Seventy years wed!

70 YEARS MARRIED !!

Tony and Helen Delahoy retired to Edinburgh 25 years ago and they had a great day on 19 August when they celebrated their platinum wedding anniversary with their two children and some of their grandchildren and great-grandchildren.

Tony, writer of many a letter to NEN over the years, met his wife Helen when they were both working for the Co-op in South East London. He was her milkman and she pulled a bread cart!

Young Tony was called up to fight in the Second World War on his 18^th birthday and he married Helen a year later in 1942. By that time he had been ‘volunteered’ to be trained as a dispatch rider on a motorbike, a position that carried with it a life expectancy of 3 days!

Helen, because of rationing, had to choose between a wedding dress and a warm winter coat for their August wedding. With her usual flair for forward planning she chose the winter coat! Their house was bombed in the blitz which razed SE London to the ground and Helen was sent off to make munitions as her part in the war. Tony went to Normandy for D-Day in the Polar Bear division and survived longer than the expected 3 days as a dispatch rider through France, Belgium, Holland and Germany, ending his war as a Gordon Highlander in India in 1946.

Tony had left school at 14 years old because his family could not afford to send him to secondary school but he always remembers the influence of his primary school teacher who must have been something of a socialist, introducing him to the local library and left wing books and articles.

Helen was born only a few years after the Russian Revolution of 1917 and both Helen and Tony were brought up at the time of the Wall St Crash and the General Strike of 1926.

Tony did some of his training in Ayrshire, travelling all over on his bike, meeting the people and loving the country. All these influences spurred Tony on to be an outspoken champion of working people and to see how history can repeat itself and what must be done collectively to stop the attacks on people’s living standards today. He is active in the local community taking part in Pilton Equalities Project and North Edinburgh Fights Back and making sure he writes to the papers when hard won things like Education, the NHS and the Green Belt are threatened.

When Helen was asked what it was like being married to Tony for 70 years she replied: ‘Wonderful!’

Now, that’s an achievement!!

Barbara Robertson

Lots to do this weekend

There are loads of exciting, fun and FREE actvities for the whole family to enjoy this weekend. As well as the Craft giveaway at The Botanics (see previous post), don’t forget this is Doors Open weekend in Edinburgh (visit the website for a list of all attractions at www.cockburnassociation.org.uk

And of course there’s also Septemberfest, Broughton High School’s autumn extravaganza – see their Facebook for a full list of what’s going on on Saturday down at East Fettes Avenue.

Big Giveaway at Botanics on Saturday!

There’s a Big Craft Give-Away Day at the Botanic Gardens this Saturday!

The Royal Botanic Garden Edinburgh John Hope Gateway (West Gate), Real Life Science Studio Arboretum Place, Edinburgh EH3 5LR www.rbge.org.uk

Objects will be given away from 1pm to 4pm. Drop in session 1pm to 4pm.

Garden open 10am to 6pm. Garden entry free with a charge for Glasshouses.

Visitors to the Real Life Science Studio in the John Hope Gateway in the afternoon on the Big Craft Give-Away Day will receive their own small craft object to own. At two drop-in sessions there is also the chance to create your own unique handmade garden journal with fibre artist Anna S King as a memory of your visit or a gift for a friend, and to create a variety of leaves in porcelain with ceramicist Lorna Fraser.

Make a Unique Garden Journal

Drop-in Sessions: Saturday 22 September 2012 2pm – 4pm

Come and make a small handmade book with beautiful papers and materials gathered from the garden with fibre artist Anna S King. Capture your experience of the garden by creating a unique journal to keep and remind you of the day or to give as a gift to a friend or relative. Anna will lead two sessions during the day.

Create Porcelain Leaves

Drop-in Sessions: Saturday 22 September 2012 2pm – 4pm

Enjoy discovering a range of decorative techniques with ceramicist Lorna Fraser and create a selection of leaves in porcelain. This is a sharing experience. As the leaves will need to be fired before they can be taken home everyone taking part will have a choice of leaves made by Lorna to keep, and the leaves they make on the day will be given away at another time.

Royal Botanic Gardens Edinburgh

Letter: Clever and cunning Tories?

Dear Editor

Cameron has called for further benefit cuts after the next General Election; this would cause more poverty and misery. It seems an incredible call given the widespread opposition to the cuts now happening, but remember he is a Tory politician and they are said to be clever and cunning operators.

Why would he, at this moment, make such a statement? I believe he thinks he can work the odds in the next General Election by giving the Lib Dems political ammunition to oppose the cuts, figuring out the Lib Dems will gain votes – and in doing so leaving the possibility of a Tory/LibDem-dominated hung parliament again.

I think in this case we have to delete the word ‘clever’ and leave ‘cunning’.

Dream on, Cameron!

A Delahoy

Silverknowes Gardens

Driver training available at PEP

Minister visits Gaelic school site

Dr Alasdair Allan, Minister for Learning, Science and Scotland’s Languages has visited Bonnington Primary, the site of the new Gaelic School, in advance of works beginning. On Tuesday, Dr Allan met with Councillor David Key, Vice Convener of Education, Children and Families to tour the school which will see extensive work carried out to the tune of £3.53million in order to prepare the school for its new role.

Councillor Key, said; “This time next year we will be into the first term of our new dedicated Gaelic Primary and Nursery School. We are working with the Scottish Government to help deliver a modern educational facility that will nurture our young Gaelic speakers and help protect the future of the language. Pupils, parents and staff are currently being consulted on the name for the new school and I am pleased to say we should be in a position to make an announcement about it in the coming weeks.”

Minister for Learning, Science and Scotland’s Languages Alasdair Allan said: “The Scottish Government has been clear on the benefits of funding this exciting development and I am delighted to visit the site to see for myself the scale of work that needs to be carried out over the next year. Edinburgh will soon have its first dedicated Gaelic Primary and Nursery School and I would encourage parents, whether or not they themselves speak Gaelic to consider the great opportunity this now presents for their children. I look forward to returning next summer to a newly refurbished facility ready for its first pupils.”

The school will replace the existing Gaelic Medium Unit (GME) based within Tollcross Primary School which was established in the 1980s – the GME unit has steadily seen its roll rise over the years as demand for GME education has grown.

The new school is due to open in August next year. Parent representatives are involved in a working group taking forward the development of the new school and the new Head Teacher will be appointed before Christmas.

Does Edinburgh really need a dedicated Gaelic school – isn’t Gaelic a dying language?

Can we afford this new school – shouldn’t that money be spent improving our existing schools? Let us know!

Go ahead for new Sick Kids

Plans to build a replacement for Edinburgh’s Royal Hospital for Sick Children (RHSC ) and Department of Clinical Neurosciences (DCN) have been approved.

The new building, next to the Royal Infirmary at Little France, will provide a replacement for the current children’s hospital at Sciennes, the Department of Clinical Neurosciences currently based at the Western General Hospital and new facilities for the Child and Adolescent Mental Health Service (CAMHS) which will move from the Royal Edinburgh Hospital.

The project is due to be completed in 2017 and is part of the NPD and hub initiative pipeline, supported by the Scottish Futures Trust, which will see £750 million of investment in health facilities across Scotland.

Negotiations over the site for the new building, currently car park B at the Royal Infirmary of Edinburgh, have delayed the project but these were completed in August. Approval of the outline business case will see NHS Lothian take the next step in the process to select a private sector partner to design, build, finance and maintain the new facility.

Health Secretary Alex Neil made the announcement as he met young patients and staff at the current Royal Hospital for Sick Children. He also confirmed his commitment to investing over £1billion in NHS Scotland capital projects over the next two years, including £485m in 2013-14.

Mr Neil said: “I am pleased to say that the outline business case for the new RHSC and DCN has been approved meaning work to get the new hospital up and running for 2017 can move apace. “There have been delays with the new Sick Kids Hospital in the past, due to land and commercial issues with an inherited PFI contract on the proposed site. I am pleased to say that there is now a framework in place to resolve the legal and commercial issues that arose in the original contract. “This project is part of a £750 million health pipeline delivering a range of improvements to hospital and community health facilities right across Scotland.

“We have already seen £1bn being pumped into our hospitals and health centres since 2011 and I can confirm that another £1bn will be invested over the next two years. In 2013 alone we will invest nearly £500m. “I’ve been clear in the past that investing in our infrastructure is vital to growing our economy and the NHS presents huge opportunities to do this. Not only will it bring benefits to business and more jobs but it also means that patients can be treated in the best possible surroundings. “High quality health services as close to home as possible is what the people of Scotland want, and that is something this Government is determined to give them.”

Dr Charles Winstanley, Chair of NHS Lothian said: “Having the outline business case approved is a significant step forward in this important project. The benefits of having children’s, maternity and adult services on the same site are well documented. This project to re-provide services from the RHSC and DCN will create a centre of excellence at Little France, bringing paediatric care, specialist neonatal care, neurosciences and A&E together. The proximity to the University and the BioQuarter will also improve opportunities for partnership working and bring research to the bedside. We are working closely with the Scottish Futures Trust to plan the procurement process and, as required, we expect to advertise the project in the Official Journal of the European Union before the end of the year.”

The new hospital will cost around £150 million to build and brings together children’s, maternity and adult services on the same site. The new building will:

bring together paediatric care, specialist neonatal care, neurosciences and adult and children’s emergency departments all on one site, ensuring that that teams can share experience and expertise for the benefit of patients.
provide the ability to deliver paediatric and adult neurosurgery in the same theatre suite, maximising the utilisation of specialist equipment (e.g. intra-operative MRI) and expert staff, with direct internal access to age-appropriate critical care and wards
mental health services for children and young people on the same site as acute hospital services, supporting their physical and psychological care
joint-working and economies of scale in high-cost specialist clinical areas such as theatres and radiology
the opportunity to improve emergency access to services by incorporating a helipad on the roof of the new building