Thousands of carers in South Lanarkshire have benefitted from new Carer’s Allowance Supplement (CAS) payments of up to £442 – introduced recently by the Scottish Government. Figures released last month show that 11,000 payments have been made to carers across the local authority region, totalling £2,432,000.

Two Rutherglen politicians have congratulated Grow 73 after the local community gardening group were nominated for a Scotland-wide award. ScotRail has announced the shortlisted nominees for its inaugural ScotRail in the Community Awards – and Grow 73 are up for a prize.

Rutherglen MSP Clare Haughey has welcomed the news that the CashBack for Communities programme invested over £215,000 in local projects in South Lanarkshire last year. The Cashback for Communities scheme, which was established by the Scottish Government, reinvests criminal assets into community projects which support young people into positive destinations, diverting some away from potentially criminal or anti-social behaviour.

ACE Place Nursery and Out of School Care has become the latest Rutherglen business to sign up to pay the Living Wage.

Clare Haughey MSP is backing a project urging people to get their hearing checked and start benefiting from using hearing aids and assistive equipment. The local MSP met with the organisation Action on Hearing Loss Scotland to discuss their ‘Hear to Inform and Connect’ service – which is funded by the National Lottery Community Fund.

Rutherglen MSP Clare Haughey has called for re-assurances that bank branches will remain open locally, after concerns over the number of banks and building societies which have closed across the country were raised.

Rutherglen MSP Clare Haughey has welcomed the news that Cuningar Loop Park in Rutherglen was the recipient of a UK-wide town planning award. The prestigious Royal Town Planning Institute (RTPI) Awards for Planning Excellence were held on April 24, and Cuningar Loop was one of 14 different winners.

The number of emergency parcels handed out by food banks in Scotland rose by nearly a quarter over the last year, according to the UK’s largest food bank provider. The Trussell Trust said its food banks provided more than 210,000 packages to people in crisis in 2018-19 – up 23% from the previous year.

Rutherglen MSP Clare Haughey has won assurances from Openreach that the upgrade of a broadband cabinet in Newton Farm will ensure the fastest available broadband speeds.