Author Archives: wendy

Your Say – long-term conditions call for views on Welfare in Scotland

Call for views

Your Say: Long-term Conditions

Are you affected by welfare reform?  The Welfare Reform Committee would like to hear from people with, or caring for those with, long-term conditions and get their thoughts about how welfare reform is impacting on them.

About a year ago, the Welfare Reform Committee began an initiative, ‘Your Say’, to hear directly from those who have been directly affected by welfare reform. Over the last year the Committee has heard the stories of people from Glasgow, Annan, Kirkcaldy, Dunoon, Stirling, Coatbridge, Hamilton, Dundee, Edinburgh, Biggar… the list goes on.

Customers at a cafe run by people with learning difficulties express their sadness as it closes

It is due to close next Friday.

CUSTOMERS who regularly use a cafe staffed by people from an adult day centre have spoken of their disappointment as it is due to close next Friday.

Redcar and Cleveland Borough Council decided to close Upsall Hall in July claiming that dwindling user numbers meant the centre was no longer viable.

However, many members of the public who use the centre feel let down by the decision.

Sheila Harvey, who used the centre for more than 30 years, campaigned tirelessly to save it from closure but the appeal fell on deaf ears.

Debt and mental health problems

 Mental Health

Also Included In: Psychology / Psychiatry
Article Date: 30 Sep 2013 – 1:00 PDT

New research, led by the University of Southampton, has shown that people in debt are three times more likely to have a mental health problem than those not in debt.

There is currently around £156 billion in unsecured debt such as credit cards in the UK, of which the average family owes more than £11,000. Levels of debt have increased in recent years due to the economic recession and are predicted to increase further.