BBC R4 ‘What’s Up Docs?’ Invited me on this week to talk about light. A fun episode with follow-up episode on ‘Dr’s notes’. Starts around 7 mins in. Episode 2 discusses the book ‘Light is a right’ @slipshodspeller.bsky.social @alecfinlay.bsky.social @uofgnews.bsky.social @uofgges.bsky.social

@alecfinlay.bsky.social and @slipshodspeller.bsky.social discuss how chronic illness limited the artist and poet’s access to the wild landscapes of his home in Scotland.

I have some hot compost news

❄️ Do you experience the “winter blues”? Have you ever thought about writing a letter to winter as a way to cope? Many people notice changes in mood, energy, and motivation during the darker months – sometimes this can be Seasonal Affective Disorder (SAD). ↪️ 1/3

A big thank you to Delainey Wescott @delaineywescott.bsky.social, Hester Parr @hesterparr.bsky.social and Hayden Lorimer @slipshodspeller.bsky.social for being such great guests! Tune in to hear more 👇 🎧 Spotify: tinyurl.com/2rtzeum3 🍏 Apple Podcasts: tinyurl.com/ywrts3sc ↪️ 3/3

Still time for anyone from library services across Scotland to sign-up for Friday 16th Jan. ‘Wintering Well Webinar’ hosted by CILIPS. We’ll be giving the inside scoop on how to design and deliver the Wintering Well Box loan scheme. @hesterparr.bsky.social www.cilip.org.uk/events/Event...

And making the front page too @slipshodspeller.bsky.social bsky.app/profile/scot...

More welcome reporting on the launch of our Wintering Well Box loan-scheme in partnership with Glasgow Life public libraries. Join your local community library! Borrow a Box today! @hesterparr.bsky.social @alecfinlay.bsky.social www.scotsman.com/arts-and-cul...

Glasgow libraries have a NEW comprehensive‘wintering well’ offer based on the public resources from the @ukri.org ‘Living with SAD’ research programme @uofgges.bsky.social @slipshodspeller.bsky.social www.glasgowlife.org.uk/health-and-w...

Huge thanks to Glasgow Life libraries health and wellbeing staff who have managed to get the scheme up and rolling at super speed. @hesterparr.bsky.social @alecfinlay.bsky.social

2025 has been a rotten year for most early career postdoctoral researchers, especially in Arts, Humanities and Social Sciences. For a better 2026, check out (or repost) this short thread on a free resource for UK-based SHAPE PhDs within 10 years (excluding career breaks) of the doctorate. 1/3

Seasonal coverage today of our research - via @libbybrooks.bsky.social - bringing light in winter’s dark. @slipshodspeller.bsky.social @orkneylibrary.bsky.social. @uofgnews.bsky.social www.theguardian.com/uk-news/2025...

For your freshwater Friday delight... we're thrilled to present a deep dive with @carlsayer.bsky.social, Prof of Limnology & Freshwater Ecology at UCL, into the fascinating world of #GhostPonds, and their potent power for ecological and palaeoecological regeneration: www.fba.org.uk/fba-voice/gh...

Such a good experience presenting ‘Living with SAD’ and ‘Wintering Well to community link workers via @vhscotland.bsky.social with @slipshodspeller.bsky.social. A November tonic ☀️

Excited to share my first PhD paper which was based on my fieldwork at @thebotanics.bsky.social and just published on @geoopenaccess.bsky.social yesterday! 🌺

Soaring words in support of every public library from Liz Berry. I twilight-listened, a wee but teary-eyed, in the grounds of our now closed Woodside Library 1883-2023. Do listen and listen again to this wonderful elegiac essay. www.bbc.co.uk/sounds/play/...

Great to hear @slipshodspeller.bsky.social @uoegeosciences.bsky.social doing weekend duty and going live to Radio Stations across SE (Berkshire, Oxford, Solent, Dorset, Isle of Wight) about Wintering Well and ‘Living with SAD’ ☀️☀️☀️ Listen here about 10.17 onwards www.bbc.co.uk/sounds/play/...

Lovely to learn that Light is a Right, our Guide to Wintering Well, popped up as an inspiring source for wider spiritual reflection on BBC R4 Thought for the Day. issuu.com/livingwithsa... www.bbc.co.uk/sounds/play/... @hesterparr.bsky.social @alecfinlay.bsky.social

Wonderful to see the @pressandjournal.co.uk cover our ‘Wintering Well at the Library’ programme and our friends at @orkneylibrary.bsky.social @slipshodspeller.bsky.social @uofgnews.bsky.social @uofgges.bsky.social www.pressandjournal.co.uk/fp/news/high...

Just enough of Friday to share @nhslanarkshire.bsky.social new ‘Wintering well’ web pages, inspired by our SAD research! Wow! Lovely to collaborate with Digital Psychological Services. @uofglasgow.bsky.social @slipshodspeller.bsky.social www.lanarkshiremindmatters.scot.nhs.uk/how-you-can-...

Amazing to learn about the level of demand from Orcadian library-users. Do hope that everyone queued up on the reserve list soon gets their share of sunlight. All hail the Wintering Well Box and our wonderful public library partners!!! @hesterparr.bsky.social @alecfinlay.bsky.social

Our project partner Living Life to the Full is giving a webinar on free online SAD resources later this afternoon. Details here: eur02.safelinks.protection.outlook.com?url=https%3A...

Great to see Prof Hester Parr (@hesterparr.bsky.social) of @uofgges.bsky.social featured in this BBC News piece showcasing the Wintering Well project she leads with Prof Hayden Lorimer (@slipshodspeller.bsky.social) of the University of Edinburgh. www.bbc.co.uk/news/article...

The Glasgow Sugar Aristocracy - a tale of significant fortunes made and how their investments percolated into the Scottish economy and wider society. Free to download from Univ of London press. #Glasgow #skystorians #Scotland 📚🗃️🏴󠁧󠁢󠁳󠁣󠁴󠁿 uolpress.co.uk/book/the-gla...

Full spectrum coverage! Perfectly timed for the changing of the clocks…

Great wee package showcasing the value of the Wintering Well Box loan-scheme in public libraries. Hats off to @orkneylibrary.bsky.social for introducing the scheme and project spokesperson @hesterparr.bsky.social

We are excited to be partnering with the magnificent @orkneylibrary.bsky.social to launch a ‘Wintering Well’ library loan scheme. Community link workers are also supporting this roll out of the ‘Living with SAD’ resources - catch the news 6.30 mins into the broadcast @slipshodspeller.bsky.social.

Boxes of sunlight will be offered to people in Orkney to help with low winter mood as part of the Living with SAD project led by Prof @hesterparr.bsky.social of @uofgges.bsky.social and Prof Hayden Lorimer (@slipshodspeller.bsky.social) of Edinburgh Uni. More here: www.gla.ac.uk/news/headlin...

If you caught BBC Radio 4’s Winter Well, one of the voices heard is Neina Sheldon, Founder of Make Light Matter. Her Bright in Winter programme starts on 27 Oct and is designed to help you feel happier, healthier, and more energised through the darker months. Join up: brightinwinter.eventbrite.co.uk

During the making of Winter Well, we gathered more material than we could manage to fit in five episodes. Happily, it has a perfect home here on BBC Scotland’s Outdoor Podcast. @alecfinlay.bsky.social describes the power of the view and a vision for staying put. www.bbc.co.uk/sounds/play/...

Fifth and final episode of Winter Well on air BBC Radio 4 today: how should we anticipate our winters yet to come? Big thanks to all contributing folks who gave voice to experience and expertise. And esp to Helen Needham, producer whizz and all-round winter wonder. www.bbc.co.uk/sounds/play/...

Today on Radio 4 is Episode 5 of ‘Winter Well’ we hear thoughts about living in the future, and learning from people with lived experience of SAD. … with the wise voices of @alecfinlay.bsky.social, Ruth and @slipshodspeller.bsky.social www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/m... Light is a right?

In today’s episode of Winter Well connections get drawn between darkness and dormancy, and we find out why “coorying in” is a seasonal kind of self-care. Tune in, BBC Radio 4 @ 1.45pm or catch it on Sounds _anytime_! www.bbc.co.uk/sounds/play/... @hesterparr.bsky.social @alecfinlay.bsky.social

Today it’s possible to hear about ‘Embracing the dark’ in Episode 4 of Winter Well on Radio 4 with @slipshodspeller.bsky.social. Insightful voices and perspectives on slowing down in winter and changing our expectations of ourselves. www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/m...

Third helping of Winter Well on air soon. (Just before The Archers for those who like to listen live to Radio 4!) Episode 3 - ‘Get Out and Notice’ shares light-filled ideas and activities in the open air. www.bbc.co.uk/sounds/play/... @hesterparr.bsky.social @alecfinlay.bsky.social

@slipshodspeller.bsky.social is on the radio again today with Episode 3 of ‘Winter Well’ Noticing light and winter as part of new seasonal routines is a feature of our guided CBT resources from project partners ‘Living Life to the Full’ : llttf.com/sad/. www.bbc.co.uk/sounds/play/...

Early afternoon listening! Winter Well is on again today. Episode 2 - ‘Let the Light In’. www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/m... Beyond the radio series, there’s plenty to play around with in our e-guidebook: issuu.com/livingwithsa... @hesterparr.bsky.social @alecfinlay.bsky.social

Winter Well is on air BBC Radio 4 this week. An audio guide to thriving in winter, with advice from medics, artists, poets and future-gazers on simple but effective ways to bring light into your life during the darkest part of the year. www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/m... @hesterparr.bsky.social

“Things have changed on the ground.” @longbarrowpress.bsky.social walking in memory of memory. So much here. Forget about Netflix. Scroll this route for proper descriptive drama…

A ‘Living with SAD’ Wintering Well event with @slipshodspeller.bsky.social

An article on 'day of access' in the latest issue of The Great Outdoors– innovative access to wild places for the vulnerable and disabled.

Every strand of this Edinburgh University report could be its own front page. Yes, some of it will be familiar to historians, but this kind of frank public recognition is all too rare. Incredible work by many different scholars.

Someone should write a book about literary scandals. Oh, hang on... uk.bookshop.org/p/books/prin... #thesaltpath

Congrats to @hesterparr.bsky.social of @uofgges.bsky.social and @slipshodspeller.bsky.social of @edinburghuni.bsky.social , who have won an award for their Wintering Well project with East Dunbartonshire Leisure and Culture Trust! Read more here: edgeconference.co.uk/awards/

A style bible, bought in monthly instalments for nye on a dozen years. Lovin the glossy-paper nostalgia hit.

Great to see the 'Living with SAD' project led by @hesterparr.bsky.social of @uofgges.bsky.social and @slipshodspeller.bsky.social of @edinburgh-uni.bsky.social showcased in this @ukri.org blog on research aimed at tackling low winter mood! Read the full piece here: www.ukri.org/news/ai-supp...

Last orders for the ‘Library Encounters’ session CFP for the @rgsibg.bsky.social 2025 conference Deadline Monday 17th @slipshodspeller.bsky.social

So proud of the @foscotlibs.bsky.social who went to represent when disability prevented me from being able to get to Holyrood. Here’s hoping that a review of legislation which campaigners have been calling for years for comes to fruition 🤞

It’s time to start a proper national conversation about the way we value our local libraries. Upcoming… Holyrood, 05/02/25, 5pm