Sainsbury’s in Edinburgh trials cooking oil recycling banks

Sainsbury’s stores across Edinburgh are trialling recycling banks for cooking oils. The trail launched on 20 May with the aim to encourage customers to recycle, whilst also saving their kitchen sink from blockages often caused when oils are poured down the drain.

In partnership with Olleco, Scottish Water and Zero Waste Scotland, customers can simply deposit household cooking waste including vegetable oil, animal fat and lard in a plastic bottle at the recycling banks located in Sainsbury’s car parks. From there the oils are collected by Olleco and taken to their recycling plant to be made into biodiesel.

Paul Crewe, Head of Sustainability at Sainsbury’s, said: “Cooking oils probably aren’t the first thing you’d think of recycling however it’s a great way of keeping your drains clear and putting waste to a good use. This is an exciting trial that adds to the recycling our customers already get involved in, including clothing, and even Christmas cards! The recycling banks are really easy to use so we hope customers across Edinburgh and the surrounding area get involved in the trial.”

The trial has been welcomed by Scottish Water, as this links to their Cycle campaign which aims to highlight simple steps to prevent blocked pipes.

Work begins on Royston School site

Work starts on modern care home on old Royston school site

Construction work has begun on a major project to build the city’s latest new care home as part of continued investment in services for older people in Edinburgh.

The Royston care facility off Boswall Parkway will provide accommodation for 60 residents who are currently living in other City of Edinburgh Council care homes across the city. The care home is being delivered by a partnership of the Council and Hub South East Scotland Ltd and is being built by GRAHAM Construction.

Councillor Cammy Day, Health, Social Care and Housing Vice Convener, was joined today by Richard Park, Operations Director of Hub South East and Michael Graham, Group Executive Chairman of GRAHAM Construction to cut the first sod at the site on the fomer Roston Primary School site.

The new home will provide high quality facilities including en-suite bathrooms, spacious bedrooms and group living areas and is the sixth to be built in Edinburgh as part of the Council’s strategic plan 2012-17.

Loal councillor Cammy Day, who represents the Forth ward, said: “Our goal is to create homes for life for older people in quality residential accommodation which meets modern standards. This new facility will offer a caring and supportive service, as well as a good quality of life.

“Despite budget pressures and changing demographics, we are committed to delivering the best quality care possible through our Live Well in Later Life strategy.”

Richard Park said: “Having already successfully delivered a number of facilities in partnership with the City of Edinburgh Council, on time and on budget, I am delighted to be marking the start of this new care home in Royston.

“As a Hub project, once complete, not only will it be a high quality facility for residents and staff, it will have also delivered a number of community benefits for the local area – from apprenticeships and work placements to the involvement of small businesses.”

Michael Graham said: “It’s a real privilege to play our part in helping all the future residents enjoy their lives to the full, both as individuals and as a community. We’re absolutely determined that they’ll have the very best facilities and quality of construction.”

Kabo boxing event at Granton Campus

New service offers care information for all in Scotand

PEOPLE throughout Scotland who are looking for quality-assured information about care are being reminded to use the improved Care Information Scotland service.

Minister for Sport, Health Improvement and Mental Health Jamie Hepburn urged people to turn to the online and telephone resource for all their care information needs at Scottish Care’s National Care at Home and Housing Support Conference in Glasgow today.

He said: “Back in 2010, when Care Information Scotland was first launched, it was the first site of its kind in Scotland, offering a single point of contact for care information for older people.

“The service has now expanded to provide accessible, quality information to not just older people but to all carers, those being cared for and care support services across Scotland.

“This re-designed service provides a central point to help guide people through the maze of resources and to ensure they have access to comprehensive, accurate and up to date information, either for themselves, a relative or a friend. I would encourage everyone to visit this website to find out more.”

NHS 24 – which manages the service – has worked in partnership with the Scottish Government and a wide range of organisations including Age Scotland, the Carers Trust and Shared Care to ensure the re-designed website and telephone service meets the needs of carers and those being cared for.

NHS 24 Head of Health Information Services, Lynne Huckerby, said: “This fresh new service now offers features such as web chat, direct links to social care across local councils and the ability to share content and information.

“The service is designed to complement service provision in local areas and provides advice and signposting information a range of topics, allowing people to make informed decisions. This service will be a useful resource for those finding themselves in a caring role for the first time.”

Carers Trust Scotland has been one of many organisations involved in the expansion of the service.Florence Burke, Carers Trust Director for Scotland, said: “We were pleased to be involved in the development of Care Information Scotland, using our experience of supporting carers and carers’ services across the country.

“The website has a wealth of information for people who are starting out in a caring role, as well as being a good reference tool for people who have been caring for some time.

“For carers, having access to relevant information at a time that suits them can be valuable in helping them to navigate the demands of caring.”

The Care Information Scotland helpline is available on 0800 011 3200 between 8am and 10pm seven days a week.

The online service is available at www.careinfoscotland.scot and includes video content, webchat and BrowseAloud, a speech and reading support tool which can also translate material into different languages.

Convener sets High School challenge

High school pupils are battling it out in a unique activity challenge across Edinburgh today. The Convener’s Challenge is designed to encourage teams of school pupils to develop strategies that will enable them to complete a series of activity events.

Twelve schools are taking part and each team has four S5 pupils who set off from their own school at 9am, equipped with a GPS route tracker, a map of the city and a bus ticket. The teams will then complete a number of core challenges – climbing/abseiling, cycling, canoeing, orienteering and team building/problem solving at various locations across the city.

As opposed to the traditional ‘first past the post’ format, teams will be awarded points based on their collective performance in each of the challenges. They will also be given the opportunity to undertake one of a list of 50 further challenges, situated at various locations throughout the capital.

Competing teams will be issued with a pack containing competition rules and the itinerary, a cycle map of Edinburgh, a Lothian Buses route map, and five One Day tickets for use on both buses and trams.

They will also receive a sealed envelope containing grid reference locations and the nature of each challenge, which will fall into one of three categories:

Activity Challenge, where competitors must complete a physical, outdoor challenge;
City Challenge represents a series of information-gathering challenges designed to test competitors’ navigation and observation skills and
Super Summit Challenge, where the aim is to get to the top of as many of Edinburgh’s seven hills as is possible.

Each activity will be led by a qualified member of staff, whose signature is required to guarantee completion.

Cllr Paul Godzik, Education, Children and Families Convener for the City of Edinburgh Council, will present prizes at the finish line.

He said: “Last year was a fantastic year for sport in Scotland and I’m delighted this new exciting challenge has been created. After the success of last year’s City 2 City relay event, this type of model is being used to encourage senior pupils to work as a team in a range of activities.

“This will hopefully encourage increased participation in some of these outdoor pursuits and enhance the life skills of our young people. I am flattered that this will be called the Convener’s Challenge and will look forward to presenting the trophy to the winning team at the City Chambers.”

The climbing/abseiling challenge will take place at Blackford Quarry, the cycling at Holyrood Park and around Arthurs Seat, the canoeing at the Union Canal Basin, and the orienteering on Corstorphine Hill, while the team building/problem-solving activities will be held at the Bangholm Outdoor Centre.

Crimson Cramond

NEN reader George Reavley and son Callum were out for an evening bike ride when they captured these lovely pictures of the Cramond sky:

Edinburgh Reds go green!

The Edinburgh branch of the Manchester United Supporters Club has raised £1000 from a club raffle for Macmillan Cancer Support.

The branch, founded in 2001 by Peter Wood and Ian McKenzie, organise cost-effective luxury coach travel to United games for Scottish supporters.

Branch Chairman Peter Wood said: “Supporting Macmillan is a no brainer for us. Who hasn’t been touched by cancer? Raising funds is something we can do easily and very readily.”

Ian added: “I am aware of the support and care Macmillan offer as my wife is a nurse. This is an important cause to lots of people and one everyone should support them if they can.”

Macmillan’s Edinburgh Fundraising Manager, Jayne Forbes, said: “We couldn’t fund the services we provide without the support of people like the Edinburgh Reds. We support and improve the lives of people affected by cancer by providing practical, medical, emotional and financial support and by pushing for better cancer care. We’d like to thank Reds committee members Peter, Ian, Umeir, Waqqas and Gordon as well as the entire club for their excellent help.”

Power of Food Festival is fast approaching …

North Edinburgh plays a major part in this month’s Power of Food Festival with events and activities in Blackhall, Drylaw, Granton, Leith, Muirhouse and the Botanics to name just a few …!

Hello everyone!

It’s an amazing privilege to be in a position today to launch the programme of Edinburgh’s first Power of Food Festival, only five and a half months after we decided to turn the original idea into a reality. It’s been a bit of a mad time getting everything in place, but really exhilarating to see it all coming together thanks to the efforts of a wide range of individuals keen to share their resources, skills, energy and passion. And how appropriate to be launching such an initiative on Volunteers Week! Volunteers are at the heart of community food growing and of the centre of the Festival.

We look forward to seeing you in one (or several!) of the 15 gardens of the Festival on 20-21 June and hope you enjoy the celebration!

Best wishes from

The Power of Food Festival Committee

Rebecca Crowther

Christine Giraud

Marie-Amélie Viatte

After months of preparation, The Power of Food Festival is pleased to announce an exciting programme of free events organised by each venue in line with what they do best: connecting people!

From well established award winning gardens, to new grassroot food growing projects, the diversity of the initiatives which feature in the programme will surprise and delight Festival goers. Venues open on the weekend of 20 and 21 June include a library, an office block, a secret garden, and a farmhouse which is undergoing an incredible transformation!

A citywide celebration

From Portobello to Wester Hailes, Granton to Blackhall, Tollcross to Old Dalkeith Road, and many others in between, every corner of Edinburgh will have a garden celebrating the joy of community food growing. There will be a rich menu of events suited for every taste, for children and adults alike, including: children’s poetry writing, bug hunting, storytelling and sharing, choir music, conversations on nature, food and sustainability, wind band, foraging, cooking and eating, as well as practical gardening workshops, and the launch of Edible Edinburgh Food Charter of a Sustainable Food City.

In association with Sustrans, visitors can also join in a guided bike tour of the
gardens (free but ticketed). Bookings can be made online.

Whether on foot or on two wheels, visitors can plan their Festival trip and keep up to date with the latest events and information via The Power of Food Festival website (details below).

A Festival for everyone

Why not invite your friends and family to take part in the first Edinburgh Power of Food Festival? The weekend will give everyone a chance to meet people in their local community, to join those who are transforming the city landscape everyday, and to give a deeper meaning to the word ‘community’. Maybe it will be the beginning of a great adventure: who knows where The Power of Food will take you?

The full programme of events can be accessed here: PoF Programme