Best wishes and many happy returns to Pilton Youth & Childrens Project’s Gena Wylie, who celebrates a special birthday today. Happy borthday, Gena!
Congratulations, Gena!
Day: July 16, 2013
New service to help local veterans find work
EMPLOY-ABLE:
A NEW SERVICE TO HELP EDINBURGH & LOTHIANS VETERANS FIND WORK
Veterans in Edinburgh and the Lothians can now access a local service that will deliver support to help vulnerable ex-Servicemen and women find work. Veterans’ charity Poppyscotland and mental health charity SAMH (Scottish Association for Mental Health) have created Employ-Able, which provides local support, training and practical advice to assist veterans in their search for jobs.
Employ-Able aims to remove barriers, help develop skills and set goals, taking the form of one-to-one and group work sessions, using the model of SAMH’s successful workshop-based Tools for Living programme. Ongoing support once veterans are in employment is also available.
Bobby Duffy, Director of Operations at SAMH said: “Scotland’s veterans deserve as much support as we can give them when they settle back into the community. We know it can be hard for some veterans to get back into regular employment and that unemployment and financial difficulties are bad for your mental health, so we’re really pleased to be working with Poppyscotland to deliver this service.”
There are around 189,000 veterans of working age in Scotland and Poppyscotland research suggests that the unemployment rate for veterans aged 18-49 is twice that of the general UK population, with around 28,000 veterans in Scotland out of work. The research found a lack of current employability services that specifically target veterans who may be vulnerable or need additional support to get back into work. Employ-Able is intended to address this gap.
Gary Gray, Head of Welfare Services at Poppyscotland, commented: “A small but significant number of veterans face difficulty in adjusting to civilian life with many facing complex and multiple issues. Employment and mental health are areas of great concern as they impact greatly on all aspects of veterans’ lives and those of their families. By combining Poppyscotland’s knowledge of veterans’ issues and SAMH’s expertise we believe Employ-Able will tackle some of these key areas of difficulty and improve veterans’ prospects.”
Army veteran William Burnett (23) served with the Royal Regiment of Scotland for four years and saw service in Afghanistan. After leaving the Armed Forces William struggled to find a secure job but he is now in full-time employment as a warehouse assistant after taking part in Employ-Able. He said: “I was a nervous wreck when it came to interviews and never got the jobs I applied for. Employ-Able really helped me to get my confidence back. It helped me to develop my skills and I received support to prepare for interviews and get my CV up to date.
“I am now in a full-time job, which is going really well, and I am still in contact with my work preparation adviser who is there to offer me ongoing support. I would recommend Employ-Able to anyone who is unsure about how to get back into work after their time in the Forces.”
To find out more about Employ-Able call Poppyscotland’s Employment Services Co-ordinator Dot Pringle on 0131 550 1568 or email d.pringle@poppyscotland.org.uk
Walkathon: seconds out!
The NEN Walkathon is just four days away now – I hope your rigorous training regime, like mine, is holding up in this tropical weather …
Another alternative route to consider:
THE TIPPLER’s TRAIL
I could regale you with the tale of the Boswall Battler – Big Boab Baxter, the barefist bruiser – but I will save that story for another day. Instead, here’s are the watering holes that make up the historic Tippler’s Trail:
Telford Arms, Telford Road
The Doo’cot, Ferry Road
Ferry Boat, Ferry Road
The Gunner, Pennywell Road
The Anchor, West Granton Road
For seasoned drinkers walkers you could add detours into Davidson’s Mains and/or continue beyond the Anchor to The Old Chain Peir and beyond … each tavern is a new adventure!
Cheers!
Get set for Inverleith’s Big Search
All you’ve ever wanted to know about Total Craigroyston
The Total Craigroyston team have put together a comprehensive guide which details the organisation’s aims and activities since it’s launch last year. It’s well worth a look …
Rough guide to Total Craigroyston
Letters: Winners and losers of the global race
Dear Editor
The repeated use of certain words and phrases, for example ‘let me be clear’, ‘openness and transparency’, ‘hub’, ‘flat-lining’ are very irritating; and ‘we must win the global race’, often repeated by David Cameron and most Tory politicians, is both annoying and dangerous.
Dangerous; when the state of the world needs nations to work together to solve problems of food production, fuel and energy supplies, diseases, protection of the world’s forests and climate change.
Dangerous; because ‘winning the global race’ means there are losers, creating disastrous unemployment, poverty and health problems.
There are many examples of companies engaged in the ‘global race’, making vast profits in one country, closing industries in others, showing little concern for people’s’ lives and wellbeing. The ‘global race’ does not exclude the working people of the UK from this exploitation.
A. Delahoy
Silverknowes Gardens
Youth theatre? Join the A-Team!
Lottery funding supports new Youth Theatre Company
In February 2013, inspired by our backgrounds in theatre and youth work, a small group met to discuss and develop an ethos and a strategy to build foundations for what later would become ‘A-Team Productions’.
Our vision was to put together a new youth theatre company which would change the image of Amateur Dramatics and youth entertainment. We wanted to encompass new ideas and experience of what has worked in the past to create something which would not only benefit the lives of young people in Edinburgh but the wider community as a whole.
Our ethos is simple: to promote teamwork, equality and encourage individuals with raw and unnourished potential to get involved, give it a go and grow under our roof.
We believe that Edinburgh has a wealth of talented young people, we see it all around us. We want to provide an opportunity for these young people to be the best, allow them to meet new friends and work with them to reach a common goal of putting on a five star production.
We at A-Team aim to do it like the professionals would! Our young people will wear the finest costumes, get star treatment and perform to full houses of eagerly awaiting theatre goers.
However without our funders we would be nothing. In April it was announced that A-Team Productions were granted funding to run productions for 3 years with a generous fund from The Big Lottery. Their Young Start programme will ensure that we have the necessary funds to put on an extravagant show without the families having to pay a penny.
Our first production “Sweeney Todd – The Demon Barber of Fleet Street” will be performed in St Brides Centre in February 2014. Auditions for this production will be held at Ocean Terminal on 28 September 2013, call backs on 29 September.
For any information regarding the company, auditions or our february production please mail ateamproductionschair@live.co.uk or call 07973317031.
United.Passionate.Successful
