, cut the ribbon to open the new premises in Glasgow city center.

Specialisterne Scotland, which was opened in Glasgow, is the first of its kind outside of Denmark. The business has been developed over the past four years by Community Enterprise in Scotland (CEiS), the leading social enterprise support agency, in partnership with National Autistic Society Scotland (NAS Scotland) and the Autism Resource Centre (ARC).

The investment in grant and loan from the Scottish Government’s Scottish Investment Fund, brings total funding in the business to more than £1.1 million following an award of £407,000 earlier this year by the Big Lottery and a further £30,000 from Glasgow City Council.

Specialisterne Scotland is the first in the world to be modelled on Specialisterne Denmark, which was set-up by Thorkil Sonne in 2004 after his son was diagnosed with autism.

Dunoon resident, Farrell-Shaw said ” I am delighted to have been appointed to head up Specialisterne in Scotland. The job will combine my IT knowledge with a deep personal interest in autism.”

The Danish firm now employs more than 50 people and has a turnover of around £1.5 million. It uses the characteristics and skills which some people with autism excel in i.e. insight, precision and consistency, to create market-rate jobs and provide IT services to businesses around the world.

Mr Sonne hopes to create up to one million jobs through his charity the Specialist People Foundation, by replicating the successful model worldwide starting in Scotland.

NAS Scotland estimates that in Scotland only 13 per cent of adults with autism are in full-time employment despite having specialist skills which offer businesses such as information technology, telecommunications and financial services a competitive advantage.

The newly appointed Specialisterne Scotland General Manager, David Farrell-Shaw, will spend the next six months recruiting the first 12 potential trainees with autism, from the new offices in Nelson Mandela Place, Glasgow, working in partnership with CEiS, NAS Scotland, and ARC.

The trainees will undergo a four month training programme which will include using LEGO Mindstorm and robotics to identify and match their skills to work tasks. To ensure that trainees can achieve their full potential, a working environment will be created with a high degree of planning, predictability, systemisation and minimal stress.

Speaking at the launch of Specialisterne Scotland’s new Glasgow office, Mr Swinney said: “The Scottish Government recognises the crucial contribution social enterprises make to Scotland’s economy, and we are firmly committed to doing all we can to support the third sector to develop and evolve to deliver its full potential.

“This enterprising venture will create jobs, provide skills development and training opportunities for people who may otherwise find it difficult to secure employment; and deliver services to directly support the business community’s own efforts to achieve sustainable growth.  I am delighted the Government is able to support this venture through the Scottish Investment Fund, and honoured to meet those who are taking forward this worthwhile enterprise.”

Gerry Higgins, Chief Executive of Govan-based CEiS, said: “We know from the experience in Denmark, that Specialisterne Scotland has the potential to change lives for the better by providing mainstream employment at the market rate for people with autism, while transforming recruitment attitudes and business practices.

“The company, a wholly owned subsidiary of CEiS, will commence commercial testing in early 2011 following recruitment and training of the workforce. By 2015 we expect to employ a total of 61 people, 50 of whom will have autism and have a projected turnover of £1.6 million. In the longer term we anticipate that the majority of the workforce will be working at customer premises, assisting the competitiveness of Scottish businesses. Specialisterne Scotland is a social enterprise. This means it has a social purpose at the very heart of what it does and any profit it makes will be re-invested in helping to create jobs for people with autism.”

Carol Evans, National Director for NAS Scotland said: “Autism is much more common than people think.  There are 50,000 people in Scotland living with autism. According to our survey, I Exist, only 13%* of adults with autism in Scotland are in full- time employment and 52%* are financially dependent on their families. Many tell us they want to work. They are qualified and they make exceptional employees. Specialisterne Scotland will give people with autism the opportunity to use and develop their special skills based on their own qualifications, strengths and ambitions and make an equal contribution to society.”

Commenting on why Scotland is the first country to be chosen to develop the model outside of Denmark, Thorkil Sonne, Founder of Specialisterne and Specialist People Foundation said: “With the opening of Specialisterne Scotland we have set a very
important milestone in making society welcome people with Autism Spectrum Disorder as valuable and worthy citizens. I am very proud of
the support from the Glasgow community and of our excellent co-operation with our partner, CEiS. The opening of Specialisterne
Scotland sets the scene for the first international Specialisterne operation with potential to become a showcase not just for Scotland
and the UK – but for the whole World in our ambition to enable one million jobs for specialist people globally”.

If you are interested in finding out more about the referral and recruitment process at Specialisterne Scotland please refer to www.specialisternescotland.co.uk

The C.C.C.and Ardfern Yacht Centre ran a raffle leading up to the day, the first prize being a Zodiac dinghy, and dedicated the proceeds to Oban Lifeboat. The generosity of the yachtsmen was such that the  very substantial sum of £1580 was presented to Ian Wilson, Lifeboat Sea Safety Officer at Oban Lifeboat Station.     Ardfern Yacht Centre and Oban Lifeboat have had many years of cooperation, the former often prepared to accept “casualties” from the lifeboatat unearthly hours.

The ‘Scotland’s islands’ project has received a boost of £820,000 from the European Regional Development Funding (ERDF) to support a initiative devised by the six local authorities in Scotland that encompass island communities to promote island culture, including contemporary and traditional art and music, to mainland audiences.
Culture Minister Fiona Hyslop visited the western isles and said:

“Our islands each have their own distinctive culture and I am delighted we have been successful in attracting European funding to promote and celebrate the islands and their indigenous assets to a wider audience.   I welcome the potential this initiative offers for cross-fertilisation of ideas between island communities, those on the mainland and internationally.”

Councillor Neil Mackay, Argyll and Bute’s spokesperson for arts, culture, leisure and sport is keen for the region’s islands to take their turn in the spotlight. He explains:

“Argyll and Bute encompasses 25 very different inhabited islands. This initiative gives us the chance to showcase their individual culture and show off these special locations to the rest of the world.”

Alex MacDonald, Convener of Comhairle nan Eilean Siar, said:
“This is a tremendous boost for the Scotland’s Islands project which is shaping up to be a fantastic celebration of the culture and heritage of Scotland’s Islands. With the extension of the event into Spring 2012 there is now even more time for people to enjoy Scotland’s unique and very special Islands.”

The Scotland’s Islands 2011 project will be launched in April 2011 and extend to Spring 2012.
Background
Western Isles Council – Comhairle nan Eilean Siar – is co-ordinator of the partnership project, which will receive a total of £1.822 million in funding from a variety of public sector partners.
In addition to ERDF, the Scotland Islands 2011 project is also funded by six local authorities: Argyll and Bute;  Highland; North Ayrshire; Orkney; Shetland; Western Isles (a total of £302,000); Highlands and Islands Enterprise (£200,000), and supported by EventScotland (£100,000); Awards for All (£400,000).

Culture Minister Fiona Hyslop visited the western isles and said:

“Our islands each have their own distinctive culture and I am delighted we have been successful in attracting European funding to promote and celebrate the islands and their indigenous assets to a wider audience.   I welcome the potential this initiative offers for cross-fertilisation of ideas between island communities, those on the mainland and internationally.”

Councillor Neil Mackay, Argyll and Bute’s spokesperson for arts, culture, leisure and sport is keen for the region’s islands to take their turn in the spotlight. He explains:

“Argyll and Bute encompasses 25 very different inhabited islands. This initiative gives us the chance to showcase their individual culture and show off these special locations to the rest of the world.”

Alex MacDonald, Convener of Comhairle nan Eilean Siar, said:
“This is a tremendous boost for the Scotland’s Islands project which is shaping up to be a fantastic celebration of the culture and heritage of Scotland’s Islands. With the extension of the event into Spring 2012 there is now even more time for people to enjoy Scotland’s unique and very special Islands.”

The Scotland’s Islands 2011 project will be launched in April 2011 and extend to Spring 2012.

By 0224 hours this area had been searched to no avail and a further search of the mouth of Loch Spelve was carried out, again with nothing found.

The Lifeboat was refuelled and ready for service again at 0415 hours.

By 0600 hours the same crew were at sea again – only, this time, just across the bay to Oban Marina and accompanied by 2 Paramedics in order to bring to hospital in Oban, a gentleman who had fallen ill on a yacht berthed there.

It is hoped that this might bring to an end the exceptionally busy week-end which saw the lifeboat launch four times – to a Pregevac, to a Canoeist, to investigate a report of Red flares and to a Medevac  !

The main speaker will be Jan Sutch Pickard a peace observer, poet and storyteller.The evening will be focusing on various items which are made and produced in Palestine with at least three stalls containing different Palestinian crafts,  fairly-traded olive oil and other items for sale. There will also be an opportunity for informal discussion and refreshments will be provided.

There will be no admission charge for entry to the meeting which is open to all.

Anyone who would like to join the Oban Concern for Palestine Group or who wants further information should contact
Graeme Pagan: neaveton@tiscali.co.uk    01631 563737    Neaveton Rowan Road Oban PA34 5TY

The Telehealth project, a partnership between Argyll and Bute Council and NHS Highland, was singled out at the eWell-Being Awards 2010 in Leeds.

Telehealth was one of five initiatives shortlisted in the ‘Independent Living’ category, which recognises Information Community Technology (ICT)based projects which enable elderly people or those with disabilities to have a better quality of life in their homes and/or avoid hospitalisation or involuntary changes of residence.

In the end, a project from the Isle of Wight was chosen as the winner, with Argyll and Bute a close second.

Telehealth is based around the ‘Home Pod’ device, which gathers information from a patient and then sends it either by wireless broadband or the telephone system to a server, where it can be monitored by a clinician.

Councillor Donald McIntosh, Argyll and Bute’s spokesperson for Social Service, was delighted by the project’s success.

“Telehealth recognises that people in some of Scotland’s more remote and rural areas face particular challenges in managing their long-term conditions and staying well in their homes for longer,” he said.

“It can obviously be a major upheaval, sometimes involving a helicopter, to get these people to hospital so it is imperative that we do everything we can to avoid any unnecessary admissions. Our solution is the Home Pod.”

The Pod enables remote monitoring of the patients’ vital signs and provides answers to some condition-specific questions, all of which are transferred in a secure way to a server which local nurses can access. In this way, it aims to empower patients to be part of their own condition management.

“Of those Pod users who were asked if the device had made a difference to how they looked after themselves, 86% said that it had,” Councillor McIntosh said.

“We are delighted that its success has now been recognised in such prestigious national awards. More than 120 projects demonstrating the innovative use of ICT for social improvement were entered, and only one other Scottish council was among the 43 organisations shortlisted. So it’s fantastic that we have featured so prominently, and we look forward to further partnership working with NHS Highland for the benefit of the people of Argyll and Bute.”

The three area chairs covering the Argyll Trefoil Guide area (Oban, Lorn and the Isles, Mid Argyll, Kintyre and the Islands and Bute and Cowal) joined Girl Guiders past and present at a short ceremony to mark the display.

Councillor Bruce Marshall, chair of the Bute and Cowal area committee, said: “It was very special for Dunoon to secure this display, as there was strong competition from the other areas involved.

“However, its creation was a joint effort by all three areas, and the result is a suitably stunning display to mark what is a very significant milestone in the Girl Guiding movement.

“I have always regretted not being able to take part in the Scout movement as a boy, and believe that both the Scouts and the Guides provide wonderful experiences for young people.

“We in Argyll and Bute Council regard the education of our children as being of paramount importance – not just in the formal school setting, but also in more informal settings such as the Girl Guides. Those lucky enough to be involved do not only learn some wonderful skills, but often also make friendships which can last a lifetime.

“I congratulate all those involved in the Girl Guiding movement on reaching this milestone, and with some 60,000 members in Scotland alone, I am confident it will continue to go from strength to strength in the future.”

All the museum’s oil paintings were off the walls and out of their frames, not for a grand spring clean but because the Public Catalogue Foundation (PCF) charity was in town.

The PCF is busy cataloguing and photographing all oil paintings in public collections throughout the UK – around 200,000 in total.

Each region is to have its own fully illustrated catalogue and Scotland, where 30,000 of these paintings are located, is to be represented in 14 volumes.

The aim is to inspire people about the paintings they own and to encourage them to visit their local collections, as well as to stimulate more research and educational activities.

Each painting will be going live in 2012 in an exciting new website hosted by the BBC, YourPaintings.

Councillor Neil Mackay, Argyll and Bute’s spokesperson for Arts, Culture, Leisure and Sport, said: “We are very much on board this innovative project, and the PCF team was impressed by the enthusiasm and commitment of local museum staff in Campbeltown as well as by the range and quality of the works of art themselves.

“Campbeltown boasts paintings of international significance such as A Westerly Gale, Machrahanish by Scottish impressionist William MacTaggart and Archibald Mackinnon’s The Campbeltown Fair, with its lively portrayal of Campbeltown’s Main Street full of stallholders, entertainers, family groups and animals.

“These paintings, and many others in the museum, have been enjoyed by several generations of people not just from Campbeltown and Kintyre but from across Scotland, the UK and further afield.

“I am delighted that this project will now ensure that these important works of art are properly catalogued in a national database.”

For more information on the activities of The Public Catalogue Foundation, please go to www.thepcf.org.uk.