A public celebration has been planned for the opening of the Renfrew Bridge which connects Renfrew and Clydebank/Yoker. The first opening road bridge across the River Clyde, connecting the town’s Meadowside Street with Dock Street in Clydebank, will be operational from Friday, May 9. The local authority had initially planned to host a closed event the day before – on Thursday, May 8 – attended by politicians, civil engineers and partners involved in the project as well as invited community, business and education representatives. However, it has since been confirmed it will be a public celebration instead, ensuring everyone can take part in what is considered a major milestone for the town. Councillor John Shaw, an SNP representative for Renfrew North and Braehead, said: “I am absolutely delighted that, after raising our concerns, the council has listened and responded positively. “The opening of the new Renfrew Bridge is an important moment in the story of our town and it’s only right that the people who have waited so long for the completion of this project are able to be there to celebrate. “I want to thank the chief executive and events team for engaging with us constructively and making sure the day is open to everyone who wishes to attend.” It comes after councillor Shaw and his colleague, councillor Lisa-Marie Hughes, also an SNP representative for Renfrew North and Braehead, had written to the chief executive and urged the local authority to reconsider its original stance. After a series of discussions with officers, it has been confirmed the opening ceremony, taking place in Meadowside Street from 2.30pm until 4.30pm next Thursday, will be open to anyone who wants to attend. Councillor Hughes added: “The people of Renfrew have watched this bridge take shape and waited with real anticipation for its completion. “It’s fantastic that the community will now be able to come together and mark this historic occasion properly. “This is about celebrating the completion of this project and of the opportunities it will bring to the town and everyone should be part of it.” The bridge, which represents a focal part of the £117 million Clyde Waterfront and Renfrew Riverside project, provides a two-lane crossing for vehicles, pedestrians and active travellers, and can open for passing ships. The project has created additional connecting roads and cycling and walking routes, including the extension of Argyll Avenue, which connects Inchinnan Road and Meadowside Street. It is expected to improve access for people, businesses and suppliers to the Advanced Manufacturing Innovation District Scotland which is being developed next to Glasgow Airport. A council spokesperson said: “The opening date has been set for the new Renfrew Bridge as we complete what will be a transformational project for Renfrewshire and the wider Glasgow City Region and is another example of the council’s ability to deliver nationally significant infrastructure projects successfully. “A public event will be held the day before the bridge opens to traffic to mark the project completion and local community representatives, local businesses, local schools, college and university, as well as key partners, funders and stakeholders involved in the project will be part of the celebration – recognising the importance of this project to the local area. “The bridge will then open to road traffic and active travel on May 9 with residents able to walk, run, cycle or drive across the bridge as we open up access to work, health, job and leisure opportunities on both sides of the river.” The project has been jointly funded by the Scottish and UK governments through the £1.13 billion Glasgow City Region City Deal – a partnership of eight councils working to boost the economy in the area. STV News is now on WhatsAppGet all the latest news from around the country Follow STV News Follow STV News on WhatsAppScan the QR code on your mobile device for all the latest news from around the country '+scriptOptions._localizedStrings.webview_notification_text+' "+scriptOptions._localizedStrings.redirect_overlay_title+" "+scriptOptions._localizedStrings.redirect_overlay_text+" Renfrewshire News A suspect will stand trial accused of killing a man who died in hospital The fatal attack is said to have occurred at the car park of Renfrew Leisure Centre and the town’s Newmains Road It is claimed Mr Lees was repeatedly pushed and punched as well as struck on the head In addition to the culpable homicide charge Beagan – who also uses the name Gibson – is accused of behaving in a threatening and abusive manner He is separately said to have attempted to defeat the ends of justice by removing and washing items of clothing worn during the alleged killing Gibson’s legal team pleaded not guilty on his behalf during a hearing at the High Court in Glasgow today Lord Mulholland fixed a trial which is scheduled to start in April 2026 Δdocument.getElementById( "ak_js_1" ).setAttribute( "value" Professor Cyprian Broodbank remembers Professor Lord Colin Renfrew founding Director of the McDonald Institute for Archaeological Research and former Master of Jesus College and a fine friend and colleague to innumerable archaeologists around the world This loss makes the world of archaeology a poorer place intellectually as well as in terms of the sheer energy and optimism that he brought to everything he did From his first years as one of the brave new archaeologists of the 1960s theoretically informed ways of thinking about the explanation of social and political change in the past within and then far beyond his first enduring regional love for the prehistoric Aegean while advocating scientific techniques of dating and provenance as an integral part of archaeological endeavour he was one of the first to appreciate the significance of the calibration of radiocarbon dates for the understanding of European prehistory He went on to ask equally fresh questions about the link between language evolution and archaeology and as the first Director of the McDonald Institute for Archaeological Research championed some of the earliest applications of archaeogenetics as well as a critical and investigative approach to the illicit antiquities market and latterly returned to the more southerly isles of the Cyclades and to remarkable discoveries on the island of Keros he remained engaged with the forefront of archaeological developments attending and clearly relishing the 36th Annual McDonald Lecture on the Wednesday before he left us far more to Colin than the world-leading and much honoured archaeologist He took on the mantle of a working peer in the House of Lords where he spoke up for matters of heritage and archaeological legislation with the customary eloquence and lapidary reasoning of a one-time President of the Cambridge Union He was a passionate and knowledgeable expert and collector of modern art by which Jesus College under his care remains permanently graced Social events under his hospitality became unforgettable and often hugely convivial gatherings of brilliant minds from the widespread fields that he drew together and under the right circumstances often culminated in demonstrations of Colin’s skills as a dancer he was a much-loved husband to his wife Jane Colin passed away peacefully in his sleep during the night of Saturday 23 to Sunday 24 November 2024 All of us at Cambridge extend our heartfelt condolences and profound respects to his family and to all those who loved and knew him Credit: Michael Boyd. Reproduced with kind permission. I wish to receive the University's news digest by email The University of Cambridge will use your email address to send you our University news digest email once each week. We are committed to protecting your personal information and being transparent about what information we hold. Please read our email privacy notice for details The 184m bridge is the first opening road bridge across the Clyde. Linking the two areas for the first time, the 184m bridge is the first opening road bridge across the Clyde. Renfrewshire Council confirmed that the bridge would be open to traffic and pedestrians from Friday, May 9. In a post on social media, SNP councillor John Shaw said that there would be a formal opening on May 8, but it would be a closed ceremony. “While I welcome the opening, I’m unsure why a public celebration is not taking place given the grief the town has had to go through to get to this point,” councillor Shaw said. Renfrewshire Council leader Iain Nicolson said: “I’m delighted that the opening date has been set for the new Renfrew Bridge as we successfully complete a transformational project for Renfrewshire and the wider Glasgow City Region. “It will provide a significant boost to the local economy, attract new investment and developments to the riverside, and create thousands of new job opportunities for local people. “It is another example of the Council’s ability to deliver nationally significant infrastructure projects successfully, and I look forward to it opening to the public.” The bridge is part of the £117m Clyde Waterfront and Renfrew Riverside project, which will also create additional connecting roads, cycling, and walking routes from Yoker station to Inchinnan Road in Renfrew. Construction started in 2024, and it will be the first new road bridge over the river since the Clyde Arc, or Squinty Bridge, opened in 2006. Using a cable stay design, similar to the Queensferry Crossing, the bridge is also made to a twin-leaf design, meaning it splits into two pieces when opening. Signage will be in place to advise people and traffic of bridge openings, with times posted online to allow people to plan ahead. Archaeologist who embraced new ideas and technologies and challenged long-held assumptions about the rise of early civilisation tackled questions key to understanding who we are – what makes us human what art means – with new evidence as well as argument His determination to address big issues with science and data fired his enthusiastic embrace of new ideas and technologies Renfrew entered archaeology in the 1960s at a time of profound change. Younger practitioners were discovering the promise of new sciences and computers, and questioning accepted ideas about prehistory and how to tell its stories. Statistics replaced intuition, in what became known internationally as the New Archaeology, with Renfrew a UK figurehead and Lewis Binford his friend and sparring partner in disruption Renfrew announced his arrival in 1968 with the paper Wessex Without Mycenae published in the Annual of the British School at Athens Using then controversial radiocarbon dating he challenged long-held assumptions about the rise of early civilisation Archaeologists had assumed innovations in northern Europe had been adopted from the south allowing the former to be dated by inferred links to calendars in the eastern Mediterranean Renfrew realised that the new dates showed that people in the north must have engineered their own achievements – among them Stonehenge seen to be older than its supposed Greek designers breaking the links opened the field to new ideas about how changes occurred but he developed the theme in his first book The Emergence of Civilisation: The Cyclades and the Aegean in the Third Millennium BC (1972) was turned down by his original choice of publisher Drawing on his University of Cambridge doctoral thesis in a tour de force that many consider remains the best of his 60 books (including those he edited and co-authored) he set out a theory of how societies change to the appearance in the bronze age of palace economies in Crete and mainland Greece and in 1971 the first of several films for the Chronicle series in which Renfrew expounded on ancient peoples in distant locations Documentaries then were not afraid to challenge viewers frequently inspired by the experience to conduct new research Visiting Orkney in 1971 for the first time with the presenter Magnus Magnusson he decided to excavate a neolithic burial mound there He thought Stonehenge might be explained as the creation of chiefdom societies wrote another controversial paper (now brushing off critical anthropologists as well as archaeologists) and went filming in Easter Island and Tonga like an excited child with new toys – but with a mature determination to use them in his grand venture to fathom humanity a free-thinking conference for staff and students that still meets annually at universities across the UK Renowned as an inspiring and demanding teacher and honoured by his peers (he was a fellow of both the Society of Antiquaries of London and of Scotland in 1981 he was elected Disney professor of archaeology at the University of Cambridge arguing that Indo-European languages were spread by expanding populations of the first farmers a controversial theory that he came to accept – characteristically standing down in the face of new evidence – might have to cede to an alternative model of more recent horse-empowered migrations With Paul Bahn he co-authored the standard textbook Archaeology (1991 And he embarked on a new project: active engagement with contemporary art and he sought to reconcile his emotive response to art with his intellectual concern for the past that artists and archaeologists were on parallel quests to understand the nature of being human Gormley and the writer Ben Okri were among the 40 people who spoke at his 80th birthday celebration In 1990 he became founding director of the McDonald Institute for Archaeological Research had approached him with a proposal that led to a new building and an endowment for research and running costs funded by one of the largest gifts of its kind received by Cambridge University The following year Renfrew was offered a life peerage by John Major, then the prime minister, which he accepted only after being persuaded by Ken Clarke, a friend since student days and then education minister, that attending the House of Lords one day a week would be enough with whom Renfrew co-chaired the all-party parliamentary group (APPG) on archaeology considered him an example of the best of the Lords someone at the top of their game contributing to academic and heritage policy at a high level; Renfrew also co-chaired an effective APPG for the protection of cultural heritage having retired from the Disney chair in 2004 Renfrew was born in Stockton-on-Tees and shortly afterwards moved with his parents His parents encouraged his interest in art and history taking him to museums in Paris and Rome and to see megaliths in Spain and he went to St Albans school on a scholarship He did national service in Germany before gaining a first-class degree in archaeology and anthropology at St John’s College having spent his first year studying natural sciences he surprised fellow students by successfully inviting Lord Reith to speak Renfrew at Stonehenge in the 1980s with the US archaeologist Lewis Binford Photograph: Mike PittsHe co-directed excavations at Quanterness and a long-running project on the Cycladic island of Keros Keros had suffered extensive looting of small marble figurines redolent of works by Brancusi and Modigliani The archaeologists decided the tiny island had been a central place for the Cyclades where around 2500BC people brought the broken carvings for ritual burial; a common theme of his excavations was resolving ways to identify and characterise shrines and religious behaviour After publication of his book featuring a private collection of figurines and he began his work countering the illicit antiquities trade which he said damaged ancient sites and tainted artefacts He was scathing of those museums and private collectors in Europe and North America whom ignored the effects of their acquisitiveness on countries unable to protect their heritage He received many honours for his outstanding contributions to archaeology including the Archaeological Institute of America’s Bandelier award the International Balzan prize and the European Science Foundation Latsis prize among them as a trustee of the British Museum and a commissioner for English Heritage The Royal Navy's explosive ordnance disposal unit was called to an industrial premises in Renfrew. The Royal Navy’s explosive ordnance disposal (EOD) unit was called to an industrial premises on Meadowside Street at around 12.25pm. A cordon was erected around the area, closing off a nearby cycle path. The wartime munitions have since been destroyed in a controlled explosion, STV News understands. A Police Scotland spokesperson said: “Officers are currently in attendance at a premises on Meadowside Street, Renfrew following the discovery of a potential suspicious device around 12.25pm today. “A cordon has been put in place which is affecting the nearby cycle path. Enquiries are ongoing.” Emergency services were called to Canal Street in Renfrew at around 11.40am on Thursday. Emergency services were called to a crash between a car and pedestrian on Canal Street in Renfrew around 11.40am on Thursday. A man in a wheelchair was taken to hospital with non-life threatening injuries. A Police Scotland spokesperson said: “We were called around 11.40am on Thursday, March 20, to a report of a crash involving a car and a man in a wheelchair on Canal Street in Renfrew. “Emergency services attended, and the man was taken to hospital with non-life threatening injuries. No one else was injured.” Co-ordinated system-wide change is urgently needed to radically improve maternity care in Northern Ireland The review was led by Professor Mary Renfrew and makes a series of recommendations to transform services across all settings and ensure better outcomes and experiences for women Professor Renfrew said: “Northern Ireland is not alone in experiencing substantial challenges to quality maternity care but there is now a real opportunity for NI to create a system that works for all “This review has found both serious weaknesses and real strengths in the current provision of midwifery and wider maternity care for mothers and their babies “It proposes an ambitious evidence-based plan to transform maternity services for all women babies and families and to improve safety and quality and tackle inequalities across Northern Ireland It includes requirements for the safe provision of community midwifery units and home births regional strategic developments to support staff and ensure safe “Key requirements include acceptance by senior leaders that radical change is needed together with investment that reflects the level of need “At the heart of the changes must be a new relationship with women with an enabling environment for all staff and students Improving maternity care must be a priority for the health services and for society “Investing in improvement will contribute to better physical and mental health for women better attachment and family relationships better population health and reduced inequalities better health and well-being for staff with improved staff retention and better use of health service resources.” The report was commissioned by the Department of Health following a coroner’s court hearing into the tragic death of a baby during birth To learn lessons and prevent such distressing outcomes in the future the review sought to understand underlying causes and develop effective evidence-based solutions Professor Renfrew continued: “Many women and their partners who engaged with the review described a range of unacceptable experiences during their maternity journey which contributed to physical and emotional harm “Many midwives and interdisciplinary colleagues described working in circumstances where they could not give the quality of care that they knew was needed “The voices of the women and families and of the staff who spoke so openly often at the cost of re-experiencing their trauma and harm must result in the outcome they all hope for - a better experience for women “Many women also described examples of good quality care and services and many staff are committed to providing quality care and are open to change: there are strengths to learn from and to build on with the right support and investment.” Professor Renfrew’s report details 32 evidence-informed recommendations for action the report advocates for the following changes: quality midwifery and wider maternal and newborn services in Northern Ireland with a regional framework for action ensuring respectful personalised care for all and a genuine voice in shaping services and review of maternity and neonatal services babies and families across the whole continuum of care and in all settings * Changing the prevailing work culture to implement an enabling environment for all staff and managers including ensuring midwives are represented at senior management levels and developing an open learning culture at every level of the system * Supporting midwives to provide quality midwifery care and services across the whole continuum of maternal and newborn care with investment in community as well as hospital services and increasing midwives’ influence over the safety and quality of care and services * Better oversight through improved accountability * A unified approach to education and training of all staff including leadership development - especially for midwives - and capacity building for the future The full report can be read here - Enabling Safe Quality Midwifery Services and Care in Northern Ireland Professor Emerita Mary Renfrew OBE RGN RM PhD FMedSci FRSE has had a distinguished career as a researcher and educator in midwifery and maternal and newborn health in the UK and internationally She has advised evidence-based policy for governments and global organisations; she led the work for the regulator to develop the new midwifery standards for midwives in the UK; she was principal investigator for the ground-breaking Lancet Series on Midwifery; and she has worked as consultant and adviser to the World Health Organisation for many years She is the first midwife or nurse to be elected as Fellow of the Royal Society of Edinburgh and the first midwife to be elected as Fellow of the Academy of Medical Sciences 2. For media enquiries please contact the DoH Press Office by email pressoffice@health-ni.gov.uk 3. Follow us on X @healthdpt and linkedIn Department of Health NI | LinkedIn The Executive Information Service operates an out of hours service For Media Enquiries Only between 1800hrs and 0800hrs Monday to Friday and at weekends and public holidays The duty press officer can be contacted on 028 9037 8110 Generous shoppers in Renfrewshire can help a fundraising campaign to support medical research into food allergies Tesco is partnering with The Natasha Allergy Research Foundation to promote awareness of food allergies During Allergy Awareness Week (21st until 28th April 2025) Tesco stores in Renfrewshire will donate 10p to the charity from the sale of more than 151 Free From and Tesco allergy medication products bought in-store or online Customers will also have the opportunity to round up their shopping to the nearest £1 at self-service checkouts from 21st April to 4th May All the money raised will help Natasha’s Foundation to improve the lives of people affected by food allergies You can find your nearest Tesco branch at: The Natasha Allergy Research Foundation was set up in 2019 by Tanya and Nadim Ednan-Laperouse OBEs following the tragic loss of their 15-year-old daughter Natasha who had a fatal allergic reaction to a baguette containing sesame seeds that were not listed on the packaging the charity’s mission is to #MakeAllergyHistory Natasha’s Foundation is the only allergy charity dedicated to medical research with the aim of understanding what is causing the dramatic rise in allergic disease – and developing ways to prevent Natasha’s Foundation launched its Allergy School programme earlier this year providing expert-led resources to create inclusive and safe environments for children with food allergies Nadim and Tanya said: “We’d like to thank Tesco and its customers for their continued support of Natasha’s Foundation Food allergies are not a choice or lifestyle preference unpredictable medical condition that impacts the lives of millions of people in this country “Previous donations from Tesco have helped us to raise awareness and understanding of food allergies fund medical research and be a voice for the allergy community Thank you for your on-going support and allowing us to continue this important work to improve the lives of people with food allergies.” said: “We know customers are concerned about the potential dangers of food allergies so we are proud to be working with the Natasha Allergy Research Foundation to raise awareness and fund potentially life-changing research “There is a wide range of products in our Free From range all created with great taste but without any of the allergens We welcome any shoppers to try these products or kindly round up their shopping at the self-service tills to help raise money for a fantastic cause.” Some of the products available in the Tesco Free From range include Tesco Finest Rigatoni Pasta Tesco Free From Confetti Cake and Tesco Free From Pepperoni Pizza For more information on products available in the Tesco Free From range and for milk, egg, gluten and wheat free recipe ideas, please visit www.tesco.com/groceries/en-GB/zone/freefrom active and number one leakproof brand in North America is partnering with Canada’s fashion and lifestyle retailer Holt Renfrew to grow its retail footprint in the country The move will see Knix launching in Holt Renfrew across six retail locations as it looks to complement its own direct-to-consumer channels and expand its consumer reach said in a statement: "This partnership with an iconic Canadian retailer who we've long admired is an incredible opportunity for Knix to expand its customer base "Offering our customers another in-person touchpoint is something we're continuously exploring and we can't wait for everyone to shop the curated assortment at the Holt Renfrew location closest to them." Customers will be able to shop select Knix products and shapewear at the two pop-up locations in Toronto and Vancouver until May 26 the brand's newly launched swim collections will be available across the permanent locations at Ogilvy (Montreal) Square One (Mississauga) and Calgary Holt Renfrew senior vice president of product at Holt Renfrew added: "We are proud to curate the best fashion and lifestyle edits from Canada and around the world female-led Canadian brand to our customers is a wonderful new addition to our assortment in stores and online this Spring The assortment will feature what Knix is famous for alongside an amazing selection of swimwear.” Cyprian Broodbank is Disney Professor of Archaeology and director of the McDonald Institute for Archaeological Research at the University of Cambridge Colin Renfrew played a key part in transforming archaeology into a problem-oriented theoretically explicit and scientifically informed field during the last third of the twentieth century Although his fieldwork concentrated mainly on the prehistory of two island groups close to his heart — the Cyclades in Greece and Orkney in Scotland — his interpretive reach and influence were global making him archaeology’s closest approximation to a household name Renfrew was born in the English town of Stockton-on-Tees He added an informed engagement with science (his father worked as a chemist) to his youthful passion for antiquity He initially chose to study natural sciences at the University of Cambridge but soon switched to archaeology and anthropology which shed new light on the early Cyclades and then began a lectureship at the University of Sheffield Renfrew found himself well placed to exploit the archaeological opportunities of scientific advances using trace elemental analysis to discriminate between Aegean sources of the volcanic glass obsidian Eventually this investigation would confirm that 12,000-year-old finds of obsidian from Franchthi Cave in southern Greece were derived from the Cycladic island that is now called Milos — at the time marking the earliest proven sea-crossing in the world Estella Bergere Leopold (1927–2024) passionate environmentalist who traced changing ecosystems Renfrew’s thinking was further inspired by a stay in California during 1967 It was a time of exciting developments in ‘new archaeological’ theory in the United States quantitative and anthropological approaches to understand the dynamics of past societies And it had just been discovered that tree-ring sequences from the long-lived bristlecone pines (Pinus longaeva) found in California’s Sierra Nevada mountains offered the means to calibrate radiocarbon dates making it possible to push chronologies back centuries earlier than previously expected Renfrew re-examined the accepted inter-relations between prehistoric developments in Europe and Near Eastern civilizations offering new models for how societies change most archaeologists had explained large-scale cultural change through ‘diffusion’ of people and ideas over time from core areas — in particular Egypt and Mesopotamia But Renfrew quickly realized that calibrated radiocarbon dating challenged this perspective building of the megalithic temples of Malta began before the pyramids of Egypt and the rich Bronze Age burials in southern Britain were as ancient as those of ‘golden’ Mycenae in Greece a book called The Emergence of Civilisation (1972) advocated a radically new way of viewing change and growth not as a consequence of external stimuli but rather as a result of interactive mutually reinforcing internal processes such as agricultural intensification increased trade and ideational shifts in a society Were Neanderthals soulful inventors or strange cannibals doi: https://doi.org/10.1038/d41586-025-00220-1 The author declares no competing interests Picuris Pueblo oral history and genomics reveal continuity in US Southwest Tattoo-making tools used by ancient Maya revealed Inside the quest to digitally unroll ancient scrolls burnt by Vesuvius Native American tribe teams up with genomicists to confirm link to iconic ancient site When a great ball of fire came crashing down Ancient DNA reveals Phoenicians’ surprising genetic ancestry HT is an interdisciplinary research institute created and supported by the Italian government whose aim is to develop innovative strategies to pr.. UNIL is a leading international teaching and research institution with over 5,000 employees and 17,000 students split between its Dorigny campus Department of Energy and Environmental Materials and advance cancer research in a leading translational institute Olivia Newton-John Cancer Research Institute We are seeking a tenure-track associate professor to promote interdisciplinary research in nanoprobe life sciences or related interdisciplinary field Sign up for the Nature Briefing newsletter — what matters in science Renfrew report must be catalyst for much needed change Accessibility MIDIRS i-learn Join us The Royal College of Midwives (RCM) has said it’s ‘hopeful’ the long-awaited Renfrew Report will bring about a much-needed reset of midwifery services in Northern Ireland and acting on the experiences of women and midwifery staff must be the driving force for change the RCM has warned that addressing the longstanding workforce challenges identified in the report is fundamental to delivering safe midwifery care For far too long understaffing has meant that midwives can’t always deliver the high-quality care women The report also identified inconsistency in the current provision of midwifery and maternity care This reinforces the College’s call for better support for services to learn not only from where things go wrong but learning from best practice too “The RCM believes the recommendations contained within this report are measured and reflect much of what the RCM has been calling for What’s needed now is to ensure we have the structures and mechanisms in place to enable this crucial improvement work to move forward and this must be underpinned by the right resources and investment the RCM would like to see this work lead to a long-term maternity strategy for Northern Ireland their lived experiences must be the catalyst for change.” The report has shared some good examples of safe personalised care good multidisciplinary working across the maternity team and the sharing of quality information that enabled women to make informed decisions and choices that were right for them some women’s experiences didn’t meet this gold standard of care The College said that maternity care should be easily accessible and so shares Prof Renfrew’s concern at women’s reduced access to midwifery services across rural areas and the closure of community units which is resulting in longer journeys for women in early labour Understaffing and the lack of available equipment such as birthing pools has also meant that home birth services are limited which affects the choice of birth options available to women The RCM says it’s clear that structural system-level challenges are adversely affecting all parts of maternity services and that often midwives working in community settings feel even less supported The impact of this on the physical and mental health of midwives and MSWs) cannot be underestimated says the RCM It means staff are burnt out and considering leaving the profession far sooner than they should and with them goes years of experience and skills Retaining midwifery staff should be more of a priority than ever “We are cautiously optimistic that this report can bring about the overdue changes that are needed to improve how maternity care is delivered in Northern Ireland we need a system that supports midwives and maternity support workers to deliver good quality care Every family deserves good experiences and quality care from maternity services we hear too often from midwives who describe working in such high-pressured circumstances that they are struggling to deliver high quality care An increase in the number of more complex pregnancies means it’s never been more crucial to have the right staff in the right place with the right skills and training to ensure women are getting the personalised and the specialist midwifery care they need.” For interview requests and to contact the RCM Media Office call 020 7312 3456, or email media@rcm.org.uk The RCM website is published by The Royal College of Midwives Evidence Based Midwifery and Midwives Jobs are published by Redactive Publishing Ltd on behalf of The Royal College of Midwives A charity registered in England & Wales under registration number 275261 Privacy policy Contact us We use marketing cookies to help us improve the relevancy of advertising campaigns you receive Royal College of Midwives uses cookies for website functionality purposes. For more information, please review our privacy notice or review the settings tab Settings The project is nearing completion after the final section of the 184-metre bridge arrived in May 2024. The project is nearing completion after the final section of the 184-metre bridge arrived in May 2024 and was installed at Dock Street in Clydebank. The bridge had been due to open last year, but It is proposed the link will now open in late April or early May. Planners added this could be subject to change. The bridge will connect Renfrew with Clydebank and Yoker directly for the first time and will open up work, health, education, and leisure opportunities for communities on both sides of the river. The £117m Clyde Waterfront and Renfrew Riverside project will also create additional connecting roads, cycling, and walking routes from Yoker station to Inchinnan Road in Renfrew. A Renfrewshire Council spokesperson said: “The construction and installation of the new Renfrew Bridge is complete and significant testing has been undertaken. “There are ongoing works to complete the required roads infrastructure on both of the sides of the river and we are working closely with our contractor to ensure these works are completed as quickly as possible and to the appropriate standard. “When complete, the bridge and the associated roads will open in line with the project’s original completion date of Spring 2025. “The project will create exceptional transport links into the Glasgow City Region and the Advanced Manufacturing Innovation District Scotland (AMIDS) and will open up work, health, education and leisure opportunities on both sides of the Clyde – with thousands of additional jobs, fresh investment and new developments brought to the riverside.” Renfrew North & Braehead Councillors John Shaw and Lisa-Marie Hughes have written to the Chief Executive of Renfrewshire Council to express their concern over the absence of a public event to mark the completion of the new Renfrew Bridge Representing the community that endured years of disruption during the bridge’s construction both councillors have called it “baffling” that only a private event has been planned closed event for representatives of the UK and Scottish Governments who part-funded the City Deal investment in the bridge is the only official commemoration scheduled to mark the opening of the landmark infrastructure project Cllr John Shaw told Renfrewshire News: “Given the scale of disruption Renfrew has experienced throughout the construction period it’s baffling that there’s no plan to mark the bridge’s completion with a public celebration “This is a major new piece of infrastructure for our town and everyone deserves the chance to be part of its opening if they wish delays and inconvenience residents have put up with the community deserve a chance to mark this historic occasion together.” Cllr Lisa-Marie Hughes added: “This bridge is a huge deal for Renfrew it’s the biggest infrastructure investment in our town in decades “The people of Renfrew have lived with the impacts of this construction for a long time and it’s only right that they’re front and centre when we celebrate its completion A public event would be a fitting way to thank the community for their patience and to mark a new chapter for the town.” The councillors are urging the Council to reconsider its plans and ensure that local residents have the opportunity to be part of the official opening and celebration of the bridge said: “The opening date has been set for the new Renfrew Bridge as we complete what will be a transformational project for Renfrewshire and the wider Glasgow City Region and is another example of the council’s ability to deliver nationally significant infrastructure projects successfully “An event will be held the day before the bridge opens to traffic to mark the project completion and local community representatives funders and stakeholders involved in the project will be invited to be part of the celebration – recognising the importance of this project to the local area “The bridge will then open to road traffic and active travel on 9th May with residents able to walk cycle or drive across the bridge as we open up access to work job and leisure opportunities on both sides of the river.”