News

Groups interested in financial assistance with community projects in Orkney are invited to attend a drop-in session with Orkney Islands Council’s LEADER team. The LEADER programme is aimed at small scale, community driven and innovative projects that support both the local economy and Orkney commu

Energy giant Scottish Power has announced plans to cut standard domestic gas prices by an average of 5.4 per cent from mid-March, the third of the big suppliers to do so in the space of two weeks. The company said the reduction, which will take effect from March 15, would benefit more than one milli

Michael Murray (left) during a university fair in Aberdeen Michael Murray details his time as a Shelter Scotland volunteer

The latest Homeless Spotlight participant is Rowan Alba, a charity working in Edinburgh, Perth and Kinross and Angus offering a range of services to people who are, or are at risk of becoming homeless. Now in its tenth year of independent operation, Rowan Alba has helped around 5000 people in the pa

Women’s refuges in Scotland could face closure because planned changes to housing benefit would leave them with shortfalls of tens of thousands of pounds a year, Scottish Women’s Aid has warned. The charity has “serious concerns” about the impact that the proposed cap on soci

Social landlords can now use a new online portal to apply to the Scottish Housing Regulator for consents or to report notifiable events, making the process quicker and easier. The new approach follows a period of testing with a group of landlords and replaces the existing process of email and corres

An innovative free course designed to help unemployed people living in the east end of Glasgow learn new skills to help them get back into employment came to an end last week, with those taking part attending a celebration event. ‘Learning Works’ is a pioneering employability course joint funded

Glasgow City Council has approved plans to allow a developer to build 90 new flats at North Kelvin Meadow but has also given volunteers a chance to preserve the “community-created” green space. The meadows were council-run football pitches and tennis courts that fell into disrepair in the early

Sarah MacFdyen By Sarah Macfadyen, policy manager at Crisis

A council advertising campaign aimed at tackling the issue of rent arrears is underway in East Dunbartonshire. The campaign, which poses the question ‘Up to your ears in rent arrears?’, will run on local buses and newspapers for the next three weeks.

Scottish housing and care provider Bield is highlighting the important role that volunteers can play in assisting older people to enjoy happy and fulfilled lives in West Lothian. Bield's Blackfauld's Court in Fauldhouse and Ochilview Court in Armadale are looking for Social Activity Coordinators to

Our sister publication Scottish Construction Now attracted 30,544 unique visitors to its website in January – a record monthly figure for the site. It brings the number of people to have visited the site to over 221,000 since its launch in October 2014.

Scottish Churches Housing Action returns to the Homeless Spotlight to highlight Aid & Abet, its peer mentoring for people leaving prison to live in Edinburgh & Lothian. “Poachers turned gamekeepers are very useful allies,” says Bruce Budge, mentoring co-ordinator with a new project based

Moray Council has dropped plans to put up council tax by 18 per cent after local authorities were told they could face sanctions if they did not agree to the Scottish Government's freeze. The authority's ruling administration initially said the move to increase council tax was necessary to protect f

Nicola Barclay Assuming the position of chief executive of home building industry body Homes for Scotland today, Nicola Barclay has set out the plan of action she has identified as necessary for tackling the country’s housing crisis which sees 160,000 on waiting lists and many others struggling to