STV Appeal cash for Fresh Start

Local homeless resettlement charity, Fresh Start has received £2,000 from the STV Appeal 2013.

Ferry Road Drive-based Fresh Start works in partnership with churches, local communities and volunteers in Edinburgh to create, develop and provide services that support the resettlement of people who have been homeless. The charity helps them get a fresh start by providing essential household goods, practical and social support and training opportunities.

The STV Appeal funding will be used to help expand the charity’s flagship Starter Pack service, which provides the basics for new households. Last year, Fresh Start made up and distributed nearly 8,800 Starter Packs, helping families and individuals turn their empty houses into a home. This year the charity hopes to distribute 10,000, including the newly launched Food Packs.

The STV Appeal was set up in 2011 by STV and The Hunter Foundation and in 2013 the Wood Family Trust pledged its support to the Appeal. Now in its third year, the STV Appeal has raised a total of £5.8million which has been invested in 163 big and small community projects across all 32 local authority areas in Scotland, helping over 18,000 children. Every penny raised stays in Scotland and goes directly towards helping the children who need it most.

One in five children across Scotland live in poverty – and for some communities that figure is even worse. In parts of the country every second family is living in poverty meaning that in every community there will be a family struggling to feed its kids, a family struggling to clothe them in the winter, a family struggling just to make ends meet. The STV Appeal works in communities all over Scotland helping those young people and giving them the same opportunity that other children take for granted. Working at a local level, the STV Appeal has helped projects in every local authority.

Keith Robertson, Managing Director of Fresh Start, said: “Moving into a new home, especially after being homeless, can bring many financial burdens. Our Starter Packs aim to reduce this burden and give people the essentials they need to settle in to their new homes. They provide the basics for new households to survive, for example bedding to keep warm at night, curtains to close the world out, crockery to eat your dinner on.”

Rob Woodward, STV CEO and trustee of the STV Appeal, said: “The third year of the STV Appeal has been our most successful yet. With the help of our generous supporters and fantastic fundraising efforts taking place right across Scotland we have now raised over £5.8m. The money donated to the STV Appeal stays right here in Scotland and will help make a real difference to the lives of vulnerable children and young people on our doorstep.”

Sir Tom Hunter, trustee of the STV Appeal, said: “The STV Appeal is for Scotland by Scotland’s people who truly have stepped up to support our work in trying to beat the horror that is child poverty here in Scotland. This is a long haul but at the end of the day we can and we will eradicate the impacts poverty has on Scotland’s young people. Every single penny we raise goes directly to tackling the issue of child poverty across all of Scotland something I’m really proud of.”

Sir Ian Wood, trustee of the STV Appeal, said: “This is the Wood Family Trust’s first year of involvement with the STV Appeal to help tackle the issue of child poverty in Scotland. We are delighted to be part of the fundraising endeavours of so many, which have enabled the distribution of such significant financial support to local projects in our own communities. We are optimistic that with the generous total raised by supporters of the STV Appeal, combined with the on-going hard work and dedication seen in communities across Scotland, the lives of children and young people affected by poverty in Scotland can, and will, be changed for the better.”

STV Appeal Pic Peter DevlinSTV Appeal trustee Lorraine Kelly presenting The Big Live

Free customer service training

A joint venture by The Edinburgh Partnership, Joined up for Jobs and Connected will deliver Free Service Training for the Retail Sector at Muirhouse Millennium Centre on Wednesday 12th March, running from 11am – 2.00pm. This will run for one day only, but should be of great advantage to young and older people alike. At the end of the session attendees will be given a proof of attendance certificate.

If you are interested, phone Peter Airlie at Muirhouse Millennium (Community) Centre (0131-467-3578) or Gwen on 0131-557-7913 to book a place.

Fancy a career in childcare?

There are still places available for the new Childcare Academy which will start on Monday 24 February 2014 at North Edinburgh Childcare.

Anyone who is interested will need to book into an information session prior to applying for the course. We have various dates and times for these drop in sessions and I would be grateful if you could contact myself on the number below or Barbara Webster on 0131 311 6926 for more details.

Kim Weir

Training Administrator, North Edinburgh Childcare

ChAcad

Health Literacy – Do you know anyone who struggles with health information and messages?

As part of a wider project to develop a Health Literacy Toolkit for professional NHS staff, the Health Literacy project is making a Health Literacy DVD.

We are looking for people from all walks of life who may have difficulty understanding health information. This could take the form of not retaining information they are given by health professionals; not understanding medication information/dosage; confusion over drug names and/or language used; feeling unable/unwilling to ask questions; managing long term health conditions; understanding treatment options and shared decision making around their health.

If you know of any individuals or groups who may be interested in being part of this project, please contact Fiona Manson 0131-537-4230; 0787 554 5757; or Fiona.manson@edinburgh.gov.uk

Letter: People, not commodities

Dear Editor

Despite the massive potential wealth of the UK, around two million people are unemployed, causing great hardship, depression and a loss of dignity. If people are willing to work, and the materials needed are available, what then is the problem and what can be done about it?

We live under a system of capitalism whose main concern is to make profit: if it cannot, in any industry or enterprise, the owners of wealth will not invest, switching their money to where it can, irrespective of any damage or hardship caused in doing so. This cannot be right; it only appeals to the greedy and selfish and the events of the last few years have shown just how much damage has been inflicted on people.

Investors, then, have considerable power; supported by people in powerful decision-making positions, protecting the existing set up.

If switching of investment purely for profit is the creator of unemployment, then this activity must be changed. An initial steps could be to put a limit in place on the rate of interest on an investment, coupled with a minimum term of investment to prevent money being pulled out and putting an industry and employees at risk.

This immoral position of holding the threat of unemployment over people purely for private gain is long overdue for changing – people are not commodities to be used and discarded.

A. Delahoy

Silverknowes Gardens

 

Fishing Folk – Newhaven remembered

5yhf_NewhavenFishergirlsChoir1896small_4Since earliest times, Newhaven in Edinburgh has been famous for its fishing, its shipbuilding and its unique cultural traditions, celebrated through song and photography.

However, as the last memories of the fishing industry fade, the history and the culture of Newhaven, popular in the past, risk being forgotten or assigned to the annals of history.

To combat this, Citizen Curator is working with contemporary folk musician Jed Milroy and artist Johnny Gailey to raise awareness of the importance of the village’s heritage. This project will celebrate the spirit of the fisher folk, linking the 500-year-old history of Newhaven with the future of this developing community.

Through music-making workshops and explorations into archives and collections, Fishing Folk aims to re-examine the heritage of Newhaven, reinvigorating it for a new age.

For further information contact:

Duncan Bremner
Citizen Curator
Edinburgh Sculpture Workshop
21 Hawthornvale, Edinburgh, EH6 4JT

duncan@citizencurator.com
www.citizencurator.com

OOR BURNS NIGHT @ CRAIGROYSTON COMMUNITY HIGH SCHOOL

On Thursday 30th January Craigroyston Community High School will be celebrating Burns Night in their own special style. The fun starts at 6.30 pm and will end by 9pm. School students, adult learners and staff across all the subjects in the school will be involved and, of course, there will be haggis, neeps and tatties and brilliant entertainment.

Tickets cost £1.50 per adult and 50p per child. These must be purchased in advance from the school Reception.

Blue Flint (who just finished touring with the Proclaimers) have volunteered to provide the musical entertainment. The junior school choir will be singing, pupils from the Drama & English department will be involved in Burns recitals and the address to the haggis and a surprise piper will pipe in the haggis! Adult cookery tutors are overseeing the cooking, which is being done by adult students.

Donations for the raffle and quiz include – gold ear rings designed and crafted by a professional jewellery designer (who has also worked with our young people here in the school), a free family swimming pass, and vouchers from Morrison’s Supermarket amongst others. The quiz will be Burns-related and questions are being set by each department to ensure a wide range of knowledge is required.

Come along on 30th and join in this fantastic evening.

Mikaeel: mother charged

The mother of three-year-old Mikaeel Kular has been arrested and charged in connection with the death of her son following the discovery of a body in Kirkcaldy, police said late last night.

Rosdeep Kular, who is 33, was detained on Friday night and has now been charged. She is expected to appear at Edinburgh Sheriff Court tomorrow (Monday).

Assistant Chief Constable Malcolm Graham told press that formal identification of a body found late on Friday night had now taken place and that the investigation continued.

Mikaeel’s disappearance from his Ferry Gait Crescent home was reported to police on Thursday morning and sparked off the biggest missing person search ever seen in the city. Hundreds of local volunteers joined the search for the wee boy, and many of them joined together again to attend a packed memorial service at Muirhouse St Andrew’s church.

ACC Graham said late last night: “During the course of today the investigation into the disappearance of Mikaeel Kular has continued at pace.

Following formal identification, I can now confirm that a 33-year-old woman has been arrested and charged in connection with Mikaeel’s death.

“The woman is expected to appear at Edinburgh Sheriff Court on Monday.”

He again thanked rescue teams and the public for their help in the search for Mikaeel.

“I would like to again recognise the overwhelming public assistance that Police Scotland have received during the course of this very complex investigation. This includes his family and friends, with whom our thoughts remain,” he said.

ACC Graham said inquiries were continuing, and went on: “I ask that anybody who has any information that they feel would assist the investigation contacts the police.”

A steady stream of people – including many children – continue to leave tributes in the park close to the wee boy’s home:

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MIKAEEL: BODY FOUND

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Woman – believed to be mother – detained

A body, believed to be that of three year old Mikaeel Kular, has been found in Fife. The news came just before midnight and police also confirmed that a woman – reported to be the boy’s mother – has been detained.

Late last night senior police officer Assistant Chief Constable Malcolm Graham, clearly distraught,  broke the news that everyone had dreaded – but had increasingly anticipated.

ACC Graham said: “The investigation into the disappearance of Mikaeel Kular has been wide-ranging and fast-moving.

“As a result of these inquiries I can confirm that we have recovered the body of a young boy in Fife shortly before midnight. We have informed the family and the investigation continues.

“A person has been detained in connection with the death.

“I would like to sincerely thank everyone who has shown such a fantastic response to the incident in terms of assisting the police with searches and in terms of our appeals for information and coming forward to assist with information.

“Without such vital assistance the police cannot do their job assisting those who live and work in our communities.

“As a result of this development clearly there will now be no requirement for any further help in relation to searches in the Drylaw area.”

For three days of his short life Mikaeel has been the most famous wee boy on the planet, and information about just how, when and why an innocent three year old lost his life will follow over the coming days.

For now, though, North Edinburgh will slowly get back to mundane, everyday life. Instead of joining mass searches, residents will be shopping, going to football games, cleaning windows and a hundred and one other humdrum activities. North Local Office and West Pilton Neighbourhood Centre will return to the normal routine.

But, with the eyes of the world on our neighbourhood, the North Edinburgh community can be very proud of it’s magnificent response to an appeal for help. It’s deeply sad that such an uplifting community effort was unable to help achieve the happy ending we’d all hoped so much to see.

And after Mikaeel, North Edinburgh will never be quite the same place again.

mikaeel