New legislation is set to be introduced in England with a NI mum calling for the same to be put in place here

A Belfast mum has described the lengths that she has to go to in order to protect her four-year-old son who has a range of life-threatening allergies.

New legislation is set to be introduced later this year in England that will provide greater protections for children who suffer from allergies that will include; schools being required to have dedicated allergy policies , staff training, access to emergency adrenaline auto-injectors and individual care plans for children.

This followed campaigning by the Benedict Blythe Foundation and its founder Helen Blythe who lost her five-year-old son following an allergic reaction in school. Following the introduction of Benedict’s Law in England, she is now working to see further protections put in place in Northern Ireland.

Stephanie Kerr , whose son Caolán has life-threatening allergies to peanut, milk, egg, wheat, cumin, oat, strawberries, passionfruit and penicillin, is supporting the campaign for increased protections in NI and has described what life is like taking care of her four year old son.

She said: “Managing Caolán’s allergies requires constant vigilance from everyone who cares for him. Because he has so many allergies, it is not possible to remove every risk from his environment.

“Cross-contamination is one of our biggest concerns. At home, we use separate utensils, cooking equipment and food preparation areas, as well as designated fridge shelves and cupboards. He also needs close supervision at mealtimes to make sure he does not accidentally eat food that is unsafe for him.

“Ordinary childhood activities require intense planning and risk assessment. Something as simple as eating in a restaurant, travelling or going to a birthday party has to be carefully managed. In school, the risks can come from unexpected places, from milk cartons being used in art projects to food being handed out as a reward.

“Caolán needs his snacks prepared separately for example, he requires his own toaster to reduce the risk of cross-contamination. We have also needed to be vigilant and confirm that all staff in his current nursery setting have undertaken the appropriate training to recognise the symptoms of an allergic reaction, including anaphylaxis.

“Prevention is always the goal, but if an emergency happens, Caolán needs immediate action from the adults around him. In that moment, a quick response can be the difference between life and death.”

Stephanie said she was surprised to discover that certain protections she assumed would be in place to help her son did not exist in Northern Ireland.

She said: “Thankfully, Caolán has only needed his epi-pen once. He ate a piece of cereal that was within reach at daycare and suffered a delayed reaction. We were incredibly fortunate to already be at Accident and Emergency Department when adrenaline had to be administered. It was the worst day of our lives.

“Since then, we have done everything we can to work with teachers, staff and anyone responsible for his care to reduce risk and identify situations that could trigger another life-threatening reaction.

“After being given forms for signature by Caolán’s nursery that outlined they were not required to administer medication but did agree with me that a designated member of staff would – I looked at the Education Authority’s guidance on food allergies and medication more closely.

“What I found was deeply upsetting. While some settings do have trained staff, the current guidance does not place an overarching legal duty on school staff to administer medication, and staff cannot be directed to do so under Supporting Pupils with Medication Needs.

“As a mother, I find it heartbreaking that there is still no clear, enforceable guarantee that a trained adult will always be available to give life-saving medication without delay. Prior to Caolán starting his educational journey I had wrongly assumed that these protections for children would have already been in place and that policies would be designed with the safety and wellbeing of students at its heart.

“The work of the Benedict Blythe Foundation has given families like ours real hope. In England, Benedict’s Law is set to bring in protections from September 2026, including dedicated allergy policies in schools, staff training, access to emergency adrenaline auto-injectors and individual care plans for children with allergies. Children like Caolán deserve those same protections here.”

Helen Blythe from the Benedict Blythe Foundatio said she is engaging with politicians in Northern Ireland in order to try and help bring about change that will help ensure vulnerable children with allergies are protected.

She said: “No family should send their child to school wondering whether they will be safe in an allergy emergency. Benedict’s Law is now moving forward in England, yet many children in Northern Ireland still do not have the same basic protections.

Politicians here have been engaging positively, but children cannot wait indefinitely while reviews continue. Every school should have clear allergy policies, trained staff, and emergency medication available now.”

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Scams and doorstep crime can have a devastating impact, particularly on vulnerable members of our communities.

Lanarkshire Preventions Officers and colleagues from Trading Standards, have teamed up with the local banks across Lanarkshire as part of the “Shut Out Scammers” campaign.

Scams and doorstep crime can have a devastating impact, particularly on vulnerable members of our communities.

Through partnership working, officers and partners are raising awareness around fraud, scams and doorstep crime while highlighting the support available to help keep people safe.

A Police Scotland spokesperson said: “We would also like to thank the local banks and staff across Lanarkshire for their continued support and the fantastic work they already carry out daily to protect customers from fraud and scams.

“By working together for the greater good, we can help better safeguard and protect our communities.

“Thank you to our partners from Trading Standards and Neighbourhood Watch Scotland for their support throughout the campaign and for helping provide advice and reassurance to members of the public.

READ MORE: Lanarkshire locals urged to improve health as part of National Walking Month

“We appreciate the support from everyone involved and hope the advice and information shared helps people feel more confident in recognising and reporting scams.

“Look out for family, friends and neighbours and help us spread awareness. Together, we can help “Shut out Scammers” across Lanarkshire.”

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READ MORE: Lanarkshire man viewed child abuse images ‘out of curiosity’

VATICAN CITY (AP) — Pope Leo XIV made a historic apology on Monday for the Holy See’s role in legitimizing slavery and for having failed to condemn it for centuries, calling the Vatican’s record a “wound in Christian memory.”

Past popes have apologized for Christians’ involvement in the trans-Atlantic slave trade. But no pope had ever publicly acknowledged, much less apologized for, the role that past popes played in giving European sovereigns explicit authority to subjugate and enslave “infidels.”

History’s first U.S.-born pope, whose family history includes both enslaved people and slave owners, delivered the apology in his first encyclical, “Magnifica Humanitas,” (Magnificent Humanity), which was released Monday.

The sweeping manifesto is about safeguarding humanity in an era of increasing reliance on artificial intelligence. Leo raised the slave trade in relation to what he called the new forms of slavery and colonialism that the digital revolution is fueling.

Black American Catholics, activists and scholars have long called for the Holy See to atone for its role in the colonial-era trade in human beings, beyond generic apologies for the involvement of individual Christians.

“It is impossible not to feel deep sorrow when contemplating the immense suffering and humiliation endured by so many in stark contrast to their immeasurable dignity as persons infinitely loved by the Lord,” Leo wrote. “For this, in the name of the church, I sincerely ask for pardon.”

Shannen Dee Williams, historian at the University of Dayton and author of the 2022 history of American Black Catholic nuns, “Subversive Habits,” welcomed the apology as a “monumental step toward the kind of essential truth-telling and reparation that many Catholics have prayed and worked to witness.”

“The Catholic Church has never been an innocent bystander in the history of white supremacy,” said Williams. “Black Catholics have waited a long time to hear the Vatican speak honestly about the church’s leading roles in the trans-Atlantic slave trade and chattel slavery–and thus by extension the enduring systems of anti-Black racism in the world today.”

Centuries of legitimizing slavery for European colonizers

The Vatican has insisted that it always upheld the dignity of all human beings as children of God. But a series of 15th-century directives from the Vatican authorized Portuguese sovereigns to conquer Africa and the Americas and enslave non-Christians.

In 1452, for example, Pope Nicholas V issued the papal bull Dum Diversas, which gave the Portuguese king and his successors the right “to invade, conquer, fight and subjugate” and take all possessions — including land — of “Saracens, and pagans, and other infidels, and enemies of the name of Christ” anywhere.

The bull also gave the Portuguese permission “to reduce their persons to perpetual slavery.”

That bull and another issued three years later, Romanus Pontifex, formed the basis of the Doctrine of Discovery, the theory that legitimized the colonial-era seizure of land in Africa and the Americas.

Nicholas V’s permissions to the Portuguese were confirmed or renewed by Pope Callixtus III in 1456, Pope Sixtus IV in 1481 and Pope Leo X in 1514, according to the Rev. Christopher J. Kellerman, a Jesuit priest and author of “All Oppression Shall Cease: A History of Slavery, Abolitionism, and the Catholic Church.”

Spanish kings received the rights for the Americas.

In 2023, the Vatican formally repudiated the Doctrine of Discovery, but it never formally rescinded, abrogated or rejected the bulls themselves. The Vatican insists that a later bull, Sublimis Deus in 1537, reaffirmed that Indigenous peoples shouldn’t be deprived of their liberty or the possession of their property, and weren’t to be enslaved.

During a visit to Angola last month, Leo prayed at a Catholic shrine at the site of an important hub of the African slave trade during Portugal’s colonial rule. While at the Sanctuary of Mama Muxima, Leo recalled the “sorrow and great suffering” Angolans endured for centuries, but he didn’t refer specifically to slavery.

Associated Press religion coverage receives support through the AP’s collaboration with The Conversation US, with funding from Lilly Endowment Inc. The AP is solely responsible for this content.

This is the fifth time that similar proposals have been submitted for the former school

A Grade II listed Victorian school in a Cambridgeshire village could be converted into a home under new plans. Under proposals submitted this month, extensions would be added to the Grade II listed Old Day School in High street in Bluntisham.

This is the fifth time that similar proposals have been submitted to Huntingdonshire District Council. The previous applications were either withdrawn or refused. The plans had been refused previously due to concerns that the scale, mass, design and material finish would result in “a high level of less than substantial harm to this Grade II listed building”.

The current plans for the former school building, which was also used for parish meetings, plays and concerts, would convert it into a two-storey, three-bedroom house. The proposal involves modest extensions and alterations.

The design and access statement for the current plans, written on behalf of applicant Simon Claridge, says: “The proposed development has been carefully conceived to secure the long-term preservation and viable reuse of the former school building through its sensitive conversion to a single residential dwelling.

“The design approach has sought to balance the functional requirements of a modern home with the need to preserve the special architectural and historic interest of the listed building and its contribution to the wider character of the conservation area.”

The school was built in 1842, with a toilet block added in 1930 and a kitchen added in 1944. The applicant proposes knocking down the toilet block and modern rear extensions to provide “an opportunity to enhance the setting of the listed building and better reveal its original form and proportions”.

In place of the existing additions, a new rear extension is proposed. The design statement adds: “The extension has been designed as a clearly subordinate and contemporary intervention, ensuring that the historic building remains the dominant element of the site.”