Does anyone remember Teddy McDougall?An American woman is trying to trace her husband’s childhood friend from the Pilton area. Can you help?This is just a shot in the dark, but it is a very sincere and hopeful request. I know Edinburgh is a very large city, and I assume “McDougall” may be as common a surname there as “Smith” is here in the States, but this is my request:There was a boy named Teddy McDougall who lived on Pilton Walk (?) near my husband, John Geddes Martin, Jr., when he was a boy and his family lived on Granton Road in Edinburgh. Teddy had some sort of affliction, possibly epilepsy, which caused some limitations for him, but he was very artistic. John was, and is, a very kind person and spent time with Teddy when other boys in the neighborhood shunned him. My husband was born in 1947, and he was slightly younger or older than Teddy, so Teddy’s year of birth would have been probably within the range of 1945 – 1949.John and his family came to the USA in 1964. He kept in touch with Teddy through Teddy’s mother, Lily McDougall, for several years but eventually lost touch. I believe Teddy’s father, Jack McDougall, might have died while the Martins were still in Edinburgh, but I’m not certain about that point. John’s parents have passed in recent years (John Geddes Martin, Sr., in 2005, and Catherine Gilhooley Martin in 2008), so we cannot ask for more information they might have remembered. Recently when an old family friend visited, we were told that Teddy had been sent to live in a nursing facility while still a young man.John had a stroke some years ago and one of his constant thoughts is about Teddy. We would very much like to locate Teddy and try to communicate with him if he is able.Considering the information I have provided, is it possible Teddy might be a member of your family or extended family? Can you offer any suggestions how we might locate him or determine if he and his mother are still living?I have “googled” to search for Teddy, Edward, or Theodore McDougall and for Lily, Lilly, or Lillian McDougall, but to no avail. I’ve also searched for nursing homes in Edinburgh but found there are MANY. I did go to the website for carehome.co.uk and sent an email through their site providing some of the information included in this email to ask if there is any way to determine if and where Teddy resides.It is true we have no urgent medical or other reason to locate Teddy, only that it would please my husband to contact Teddy, and hopefully Teddy will remember John and be pleased also.Thank you for considering this request and for any help you might provide.Gratefully,Susie Martin15124 Catawba Circle, SouthCharlotte, NC, USA 28104
Day: May 25, 2015
Drylaw Telford CC AGM this Wednesday
Drylaw Telford Community Council’s annual general meeting will take place in Drylaw Neighbourhood Centre on Wednesday 27 May at 6.30pm. All welcome.
See below for meeting papers:
Agenda DTCC AGM + Monthly mtg 27th May 2015
DTCC A5 FLYER for New members & AGM
Gremlins and ghouls at Granton Campus
Granton Campus charity event’s not for the faint-hearted!
Gremlins, fantasy warriors and witches will descend on Edinburgh College’s Granton Campus tomorrow as the college’s imaginative make-up students put their talents on display at a showcase event.
Second-year students from the college’s HND Make-Up Artistry course will apply the skills they have learned to produce a variety of jaw-dropping looks on models for the Ministry of Make-Up event. The students will present a range of fashion make-up looks alongside more unusual character and special effects designs that wouldn’t look out of place in a Hollywood blockbuster.
Following the show there will be a chance to see the models up close and speak to the students about the techniques they used and the inspirations for the looks.
Photography work from first-year HND and VTCT Fashion and Photographic Make-up students will also be on display.
Money raised through a raffle on the night will go towards the charity Look Good Feel Better, the international charity dedicated to improving the wellbeing and self-confidence of people undergoing treatment for cancer.
The Ministry of Make-Up event will take place on Tuesday 26 May at 7pm at the Apprentice Restaurant, Edinburgh College Granton Campus, 350 West Granton Road, Edinburgh, EH5 1QE. Tickets are £7 and can be booked from Jakki.jeffery@edinburghcollege.ac.uk. The event is only suitable for over 16s.
Running order:
18.30 Doors open
19.00 Show starts
19.45 Raffle
20.00 Free viewing and interaction with students and models, and photocall
20.20 Show ends
20.30 Doors close
Community recipe book launches this week
Good, healthy recipes produced by local cooks
Everyone’s invited to the launch of the community Cook and Taste recipe book at Muirhouse Community Shop, Pennywell Road on Wednesday from 111am – 1pm!.
We’ll be cooking and giving free delicious tasters, recipe books and information about food related activities in the area. The Time Bank Temptations Choir will also be performing on the day.
All the recipes in the book have been tried, tasted and have proved really successful. “This is good and really tasty. I will try to make it at home”, said Joan, one of the community shop volunteers when she tried the ragu Bolognese. Susan, one of the local volunteers who decided to share her macaroni cheese recipe said: “It’s lovely; quick and easy to cook in the house”.
The recipes in this book come from a partnership project between Pilton Community Heatlh Project (PCHP) and the Muirhouse Community Shop (MCS).
Memes Molina, Food Development Worker at PCHP, said “It’s been a great opportunity to work in partnership with the shop’s volunteers, to do some cooking with local people and discover new recipes with them. This launch is to celebrate the effort and commitment of everyone involved. For some of the volunteers it has been a while since they last cooked at home but people got involved and shared their delicious dishes. PCHP has put together a recipe book called Cook and Taste, where we can now share a selection of these recipes with the local community.”
PCHP’s Food team works with volunteers and local partners to help local people develop their understanding and knowledge to eat well on a budget, including cooking skills, budgeting, meal planning and wider food issues.
PCHP does this by running cooking sessions, lots of ‘cook and taste’ sessions in the community, delivering ‘bite size’ sessions on eating well and much more. People can get involved by joining one of the groups, becoming a volunteer or attending Food for Thought Forum meetings.
PCHP also gives the local community access to food related training courses to develop their skills. We are now able to support others to deliver quick and easy healthy eating sessions using our nutrition toolkit.
http://pchp.org.uk/projects/food
The partnership work between PCHP and MCS started as way to promote healthy eating in the area, in response to the needs of some local people and the shop volunteers.
Everyone can come along to the launch. If you want more information about PCHP activities or other food related activities in North Edinburgh, phone PCHP on 013 551 1671 or visit the website.
The future’s bright … the future’s co-operative!
City council to launch first community -owned energy initiative
Community-owned solar panels are to be installed in 25 Council buildings throughout Edinburgh, it was announced today (Monday 25 May).
The Council will work in partnership with the Edinburgh Community Solar Co-operative (ECSC) – supported by Energy4All – to deliver the initiative, which is believed to be the largest community-owned urban renewable energy project in the UK.
Buildings such as schools, leisure and community centres will be chosen to host the solar technology, which is expected to deliver significant environmental and social benefits.
The energy generated by the installations will help to make future cost savings while reducing the capital’s carbon emissions by an estimated 855 tonnes a year.
Buildings that are chosen to participate will benefit from cheaper electricity from the solar panels, resulting in substantial savings. Any surplus energy will be sold to the National Grid and profits made by the project will be reinvested locally through a newly-created Community Benefit Fund.
Vice Convener of Transport and Environment, Councillor Adam McVey, said: “This is fantastic news for Edinburgh and will bring long term environmental, social and economic benefits.
“Community energy co-operatives allow local people to play a part in building a greener, more sustainable environment whilst raising awareness more generally about the importance of being energy efficient.
“We are aiming to meet our target of reducing Edinburgh’s carbon emissions by 42% by 2020 and this project is an important step towards us achieving this.”
Shares will be offered to organisations or individuals who want to invest in the initiative, with priority allocation given to Edinburgh residents. Anyone interested in becoming members of the Co-op can register their interest via the ECSC’s website.
Members of the Co-op will receive annual interest on their investment (capped at five percent increasing with RPI), with any surplus profit invested in the Community Benefit fund.
The panels will also be a useful resource for educational projects to help engage pupils with environmental themes such as renewable energy. Each device will come with a real-time display of electricity generation which will be displayed on the buildings and accessible to pupils online.
Dr Richard Dixon, Chair of the ECSC, said: “2015 is an important year for climate change, with the world’s nations supposed to agree new global targets in Paris at the end of the year. Around the world local people are creating their own solutions to climate change by investing in local renewable energy schemes.
“The Edinburgh scheme is a winner all round because it will reduce climate emissions and provide cheap energy for schools and other Council buildings. Local people will also get a decent return on any money they choose to invest.”
Work is currently underway to identify suitable sites for the solar panels and the chosen locations will be announced at a later date.
To register interest in the scheme and receive further information about the share offer, go to http://www.edinburghsolar.