Stigmabase | Isles

Hospital staff 'lack skills to cope with dementia patients' : Liz Kendall, the shadow minister for care and older people , said none of health secretary Andrew Lansley's 60 new "key indicators" of NHS performance required improvements in this area. And coalition cuts to council services for older people meant ... The Guardian

Safety warning to older people : ELDERLY people are being warned to take extra care to ensure they don't fall victim to the bad weather this winter. Director for public health at NHS North of England , Paul Johnstone, said: “The cold weather can bring an increased risk of chest ...

English test challenge dismissed : "It is already a legal requirement that partners and spouses must demonstrate linguistic skills shortly after arrival in the UK . In countries experiencing conflict, poverty , natural disasters, and political instability, it can however be extremely ...

Are we really heading for a second Great Depression? : Desperate poverty . Dust bowls. Fascism. The long descent into war. That was the 1930s, and it was the world conjured up by Christine Lagarde, the managing director of the International Monetary Fund on Thursday night. A failure of the international ... The Guardian (blog)

Local Government Association: U.K. solar PV FIT cut will lead to higher bills ... On December 12th, 2011 the UK's Local Government Association (LGA) stated that thousands of low-income families living in social housing will face higher electricity bills in 2012 due to the recent cut to the nation's feed-in tariff (FIT) for solar ...

Siemens UK rail contract to be reviewed-MPs : By Rhys Jones LONDON , Dec 15 (Reuters) - The process by which Britain decided to award a key rail contract to Siemens AG , which led incumbent Bombardier Inc to cut hundreds of jobs at its British plant, will be subject to an official review, ... United Kingdom | Ireland

Help appeal hit £10000 target : The more that is raised, the more people we can help. We would urge anyone who can afford it to make a donation, to help older people get by this winter.” Rosalind Eve, chief executive of Age UK Sheffield, said: “This is a great idea which will enable ... United Kingdom | Ireland

Dementia care: your voices : My 87-year- old father Victor is currently in hospital and trying to negotiate between social services within the hospital and social services in the community is proving a nightmare. They don't understand and they don't seem to care, but they expect ... BBC News

LegCo president commends CSD's correctional and rehabilitative work : On rehabilitation work, Mr Tsang said he was delighted to learn that in August 2011, the CSD held for the first time the "Give Rehabilitated Offenders a Chance" Job Fair at Pik Uk Prison . Twenty-six business organisations supported and participated in ...

The Duke & Duchess of Cambridge plan charitable Christmas : According to reports, William and Kate will attend the Sun's Military Awards - or Millies - on December 19, in honour of service mean and women in the UK . And on December 21, it's thought the couple will pay a visit to charity Centrepoint in South ...

Charities for Christmas #12: Breakthrough Breast Cancer : Every year, nearly 48000 women and 300 men in the UK are diagnosed with the disease, who then seek help from the specialist support and information provided by charities . Breakthrough Breast Cancer is unique because of its role in helping to finance ... The Guardian

Slaughter at Liege: political quackery is the Belgian reply to depravity Yesterday my colleague Peter Hitchens posted a blog note on cannabis and the massacre in the Belgian city of Liege carried out by Nordine Amrani, seen here on the right. In the note, Hitchens wondered how a known violent criminal such as Amrani had ...

Health boss 'disappointed' by childhood obesity figures : Obese children are more likely to have mental health problems too.” Dr Howie urged more families to take responsibility for their health. She said: “Everyone has a part to play in changing this, and families must take responsibility for making sure ... United Kingdom | Ireland

Police SOS bus in Glasgow to help drunken revellers : An emergency bus staffed by Red Cross volunteers is being laid on in Glasgow city centre over the next four months to help drunk or injured revellers. The SOS bus will also help assault victims, people in emotional distress and those fleeing from ... BBC News

Housing crisis in the north of England deepens : The housing market pathfinders was an effort to link housing to economic policy to determine where jobs will be and what kind of houses should be built." "The key thing is not to have a policy of social palliatives but to try and do things that lead to ... The Guardian

Editor's blog: a triumph of rationalism over politicking on housing benefit? Campaigners, especially those in the north of England where over-occupation is most widespread, had warned that the policy failed to take into account the reality of delivering social housing in a tough financial climate. How could tenants be moved ...

Plea to sign TV homelessness petition : A SELBY bed and breakfast owner is urging people to back a Channel 4 campaign to lobby the government about taking action on the UK's homelessness problem. Graham Watson, who runs the Willows bed and breakfast in Cockret Close, was so outraged when he ... United Kingdom | Ireland

Last chance to nominate for our list of the most influential LGBT Twitter users by Stephen Gray for PinkNews.co. uk Today is the last chance to tweet your nominations for the most influential LGBT figures on Twitter, as submissions close at 5pm (GMT) this evening. PinkNews.co. uk has teamed up with social media ranking service ...

Christopher Hitchens: the top 10 quotes from the author, journalist and atheist Hitchens once branded Mother Teresa “a lying, thieving Albanian dwarf” and said: “She was not a friend of the poor . She was a friend of poverty . She said that suffering was a gift from God. “She spent her life opposing the only known cure for poverty , ...

UN publishes first global report and recommendations to tackle gay rights abuses by Stephen Gray for PinkNews.co. uk The UN's Human Rights Council has published for the first time a report detailing rights abuses against LGBT people around the world, through violence and discriminatory laws, and a set of recommendations all ...

£2m cannabis factory found in council unit : The haul of plants is believed to be one of the biggest in England . Sgt Stevenson said: "It's the biggest we have found in the city by some distance – there are more than 1000 more plants than the next largest and I believe the street value of the ...

Judge recommends prison drug rehab for Rod Blagojevich : (AP Photo/Charles Rex Arbogast) The same federal judge who sentenced Rod Blagojevich to one of the longest corruption sentences in Illinois history has recommended a prison rehab program for the ex-governor that could help shave time off his staggering ...

Celtic, Rangers dogged by off-field trials : Glasgow : Despite yet another final day title showdown and yet more embarrassing European exits, 2011 will forever be remembered in Scottish football for the turbulent off-field events. In a season where the Old Firm clashed a record seven times, ...

Businessman boosts charity again : The businessman has donated £10000 to Seafarers UK , a national organisation that supports former seamen, their widows and children in East Yorkshire and beyond. Seafarers UK is an umbrella body that distributes funds to other maritime charities working ... United Kingdom | Ireland

UK: Government sets out strategy for helping young people access education ... Providing an extra 250000 work experience places over the next three years for young unemployed people across the UK as part of the Youth Contract. This will come with an offer of a work experience place for every 18-24 year- old who wants one, ...

Robot carers to help older people live independently at home Ground-breaking robotics technology from research led by the University of Reading to support older people living at home has received special recognition from the President of the EU, Jose-Manuel Barroso. The CompanionAble Project, led by Professor ...

Charles Dickens: Six things he gave the modern world He was one of the first to offer an unflinching look at the underclass and the poverty stricken in Victorian London. And this was an area in which he had some experience. His father had little skill in financial management and this eventually put him ...

Dave's 'troubleshooters' policy is right — but it needs working on The 120000 figure is based on work by the Cabinet Office Social Exclusion Task Force which is at least four years old. It estimated the number of families suffering 'multiple disadvantages', defined as five or more from a list including poverty, debt, ...

U.K. oddfellows reach out to Stratford counterparts By SAM BRAMWELL UK ODDFELLOWS New research among over-50s on online friendships means a 200-year- old friendly society is bolstering communications to support its counterparts in Stratford, and Ontario, in "making friends and helping people . ...

Cannabis cafe membership may be delayed Opponents of the coffee shop pass system say it will lead to an increase in street dealing. a ban for tourists to coffee shops!! doesnt take rocket science to see that will lead to increase of street dealing,just look at the uk ...short sighted..and i ...

London's $9 billion property sell-off risks price drops Larger deals included a billion pound portfolio of four properties being sold by German fund Kanam, including Deutsche bank's London base. Goldman Sachs' (GS.N) Peterborough Court UK home is up for sale, as is a 300 million pounds-plus building housing ...

UK Said to Face Derivatives-Law Setback After Summit Clash 15 (Bloomberg) -- European Union officials may abandon UK -backed safeguards on derivatives legislation, four people familiar with the situation said, less than a week after Prime Minister David Cameron's demands to protect London's financial industry ...

Baby i Charity Giving Abandoned Babies a New Home There are approximately 65 babies that are abandoned in the UK every year and tragically the number is still rising. Baby i Charity is appealing for donations to start on various projects to help decrease and prevent the rates of abandoned babies and ...

School raises thousands for charity So far the total stands at £6288 but this figure needs to be confirmed by Cancer Research UK . Claire Mann from the charity thanked the students for their participation and their enthusiasm. JPCT 021211 Steyning Grammar School Jail Break , Carfax ...

Students lobby MSPs as accuracy of marriage opponents' petition is questioned “The hundreds of young people who've joined our campaign to write to MSPs show that the future is bright for LGBT people in Scotland. “MSPs need to show courage in the face of scaremongering and stand up for what's right. ...

Churches should be free to say yes – and no – to same-sex partnerships This did not stop Christian Concern – a group that campaigns against LGBT rights – claiming that "it is almost certain that homosexual campaigners will commence litigation against churches that refuse". I wrote to them six weeks ago to request evidence ...

Actress Amber Heard on Hollywood gays in the closet The lesbian actress has said that staying in the closet for Hollywood actors leads to a “detrimental lie.” The 25-year-old told Women's Health magazine “You can't respect yourself if you're afraid to be who you are. It requires bravery to do something ...

'His Church' praised for clothes to homeless scheme A Christian charity in the UK is rebranding counterfeit designer clothes with its own logo and giving them out to homeless people. The charity, called His Church, has been so successful that 90 per cent of British Trading Standards authorities now hand ...