Day: July 9, 2012

Extreme weather safety advice from Lothian Fire and Rescue Service

Firefighters and control room operators faced a busy weekend as much of the Lothians and Borders experienced torrential rain showers and several flood warnings were in place.

With the rain looking set to continue, Alex Hume, Community Safety Group Commander for the Service said: “The extreme weather has been keeping the emergency services across the country very busy, and our crews are no exception. Our firefighters are trained to perform rescues in flood situations and have done so commendably over the past days. The Service’s control room personnel have also coped well handling an increased volume of calls.

“As the rain continues to fall, we would advise residents to follow our flood safety advice. Avoid entering floodwater whenever possible, whether you are in your vehicle or on foot, as there may be hazards you can’t see such as displaced manhole covers, and it’s almost impossible to tell how deep the water gets. Try to avoid contact with floodwater as it could be contaminated with sewage and bear in mind, electricity passes easily through water. For further advice please visit our website: www.lbfire.org.uk.”

PEP Summer Fayre cancelled

Pilton Equalities Project’s summer fayre has been cancelled. Organisers took an early decision to cancel Thursday’s event after the weekend weather – and the threat of more rain to come.
PEP summer fayre organiser Theodora Hildago explained: “Due to the adverse weather conditions PEP’s fayre venue at West Pilton Park has become waterlogged, With the Fayre being so large and with the promise if yet more rain to come, PEP has taken the difficult decision to cancel the Thursday 12 July summer fayre. We hope to instead hold an event later on in the year and will be in contact with more details as soon as we have them. All table holders will be contacted and we thank everyone for their interest in supporting PEP and the local community of North Edinburgh. May the rain stop soon!”
Sunnier days – pictures from PEP Summer Fayre 2010:

Scottish Gas staff dig deep to support local charity

Scottish Gas staff came to the aid of a local food bank recently when they collected tins and packets of food for the Basics Bank based at The Christian Centre in West Pilton. In these tough economic times more and more people need a helping hand and the Scottish Gas team’s efforts have ensured that the local food bank – which relies on charitable donations – remains well stocked.

Angie Lumsden of Scottish Gas explained: “Over recent years we have had a big campaign to support Edinburgh Womens Aid with our Easter Egg appeal – this year we collected over 300 eggs, many of which were distributed through local projects here in North Edinburgh. We decided we would build on that and, after speaking to Forth councillor Cammy Day, we decided to collect foodstuffs for the local food bank run by Edinburgh City Mission in West Pilton.”

The response from Waterfront Avenue staff was overwhelming, donations rolled in and when Tom and Mark from the Basics Bank called in to uplift the collection they were overwhelmed!

“A donation like this will feed 25 families for a month. It’s incredible and very much appreciated”, said Tom. Mark added: “Scottish Gas staff have been so generous and this will make a big difference to people’s lives. It’s a great help.”

Angie added: “We couldn’t have done this without the help and support of our Wellbeing Team, who have been great. I’d like to think we could do something like this maybe twice a year”. 

Tom and Mark are flanked in the photograph by Scottish Gas staff Steve and Ross.