Month: November 2012

First AGM for Elizabeth Maginnis residents group

Elizabeth Maginnis Residents Group 

Elizabeth Maginnis Residents Group held their Annual General Meeting on Thursday 8 November in Elizabeth Maginnis Court.  Councillors Vicki Redpath, Cammy Day and Allan Jackson were in attendance.  Also in attendance was Mike Maginnis, who is the husband of the late Elizabeth Maginnis and he donated eight pictures to be hung up in the building.

The following were elected to serve on the Management Committee:

Andy Buchan – Chair

Evelyn Ross – Vice Chair

Terry Kirby – Secretary

Kenny McLachlan – Treasurer.

The group has been busy throughout the year with various fundraising initiatives.  Evelyn Ross, Vice Chair and fundraiser within the group wrote to the First Minister, Alex Salmond and the Lord Provost, Donald Wilson asking for a donation of a bottle of whisky for a forthcoming raffle, to which they were happy to oblige.

Evelyn commented, “we would like to thank the First Minister and the Lord Provost and everyone who donated.  We are also hoping that Mark Lazarowicz , MP will donate something.”

Mark Henry, Edinburgh Tenants Federation

 

Boy attacked by gang in Ferry Road Place

A twelve year old boy was attacked a gang of youths in West Pilton last night. The boy was walking in Ferry Road Place at around 7pm when he was approached by six or seven youths and assaulted. The boy managed to make it to a local shop and was taken to the Edinburgh Royal Infirmary, where he was treated for injuris to his face and body before being discharged.

The attackers are descibed only as being male, white and wearing hooded tops, but despite that general description police are hopeful that members of the public will come forward with information.

Safer Neighbourhood Team Sergeant David Happs said: “This was an unprovoked assault on a young boy and a terrifying experience for him. Fortunately he was able to flee his attackers and sought assistance at a nearby shop. We are conducting various lines of local enquiries to identify those responsible and will have a high-visibility police presence in the area to offer reassurance to the local community. Anyone who may have seen or heard anything suspicious in the area on Monday evening is asked to contact police immediately.”

Those with information can contact Lothian and Borders Police on 0131 311 3131, or the charity Crimestoppers in complete anonymity on 0800 555 111.

College cements relationship with Sculpture Workshop

Contemporary art students will have the chance to work on their sculpture skills thanks to a partnership with a charitable art workshop centre. Edinburgh College has teamed up with the Edinburgh Sculpture Workshop (ESW) as part of its aim to increase students’ employability.

Students studying towards a HND in Contemporary Art Practice will be given the chance to develop their practical skills in sculpture and other disciplines at a new employability centre at ESW. The £4 million development in Hawthornvale (pictured below) will offer students a professional environment and the opportunity to work alongside artists from around the world.

Alan Holligan, Lecturer at Edinburgh College, said: “We are very excited about our new partnership with the Edinburgh Sculpture Workshop, which we have managed to secure as a result of an ongoing relationship over the past eight years. It is important that learners on our Contemporary Arts course are given the chance to develop their practical skills in different disciplines such as sculpture and also look to further their professional development, in preparation for the work place.

“Our aim is to establish links with as many of the industries that our students will go on to work in, to give them the best chance possible when it comes to employment, with employers recognising that our courses have these valuable  links.  What’s especially great about this partnership is that the college donated £25,000 for new equipment for the ESW which means that the students will now have access to these brand new tools during their time there. Our students are looking forward to the many opportunities which will become available as a result of this partnership and especially the chance to exhibit their work once a year.”

Edinburgh College is the first college in Scotland to have worked with the Edinburgh Sculpture Workshop, the only purpose-built centre of its kind in the UK. The partnership will further student professional development as well as giving Edinburgh College staff free development opportunities.

 

Have your say on local policing plan

As you may know, the way our communities are policed will change from 1 April next year with the introduction of Police Scotland, a national police force to replace the current setup of eight separate organisations spread across the country.

What will this new service mean for you and what should the local priorities be? You have an opportunity both to find out more and to help shape the future of local policing at a drop-in event taking place next week.

The North Edinburgh Engagement and Consultation

event takes place on Monday 26 November from 7 – 9pm

in the Drama Room at Craigroyston Community High School on Pennywell Road.

The event enables individuals, communities and organisations working in North Edinburgh (Forth and Inverleith wards) to find out how policing will change in Edinburgh and how you can influence priorities within the new Edinburgh Local Policing Plan.

The event is an informal, drop-in ‘open door’ format to enable everyone who attends to have their say – you’re welcome to do so, but you don’t have to stay for the whole two hours!

For further information contact Emma Baker on 469 6178 or email emma.baker@edinburgh.gov.uk

If you would like to attend the meeting but need help with transport contact Neighbourhood Partnership development officer Elaine Lennon on 529 5270 or email elaine.lennon@edinburgh.gov.uk

 

Police Scotland + CEC – Poster Publicity Police Plan Engagement Events – North – NC

 

 

Dogs, drivers and daiquiris dominate Drylaw meeting

Cars speeding on residential streets, irresponsible dog owners and the run-down state of Drylaw Shopping Centre have featured prominently on local community meeting agendas for a long time now, and it was no surprise when all three issues were discussed at length at Easter Drylaw Residents Association’s (EDRA’s) annual general meeting held in Drylaw Parish Church last night.

The meeting was well attended despite the rotten weather, and there was a particularly good turnout of local politicians. All four Inverleith councillors – Nigel Bagshaw, Gavin Barrie, Lesley Hinds and Iain Whyte – were present alongside Edinburgh Western MSP Colin Keir and Lothians list MSP Sarah Boyack, and the meeting was chaired by Easter Drylaw resident and Forth councillor Cammy Day.

EDRA chairperson Eileen Brash reported on another busy year for the organisation, and thanked committee members, local politicians and staff from the North Local Office for their support over the course of a year that has given EDRA no shortage of issues to tackle. Parking on pavements, the state of Groathill Road North roundabout, potholes and overgrown hedges have all received attention – some reported to EDRA and some coming to light through regular ‘walkabouts’ with NELO staff.

The biggest issue of the year for EDRA has been the ‘Twenty’s Plenty’ road safety campaign to raise awareness of speeding in the residential area, and Eileen said that the campaign will continue. “We ran the campaign over three months to make drivers aware of the dangers, but despite our efforts there was a serious accident on Groathill Road North when a child was knocked down near Ferryhill School. More safety measures have been introduced as a result but we will keep campaigning to ensure drivers drive with care and consideration and stick to speed limits. We plan to work with the school and the police to keep up the pressure.”

Guest speaker was Mark Bannon (pictured), who heads up the North Environmental team. Mark’s team of six Environmental Wardens has a huge geographical area to cover and he understands the frustration of local people when they see littering and dog fouling but are unable to do anything about it. The feeling at the meeting is that dog fouling is on the increase in Easter Drylaw, particularly around the Easter Drylaw Gardens area. One man, who has lived in the area for 25 years, said he no longer walks his dogs locally. “I was having to clean the dogs when I got them home after walking in the Gardens, so I now take them to Silverknowes. The state of our streets is as bad as they’ve been all the time I’ve lived here”, he said.

Mark Bannon accepted that resources were stretched – it’s a small team and there is no local warden service after 7pm at night. “We’re now an enforcement service and we aim to deal with problems at source – the days of educating people are gone. When we patrol we are high-visibilty, and of course that can create problems for us. I would like to see us adopt plain clothes patrols on occasion – that’s something we can’t do currently but something I’m pushing for and hope members of the public would support. I’m convinced it would make a difference, but in the meantime I urge you to be our eyes and ears. We can’t be everywhere so keep us informed – if there’s a problem we want to know about it, then we can target resources where possible. Resources are tight, but we do the best we can with the size of team we’ve got. It’s a constant grind and I do understand your frustration.”

While Mark Bannon was the main speaker attendees were spoiled for choice – NELO’s Jennifer Lavery, PC Dixon of the Safer Neighbourhood Team both gave verbal reports, and all six politicians were allocated two minutes each to say their piece – which to be fair they nearly managed!

While the dog debate was the dominant issue at the meeting, there was also a healthy debate over the state of Drylaw Shopping Centre – both the run-down appearance and the ongoing problem of antisocial behaviour, particularly in the vicinity of the chemist. One resident described the scene in the vennel outside the chemist as ‘people milling around like they’re at a cocktail party!’

Politicians, police and council officers expressed a unanimity to address both these issues – working together with others to resolve problems; basically what EDRA is all about.

Anti-fascism festival at Summerhall this Saturday

Edinburgh Unite Against Fascism proudly presents this Saturday (24 November):

the Love Multiculture Hate Racism Festival

celebrating our multi-cultural society with music, song, dance and comedy.

The festival line-up just gets better and better. In the last week we have confirmed: Bollywood dancers, award winning singer Penny Stone, an Indian Stick Dancer, acoustic sets from James Campbell & Scottish folk singer Eileen Penman.

The daytime cultural event will start at 3pm with jazz from Alistair McDonald backed by “Quatro Macjazz”! Between 3 and 7pm we will squeeze in a packed lineup including an African choir, Indian and Kurdish dance workshops, Indian head massage, drummers, Henna Hand painting and speeches by Show Racism the Red Card and Martin Smith from Unite Against Fascism.

Asian and Turkish food, tea and coffee and entry is by donation.

The comedy packed evening will start with the BAFTA nominated rapper Northern Xposure who has performed with Dizzee Rascal and Amy Winehouse. Then Scottish Comedian of the Year runner up Rick Molland will MC a night of four rowdy
comedians, headlined by “the lord of filth” Richard Coughlan. Your entry fee of £5 includes a free curry courtesy of the Kasbah restaurant and there will be an all-night bar. Doors open at 7.30pm, the event starts at 8pm.

Both these events will be hosted at the Summerhall Art Gallery which is showing a great exhibition of anti-racist posters. Entry from Hope Park Terrace – we apologise but there is no wheelchair access.

Facebook event: please invite your friends!: http://www.facebook.com/events/482507955105412/

United Against Fascism Edinburgh

Get set for Book Week Scotland

Scottish crime writer Alex Gray’s visit (see previous post ‘Top Crime Writer to visit Muirhouse Library’) is the perfect start to Book Week Scotland, Scotland’s first-ever celebration of reading. And whether you want to spend the entire week celebrating books and reading – or if you have just have a single hour to spare – there’s time enough to fall in love with books!

Book Week Scotland runs from Monday November 26 until Sunday December 2, 2012, and people the length and breadth of Scotland will be encouraged to engage in the first ever week-long national celebration of reading and participate in a range of free events.

Initiated by the Scottish Government, Book Week Scotland will be delivered on behalf of Creative Scotland by Scottish Book Trust, the leading agency for the promotion of literature, reading and writing in Scotland. Scottish Book Trust is working with authors, workplaces, libraries and schools across the country to deliver a packed programme of free projects and events, bringing Scots of all ages and from all walks of life together to celebrate books and reading.

Key partners including Scottish Libraries and Information Council, Publishing Scotland, and Edinburgh UNESCO City of Literature will help to deliver Book Week Scotland activity.

Launching the initiave earlier this year, Fiona Hyslop, Cabinet Secretary for Culture and External Affairs, said: “Book Week Scotland will be a national, inclusive celebration of reading. It will encourage Scots from all backgrounds, of all ages and with all interests, to embark or continue on a reading journey. It will also provide a platform – in our Year of Creative Scotland – to celebrate our nation’s exceptional cultural, creative and literary talent.

“The Scottish Government is firmly committed to increasing learning through the arts and culture, and to promoting the value of taking part in cultural activity. Through Book Week Scotland, we hope to engage the whole of Scotland in these important aims.”

Marc Lambert, CEO of Scottish Book Trust, said: “Above all, Book Week Scotland will be a celebration of books and reading, providing everyone across Scotland with the opportunity to get involved, and with the inspiration to begin or continue their reading journey, to share old favourites and to discover new must-reads.”

Andrew Dixon, Chief Executive of Creative Scotland, said: “Book Week Scotland will celebrate Scotland’s love of writers and reading. It’s a great national initiative for this Year of Creative Scotland and has the potential to grow into another calendar event for Scotland.”

The development of Book Week Scotland is being supported with £150,000 from Creative Scotland’s Year of Creative Scotland programme, which is funded with investment from the Scottish Government and the National Lottery. Scottish Book Trust is working with a range of partners to lever additional funding and support.

As part of the national celebration, Scottish Book Trust will publish an anthology of writing celebrating Scotland‘s favourite places. Written by members of the public and commissioned authors, thousands of copies of My Favourite Place will be distributed free throughout Scotland during Book Week Scotland.

If a week of books and reading is too much, how about just an hour? At 11 a.m. on St Andrew’s Day (Friday 30 November) thousands of people across Scotland will stop what they’re doing and read. The Reading Hour will happen anywhere and everywhere and you can easily be a part of it. Whether you’re on a train, bus or ferry; in a library, at work or at school, or simply at home in your favourite chair; all you need to do is sit down with a good book.

If you’d like some advice on choosing a book then get in touch with the League of Extraordinary Booklovers, Scottish Book Trust’s  band of citizen book experts who are on hand to make sure your next book is a good one.

Events are also happening across the country to mark the nation’s first ever Reading Hour. Come along to the Read-In at the National Museum of Scotland in Edinburgh or click here to find other Reading Hour events throughout Scotland.

For more information about Book Week Scotland, visit the website here. Follow @Bookweekscot on Twitter, check out the #happyreading hashtag or ‘like’ the Book Week Scotland Facebook page.

Will you be taking part in Book Week Scotland? Reading Hour, then?

What’s your favourite book?

Let us know!

PEP volunteers let their hair down

George Reavley, Pilton Equalities Project’s recently appointed Volunteer Coordinator, reports on an event held to thank PEP’s trusty band of volunteers: 

PEP’s annual Volunteers Social Evening took place on Thursday 1 November at Queensberry Bowling Club.  This is one of those occasions where PEP staff organised the hall and buffet arrangements, giving their time freely to show how much they value the services of our excellent volunteers, who contributed an amazing 7,518 hours in the past year.

The evening consisted of a quiz, buffet, raffle and music, aimed to integrate volunteers and introduce them to other PEP volunteers and staff in a social setting.  In total 30 volunteers attended, plus the PEP staff who’s aim was to make the evening as fun as possible. The first task was for the volunteers to choose a team and name them.

Six teams formed; they were: ‘The Smarties’, ‘The PEP Heads’, ‘The Smilers’, ‘The Marshalls’, ‘The Volunteer Vixens (+ 1 fox)’ and last but not least, ‘The Happy Lot’.

The hotly contested quiz consisted of five rounds throughout the evening, but in the end there had to be a winner. In third place were the competitive ‘PEP Heads’ but they were outsmarted by ‘The Smarties’ who came second! The victors were the vivacious Volunteer Vixens (+ 1 smiling fox), (pictured above) who were triumphant after playing their joker card!

All in all, it was an enjoyable evening where volunteers and staff enjoyed some banter and dancing, mixed with a lovely buffet which was enjoyed by all who sampled it.  The evening ended with a raffle with the top prize being a delicious food hamper.

We hope to repeat this with another social activity next year and would like to thank Barrie from ‘Floorplay Events’ and the Queensberry Bowling Club for hosting us once again. A huge ‘thank you’ also to all the PEP staff whose hard work made the evening possible.

If you would like to find out more about our volunteering opportunities and services please contact us on 0131 315 4466 or via the PEP website www.pepequalities@btconnect.com

A huge thanks to State Street from North Edinburgh Childcare

A HUGE THANKS TO STATE STREET FROM NORTH EDINBURGH CHILDCARE

North Edinburgh Childcare’s Childcare Academy programme has now supported nearly 200 unemployed people to attain their SVQ Level 2 in Childcare and to progress into jobs in the childcare sector. Despite this success, the reality is that the majority progress into low paid jobs, earning the National Minimum Wage, within a sector where the only way to sustain your employment and enhance your income earning potential is to obtain further qualifications at SVQ Level 3 or above.

Due to the significant costs involved, former Childcare Academy participants cannot afford to self fund their way through the SVQ Level 3 and sources of financial support that were previously available have long since disappeared.

Last year, we were encouraged by one of our service users Lorna Roberts (an employee at State Street Corporation’s Edinburgh Branch) to submit an application for funding to the State Street Foundation to enable us to provide 12 former Childcare Academy participants with the opportunity to undertake their SVQ Level 3 free of charge. The application was successful and the initial group of grateful beneficiaries began their 18 month SVQ Level 3 journey in November 2011. All are progressing well through their award appreciative of the chance they have been given by State Street to enhance their families quality of life. Achievement of the SVQ Level 3 will  enable them to sustain their employment, register with the Scottish Social Services Council at the higher ‘Practitioner’ level, compete for higher paid ‘Practitioner’ jobs, enhance their level of household income and ultimately to progress out of ‘In Work’ poverty.

With the encouragement and support of both Lorna and Richard Walker (Client Services Manager at our local State Street) we recently submitted a second application to the Foundation to enable a further group of 14 former Childcare Academy participants to access the same opportunity and we are absolutely delighted to announce that our application has once again been successful.

We would like to extend a huge thank you to State Street for recognizing the long term implications of the situation faced by local workers earning the minimum wage and for providing our former Childcare Academy trainees with the opportunity to further their education, escape the poverty trap and progress towards earning a ‘Living Wage’.

We have delivered a number of  ‘information sessions’ to staff members of State Streets ‘UK Families Network’ in relation to ‘the safety of the home environment for children’ and we are in the process of exploring the possibility of delivering some ‘First Aid’ workshops to members in the near future. We are extremely grateful for the on-going support of our local State Street and we look forward to a long, prosperous and mutually beneficial partnership between our organisations.

Gill Dudgeon, North Edinburgh Childcare