Don’t miss it …
Tickets on sale NOW at Royston Wardieburn Community Centre!
Day: January 14, 2015
Edinburgh’s budget: what future for Meadowbank?
Can city afford to meet funding shortfall of over £11.3 million?
Councillors will be asked to consider the future of Meadowbank Sports Centre and Stadium as part of the city council’s budget considerations if proposals to be presented to next week’s Corporate Policy and Strategy Committee are agreed.
As Meadowbank heads towards its fiftieth birthday, a report on potential costs and scoping for a replacement venue that would be “fit for the 21st Century” will be presented to the Committee on 20 January. Members will be asked to refer the proposals for a new venue for a decision as part of the Council’s budget considerations on 12 February.
Funding options and architectural design concepts for replacing Meadowbank, which was originally built for Edinburgh’s 1970 Commonwealth Games, have been developed with input from relevant governing bodies of sport. The plans would see the existing site transformed into a brand new sports centre that would serve the sporting needs of the local community as well as the city and east of Scotland with facilities for physical activity, health and wellbeing.
The funding proposals estimate the overall cost of building a new Meadowbank facility as £43m. It is envisaged that this will be achieved through funding from SportScotland of between £5m to £7m; revenue savings to the Council from closing the facilities during construction; prudential borrowing based on forecasts for net income and through the sale of surplus land at Meadowbank. This would leave funding required to be identified by the Council of between £11.3m and £19.8m.
Should funding be agreed by Council on 12 February, a new Meadowbank would include:
- An outdoor athletics track with seating for 500
- An indoor 60m six lane athletics track with jumps area
- An outdoor throws area
- A 3G synthetic sports pitch or grass pitch in the centre of the outdoor athletics track for football, rugby and other pitch sports
- An additional outdoor 3G synthetic sports pitch
- An eight badminton court sports hall with 500 permanent seats plus bleachers (the same size as the current Meadowbank Hall 1)
- A four badminton court sports hall with 500 permanent seats(the same size as the current Meadowbank Hall 2)
- A gymnastics hall, gym, studios, changing facilities, café, meeting rooms.
If these current plans are agreed, and funding is secured, the new Meadowbank could be ready by 2018. If the decision is taken not to proceed, however, options for a planned withdrawal of service at Meadowbank over the next five years will be identified.
Councillor Richard Lewis, Culture and Sport Convener for the City of Edinburgh Council, said: “For almost 50 years now, Meadowbank has nurtured sporting participation at all levels – from those taking part for recreational and health benefits to those training for success and medals on a Scottish and international stage. It feels right that after Scotland’s successful Commonwealth Games 2014, we kick off 2015 by considering the future of the country’s very first Games venue.
“The feasibility study requested by the Council in February 2014 has now been completed and before progressing further, a decision from Council is required as to whether it can meet the £11.3m to £19.8m funding shortfall currently projected.
“Over half a million users visit Meadowbank every year and it is a much-loved city sports facility, but we will need to consider how we can source funding for a project of this scale given the financial pressures the Council faces.
“If agreed by the Corporate Policy and Strategy Committee, the future of Meadowbank will form part of the Council’s budget considerations for the next financial year.”
June Peebles, Interim Chief Executive of Edinburgh Leisure, said: “Meadowbank is part of Edinburgh’s sporting heritage and continues to attract thousands of customers, participating in a wide range of physical activities, through its doors every week.
“Edinburgh Leisure is therefore delighted to be working with the Council on this exciting project which could create a new Meadowbank for the city, creating an inspiring and welcoming venue that supports even more people to get active, stay active and achieve more.”
Anti-cuts meeting goes ahead tonight
The anti-cuts meeting will take place tonight at 6.30 in Royston Wardieburn Community Centre. We hope to finish by 8pm.
Edinburgh Anti-Cuts Alliance will be there to give us an update on what’s happening in other parts of the city and local councillor Cammy Day will join us after his surgery to answer any questions you might have about the proposed budget cuts and how they will affect our area.
We will then discuss plans for the mass lobby of the Council on 12 February when the budget will be set.
We hope you can join us.
Anna Hutchison
On behalf of WIG (Womens International Group)
Fun on the Run in 2015
It’s never too late to start your New Year resolutions and this year’s Big Fun Run series gives people of all abilities the chance to kick start a new, active 2015.
Set in 18 of the UK’s most iconic parks from Edinburgh to Brighton, the 5k events are aimed at all members of the family, with entry free for children under 5.
Edinburgh’s 5k Big Fun Run event takes place on
Sunday 11 October in Holyrood Park.
The emphasis is on fun at the charitable events, where over £200,000 was raised for good causes last year. Organiser GSi Events, who also host the Edinburgh Marathon and Bournemouth Marathon say: “Each run has a friendly atmosphere whilst offering an achievable challenge “
Big Fun Run Event Director, Neil Kilgour said: “Tens of thousands of people take part in Big Fun Run every year, it attracts people of all shapes, sizes and ages. No event is timed, it is all about having fun and raising funds for a charity close to your heart.
“It is a great event for all the family and it is not unusual to see grandma, mum and daughter all lining up together at the startline. We also have many people taking part in fancy dress to add to the feel good atmosphere.”
Among those set to enter is Karen Marshall who intends to take part in the Victoria Park event in London on Sunday 1 November. “We are running as a family group for our Mum Annie, who has stage 6 Alzheimer’s, giving the money we raise to the Alzheimer Society.” Karen said.
“We are thinking of bringing her on the run with us in her wheelchair and we’ll all, including Mum be wearing our ‘Running for Annie’ T-shirts.” They also took part in last year’s event at the East London venue.
“We had a fabulous day out,” Karen recalls. “We wanted to try to raise some money for the Alzheimer’s Society – Mum loves being outside so we decided to run 5k with the Big Fun Run as a family group.
“We ran with Mum in her wheelchair and she managed to walk over the finish line herself at about the 40 minute mark to huge cheers from the crowds. Everyone was so helpful and supportive. We couldn’t have wished for a better fund raising day and overall a lovely family day out.”
The Big Fun Run events run from July to November, to see all the venues and to find out how to enter, visit www.bigfunrun.com
Last call for heroism award entries
‘There are no accidental heroes’
The search for the first ever winner of the recently established The Annie Dow Heroism Award – TADHA for short, which celebrate acts of heroism by young people with additional support needs in Scotland, will close to nominations on Saturday 31 January.
The winner of the inaugural award will be announced at a celebratory awards ceremony at Edinburgh’s Summerhall on Thursday 19 March and will receive a cash prize of £2,500. Two runners up will each also receive a cash prize of £500.
Officially launched in October 2014, TADHA takes its inspiration from Annie Dow, a young woman with additional support needs who saved the lives of her mother, father, family friend and dog Hamish when she bravely raised the alarm after discovering a fire in the middle of the night which destroyed her home.
TADHA founder (and mother of Annie) Sophie Dow is urging anyone who knows of any young person that might be eligible to receive TADHA recognition to put them forward for consideration. She said: “If you have any questions about nominating someone, please just get in touch! We are looking to hear about heroic acts from those with additional support needs, but will also consider inspirational acts as well.
“With TADHA we have a real opportunity to recognise and highlight the often unsung heroes in our society. We need your help to make sure that we hear about those acts, however big or small they might be.”
Made possible by an anonymous donor who gifted £20,000 to recognise Annie’s heroism and that of other young people with additional support needs in Scotland, the TADHA awards will be judged by a prestigious panel made up of Rose Fitzpatrick, Deputy Chief Constable, Police Scotland; Lieutenant Colonel Rob Heatly, MBE Royal Marines;, Anne Houston, Former Chief Executive of Children First;, Peter Murray, Assistant Chief Officer, Scotland Fire and Rescue Services; Louise Macdonald, Chief Executive Young Scot and Aaron McHale, Young Campaigner and Haggeye Member.
Sophie continued: “Setting up TADHA is one of the most important and joyful things I have done throughout my career. TADHA will highlight the abilities, rather than the inabilities, that anyone with additional support needs have.
“After all, the true definition of a hero is someone who can stay calm under pressure, in a crisis or an emergency, knows what to do and does it well without panicking. There are no accidental heroes.”
West Pilton stair fire prompts safety warning: keep it clear
Six rescued from West Pilton Rise stair fire
Fire chiefs have urged residents not to leave rubbish or bins in common stairwells in tenement blocks. The appeal follows a fire in a stair in West Pilton Rise on Monday morning.
Sixteen firefighters from Crewe Toll, Tollcross and McDonald Road fire stations attended the fire, which was also attended by Scottish Ambulance Service and Police Scotland personnel. Police Scotland also set up a Casualty Care Centre in West Pilton Park during the incident.
Firefighters wearing breathing apparatus quickly extinguished the fire using a high pressure hosereel. Six people were rescued from the building by firefighters, two of whom were taken to hospital for a precautionary examination suffering from smoke inhalation. Both were later released.
Group Manager Steve Gourlay, the City of Edinburgh Prevention and Protection Manager, said: “We would urge people not to leave rubbish or bins in the common stairwells of tenement blocks. This can be very attractive to fire setters and increases the risk of a fire.
“Discarded items of furniture and rubbish can produce large amounts of toxic smoke and also impede access for emergency responders. In Edinburgh, roughly 100 deliberate property fires occur every year with many of these involving combustibles in stairwells and the casualties and damage caused are preventable and we need to reduce them.
“This fire could have had far worse consequences and the impact for the families affected is likely to be significant. Any incident like this, where we have to rescue children and adults from windows, using ladders due to thick black smoke, always has the potential to have a tragic ending. Fortunately, on this occasion, those taken to hospital were for precautionary checks only but again this is not always the case.
“You can reduce the risk of fire for yourself and your neighbours by keeping common stairs clear and free from obstruction and making sure main doors are kept locked. Steps should be taken to ensure the door entry/intercom system is working.
“Local firecrews revisited the location yesterday to provide vital advice, reassurance and a home fire safety visit for those who need it.”
He added: “I would like to stress the importance of having a working smoke alarm. Every household should have working smoke alarm and test them every week. We provide free home fire safety visits and fit smoke alarms where required.
“If you know someone who can benefit from our service, why not get them to give us a call? It is important that you know what to do if a fire does occur in the stairwell and how to keep safe. We can advise on this as part of the visit.
“If you or someone you know could benefit from a visit, please join Scotland’s fight against fire and request a visit by calling the SFRS freephone number 0800 0731 999, or by contacting their local fire station.”
A wide range of tips on how to keep yourself and your home safe from fire are available on the SFRS website: www.firescotland.gov.uk
Edinburgh’s top dog to be honoured today
‘Let his loyalty and devotion be a lesson to us all’
Edinburgh is to honour the life of its most famous canine with a special event at Greyfriars Kirk today.
Greyfriars Bobby, the loyal terrier known for guarding his master’s grave for 14 years after his death, passed away 143 years ago and is buried in Greyfriars Kirkyard.
The city council is marking the date with a commemorative ceremony organised by the Library and Information Service. Among the participants will be Greyfriars Bobby lookalike Maggie the Cairn terrier, sporting a specially-designed coat and badge in honour of her double.
Also attending are members of the Scottish Fire and Rescue Service, who will speak about the fire which gutted Old Greyfriars in the mid-19th century, shortly before Bobby’s arrival.
As the one o’clock gun sounds, the time at which Bobby is said to have left his master’s grave each day for a free meal at a nearby café, pupils from George Heriot School will lay flowers on the grave. This will be followed by ‘Tribute to Greyfriars Bobby’, played on bagpipes by Jennifer Hutcheon.
Deidre Brock, Depute Lord Provost, who will host the event, said:”Greyfriars Bobby, whose memorial reads ‘Let his loyalty and devotion be a lesson to us all’, still inspires enormous affection and respect in people across the globe.
“Even now visitors flock to see his grave, his statue, and the many mementos of his life displayed in our Museum of Edinburgh, marvelling anew at the timeless story of the little dog who would not leave his master’s grave.”
After the death of Bobby’s owner John Gray, the then Lord Provost, Sir William Chambers, ensured the dog’s freedom by purchasing a license and dog collar, allowing him to roam the graveyard.
Capturing the hearts of passers-by every day, Bobby’s statue was erected a year after his death in 1872 by the Ladies Committee of the RSPCA, and has since become a landmark for the capital.
Such is the popularity of Bobby’s statue that the wee dog famously had to have a ‘nose job’ in 2013 – hundreds of thousands of citizens and tourists have rubbed Bobby’s nose for good luck over the years and his nose had to be renewed!
Today’s event, which is supported by local charity The Grassmarket Community Project, will also involve members of the Edinburgh Dog and Cat Home, who will be running a special Greyfriars Bobby-themed stand at the Central Library from 10am till 2pm.