Still looking for the right course?

EdColl

Edinburgh College is holding a Recruitment Day at Granton Campus tomorrow (Wednesday 3 September) when anyone wanting to sign up for a course can apply and have a fast-track interview.

The event will take place at the college’s Granton Campus from 3 – 7.30pm. Recruitment advisors and lecturers will be on hand to provide information about courses beginning this autumn, help with applications, and carry out interviews and auditions.

The college has places available on courses in:

• Business
• Computing
• Construction and Building Crafts
• Creative Industries
• Engineering
• English for speakers of other Languages
• Events
• Retail
• Tourism and Hospitality
• Hair and Beauty
• Health
• Languages.

Courses range from access to degree level, including vocational training and professional accredited qualifications. Successful applicants can begin some courses immediately.

Edinburgh College vice-principal (Education Leadership) Ray McCowan said: “This is a great opportunity to go through the whole application process in one go and get a place on a course that’s going to open up new employment or study opportunities.

“Anyone undecided about what they want to do can talk through course options with our teaching staff, find out what the best course for them is, get support with their application and have an interview on the same day. This will make the journey from applying to confirming their place faster. We’re looking forward to welcoming future students and their families, and helping them make the best choices for their educational journey.”

Anyone who cannot make the Recruitment Day can still apply online at

www.edinburghcollege.ac.uk/applynow

or by calling 0131 660 1010

You’ll find Edinburgh College Granton Campus at 350 West Granton Road, EH5 1QE.

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Lazarowicz Bill to be debated on Friday

parlystatueMark Lazarowicz MP’s new Bill to ensure the Scottish Parliament has the power to tackle irresponsible parking in Scotland has now been printed and will be debated at Westminster on Friday (5 September).

The Bill would clarify the powers devolved to the Scottish Parliament to tackle irresponsible parking such as parking on pavements, at dropped kerbs and double parking which can present a real hazard to disabled people in particular but also pedestrians more generally who may be forced out into the road to get by.

The North and Leith Labour MP said: “This Bill would ensure that the Scottish Parliament has the power to act to tackle irresponsible parking which can be not just a nuisance but a real danger in the case of the elderly, children and people who may be visually impaired or disabled in some other way.

“There has been uncertainty over whether the Scottish Parliament has the power to legislate in this area and this Bill would cut through that by ensuring that it is devolved once and for all.

“It is devolving a practical power to tackle a public nuisance which can make people’s lives a misery and illustrates the way that devolution is a continuing process.”

The text of the Bill can be found at:

http://www.publications.parliament.uk/pa/bills/cbill/2014-2015/0030/cbill_2014-20150030_en_1.htm

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Shedding new light on the Botanics

Under cover of darkness, in the heart of the City the abundant natural landscape of ‘the Botanics’ will come alive this winter when the gates are opened to visitors at night-time. Who knows how many pairs of little glowing ‘eyes’ will be keeping watch over them as the Garden sheds some light on its after-dark secrets?

botanics LloydSmithThis November, visitors to the Royal Botanic Garden Edinburgh (RBGE) will be invited to enter the Garden after dark for a spectacular outdoor event featuring a magical combination of light and nature. It is the first outdoor light experience of its kind to be organised by the Garden.

Night in the Garden, which starts on 30 October and runs until 23 November, has been created by the Botanics and Edinburgh-based Unique Events, in association with Scottish light artist Malcolm Innes and his colleague Euan Winton. The artists’ vision means that night-time visitors will be able to make their way through a one kilometre route full of light and shadow and experience the Botanics in an entirely new manner, with interactive stations and a few unexpected surprises along the way.

The outdoor trail will use the Garden’s favourite features, such as the famous Victorian Glasshouses and Pond, as the backdrop for extraordinary light effects. Visitors can watch ‘the sun’ set inside the Palm House, see a host of sparkling lights suspended over water and enjoy enchanting illuminations that bring the indoors outside. They will also have the opportunity to create their own light show by manipulating some of the installations themselves.

Heather Jackson, RBGE’s Director of Enterprise, explained: “This is a chance for those who know and love the Edinburgh Garden, as well as new visitors of course, to see it in a completely different light – quite literally.

“We have over 700,000 daytime visitors a year and we are often asked if it’s possible to come at night, so we thought we’d come up with something unique to create a truly enchanting experience.

“The planned light installations by Malcolm promise to be spectacular, and by combining the wonder of light with the secrets of the trees and nature we have in abundance, it will certainly be a magical evening to remember for our night-time visitors.”

Malcolm Innes said: “The Garden at night is already a magical place, as some of the most recognisable features softly merge into the darkness.  It is this new reality that we will be manipulating to create installations that span the range from grand spectacle, through romantic and beautiful, to mysterious and tiny.

“The kind of hard edged, simplified geometry we learn at school is seldom discussed in relation to the natural world, but when the two are brought together, the visual effect can be magical. Come and join us and bring the family as we turn the world inside out and make the invisible, visible.”

The event will be open to members of the public with an hour-long experience allowing visitors to participate in something that they have never seen before, with different parts of the route being jaw-droppingly spectacular, some romantic and pretty, and others just a wee bit spooky – although not enough to put the kids off.  Night in the Garden is an event for all the family.

The experience is being delivered by RBGE and Unique Events, Scotland’s leading independent events company; organisers of the capital’s famous Edinburgh’s Hogmanay celebrations and large-scale outdoor festivals and events. ‘Botanic Lights’ installations are designed by Malcolm Innes and Euan Winton of Edinburgh Napier University, and Leith-based Black Light is working with the partners to deliver lighting installation technical support.

Pete Irvine of Unique Events said: “Unique Events is delighted to be involved in this exciting and innovative project.  The Botanics is one of Edinburgh’s best loved places to visit in any season, but we will never have experienced it like this.”

Visitors to Night in the Garden will be required to purchase tickets in advance for a specific date and time slot.  Tickets are now on sale – for details and further informaton about the event, visit www.rbge.org.uk/botaniclights.

And if the Botanics lights experience appeals, you may want to know about this charity event too:

ebchantThe Enchanted Forest, Perthshire’s multi-award winning sound and light show, has announced that it has released an additional 1500 tickets for Thursday 2 October when it will hold a dedicated charity event, the proceeds from which will be split equally between Children’s Hospice Association Scotland (CHAS) and Autism Scotland.

Over 45,0000 tickets went on sale for The Enchanted Forest’s 13th event, elemental, in June and organisers are already predicting a sell-out show this year with demand for tickets already up by 37%. The release of additional tickets will be welcomed by fans of the show and by supporters of the charities alike.

Graham Brown, chairman of the Highland Perthshire Community Interest Company that runs The Enchanted Forest, commented: “The Community Interest Company is, for the first time, in a strong position to give back to the local community and we have selected two charities that are very active in this area.

“It is marvellous to be able to assist Scottish Autism and CHAS with a charity night on the 2nd October and we wish them well and hope that they will benefit greatly from this unique fundraising opportunity.”

Derek Allan, producer of The Enchanted Forest added: “This is an exciting development for the show. As a community based event, we are very committed to giving something back and the two charities chosen both do exceptionally important work to support families and children across Scotland.

“Every year we get very positive feedback from customers whose children are affected by autism, and the profound impact the show has on them. For other families who are facing challenges, such as those supported by CHAS, the show offers an opportunity to enjoy time together and a break from their normal routine. We are proud to be giving both Scottish Autism and CHAS a helping hand.”

forestKaren Wilson, fundraising manager for Scottish Autism said: “We are delighted to be selected as one of the charities to benefit from this event. This is a fantastic opportunity to raise the profile of our services which support people with autism and their families throughout Scotland. We are also looking forward to bringing along some of our service users to enjoy the experience on the night.”

Alison Rennie, CHAS Fundraiser added: “We’re very excited to have been chosen as one of the charities to benefit from The Enchanted Forest’s first ever charity evening. It promises to be a magical event and all the funds received by CHAS will help us to continue to provide vital support to babies, children and young people with life-shortening conditions.”

The 2014 show, elemental, sees the return of the creative team that put together last year’s successful show, with lighting design by Kate Bonney and Simon Hayes, sound design and composition by RJ McConnell, and orchestral compositions by Jon Beales.

The Enchanted Forest takes place from Friday 3 – Sunday 26 October 2014 at Faskally Wood near Pitlochry.

Tickets for the Charity Night on Thursday 2 October are available by visiting www.enchantedforest.org.uk/charity

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Nominate your Health Hero

The sixth annual Celebrating Success Awards have now launched and NHS Lothian is calling on the public to nominate their local ‘Health Hero’ for recognition in its staff awards.

The ‘Health Hero’ category allows the people of Lothian to recognise a healthcare worker who has delivered exceptional service as well as the best patient care.

gayleLast year’s winner was Gayle McRobert (pictured above), a diabetes nurse at the Western General Hospital. Gayle won the award after providing ‘incredible support’ to cancer patient David Murray, whose diabetes spiralled out of control after starting treatment, and his wife Eileen.

Tim Davison, Chief Executive, NHS Lothian, said: “The Celebrating Success Awards mark the inspiring and truly amazing work that takes place across health services in Lothian every day.

We have recently adopted a common set of values across NHS Lothian and we have been encouraging all of our staff to embrace them.

Many of our staff go above and beyond their duties every day, put the values at the heart of every day working life and demonstrate our commitment to providing high quality patient-centred care.

The ‘Health Hero’ Award is a way of saying thank you to those staff who provide the standards of care that NHS Lothian is so proud of.”

The public are invited to nominate anyone who has made a real difference to them or a loved one, or who they feel deserves recognition for their work and their care.

Help us to ensure our shining stars across Lothian receive the recognition they deserve by nominating them for the Celebrating Success Awards this year!

To nominate your Health Hero, fill out the nomination form below:

http://www.nhslothian.scot.nhs.uk/MediaCentre/CelebratingSuccess/Pages/default.aspx

and email it to: celebrating.success@nhslothian.scot.nhs.uk

or telephone 0131 465 5645.

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September start for city’s new recycling service

P45: red box made redundant
P45: red box made redundant

Bangholm, Boswall, Craigroyston and Crewe are among the first areas to receive the revised recycling service now being rolled out across the city. 

The new recycling service for more than 140,000 homes in Edinburgh began on 1 September, and Households involved in the first phase of the roll-out (click on link below for a full list of streets affected) will have their green waste bins collected for the last time this week before they are used for mixed recycling.

Phase_One_New_Recycling_Service_Streets

Around 20,000 properties received new grey bins during August, which they will now use for general waste. Blue boxes will still to be used for glass as well as small electrical items, and food and garden recycling will continue as normal. The red box will no longer be needed.

Those who are receiving the new service will have been sent information and collection date calendars through the post. Throughout the week, as collections are made according to householders’ collection calendars, stickers will be placed on empty green bins advising they will now be used for recycling.

Phase_1_map new_recycling_service (1)

To help the public adjust to the changes, recycling advisors will also accompany bin lorries to answer any questions and provide additional information on how the service has been updated.

Environment Convener, Councillor Lesley Hinds, said: “We are rolling the new recycling service out in phases to ensure we get it right, learning as we go, and will be making every effort to help people to adjust to the changes.

“As part of the roll-out we’ll be ensuring the public are kept well-informed, with recycling advisors visiting homes, providing advice and speaking to residents about how they are adapting to the new collections.

“There is no doubt we need to increase recycling rates in Edinburgh, and I’m confident the public are willing to work with us to help boost levels of recycling while keeping landfill costs down.”

Councillor Adam McVey, Environment Vice Convener, added: “We all need to get recycling if we want Edinburgh to become a sustainable city, and this simplified service is aimed at helping citizens to do that.

“We have seen similar schemes working well for other local authorities and I’m sure we’ll soon see the benefits here too.”

Edinburgh currently recycles almost 40% of its waste but needs to continue to improve if it is to meet a target of 70% by 2025.

Not only does recycling benefit the environment but by upping rates, the Council can save on the millions of pounds of taxpayers money paid each year in landfill costs.

An analysis of general waste in Edinburgh, carried out in 2010, found that more than two thirds of people’s bin contents could be recycled.

Now, by increasing capacity for recycling, simplifying the system and accepting more materials, it is hoped the new kerbside recycling service will encourage more households to recycle and sort their waste, helping to save on landfill costs and paving the way for a greener city.

By rolling the changes out in phases, the Council aims to learn as it progresses, helping residents to adjust to the new service by offering advice and support throughout the process.

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 New service:

Green bin – Tins, cans, paper, cardboard, envelopes, plastic bottles, pots, tubs and trays
Blue box – Glass, batteries, small electricals and textiles
New Grey wheelie bin – All waste that can’t be recycled
Red box – No longer used
Food waste bin – All food waste
Brown bin – Garden waste