In the mood to read heart-warming and inspirational news stories? We’ve cherry picked some of our favourites on Scottish businesses who are out in force supporting a variety of local businesses, industries, and communities. Feel uplifted with our pick of the latest good news stories from across Scotland.
ORKNEY: ORTAK BECOMES A GREENGROCER
Renowned for handcrafting beautiful silver and gold jewellery for men and women, Ortak have a wide collection of pendants, rings, earrings and bracelets on sale, suitable for any occasion. Now with the help of Orkney Football Club, the shop has been converted into a greengrocer to supply essentials to the local community. You can still browse on Ortak’s website and treat yourself to a lovely piece of jewellery that you’ve had your eye on, with the shop now offering free delivery of hand sanitiser, provided by Deerness Distillery. To place an order on any essential goods that you need to stock up on, or to buy some jewellery to add to your ever growing collection, simply email shop@ortak.co.uk or call them on 01856 873201.
BORDER BISCUITS GIFTS 60,000 TASTY TREATS TO NHS STAFF AND CARE WORKERS
If you have a sweet tooth, then you will definitely have come across a box or two of Border Biscuits while out food shopping. Based in Lanark, the family owned business has been busy making delicious sweet treats for us since 1984 and continue to develop and create all kinds of biscuits from chocolate gingers to classic recipes such as their Strawberry Drizzle Melts and Light and Chocolatey Viennese Whirls. As part of the amazing efforts of NHS staff and carers across Scotland, Border Biscuits have donated over 60,000 biscuits to NHS hospitals and care homes. The biscuits have certainly gone down a treat with staff while on their well-earned tea break!
FREELANCE MARKETING CONSULTANT, ROBBIE ALLEN, LAUNCHES KEEP EDINBURGH THRIVING TO SUPPORT LOCAL BUSINESSES
It might be a wee while yet until you can go out and paint the town red or shop till you drop but that shouldn’t stop you from enjoying yourself while indoors. Freelance marketing consultant Robbie Allen has just done that, helping a number of small businesses in Edinburgh by launching a series of gift boxes to support them. Impress everyone in your household with your bartending skills with the ‘Quarantini Box’ filled with cocktails from Edinburgh’s bars, restaurants, distilleries and breweries, coming with different garnishes and even your own cocktail shaker! What more could you want? If you can’t get enough of this gift box full of goodies, then there is also the monthly ‘Keep Edinburgh Thriving Gift Box’ with different treats each month. Show some love to our local businesses by ordering a box today!
SIR BILLY CONNOLLY COLLABORATES WITH EDINBURGH CHOCOLATIER ON A LIMITED-EDITION CHOCOLATE BAR
Who better to have on your dream team than Scotland’s greatest comic? Sir Billy Connolly has joined forces with Edinburgh-based artisan chocolatier COCO to release a limited-edition chocolate bar to raise funds for NHS charities. The packaging known as ‘Blue Angel’ shows off Connolly’s artistic flair for the Isle of Skye Sea Salt Dark Chocolate.
Make sure to grab a bar before they run out!
A NEW GARDENING SERVICE CALLED GOODY FOODY GARDENS LAUNCHES IN GIFFNOCK, EAST RENFREWSHIRE TO HELP YOU GROW YOUR OWN VEGETABLES AT HOME
Celery-brate the start of summer by growing your very own vegetables at home! With all the nice weather that Scotland has been having recently, many people have started to unleash their inner gardener. Laura Molloy has launched Goody Foody Gardens in Giffnock, East Renfrewshire, in response to the growing demand of people wanting to grow their own fruit and veg. The service delivers and installs vegetable patches into gardens with handy tips on how to grow and harvest plants for every season. In its first 72 hours of launch, five tonnes of compost, materials, vegetable seeds and seedlings were ordered.
BLAIR DRUMMOND SAFARI PARK HOST LIVE STREAMS DURING FEEDING TIMES
For many, Blair Drummond Safari Park is the perfect family day out with everything that you could possibly imagine. From its bird of prey presentations, boat trips to Chimp Island and its giant adventure play area, there really is something for all ages! The park is also home to 350 rare and exotic animals. You might not be able to get up close and personal with your furry friends just yet but fear not! Keepers have lept online and are now live streaming from the animal pens with live feedings. If you’re missing them, make sure to catch up on all the action here.
SCOTRAIL LAUNCHES ACTIVITY PACKS FOR KIDS
Before travel restrictions were introduced, getting from A to B around Scotland had never been easier, whether it was for work or a fun day or night out. However, with limited services for essential travel only and with many commuters now working from home, travelling around Scotland to explore its stunning landscape and scenery has been put on hold for the time being. With summer just around the corner and to help keep Scotland in everyone’s minds, ScotRail have shared images and videos of our beautiful country on their social media channels and have even developed some new activities to help keep the little ones entertained at home until the whole family is able to go out and enjoy some train journeys across Scotland again.
Check out some of the fun activities for you to download and print out:
Kids Activities
Railway Quiz
Thomas & Friends
ALPACAS CHEER UP CARE HOME RESIDENTS IN WEST LOTHIAN
You might recognise this story from the news a few weeks back but because we love it so much, we wanted to share it too! Based in Bathgate, West Lothian, the Urban Nature Retreat is an animal and nature therapy centre aimed to create a calm and friendly environment for children, adults and the elderly to relax and interact with different animals. The retreat works alongside schools, local organisations and authorities to develop a core working practice certificate course in animal husbandry and wildlife maintenance. The retreat has also created an environment to allow the elderly to come and visit, and to relive their childhood, from collecting chicken eggs to building dens. However, as restrictions were put in place, this prevented the elderly from going outdoors. The Urban Nature Retreat had a surprise up their sleeve though and visited Heatherfield Nursing Home, bringing along with them a friendly pack of alpacas to visit the residents from outside the home’s window. How lovely!
BREWDOG CREATE THEIR VERY OWN ‘PUNK SANITISER’ FOR NHS STAFF AND HOSPITAL WORKERS
Founded by James Watt and Martin Dickie back in 2007. This multinational brewery and pub chain based in Ellon, Aberdeenshire is fast becoming everyone’s new favourite tipple with many bars and restaurants across Scotland serving a wide selection of their craft beers and ciders. In response to the COVID-19 situation and the national shortage of hand sanitiser products, the amazing team at Brewdog have put their skills to the test and created their very own ‘Punk Sanitiser’ for NHS and hospital staff who need it most. Check out Brewdog’s website for all the latest updates on how they are getting on.
CRERAR HOTELS LAUNCHES SCOTTISH HOSPITALITY FOR HEROES CAMPAIGN
After all the amazing hard work NHS staff and care workers are doing up and down the country, it’s quite right to give them a well-deserved break for some much-needed relaxation time! The Crerar Hotels group have been working behind the scenes and have recently launched their ‘Scottish Hospitality for Heroes’ campaign to say a massive thank you to our NHS Heroes who have been working tirelessly throughout the COVID-19 situation. The campaign will begin with three key initiatives as part of their launch which will give NHS Heroes the chance to experience the full ‘Spirit of Scotland’. The three initiatives are:
- NHS Celebration Weekend – Once travel restrictions have been eased, the Crerar Hotels group will announce a weekend in 2020 exclusive to NHS, care workers and their families for a free stay in one of their hotels, which will also include dinner, breakfast and a glass of bubbly!
- Local Hospitality for Heroes – The Crerar Hotels Group have teamed up with local hospitality businesses and local people to help gift NHS Heroes with more fantastic treats; from tickets to visit distilleries, and wildlife boat trips, to a cask of beer behind the bar from a local brewery.
- Help for Local Heroes – Following on from the success of the Scottish Hospitality for Heroes campaign, £25,000 has been granted from the Crerar Trust to support a Crerar Hotels gift voucher to give to your local hero. This could be shop workers, emergency response personnel or refuse collectors who have all contributed throughout the crisis, the gift voucher can be for an overnight stay, dinner or spa treatment at any one of their hotels. To nominate your local hero simply email localheroes@crerarhotels.com or nominate by tagging or sharing your local hero on the Crerar Hotels Group Facebook page!
We hope that these Scottish business news stories have helped put a smile on your face with all the amazing work frontline staff are continuing to do and deliver for local communities and beyond!
Need more pick me up stories? Look at how other businesses across Scotland are responding to the COVID-19 situation by helping within the local community. Need something to keep you entertained while working from home? Check out our top recommendations on what songs and artists we have been loving recently and should be on the top of your playlist.
Can’t get enough of Scotland’s natural beauty? Experience the magic of Scotland while watching some of these classic films all set in our beautiful wee country, or if you’re looking to re-decorate and spruce up your home with a splash of colour, go on a digital shopping spree and purchase beautiful pieces of artwork to remind you of Scotland.
Source VisitScotland.com
