We have all heard of celebrity doppelgangers, but is your lookalike from 300 years ago? This National Lookalike Day (20th April), The York and Edinburgh Dungeon are on the hunt for people who resemble some of the most infamous rogues from each city’s darkest historical tales.
Whether your husband looks like a Dick (Turpin, to be precise) or your mother-in-law is a bit of a witch, The Dungeons is asking people to nominate their friends, family or (un)loved ones who remind them of the region’s most infamous historical villains.
Whether they are ‘lit’ like Guy Fawkes, have the look of the plague or still dress like they were born in the 19th century if you know someone who looks like a modern-day villain, all you need to do is head to The York or Edinburgh Dungeon Facebook page and submit your photo to the ‘National Lookalikes’ post on Saturday 20th April.
The most ‘orrible lookalike selected by each attraction will get their hands on a fun yet frightening freebie, which includes four free tickets to The Dungeons to see if they have what it takes to come face to face with their historical doppelganger and survive to tell the tale…
Mark Mattinson, General Manager of The York Dungeon, said: “The Dungeons are renowned for bringing historical characters to life, but now we’re on the lookout for someone who looks like they could fit in among our infamous rogues.
“Submit their photo for a chance to win entry for a group of four, so they can come face to face with their spine-tingling lookalike. If you know a modern-day Dick (Turpin, obviously) we want to hear from you!”
For further information and to book a visit to The York or Edinburgh Dungeon, please visit the website here: https://www.thedungeons.com/
Cineworld, the UK’s leading cinema chain, is to celebrate the acclaimed British director Danny Boyle from May 7th to May 28th with a limited time big screen re-release of four of the Scottish director’s classic titles.
Tickets go on sale from today for these iconic movies that defined Danny Boyle’s career – a rare chance for fans to experience these classics on the big screen, just as they were meant to be seen, all for the affordable price of £5 per ticket.
Exclusive to Cineworld, the films showing nationwide during Danny Boyle Season will be:
May 7: Sunshine – Futuristic sci-fi thriller penned by Alex Garland returns to the big screen starring Cilian Murphy and Chris Evans.
May 14: Shallow Grave – Celebrate the 30th anniversary of Boyle’s dark comic debut feature featuring Ewan McGregor and Christopher Eccleston.
May 21: 28 Days Later – The legendary British zombie movie returns to the big screen. Take in the deserted streets of London and the journey into the unknown…
May 28: Trainspotting – Choose Life. Choose Trainspotting as the iconic gritty cult classic gets a 4K Restoration and will be screened nationwide on May 28th
Stuart Crane, VP of Film Cineworld Group: “Danny Boyle is undeniably one of Britain’s greatest directors, and we’re thrilled to bring back a selection of his most memorable titles to the big screen for only £5.
“Whether you’re eager to relive the mesmerizing sci-fi journey of Sunshine, experiencing the adrenaline-pumping thrills of 28 Days Later for the first time, or indulging in the visually stunning 4k restoration of Trainspotting, there’s a cinematic delight for every taste in this tribute to Danny Boyle.”
Don’t miss this unique opportunity to experience Boyle’s cinematic classics on the big screen and join us in celebrating Danny Boyle Season this May. For tickets and showtimes, please visit cineworld.com or the Cineworld app.
Dozens of much loved pubs across Scotland in serious danger of pulling their last pint, warns GMB Union
Almost 50 Stonegate pubs across Scotland could close after the company issued a profit warning.
As GMB predicted earlier this year – and despite private equity owner TDR’s assurances to a parliamentary select committee in January – Stonegate says there is no guarantee it can continue as a going concern, as it struggles to refinance a £2.2bn debt mountain.
Stonegate is one of the largest pub companies in the UK, with more than 4,500 pubs and more than 19,000 workers, including brands like Slug and Lettuce, Yates and Walkabout.
The chain has 45 pubs across Scotland
GMB has written to Lian Byrne MP, chair of the Business and Trade Select Committee, asking him to recall TDR bosses in light of the profit warning.
Nadine Houghton, GMB National Officer, said: “TDR bosses are private equity gamblers- playing fast and loose with people’s jobs and lives.
“When their risky ventures go wrong, they swan off to their next project, leaving workers and communities to pick up the pieces.
“Now, dozens of much loved pubs across Scotland are in serious danger of pulling their last pint.
Diverse aged group of people reading books together
Fort Kinnaird has partnered with Musselburgh Library to launch a free book club that will bring the community together over the joy of reading.
The club will be hosted at the centre by the Musselburgh Library Team, with participants encouraged to bring along the book they’re currently reading or favourite novel to discuss and take inspiration from others.
Launching in Caffè Nero on Thursday 25th April, from 10am – 11am, the book club will meet on the last Thursday of every month. Booking is not required, and a free hot drink will be available for all attendees of the first session.
The new book club coincides with the relaunch of the centre’s popular book swap, which saw over 300 books exchanged by the community last year.
This year, in addition to the ‘Little Library’ of children’s books in the play area to exchange for free, there will also be a dedicated area for novels for all ages to swap in Caffè Nero. Both book swaps will be available from Thursday 25th April onwards.
Liam Smith, centre director at Fort Kinnaird, said: “From our long-term partnership with the National Literacy Trust, we know how important access to books and reading is for children, not only for literacy development but also mental wellbeing – which is why we launched our book swap initiative last year.
“But we know reading is equally valuable to adults and it’s brilliant to be able to take our support even further with the launch of the book club, bringing the local community together to socialise and chat over a good book, or several!
“A special thank you goes to Musselburgh Library and Caffè Nero for providing their expertise and a venue.”
Wilma Porteous, community librarian at Musselburgh Library, said: “We are so passionate about the benefits of reading, both for wellbeing and education, and were delighted when Fort Kinnaird approached us to work on this book club together.
“Whether you’re into thrilling crime novels or prefer a literary classic, the book club is the perfect excuse to while away an hour with fellow readers.”
A campaign to deter adults buying alcohol for children aims to build on its success when it is relaunched this summer.
The ‘It’ll Cost You’ initiative has run nationally across Scotland for the last two years and will continue in 2024. Evaluations of the previous campaigns have shown a steady increase in awareness about the implications of supplying alcohol to minors, but it remains a serious issue with 18 detections being made during the course of the 2023 campaign.
It is an offence in Scotland for an adult to buy or attempt to buy alcohol for someone who is under the age of 18. This is known as proxy purchase and can result in a fine, imprisonment or both.
The ‘It’ll Cost You!’ campaign is a collaboration between Police Scotland, the Scottish Alcohol Industry Partnership and Community Alcohol Partnerships and aims to raise awareness of the damaging effects and criminal nature of buying alcohol for under 18s.
This year’s campaign will run from 1 July to 12 August across Scotland.
Superintendent Joanne McEwan, Police Scotland, said:“This campaign showcases the benefits of key partners working together to inform the public of dangers associated with underage drinking, as well as the criminal consequences for supplying those under 18 with alcohol.”
Luke McGarty, Chair of the SAIP Campaigns Group and Head of Policy and Public Affairs, Scottish Grocers Federation, said:“Proxy purchasing is not an easy crime to detect.
“Retailers are essentially the first line of defence and reducing underage drinking and anti-social behaviour linked to alcohol is one we support and ties in with SGF’s position of promoting responsible community retailing.
“We look forward to continuing to work with our partners on the campaign again this year.”
Grahame Clarke, Community Alcohol Partnership Coordinator said:“The campaign gives us an opportunity to carry the ‘It’ll Cost You’ resources and messaging in local communities, highlighting the dangers of buying alcohol for young people.
“We look forward to working with Police Scotland and the Police Scotland Youth Volunteers to make sure that this messaging is carried through all our engagement activity this summer.”
Siobhian Brown MSP, Minister for Victims and Community Safety, said:“I welcome the return of a campaign that successfully illustrates the value of strong collaboration and regular engagement between partners, which help to deliver shared aims to help reduce underage drinking and anti-social behaviour in our communities.”
SOWING THE SEEDS OF INTERNATIONAL TRADITIONAL DANCE
There’s just one week to go before the Pomegranates Festival of International Traditional Dance (25-30 April) kicks off at the Scottish Storytelling Centre and various venues across Edinburgh.
Tickets for all events are going fast and are available on a Pay What You Can basis.
The Pomegranates Festival, supported by Creative Scotland’s Traditional Dance Target Fund, celebrates Scottish traditional dance and diverse traditional dance practised by cultural migrant communities across Scotland.
The idea for the name of the festival comes from the second line of the Beatles song ‘Something’ (1969) written by George Harrison. The word pomegranate was only used as a temporary filler by Harrison before he settled on the final lyrics.
For the festival this idea of pomegranates being a filler before settling on the final creation, came to stand for their process of workshopping, trying and teaching – all elements that remain hidden from the public eye, but culminate in unmissable creations.
This year, these unmissable creations include:
A newly-devised showing ofElegies, (27 Apr, 7pm) which premiered during the Scottish International Storytelling Festival 2023.
This performance, which weaves together dance theatre, spoken word and live music, is a dance adaptation of the poetry book Elegies for the Dead in Cyrenaica (1948) by Hamish Henderson(1919-2002), a soldier-poet, singer-songwriter and scholar-folk revivalist of Scotland.
Set in a dancehall and a desert during the Second World War, the new production is centred around new ensemble choreography by George Adams which embodies ceilidh, jive, swing and lindy hop, accompanied by Henderson’s poems read by spoken word artists Morag Anderson and Stephen Watt, and live music and vocals from multi-instrumentalist Cera Impala.
The Festival Finaleon International Dance Day (29 April 7.30pm) which will include a new dance piece created by festival choreographer-in-residence Jonzi D and performed by 20 Edinburgh-based traditional dancers.
Jonzi D is a MC, dancer, spoken word artist and widely recognised for his influence on the development of the UK British hip hop dance and theatre scene.
The piece will be accompanied by newly-commissioned poetry by Perth-based poet Jim Mackintoshwho will also be launching his new book of poetry We are Migrant at the event, and poems by BBC broadcaster Ian McMillan read by Jonzi D. There will also be a screening of a new film by contemporary visual artist and human rights activist Mare Tralla who has been artist-in-residence at this year’s festival.
Plus, there are tours of Edinburgh’s Old and New Town’s dance history (27 April 11am & 2pm), looking at the city’s dance tales and the under-recognised female dance teachers of the past, with writer and storyteller Donald Smith and dance historian Alena Shmakova; a special Lindy Hop ceilidh session led by the festival musicians-in-residence Castle Rock Jazz Band (27 April 8.30pm); a talk by Ruediger Hess, President of Europeade who will give an overview of the history of Europeade (25 April, 11am) which is the largest festival of folk dance and music held in a different European country each year, whilst on an initial visit to Scotland to explore the possibility of various cities hosting the 61st edition in 2026; and a Family Day on Sunday 28 April 10am to 2pm featuring shows for and by wee ones and a family ceilidh called by Caroline Brockbank of CeilidhKids.
Jim Mackintosh, poet-in-residence at this year’s Pomegranates Festival said:
to share the creative space
of the Pomegranate
to be one with such an array of talent,
to learn and empower, to embrace the rhythm
of words and dance woven with laughter
and the energy of youth
to pin my imagination
to the floor which
holds us to the union of our purpose
is a precious gift:
the gift that is the Pomegranate Festival
Pomegranate Festival co-producers Wendy Timmons and Iliyana Nedkova said:“We are delighted that this year’s festival is packed with over 25 events representing the diversity and wealth of traditional dance at our shores, as well as the intrinsic connection of Scottish and world trad dance with live music, poetry, film, heritage crafts, fashion and storytelling.
“We are very proud that for the third year now Pomegranates is serving a cocktail of fascinating movement to audiences and participants from Scotland, as well as worldwide via our festival livestreams.
“So looking forward to sharing this long weekend featuring over 100 trad dance artists, musicians and creatives as they take over our stages, screens and spaces.
“Spring has sprung and so have the seedlings of the ruby seeds and sequins of traditional dance from all corners of the world – all practised in Scotland by first and second generation of cultural migrants – from the Scottish Gaelic singing and step dancing to Ukrainian folk dancing, from Lindy Hop to Hip Hop.”
Vanessa Boyd, Interim Head of Dance at Creative Scotlandcommented: “The upcoming Pomegranates Festival in the capital promises a vibrant gathering of artists uniting to celebrate and present a diverse tapestry of Scottish traditional dance alongside traditional dance from migrant communities and various cultures.
“What makes this festival truly exceptional is the breadth of the programming provided by Traditional Dance Forum of Scotland which will enable many more people the opportunity to experience and engage with a strong mix of traditional dance from Scotland and around the world.”
The Pomegranates Festival will run from Thursday 25 April to Tuesday 30 April 2024 and is Scotland’s annual festival of international traditional dance.
Initiated and curated by Traditional DanceForum of Scotland it is presented and produced in partnership with Traditional Arts and Culture Scotland, Moray House School of Education and Sport, University of Edinburgh, Edinburgh City Libraries, Dance Base and the Scottish Storytelling Centre.
Edinburgh Leisure is pumping up the volume with their first festival of fitness classes at Meadowbank Sports Centre on Saturday, 4th May 2024.
The Super Saturday Fitness Class Festival will be an opportunity to try over 15 different fitness classes on a Super Saturday Workout like no other.
You can work up a sweat with the crowds at popular high-octane favourites like Bodypump and Zumba or try out some new acts like Shapes. And if you prefer life in the slower lane, their relaxation stage will be offering more peaceful Yoga and Pilates sessions.
With activities starting from 9am across four different stages, there will be something for everyone. Spaces are limited so make sure to book your classes now online or on the app.
Entry is free for Edinburgh Leisure members and just £5 per class for non-members. All classes must be pre-booked.
Edinburgh Leisure offers more classes across the city than any other provider and they have recently unlocked their Fitness Class Membership to ensure customers have access to all the classes they want, wherever they’re at, in the city or in life.
Their Fitness Class Membership now offers full access to more than 750 fitness classes a week across all their venues.
And if you sign up before 31 May 2024, you can take advantage of their No Joining Fee Offer – available for a limited time only.
Five-star-visitor attraction Johnnie Walker Princes Street is inviting guests to find their flow and embark on a journey of tranquility and connectivity with its latest offering, Sunrise Yoga on Friday, May 3rd, 7 – 8.45 a.m.
Led by Jess Mackenzie, yoga instructor and passionate advocate for self-love and inner peace, this unique experience will combine a serene one-hour yoga class with the opportunity for attendees to connect with each other post-work-out over a light breakfast and mocktail.
Designed for people of all skill and experience level, the early morning flow will allow guests to awaken their senses and move through a sequence of yoga poses with Jess, with the perfect backdrop of Edinburgh’s west end. Located in the venue’s fourth-floor Label Studio, guests will enjoy skyline views as they are led through a series of movements designed to harness energy and invigorate both body and mind.
Following the yoga session, attendees will be welcomed to the 1820 Rooftop Bar and Terrace for some light breakfast and a non alcholic cocktail while soaking in unbeatable views of Edinburgh Castle and historic old town.
Yoga instructor and experience host, Jess Mackenzie, said:“Sunrise Yoga at Johnnie Walker Princes Street presents locals and visitors to the city with a unique opportunity to nourish both body and mind, while cultivating valuable connections, all at this stunning location.
“It’s fantastic to see the Johnnie Walker Princes Street team taking this kind of approach and offering guests a chance for something new and different in the city.”
Rob Maxwell, Head of Johnnie Walker Princes Street, said:“Here at Johnnie Walker Princes Street we have been awarded for bringing world-class experiences to our visitors since we opened in 2021.
“We are always working to ensure there’s something for everyone and looking for new ways to bring our customers unmatched experiences, and Sunrise Yoga is the perfect example of our commitment to this.
“We look forward to welcoming those returning to the venue, as well as those who may have never been before, for this exciting session, unlike anything we’ve ever done before.”
Priced at £15 per person, tickets for the experience can be purchased online at www.johnniewalkerprincesstreet.com. All attendees are required to come with their own personal yoga mats.
To check out other experiences at Johnnie Walker Princes Street, and for more information, please visit www.johnniewalkerprincesstreet.com
New six-year study proves that leaving areas of grass to grow long in gardens can increase butterfly numbers by up to 93%
This the first scientific evidence that wildlife-friendly gardening practices, such as having long grass and flowering ivy, boost the numbers and typesof butterflies, particularly in urban areas and near farmland
The research is great news for gardeners and non-gardeners alike, proving the free and easy action of letting an area go wild can make a positive impact for butterflies
Letting parts of your garden grow wild with long grass can increase butterfly numbers by up to 93% and attract a wider range of species, according to new research from leading wildlife charity Butterfly Conservation.
The study, published in the journal Science of the Total Environment, provides the first scientific evidence that having long grass in your garden increases butterfly abundance and diversity. Creating such wild spaces may help to reverse the decline of these beautiful insects.
Undertaken by Butterfly Conservation scientists Dr Lisbeth Hordley and Dr Richard Fox, the research analysed butterfly sightings from more than 600 gardens across the UK, collected by members of the public over six years through the charity’s Garden Butterfly Survey.
The results show that gardens with long grass had a significantly higher number of butterflies recorded, with a greater variety of species, than those without.
Importantly, the biggest benefits of these wild spaces were found in urban areas and intensively farmed landscapes. In highly arable areas, gardens with long grass saw up to 93% more butterflies, and those in urban areas showed an increase of 18%.
The potential to provide wild spaces for butterflies and moths to thrive is huge. Gardens make up more than 728,000 hectares in Great Britain – the equivalent of over a million football pitches.
If each of these gardens had a space that was allowed to go a little wild, with grass growing long, it would make a huge difference for butterflies and moths, providing spaces for them to feed, breed and shelter.
While the research specifically studied gardens, the benefits to butterflies of long grass and wild spaces are likely to extend beyond the garden gate. Public green spaces such as parks, school grounds, allotments, and road verges, could also provide vital spaces for wildlife, and enable more people to see more butterflies if allowed to go a little wild.
Dr Richard Fox, Head of Science at Butterfly Conservation and co-author of the study, said: “Nature is in crisis; 80% of butterflies have declined since the 1970s, so we need to take action now to protect them.
“We wanted to be able to give tried and tested gardening advice that will benefit butterflies as we know lots of people want to help. This study proves, for the first time, that allowing a patch of grass to grow long will attract more butterflies into your garden.”
The study also found that the presence of flowering ivy in gardens increased the number of certain butterfly species, such as the Holly Blue, Red Admiral and Comma, which use ivy as a breeding habitat or nectar source.
Butterfly Conservation is calling for everyone to create their own Wild Space, no matter how big or small, to help butterflies survive and thrive. Through its Wild Spaces programme, the charity aims to transform 100,000 areas across the UK to help support butterfly populations.
Dr Fox added: “The simple act of creating wild spaces by allowing a patch of grass to grow long, or a border edge to go wild is free and easy to do, and can significantly boost butterfly numbers, especially in urban and agricultural settings where they are most under pressure. The benefits of each individual wild space are small, but if thousands of people get involved the boost to butterflies could be huge.
“Whether you have a large garden, a small patch of grass, a community or school space, or a balcony or window box, anyone, anywhere can help. We hope that our Wild Spaces programme will inspire people across the UK to take action and help to create a national network of butterfly-friendly habitats.”
Wild Spaces can be created by anyone, anywhere – from gardens to shared community spaces, balconies, terraces, or patios. No matter the size or location, every Wild Space can contribute to the recovery of butterfly populations and support biodiversity.
First year of Healthy Planet, Healthy People research grants by Williamson Trust and Royal Society of Edinburgh
Nearly £60,000 worth of funding will be given to 12 research projects in communities across Scotland
Community research projects to promote the health of individuals will take place in Edinburgh, Glasgow, Renfrewshire, Dumfries and Galloway, Inverness, Campbeltown, Fife, Lewis, Orkney and Perth.
The Royal Society of Edinburgh and the Williamson Trust have given their support to three community research projects in Edinburgh, aimed at promoting healthy living.
The RSE and Williamson Trust have given their support to 12 new community-led research projects, which will promote the health of individuals by fostering healthy communities, healthy environments, and healthy food.
This is the first year that the Healthy Planet, Healthy People awards have been given out. Originally only ten awards were planned, however the strength of the applications was such that a further two projects will now be supported.
The Community Renewal Trust in North Edinburgh has received £4,600 of funding. The Trust is part of the R2 network of organisations that collaborate to achieve better outcomes in local communities.
Through the project, the group will explore the feasibility of establishing a food buying group for local organisations that would achieve economies of scale, improve the quality and quantity of food available in the area, reduce food waste and reduce the time, energy and food miles that local organisations are spending in procuring food in north Edinburgh.
R2 co-ordinator Anita Aggarwal said: “Local people and organisations have been at the forefront of finding dignified solutions to food insecurity in the area.
“This award will help us work towards our vision of sustainably produced food being affordable and available in the area. As a network of organisations, we know we can achieve more if we work together, but finding time to collaborate can be hard, so this helping hand will go a long way and have a wide impact in the long term.”
Art Walk Projects based in Portobello is set receive £5,000 to develop a series of public conversations with artists, scientists, farmers, landscape architects and climate scientists to establish a strategy for coastal communities to achieve net zero.
Founder and artistic director Rosy Naylor said: “We are so very delighted to receive the support from RSE and Williamson Trust enabling us to develop our new project ‘Thrift: Climate Conversations’ involving local coastal communities in conversations around issues of food production, farming and coastal ecologies of northeast Edinburgh.
“It will provide for a rich multi-disciplinary approach engaging local publics around possible future food environments.”
Nourish Scotland’s “Our Right to Food” project is the third in Edinburgh to benefit from funding, receiving £5,000. The project aims to develop ways to measure the progress towards the right to good quality affordable food in Scotland.
Senior project officer Irina Martin said: “We are delighted to have been successful to get the ‘Healthy Planet, Healthy People’: Community-led Award. The Our Right to Food project aims to learn what people in Scotland would choose as a healthy and enjoyable way to eat so that rights holders and decision makers can better identify how to make this accessible for all.
“It does this by working with people from the community to create and then price “shopping baskets” for typical households across Scotland – the idea being that these baskets can be used to measure whether a “good enough” diet is affordable.
“This funding will support the next phase of the project which will focus on a typical Pakistani household in Scotland. This is to explore whether a “good enough” diet is more or less affordable for different groups within Scotland, and in doing so, show the functional value it could have when it comes to measuring progress toward achieving the right to food in Scotland.”
Aside from the three food security projects in Edinburgh, funding has also been awarded to a number of other projects in the west of Scotland, the Highlands and Islands, Fife and Perth.
Professor David E Salt FRSE, chair of the Williamson Trust said: “I speak for all the trustees when I say we were incredibly excited to see the very strong response we got from communities across Scotland.
“From food waste, the right to food and cooperative local growing, to rebuilding biodiversity and land rights, community street play, urban forests, and climate conversations as street theatre.
“The Trust hopes this seed funding will deliver real change and lead to larger impacts going into the future. We are very excited to be working with these communities across Scotland to help them make a new and better future.”
RSE Vice President, Research, Professor Anne Anderson OBE FRSE said: “This is the first time that the RSE has supported this type of research, as the Society broadens its range of research awards, and I feel that it is vital that we do so.
“The health of the individual and the health of the environment are inextricably linked, and it is my hope that these awards will now provide a boost to these exciting research groups which will lead to improvements in both.
“I very much look forward to following their progress and achievements over the next 12 months.”
