Glasgow Home Gets Visit from Local MSP

Ashton Grange Care Centre, which is located in Glasgow and is part of the Canterbury Care Group, has welcomed John Mason MSP for Glasgow Shettleston for a special visit.

Following the home’s recent positive Care Inspectorate report, John Mason MSP visited the home to congratulate members of staff on achieving ‘Good’ ratings across all standards inspected. He also had the opportunity to meet and speak with residents and take a tour of the home’s facilities.

Donna Barton, Manager at Ashton Grange Care Centre, said: “I am really pleased with the result of the Care Inspectorate report and all the positive feedback that we received. It was an honour to welcome Mr Mason in to our care home and show him how we provide a quality service to the people we care for.

“The result is testament to the staff at Ashton Grange Care Centre who work extremely hard to ensure we meet and exceed all standards set by the Care Inspectorate and make this a homely, safe and comfortable environment for our residents to live in.”

John Mason MSP, said: “I really enjoyed my visit to Ashton Grange Care Centre and it was a pleasure to be welcomed in to such a warm and homely environment. Staff have worked hard to deliver quality care and that is made clear when speaking to residents and taking a tour of the facilities.”

Television and press coverage of 'urban explorers' who photograph themselves on top of high buildings and structures are encouraging people to risk their lives in British building sites.

Tower cranes and high-rise buildings under construction are seen as east targets of copycat explorers whose sole aim is to take a selfie or shoot a YouTube video in a dangerous situation, says a leading UK plant hire company.

According to CraneHireUK.co.uk, the fad not only has the potential to end in death or serious injury, but there's also added costs for the construction trade which has to
beef up security in response.

"There's no end of beautifully-photographed articles on the internet showing spectacular views from the tops of cranes and half-finished buildings," said CraneHireUK.co.uk ‘s Mark Hall, "and that's inspiring copycats who fancy having a go themselves."

The danger is increased by the fact that many people fancying themselves as urban explorers don't have the climbing skills that those featured on television documentaries have, and in some cases the decision to climb a tower crane in the dead of night is often made on the spur of the moment.

"In fact," says Hall, "some of those collared by building site security guards are the worse for wear from alcohol. These people are genuinely dicing with death, and – quite frankly – we've rescued them from their own misadventure."

CraneHireUK.co.uk say that the number of people taking selfies and shooting videos from the top of building site tower cranes surged after spectacular photographs emerged last year of a group who climbed London's Shard building while it was still under construction.

"While everybody in the construction industry rightly condemned these trespassers, the difference between these and Friday night have-a-go types is that they're well organised and experienced climbers," says Hall.

Another BBC news report on Russian climbers also provoked copycat trespasses on construction sites, CraneHireUK.co.uk said.

"The end result is that the construction trade has to ramp up security at major sites just to keep these lunatics away from the cranes," says Hall. "It costs a small fortune in extra staff and surveillance equipment, but it's got to be done."

While organised British groups regularly boast of their "splores" on YouTube and social media, CraneHireUK.co.uk would rather they left construction sites to the card-carrying and fully-trained professionals who work there.

"Crane operators are highly skilled, are constantly assessed, and take endless safety courses to ensure that they can use a crane with a 100% safety record," Hall explains.

“The thought that anyone with an urge can climb into a crane cab over a hundred feet off the ground with little or no safety equipment is a constant worry to us. Building sites are not adventure playgrounds."