Month: January 2017

Apple Wassail marks end of winter at North Edinburgh Arts

Friday 3 February: 2.30 – 4pm

The garden, North Edinbugh Arts

APPLE WASSAIL!

Join us at the NEA garden for traditional end of winter festivities 

Traditionally at this time of year, people’s thoughts turn to the end of winter and the coming of spring. We’ll be doing our bit to encourage a good harvest year in the North Edinburgh Arts garden by holding our annual apple wassail on

Friday 3rd Feb, 2,30 -4.00pm.

We’ll have wassailing songs led by the Timebank Temptations, mulled apple juice and other refreshments and of course, the wassail parade around the garden to scare off evil spirits and encourage a good fruit harvest for the coming year.

For more information, call 0131 315 2151, e-mail garden@northedinburgharts.co.uk or drop into our centre.

See you there!

Valla

Local employer Leonardo ranked fifth in apprentices poll

Local employer Leonardo (formerly Ferranti) has been rated fifth in the UK in a new report.

RateMyApprenticeship has released a brand new School Leaver’s Guide across the UK which contains key information about UK employers to help young people who are just leaving school or college and are looking for opportunities (below).

Leonardo (with a long-established Crewe Toll site) was rated fifth in a list of 70 top employers, as voted by Apprentices across the UK. 

School Leavers Guide 2017

Wightman urges better regulation of short-term lets

Andy Wightman MSP, Housing spokesperson for the Scottish Greens, has urged ministers to consider stronger regulations to address problems caused by a sharp rise in properties available for short-term rent.

Mr Wightman, Scottish Green MSP for Lothian, highlighted that a number of his Edinburgh constituents have been affected by the growth of the sector.

He said: “We are looking at a situation where the residential population in parts of Edinburgh may substantially disappear within the next decade. One constituent has had very audible sex parties taking place in the flat above him. An elderly couple are now living out the rest of their years in a tenement stair that has lost all of its permanent residents.

“Others are living with young families in a state of stress and anxiety due to the rent-seeking behaviour of a growing number of property owners. It’s disappointing that the Housing Minister says he has no plans to tighten regulation of residential property use.

“We should look at the planning system and use class orders to ensure that communities and councils have the tools they need to regulate the residential character of the city centres and many rural villages affected.” Continue reading Wightman urges better regulation of short-term lets

Granton Community Gardeners: update and invitations

It may be January and things can be looking a bit cold and grey, but lots has been happening in the community gardens and the group has been busy behind the scenes too … (writes TOM KIRBY)

Here are some updates, but first, some invitations!

Burns Night Community Ceilidh, Saturday 28th Jan. TIckets now on sale from Royston Wardieburn Community Centre (just £2!)

This will be the 4th year the ceilidh has run. It’s a joint event between ourselves, Living in Harmony (at Pilton Community Health Project), and Royston Wardieburn Community Centre.  There’ll be haggis neeps and tatties, performances from local musicians, poetry recitals from pupils from Granton Primary, a piper, and live music from a ceilidh band, with plenty of space to dance in the sports hall!

It always sells out, so get your tickets asap.  There are still some volunteer jobs available (which come with a free ticket), if you’d like to help, there’s a meeting at PCHP on Weds 25th at 10.30am. (ask for Adam)

Gardeners Cafe, Every Monday 5.30-7.30

You may remember this from a couple of years ago, but thanks to some support from the Scottish Government’s Fair Food Transformation Fund, this has now relaunched!

All welcome every Monday 5.30-7.30 at Royston Wardieburn Community Centre.  The food is FREE but donations are welcome, and if you’re a regular you’re invited to join in with helping the cafe run, there are lots of volunteer roles and ways to get involved.

We’re seeing whether if we all do something to help, we can all enjoy a meal together, that is better (and much more sociable) than what we’d end up eating on our own in our separate flats!

Gardening drop ins, Every Tuesday and Saturday from 11am

Weather permitting!  We meet at the community garden on the corner of Wardieburn Road and Boswall Parkway. We’re usually around for a couple of hours depending on weather and how much time/energy we’ve got that day! They’re a great way to meet new people, learn new skills, and work together on what are some very productive food gardens.  All welcome, no prior gardening experience necessary! Fruit and veg is shared between the people who grow it! (or donated to the Gardeners Cafe).

Bonus Event:  At the drop in on Tuesday 7th Feb, there will be a free breakfast provided by the Real Junk Food Project, who rescue and distribute food that would otherwise be wasted. They have a huge number of posh sausages left over from the Christmas Market on Princes Street, so are hosting free breakfasts around the city to use them up! (Weather permitting)

News updates:

We’ve just become a charity!  Granton Community Gardeners is now a SCIO (Scottish Charitable Incorporated Organisation) number: SC047087

This will hopefully mean we’re better able to support gardening, and growing, cooking and sharing food, in the area for the longer term, and able to secure more support for our work.

Who’d like to learn about baking bread?

You may remember that last year we did a crop trial of some heritage Scottish wheat, as part of a project called ‘Soil to Slice’ run by Scotland the Bread.

We had a very successful harvest, with 42kg of grain (from about 100sqm of garden). We used some of this to sow a crop for 2017, and the rest is being milled into flour.  A couple of us have had some training in baking and the magical bread that is sourdough.  We’re thinking of starting a bread club to practice and learn, and eat!. Anyone like to join us?

Growing wheat on street corners seems to have caught lots of people’s imagination, and we were featured on the BBC, Edinburgh Evening News, and Daily Mail.

If you’d like to get more involved in anything we do, please either reply to this email, or come and chat to us at the garden sometime.  Everything we’ve achieved has just been based on someone showing up with an idea, and other people agreeing to help make it happen.  It’s amazing how many skills and brilliant ideas people have round here, let’s see what we can do with 2017!

Best Wishes,

Tom 

(One of the people who helps organise things)

http://www.facebook.com/grantoncommunitygardeners

I, Daniel Blake screening at Broughton High School

Please find poster and details of the “I, Daniel Blake” film being screened in Broughton High School at 7pm on Thursday 9th February.

The film’s trailer can be found via: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ahWgxw9E_h4 Continue reading I, Daniel Blake screening at Broughton High School

Locality Improvement Plan: five days left to have your say

Until 27th January – Still time to tell us your priorities for North West Locality. Please complete our short survey  and please share

The 2017 – 2022 North West Locality Improvement Plan (LIP) will help coordinate how key partners including the Council, NHS, Police etc. best use available resources to meet changing demands across our communities. The LIP will also help towards the delivery of the new Edinburgh City Vision 2050. Continue reading Locality Improvement Plan: five days left to have your say

Public Social Partnership events

Edinburgh Wellbeing public social partnership (psp)

“Talk, Share, Plan, Repeat” Coproduction Events

Public Social Partnerships (PSPs) are about people working together to design what services and supports are needed to meet the need of people who have mental ill health, or mental health difficulties, and then building partnerships to deliver the services and supports. There will be two city wide events, the first to capture the main themes and the second to capture work across the city and to begin to make these links. The locality events will be focused more around understanding the needs of that particular community,  opening up local dialogue, and building relationships for future partnership working.

To registers for one/or more events or general enquiries please email: EdinburghPSP@nhslothian.scot.nhs.uk

  • Locality – North West: 1st Feb, 11 – 2:30, Muirhouse Library
  • City Wide: 8th Feb, 11 – 2:30, tbc
  • Locality – North West: 22nd Feb, 11 – 2:30, Muirhouse Library

Training session: Overcoming language barriers

Overcoming Language Barriers for  Frontline/Reception Staff  –

Training Opportunity for Workers in North Edinburgh

10am – 12pm, Thurs 26th Jan 2017, Muirhouse Library, Pennywell Road

Learn about:

  • Practical ways to remove language barriers in your organization.
  • Race equality in Scotland
  • Some of the current challenges for BME communities.

The trainer will be Eleanor McKnight from Elite Linguist CIC. Living in Harmony and Muirhouse Library are organizing the training.  Book your free place by contacting Adam Farquhar on 0131 551 1671 or emailing

livinginharmony@pchp.org.uk

Childcare Academy info sessions

North Edinburgh Childcare has some dates for Childcare Academy Info Sessions. If you’d like to book a place to come along and hear more about the Academy, ask any questions or take away an application pack please contact Audrey O’Neill on 311 6931 or Barbara Webster on 311 6926.

  • Thurs 26th January @ 10am
  • Mon 6th February @ 1pm
  • Wed 15th February @ 10am
  • Wed 22nd February @ 1pm