Month: January 2020

Stargazing at New Lanark

Experience stargazing on Scotland’s biggest rooftop garden, at the end of this month, for an out of this world event for all the family.

This event will take place on the evenings of the 31st January, 1st & 2nd of February commencing at New Lanark’s Mill 3 Exhibition Gallery with a family friendly astronomy talk that will open your eyes to the starscape above and give you an insight to the evening ahead.

Following the talk you can take part in cosmic craft activities, including a chance to create your own telescope with real lenses. The event will then move up  to our rooftop garden where telescopes will be provided for observing the skies and stars*.

Join in the games, quizzes and enjoy New Lanark’s pop-up café selling tea, coffee, cakes and child friendly snacks. The Mill Café will be open late selling early dinner to heat you up before the event commences.

Stargazing at New Lanark takes place on Friday 31st January, 1st & 2nd February 2020. Time Slots Available are: 6.30pm, 7pm and 7.30pm.

PRICES Adult/Child £7.00 (under 3yrs free) Family of 3 £16.00 Family of 4 £21.00 Family of 5 £28.00 Family tickets must include 1 adult

Sessions will be booked on a first-come, first-served basis.

Please arrive 10 minutes before your session starts. Each session last approximately 2hrs.

*Groups of 10 per telescope.

Visitors are welcome to bring their own telescopes.

The sky clarity is weather dependant. Children must be supervised at all times.

Booking essential!

To book call 01555 661345 or online at www.newlanark.org

For more information about Stargazing at New Lanark World Heritage Site click here.

Edinburgh College signs partnership agreement with The Battle of Prestonpans (1745) Heritage Trust

Edinburgh College has signed a new partnership agreement with The Battle of Prestonpans (1745) Heritage Trust aimed at enhancing students’ learning opportunities and further promoting Prestonpans Battlefield as a cultural heritage asset.

The three-year partnership, initiated as part of the 275th anniversary of the Battle of Prestonpans, will see the College’s Computing students taking on a project to create an engaging and interactive website for the The Battle of Prestonpans (1745) Heritage Trust.

The students will use their skills to develop a site which takes visitors through the story of the iconic battle (the first significant engagement of the Jacobite rising of 1745) and which provides a new digital presence for the battlefield and its heritage online.

Students will also advise the Trust on how it can use social media and mobile applications to improve the experience of visitors interested in exploring more about the famous battle. The College will engage local high school pupils in the project to transfer knowledge and further expand the reach of the work.

The project aims to develop further opportunities for students from across the College’s other curriculum areas by using the battle and project as a theme for work, including students from Broadcast Media courses filming and documenting the project throughout.

As part of the partnership, The Battle of Prestonpans (1745) Heritage Trust will provide a monetary donation to the College to help fund the project.

The agreement was signed by The Battle of Prestonpans (1745) Heritage Trust Co-Chair Gordon Prestoungrange and Edinburgh College Vice Principal Michael Jeffrey at the College’s Milton Road Campus.

Michael Jeffrey said: “This partnership will bring great opportunities for our students to work on a live project, enabling them to hone their skills and develop an increased presence and improved user experience for The Battle of Prestonpans (1745) Heritage Trust.

“We look forward to developing the partnership further over the next three years to utilise the talents of our students and help to continue to tell the story of such a pivotal event in Scotland’s history.”

Gordon Prestoungrange said: “The Battle of Prestonpans was about a young leader overcoming great obstacles to succeed.  Therefore, we are delighted to work with Edinburgh College to encourage and support their students who shall become our future leaders.”

Tory Erasmus “sell-out” to impact on 3,484 students in Edinburgh

SNP MSP Gordon MacDonald has warned that thousands of university students in Edinburgh could lose out on the opportunity to study abroad – after the UK Tory government pulled support for the Erasmus last week.

New figures from the Scottish Parliament’s Information Centre (SPICe), show that, between 2014/15 and 2017/18, 3,484 students from the city’s higher education institutions studied abroad through the Erasmus+ programme.

With Boris Johnson’s Tory government choosing to vote against continued membership of Erasmus+ remaining part of negotiations with the EU, Gordon MacDonald MSP has claimed that the same number of students could now miss out over the next four years if Scotland is blocked from the programme.

The Erasmus+ scheme aims to promote and modernise education, training, youth work and sport across Europe, and gives students from a variety of backgrounds the opportunity to live, work and study in other European countries.

SNP MSP for Edinburgh Pentlands, Gordon MacDonald said: “The Erasmus programme has been hugely valuable to our city’s universities and students over the years, so it’s saddening the Tories have decided to sell out and pull support for the programme. 

“Our students here in Edinburgh have benefitted massively from the opportunity to take a year abroad in Europe, giving them the chance to experience new cultures and ways of learning.

“Of course our city’s culture is also richer thanks to students from the continent coming to spend time in our world-class universities, contributing to our economy and society in the process.

“My message to Edinburgh’s students is this – don’t let Boris Johnson cut you off from the world. It’s time to put Scotland’s future in Scotland’s hands so we can build a fairer, more outward looking nation at the heart of Europe. It’s time for independence.”

Figures from SPICe: (erasmusplus.org.uk/statistics)

  • Glasgow 2014/15 – 2017/18: 3,647 outgoing students
    • Royal Conservatoire of Scotland – 49
    • Glasgow Caledonian University – 545
    • Glasgow School of Art – 214
    • Glasgow University – 1426
    • Strathclyde University – 1413
  • Edinburgh 2014/15 – 2017/18: 3,484 outgoing students
    • Napier University – 472
    • Heriot Watt University – 692
    • Queen Margaret University – 27
    • Edinburgh University – 2293
  • Aberdeen 2014/15 – 2017/18: 1,367 outgoing students
    • Robert Gordon University – 628

Aberdeen University – 739

New Year A&E record reveals Scotland’s GP crisis

A record-breaking number of people attending accident and emergency in the first week of January is a symptom of the country’s GP crisis, the Scottish Conservatives have said. Continue reading New Year A&E record reveals Scotland’s GP crisis