Green fingered enthusiasts in Edinburgh are able to take action on the shortage of allotments in the city by using a new scheme that matches up people with gardens who can’t cope with gardeners. The scheme, thought to be a first for Scotland, is ideal for those elderly residents who would otherwise have to pay for a gardener or even have to move because they can’t manage the extra work involved.

There are over 1400 names on the list for allotments in Edinburgh with only 90 given land every year.

The non-profit organisation, based on Queen Street, helps hundreds of elderly and disabled people every year across the city with repairs to their properties. Staff came up with the idea for Edinburgh Garden Share last year, and have just secured funding for it to be run as a pilot project in the EH12 area of the city.

For more on Edinburgh Garden Share visit www.careandrepairedinburgh.org.uk or contact 0131 220 7630.

When providing care to aging or disabled parents, many caregivers ignore the most important person involved in the caregiving process. “Who?” - you may ask? The answer might surprise you: The Caregiver.

Many times caregivers get so wrapped up in attending to parent’s needs, trying to fit quality time with their own family into their schedule, and oftentimes attempting to balance a career, they forget or simply neglect to take some time for their own personal needs.

As a caregiver, the results of not allocating personal time can easily lead to intense emotions such as stress, anxiety, frustration, guilt, and feeling extremely overwhelmed. Many caregivers fail to realize that these emotions and feelings could lead to caregiver burnout.

If you have just taken the reins as a caregiver to your parent, or perhaps you have been serving in the role for years, you may have never heard of the term “caregiver burnout” or would even recognize the early warning signs. And you may not be aware that caregivers have an increased risk for depression, diabetes, heart disease, and other health problems.

Caregiver burnout is the unpleasant side effects many adult children have to cope with when providing care to their aging or disabled parents. The signs and symptoms of caregiver burnout may display themselves physically, mentally, and emotionally.

The most important thing to remember as a caregiver, and to avoid burnout, is to make some time for yourself. Whether it is treating yourself to a shopping trip, preparing your favorite meal, or going on a vacation getaway for the weekend with your own family, remember you should not feel guilty for putting your own wants and needs first.

The second thing to remember as a caregiver is never hesitate or feel embarrassed to ask for help. If you’re feeling overwhelmed, ask a sibling or another family member for assistance. You may also consider adult day care, or respite care to provide you some relief.

Even if you just need a day away from your role as caregiver, don’t let your guilty conscience persuade you otherwise. It would be better to enjoy a day of rest and relaxation to rejuvenate your mind, body, and soul before letting yourself fall into the ruts of burnout.

There are proven and effective methods to combat and prevent caregiver burnout. These techniques are easy and simple daily activities. Anyone can practice these burnout-relieving techniques, whether it’s taking an early morning jog or writing in a journal before bed.

You will find yourself amazed at how taking less than an hour a day can alleviate the stress and anxiety that comes along with providing care to an aging or disabled parent, especially those with rapidly deteriorating health or suffering from the heart-wrenching effects of Alzheimer’s disease.

In addition of ways to prevent caregiver burnout, there are also many helpful resources available to guide you through the confusing emotions and physically exhausting situations you may find yourself in as a caregiver. If you feel you may already be experiencing burnout, talk to someone, whether it’s your spouse, friend, or physician.

I never cease to be amazed by some of the unique characteristics of clutter. For some reason, clutter is often associated with the homes and workplaces of retirees or seniors.

We have all heard stories and read accounts of elderly people who live in tumble-down houses filled with unbelievable amounts of clutter. This is not, however, a universal characteristic of retirees.

So what are the essential characteristics of clutter? Here are a few that come to mind at the moment:

• Clutter takes many shapes and is composed of many items
• Clutter has the inherent property of expanding to fill all available space
• Clutter is generally collective and it builds up over time
• Clutter is generally composed of items we believe we must continue to keep
• Clutter is composed of items we believe to be important for some reason
• Clutter is generally composed of items we have not used in years
• Clutter is often composed of items we cannot find
• Clutter is often made up of things we actually don’t need
• Clutter can be dangerous for retirees
• Clutter is hard to remove

Let’s face it. At some point in time, everything that makes up clutter was important to us. What we do with it and how long we keep it is often directly proportional to the sentimental or emotional value we attach to it. For example, some of us keep every memento of every activity shared with a loved one. Others keep some souvenir of meaningful travel destinations. Some keep newspapers or magazines. And some of us are collectors gone wild.

We all know clutter in our homes can be dangerous - it can pose a fire hazard or a tripping or stumbling hazard, especially as it expands to mega-proportions. We hear so many stories of retirees who are victims of home fires, who fall and break fragile bones or who fall and get a serious head injury. For these reasons alone, de-cluttering is a really smart move for retirees.

Clutter can also be emotional, mental or psychological. This kind of clutter can often be most difficult to clean out of our lives. This kind of clutter distracts us or re-enforces negative self-images or continues to reopen old wounds. This kind of clutter makes us feel unhappy, stressed out, angry, or even guilty.

While the physical clutter around us might be more noticeable to others, it is easier to remove. It just takes determination and a realistic appraisal of the value of things. Clearing out old animosities, guilt, sorrow and pain, however, is even more important if we really want to enjoy the second stage of our lives.

My advice to all retirees who want to experience a feeling of a new freedom and a fresh outlook on life is: DE-CLUTTER. Start with the stuff that is cluttering your environment. If something has real value, but you don’t need to keep it, give it to someone who will appreciate its value.

Remind yourself that if you haven’t used or read something in over a year, you don’t need it. A first step is to get rid of anything you have been saving to which you have access on the internet. This, for example, is a great way to get rid of stacks or boxes of newspapers, magazines, and the like. A little de-cluttering will give you a great sense of freedom and space. It’s a wonderful feeling.

Start de-cluttering your psyche. Deal with unresolved guilt: make apologies, make peace. Put old animosities and anger to rest - recognize it, ask yourself if it really matters any longer, move beyond it. Deal with old sorrows and pain. Make the decision to put them to rest.

Finally, you can start the fun part of de-cluttering your mind. Make a list of all the ideas and activities you have stored up to do someday. Prioritize your list. Discard those things that just are not that important any longer. And make a plan to do the things you still want to do.

De-cluttering will give you a new sense of freedom, focus and direction. Your home will also be much safer.