Day: May 7, 2015

Don’t leave it too late – five hours left to cast your vote

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Edinburgh’s vote is in full swing, and while the city’s 145 polling places  have not experienced the record numbers of last year’s referendum, business has been described as ‘steady’. Residents have until 10pm tonight to cast their vote.

Around 80% of postal voters have already returned their papers, with a total of 357,929 people registered to take part in the election.

And with barely five hours left to cast your ballot, citizens are being urged to make sure they know where, when and how to vote so they don’t miss out.

Sue Bruce, Returning Officer for Edinburgh, said: “We already have an 80% turnout for postal votes which I think demonstrates the interest in the election.

“We don’t want anyone missing out on this important vote because they are not sure how to. I would urge voters to leave plenty of time to visit their local polling station, and to take great care when filling out their ballot papers.”

Polling places will be open until 10pm tonight, Thursday, 7 May

Information on local polling places can be found on the polling card delivered to homes or on the Council website.

Postal voters who have not yet returned their ballot paper by post will still be able to hand it in at Waverley Court or City Chambers receptions or at any Edinburgh polling place on Thursday.

Those planning to take part in the Election are also being advised to take great care when filling out their ballot paper, by marking a single X next to their choice. Additional comments, marks or mistakes can result in a vote not being counted.

The secrecy of ballot papers is important as it ensures no one feels under pressure to vote in a particular way.

Once your vote has been cast

All votes are secure and accounted for so that the final result can be trusted. Every ballot paper, whether used, unused or spoilt, is accounted for and treated as highly sensitive and confidential. Votes will be counted as soon as possible after the close of the poll at 10pm.

Full details of vote security and counting are available on the Council website.

Cutting edge: demonstration is Out of this World!

Hair and beauty professionals blast off with sci-fi special at Edinburgh College!

Alien model at the Out of this World event at Edinburgh College

Hair, beauty and make-up experts beamed into Edinburgh College to demonstrate their stellar make-over talents as they transformed a model into a science fiction star!

The Out of this World event gave hair and beauty lecturers from colleges across Scotland the chance to learn about the latest techniques from the cutting edge of special effects make-up, using a sci-fi theme to showcase them.

Representatives from Habia (Hair and Beauty Industry Authority) led the professional development session, hosted at the college in partnership with VTCT (Vocational Training Charitable Trust), the awarding organisation for the college’s further education hair and beauty qualifications.Jennifer Lenard puts the finishing touches to her alien make-upOut of this World was presented by Jennifer Lenard and Mark Izzard from the Habia Skills Team, who showed the colleges’ lecturers a range of skills using bald caps, prosthetics and a frame for hair to create an alien look on their model.

Frances Bain, curriculum manager for hair, beauty and complementary therapies at Edinburgh College, said: “It was incredible to see the creativity on show at this event. The techniques demonstrated by the experts from Habia were from the leading edge of the industry, and gave teaching staff from the college and across Scotland a prized insight into how to use these skills and pass them onto students. This event was part of the college’s continuing relationship with VTCT, our sole awarding organisation for our further education courses.”Jennifer Lenard and Mark Izzard with their alien model

Applications are open now for a range of hair, beauty and complementary therapy courses and make-up artistry courses starting in August at Edinburgh College. To find out more about these courses, and 900 other courses at the college, visit www.edinburghcollege.ac.uk/courses 

Appointments are available for a range of hair treatments and spa therapies at Edinburgh College’s training academy salons at Sighthill, Milton Road and Granton campuses.  The academies offer the latest treatments using Elemis, Dermalogica and Wella products, with accessible prices which reflect the different levels of study and expertise of the students who work under the expert guidance of industry professionals.

Visit http://www.edinburghcollege.ac.uk/salons for more details.

For more information about VTCT visit www.vtct.org.uk

Port of Leith sets new homes target: 500 by 2020

26,000 familes on social housing waiting list

More than 200 bids for each new vacancy

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Port of Leith Housing Association (PoLHA) is investing £55 million to build nearly 500 new homes in north Edinburgh area by 2020.

PoLHA Chief Executive Keith Anderson said that beyond that date, the future of the development is unclear despite a rapidly increasing demand for homes.

The Association is Leith’s largest social landlord and currently manages over 2,700 properties.

Keith Anderson said: ““Edinburgh continues to have the highest average house prices compared to other cities in Scotland and, combined with stagnating household incomes, is restricting the number of people from becoming home owners, increasing the demand for social housing and for mid market rented housing, as well as open market rented housing.”

In its new five year strategic plan, the Association sets out the challenge facing the city of Edinburgh in terms of the need to increase the supply of housing. The housing list has more than 26,000 registered applicants and demand for social housing remains very high with over 200 bids being received for each new vacancy arising over the past year.

It is estimated that over 1,600 new affordable homes are needed each year for each of the next 10 years to resolve this problem.

Keith Anderson added: “Edinburgh has an acute need and demand for affordable housing now and over the next generation.

“Having explored, over the past three years, new ways to finance development with less reliance on public subsidy, we have come to the conclusion that there are no straightforward alternatives to the traditional mixed funding regime of public subsidy and private finance which will enable rents to remain affordable for people on below average incomes.

“The production of new mid market rented housing in the city has increased over the past two years requiring lower levels of public subsidy. However, it remains unclear whether the current level and volume of subsidy available will enable the delivery of the number of new additional social homes needing to be built.”

As well as investment in new properties, the Association plans to invest a further £8 million in ensuring all its homes meet the required quality standards and including the new Energy Efficiency Standard by the required date of 2020.

Emergency Food Aid: Poverty Alliance to run regional workshops

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As you may be aware, following the publication of our research report on emergency food aid in Scotland (www.foodaidscotland.org), the Poverty Alliance is running a series of regional workshop events for those involved in delivering emergency food aid in Scotland.

The aim is to provide opportunities for networking, peer support and learning, and to connect with wider anti-poverty work and campaigns.

The sessions will include presentations from invited speakers and group work discussion on the following themes:

  • Partnership working with advice and support service

  • Sanctions and the Scottish Welfare Fund

  • Stigma and challenging public attitudes to poverty

The following future events are planned:

Edinburgh – 16 June

Aberdeen – 27 August

Inverness – 22 October

For more info please contact: maryanne.macleod@povertyalliance.org

 

 

General Election 2015: It’s Time …

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Around 50,000 polling stations across the country have opened their doors as the General Election vote gets underway, and if pollsters are correct this could be the closest result in many years.

A total of 650 Westminster MPs will be elected, with almost 50 million people registered to vote. The magic number for parties looking to form a government is 326.

Local candidates:

EDINBURGH NORTH AND LEITH

Sarah Beattie-Smith (Green)

Deidre Brock (SNP)

Mark Lazarowicz (Labour)

Iain McGill (Conservative)

Alan Melville (UKIP)

Martin Veart (Liberal Democrat)

Bruce Whitehead (Left Unity)

EDINBURGH WEST

Pat Black (Green)

Mike Crockart (Liberal Democrat)

Cammy Day (Labour)

George Inglis (UKIP)

Lindsay Paterson (Conservative)

Michelle Thomson (SNP)

Polls are open from 7am – 10pm – don’t leave it too late to vote!