walk - once again we are an officially affiliated charity for this event, and the dates now been set for 2008. This year also sees a walk in Glasgow added to the calendar as well as the "original" one in Edinburgh. The dates are 25 May 2008 for Glasgow and 22 June for Edinburgh. There also the Wee Walks which take place throughout Scotland, and details should be available soon. You can enter all the walks online or download the form and post your entry. All details are on the Great Scottish Walk Website.

Sparkling Hearts Charity Ball - a charity ball has been organised on 16 November at the Roxburghe Hotel in Edinburgh by a charity called Luke4Life. While not directly linked to ourselves, they are raising funds to buy a BiPAP machine for the Simpsons neo natal unit. If you are interested in attending this event visit their website, Sparkling Hearts Charity Ball and we wish them every success for their night.

13 September 2007 - Christmas Cards 2007
The forms will soon be dropping through letterboxes by traditional methods (post!), but they are now available to view online ! Please visit our Christmas Cards page for more details. Happy ordering !!!

31 August 2007 - Next Committee Meeting
Our next meeting will be held on Monday 10 September 2007, starting at 7.15pm. It will be in our usual venue of the Seminar Room within the Neo Natal Unit at Simpsons. We are always happy to welcome new members and would love to see you there. All we ask is you drop us an e-mail so we know to expect you (so we can make sure we have enough seats !). E-mail me on webmaster@sscb.org.

16 June 2007 - Edinburgh Marathon - results page updated
Mark Tweedie, the organiser of the Scottish & Newcastle teams has been in touch and sent us a picture of their team relaxing post race. I have added this and a few words from him to the Edinburgh Marathon Results page.

11 June 2007 - Great Scottish Walk, 10 June 2007
Congratulations to all our walkers who took part in yesterdays 10th Anniversary Great Scottish Walk. By all accounts it was a great day, and no rain this year ! Well done to you all.

6 June 2007 - A few updates

Great Scottish Walk - this event is taking place this Sunday, 10 June, and we currently have 7 walkers doing the 6 mile route and 22 doing the full 12 mile route. It's not too late to join them, and you can even register on the day. Visit our Great Scottish Walk page for more details.

Fundraising - donations and details of fundraisers come in to us on a fairly regular basis. I have added a few to our Fundraising page.

Report From AGM - our AGM was held on Monday 4 June. We have a new elected a new Treasurer, Jackie Rigby, as our previous treasuruer Caroline Lismore-Kerr, stepped down as she is moving back to Ireland. Caroline leaves with all our best wishes for the futures for her and her family. Some points to highlight from the meeting are :

• net income raised was £46,564 during the year
• we had many private individuals who donated and with Gift Aid
• We also had lots of corporate sponsorship as per mentioned in annual report
• lots of matched funding from companies whose staff were fundraising for us
• Individuals who run various marathons for us
• our income target for 2006/7 is £90,000
• more detailed figures can be found in the summary financial report

I will publish our full Annual Report as soon as it is available, as it contains much more detail than I have posted here.

We were also asked if we could support 3 new projects for the unit in the coming year. These are :

• Purchase of 2 new BiPAP machines at £5,000 each. BiPAP is a more sohisticated form of the well established CPAP breathing assistance system
  
• Purchase of sound absorbant ceiling tiles for the unit - greatly enhances the ambience within the unit by absorbing excess noise from machinery
  
• New IT equipment for the Seminar/Education room - improve the quality of ongoing learning for the staff in the unit.

We approved these requests and have asked for detailed costings so we can proceed with these as funds become available.

Many thanks to all members who attended, and we look forward to seeing everyone at our next meeting. Why dont you join us as well ?

Next meeting - our next meeting will be held on Monday 10 September 2007, starting at 7.15pm. It will be in our usual venue of the Seminar Room within the Neo Natal Unit at Simpsons. We are always happy to welcome new members and would love to see you there. All we ask is you drop us an e-mail so we know to expect you (so we can make sure we have enough seats !). E-mail me on webmaster@sscb.org.

3 June 2007 - Edinburgh Marathon, 27 May 2007
Congratulations to all our runners who took part in the Edinburgh Marathon. Their race results can be found HERE.

14 May 2007 - Trolley Keyrings - a wedding gift ?
It might sound a little unusual, but no, it wasn't someone being thrifty. It is actually the Bride and Groom who are giving them away. Sharon contacted us to buy some trolley keyrings, as she is including them in the small gift bag being handed out to the ladies as "favours" at her wedding - What a wonderful gesture. Best wishes to you, Sharon and your Husband-to-be, for your big day.

7 May 2007 - Duvet Material Cutting Night
Thanks to those who responded to the request for volunteers. This took place last week and all the material we had has now been cut to size. We are now looking for assistance with actually putting them together and making the duvets. If you have a sewing machine and are able to help with this, we would love to hear from you. You can rest assured your handiwork would be very appreciated by those who need it the most - the babies. If you can help, please e-mail me and I will pass on your details.

25 April 2007 - Are you doing a fundraising activity or event ?
If the answer is yes, you may be interested in using our dedicated fundraising portal. You can set up your own personalised Celebration page, fundraising pages and sponsorship pages, allowing people to donate securely online. Either click directly on the workwithus link, or visit our How To Date page for more details, both in the menu on the left.

25 April 2007 - Items from our Committee Meeting

Duvet Material "Cutting" night - we are looking for volunteers to help cut material and wadding for making duvets. One of our members, Angela Cook is making them but is looking for assistance with cutting up the materials. ~~~ Now done, see above.

Treasurer - our treasurer has intimated that she will be stepping down at our AGM for family reasons. Obviously, that leaves a vacancy to fill. If you think you have the credentials for the role, lets us know at the usual e-mail address. If you want further information on the role, Caroline can be contacted at info@sscb.org.

Badger System - the new Badger 3 neo natal monitoring system is almost live ! We were treated to a demonstration by Consultant Andy Lyon and the system developer Peter Badger from CleverMed. It is a big leap from the old system it replaces and the staff are very excited that the system is about to go live. Just a few more tweaks and it will be there.

Next meetings - our next meeting will be our AGM which is being held on Monday 4 June 2007, starting at 7.15pm. Again, it will be in our usual venue of the Seminar Room within the Neo Natal Unit at Simpsons. We are always happy to welcome new members and would love to see you there. All we ask is you drop us an e-mail so we know to expect you (so we can make sure we have enough seats !). E-mail me on webmaster@sscb.org. Our next meeting after that will be Monday 10 September 2007.

1 April 2007 - Latest Newsletter Now Online
No, it is not an April Fool ! Our latest newsletter is now available to view or download. You can find it in the box on the left below the menu in Word and PDF formats.

14 March 2007 - ASDA, The Jewel, Edinburgh - Charity In The Community
We have been given some fantastic news, which is that we have been selected by ASDA at The Jewel, Edinburgh, to be their Charity In The Community. Over the last couple of weeks they have raised several hundred pounds already, by placing SSCB charity boxes at the end of each check out, holding daily table sales (by a member of staff who has a particular interest in raising funds for charities), and there was also a raffle of a giant "Happy Feet" Penguin ! Asda are continually mentioning SSCB over their tannoy system too !

They are placing a noticed board in their foyer with a "totaliser", so that customers can see how much money they are raising. They have advised us that they would like to raise enough money for 4 incubators. We obviously thank them for thinking of us and any amount they raise will be gratefully accepted. Thanks obviously go to their customers as well, who are giving so generously to our cause.

14 March 2007 - Great Scottish Walk 2007
We have received a request from the organisers for 2 volunteer marshalls to assist with the walk. They will be provided with a packed lunch, medal and a t-shirt. They
will be marshalling at specific points on the route and there will be transport to their allocated place from Meadowbank Stadium. If your are able to assist, please e-mail me your details which I will pass on to our Secretary, Gill, who will fill in the form and send it off. E-mail me at webmaster@sscb.org.

7 March 2007 - Great Scottish Walk 2007
As announced in November, we are again an "official" charity for the 10th Anniversary Great Scottish Walk, being held on 10 June 2007. There are also several Great Wee Scottish Walks for children being held in various cities across Scotland during April and May. For more information, visit our Great Scottish Walk page.

6 March 2007 - A Couple Of Things .....

Edinburgh Charity Game Racenight - This was held on Saturday 3 March, and raised a staggering £2,137 ! A brief resume of the night is on our Edinburgh Charity Game page.

Edinburgh Marathon - fancy a challenge ? Then you could be in the company of Mark Tweedie and his colleagues from Scottish & Newcastle, who are entering two teams into the Edinburgh Marathon on Sunday 27 May 2007 and are raising funds for us. If you are interested in taking part, drop us an e-mail to info@sscb.org.

22 February 2007 - WorkWithUs Fundraising Portal
Our new Fundraising Portal is now fully operational and it gives us new online fundraising capabilities. The portal http://sscb.workwithus.org allows personalised fundraising pages, online sponsorship and more ! We also have a new guide on how to use the portal, which is on the How to Donate page of our website. For more details about the portal or to view/download the guide, visit the "How To Donate" page.

10 February 2007 - Two Updates

Committee Meetings - we have scheduled in an extra meeting before our AGM in June. The date for the next meeting is now 23 April 2007 with the AGM still planned for 4 June 2007. Pop the dates in your diary, as you will be very welcome to come along. All we ask is you e-mail us nearer the time to let us know to expect you. The meetings will be held inthe seminar room within the Neo Natal  Unit of the Simpson Centre For Reproductive Health at the Royal Infirmary Of Edinburgh, starting at 7.15pm.

New Fundraising Portal - we have a new and exciting portal, in conjunction with workwithus.org, which gives us new online fundraising capabilities. We have our own portal http://sscb.workwithus.org and it allows personalised fundraising pages, online sponsorship pages and more ! Visit the "How To Donate" page or the portal itself for more details.

22 January 2007 - How You Can Help
An idea we had at one of our meetings was to create a page with ideas for people on how they can help us, without the need for them to join the committee if they aren't able to give that level of commitment. So, our Secretary Gill has done just that. Click on the link to visit our new Ways How You Can Help page.

29 November 2006 - Simpsons Babies updated
One of the children featured on the Simpsons Babies page, Bobbi McBurnie, has just sent us in some new pictures now that she has reached the grand old age of 5 ! Click on the link to the left to see her new pictures, and to find out what she did recently.

13 November 2006 - Great Scottish Walk "Thank You" night
We invited those who walked for us to a "thank you" night, which was held at the Neo Natal Unit on 1 November. Several people were able to attend, and were met by our Secretary Gill Mitchell, Consultant Neonatologists Dr Iain Laing and Dr Chris Kissack, and Ian Braithwaite who is a member of the South East Scotland Transport Team. Unfortunately our Chairperson had to cancel at short notice due to illness.

Our guests were given a tour of the unit and shown some of the equipment funded by the charity, and Dr Laing gave a short talk on the work of the unit and the charity. Also provided were some nibbles and refreshments. Thanks go to Gill for decorating the unit and "gift wrapping" the "presents". Here are some photos taken at the event :