January 2014 – Page 2 – The NEN

Missing boy update

Police in Edinburgh have issued a new image of missing boy
Mikaeel Kular as enquiries continue to trace the three-year-old.

Missing boy Mikaeel Kular wearing jacket

The image shows Mikaeel in the jacket he was believed to be wearing when he disappeared.

Officers are keen for local members of the North Edinburgh community to come forward if they believe they have seen a child wearing a coat like this within the area since 9pm on Wednesday night.

Mikaeel is described as being of Asian appearance, two feet tall and of slim build. In addition to the thigh-length beige coat, it is possible he is also wearing black gloves with multi-coloured fingers, dark navy blue jogging bottoms, a grey pyjama top featuring an embroidered turquoise dinosaur on the chest and brown Clark shoes with two Velcro straps.

He has a faded scar on the bridge of his nose and a sore on the left hand side of his mouth.

A Child Rescue Alert as been activated as part of the search for Mikaeel and a dedicated number has been set up for those with information that can help establish his whereabouts.

That number is 0300 200 0200

Door to door enquiries are being conducted in support of this investigation, with specialist support being provided by Operational Support Division, including Air Support, Roads Policing, Police dogs and trained search officers.

Anyone who can help trace Mikaeel is asked to contact police immediately.

Superintendent Liz McAinsh said: “Our enquiries to trace Mikaeel have been ongoing for over 12 hours now and so far, we have still to receive that vital piece of information that will lead to his discovery.

“I would like to thank the local community for their continued support and assistance during the search, and I also wish to thank those who have already called our dedicated number with information.

“All information received is being quickly progressed by our officers and I’d like to urge anyone who thinks they may know where Mikaeel is be to get in touch if they haven’t done so already.

“This new image shows the jacket we believe Mikaeel was wearing when he disappeared. Local residents and those who travel through the Drylaw area on a daily basis are urged to be vigilant for a young child matching Mikaeel’s description who may be wearing a jacket like this.

“Anyone who has information that can help us trace Mikaeel and bring him home is asked to contact police immediately.”

Volunteers wishing to help in the search for Mikaeel should assemble at North Local Office in West Pilton Gardens at 10am where they will be briefed by police search team

Urgent police appeal: help find missing boy

Local police are appealing for witnesses to help trace a missing child. Mikael Kular was last seen going to bed at his home address in Ferry Gait at around 9pm yesterday evening.

However, when his family awoke this morning, the three-year-old was not within the property. Officers are now conducting local enquiries in the area to trace Mikael and are being assisted by officers from the Air Support Unit.

Anyone who believes they have seen him since last night or this morning is asked to contact police immediately.

Mikael is described as three foot tall and possibly wearing a beige hooded jacket, brown shoes and nightwear.

Chief Inspector Sara Buchanan said: “We have currently got a large police presence within the Drylaw area as we conduct our enquiries to trace Mikael.

“We are keen to hear from anyone who remembers seeing a young boy matching his description since yesterday evening to contact police immediately.

“As part of our investigation we are also trying to determine how the child has left his home and anyone with information that can assist with these enquiries is also asked to get in touch.”

Those with information can contact Police Scotland on 101 or alternatively, the charity Crimestoppers on 0800 555 111.

Trinity housebreaker snared during Operation RAC

Police in Edinburgh have arrested 20 people in the past week in connection with over 50 acquisitive crime offences, including housebreaking as part of the ongoing Operation RAC.

Since Tuesday 7 January 37 housebreaking offences, which took place in the Trinity, Murrayfield, Kirkliston , Grange and city centre areas have been solved and those responsible have been charged or reported to the Procurator Fiscal.

These arrests equate to a 52 per cent solvency rate for all reported housebreakings in Edinburgh over the course of that week.

One of the detected offences relates to the arrest of a 47-year-old man, who was apprehended on Friday 10 January in connection with three break-ins and thefts from addresses in Trinity. A large quantity of jewellery worth £10,000 was recovered and has been returned to its rightful owners.

The man was scheduled to appear at Edinburgh Sheriff Court on Monday.

Detective Inspector John Kavanagh said: “Officers across Edinburgh have been carrying out various lines of enquiry of the past week to identify those responsible for housebreaking and acquisitive crime throughout the Capital.

“As a result, 20 people have since been subject to police action and we continue to investigate further to bring more offenders to justice as part of Operation RAC.

“While we are delighted with the number of arrests being made in relation to housebreaking, we are committed to stopping the public falling victim in the first instance and we have taken a proactive approach to providing our communities with crime prevention advice if and when it is required.

“Since Operation RAC began, officers in Edinburgh have issued three times as many crime prevention surveys, which help us identify potentially vulnerable areas and in turn provide those within these areas with information and guidance on safeguarding their homes, businesses and possessions.

“Anyone wishing to complete a crime prevention survey, or who would like more information on crime prevention can contact their local policing team.”

Your archive needs you! First World War for the Digital Age

First World War Diaries Go Online to Mark Centenary

Volunteers required for Operation War Diary

The National Archives has made the first batch of digitised First World War unit war diaries from France and Flanders available online via its First World War 100 portal. Once complete, it will comprise more than 1.5 million pages, opening them up to a global
audience for the first time. Also launched yesterday (Tuesday) is Operation War Diary, an innovative online crowdsourcing partnership project between The National Archives, Imperial War Museums (IWM) and Zooniverse, which aims to unearth the details from within the diaries.

The First World War unit war diaries are the most popular records from The National
Archives’ First World War collection (file series WO 95) and the first in a series of First
World War records to be digitised as part of The National Archives’ centenary
programme – First World War 100 – which spans a five-year period from June 2014 to
June 2019.

William Spencer, author and military records specialist at The National Archives
said: “Making the First World War unit diaries available online, allows people across the
world to discover the daily activities, stories and battles of each unit for themselves. It
also creates opportunities for the public, history enthusiasts, family historians and
researchers worldwide to explore the official records which may lead to some new
discoveries and perspectives of this important period of history.”

With some surprising revelations and astonishing stories, this first batch of unit war
diaries reveals the real-time account of the first three cavalry and the first seven infantry divisions who were part of the first wave of British army troops deployed in France and Flanders. They cover the entire period of the units’ involvement in the war, from their arrival on the front to their departure at the end of the war.

In this first batch of 1,944 digitised unit war diaries is the daily account of the First
Battalion South Wales Borderers in 1914 (WO 95/1280/3), providing insight into the
anxiety and terror of the opening days of the war with the First Battle of Marne and
Aisne, right up until June 1919 with an account of sporting events, such as tug of war
and rugby, and even farewell dinners marking the end of the war.

Other unit war diaries included in the first batch are:

• The 4th Dragoon Guards who fired the first shots in Mons. (WO 95/1112/1)

• 5th (Royal Irish) Lancers who saw action continuously from 1914-18, were in some of
the bloodiest battles and included the last British soldier to die in the First World
War, Private George Edwin Ellison, shortly before Armistice came into force. (WO
95/1134/2)

• 9th (Queen’s Royal) Lancers who were in the final “lance on lance” action of the First

World War. (WO 95/1113/2)

Read alongside other records in The National Archives’ First World War collection, such as the Prisoner of War interview reports (file series WO 161), the pieces of the jigsaw can be put together to form a catalogue of first-hand official accounts of the First World War.

Further batches of the unit war diaries will be released throughout the course of The
National Archives’ centenary programme.

Operation War Diary – Your Archive Needs You!

As part of the digitisation of the Unit War Diaries and to engage people in the centenary,
The National Archives is teaming up with Imperial War Museums (IWM) and ooniverse
to launch Operation War Diary. IWM’s expertise in citizen history and Zooniverse’s
citizen science technology, previously used to map the stars, is combined in this
innovative crowdsourcing history project which will enable the public to capture
information from The National Archives’ unit war diaries.

Volunteers who sign up to Operation War Diary will be assigned a segment of a unit war diary and asked to tag key details from the pages, such as names, places and events. The data inputted by volunteers will be collected and used to enrich The National Archives’ catalogue descriptions for the unit war diaries, enabling family historians around the world to trace their army ancestors and providing academics and researchers with a better understanding of how the war was fought.

Information gained through Operation War Diary will also be incorporated into IWM’s
Lives of the First World War project, which will launch in late Spring 2014. Lives of the
First World War is an innovative, interactive platform that will inspire people across the
world to discover, remember and share the life stories of those who served in uniform
and worked on the home front. By the end of the centenary it will become the
permanent digital memorial to more than 8 million men and women from across Britain
and the Commonwealth, saving their stories for future generations

100 unit war diaries have been made available on Operation War Diary in the first
instance, with more diaries to be added over the coming months and as they are
published on The National Archives’ website.

Volunteers wishing to take part in Operation War Diary can join the project here:
www.operationwardiary.org.

Luke Smith, Digital Lead for IWM’s First World War Centenary Programme said: “Operation War Diary will uncover new first-hand information about day to day life in the First World War – information that may not have previously been communicated through letters home or covered in traditional history books. This project will also be an
invaluable source for IWM’s Lives of the First World War as it will help today’s
generation to discover even more about the full life-stories of the people they choose to
remember.”

Chris Lintott, Founder of Zooniverse and primary presenter of the BBC series The
Sky at Night said: “History is an amazing and rich topic that many people love. We’re hoping to bring it onto people’s desktops and tablets in a new and amazing way. This
will be our first pure history project and we’re excited to tell our Citizen Scientists that
they now be Citizen Historians too!”

Maria Miller, Culture Secretary, Maria Miller, said: “The National Archives’ digitised First World War unit diaries will allow us to hear the voices of those that sacrificed their lives and is even more poignant now there are no living veterans who can speak directly about the events of the war. This new online vehicle gives a very public voice to some of these soldiers, through which we will be able to hear their thoughts and feelings. Using Operation War Diary, we can follow in their physical shadow as they fought across the Western Front.

“The First World War centenary is all about remembrance, recognition and
understanding. Yesterday informs today. The National Archives’ initiatives are at the
heart of the Government’s First World War centenary programme to forge lasting
connections between the past, present and future as we commemorate the lives and
bravery of all those who served in the First World War.”

Decoding Dyslexia

A new Dyslexia Group for Parents is being run at Royston Wardieburn Community Centre from Wednesday 22 January. The group is open to parents with children aged baby to seven years who might be interested in learning more about dyslexia. See the poster above for more details. The group has a free crèche.

Anti-Bullying Campaign

Pupils from Pirniehall Primary School, spray painted a very clear message at the front of their school gates on Friday morning. In large bright red letters ‘Bullying Stops Here’ which represents a strong message that bullying is not acceptable both in and out of school.

The bright spray painted message is already grabbing the attention of all those who pass through the school gates. Parents and children were discussing the sign as they were leaving the school on Friday, generating conversations about bullying and what the sign stood for. This large visual sign will act as a daily reminder keeping parents and children talking about the subject and it is hoped this message will support parents and teachers in continuing to create a safe school environment.

Parents have been active in supporting anti-bullying campaigns in the local primary schools and it is expected that more positive news stories regarding the great work that parents and teachers have planned will be
shared soon.

Tracy Devenney

Can Broughton’s Anna be The Voice?

Talented Broughton High School pupil Anna McLuckie will be flying the flag for Edinburgh when the new series of The Voice starts tonight on BBC1.

It’s already been an epic journey for the Stockbridge girl, who has secretly been travelling south for sessions with the programme’s production team since she was invited to take part last autumn. Anna has been accompanied throughout the process by her mum Fiona, who is an advice worker in West Granton, so the reason for their mysterious disappearances can now at last be revealed!

Seventeen year old Anna is a gifted musician, specialising in playing the harp, but tonight’s viewers will hear that Anna has a stunning singing voice too when she performs Daft Punk’s ‘Get Lucky’.

Tudor Morris, Director of The City of Edinburgh Music School based at Broughton, said: “We all wish Anna all the best for The Voice and are confident that she will do us proud. Anna has always been an exceptional student and will get tremendous support from all her friends and teachers at the music school and Broughton.”

Will Anna wow judges Will.I.Am, Tom Jones, Kylie Minogue and Kaiser Chief singer Ricky Wilson? You’ll have to tune in at 7pm to find out!

Good Luck Anna!

Join Scotland’s fight against fire

Members of the public have been urged to help firefighters reach vulnerable residents so they can prevent house fires and the deaths, injuries and emotional trauma they cause.

Assistant Chief Officer (ACO) Lewis Ramsay, the SFRS Director of Prevention and Protection, explained: “Fire in the home can be both terrifying and tragic, but simple steps will significantly reduce the risk of it happening to us.

“I am calling on everyone to consider the risks in their homes and the homes of people around them, and then to take potentially life-saving action.

“Firefighters have the terrible experience of attending serious fires, where people have been killed or injured, that need never have happened.

“My message to everyone is don’t let that happen to you or the people around you. Everyone can save lives and protect themselves and their families, friends and neighbours from fire.”

The latest stage of the Join Scotland’s Fight Against Fire campaign emphasises the need for all homes to be protected by working smoke alarms, which are known to have a dramatic impact in preventing injuries and deaths.

People should also consider fitting a heat alarm within kitchens – the room where most house fires start – as the devices are specifically designed to give early warning of fire.

ACO Ramsay continued: “The evidence is clear – working smoke alarms have saved lives and are absolutely essential items for every household.

“It is widely acknowledged that working smoke detectors raise the alarm very quickly, meaning there is less chance of fire causing serious injury to people and damage to property.

“More homes than ever are now protected by these life-saving devices and that has led to a noticeable reduction in the severity of the house fires we are called to tackle.

“Incidents where fire spread beyond the item that first ignited to engulf the whole room have fallen by 10 per cent, while cases where the fire spread to damage other parts of the house have fallen by 16 per cent.

“By quickly alerting people to the presence of fire, working smoke alarms give residents the time they need to get out and call us out.

“That not only prevents serious injury or worse, it also means firefighters can bring a fire under control before flames, toxic smoke and heat cause severe damage to a home and rob householders of cherished possessions.”

In an advert airing on television and radio over the coming days, a serving firefighter will share her memory of attending a house fire where a woman was killed.

Watch Manager Andrea Sutherland recalls how she and her crew found a woman in the living room, which was full with lethal levels of toxic smoke – even though the fire had burned itself out without spreading from the kitchen.

In a direct plea for the public to recognise the risks and make sure their smoke alarms work, Watch Manager Sutherland explains: “The lady had simply put something to cook in the oven.

“Like many people’s cookers, her oven door had a handle where she hung oven gloves and a tea towel.

“As she slept the heat from the oven must have built up until it set the tea towel on fire.

“A neighbour spotted the smoke and called us. There were two smoke alarms fitted in the house but she had removed the batteries.

“People often do this because they don’t like the alarm going off when they are cooking – but if this lady had kept her batteries in, she would probably still be alive today.”

In its Join Scotland’s Fight Against Fire campaign, SFRS is determined to help the public understand how easily fire can start within the home, as well as the simple precautions that save lives and property when fire does start.

As a routine part of their duties firefighters throughout the country deliver expert advice to help residents keep their homes safe, and SFRS wants the public to help it reach those most at risk.

ACO Ramsay added: “In the past year our crews conducted more than 56,000 free home fire safety visits, where they gave residents tips to prevent fire starting and to buy vital time if it does strike.

“Firefighters conducting free home fire safety visits will even install long life battery smoke alarms wherever they are needed – and it’s completely free of charge.

“It is a hugely popular and beneficial programme that gives vulnerable members of our community friendly support and some very welcome reassurance.

“We need help from members of the public to reach those most at risk. If you keep an eye on a vulnerable relative, friend or neighbour then put them in contact with us – it could save their life.”

Anyone can arrange a free home fire safety visit by calling the SFRS Freephone number 0800 0731 999 or by contacting their local fire station.

Further information on how to keep your home fire safe is available on the SFRS website: www.firescotland.gov.uk.

Lecturer honoured for LGBT education work

An Edinburgh College lecturer has become the first educator in Scotland to achieve official professional recognition for expertise in equality and diversity education.

John Naples-Campbell, a lecturer in performance at the college, has been honoured with an Equality and Diversity Professional Recognition award by The General Teaching Council for Scotland (GTCS). The GTCS scheme recognises educators for particular expertise and commitment they have displayed in their teaching, not necessarily directly related to their curriculum area.

John achieved the award for the extensive work he has done in raising awareness of lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender (LGBT) issues among his students, including the organisation of arts projects to bring related topics to life. In deciding to present the award to John, GTCS took into account the significant impact his work has had on his students and the wider college community.

At Edinburgh College, John has led a range of LGBT activities, including the launch of annual LGBT History Month events. These included the staging of the play ‘The Laramie Project’, which tells the true story of a gay hate crime that resulted in the death of a young man in Laramie, Wyoming.

John also organised the creation of a video made by lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender staff and students in which they discussed their own experiences to provide role-model advice to young people going through similar situations. The significant impact these projects had on the college community – which led to changed attitudes and students taking on the role of educating their peers in LGBT issues – helped the college win the Equality and Diversity Award at the Scottish Colleges Awards.

As part of his ongoing LGBT work at the college, John runs LGBT workshops for staff and students to try and embed equality practices in the teaching curriculum and the day-to-day business of the institution. He is now setting up a LGBT staff network and is also arranging for student class representatives to deliver equality lessons throughout the academic year.

In a previous role as drama teacher at East Lothian’s Knox Academy, John ran LGBT workshops and led a group of S3 pupils on a film documentary about LGBT issues. This featured interviews with representatives from Stonewall Scotland and Lothian and Borders Fire and Rescue Services, as well as the academy’s deputy head teacher. As a consequence of this project, pupils were asked to speak at a Stonewall Scotland conference, the school introduced a new LGBT policy, and it became a member of the Stonewall Schools Champion Programme.

John, who lectures at Edinburgh College’s Performing Arts Studio Scotland (PASS), said: “I’m incredibly proud to be recognised for something that is a genuine passion and that’s so important in allowing all students to thrive without facing unwarranted prejudice. Dignity and equality for all people underpins everything I do in education, so I hope I’ve done my bit to give students the safe, respectful environment they deserve.

“Part of what I’ve aimed to do is to challenge students on their attitudes. One thing that’s quite prevalent in our society is a kind of flippant homophobia that isn’t necessarily born out of hate or disgust but can be equally as damaging to young people who may only be getting to grips with their sexuality themselves. It’s a great credit to our students that they’ve been so willing to engage with the process of addressing their own attitudes, with many then going on to become becoming advocates and educators of LGBT issues themselves.”

John already has a GTCS Professional Recognition award for his work in holocaust education.

Rosa Murray, education adviser (professional learning) at GTCS said: “We are delighted to be recognising this important work which sits well with the Professional Values articulated within the new Professional Standards recently produced by GTCS for all registered teachers in Scotland.

“John has worked incredibly hard to achieve this Equality and Diversity award and has been an inspiration to many of us with his commitment to educating in innovative and effective ways. He is the first to achieve an Equality and Diversity award.”