t2 Achievers Edge edition 44 Aug – Oct 20

t2group.co.uk

August - October 2020

edge achievers

edition 44

Inside This Issue

Why Wales is known as the ‘Land of Song’ Why is there a shortage of women in the IT sector Practical tips for a good night’s sleep

INSIDE

MODERN SLAVERY AND HUMAN TRAFFICKING Climate change: Warming signal links global floods and fires - See inside for details

Health & Well-being

ESDGC and Equality, Diversity & Inclusion

events 2020

events 2020 August

September

August

9 International Day of the World’s Indigenous People

12 International Youth Day/ National Allotments Week

13 International Lefthanders Day

19 World Humanitarian Day

23 International Day for the Remembrance of the Slave Trade and its Abolition

29 International Day Against Nuclear Tests

30 International Day of the Disappeared

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5

10

21

28

8 Happiness Happens Day

12 International Youth Day

15 World Honey Bee Day

31 International Overdose Awareness Day

Organic September International Day of Charity World Suicide Prevention Day International Day of Peace/World Alzheimer’s Day International Right to Know Day/ Freedom from Hunger Day

October

1

2

4

5

10

16

17

24

31

Black History Month International Day of Non-violence World Animal Day World Day of Bullying Prevention/ World Habitat Day World Mental Health Day/World Homeless Day World Food Day International Day for the Eradication of Poverty United Nations Day/Make a Difference Day World Cities Day

September

1 Vascular Disease Awareness Month

2 Organ Donation Week

16 Sexual Health Week

10 World Suicide Prevention Day

20 Jeans for Genes Day

23 National Eye Health Week

28 Macmillan Coffee Morning

29 World Heart Day

October

1 8 12 14 15 16 19

World Vegetarian Day World Sight Day World Arthritis Day Emergency Nurses Day White Cane Safety Day World Food Day Evaluate your Life Day

30 Gastroschisis Awareness Day

SAFEGUARDING events 2020

August

September

19 World Humanitarian Day 2020

5 International Day Of Charity

30 International Day of the Disappeared

10 World Suicides Prevention Day

October

10 11 15 17 18

World Mental Health Day International Day of the Girl World Values Day Conflict Resolution Day Anti-Slavery Day

Our Safeguarding Team : Safeguarding & Prevent Lead Stacy Preston 02920 799 133 / 07876 824 157 Deputy Safeguarding & Prevent Lead Jessica Wool 07881 093 512 Designated Senior Person for Safeguarding across the t2 group Dave Marr 02920 799 133

Singing is part of Welsh identity and tradition – but what caused this tradition to be collectively handed down from generation to generation?

Picture this: you’re in a filled-to-capacity stadium with around 75,000 other people, and pretty much everyone is singing. It’s not a pop song, but a hymn; and you’re not at a concert, but a rugby match. But then this is not hypothetical; it’s reality, just a regular matchday at the Principality Stadium in the Welsh capital of Cardiff.

You see, Welsh people are known to have two great passions – rugby and singing – and when they congregate for a rugby match, you won’t be able to stop them breaking into song. If anything, it’s encouraged, helped by the fact that a choir will be on the pitch pre-match, at half-time and post-match to guide the crowd through the customary Welsh rugby repertoire – a series of traditional hymns (Calon Lân, Cwm Rhonnda, Gwahoddiad) that you may also hear at a standard Welsh wedding or funeral around the country.

A line from the 1941 Oscar-winning adaptation of Richard Llewellyn’s novel How Green Was My Valley, a story about a Welsh mining community at the turn of the 20th century, reads: “Singing is in my people as sight is in the eye”. And this is true; we as a nation grow up singing in school, at parties, in church. We even compete in the National Eisteddfod, the largest festival of competitive poetry and music in Europe. Singing is part of Welsh identity and tradition – but why?

The bardic tradition of the Eisteddfod (the name given to a festival of poetry and music) can be traced back to the 12th Century. At this time, music and poetry had great cultural significance, with folk traditions enabling stories to be told and recanted down the generations. Singing and reciting poetry (sometimes to music, when it is known as cerdd dant in Welsh) was often part of this and still plays a prominent role in the modern Eisteddfod.

Fast-forward to the 18th Century and we see Wales really lay the foundation for its label as the ‘Land of Song’. The influx of migrants to Wales from the British countryside and abroad, seeking work in the ever-expanding coal and iron industries, saw huge population increases to the country. New non-conformist chapels were also being built at an astonishing rate due to the revival of the Methodist movement of the Anglican Church that was popularised by leading Welsh preachers of the time. This creation of new communities caused singing to become even more prominent, for with the new communities of miners – especially in the South Wales valleys, which were densely populated with collieries – came congregational singing.

The national calendar is filled with festivals, concerts and events encompassing all types of singing – including the National Eisteddfod, which travels to a different venue each year; the Llangollen International Musical Eisteddfod (where Pavarotti made his first international appearance); Festival No. 6 at the Italian-inspired Portmeirion village; and one of opera world’s most prestigious events, the BBC Cardiff Singer of the World biennial competition (where Wales’ own Bryn Terfel first found fame).

Being Welsh and singing seem to go hand in hand, it is just something we all do, even if we don’t quite know why.

Source: bbc.com

Earlier this year homes were underwater in South Yorkshire, near-record flooding in Venice, and with escalating wildfires in Australia, many people are asking if and how climate change is connected to these extreme weather events.

Some basic physical factors help explain the scale of the downpours that earlier this year swamped the village of Fishlake and other locations in Yorkshire, Derbyshire and Lincolnshire.

The very scientific-sounding Clausius-Clapeyron equation is one key element.

Clausius and Clapeyron are the surnames of the German and French meteorologists who discovered that a warmer atmosphere holds more moisture. For every 1 degree C increase in temperature, the air can hold about 7% extra water vapour.

When you get the sorts of storms that generate rapid cooling, you get heavier rain falling rapidly out of the clouds, as happened in parts of England in January 2020.

Will we see more such flooding in the near future?

UK scientists observe and predict a 10-20% increase in rainfall during the wettest days, so we may see other examples of this type of downpour across this winter.

In coastal areas, the chances of flooding are made worse by the rise in sea level.

However, the chances of an area flooding or not is also complicated by human factors such as farming practices, the building of houses on flood plains and the vagaries of the British weather.

FLOODS

What about Venice?

Venice has been hit by floods that have seen more than 80% of the city, a Unesco world heritage site, underwater when the tides were at their highest.

The Mayor of Venice was very quick to attribute the floods to climate change. Critics though have pointed to delays and corruption in relation to the installation of a major floodwater defence system that might have limited the damage.

Climate scientists, however, see a clear relation between rising temperatures and the inundation.

What about the Australian fires - where’s the climate link?

The latest Lancet report on health and climate change “found that human exposure to fires had doubled since 2000”.

“Wildfires not only cause deaths and health damage but had significant economic and social impacts,” it found.

In Australia, the bushfires this year have come far earlier and on a larger scale than seen previously.

While climate change doesn’t directly cause fires like these - it is a major factor in creating the right conditions for fires to take hold.

“In areas like Australia where we have had prolonged dry periods, you can’t definitely attribute this to climate change but the environmental conditions are increasingly ripe for these sorts of things,” said Prof Nigel Arnell from the University of Reading.

“The precursors are all going in the direction of increased fire risk in those fire-prone regions.”

Other researchers also point to indirect links.

“Most droughts are found to be in part caused by climate change,” said Prof Piers Forster.

“Stronger winds, again associated with more energy in the climate system, add to the fire risk and make them more intense and faster moving.”

Are there common climate factors in all these events?

Very much so, say the scientists.

“The overall climate signal is that if you have it warmer, it is easier to burn; if you have higher seas, it is easier to flood,” said Prof Gabi Hegerl.

“And if you have more moisture in the atmosphere, the same rainfall systems rain harder - that is something we see globally and that has a human greenhouse gas signal in it.

“In extreme events, that’s where climate change bites us.”

FIRES

Source: bbc.com

Sleeping well is essential for your health and wellbeing, but many of us struggle to get quality sleep. Here are some tips for having a good night of restorative sleep.

If you’re really struggling with sleep, you should speak to a GP who will be able to help. But in the meantime, here are some simple tips that may help:

1 Follow a schedule all week “Sleeping in” on weekends makes it harder to wake up early on Monday morning because it re-sets your sleep cycles for a later awakening. Try instead of going to bed at a set time each night and setting your alarm for the same time each morning. This has the added bonus of giving you extra time to be productive at the weekend.

2 Exercise daily Try to exercise for 20 to 30 minutes every day. Daily exercise can help to use all of the energy you’ve stored from eating and so can help you sleep. When you workout is equally important because exercise can also cause a spike in adrenaline, which keeps your body in an alert state. For maximum benefit, try to get your exercise about five to six hours before going to bed.

3 Avoid caffeine, nicotine, and alcohol These are all stimulants which increase your blood pressure and heart rate, keeping you awake. Cutting out caffeine could, in the long run, remove the desire for that mid-afternoon pick-me-up cappuccino.

4 Unwind before bed Taking a warm bath, reading, or meditation before you go to bed can make it easier to fall sleep. Lavender is a naturally soothing scent which can be used to help lull you to sleep too. It’s possible to train yourself to associate certain restful activities and smells with sleep and make them part of your bedtime ritual.

5 Control your room temperature Extreme temperatures can disrupt sleep or prevent you from falling asleep in the first place, so try to maintain a comfortable temperature in the bedroom either by opening a window, using air conditioning or adapting the thermostat/heaters in your room.

6 Sleep until sunlight Sunlight helps the body’s internal biological clock to reset itself each day so if possible, wake up with the sun, or use very bright lights in the morning. There are even alarm clocks that mimic the effect of the sun rising to wake you up gently every day.

7 Turn off all other lights Light from under the door or electronic devices can be very disruptive to your sleep, particularly if the light is flashing.

This is because your body is naturally programmed to wake up with light. So if you have a light on your phone, or any other device turn it off to give your body the best chance of uninterrupted sleep.

8 Put down your phone And your laptop. These devices emit blue light, which can be disruptive to sleep. Put them down at least an hour before bed and maybe pick up a book instead.

We all must do our part in tackling the IT skills shortage in the UK to ensure the industry continues to grow. One core issue is the under-representation of women, who currently make up less than one-fifth of the IT workforce.

During the 1960s, 42% of the computer industry was made up of female workers.

Today the percentage in the UK has dropped far below that of the majority of European countries to 25%. Certainly, there is a higher number of women working in the UK than ever before, so why this decline in IT? Is it that the industry itself is anti-women or are British women making the choice to opt-out of IT as a career?

Either way, with the continuing skills shortages in the technology arena, the industry needs to respond to this trend.

Most organisations claim to prefer recruiting women into their IT departments when given the chance. Yet only 8% of the UK’s principal programmers are women. Women are seen as more likely to possess leadership skills, and yet only 7% of UK IT heads are female.

Getting more young women to consider careers in IT is essential to the success of the UK industrial strategy.

Currently, women are less than a quarter of the workforce in four of the five most in-demand industries – science, technology, engineering & mathematics (STEM).

Beyond the gender gap challenge, another major part of the problem is that there are not enough people with the right skills on the market. Research shows that only 9% of women that take IT degrees go on to work in IT-related fields, and only a slightly better 26% of men do.

Apprenticeships are a key route for recruiting fresh talent.

By bringing Apprentices straight into the company and giving them real projects to work on, while receiving team mentoring, Apprentices gain practical experience as they study for qualifications that will progress their career.

There is still a stigma in some quarters about careers in IT and the type of women who might pursue them. Jobs in IT can be seen as extremely technical, ‘nerdy’ or even plain dull – but as we know this simply isn’t true. Research shows that around half of 13-24-year-old students believe that all careers in the IT sector are very technical.

Technology touches every aspect of human life and is becoming increasingly human-centric. Careers in technology require multiple skills to develop innovative approaches to tackle the world’s most pressing issues.

Tackling the image of the IT industry in the media is vital.

Significantly, there are currently no positive role models for female scientists and engineers in well-known TV shows.

Amy Farrah-Fowler in the Big Bang Theory is arguably the most prominent female scientist. Think of what the Good Wife has done for law; a show featuring a technology company with a strong female lead would be a fantastic way to showcase how interesting technology jobs can be.

It’s the responsibility of all stakeholders in the IT industry, from businesses to government, to address the shortage of women. We must increase the skills pipeline of women in IT by encouraging the uptake of STEM subjects by girls at school and further education. We need to find, encourage and give a voice to female role models at every level of technology organisations, to inspire younger (and older) women.

With further skills shortages predicted, the IT industry must do something now to change its image, and create a long-term, flexible recruitment and employment strategy to become an attractive career of choice for women. Technology is incredibly exciting and important for the UK economy – and we must increase the numbers of women in this sector to protect it for the future.

Source: highcharts.com

In December 2019, when a new virus was reported in a province of China, no one could possibly have predicted that 5 months later, the UK would be subject to a “lockdown”. These are unusual times. Life has changed.

Modern slavery is the severe exploitation of other people for personal or commercial gain. It can involve children, women and men. Modern slavery is all around us in our everyday lives, but we often just don’t realise it. People can become entrapped making our clothes, serving our food, picking our crops, working in factories, or working in houses as cooks, cleaners or nannies. Many victims, including children, work in the construction industry, in the sex industry, and in places like nail bars, car washes, and cannabis farms. There are an estimated 13,000 people trapped in modern slavery and trafficking in the UK, and across the globe, the estimate is 40 million people. Of those 40 million people:

• 1 in 4 of them are children • Almost three quarters (71%) are women and girls • Over 10,000 were identified as potential victims by the authorities in the UK in 2019 (source - www.antislavery.org)

Who can get trapped?

Many victims have been trafficked from overseas – frequently from eastern Europe, south-east Asia, and Africa – and their exploitation often begins en route. However, victims are not solely from overseas. British residents can also get trapped and it tends to be those who have fallen on difficult times. This makes them vulnerable to the idea of well-paid work complete with decent accommodation, which soon proves to be a lie.

What are the signs of Slavery?

On the surface, people can appear to be happy and in a normal job. Unfortunately, a seemingly benign situation can mask a dire reality. Behind the scenes, victims of modern slavery are being controlled. They can face violence or threats, be forced into inescapable debt, or have had their passport taken away and be threatened with deportation. Some of the signs to look for: Someone in slavery might: • appear to be under the control of someone else and reluctant to interact with others • not have personal identification on them • have few personal belongings, wear the same clothes every day or wear unsuitable clothes for work • not be able to move around freely • be reluctant to talk to strangers or the authorities • appear frightened, withdrawn, or show signs of physical or psychological abuse • dropped off and collected for work always in the same way, especially at unusual times, i.e. very early or late at night.

What to do if you spot the signs?

If you suspect that someone is in or is at risk of slavery or trafficking, or if you yourself are in a difficult situation and need help, you can contact the support organisations below: • Call the Modern Slavery Helpline on 08000 121 700 or fill out an online form • Contact the Gangmasters and Labour Abuse Authority to report concerns about the mistreatment of workers on 0800 432 0804, or by email intelligence@glaa.gsi.gov.uk • Contact Crimestoppers on 0800 555 111 • Contact the Police – 101 (non-emergency) 999 (emergency) • Contact Anti-Slavery International or other specialist anti-slavery organisations

You can also contact the t2 Safeguarding Team with any concerns or visit our website and click on ‘Reporting a Safeguarding Concern’ to submit a safeguarding concern.

Stacy Preston Safeguarding and Prevent Lead E-mail: stacy.preston@t2group.co.uk Tel: 02920 799133 / 07876824157

Jessica Wool Deputy Safeguarding and Prevent Lead E-mail: jessica.wool@t2group.co.uk Tel: 02920 799133 / 07881093512

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