Waadstock 2017

Thursday 6 April

WAADSTOCK 2017

Please see above the poster for WAADSTOCK 2017, a music event celebrating the talents of musicians and singers on the Autism Spectrum.

This year’s event is on THURSDAY 6TH APRIL at 7.30pm at THE CAV nightclub, WEST TOLLCROSS, EDINBURGH.

ENTRY IS FREE (ALL DONATIONS WILL BE DISTRIBUTED BETWEEN THE PERFORMERS) BUT THE EVENT IS STRICTLY OVER 18S ONLY.

The event has a facebook page ‘waadstock’ where people can confirm their attendance and view photos from last year’s event.

If you have any queries please contact. Michael Hannam, 07718423400

STV explores Sscotland’s past in new series of People’s History Show

 Edinburgh featured in STV’s People’s History Show

31 March 8pm on STV

Edinburgh, Shetland, Dundee, Hamilton, New Lanark, Glasgow and the Borders will feature in a new series of STV’s The People’s History Show, which explores the tales of Scotland’s past in six brand new episodes.

Fronted by presenter and journalist Sarah Mack and historian and adventurer Ashley Cowie, the series looks back in time to discover the places and people that make up Scotland’s history, with Sarah and Ashley travelling from the Borders in the south to Shetland in the north.

The new series, which started on Friday, features some of the most fascinating events in Scottish history, including the Shetland Bus, the special WW2 operation that linked Shetland to Germany occupied Norway; the Great Fire of Glasgow in 1652; the historical naval base Scapa Flow; the Udston mining disaster in Hamilton; the Scots who fought in the Spanish Civil War and Dundee aviation pioneer Preston Watson.

Presenter Ashley Cowie said: “The history of Scotland is found not only in books, but in the stories and folklore of its people. This series is extra special to me as we travelled the length of Scotland and filmed some great characters in my home county of Caithness, giving the show a truly nationwide appeal.”

Sarah Mack said: “It has been a fantastic opportunity to work on a series that never ceases to amaze me with the weird, wonderful and sometimes gruesome history it explores. No matter where you live in this great country we want to encourage you to scratch the surface and take a closer look because you never know what tales and adventures you might unearth right on your doorstep.” 

Elizabeth Partyka, deputy director of channels at STV, said: “This new series is a must-see for anyone with an interest in Scotland’s history, with Ashley and Sarah travelling all over Scotland to delve into some of the most remarkable stories of our past.”

The series will also be available to watch live or for catch-up on the STV Player.

King of the Castles!

Edinburgh Castle retains No. 1 position

Edinburgh Castle has retained its position as Scotland’s top paid for visitor attraction, and jumped up two places in the rankings to be named as the 16th most visited attraction in the UK overall in 2016. Footfall at the historic site exceeded 1.7 million visitors, a 13% increase on 2015.

Scotland’s staffed heritage and cultural assets were well represented in the 2016 leader board, as a total of 14 new Historic Environment Scotland managed attractions joined the rankings for the very first time.

New additions included filming locations Doune and Blackness Castles, better known as Castle Leoch and Fort William in the hit historical time-travelling TV series, Outlander. Both attractions are benefitting from their stardom as a record 90,172 and 30,053 people explored the sites for themselves, a surge of 32% and 39%, respectively, compared to the same period for 2015.

These figures were amongst those released today – Monday 27th March – for UK wide member sites of the Association of Leading Visitor Attractions (ALVA). The association, which releases its figures annually, counts some of the UK’s biggest tourist attractions as members, also revealed that Scottish attractions had one of their best years on record, reporting the greatest increase of 16% and a total of 15 million visitors.

Strong visitor numbers for the same period were recorded at heritage attractions throughout the country. In Inverness, the ruins of Urquhart Castle attracted 396,397 people, St Andrews Cathedral was up 25% year on year to over 46,000 visitors. Elsewhere the 5,000 year old Skara Brae hit a total of 93,375 visitors and more than 52,000 people turned out at Melrose Abbey in the Scottish Borders.

Stephen Duncan, Director of Commercial and Tourism at Historic Environment Scotland and ALVA Board Member, said: “These latest figures from ALVA for last year show that Scotland is a major player in the UK tourism sector. It’s fantastic that Scottish member attractions collectively reported a 16% increase in footfall year on year, with over 15 million visits taking place in total.

“Heritage tourism is a key element in this wider success story. Together our iconic castles, abbeys, palaces and other historic sites, which represent thousands of years’ worth of Scottish history, welcomed over 3.7 million visitors in 2016 alone. Our visitor offering is stronger than ever before and it’s something that we will continue to build upon during 2017 as we mark Scotland’s Year of History, Heritage and Archaeology.”

Bernard Donoghue, Director of ALVA, added: “Like the 2015 figures, Scotland has continued to outperform the rest of the UK with a substantial increase in their visitor numbers. 2016 was a great year for Scottish Tourism – proving that Scotland is reaping the benefits of significant capital investment in attractions and creative programming by its institutions.”

Free training opportunity at Granton Library this week

Overcoming Language Barriers for Frontline/Reception Staff

Training Opportunity for Workers in North Edinburgh

 10am – 12pm, Wednesday 29th March 2017

Granton Library, 25 Wardieburn Terrace, Edinburgh EH4 4DT

Learn about:

• Practical ways to remove language barriers in your organization.

• Race equality in Scotland

• Some of the current challenges for BME communities.

The trainer will be Eleanor McKnight from Elite Linguist CIC. Living in Harmony and Muirhouse Library are organizing the training.

Book your free place by contacting Anita on 0131 551 1671 or anitaaggarwal@pchp.org.uk

www.pchp.org.uk

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