Month: May 2013

Blackhall Plant Sale this Saturday

Blackhall Horticultural Society Sale this Saturday

The Annual Plant Sale is on Saturday 11 May from 10am – 12noon at Blackhall St Columba’s Church. Great variety of top quality plants at low prices –  and there’s teas and coffees too.

Note that the Society’s AGM takes will be held on Monday 13 May at 7.45pm in the small hall.

BlackhallStC

Belt up in the back! City cabbies graduate as tour guides

taxiThree Edinburgh taxi drivers have just graduated as elite tour guides.

Cabbies Simon Reid, David Watt and Dougie Gray received their Worshipful Company of Hackney Carriage Drivers Tour Guiding Certificates from Councillor Eric Milligan at a ceremony in the City Chambers.

Under the watchful eye of course director Bob McCulloch, the trio -two from Central Taxis and one from City Cabs – spent twelve weeks learning all there is to know about Edinburgh, its history, its buildings and its people.

The black cab drivers can now display a special sticker on their vehicles and take tourists and visitors on a unique and personalised tour of the capital. Edinburgh now has 16 qualified taxi tour guides.

Tony Kenmuir, boss of Central Taxis and a graduate of the scheme himself, said: “These drivers really have gone the extra mile to get these certificates. They care about the city and they want to show visitors the best of Edinburgh.”

Extra Royal Mile, surely?

Getting together to create a ‘Mountain Bike Legacy’ on Gypsy Brae

Cyclone Bike Track – Phase 2!

Phase Two of Edinburgh’s newest biggest mountain biking track gets underway today! Local business, corporations and members of the local community [all volunteers] come together to create a ‘Mountain bike Legacy’

MY Adventure invites you to the extremely exciting and well anticipated 2nd stage of the  construction of Edinburgh’s newest and biggest mountain biking track.

Come along between

Tuesday 7th and Friday 10th May

and contribute to the creation of this fantastic  local resource.

Cyclone bike track is an exciting new mountain biking trail situated in the heart of the  North Edinburgh community (Granton, Pilton, Muirhouse). The circuit was given the green light in 2012 following a Dragons’ Den-style pitch by community activist and MY Adventure employee, Peter Airlie to a panel of investors which included representatives from coffee shop chain Starbucks, Edinburgh City Council and other businesses.

Following this, an additional £2000 was invested and the project secured support in the form of a dutiful
workforce from State Street Bank, Scottish Gas Networks & city Council Community Wardens. Together with an enthusiastic band of local volunteers Phase 1 (a short children’s track) was completed in May 2012.

Having secured further funding from the Weir Charitable Trust the Cyclone team are now ready to push forward with stage 2, the construction of a more ‘technical’ bike track.

Phase 2 will involve clearing litter, marking out the route, digging foundations and low trimming branches. The final task will be to pour in some hardcore and wind stone as required. All this will be done by hand by our committed group of staff and volunteers.

Members of the public will be able to use the track free all year round and at their own risk but MYDG’s MY Adventure will run regular training sessions to learn and develop mountain bike skills.

The Cyclone Bike Track is a fantastic local resource run by volunteers and held in trust by MYDG for the community. It is hoped that having such a fantastic facility in the local area will contribute to increased fitness, health and wellbeing amongst young people and adults. The bike track itself is situated in a beautiful setting with excellent views across the Forth estuary and will truly be an asset to a community which is to often negatively portrayed within the media or not portrayed at all.

The Cyclone Bike Track is proud to accept sponsorship in the form of volunteers and materials from Scottish Gas, Ravelrig (Tarmac) Quarry Kirknewton, Anderson Strathern Business Services and State Street Bank. The project is also extremely grateful to volunteers from Tomorrows People, The Haven Dad’s group and many thanks go to Edinburgh City Council, who will provide us with community wardens and a ranger service.

MYDG MyAdventure

MYDGlogo

Neighbourhood Partnerships under the spotlight

CityChambersThe city council’s newly formed Communities and Neighbourhoods Committee will discuss the effectiveness of Neighbourhood Partnerships at a meeting at the City Chambers later today. The committee will examine the good practice of Neighbourhood Partnerships and look at ways to increase their positive impact on communities.

A review of the work of the 12 Partnerships in the Capital has been completed and aims to develop ways in which they can be strengthened and developed.The review focuses on improving community participation and increasing the influence of Partnerships, with a significant commitment from a range of public sector and voluntary organisations to respond to locally identified needs and priorities.

Residents and representatives from the public and voluntary sector actively collaborated on identifying the improvements needed. Members of the Communities and Neighbourhoods Committee will consider the options presented in a report today (May 7).

The range of options include increasing communication about the work of Neighbourhood Partnerships and Community Councils, developing the use of online participation, and strengthening the links between organisations.

Councillor Maureen Child, Convener of the Communities and Neighbourhoods Committee, said: “’Neighbourhood Partnerships allow for dialogue between the community, the voluntary sector, the local authority and public sector agencies. They have the potential to give people the chance to have their say, and have an influence on matters which are important to them in their area, or to express themselves about something that interests them.

“Feedback from online and workshop consultation found that 70% of respondents agreed that the role of Partnerships should be increased, which corresponds with the Capital Coalition’s pledge to do so. Increasing community involvement in the democratic process can empower local people and organisations and encourage community pride.”

For some, the consensual, collaborative ways of Neighbourhood Partnerships has worked well. Drylaw Telford Community Council chair Alex Dale is a member of Inverleith Neighbourhood Partnership.

He said: “I find them an effective way of  communication with the local communities, using vehicles like the conferences that are held in Inverleith and the positivity that comes out of these events. We  are lucky in Inverleith that we have four councillors who seemed to blend together  as a working group for the benefit of the community, and not for political gain  – although on occasions this may happen!

“For me, the main bonus is the sub-groups: in Inverleith the members are  all community based people who’s main aim is to improve their environment. The  main sub group is Neighbourhood Environment Panel (NEP). This panel is an excellent example of effectiveness of Neighbourhood Partnerships, by allowing local  communities to make decisions on projects within their Partnership. In the past  these decisions would have been made by some ‘faceless mandarins’ locked up in a  dark hole in Council HQ!
“The main framework is there, it is how the partnership use it that’s important. We are lucky  in Inverleith that all the sub-groups operate on a non political viewpoint, unlike  some in other partnerships  not too far away.  I would like to see all Partnership groups citywide chaired by a CEC employee  who can  control and advise the group in a non-biased way.
“Communication is a problem and this was highlighted at the recent review where a lot of delegates there claimed they did not now what the partnerships are about. I did raise the point that  vehicles like our NEN newspaper could be used, and other media such as twitter, Facebook was also put forward.
“How can we encourage more people to get involved? Well that’s a hard  questions to answer. We have good Conferences that seem to be well attended, Leith had the “ Leith Decides” which seemed to be popular but people  only get involved when something directly affects them.  We have to get the message across that the Partnerships do work and it is not ‘all talk and no action’ as it is perceived to be.”
While Alex is positive about the role of Neighbourhood Partnerships in communities, there are others who believe they are little more than talking shops. Muirhouse resident and activist Robert Pearson was a founder member of Tenants and Residents in Muirhouse (TRIM), and he thinks Neighbourhood Partnership meetings are dominated by officialdom and so irrelevant to most local people. 

He said: “Just what is Neighbourhood Partnership? That is the question most people would ask you if you mentioned it. Unless you’re in a group, agency or organisation then you will not know about the Forth Neighbourhood Partnership.

“This could be improved by them telling people in terms they understand what it’s all about, how to get involved, what difference it will make to THEM and others. The website is very daunting as the homepage tells you all about the Councillors and then immediately goes on about representatives from Police, Council, NHS Lothian ETC. Now why the hell would locals want to sit in with ‘suits’?

“You have to go digging on the site to see that anyone can attend their meetings, When in fact that should be the first thing on their site. They need to start using email, Twitter, and Facebook to engage with everyone. The whole thing needs an overhaul and brought up to date.”

Roy Douglas, chair of Muirhouse salvesen Community Council, has mixed views about the effectiveness of Neighbourhood Partnerships. He said: “Over that past couple of years I think the Partnership have been somewhat engaging with communities but at times it looks like tokenism, why? Meetings are official lead, and it seems that some points that communities raise do get actioned – but if there is no budget, it’s left.

“I also think that we don’t have a community engagement process that always reflects what the community think; sometimes suggestions can be swayed by officials. Gone are the days of listening to the community – Neighbourhood Partnership open meeting are mostly prescripted and are looking at discussions on outcomes they want to hear about”.

Neighbourhood Partnerships – greatest thing since sliced breid or boring talking shops?
Have you attended Neighbourhood Partnership meetings? What did you think?
Let us know!
 

Spartans lift Scottish Youth Cup in five star show

Spartans-17s-300x225[1]

Congratulations to The Spartans Under-17s, who lifted the Scottish Youth Football Association (SYFA) trophy in their first ever national final on Sunday.

The North Edinburgh side produced a fantastic performance in a superb 5 – 0 win over Giffnock SC in the SYFA Scottish Cup final at Airdrie’s Excelsior Stadium, playing some excellent passing football throughout the 90 minutes.

Spartans started much the stronger and Sean Stewart gave the North Edinburgh side an early lead in only five minutes. That lead could have been doubled minutes later, but Scott Irving’s penalty was saved by the Giffnock keeper.

Spartans dominance was not to be denied, though, and Jordan Brown added to Spartans lead on the half hour with a powerful left foot drive into the top corner.

Spartans continued where they left off in the second half, and further goals by Blair Atkinson and Steven Havelin sealed a comprehensive victory, setting the seal on a fine performance.

The SYFA Cup may not be Spartans U17s last silverware this season. The local lads have their sights set on another three more trophies – two cups and the League title – before the season ends!

Spartans cup-winning team: Callum Speedie, Kerr Allan (Kyle Doig), Harry Oliff (Daniel McIvor), Duncan Player, David Scobie, Sean Stewart (Elliott Carruthers), Scott Irving, Jamie Dishington, Blair Atkinson (Steven Havelin) Andrew Mair, Jordan Brown (Bruce Scott)

Spartans (2)

 

Police seek gang of thugs after Crewe Path mugging

Police are seeking a gang of teenage muggers following an attack on a middle aged man in the Crewe Road area on Sunday morning. The victim was kicked in the head and body as he lay helpless on the ground before the thugs stole his wallet.

The 52-year-old victim was walking in Crewe Path, which links Crewe Road West to Crewe Road North, at around 11.15am on Sunday when he was approached by four male youths. As the man passed the group he was punched in the face. This knocked him to the ground and he was then subject to further attack, with the youths kicking the defenceless man in the head and body.

Following the assault and robbery the gan fled back along Crewe Path to Crewe Road North.

The suspects are all described as white and between 15 and 18-years-old. One is described as being around 5ft 11in tall, with a slim build, and wearing a grey top, while the others are described as being around 5ft 8in tall.

Detective Constable Rachel Robertson said: “While the victim did not suffer any serious injury, he was left extremely shaken as a result of his ordeal, and we are appealing for any information that can assist us in tracing those responsible. Anyone who witnessed the assault, or who was in the area at the time and may have noticed four male youths together, should contact police. If you have any inormation that can assist our enquiries in any way please get in touch.”

Police

Fore! Edinburgh pupils can win trip to Paradise Island

Primary schools in Edinburgh are being urged to sign up for a competition aimed at encouraging writing and creativity amongst pupils. The initiative is being launched by Paradise Island Adventure Golf, offering schools the chance to win an exciting end of term class trip to its indoor adventure golf facility this summer.

The unique leisure experience at Livingston Designer Outlet boasts two 18-hole mini golf courses set amidst a tropical paradise, complete with tiki huts and exotic wildlife.

To enter the competition, primary school pupils simply have to create a piece of artwork of a paradise island or write a story about a paradise island. The artwork or story entries can be individual or a class effort.

The best entry will win an end of term class trip to the golf complex, where the class will have exclusive use of the facility and can warm up for the summer holidays on the island.

Craig Nichol, Marketing Manager at Paradise Island Adventure Golf said: “We’re delighted to be offering pupils in Edinburgh the chance to win an end of term class trip to our adventure golf centre in Livingston. The competition not only aims to promote creativity and literacy amongst pupils, but it also provides schools with the opportunity to gain a fantastic class outing to reward pupils for their hard work during the year.”

The golf entertainment complex features two challenging courses of paradise themed fun. Barnacle Bay is a fantastic course full of twists and turns, designed to send your ball on a rollercoaster ride.

The Lost Lagoon offers more adventurous mini golfers the chance to test their skills through a maze of obstacles and uneven terrain. Both courses also allow players to attempt the thrilling 19th hole for the chance to win a free game.

Entries can be emailed to livingston@paradiseislandgolf.com

or posted to

Paradise Island Adventure Golf, Livingston Designer Outlet, Almondvale Avenue, Livingston, EH54 6QX.

All entries must be submitted by 31st May 2013.

images[1]

For further information about Paradise Island Adventure Golf or for booking enquiries, please visit www.paradiseislandgolf.com or email livingston@paradiseislandgolf.com

PCHP: think about health in a different way

PCHP

Pilton Community Health Project has been speaking to people in North Edinburgh about issues affecting their lives – especially about physical activity and what they think is important in this area.  Many of the same themes come up again and again such as safety, dog mess and underuse of greenspaces.

We want to look at things in a different way and work together to come up with inspiring solutions.

Are you someone

  • · Who thinks differently?
  • · Who likes to get involved in their local area, with local people.
  • · Who likes solving problems?
  • · Who has energy and enthusiasm!
  •   Who is interested in physical activity?

We invite you to join us in some inspiring and thought provoking sessions thinking in a different way

What it will be

Fun, interesting, thought provoking, possibly it may even transform your life!

We will provide

Food, drink, childcare and fun

On

Wednesday 29 May & Wed 5 June 

times and venue to be confirmed

Interested? Please contact Clare or Lianne on 0131 551 1671

 

Move It, Pilton Community Health Project

73 Boswall Parkway

Edinburgh EH5 2PW

http://www.pchp.org.uk/

PCHPoffice