Last month a theft took place at an address in Afton Terrace during which the homeowner disturbed a male intruder in his house.
Following extensive enquiries police traced and interviewed a man who was subsequently charged with a number of offences including serious assault. He is due to appear at court today.
‘additional resource to tailor to activity to local need as we progress work to ensure all of Scotland’s young people have the best possible chance of success.’ – Roseanna Cunningham
Scotland’s 32 local authorities will split £6.5 million from the Scottish Government to take forward a variety of programmes to support young people to find work. Edinburgh’s share of the fund is £463,000.
The funding has been put in place to support the implementation of the recommendations from the Commission for Developing Scotland’s Young Workforce which outlined a new blueprint for work-based training last year.
The funding will go towards initiatives to develop vocational and employment pathways for young people, strengthen links between schools and employers and help vulnerable groups become work ready.
Local authorities have now been informed of how much they will receive for 2014/15. Edinburgh’s share of the fund is topped only by Glasgow City, which will receive £692,850.
Cabinet Secretary for Fair Work, Skills and Training Roseanna Cunningham said: “The latest trends on youth employment have been hugely encouraging but there is no room for complacency. The Scottish Government is committed to supporting more young women and men into jobs and published a new youth employment strategy in December.
“At the heart of our strategy is the report by the Commission for Developing Scotland’s Young Workforce. We will continue to work closely with our partners in local government and Scotland’s business community on its implementation as part of a seven year plan to create a new world-class system of work-based training that will work for both the economy and the job prospects of our young people.
“I am very pleased to be able to confirm funding for all of our local authorities that will give them additional resource to tailor activity to local need as we progress work to ensure all of Scotland’s young people have the best possible chance of success.”
‘This latest evidence shows that some of those most in need of support, namely parents and disabled people are being hardest hit. For us to be in this situation in 21st century Scotland is unacceptable.’ – Michael McMahon MSP
Parents and people with disabilities are being hit hardest by the UK Government’s programme of welfare reform according to new research commissioned by the Scottish Parliament’s Welfare Reform Committee.
The report, published yesterday, represents the first time the impact of the UK Government’s welfare reform agenda on different household types in Scotland has been quantified.
The research for the Committee was conducted by Professors Christina Beatty and Steve Fothergill of the Centre for Regional Economic and Social Research at Sheffield Hallam University.
The new evidence shows that in Scotland, it is estimated that couples with dependent children will lose an average of more than £1,400 a year, and lone parents with dependent children stand to lose an average of around £1,800 a year from their income stream.
In all, families with children will lose an estimated £960m a year – approaching two-thirds of the overall financial loss in Scotland.
Disabled claimants and those with health problems have also been shown to be disproportionately affected. Reductions in incapacity benefits are estimated to average £2,000 a year, and some of the same people also face big losses in Disability Living Allowance and reductions in other benefits.
Committee Convener Michael McMahon MSP said: “The Welfare Reform Committee has amassed a growing volume of evidence documenting the impact of the welfare reform agenda on Scotland’s communities. This latest evidence shows that some of those most in need of support, namely parents and disabled people are being hardest hit. For us to be in this situation in 21st century Scotland is unacceptable.”
The report also shows that almost half the reduction in benefits might be expected to fall on in-work households.
Deputy Convener, Clare Adamson MSP said: “The Scottish Government is to be commended for introducing measures to alleviate some of the worst effects of the welfare reform agenda. New powers over a range of benefits are due to be given to Holyrood in the coming years and this research will help direct those new powers to help those most in need of support.”
Until now, there has been no way to assess the impact across the various benefits on different types of households. Because of the cumulative impact of people being affected by several different benefit streams, the overall impact of welfare reforms has been hidden.
The statistics are expected to become an essential tool for government and local authorities in shaping targeted responses and service delivery.
The research follows two previous reports which measured the financial impact of welfare reform on Scotland as a whole and by local authority area, and the impact down to ward level.
The Committee expects to hear oral evidence on this report at its meeting on 10 March.
Professor Steve Fothergill, of the Centre for Regional Economic and Social Research at Sheffield Hallam University, said: “The figures demonstrate that the welfare reforms impact very unevenly. The very big impact on families with children, in particular, has previously been under the radar because it is the cumulative result of several individual reforms. Coalition ministers have argued that “we’re all in it together”. The impacts of welfare reform, documented in our report, show this is far from being the case.”
Gunman last seen in Pilton Drive North
Police are appealing for witnesses following yesterday’s armed robbery at a city centre jewellers. Investigations are ongoing into the raid at Frederick Street jewellers Laing, but some further details have emerged.
A man entered the jewellers at around 9.30 with a handgun and threatened staff before making off made off with twelve to fifteen high value Rolex watches with a value of up to £100,000.
No members of staff were injured during the armed robbery, but all were shaken during a terrifying ordeal. The shop remained closed all day while investigations continued but is expected to open again this morning.
The man fled from the scene and ran along Rose Street, Rose Street Lane and into Hanover Street. He attempted to hijack a black taxi, then a delivery van without success before making his escape in a private hire saloon car. He forced the driver – who also had a passenger in his vehicle – to take him to the Pilton.
Detective inspector Grant Johnston said: “The suspect was followed by a member of staff from Frederick Street into Rose Street and then into Rose Street Lane where we believe he may have tried to get into a black cab and may have exchanged words with a van driver.
“Following that he got into a private hire taxi that had a fare in the back. He threatened the driver with a gun and he demanded that the driver take him to the north side of Edinburgh where he got out in Pilton Drive North. That’s the last sighting of him, leaving the taxi.”
The armed robber was last seen when he got out of the vehicle in Pilton Drive North on the corner of Royston Mains Crescent.
He is described as male, white, early 30s, 5ft 10inches tall, wearing a dark padded hooded jacket, blue trousers, blue and white scarf and carrying a black and white rucksack.
Anyone who can assist police with their ongoing enquiries is asked to come forward. Detective Sergeant Raymond Gray said: “This robbery left the staff badly shaken but thankfully unhurt.
“We are keen to hear from anyone who may have seen the man, or has information about the crime, so that we can trace him as soon as possible.
“I would ask those with information to contact police immediately on 101.”
Inverleith St Serf’s Church and Goldenacre Fairtrade won two Lord Provost of Edinburgh Fair Trade awards last night: the Fair Trade Achievement Award and Fair Trade Faith Community Award.
The awards celebrate the long term commitment to fairtrade and more recent innovations, including their support of the Muirhouse Community Shop on Pennywell Road.
Inverleith St Serf’s Church’s fairtrade connection started almost 20 years ago, with Ian and Alison Craddock at Inverleith Church and Bridgid Donald at St Serf’s Church establishing fairtrade stalls.
With the merger of the two churches into Inverleith St Serf’s Church there was an opportunity to expand the stall and provide greater choice of items for sale for members of the congregation and the wider community – the charity aim to have new items on the stall every fortnight.
The stall has been in the Traidcraft ‘Top Seller’ category for thee years and has seen orders of fairtrade items increase from £3,315 in 2010 to £7,075 in 2014, principally through Traidcraft, One World Shop and Hadeel. There has been a year on year increase in sales over this period.
The stall set up a Twitter feed early 2013 (@FairtradeStall), tweeting about fairtrade and UK and global poverty and other topical issues aimed at reaching a wider audience (e.g. local events, news, music, literature, photography). Through this social media activity the stall established a link with Tenants and Residents in Muirhouse (TRIM).
Two large donations from the stall helped TRIM during their first year (late 2013). Early in 2014 the Inverleith St Serf’s Church Kirk Session agreed to support TRIM, with retiring collections for TRIM during 2014, and food donations received by the stall going to TRIM for the foreseeable future. Half the stall’s 2014 profits will be given to TRIM.
This brings cash donations from Inverleith St Serf’s Church to TRIM to £1546.82 during 2014, going towards equipment, training and extra food purchases for the shop.
TRIM splits food donations between their foodbank and community shop. Accordingly the Inverleith St Serf’s Church congregation can use the stall to support third world producers (through purchases) and local causes (through donations).
Food donations range from tinned goods brought in from home to fairtrade items from the stall (e.g. pasta, rice, tea, fruit pots and much more). These donations are distributed right from the heart of the Muirhouse community, ensuring rapid and effective distribution to those who need them most and the link between the church and community shop has continued to grow.
The Goldenacre stall is now currently run by Graham Mackenzie – and supported by three generations of the Mackenzie family! – at Inverleith St Serf’s Church.
Goldenacre Fairtrade would be happy to discuss their innovative work with other churches, community organisations and local media.
More information about the Goldenacre Fairtrade nomination submission can be found here:
https://www.facebook.com/permalink.php?story_fbid=914215261922130&id=562886720388321
Guerilla Arts Project
Launching on Sunday 8 March with a public performance of
TREAT
Treat:
A performance that explores the development and deterioration of emotion over time.
An interactive experience where audiences and performers share ice cream.
A social experiment.
A beautiful moment to be eaten or shared.
Treat will be performed in various locations throughout the city centre including:
Hunters Square 12.30pm
Teviot Square 1.30pm
The Grassmarket 2.30pm
With more locations to be added or discovered on the day!
Treat is the launch of Creative Electric’s new guerilla arts project supported by Creative Scotland’s Time to Shine fund and Artcore Edinburgh
Join us for performances, ice cream and to find out how you can create artwork for Edinburgh.
Workshops
Creative Electric will be holding workshops that explore visual and performance art inspired by artists that create work on and for the streets.
Street art. Installations. Interventions. Performances. Responses. The work created is up to you.
Workshops will take place on Thursday evenings from 19 March at The Bongo Club and are open to all young people aged 15+. Workshops are free and no previous arts experience is required.
Email Heather at Creative_electric@hotmail.com for more information.
Treat Background
In August 2014 director and theatre artist Heather Marshall worked alongside Kulturhuset and Stoff in Stockholm to create Treat -an exploration into the fragility of 21st century life. Over a period of four hours she aimed to strip away the human protective façade to find a connection with someone, anyone, anything.
Heather is concerned by the exposing nature of many of today’s performance artists work and wants to keep something back for herself. Is this possible when a performer is laid bare in front of an audience over a length of time with only the drip of ice cream to focus on?
Does the façade deteriorate just as the ice cream does?
Whilst Treat was open to all it was aimed at audiences aged 15+ who may not necessarily attend arts events. It was staged in a nightclub space in the main square of Stockholm. Studion had floor to ceiling windows and an open door policy so that audiences could wander in and out or observe from outside.
There was no pressure to stay for any set amount of time, although many did stay for the full four hours. Many of the audience members said that they enjoyed the informal setting which allowed them to visit the cafe, chat to friends and engage with the performance in their own way.
Through her work with Creative Electric Heather aims to challenge how we view theatre. She is excited to create a new version of Treat for Edinburgh with short pop up performances on 8 March and durational performances at The Hidden Door Festival.
OMSE scheme means ‘ome, sweet ‘ome’ for Scots first timers!
£70 million will be invested in a scheme to help eligible first-time buyers on low to moderate incomes buy a home, First Minister Nicola Sturgeon confirmed today.
The Scottish Government’s Open Market Shared Equity Scheme (OMSE) provides assistance to eligible buyers in the form of an interest free loan.
Eligible buyers are normally required to purchase between 60 per cent and 90 per cent of the value of a home within certain price thresholds that is for sale on the open market.
During a visit to Alloa The First Minister and Social Justice Secretary Alex Neil visited the home of Craig and Jude Deacons who purchased a home with assistance from the scheme.
Ms Sturgeon said: “”We want to help today’s generation of young people to access home ownership where this is sensible and sustainable for them.
“This scheme will have a huge impact on people’s life chances and will help them make a move from living in the social rented sector, the private rented sector or residing in the family home.’
“We will do all we can, within our powers and our resources, to help people like Craig and Jude get a foot onto the housing ladder”.
Jude Deacons said: ““Craig and I are grateful for the scheme as it has allowed us to secure a great first home fit for our family life.
“We got married in 2009 just as the housing market changed significantly. We were unable to buy our first home as we had no way of securing the sizeable deposit required, despite both being in full time employment.
“As both of us were first time buyers the OMSE scheme allowed us to purchase a house fit for purpose to accommodate our two children.
“Another benefit to the OMSE scheme was that we could look at all homes and not just new builds. This opened up more choice with regards to purchasing the right home for us.”
Social Justice Secretary Alex Neil said: ““The Open Market Shared Equity scheme has not only helped people to buy their first home, it has also helped ‘second-steppers’ to be able to sell their home and to move to a new property.
“The scheme has also helped free up houses in the social rented sector and it will continue to provide priority access to social renters, disabled people, serving members of the armed forces and veterans’.”
STV’s city TV channels, STV Glasgow and STV Edinburgh, have enhanced their schedules for viewers in Scotland’s largest cities from today with extended hours and a range of exciting new original programmes.
The channels are now on air from 7am and will feature hourly week day news bulletins from midday. At 1800, 2000 and 2200, 30 minute news programmes will bring viewers across central Scotland all the latest updates.
The enhanced schedule will also include original, 30 minute Scottish programmes at 2030 each week day evening.
The schedule now includes:
The People’s History Show – Mondays 2030
Published authors and local historians, Dan Sweeney and Dan Gray take us on a journey through the streets of our modern Scottish cities into the past to reveal the real people’s history. This series takes viewers across the history of Scotland’s largest cities, including visits to Edinburgh’s St Bernard’s Football Club, the closes off the Royal Mile and Glasgow’s Merchant City in days gone by. The People’s History Show also takes a look at much loved familiar favourites such as The Sheep Heid Inn and Leith Theatre.
Jak and Eddie’s Scottish Kitchen – Tuesdays at 2030
Top chef Jak O’Donnell and master baker Eddie Boyle join forces to make delicious dishes from the very best of Scottish ingredients. Jak will be cooking culinary delights while Eddie bakes, both have a passion and talent for cooking and produce Scottish traditional favourites with a modern twist. This series is packed with delicious dishes, fabulous ingredients, helpful baking tips and inspired Scottish recipes that will be available on the STV website.
My Life in Ten Pictures – Wednesdays at 2030
Some of Scotland’s best known faces share their personal photo albums to give viewers an insight into their lives through ten carefully selected pictures. The series sees celebrated Scots pick ten pictures which sum up their life giving a fascinating insight into TV, politics, radio, music and comedy. Guests include TV presenter Carol Smillie, TV and radio presenter Ross King, and comedian Andy Cameron.
Grass Roots Music – Thursdays at 2030
This one of a kind show is at the forefront of the Scottish music scene giving brand new local bands and established Scottish artists a platform to share their talent. Scotland’s only weekly music TV show, Grass Roots Music will put local music first and host some of the biggest names in Scottish music, plus emerging new talent in Scotland. Presented by Paul Hughes, STV Glasgow and STV Edinburgh channel editor, the show offers an eclectic range of music from Scotland’s live scene, including interviews with Del Amitri front man and acclaimed solo artistJustin Currie, and singer-songwriter Donovan. Filming takes place in famous gig venues across central Scotland, such as Glasgow’s Nice N Sleazy’s and The Jazz Bar in Edinburgh.
Ch-Ewen the Fat – Fridays at 2030
Non-stop chatterbox Ewen Cameron hits the streets of Glasgow and Edinburgh to find out what real Scots think about his topic of the day. Ewen is a unique character who has a knack for bringing out the best in people and Ch-Ewen the Fat is a great opportunity for The Fountainbridge Show presenter to speak to people about topical issues events and ask the questions they may not want to answer. In the first few episodes, Ewen gets his groove on to see if he can get the Scottish public dancing in the streets with raves, tangos, and ultimately a mass Zorba the Greek style dance.
In the first month on air, STV Glasgow and STV Edinburgh reached a combined monthly audience of over one million viewers with an engaging mix of news, innovative formats and classic dramas from the STV archive.
Elizabeth Partyka, deputy director of channels at STV, said: “These exciting changes will serve to strengthen the range and distinctive offering of City TV and allow us to reach new audiences. The new STV Glasgow and STV Edinburgh schedules reinforce our commitment to delivering local programming for our consumers and we hope the 8.30pm slot will become appointment to view TV for viewers in Scotland’s largest cities.”
STV Glasgow broadcasts to a potential audience of two million viewers in the west of Scotland and STV Edinburgh has a potential reach of one million viewers in the east. The channels are delivered in partnership with Glasgow Caledonian University and Edinburgh Napier University, with over 100 students from the universities having gained experience so far through their involvement in broadcast operations of the channels.
STV Glasgow launched in June 2014 with STV Edinburgh following in January 2015. The channels broadcast on Freeview channel 23, Sky channel 117 and Virgin Media channel 159 within their transmission areas. STV, STV Glasgow and STV Edinburgh are available to watch live online with the STV Player.
‘We want the 42 bus service to Craigleith Retail Park restored with immediate effect’ – DTCC’s Alex Dale
Four local Community Councils and a residents group have joined forces to call for the immediate reinstatement of a local bus service to Craigleith Retail Park.
Drylaw/Telford, Muirhouse/Salvsen, Craigleith/Blackhall and Stockbridge/Inverleith community councils, along with Easter Drylaw Residents Association, are urging Lothian Buses to bring back the 42.
Drylaw Telford CC chairman Alex Dale explained: “I have set up a CEC petition form (see below) calling for the return of bus service 42 to the retail park with immediate effect.
“The service was withdrawn by Lothian Buses at the end of last year. They said buses entering and leaving the retail park were held up because of congestion and that these delays meant the service couldn’t keep to its timetable further along the route.
“As the bus uses the section of the park owned by Sainsbury’s, I have been badgering away over the past months to try and solve the issues. In the end Sainsbury’s agreed to pay for equipment to both the buses and the traffic lights which will allow buses priority at these lights – this is now in place and Lothian Buses are at present trialling the system with the 38 bus, which still accesses the park.
“If the trial is successful Lothian Buses will look at a possibly returning the service at their Autumn timetable, but our community councils agree that the company should return the service 42 with immediate effect as part of the trial, and not wait till Autumn.”
service 42 Signature form of those individuals supporting the petition (1)
Members of the public/local businesses can also view and sign petition by going to www.edinburgh.gov.uk/petitions and selecting ‘Support a Petition’.
The Closing Date is the 13 March 2015.
An armed robber is believed to have hijacked a taxi and taken it to Pilton after robbing a city centre jewellers at gunpoint this morning.
The man entered Laing the jewellers in Frederick Street at 9.30. He brandished a handgun and threatened staff before stealing a number of high value items – the jeweller specialises in high-end, expensive watches.
The thief then ran along Rose Street and into Hanover Street where he is understood to have hijacked a private hire car.
The cab driver was ordered to drive to the north of the city – it’s thought that there may have been a passenger may inside the taxi at the time of the hijack but police have yet to confirm the reports.
The suspect was last seen when he got out of the vehicle on the corner of in Pilton Drive North and Royston Mains Crescent.
The man is described as white, in his early 30s and 5ft 10in tall. He was wearing a dark padded hooded jacket, blue trousers and a blue and white scarf and was carrying a black and white rucksack.
Police are appealing for witnesses. Detective Sergeant Raymond Gray said: “This robbery left the staff badly shaken but thankfully unhurt.
We are keen to hear from anyone who may have seen the man, or has information about the crime, so that we can trace him as soon as possible.”
Anyone with information should call Police Scotland on 101 or Crimestoppers on 0800 555 111.
