Transcript

Hello, its Thursday the 14th of July, Im Maria Rasmussen.
A new multi-million pound sailing initiative on Scotland’s west coast has been launched as part of a major marketing drive to attract visitors. The MalinWaters brand forms part of Sail West, a six point three million pound collaboration of more than twenty partners from the West of Scotland, Northern Ireland and Ireland. As part of the programme, Scottish sailing will benefit some three million pounds of European money and extra funding from local authorities and organisations to promote the west coast and improve the infrastructure with extensive upgrades to a variety of berths, piers and marinas. Visitors to Scotland who take part in sailing or yachting as part of their trip contribute twenty one million pounds each year to the Scottish economy. Fergus Ewing, Scotland’s Tourism Minister, said the project represents a fantastic opportunity for the west coast of Scotland to position itself as one of Europe’s most attractive marine destinations.

Video – Sailing club VT

Local MSP Jackie Baillie has called for urgent action to address the unemployment crisis affecting Argyll and Bute. The call comes after the Office of National Statistics published the latest unemployment figures this week, with the number of unemployed claimants in
Argyll and Bute last month reaching one thousand seven hundred and sixty seven, thats one hundred and seventy six higher than in June two thousand and ten. Whilst the unemployment claimant figures were down slightly from May this year, Ms Baillie is concerned that not enough is being done to tackle unemployment in the area.
Following our report last week, Little Gems Nursery in Colquhoun Square have been overwhelmed with volunteer support after an incident which left the nursery’s garden, outdoor facilities and toys burnt to the ground. The Helensburgh and Lomond Argyll Voluntary Action branch took matters into their own hands, taking time out to tidy and re-build the outdoor area, as well as contacting local businesses on the nursery’s behalf, securing a new play house from Homebase, seedlings and plants from Ardardan Estate and tree bark from Loch Lomond Homes and Gardens. Ann Marie McGuinness, operations and support at the nursery, said if the voluntary group had not come to the rescue they would not be at this stage, when the children were shown their newly re-built garden there were wow’s all round.
The Scottish SPCA’s Rabbit Awareness Week runs until Sunday, encouraging would-be bunny owners to rehome a rescue rabbit. Last year the charity’s Milton Centre rehomed over forty rabbits and two thousand and eleven is set to be even busier, with twenty one rabbits being cared for in the first six months of the year. Centre Manager Joe McDade advised that the novelty of having a cute bunny often wears off, and lots of rabbits end up in their care as unwanted, stray or abandoned pets. The centre at Dumbarton Road, Milton is open to the public daily between 10am and 4pm, and a selection of the rabbits available for rehoming are also available to view at scottishspca.org/rehoming.
And finally the weather today, sunny with cloudy spells and a high of 19 degrees celcius. And tomorrow rain with a high of 16. Thats all fro today, thanks for watching.