Other News In Brief

Pre-Loved Toy Appeal 'Overwhelmed' With Donations

Belfast City Council has welcomed the news that their Pre-Loved Toy Appeal has seen the city's recycling centres "overwhelmed" with donations.

Deputy Chair of Council's People and Communities Committee, Councillor Sarah Bunting called into Ormeau Recycling Centre to make her donation to the appeal alongside some of our charity partners, Michael Sloan of East Belfast Mission and Anne Crossan of St Vincent DePaul. The charity Save the Children will also benefit from donations to the scheme.

Donated pre-loved toys have been collected and distributed to local charities that are selling them in their shops at a reduced rate or sending them directly to families most in need. Recycling centres have also reported a decrease in the amount of waste going to landfill as old toys have been given a new lease of life through the campaign.

A wide range of items can be donated at any of the council's four recycling centres, including bikes, scooters, dolls, prams, jigsaws, board games, books and DVDs. Donated toys and items, suitable for children of all ages, must be clean, complete, working and in good condition. Pre-loved toy donations can be accepted at any of the council's four recycling centres up until Sunday 11 December.

Universities Need To Value Their Staff – SDLP

Universities need to value their staff, SDLP Economy Spokesperson Sinéad McLaughlin has said after staff at Queen's University and Ulster University began three days of strike action on Thursday, alongside other universities in Britain.

Ms McLaughlin said it was long past time that universities recognise the concerns of staff and pay them fairly so that they are not forced to regularly take industrial action.

Foyle MLA Ms McLaughlin said: "I would like to express the full solidarity of the SDLP with university staff who have once again been forced to take strike action in an attempt to deal with concerns around pay, their working conditions and their pensions. Staff have been highlighting their concerns for a number of years without resolution and it's time that universities acknowledged their plight so staff can get back to what they do best.

"We are lucky in the North to have first-class universities that punch way above their weight when it comes to innovation and research. People from around the world come to Northern Ireland for university and if we want to continue this progress then we need staff who feel valued and happy in their jobs. We cannot expect staff to educate our young people while dealing with unmanageable workloads, struggling to pay their bills and facing uncertainty about their own futures.

"Any disruption as a result of this industrial action lays solely at the feet of the universities themselves, who have squandered multiple opportunities to resolve these disputes in a constructive manner. Our students have been clear that they stand resolutely behind staff and their decision to take strike action and we need to see universities engage with unions to resolve these issues once and for all."

Unpaid Carer Among Hardest Hit In Crisis – Alliance

Unpaid carers have been among the groups hardest hit by the cost of living crisis in Northern Ireland, Alliance MLA Kellie Armstrong has said.

The MLA for Strangford made the comments as she lead an event for Carers Rights Day and hosted Carers NI at Stormont on Thursday, adding that even before the current crisis, Carers already faced increased costs.

She said: "As a Carer, it is important to ensure decision makers are aware of the need to provide our growing number of Carers with support. The right to a Carers assessment, to have a break from Caring, to have access to medical support and to be able to afford to live.

"Carers provide the backbone to NI society. If our Health service had to provide the amount of care our unpaid Carers provide, the system would break within hours. We owe all our unpaid Carers support and to recognise they have rights too.

"For a long time unpaid carers have consistently faced higher costs than many – often including large electricity costs to run medical equipment in their home, higher heating bills to keep the person they're looking after warm round the clock, greater spending on food and the extra transport costs of taking them to and from health appointments.

"But these pre-existing financial pressures have now been made so much worse due to current cost of living crisis – the worst in a generation – with many carers unable to work and bring in an income due to the demands of their caring role.

"The latest statistics released pin point how tough circumstances are for unpaid carers at the minute, with the lack of an Executive at Stormont through the DUP's refusal to return signalling things are not going to get better any time soon.

"With more than one in four carers in Northern Ireland (27%) struggling to make ends meet and nearly a quarter (23%) of carers are cutting back on essentials like food and heating to get by, it's devastating to see a picture of the severity of the financial pressures starting to emerge.

"Essentially, this means that tens of thousands of carers in Northern Ireland do not have enough money to cover their monthly expenses, or even afford a decent standard of living.

"With levels of good mental health at an all time low, we cannot allow this constant stress and anxiety to continue."