Vandalism at Trinity Primary: Appeal for information

POLICE are appealing for information following vandalism at a school in North Edinburgh.

The incident took place at Trinity Primary School on Newhaven Road at about 1.30pm on Friday, 29th July, during which over £5000 worth of damage was caused to school equipment.

A thorough investigation is ongoing and anyone with any information is urged to contact Police via 101, quoting incident 2591 of the 29th July 2022 or anonymously via the charity Crimestoppers on 0800 555 111.

As the nights draw in …

Heart of Newhaven’s October newsletter

All about project updates


Our friendship benches are now being decorated!

On October 8th, a group of older and younger people  from the New Spin intergenerational project at the Citadel will decorate the first of our six friendship benches, all of which have been made by Mens Shed.

The New Spin group will be working with local artist Johnathan Elders to create patterns for the backs of the bench. Further benches will be decorated in further sessions, so each will be unique. The project is being run with the help of Thrive, to celebrate World Mental Health Day on 10th October.

Fruit tree planting in Victoria Park

Our Greening Team have been busy with plans for the area and pupils from Trinity High and Trinity Primary Schools will be helping to plant some young fruit trees in Victoria Park this winter to enhance the area, by adding beauty, interest and biodiversity.

There are already a couple of small trees in situ, so those will be added to, to create a mini orchard. The trees will be Scottish heritage fruit trees, specially chosen for the site, and will include apple, pear and plum. 

Each one will have its own protective cage, provided by Edinburgh City Council, and the pupils will learn from a Royal Botanic Gardens representative how best to plant and care for them.

We hope to work on more tree-planting and wilding projects in the future, not just in the parks but in the more built-up parts of our neighbourhood, where urban nature needs some encouragement. 

 Keep abreast of the latest news on our Greening Page

Environment Page


And more on green issues

The Heart of Newhaven Community was assessed by It’s Your Neighbourhood, part of the Keep Scotland Beautiful charity recently, and despite it only being the first year of our association with them, we have scored a Level 3, (out of five) which means we are “advancing”.

The score was helped by having achieved our goal of funding from the Scottish Land Fund to acquire the site, as well as successfully engaging with a variety of local communities and groups. Well done everyone involved. The next level is “thriving” and the top level is “outstanding”. How long will it be?

Forth Reflections

On October 22nd from 2pm – 4 pm we are collaborating with an exhibition in the main entrance to Ocean Terminal called ‘Forth Reflections and Expressions of Wellbeing’. The event is being organised in conjunction with the Edinburgh Wellbeing PACT and the Forth/Edinburgh Shoreline Project.

Conceived during the dark days of winter lockdown this project is the passionate responses of well over a hundred different people to a part of the Forth coast that is special to them.

A long storyline of enmeshed crafted memories and visions of the Forth has emerged, linking the Fife, Edinburgh and East Lothian coasts, biodiversity, people and communities.

Each participant expressed their response to their chosen 1km of coast on a calico square and many people have focused on the coast’s local history and wildlife, its beauty and diversity and the many species and memories that have been and are still being lost. While frustration and anger can be seen in many pieces about marine and intertidal pollution, there is also heartfelt hope for the future.

We hope that as many people as possible will call in and have a chat. Not only will it be an opportunity to talk to us about our plans for the Heart in general but we also want to have conversations about wellbeing and what it means to each of us in our community. As inspiration we will be displaying a selection of the calico squares created by local people.

Call in to see the display and have a chat.

Keep watching our website and social media platforms for the latest news, as we await the move of Victoria Primary School pupils to their new home and the handover of the keys for the site from Edinburgh City Council to the Heart.

‘Leith Gives’ campaign appeals for help to ease pressure of pandemic over winter months

New campaign ‘Leith Gives’ appeals for help to ease pressure of pandemic over winter months 

Seventeen North Edinburgh charities, alongside community organisations, local schools, rugby clubs and others brought together by the Leith Trust, have joined forces in a bid to support people most likely to be hit hardest by coronavirus and associated restrictions this winter as a new collaboration, Leith Gives.  

With food banks at risk of being overwhelmed and people likely to feel more isolated during winter months, Leith Gives is hopeful that, with successful fundraising, they will be able to do everything possible to support vulnerable people in December and January. 

John Evans, Leith Gives, (above) said: “Leith Gives is seeking support to raise funds for vulnerable households facing a challenging lockdown amid the second wave of the COVID pandemic. This will allow us to provide tailored food hampers and other household essentials to vulnerable individuals and families in the run up to Christmas and again in late January. 

“We also plan to provide gifts and other items people may need to celebrate Christmas, Diwali, Hanukah and other festivals, and to offer practical help to get people online and connect with loved ones or support groups. 

“People in Leith and north Edinburgh are well known for looking out for the most vulnerable members of our communities and I’m confident that with their support and the collective knowledge and expertise of all the members of Leith Gives, we can spread some hope during what is likely to be a testing winter.

“We believe this approach to be impactful and innovative in its collaboration and every penny raised goes to help the people we support.’’ 

To make a donation, please go to: https://justgiving.com/campaign/LeithGives 

Leith Gives collaborating partners:

All Together Edinburgh 

Citadel Youth Centre

Cyrenians

Dangerous Studio

Doctor Bell’s Family Centre

Edinburgh Academy

Edinburgh Community Food

Edinburgh Remakery

Fettes College

Forth Ports (Port of Leith)

Hibs Community Foundation

Home Start Leith and north Edinburgh

Leith Academy

Leith Rotary

Leith Trust

Milan (Senior Welfare Organisation) 

Multi Cultural Family Base

Out of the Blue Print

People Know How

Pilmeny Development Project

Port of Leith Housing Association (PoLHA)

South Leith Parish Church

The Leith Agency

The Ripple Project

Trinity Academy

Trinity Primary School

YMCA 

Volunteers:
BATs Community Rugby Club
Clockwork Removals
Leith Rugby Club
Trinity Rugby Club 

Trinity’s first ever Fire Festival tonight

WINTER FIRE FESTIVAL

Friday 13 November, 6:15pm at Victoria Park

fire festival

Victoria Park’s first ever Winter Fire Festival will take place tonight (Friday 13 November) from 6.15pm. Organised by Trinity Primary PSA but open and free to all the local community, the festival will feature the first ever Trinity torchlight procession around Victoria Park. Continue reading Trinity’s first ever Fire Festival tonight

Living memories of adventures in Leith

St Nicholas Court

A book has been launched recounting the memories of eight Leithers. ‘An Adventure! – Happy Days in Leith’ has been produced by the Citadel Arts Group and tells the stories of residents of Port of Leith Housing Association’s (PoLHA) St Nicholas Court Sheltered Housing Complex. 

A launch event was held at the complex on Monday, when musician Laure Paterson entertained residents and a class of Trinity Primary School pupils who called in to join the celebrations and bring the generations together.

Maureen Tait, Senior Sheltered Housing Co-ordinator with PoLHA who manages the complex, said: “It is nice for the children and staff to hear stories of the past from the tenants and tales of things that we’ll never experience. The children are so good, always polite and helpful.  It means a lot to the tenants here.”

‘An Adventure! – Happy Days in Leith’ is a collection of memories about childhood, school days, first work experiences and family life collected by Citadel Arts Group living memory workers, Laure C Paterson and Liz Hare.

The book features St Nicholas Court residents Rita Falconer, Bertha Glancy, Margaret McKinlay, Annie Mulvaney, Mary McNicol, May Stevenson, Jean Tait and Frances Veitch (pictured above)  – each of whom shared their memories of Leith past and present with the book’s authors. Margaret said: “Things have changed a lot over the years and it’s been great to share those stories”.

The book is the culmination of seven weeks of sharing, recording and transcribing the stories of the eight residents. Citadel Arts Group’s Liz Hare said: “The tenants generously shared their memories and we have collected them into this book which will be a resource for the whole community.  Each member of the project will receive two copies and copies will go into Trinity Primary and local libraries. It has been one of the most enjoyable projects we have been involved in.”

The project is funded by The Robertson Trust.

LeithLibrary