After the series of four winter meetings in November, December, January and February — when we approved a new constitution for EACC — we’ve taken a pause before our next ordinary meeting, provisionally scheduled for Thursday 26 May at 7pm on Zoom.
Please let me know if you want to raise any particular issue at the May meeting.
In the future, we may resume the special meetings that were a feature of EACC activities in 2020-1, when we covered public spaces management, carbon neutrality, and biodiversity.
Possible future subjects are local democracy, best practice on making and analysing consultations, and practical approaches to energy efficiency and de-carbonization. We may also include the ‘held-over’ subject of guidance for community council treasurers.
The EACC Appeal (for funding – Ed.) was successful. As of now, we have received at least £700 from some 16 community councils. We hope this will enable us to to pay for a minutes secretary and establish a new website. We will also have a new bank account.
Sonder Holdings Inc., a leading next-generation hospitality company that is redefining the guest experience through technology and design, is set to expand its serviced apartment operation at Royal Garden Apartments in Edinburgh.
Expanding by 11 units, bringing the total units to 41, the apartments are located opposite the Scottish National Portrait Gallery on Queen Street, offering accommodation with in-unit kitchen and laundry facilities, ideal for extended stays.
This addition forms part of a major expansion by the tech-enabled hospitality provider, which is adding six properties in the UK & Ireland, including four new hotels in London.
In April 2022, Sonder opened The Henry, a 102-key hotel close to Hyde Park in Bayswater, and The Voyage, a 53-key hotel on Norfolk Square close to Paddington Station. A further property on Norfolk Square will follow shortly: The Rove, with 74 keys. Additionally, in the second half of 2022, Sonder will open an 86-key hotel near to Bedford Square in Bloomsbury.
All are located close to major business districts, tourist attractions and transport hubs, and have been updated to offer Sonder’s signature exceptional design and tech-enabled, modern service. Building on recent expansion, with an ongoing focus on prime locations, these four properties will join the six existing hotels in Sonder’s London portfolio.
Oliver Armitstead, Regional Director of Real Estate at Sonder, said: “As a high-growth global hospitality company, we are excited to expand our unique design and tech-powered hospitality offering across the United Kingdom & Ireland, with the expansion of our Edinburgh operation and the opening of a number of new hotels.
“The modern traveller demands digital service and thoughtful design, both of which we deliver across our portfolio worldwide. For owners, we offer competitive partnership terms with secured income, and we remove operational responsibilities. Following Sonder’s recent public listing, we’re advancing ambitious growth plans worldwide.”
Steph Thrasyvoulou, co-owner at New World Hospitality Limited, said: “Sonder are innovators in the hospitality space and have been a reliable property partner for us; which is why we are pleased to collaborate with them on a second London hotel.
“The Bloomsbury location will offer thoughtfully designed accommodation, moments from The British Museum, Oxford Street and the new Tottenham Court Road Crossrail station.”
In Dublin, Sonder will open its first hotel in the city, with 26 keys, on Leeson Street later this year and has contracted an additional 91 units in the Dublin 1 area. The Leeson Street hotel is a historic, 19th-century Georgian building undergoing updates, located close to St Stephen’s Green park. These operations are in addition to Sonder’s two existing serviced apartment properties in Dublin.
With these additions, Sonder’s total portfolio will now expand to 28 properties across the United Kingdom & Ireland with approximately 900 total units. In 2017, Sonder opened its first property outside of North America in London, and the region remains a focus for future growth.
Headquartered in San Francisco, Sonder operates in 35+ cities across ten countries – seven of which are in EMEA – and has approximately 18,100 live and contracted units worldwide.
The company partners with real estate owners and landlords to manage and operate hotel and multi-unit buildings. Sonder distinguishes itself in the hospitality industry through modern design and by infusing technology into its guest experience.
This tech-enabled experience puts guests in full control of their stay. They can access everything they need – from booking, to interacting with guest services, to check-out – via their own mobile device from anywhere and at any time, using the Sonder app.
Sonder previously announced EMEA expansion in France and the U.A.E., and recently reported company record annual revenue of $233 million in 2021. Sonder also provides corporate travel offerings, and is live with all major Global Distribution System (GDS) networks.
Sonder works in partnership with leading travel management companies such as ABC Global Services for business traveler-specific bookings.
Sonder also recently committed to eliminating single-use plastic amenities in all of its guest-facing units no later than Dec. 31, 2022, as part of the company’s wider sustainability commitments under its People, Place & Planet framework.
To explore Sonder real estate partnership opportunities, please contact:
Heart Research UK Healthy Heart Tip, written by the Health Promotion and Education Team at Heart Research UK
It is well known that eating fibre can prevent constipation, but did you know it can also lower your risk of heart disease, stroke, type 2 diabetes and bowel cancer?
Dietary fibre can only be found in foods that come from plants, such as wholegrain cereals, wholemeal bread, wholemeal pasta, brown rice, fruit, vegetables, beans, and lentils.
Here we provide some tips to help you increase the amount of fibre in your diet:
Choose a variety
Obtaining fibre from a variety of food sources is a great way to ensure a healthy balanced diet. It is also important to make sure you are drinking enough fluid to help fibre function properly.
Obtaining fibre from a variety of food sources is a great way to ensure a healthy balanced diet. It is also important to make sure you are drinking enough fluid to help fibre function properly.
Opt for a high-fibre cereal
Look out for cereals that are labelled as “whole grain” or with “bran” or “fibre” in their name. Try to choose plain varieties with no added sugars.
Switch to wholemeal
Instead of white bread, white rice and white pasta, try switching to wholemeal or granary bread, brown rice and wholemeal pasta.
Eat your five a day
Frozen, dried and tinned fruit and vegetables all count towards this. Try eating apples and potatoes with their skins still on, to further increase fibre intake.
Add extra vegetables or pulses to your favourite meals
Beans, lentils and chickpeas can be added to your favourite meals like curries, bolognese, chilli, soups and stews, to bulk them out and add nutrients.
Snack wisely
Choose unsalted nuts and seeds, fresh fruit, vegetable sticks or oatcakes.
Opt for a high-fibre cereal
Choose unsalted nuts and seeds, fresh fruit, vegetable sticks or oatcakes.
Some people worry that if they increase their fibre intake it will cause them to suffer from flatulence (wind). To avoid this, you should gradually increase the amount of fibre in your diet to allow your body time to adjust. Good luck!
National charity Scottish Book Trust has opened submissions to encourage the public to share their real-life stories.
It marks the 14th year of Scottish Book Trust’s annual Your Stories campaign, which this year is partnering with EventScotland as part of Scotland’s Year of Stories 2022. From those who write regularly to those who have never written before, Your Stories is open to all submissions, regardless of writing experience.
Submissions can be made in English, Scots, or Gaelic in any form – story, poem, comic strip, play or letter – of up to 1,000 words. Every entry will appear on Scottish Book Trust’s website and a selection of pieces will be published in a free book distributed to libraries, community groups and schools during Book Week Scotland (14-20 November 2022) – the national celebration of books and reading.
Marc Lambert, CEO of Scottish Book Trust said:‘The Your Stories programme has always been a cornerstone of Scottish Book Trust, giving a platform for the public to share personal experiences and for some, be published for the first ever time.
“Working with our partners EventScotland for Scotland’s Year of Stories, we hope that many people will be encouraged to share their different experiences and shape the narrative of our country.”
Alison Lang, Director of the Gaelic Books Council, said:“‘Ann am Bliadhna nan Sgeul tha sinn an dòchas gum bi daoine air feadh na dùthcha deònach na sgeulachdan Gàidhlig aca fhèin innse, agus gum bi e na bhrosnachadh dhaibhsan agus do na leughadairean aca an cuid obrach fhaicinn ann an clò.
“Tha e na thlachd do Chomhairle nan Leabhraichean a bhith a’ toirt taic don iomairt seo a-rithist.”
(‘In this Year of Stories we hope that people all over the country will be willing to tell their own Gaelic stories, and that they and their readers will be inspired by seeing their work published. The Gaelic Books Council is delighted to be supporting this Scottish Book Trust initiative once again.’)
Scottish Book Trust has commissioned real life stories from: Helen Fields, author of the DI Callanach series; Graeme Armstrong author of The Young Team; Raman Mundair, filmmaker and playwright and Gaelic authors, Morag Ann MacNeil and Angus Peter Campbell.
Scottish Book Trust will share a variety of prompts through their website and social networks to help inspire those hoping to submit.
NHS Lothian has invested over half a million pounds into its electric fleet as part of its ongoing efforts to be a leader in sustainable healthcare.
Over £525,000 has recently been spent on 58 electric vehicles and 46 charging stations at sites across NHS Lothian.
Iain Sneddon, Transport Manager for NHS Lothian, said: “Climate change poses the biggest threat to global health and its vital that we adapt to this as an organisation, not just as individuals.
“Electric vehicles are the preference when we’re looking to grow our fleet or replace vehicles. Not only are they a cleaner alternative, but they have the added benefit of being more cost-effective.”
With the additional 58 electric vehicles, this brings the total number of electric vehicles in NHS Lothian to 187, which is just over a quarter of NHS Lothian’s fleet.
NHS Lothian received its first three electric vehicles in 2012. In 2019, Transport Scotland provided funding which resulted in an additional 39 electric vehicles being added to the fleet.
Since 2019, the electric fleet has travelled over 1.5 million miles and has been used by teams such as podiatry, physiotherapy and forensic.
The average car emits 0.78 pounds of CO2 per mile driven, which means NHS Lothian has prevented around 500 tonnes of CO2 being released into local communities.
Dr Jane Hopton, Sustainability Lead for NHS Lothian, said: “Making our fleet greener is part of our wider strategy to ensure NHS Lothian is a leader in sustainable healthcare.
“We’ve also been working to reduce the impact medical gasses have on the environment, as well growing our green spaces and improving our energy infrastructure.
“Iain and his team have done a fantastic job over the last few years with the fleet and have clearly had a huge impact already on reducing NHS Lothian’s carbon footprint.”
Between 16th – 22nd May, Greenpeace and Everyday Plastic are running the Big Plastic Count, and the Greenpeace Edinburgh Group is taking part.
This will be the UK’s biggest ever investigation into household plastic waste, and what really happens to our recycling.
The UK produces more plastic waste per person than almost any other country, only the USA is worse.
We need to take much faster action to clean up this plastic mess, which spoils Edinburgh’s neighbourhoods, and harms our climate, nature and health.
This year, the government is starting to decide on legal targets to reduce plastic waste. Greenpeace Edinburgh volunteers want them to set a target to reduce single-use plastic by 50% by 2025 and ban dumping our waste onto other countries.
I still can’t believe how much plastic I end up with every time I do a supermarket shop. It has gotten to the point that I hardly even notice all the wrapping I bring home because it has felt impossible to find plastic-free versions of my favourite products.
But every time my bin hits its spilling point, my single-use plastic shame stares me in the face. Do we really need bananas wrapped in plastic? Or little crisp bags wrapped in a bigger bag just for convenience?
It would be best to stop producing so much plastic in the first place but if we could at least find ways to make recycling easy and rewarding. For instance, if we could take our plastic bottles back to the shop and receive a small refund then Leith Links would be squeaky clean.
Greenpeace volunteers have been taking action on plastic pollution for years. For example, in September 2021 we did a beach clean, where the majority of rubbish was plastic that should have been recycled, or even better, not produced in the first place.
We, like lots of other Edinburgh residents are trying to do their bit, and Government, supermarkets and brands need to do theirs to cut plastic too.
Make sure you don’t miss the next of our series of #ERSLive talks, which will be held thisTuesday 26 April, at 7pm via Zoom.
What can we expect from next month’s Scottish local elections?
Which parties will be on the up and which losing out? Join us for an evening of insight and analysis with elections expert Professor Sir John Curtice for an in depth look at Scotland’s local democracy.
As well as a look at what we can expect from the upcoming polls, Prof Curtice will launch his upcoming ERS report – The Power of Preferences: STV in Scottish Elections – taking an in-depth look at the results from 2017 and how voters make use of the Single Transferable Vote system.
Governments across the world are raising wages, cutting tax and announcing hefty financial aid packages for people and workplaces affected by the energy crisis (writes TUC’s NINA REECE):
War in Ukraine is exposing the cracks in a global energy system that privileges profit over people and the climate and is too reliant on international trade in fossil fuels. The result is a massive increase in energy costs that is hurling people into poverty while energy companies announce another year of eye-watering profit.
But the Conservative government’s decision not to help the people or sectors most affected by the energy crisis is the exception, not the rule. Here is how other governments across Europe are providing support.
Germany
In Germany, €16billion (£13.4billion) has been made available to ease the burden of rising costs. The support package includes a €9 pass for commuters, giving them a month’s unlimited use of public transport. Making public transport more accessible in the UK is key to reaching our emissions targets.
There is a one-off €300 tax cut for individuals, extra discounts for low-income families and fuel taxes will be cut for three months, with the price per litre cut by €0.30 for petrol and €0.14 for diesel.
Importantly, this package includes a commitment to reducing German reliance on gas, oil and fossil fuels long term.
Germany is also set to raise the national minimum wage by 15 per cent, benefitting nearly 6.2 million low-paid workers – two thirds of them women – giving Germany the second-highest minimum wage in Europe. The rise, agreed as part of the coalition deal, will also cover self-employed and flexible workers.
Nordic countries
A six million Swedish kronor (£473m) pot was set aside by the Swedish government to soften the impact of soaring bills. This may not sound like a lot, but with population that is fraction of that of the UK – it is significant. The government has also issued winter bill subsidies of up to 6000 kronor (£488) for 1.8m households from winter into 2022.
The Norwegian government’s package of measures to help households totals more than eight billion kronor (£664m). In January, Norway even committed to covering 80 per cent of electricity costs for a short period whenever the rate for electricity is above 70 Norwegian øre (6p) per kilowatt-hour.
France
President Macron is targeting energy companies.
EDF, the state energy provider, will charge electricity at below market rate and will take an €8.4bn financial hit. It has also been ordered to sell nuclear power to rivals at below current market rate as its reactors generate 70% of the country’s electricity.
This month, the CEO of Total Energie has also announced a freeze on dividends. In the UK, despite massive profits, no caps or restrictions have been placed on the Big Six energy providers.
The French government has also cut electricity taxes in a bid to slow the increase to bills. While here in the UK, gaps in the Chancellor’s support package means the energy crisis will hit the poorest families the hardest, in France 5.8million low-income households were given a €100 payment for energy bills in January this year.
Spain
The Spanish government’s €16billion response to the energy crisis is the most comprehensive. The focus is on curbing profits and protecting jobs.
Some €2billion will be raised from a windfall tax on energy providers. €500million in subsidies will be provided for electricity-intensive industries and companies that receive this aid won’t be able to dismiss staff to balance out their rising energy costs.
€10billion of state loans will also be given to companies in other industries who are forced to spend more on energy. There is protection for truckers and professional drivers with €450million in direct aid for transport professionals.
And for families and individuals, a fuel sales subsidy of €1.4billion will reduce prices by €0.20 a litre, making a full tank about €9 cheaper, far better than Rishi Sunak’s 5p cut to fuel duty which would take just £2.25 off the cost of a full tank.
These responses from other countries show that our government can do more to help families and industries survive what the Governor of the Bank of England calls a ‘historic shock’ to our living standards. Households currently face an annual energy bill of £2000 and prices are to rise again in October.
Sign petition to demand action from Rishi SunakRishi Sunak must come back to parliament and present an Emergency Budget. We need a proper package of economic support for families.
Applications now open to be part of Hidden Door 2022
Our festivals showcase theatre, spoken word, visual art, dance and music by local and international artists, and aims to create a platform to bring the arts to a wider audience.
Hidden Door is a volunteer-run charity, with our work funded through ticket sales, sponsorship and fundraising. All money goes straight back into the festival and paying our creative contributors and artists.
This year we’re bringing the old Royal High School on Calton Hill to life for a ten day festival of live music, visual art, dance, theatre and spoken word. The festival will completely transform the entire complex from 9 – 18 June 2022.
We’re looking for friendly faces to help us with a range of duties before, during and after the festival and to help make this the most exciting Hidden Door Festival yet.
We’re looking for self-motivated team members for a range of duties before, during and after the festival such as:
Clearing and preparing the site before the festival
Venue building and set up
Event stewarding, greeting visitors and crowd control
Invigilating artwork installations across the sites
Box office support
Stage management and artist support
Checking wristbands and tickets
Queue management and monitoring noise levels
Cleaning up after the festival
Supervising gates and access points to the festival
Why volunteer?
FREE access to the festival (dependent upon hours volunteered)
The chance to work with an experienced team and learn new skills
An opportunity to get involved in the local arts scene and work with a great line-up of artists and contributors
Be a part of the festival team, make friends and meet new people
If you aren’t sure if volunteering is for you, or would like to understand a bit more about what’s involved, please email hello@hiddendoorarts.org and we’ll be happy to help.
To start off this month, we are pleased to be able to welcome yet another partner, with whom we will be working in the future.
Art in Healthcare is a charity that has been working in Edinburgh and Scotland since 1991. They have a large collection of Scottish art that is placed in community, healthcare and social care settings and they also work with professional artists to provide creative workshops in a wide range of communities.
A spokesperson said: “We are really excited to have the opportunity to work at Heart of Newhaven to consider how art can become an integrated part of the organisation and building as it moves forward.
“We are planning a programme of art workshops for all ages and levels of experience, visits to other interesting venues in Edinburgh and the opportunity to visit our stores and help to select works that could be exhibited at the Heart from September 2022 onwards.”
Of course Art in Healthcare is only the latest organisation to approach the Heart. Visit our Partners page on the website to find out about others.
If anyone knows of any individual, organisation or charity that would like to contribute to our three themes of culture and heritage, learning and enterprise and well-being, and take space at The Heart to do so, do get in touch.
While we are currently negotiating with various groups over use of space, nothing is yet set in stone. We want to maximise the use of space and the benefits to the community that working in partnership can bring.
We have heard of one local artist who mistakenly thought the place was totally full!
While there is certainly lots of interest, it is also a large site and we will do our best to accommodate you.
Our next collaborative event will be taking place in June, so make a note in your diaries for The Big Picnic on 19th June. This will happen at Victoria Park and is a joint venture with Friends of Victoria Park.
There will be fun for all in a family-orientated event with loads of activities and loads of fun. Look out your picnic baskets, air your picnic blankets and watch this space for more details in the next newsletter.
Now you must know that local elections are taking place on 5th May and those of you who live in the immediate area may have been used to voting at Victoria Primary School.
Do take a close look at your polling card though. If you live in Western Harbour, you will be voting at The Heart, another confirmation that the City of Edinburgh Council is on board with our plans!
If you live along Main Street or other parts of Newhaven, however, you will be voting at Newhaven Church. Make sure you go to the correct place. You can also check here
Finally, you can’t have helped but notice that we’ve launched another Crowdfunder campaign.
As we get ready to accept the keys to the site (date still not confirmed, but hopefully soon) we are also getting ready to hit the ground running.
For this we need funds to clean, paint, repair, plant and generally get the site up to standard. We’re pleased to report that we have already reached the halfway point for the target sum, and have applied for match-funding from other donors, so please do contribute to the campaign, no matter what the amount. It all adds up!
Make sure you spread the word as well and tell all your friends and social media platforms.
Thank you in advance.
Thank you too to all who have helped so far during our site visits and if you haven’t signed up to help (via our Volunteering page on the website) then do so now.
