St Nick’s celebrates 25 tea-rrific years

Edinburgh’s Lord Provost was among the guests as Port of Leith Housing Association’s St Nicholas Court sheltered housing complex celebrated its 25^th anniversary on Thursday (5 December).

In conjunction with the Pilmeny Project and children from the Pilmeny Youth Development Project, two original St Nicholas Court residents – Mary McNicol (90) and Maisie McKenzie (85) – were joined by another 12 residents in designing and painting a memorial 25 piece tea set compromising key dates, milestones and local landmarks. The tea set now has pride of place in a display cabinet in the complex’s reception area.

The residents also made a “Quilt of Friendship” featuring their memories, such as holiday locations, activities carried out by the complex, memorable events including the Queen’s Diamond Jubilee, as well as the PoLHA logo, which was hung in the sheltered housing’s lounge and unveiled by the Lord Provost.

Maureen Tait, Senior Sheltered Housing Coordinator for PoLHA who manages St Nicholas Court, said: “I’m delighted the residents have got on board with the preparations for the 25^th anniversary. It’s such a special occasion for the development and given that we have two original tenants is wonderful. Many of the residents have enjoyed being creative have enjoyed showing off the fruits of their labour to guests.”

Mary McNicol, who came to St Nicholas Court in December 1988, said: “I’ve spent 25 wonderful years living at the complex and I’m glad we have done something different to commemorate this.”

To celebrate the 25 years both Mary McNicol and Maisie McKenzie have lived at St Nicholas Court, a time capsule featuring the names of current residents, Mary McNicol’s and Maisie McKenzie’s life stories and photos of Mary and Maisie was also buried in the complex’s garden by Port of Leith Chief Executive Keith Anderson and the Lord Provost.

Keith Anderson said: “St Nicholas Court does a fantastic job in looking after its residents and we are delighted to have reached this significant anniversary. We hope in many years’ time, someone will come across the time capsule and be interested in the contents.”

Many happy returns, St Nick’s!