Month: July 2012

Postcode Challenge was 'wheelie' great!

Last year’s event was a hard act to follow, and we all know what the ‘summer’ weather has been like this year, so the signs weren’t promising – but this year’s Postcode Challenge proved to be a great success with hundreds of keen cyclists and enthusiastic walkers taking part in the 1 July event.

Although billed as a ‘challenge’, the Postcode Challenge is really a fun event and an opportunity to discover – or rediscover – your local natural habitat, by bike or on foot. Participants of all ages and abilities set their own pace, checking in at ten pit-stops along the cycle path routes and collecting stamps to be in with a chance of winning  prizes. There were also loads of goodies to collect along the way, including high-visibility cycle vests from People’s Postcode Lottery, and flower and seed packets from the Edinburgh & Lothians Greenspace Trust team.

Zero Waste Aware Scotland, State Street, Drylaw Community Centre, Drylaw Community Garden, Spokes and MYDG (Muirhouse Youth Development Group) also had stands along the Postcode Challenge route.

Liz Stewart, of organisers Edinburgh and Lothians Greenspace Trust said: “The Postcode Challenge was a great event and we were so lucky as it must have been about the only sunny day in the last month! We believe that there were at least 300 participants – walkers and cyclists. Although cyclists had to pick up a stamp from each of the 10 ‘postcode stops’, walkers only had to collect 5, which made it easier to include them. The day went really well and it was such a happy, good-natured event and loads of great feedback – helped of course by some good weather for a change!”

It took a mighty team effort to make the Challenge such a success, Liz said.

“There’s a huge list of people to thank! The Postcode Lottery and their players for funding the event in the first place, for manning a postcode stop on the day and for providing prizes. Other stall holders were our co-organisers, The Bike Station, who also provided bike repairs on the day and kept all the wheels turning; Spokes, State Street, MYDG Muirhouse Youth Development Group, Drylaw Community Centre and Drylaw Community Garden. We also had the following prizes to give away and were very grateful to all donors:

· 37 bike themed Goody Bags from The Bike Station

· 2 Tickets to see a Film of your choice at The Filmhouse

· 2 Vouchers for Greenyonder Tours

· Lunch for Two at Hula Juice Bar

· Grow your own veg & wildflower seed packets from ELGT

· 1 of 4 cycling maps of in and around Edinburgh and the Lothians from Spokes

· 2 Herb planters, 2 bird nests & 2 nectar feeders from ELGT

· An assortment of prizes from the Postcode Lottery

· A £50 Alpine Bikes gift voucher donated by State Street

· Two tickets for a free tour of Royal Yacht Britannia.

I think that’s everyone, but it’s quite a list so apologies if we’ve missed anyone out!”

“We were delighted to support the Postcode Challenge Treasure Hunt again this year,” said Clara Govier, Head of Charities, People’s Postcode Trust. “It’s a great event and it gets everyone outside and learning a little more about the beautiful environment right here in the city.”

Organisers also encouraged participants to leave messages on the Edinburgh Innertube blog (which can be found at: http://innertubemap.com/.) and comments were very positive. One person wrote: ‘As good as anything I’ve ever done in Edinburgh – great for all the family/all ages and all abilities. You all deserve medals and loads of funding for this!’

 

 

Postcode Challenge was ‘wheelie’ great!

Last year’s event was a hard act to follow, and we all know what the ‘summer’ weather has been like this year, so the signs weren’t promising – but this year’s Postcode Challenge proved to be a great success with hundreds of keen cyclists and enthusiastic walkers taking part in the 1 July event.

Although billed as a ‘challenge’, the Postcode Challenge is really a fun event and an opportunity to discover – or rediscover – your local natural habitat, by bike or on foot. Participants of all ages and abilities set their own pace, checking in at ten pit-stops along the cycle path routes and collecting stamps to be in with a chance of winning  prizes. There were also loads of goodies to collect along the way, including high-visibility cycle vests from People’s Postcode Lottery, and flower and seed packets from the Edinburgh & Lothians Greenspace Trust team.

Zero Waste Aware Scotland, State Street, Drylaw Community Centre, Drylaw Community Garden, Spokes and MYDG (Muirhouse Youth Development Group) also had stands along the Postcode Challenge route.

Liz Stewart, of organisers Edinburgh and Lothians Greenspace Trust said: “The Postcode Challenge was a great event and we were so lucky as it must have been about the only sunny day in the last month! We believe that there were at least 300 participants – walkers and cyclists. Although cyclists had to pick up a stamp from each of the 10 ‘postcode stops’, walkers only had to collect 5, which made it easier to include them. The day went really well and it was such a happy, good-natured event and loads of great feedback – helped of course by some good weather for a change!”

It took a mighty team effort to make the Challenge such a success, Liz said.

“There’s a huge list of people to thank! The Postcode Lottery and their players for funding the event in the first place, for manning a postcode stop on the day and for providing prizes. Other stall holders were our co-organisers, The Bike Station, who also provided bike repairs on the day and kept all the wheels turning; Spokes, State Street, MYDG Muirhouse Youth Development Group, Drylaw Community Centre and Drylaw Community Garden. We also had the following prizes to give away and were very grateful to all donors:

· 37 bike themed Goody Bags from The Bike Station

· 2 Tickets to see a Film of your choice at The Filmhouse

· 2 Vouchers for Greenyonder Tours

· Lunch for Two at Hula Juice Bar

· Grow your own veg & wildflower seed packets from ELGT

· 1 of 4 cycling maps of in and around Edinburgh and the Lothians from Spokes

· 2 Herb planters, 2 bird nests & 2 nectar feeders from ELGT

· An assortment of prizes from the Postcode Lottery

· A £50 Alpine Bikes gift voucher donated by State Street

· Two tickets for a free tour of Royal Yacht Britannia.

I think that’s everyone, but it’s quite a list so apologies if we’ve missed anyone out!”

“We were delighted to support the Postcode Challenge Treasure Hunt again this year,” said Clara Govier, Head of Charities, People’s Postcode Trust. “It’s a great event and it gets everyone outside and learning a little more about the beautiful environment right here in the city.”

Organisers also encouraged participants to leave messages on the Edinburgh Innertube blog (which can be found at: http://innertubemap.com/.) and comments were very positive. One person wrote: ‘As good as anything I’ve ever done in Edinburgh – great for all the family/all ages and all abilities. You all deserve medals and loads of funding for this!’

 

 

Legionnaires' outbreak officially 'over'

The Edinburgh Legionnaires’ disease outbreak is officially ‘over’. The outbreak, which struck in May and has so far taken the lives of three people, was declared over following a review meeting of the Incident Management Team (IMT) on Tuesday.

To date, there are a total of 101 confirmed and suspected cases. All of these cases have links to the south west of Edinburgh and fit the timescales of exposure and the incubation period for developing Legionella-related illness.

Detailed investigations into the source of the outbreak continue with further testing and analysis of the environmental samples taken from potential sources being carried out.

Lothian and Borders Police and the Health and Safety Executive are jointly investigating the circumstances of the deaths under the direction of the Crown Office and Procurator Fiscal Service (COPFS) Health and Safety Division, and research is also underway to better understand the full extent of the outbreak.

Dr Alison McCallum, Director of Public Health and Health Policy, NHS Lothian said: “As we have seen over the last week, we can expect further cases who have been ill for some time to continue to come forward and our increased surveillance will continue.

“However, all the evidence is suggesting that the action taken when the outbreak was first identified was effective and all cases fall within the expected incubation period, so the decision has been made to declare the outbreak over.

“Laboratory work is ongoing to try and identify the source conclusively but, as we have said from the start, it may not be possible to do so.

“There is also more work to be done to gain a better understanding of the scale of the outbreak and how to manage outbreaks in the future. We hope that people who are approached to participate in these studies will come forward and help us with this significant piece of research.”

A full report into the outbreak detailing the epidemiological, environmental, meteorological and microbiological investigations and recommendations for the prevention and control of future outbreaks will now be produced.

Welcoming the announcement, Health Secretary Nicola Sturgeon said: “It is good news that the outbreak has been declared over, and as we have already seen, the number of new cases has been dropping off over recent weeks.

“We have worked closely with NHS Lothian to ensure the outbreak was well managed, and I would like to pay tribute to NHS staff who have coped extremely well with this situation.

“However, we have to remember that there are some patients who remain extremely ill, and NHS staff are maintaining high quality care for those patients.

“The Health and Safety Executive and Edinburgh City Council are continuing their investigations into the source of the outbreak.”

Legionnaires’ outbreak officially ‘over’

The Edinburgh Legionnaires’ disease outbreak is officially ‘over’. The outbreak, which struck in May and has so far taken the lives of three people, was declared over following a review meeting of the Incident Management Team (IMT) on Tuesday.

To date, there are a total of 101 confirmed and suspected cases. All of these cases have links to the south west of Edinburgh and fit the timescales of exposure and the incubation period for developing Legionella-related illness.

Detailed investigations into the source of the outbreak continue with further testing and analysis of the environmental samples taken from potential sources being carried out.

Lothian and Borders Police and the Health and Safety Executive are jointly investigating the circumstances of the deaths under the direction of the Crown Office and Procurator Fiscal Service (COPFS) Health and Safety Division, and research is also underway to better understand the full extent of the outbreak.

Dr Alison McCallum, Director of Public Health and Health Policy, NHS Lothian said: “As we have seen over the last week, we can expect further cases who have been ill for some time to continue to come forward and our increased surveillance will continue.

“However, all the evidence is suggesting that the action taken when the outbreak was first identified was effective and all cases fall within the expected incubation period, so the decision has been made to declare the outbreak over.

“Laboratory work is ongoing to try and identify the source conclusively but, as we have said from the start, it may not be possible to do so.

“There is also more work to be done to gain a better understanding of the scale of the outbreak and how to manage outbreaks in the future. We hope that people who are approached to participate in these studies will come forward and help us with this significant piece of research.”

A full report into the outbreak detailing the epidemiological, environmental, meteorological and microbiological investigations and recommendations for the prevention and control of future outbreaks will now be produced.

Welcoming the announcement, Health Secretary Nicola Sturgeon said: “It is good news that the outbreak has been declared over, and as we have already seen, the number of new cases has been dropping off over recent weeks.

“We have worked closely with NHS Lothian to ensure the outbreak was well managed, and I would like to pay tribute to NHS staff who have coped extremely well with this situation.

“However, we have to remember that there are some patients who remain extremely ill, and NHS staff are maintaining high quality care for those patients.

“The Health and Safety Executive and Edinburgh City Council are continuing their investigations into the source of the outbreak.”

St. Nicholas summer fayre raises £1700

St Nicholas Court Sheltered Housing Complex raised £1700 at its annual summer fayre. The complex, on Ferry Road, had a number of attractions including face painting, home bakes stall, barbeque, tombola and clothing, books and bric-a-brac sales. 

Maureen Tait manages the Port of Leith Housing Association sheltered housing development. She said: “It was an absolutely fantastic day. We got about the only two hours of sunshine there was the entire fortnight it seemed and people flocked along. We were busy the entire time with people enjoying the sunshine, food and company of the day. This is a great sum for us and we are very grateful to everyone who came along and helped us raise this superb total.”

The funds will be used to fund social outings for the complex’s 35 residents. Last year, the money they raised helped pay for trips to Dynamic Earth, exercise classes, social evenings and buying a 50” TV and a Wii console.

 

 

City copes with latest deluge

With weather warnings now lifted, and today’s forecast showing signs of improvement, it looks like the worst of the weather is over – for the timebeing at least.

The city council was well-prepared for Wednesday’s deluge. Speaking yesterday, city transport convener Councillor Lesley  Hinds (pictured above) said: “Our roads  teams have been fully prepared to deal with predicted heavy rainfall and we are keeping in regular touch with partner organisations. A Flood Control  Coordination Centre  has been set up as part of the Council’s Emergency Flood Plan. Drains and  waterways have been cleared of debris, while river levels and hot spot areas  have been continually monitored throughout the day. Around 7,000  sandbags were ready to be deployed, some of which were delivered to households  in response to residents’ concerns. Residents can be  assured that the situation will continue to be monitored over the next 18 hours  while the amber alert is still in place.”

Some local scenes yesterday:

While today’s forecast is for improving weather, it may be prudent to keep those wellies handy just in case …!

 

Full house for Accies Stockbridge meeting

At least 200 people – and probably more – crammed into LifeCare House in Cheyne Street this evening to hear plans for the redevelopment of Edinburgh Academicals’ Raeburn Place site. A BBC film crew was also in attendance.

At least twenty more people were unable to get into the main hall to hear speakers or to pass comment on proposals (pictured below). The meeting was arranged by Stockbridge and Inverleith Community Council to enable local residents to get more details on the controversial plans.

More to follow

Water of Leith cleanup and family picnic

 The Water of Leith Conservation Trust, in conjunction with the Inverleith Coordinated Summer Programme, is organising a cleanup and family picnic on Sunday 29 July from 10am.

Organiser Callum McLeod of Inverleith’s Community Learning and Development team (pictured below) said: “This is an annual event and we’re concentrating on the stretch between Canonmills and Dean Village. There should be something for everyone –litter picking, some tending of culture garden areas, clearing out invasive plant species along the banks or even clearing log jams after the floods for the more adventurous – all depending on folk’s skills and abilities of course! We quite a good turnout last year despite the rain and so I’m looking forward to it!”

Participants are encouraged to bring along some food, too. After all, all work and no play …

“If people and maybe even bring along a packed lunch and or picnic things we can sit and enjoy some friendly company in pleasant surroundings after all the hard work of the clean up. We’re hoping for some decent weather, of course!”

Interested? Meet by the bridge at Saunders Street at 10am, or for further information call Callum McLeod on 332 6316 or email callum.mcleod@ea.edin.sch.uk