And a song for May Day

North Edinburgh activist Willie Black has been immortalised in song!

Lifelong socialist Willie (pictured below), who’s from Granton, hit the national headlines back in March when he famously harangued DWP minister Iain Duncan Smith at an Edinburgh hotel. The story made the national news broadcasts and proved to be a big internet hit, and the incident has now been captured in ‘The Ratbag Song’, which you can hear here:

It’s thought unlikely that Citizen Smart, the song’s composer and performer, will be appearing on ‘The Voice’ any time soon!

In the light place?

Street Lighting Issues: Wester Drylaw Place

After the recent footpath upgrade in 2012 and installation of a new street lighting system along the length of Wester Drylaw Place, Drylaw Telford Community Council was contacted by residents of Wester Drylaw Place who said that they were unhappy with the new form of street lighting installed and asked if the Community Council if they could take forward their grievances to the CEC Lighting Dept.

This we did and the outcome was after a meeting and a walkabout in the Wester Drylaw Place with a representative from CEC Lighting Dept. it was agreed that CEC Lighting Dept. would for a trial period over the winter install other options of lighting along Wester Drylaw Place and then survey the residents as to their preferred option and this would then be installed.

This survey form was delivered on the 30April 2013 to all addresses in Wester Drylaw Place.

Drylaw Telford Community Council urges all residents of Wester Drylaw Place to complete the survey form and return it; it’s Freepost or go online and complete it at http://www.surveymonkey.com/s/EdinburghLights

This was a community-led initiative, so participation by all residents of Wester Drylaw Place in completing this survey form will go a long way in making Wester Drylaw Place a brighter and safer area to walk.

Alex Dale

Chair, Drylaw Telford Community Council

Volunteers required for litter pick this Sunday

Your community needs your help!

Following on from a residents email which TRIM received we have arranged a litter pick with the support of Muirhouse Linkup

We would be grateful if you could share this with anyone you know who might want to help

Sunday 5 May
Wooded area next to Silverlea Nursing home
at 1pm

We will have access to St Andrews Muirhouse Church on the day for a wee cuppa and a piece of cake after the litter pick

Thanks!

Robert Pearson

Tenants & Residents in Muirhouse (TRIM)

Edinburgh College students hit the right notes

Students Hit the Right Notes When It Comes To Music Business

Inspiring Edinburgh College students are hosting an event in the capital to showcase the culmination of a year’s worth of work. As part of the HND Music Business course students were required to set up their own independent record labels, scout for new artists and host a single launch party to showcase the results of final year project.

To highlight the artists and some of the most exciting new labels emerging on the east coast, the launch event will be held

this Friday 3 May at The Underground in Teviot Row

Seven independent record labels have been set up by the HND Music Business students, who hand picked artists from across Edinburgh and Glasgow.

Colin McGregor, from Edinburgh, is a student on the course and he will release a single titled ‘September Weekend’ by Glasgow band The Maybes. Colin, who says that the experience has been a real eye opener, will launch the single through his independent record label, Offtrack Records.

He said: “It has been a great experience working towards the single launch and setting up our own record label has been rather surreal. As I have a lot of experience performing, I began this course to get a more rounded knowledge of the music industry and it has been a huge learning curve for me. Edinburgh College has given us real working life experience in that we have had to do everything from setting up our own official record labels and talent scouting for artists to marketing, finance and management.”

During the course, students gain invaluable experience of how an established record label operates, giving them a vast amount of inside knowledge of the music industry.

Singles from each of the artists were recorded at the state-of-the-art CRE:8 Studios at Edinburgh College’s Milton Road campus and they were released simultaneously on Monday (29 April) and are now available for download through iTunes.

The tracks were produced, mixed and mastered by former students from the College’s Sound Production course, and engineered by current Sound Production students facilitating a unique collaborative approach to establishing the labels.

Paul Turnbull, Music Business lecturer at Edinburgh College said: “We constantly strive to provide students with projects that will bring together a variety of disciplines and different strains of knowledge. The students have done an outstanding job in what they have achieved so far and I know the launch night will be a huge success. The experience the students have gained will ensure that students have the relevant knowledge to be successful in the industry.”

Edinburgh College has its own record label, Feast, which was created by three lecturers in late 2010 and is synonymous with the Feast Blog which strives to promote new independent music in Edinburgh and across Scotland. Feast was born through an initiative called Bright Ideas and was set up as a sustainable business from an educational perspective – giving past and present students invaluable experience for future employment opportunities.

Those on the label and at the college have access to its vibrant creative centre which has outstanding facilities for students and musicians, sound engineers and TV Producers and has already been used to host London punk rock band The King Blues amongst others.

The modern fully equipped auditorium allows performance space for gigs, films and other events. Through this affiliation with Feast, the courses at Edinburgh College bring together managers, musicians, bands, engineers and even the filming students in line with education to create original music and videos.

Students at Edinburgh College benefit from study and performance opportunities unrivalled in the sector. Previous students have performed live at the O2 Arena and collaborated in a concert with Jon Lord at the Usher Hall, Edinburgh while recent students have attended master classes in music and sound production with the producer of Oasis.

Students are assisted to find employment through a partnership with ‘Music for Scotland’ or provided with the opportunity to start their own business in a college commercial incubator unit.

Free sound and theatre workshop this Sunday

Creative Electric are running a FREE workshop this Sunday 2-4pm at The Bongo Club, Edinburgh with Joshua Payne exploring sound effects and physical theatre. This workshop is for young people between 16-25 and is funded by The Neighbourhood Partnership.

Joshua Payne is a theatre maker whose work has a focus on designing original sound and music for physical movement. Most often Joshua works with Theatre Company ‘Down The Rabbit Hole’ as a director, performer and sound artist making work that raises awareness of Mental Ill-Health. Previous credits as a sound designer include Promethea, Feather by Feather, Language At The Edge of Sense, Much Ado About Nothing and associate design for two years on The Enchanted Forest, Pitlochry.

To book a place on the workshop email creative_electric@hotmail.com

www.creative-electric.co.uk https://www.facebook.com/CreativeElectric

A happy and healthy birthday to Leith Rehab Group

The Chest Heart & Stroke Rehab Group celebrates it’s first anniversary at the Calton Centre in Leith’s Montgomery Street this month. The group provides much-needed support and exercise for people in the Leith area who are living with chest and heart conditions.

Enthusiastic group member Paul Hodson describes himself as a “stroke survivor” and is really passionate about the support he receives. “There are a couple of things about the Leith group that really matter to me. They’re really good company and also I’m finding I’m getting my strength back, step by step – after a heart attack and a stroke, that’s pretty important.”

The group, which meets every Wednesday from 2 – 3.30pm at the Calton Centre, may only have been running for a year but it has already made a real difference to all those who attend regularly. As well as weekly exercise there is an opportunity to exchange information and relax over a cup of tea.

Group chairman Roger Jones was initially unsure about joining a group. “When it was suggested I join cardiac rehab sessions, I said ‘no way!’ First, I was recovering from a difficult operation and felt that was enough to be getting on with” he explained. “Second, I wasn’t keen on the idea of joining ‘a club’ – I’m not that sort of person. But I was wrong. These classes are both helpful to my health (light exercises only!) and good fun. Being part of a group like the Chest Heart & Stroke Rehabilitation Group offers the chance to meet like-minded people who have been through similar health experiences. They’re a great crowd!”

An important part of keeping well following any hospital stay after a heart or chest incident is exercise. Anyone who has received heart or pulmonary rehabilitation following a stay in hospital is advised to continue exercising – but many do not, and this can lead to further hospital admissions.

Further information is available from Roger Jones on 0131 652 350 or Morag Hammond their trainer on 07818 250871. The Chest Heart & Stroke Rehab Group is affiliated to Chest Heart & Stroke Scotland and is one of five support groups in Edinburgh.

Minister pledges support for community growing schemes

Scotland’s growing Grow Your Own movement was given extra support by Rural Affairs Secretary Richard Lochhead during a visit to Drylaw Neighbourhood Centre this morning. The minister was impressed by the Centre’s Drylaw and Telford Community Gardens project, and after meeting some enthusiastic volunteers Mr Lochhead endorsed the workings of the Grow Your Own Working Group.

Made possible through Climate Challenge Funding, Drylaw’s community gardens project has now been running for three years and – like the healthiest of plants – has continued to thrive. From small beginnings the project has flourished and now encompasses two orchards and vegetable and flower beds at Drylaw Neighbourhood Centre, along with a number of patches of once unused and unwanted across the area which have been transformed. And it’s not only flowers and vegetables that have flourished – the number of volunteers involved in the gardening project has grown too, and the group has supported te development of gardening projects at nearby Ferryhill and Rowanfield schools.

Richard Lochhead met Centre staff and volunteers to talk about the project before going on to plant some tatties with Brendan and Brandon, two green-fingered helpers from Rowanfield School. He also met members of the Centre’s enthusiastic gardening group who proudly displayed their recenty-created willow tunnel.

The Minister said: ” There are so many benefits to projects like this one, and I am really very encouraged and impressed by what I’ve seen in Drylaw today. It’s been great to see the contribution of the staff and the enthusiasm of the volunteers and it would be great to see these ideas replicated all over Scotland. I’ve also learned some posh new recipe ideas from some of the young volunteers, so well done to everyone involved!”

Mr Lochhead’s support for community initiatives like Drylaw Community Gardens follows the launch of a consultation on simplifying and overhauling Scotland’s allotment rules, and there are three meetings taking place for people to air their views – in Inverness, Glasgow and Edinburgh. Twenty seven recommendations were made in a report from the Grow Your Own Working Group (GYOWG) that covered six key themes: planning, legal, skills, community land, guidance and funding. The GYOWG has been working collaboratively with the Scottish Government and other partners to deliver these recommendations.

Mr Lochhead said: “More and more people are looking to get their hands dirty by getting back to nature and growing their own food. Growing your own food allows people to eat the fruits of their own labour and understand where their food comes from – a topic which is high on the agenda at the moment. The work of the Grow Your Own Working Group is making it easier for people to do this by pulling people together to develop best practice and practical advice, and encouraging more people and groups to get involved.”

David Jamieson, Chair of the Grow Your Own Working Group, said: “The wonderful garden in Drylaw is an excellent example of a community making the most of their local space to get active and grow food. We are delighted that Mr Lochhead is able to see for himself the fruits of their labour, and really pleased that the Scottish Government is doing so much to encourage communities across Scotland to do likewise.”

Cammy Day is vice-convener of the city council’s Health and Wellbeing Committee as well as being a member of Drylaw’s management committee. He said: “The health benefits associated with community growing include providing exercise in the open air – exercise which we can take at our own pace and therefore suitable for all ages; it helps to relieve stress and is of proven benefit to mental health and wellbeing. Locally produced food also contributes to healthy eating and helps to combat the risks of obesity and sedentary lifestyles. It also helps to reduce our carbon footprint, so contributes in a small way to the battle against climate change.”

He added: “The Community garden project has been a great success and it’s been a real community initiative that’s gone from strength to strength. I’d like to thank Roy (Douglas) and the staff and management committee at Drylaw Neighbourhood Centre, particularly Elizabeth (Graham) and her team of volunteers for all the hard work and effort they have put in.”

Jason Rust, also a city councillor, is legal adviser to Scottish Land & Estates. He added: “We are keen to see partnership working with public, private and community landowners making further land available for allotment sites and community growing spaces, and for awareness of the range of advantages to be increased. Drylaw is a great example of what can be achieved.”

The Edinburgh allotment consultation meeting will be held on

Thursday 16 May from 2 – 4pm in Saughton House, Broomhouse Drive, EH11 3XD.

For more information about growing your community, contact the Federation of City Farms and Community Gardens on 0131 623 7058, email scotland@farmgarden.org.uk or visit the website www.farmgarden.org.uk

You can also visit Drylaw & Telford Community Gardens on Facebook

Letter: A May Day message

Dear Editor

In the 1920s and 1930s people in the UK were suffering widespread poverty, imposed on them by a Conservative Government and their allies.

Following the end of the 1939 – 1945 war it was the returning servicemen and women, mainly in the age group 20 – 40 – and allied to the older generations – that determined there would be no going back to pre-war conditions, and that radical changes would be made. The war had devastated the UK financially and the main basic structures – railways, coal mines, power stations and gas works – were worn out and failing. A brief reading of those times will give an idea of the colossal tasks faced, but they were backed by serving the interests of all people, taking those main basic industries out of private hands and control, thus introducing a whole series f social welfare services – of which the NHS is the most important.

Starting with the Thatcher government and continued by the Conservative government and it’s allies of today, the process of returning industries and social welfare services to private ownership has been stepped up. Despite their protestations to the contrary their first interest us to make money; why otherwise would they be willing to take over?

With regard to the NHS, the privateers know that people at large recognise it’s importance and are prepared to defend it. So instead of outright privatisation the Government is dismantling it piece by piece, allowing private companies to tender for NHS services amongst other ways.

This, almost the last of the universal public services, must be protected from those whose aim in life is to make a profit. As in the period after World War Two, men and women in their twenties, thirties and forties – again allied to the older generations – must make sure that the wealth produced by the nation is used for the benefit of all, not the few.

A. Delahoy

Silverknowes Gardens