Day: May 4, 2024

Exhibitions on the Capital’s fiery past and dynamic present open at the Museum of Edinburgh

Two new co-curated exhibitions with partnership organisations were launched at the Museum of Edinburgh this week (May 2).

‘Edinburgh Rising from the Ashes: 200 Years of the Scottish Fire Service’ marks the bicentenary of the world’s first municipal fire brigade, which was founded here in Edinburgh in 1824.

This exhibition, in partnership with   the Museum of Scottish Fire Heritage, charts the remarkable development of firefighting in the Capital and across Scotland over the centuries.

In addition to the exhibition there is an accompanying series of lectures and family craft workshops covering everything from Edinburgh’s influence on global fire safety standards to painting a mini fire helmet.

‘Pedal Power: Cycling and Activism in Edinburgh’ is an exhibition which focusses on cycling safety, sustainability and history in our city. This exhibition was curated in conjunction with local cycling groups Critical Mass, Infrasisters, Spokes and Bike Buses.

There are also lectures and a family craft workshop taking place during the Edinburgh Festival of Cycling, which runs from 31 May to 9 June 2024.

Both exhibitions run until Sun 22 Sep 2024 and entry is free.

For more information on the Museum of Edinburgh please visit our website.

Culture and Communities Convener, Councillor Val Walker said: “I was delighted to launch these exhibitions and see first-hand some of the incredible stories that they tell.

“From our proud history and traditions of firefighting to promoting active travel in modern day Edinburgh these provide two very distinct views of life in the Capital.

“The different themes and ideas explored in these exhibitions shows our museums as the incredible spaces they are to explore contemporary issues as well as historical events.

“I’d like to thank all our partners who contributed to these exhibitions, some of whom I was lucky enough to meet at the launch. 

“I’d also urge our residents and visitors to take advantage and get down to the Museum of Edinburgh in the coming months.”

Assistant Chief Officer for Operational Delivery at the Scottish Fire and Rescue Service, David Farries said: “This year is an incredibly historic year for us as we recognise and proudly celebrate Scotland’s rich fire and rescue heritage.  “

We have a wealth of great commemorative and educational events lined up across the year to celebrate 200 years since the creation of the world’s first municipal fire service in Edinburgh.

“The world has changed drastically since 1824 and so has our service. Through these exhibitions we want to showcase the people, the innovation, and the values that our service was built on and are still at the heart of the modern Scottish Fire and Rescue Service.

“We have something for all ages so I would encourage anybody who has an interest in the Fire Service, its history and the importance of the wider history of the city and beyond to head along to the museum and view the exhibition.”

Pedal Power Co-curator and Member of Edinburgh Critical Mass, Victoria Hawkins said: “We got involved with the Pedal Power exhibition because we are all keen to show that better, safer cycling benefits everyone.

“At some point we lost the balance of transport in the city, and we now know how harmful that has been to our lungs, our health and our wildlife. We’re all working in different ways to create a future city where more people can share the joy of walking and cycling safely.

“We hope people will come to the exhibition and see an opportunity to move forward from binary car vs bike debates and support better active travel infrastructure in Edinburgh.”

Visit the new Peer Recovery Hub

Scottish Recovery Network has launched their new online resource full of free tools, events, and opportunities to inspire you to develop and champion peer support for mental health recovery.

It’s a space where they’ll be shining a spotlight on your fantastic peer support projects, services, and organisations and a place to share ideas and learning from people planning and delivering peer support activities, to help you do the same.

Find it here: www.PeerRecoveryHub.Net

Scotland’s human rights watchdog launches four year plan

The Scottish Human Rights Commission publishes its Strategic Plan for 2024 – 2028

The plan, which has been laid before the Scottish Parliament, identifies our priorities for the next four years and explains what the Commission will do to promote and protect human rights in Scotland. 

It outlines how we will use our powers to build our role and profile as Scotland’s human rights watchdog, to investigate human rights violations, to hold those responsible accountable for making sure those rights are realised, and support public bodies to do better.

Our three priorities are:

  • To use and extend our powers to make sure there are stronger human rights protections for everyone in Scotland. This means we can hold those responsible to account when things go wrong.
  • To engage more people in communities across Scotland in our work, so that everything we do is informed by people’s direct experience of human rights issues.
  • To monitor and report on how human rights are being experienced in Scotland and play our part in creating a stronger human rights culture.

Using evidence gathered in our own monitoring, and through our direct engagement with people in different communities, we identify four key priority issues.

These are where we believe there is a need for the Commission to focus on over the next four years:

  1. The impact of poverty on human rights
  2. Human rights in places of detention
  3. Access to Justice
  4. Rights to remedy for groups who have special protections under international human rights treaties.

Jim Farish, Shelley Gray and Claire Methven O’Brien, Members of the Scottish Human Rights Commission, said: “We have detailed our ambition to lead this organisation out into communities; to talk, to listen and find out how well human rights are being realised in Scotland. This will inform our decisions on how we will use our powers and resources over the next four years. 

“The Commission will focus its efforts on being a strong watchdog for everyone’s human rights in Scotland. This means holding power to account where things go wrong, and supporting public bodies to do better with our help.  We have identified four areas where we believe stronger focus is needed – on poverty, in places of detention, in access to justice, and on the rights of groups of people most at risk.

“The development of a new Human Rights Bill presents a key moment in shaping how public services are designed and delivered to uphold people’s human rights.  We will prioritise work to scrutinise and support that process to best serve the people of Scotland, and to ensure that as a Commission, we have the powers and duties to do the best job we can in upholding human rights.”

scottish-human-rights-commission-strategic-plan-2024-28Download

You can read our Strategic Plan 2024-28 by clicking this link or it is available on the publications page of our website at www.scottishhumanrights.com

And Easy Read version is available on the publications page of our website.

The plan is available in BSL on our YouTube channel where we are @ScottishHumanRights.

Police Scotland: Special Constable Recruitment Event

Are you looking for a volunteering opportunity like no other? Then don’t miss our Special Constable Recruitment event at the Scottish Police College on Saturday, 11 May 2024.

Sign-up today using the below link to guarantee your place.

Being a Special Constable is not just about upholding the law and catching criminals, it’s also about supporting communities by building trust, respect, and positive relationships. You will be there to make a difference to those who need it most.

Do you want a volunteering role that is built around you, one that will improve the safety and wellbeing of the people, places, and communities of Scotland, one that upholds the law and our values of integrity, fairness, respect, and our commitment to upholding human rights, we want you to apply to become a Special Constable.

The benefits are:

• You will be part of a team of highly trained professionals.

• You will have identical powers to that of a police officer.

• You will receive excellent training and wellbeing support.

• You will find out if the job of a full-time police officer is for you.

Craigmount pupils put business skills to the test in Dragons’ Den style competition

The groups pitched their ideas to a panel of judges, including teachers and senior Deloitte partners

Pupils from an Edinburgh secondary school put their business skills to the test last week in an attempt to win over judges in a Dragon’s Den style competition hosted by Deloitte.

Six ‘Pupil Action Groups’ (PAGs) from Craigmount High School, made up of pupils from S1 to S6, have been working throughout 2024 on proposals for the school to tackle major issues, including sustainability, mental health, equalities, equity, digital learning and children’s rights.

The groups pitched to a panel of judges, including teachers and senior Deloitte partners, at Deloitte’s new offices in Haymarket. They competed to secure support for their proposed initiatives, including the creation of a Mental Health Festival, the development of a school newspaper and the purchase of reusable water bottles.

Craigmount High School is one of Deloitte’s partner schools through its 5 Million Futures Programme, which helps people overcome barriers to education and employment.

Working with schools and charities, Deloitte mobilises its people through volunteering, fundraising and pro-bono work to build better futures for people throughout the UK.

On the day, the pupils that make up Craigmount’s Charities and Equity PAG were named the Most Impactful Group and the school’s Sustainability PAG was awarded Best Group Presentation.

Deloitte also presented an award for Most Effective Individual Presentation to Imaiyal (S2) from the Equalities PAG, who reflected on her group’s efforts to champion equality in Craigmount’s community. Their work involved holding a bake sale during Transgender Awareness Week and organising a dress down day to raise money during Women’s History Month.  

Imaiyal said: “I’m really happy to be recognised for my hard work to help improve equality at my school.

“I had a really good time at the Deloitte offices for the Dragons’ Den competition and I enjoyed working with my school friends to figure out how we can solve these big problems.”

Lesley Smillie, Partner, Public Sector at Deloitte in Scotland, said: “We were really pleased to welcome pupils from Craigmount High to share their visions for the future.

“We were so impressed by the pupils’ presentations – it’s really encouraging to see their passion and enthusiasm to solve the various important issues we discussed.”

Alison Clark, Deputy Headteacher, Craigmount High, said: “I’m very proud of our Pupil Action Groups who have worked so hard this year to improve our school and community.

“I’d also like to thank our partners at Deloitte for hosting this competition, which has given our pupils the chance to develop and demonstrate their communication skills and teamwork. We look forward to continuing to work together in the future.”

Progress at Gorgie Farm

Significant steps forward have been made to decide the future of the Gorgie City Farm site after a series of setbacks. 

Dangerous buildings, frozen pipes, flooding, the barn roof being partially blown off and the collapse of a ceiling were events which all halted progress at various times. Structural damage to several of the Farm’s buildings was also discovered during a survey, and as a result the Farm site has had to remain closed to the public for safety reasons.

Despite unexpected events, a lot has been going on behind the scenes, and progress has really picked up pace.

Planning for the Farm site’s future is being supported by EVOC (Edinburgh Voluntary Organisations’ Council) alongside an advisory group.

A new Company Limited By Guarantee has been formed and the new company will apply for charitable status in the near future. The new company will lead on future development on the site, and local people will play an important role in progressing medium and long term ambitions for the Farm.

Local people have already contributed their thoughts and wishes for Gorgie Farm site’s future. An extensive community consultation exercise was led by Project partner Edinburgh Health and Social Care Partnership, with hundreds of people contributing ideas.

Farm Site Manager Suzanne Campbell is pleased to see ideas for the site’s future taking shape: “The Farm has a very special place in the hearts of the people of Gorgie, Dalry and the wider city, and the input of local people to what the site might look like in the future has been outstanding.

“It’s taken longer than we hoped to start to put together options for its future, but we are now in the process of preparing a report which will be presented to the Council in August.”

The report will outline four fully costed options for the future of the Gorgie Farm site will be presented to City of Edinburgh’s Culture & Communities Committee on 24 August 2024.  

Heart of Newhaven: May Newsletter

Welcome to your May newsletter
We’re film stars!

We hope the recent filming did not inconvenience you too much. We were excited to see what went on and can’t wait to see the finished result.

The production crew had to set up beforehand of course, replacing the ground floor window grilles that we had taken down and reintroducing grime and dirt that we had cleaned away, not to mention covering up umpteen things that were not in keeping with their vision of a run-down children’s home.

Then of course everything had to be reinstated when they had finished with the actual filming. We were quite exhausted!

We’ll keep you informed once the film is released and we can all see the results.
Building Works Updates
Final Handover 

Findlay Wallace and Tommy Bell from Ashwood’s have finally completed the recent renovation works, and have handed the building back to Judy Crabb (Chair HONC) and Hugo Target (HONC Architect with John Gilberts) as pictured below. 

It will be good to be free of scaffolding and hard hats but it was worth it!
Update on the Heart’s record-breaking Christmas Tree 

Hello to the Heart’s army of knitters. The Christmas Tree Project is making great progress and we are one third of the way there, with lots of squares and decorations being delivered by hand and by post, but we still need you to keep knitting even when the sun tempts you outside. 

We are planning to fireproof the squares and decorations that we already have, towards the end of May. Then in June we need volunteers to come to the Heart and stitch the squares ready to hang on the branches and of course there will be cake and tea for all those involved.

More about this next month. 

On May 11th there is a craft fair at the Eric Liddell centre and we shall be advertising our Christmas Tree.

Please come along with your squares and decorations and support the Eric Liddell 100 celebration. We have been very fortunate to receive a donation from Bailie Gifford to help with our project, so many thanks to that organisation.Happy knitting and crocheting.
Open for Coffee 

The recent Open For Coffee morning on Saturday 13th April, proved a great hit, with some hundred people coming along to enjoy the free food and entertainment.

The Scran Van rolled up to provide free lunches and the food was accompanied by musical performances from the Men’s Shed.

The free bicycle maintenance provided by EZ Bike Tours was also in great demand.
Role-Play teachers wanted

Our Partner, the History of Education Centre is keen to recruit some new role-play teacher volunteers for their Victorian Schoolroom.

The facility on the first floor of the Heart has been proving so popular for visits that new volunteers are needed to help cope.

Volunteers always work in pairs and the most common time to be needed is on weekday mornings.

Training is provided.

If you’re interested, check out their website at histedcentre.org.uk or contact christine.mcderment@heartofnewhaven.co.uk for more information.
Gala Day – Saturday 1st June

Gala Day is fast approaching, when the Gala Queen and Fisher King arrive in the harbour and are met by a parade of fishwives and pirates to be escorted up to the grounds of the Heart for an afternoon of family fun.

This is the biggest local community event of the year, and we need your support to make it the success we all enjoy.

Can you help us serve refreshments on the day? Can you help steward and keep people safe? Can you help us to promote activities that go on at The Heart? i.e give out leaflets, talk to people and get sign-ups to our newsletter?

Contact roger.walpole@heartofnewhaven.co.uk if you’d like to help make the day a success.                                                                                       
Gaze at the stars  

All Together Edinburgh have loaned us a fantastic, professional telescope that we can share with any local groups that may be interested.

Please let us know if you are interested, we would love to hear from you.

roger.walpole@heartofnewhaven.co.uk
Shanty Group

The Dreadnought Shanty Crew was originally started in January 2020 at The Dreadnought Pub and shortly after ran into heavy weather.

They navigated Covid by singing weekly online and then went into dry dock for repairs when their skipper absconded to The Northern Isles!

Now back by popular demand with the barnacles scrubbed off and seeking new recruits,
The Dreadnought Shanty Crew can be found singing on Wednesday lunchtimes from 1-2pm in the Anchor Building.

There are no auditions; apparently all you need is a broad mind and a sense of humour!

Contact jan.brown@heartofnewhaven.co.uk if you’d like further information.

The first session is free and then by donation to cover the cost of room hire.
Jan B Brown, leader of the Dementia Meeting Place and the Dreadnought Shanty Crew
Jan B Brown, leader of the Dementia Meeting Place and the Dreadnought Shanty Crew
Staff Update

You can now meet our caretakers – come and say hello when you come into the Heart .
Mike Gourlay – JohnRobert Townsley – Emmanuel Alor
Coming up soon

Saturday 18th May – Join us at the Heart for a day of free events being organised by the National Film and Television School – 10.30 till 4pm – a day of insight into some of the many creative careers available in film and television.

Three sessions will be delivered by film and TV professionals, including award-winning documentary filmmaker Miranda Stern, animator Ana Songel and sound designer Anya Przygoda.


Book your space through Eventbrite –
What’s On
Regular Sessions

Local charity receives funding boost from the ScottishPower Foundation

LifeCare Edinburgh has been awarded a significant funding boost of over £75,000 from the ScottishPower Foundation.  The funding will go towards its vital Help at Home and Meals on Wheels services, enabling the charity to reach over 200 local older people living on a low income with free support. 

Twenty charities across England, Scotland and Wales have been awarded funding totalling almost £1.2 million for projects tackling a range of issues, from cost-of-living support, to promoting diversity and inclusion and raising awareness of the ongoing climate and biodiversity crises. 

Sarah van Putten, Chief Executive of LifeCare said: “The funding from The ScottishPower Foundation will make a significant difference to the lives of hundreds of local older people. 

“At LifeCare, we believe everyone should be enabled to thrive in their own home and be active within their community.  Over 75% of the people we help live alone and without LifeCare, many older people would be left critically isolated.  

“Our services help people to keep well in both body and mind; delivering fresh, hot and nutritious meals to doorsteps with a smile and a chat, providing help with practical tasks when things are getting more difficult to manage, and offering companionship activities to keep people connected.    

“With a rapidly growing older population we are struggling to cope with demand for care coupled with the rising costs of service delivery. None of our services are fully funded and we rely on our fundraising to sustain our life-affirming services. 

“Thanks to this support we will be enabled to offer our meals on wheels service for free to those that need it and open our Help at Home service for free for those on low incomes for the first time.  We are all extremely grateful.” 

Melanie Hill, Executive Officer and Trustee at the ScottishPower Foundation, said: “Projects like LifeCare’s free Help at Home and Meals on Wheels services are a prime example of how the ScottishPower Foundation’s support is helping to create a better future. 

“With this year’s projects providing vital support set to aid vulnerable people, communities, and natural ecosystems across the nation, it’s important for us to recognise and boost the incredible work of these charities.” 

For more information about LifeCare’s services and activities visit:

https://www.lifecare-edinburgh.org.uk/ 

For a full list of the 2024 ScottishPower Foundation funded projects, go to www.scottishpowerfoundation.com

Thousands of carers in Scotland to get new benefit

Carer Support Payment extended to 10 new council areas

Thousands more unpaid carers in Scotland will be eligible for a new benefit, if regulations laid this week in the Scottish Parliament are approved. 

Carer Support Payment is the replacement for Carer’s Allowance in Scotland. It was first launched in November 2023 in three pilot areas, Perth & Kinross, Dundee City and Na h-Eileanan Siar (Western Isles). 

It will be available in 10 new local authority areas this summer as part of the next phase of the roll-out, starting with North and South Lanarkshire and Angus on 24 June. From August it will extend to Fife, Aberdeen, Aberdeenshire, Moray, and North, East and South Ayrshire and be available in the rest of Scotland in November. 

Eligible carers who live in areas where Carer Support Payment is not yet available are still being urged to still apply for Carer’s Allowance to make sure they don’t miss out on support. 

Since it launched Carer Support Payment, unlike Carer’s Allowance, is also available to carers aged 16-19 in full-time “advanced” education and carers aged over 20 in full-time education at any level.  

These regulations will see eligibility further extended to some 16-19-year-old carers in full-time “non-advanced” education, such as school, from 24 June. 

Social Justice Secretary Shirley-Anne Somerville said: “Unpaid carers provide a huge amount of physical, mental and emotional support. The work they do is invaluable, both to the people they care for and to Scottish society as a whole. 

“I am therefore delighted we are ready to roll-out the next phase of Carer Support Payment, allowing thousands more unpaid carers to get the benefit 

“This is particularly important for those who aren’t eligible for Carer’s Allowance, but are eligible for Carer Support Payment, including many full-time students.  

“Having spoken to carers in the pilot areas, I know Carer Support Payment is not only providing financial support to students who couldn’t get it before, but it’s allowing carers to study full-time who never thought this would be possible. 

“I urge anyone who lives in an area where Carer Support Payment is available to apply for it as soon as possible.”