Latest news with #BarryFisher
Daily Record
2 days ago
- General
- Daily Record
Keep Scotland Beautiful celebrates eco achievements of two Hamilton schools
Chatelherault Primary School and Hamilton Grammar School were visited. Pupils and educators at two Hamilton were visited by environmental charity Keep Scotland Beautiful to celebrate their achievements in the international environmental Eco-Schools programme. As part of the 30th anniversary celebrations of the international Eco-Schools and Young Reporters for the Environment programmes, Keep Scotland Beautiful hosted an online assembly, organised live lessons and set celebration challenges. Additionally, schools celebrating a milestone are being visited to mark their success. Chatelherault Primary School and Hamilton Grammar School were visited by Keep Scotland Beautiful's Gaelic education and learning officer Jonathan Angell, who presented them with certificates to celebrate their 10th Green Flags. Barry Fisher, CEO of Keep Scotland Beautiful, said: 'This year we celebrate 30 years of schools making an environmental difference through Eco-Schools. 'It's great that we were able to visit Chatelherault and Hamilton Grammar School to present a certificate of achievement and to hear from the children, young people and educators about their inspiring action and commitment to improving our environment. 'For the past 30 years we have loved hearing about the remarkable achievements of our young people and the development of learning for sustainability across the world, and we look forward to continuing to provide support through our Climate Action Schools framework.' Eco-Schools is the largest sustainable schools programme in the world, operated internationally by the Foundation for Environmental Education (FEE) and delivered by Keep Scotland Beautiful. It was launched in the UK four nations, Denmark and Germany in 1994, with Scotland awarding its first flag in 1995.
Daily Record
3 days ago
- General
- Daily Record
North Lanarkshire schools receive eco awards from Keep Scotland Beautiful
St Aidan's Primary in Wishaw and Greengairs Primary in Airdrie were honoured by the environmental charity. Pupils at schools in North Lanarkshire were recently visited by environmental charity Keep Scotland Beautiful to celebrate their achievements in the international environmental Eco-Schools programme. As part of the 30th anniversary celebrations of the international Eco-Schools and Young Reporters for the Environment programmes, Keep Scotland Beautiful has hosted an online assembly, organised live lessons, and set celebration challenges. Additionally, schools celebrating a milestone will be visited to mark their success. St Aidan's Primary School in Wishaw was visited by Keep Scotland Beautiful's Senior Education and Learning Officer Josh Cannell who presented the school with a certificate to celebrate their 10th Green Flag. Greengairs Primary School in Airdrie was also presented with a certificate to celebrate their 10th Green Flag. Barry Fisher, CEO of Keep Scotland Beautiful, said: 'This year we celebrate 30 years of schools making an environmental difference through Eco-Schools. 'It's great that we were able to visit St Aidan's and Greengairs Primary Schools to present a certificate of achievement and to hear from the children, young people and educators about their inspiring action and commitment to improving our environment. 'For the past 30 years we have loved hearing about the remarkable achievements of our young people and the development of learning for sustainability across the world, and we look forward to continuing to provide support through our Climate Action Schools framework.' Eco-Schools is the largest sustainable schools programme in the world, operated internationally by the Foundation for Environmental Education (FEE) and delivered by Keep Scotland Beautiful. It was launched in the UK four nations, Denmark and Germany in 1994, with Scotland awarding its first flag in 1995. The Climate Action Schools programme, funded by the Scottish Government, provides a positive driver and demonstrator for schools towards achieving Target 2030.
Daily Record
04-06-2025
- General
- Daily Record
Airdrie school tops Spring Clean Scotland's Litter League for third year in a row
Hilltop Primary School in Airdrie were the winners of the Glasgow and Strathclyde award, with 24 pupils collecting 58 bags of litter. Tidy and triumphant Airdrie schoolchildren came out on top of a litter-picking initiative - for a third year in a row. Almost 50,000 bags of litter were picked during this year's Spring Clean Scotland as people across the country rolled up their sleeves to tackle the litter emergency. Organised by environmental charity Keep Scotland Beautiful, Spring Clean Scotland is the country's largest co-ordinated mass litter picking activity. Taking place over four weeks, more than 33,000 people - including 18,000 young people - took part in one of 2600 events covering every local authority area in Scotland. Hilltop Primary School in Airdrie were the winners of the Litter League Glasgow and Strathclyde award, with 24 pupils collecting 58 bags of litter. The Litter League, a competition for young people to get involved and compete for clean-up glory, returned for a third year and the national award was won by B-Dale Explorer Scouts in West Lothian. Laura Drummond from Hilltop Primary School said: "Hilltop Primary are delighted, once again, to be recognised for their efforts in keeping the local community and school grounds litter free. "P7a worked hard during the Spring Clean and cleared 58 bags of rubbish. "They are delighted and proud of the award, as it marks Hilltop's win for three years a row." Barry Fisher, chief executive at Keep Scotland Beautiful, said: "We know there is a litter emergency in Scotland, but we also know there are people in every community across the country who are determined to take action and deal with the issue. "Spring Clean Scotland gives us an opportunity to spearhead a collective effort to make a noticeable difference, inspiring as many people as possible to help clean up Scotland. 'I'm so impressed to see that more than half of our volunteers this year were young people. "It's so inspiring to see the younger generation already taking notice and action of the litter issue in their communities. "Congratulations to Hilltop Primary School for their win. 'A huge part of Spring Clean is recognising those who have taken part, told us about their activities and helped us understand the depth of the problem we're facing. "But we also know that there are thousands more who don't share their efforts and have made litter picking part of their daily life. "To everyone who has played a part, however big or small, thank you for keeping Scotland beautiful." *Don't miss the latest headlines from around Lanarkshire. Sign up to our newsletters here.
STV News
01-06-2025
- Business
- STV News
UK ban on single-use vapes comes into force
Single-use vapes will no longer be stocked or sold in Scotland under new legislation that has come into force. The UK-wide ban has been introduced to prevent the environmental damage disposable vapes cause and to cut their use among young people in line with government ambitions to create a tobacco-free generation by 2034. The crackdown on the devices makes it illegal for any retailer, ranging from corner shops to supermarkets, to sell them. Rogue traders who continue to sell them risk a £ 200 fine in the first instance, followed by an unlimited fine or jail time for repeat offending. An estimated 26 million disposable vapes were thrown away in Scotland in 2023. Of these, more than half were not recycled properly, and around 10% were littered. The batteries used in disposable vapes are difficult to recycle, leak harmful waste, and can cause fires in waste facilities. Acting Net Zero Secretary Gillian Martin said: 'Scotland was the first nation in the UK to commit to taking action on single-use vapes. 'It's estimated that over half of disposable vapes are incorrectly disposed of each year in Scotland – creating a fire risk and littering our beautiful environment. They also contain nicotine, which is highly addictive. 'This change to the law fulfils a Programme for Government commitment and will help tackle the threat that single-use vapes pose to our environment as well as to our public health. 'We have worked closely across the four nations to ensure a consistent approach to a ban on the sale and supply of single-use vapes and will continue to work with regulators regarding enforcement once in force.' STV News An estimated 26 million disposable vapes were thrown away in Scotland in 2023 STV News Moves to raise the age of sale of tobacco products and regulate the displays, flavours, and packaging of reusable vapes are being pursued separately through the four-nations Tobacco and Vapes Bill. Last year, it was estimated that almost five million single-use vapes were either littered or thrown away in general waste every week in the UK, the equivalent of eight being thrown away per second. There was an exponential increase in children's use of e-cigarettes in Scotland, driven by the popularity of disposable vapes, between 2018 and 2022. Data collected by Keep Scotland Beautiful highlighted that single-use vapes were the fastest-growing litter type in 2024/25. With half of people in Scotland saying sightings of the products have become more common in the past 12 months, we know that a ban will help reverse this trend. Source to Sea litter surveys carried out by Marine Conservation Society volunteers in streets, parks and beaches revealed an increase in prevalence of vapes from being recorded on 46% of surveys in Scotland in 2023 to almost all – 85% – of surveys carried out in 2024. Barry Fisher, Chief Executive of Keep Scotland Beautiful, said: 'We first became aware of the impact single-use vapes were having on our environment back in 2022 when members of the public and our volunteers were noticing them more often and asked what could be done. 'I'm proud of the effort we have made, alongside our partners, to see this product banned in Scotland – it shows what true collaboration can achieve. 'Our surveys and supporters have made it clear that this product was becoming more and more common, spoiling our environment and causing danger to wildlife. 'We are dealing with a litter emergency and the last thing we need is single-use products coming to market that can end up discarded harming our environment. This ban will help remove the fastest growing litter item from our streets, parks and beaches and is a welcome step in the right direction, but everyone must dispose of their waste in the correct way.' STV News Disposable vapes to be banned in Scotland STV News Sheila Duffy, Chief Executive of ASH Scotland, said: 'We celebrate the ban of cheap recreational disposable e-cigarettes, which are the starter vaping product for most youngsters who vape, as a vital first step towards halting the alarming upsurge of children vaping in Scotland during the last few years. 'Although we warmly welcome these regulations coming into effect, government must take further, stronger actions to restrict the advertising and promotion of all e-cigarettes as well as banning vape flavours, colours, descriptors and branding on device designs and packaging to reduce the attractiveness of the products to children. 'The tobacco and nicotine industries must be halted in their attempts to attract children to use their addictive and health harming products, generating huge profits at a considerable cost to the health of our young people now and future generations.' Catherine Gemmell, Policy and Advocacy Manager at the Marine Conservation Society, said volunteers found vapes on 85% of their litter surveys in 2024. She added: 'Littered vapes can leak harmful chemicals and microplastics into the environment which can find their way into our seas and pose a real risk to marine life. 'This is a great step in removing single-use products from the market. We know bans and charges like this work, having seen a decrease in things like single-use plastic bags in our litter surveys. Like so many areas of our society, we must move away from other single-use products, including plastic cigarette filters, towards a circular economy – one in which refilling and reusing is the norm, rather than throwing away and polluting our environment.' STV News is now on WhatsApp Get all the latest news from around the country Follow STV News
The Courier
30-05-2025
- The Courier
Full list of Tayside and Fife beaches recognised in Scotland's Beach Awards
Beaches across Tayside and Fife have been named as some of the best in the country after receiving Scotland's Beach Awards. Keep Scotland Beautiful has revealed the recipients of the 2025 awards ahead of the summer season. Each beach receiving an award will have a flag displaying the accolade. A total of 52 beaches across Scotland are on this year's list, with Fife retaining its title as the region with the most awards. Some of the beaches in Tayside and Fife, including St Andrews West Sands and Montrose, have received the awards for decades. The recipients of the awards, as well as the number of years they have received them, are listed below: Barry Fisher, Keep Scotland Beautiful's CEO, said: 'Scotland's award-winning beaches demonstrate excellent beach management. We hope that all who visit this year play their part in keeping them beautiful. 'I'd like to congratulate all those who do so much to protect, maintain and enhance our beaches, protecting the sand and sea for us all to enjoy – from the local authorities to the communities who care so passionately about these phenomenal assets.'
