Day: October 9, 2024

Granton Goes Greener: Beach Litter Pick this Saturday

Our Beach Cleaning event is only few days away …

Great opportunity to start October break and do something for the environment💚💚💚

We will be meeting by a green feather flag at the Brick Beach across the road from the Friends of Granton Castle Walled Garden and next to the pitt on Saturday 12/10 at 11 am.

Free picnic after the event.

Thank you to R2 project for their support and all the rubbish pickers they provided to Granton Goes Greener🙏🙏🙏

Edinburgh Science inspires young people to get hands-on with STEM

  • Edinburgh Science inspires young people to get hands-on with STEM at this year’s Career Hive
  • This year’s panel speakers include a molecular biologist who started out grilling at Nando’s, an entomologist at National Museum Scotland, a climate activist, a celebrated wildlife filmmaker and a BBC software engineer who did an apprenticeship alongside schoolwork
  • Careers Hive offers a unique and fascinating insight that showcases
  • STEM skills as transferrable to a wide range of sectors
  • Schools only 28 October – 1 November Public Open Day on Sat 2 November

www.sciencefestival.co.uk

#CareersHive

Facebook | Twitter | Instagram | YouTube

Edinburgh Science is pleased to announce the return of its annual Careers Hive, a week-long free schools event with a Public Open Day on Saturday 2 November.

Initially developed in 2016, Careers Hive inspires S1-S3 pupils to pursue a STEM-based (science, technology, engineering and maths) career through hands-on activities and discussions with early-career STEM professionals.

Careers Hive continues to work to showcase STEM skills as transferrable to a wide range of sectors and that further study of STEM subjects is helpful in many future careers.

Between 28 October and 1 of November at the National Museum of Scotland, Careers Hive can be accessed by prebooked school groups only with a Public Open Day on Saturday, 2 November. The event is set to welcome over 3,500 students across the week.

This year’s panel speakers come from a diverse range of backgrounds showing that there is no one path to a career in STEM.

They include Hannah De Angelis who dropped out of school at 15 and went from Nandos griller to Molecular Biologist via a degree in Pharmacology; Software Engineer Apprentice Abdurahman Khan whose unique path led him to now work for the BBC.

Also joining panel events will be biologist Milo Phillips, Digitisation Co-ordinator for the Royal Botanic Garden Edinburgh, who is working to make the RBGE Herbarium available to everyone, everywhere; Modern Apprentice of the year SVQF Level 6 2024 Iona McGhie who is training in mechanical engineering whilst on apprenticeship with premium drinks firm Diageo; Electronics Manufacturing Engineer and Scottish Graduate Apprentice of the Year 2023 Fatima Asif;

Joining them will so be award-winning climate activist, environmental scientist, and ethical influencer Laura Young aka Less Waste Laura who started, and continues to lead, the campaign to see single-use disposable vapes banned across Scotland and the UK; and documentary director, tv presenter and wildlife photographer Libby Penman whose new documentary Back from the Brink, showcasing the amazing work of conservationists fighting to save wildlife across Europe, is now available on BBC iPlayer.

Pupils will be able to experience:

  • Grand Gallery Interactive Exhibition with four themed zones where they engage with STEM professionals and try out different hands-on activities related to real jobs, e.g. perform a keyhole surgery, insulate a house, build a robot or assemble a model of a space satellite.
  • The Think Tank, a dedicated space for pupils to informally chat one-on-one with STEM professionals and ask the questions that matter to them most.
  • Panel Discussions in the Auditorium during which they hear from early-career STEM professionals from a range of industries about their education and career stories.

Laura McLister Director of Programmes and Operations at Edinburgh Science said: “We are absolutely delighted to be back again in this amazing venue to run Careers Hive with so many fantastic volunteers, chatting and inspiring young people to the diverse opportunities available in the STEM sector.

“Our world is facing so many challenges for the future and STEM technologies, industries and organisations will be here to tackle them, but without dedicated and trained people we can’t overcome these challenges.

“Careers Hive is here to demonstrate that STEM professions need all sorts of skills and strengths from all sorts of people and are a real opportunity to young people thinking about their futures.”

A teacher participating in Careers Hive said: “One pupil told me as we entered the Museum ‘to be honest, I’m here for the day out of school’. Come the end of the visit, he was telling me which STEM careers he was interested in, and how the event changed his perceptions about STEM.

“It opened all the pupils’ eyes to the wider range of STEM jobs rather than just a scientist or an engineer.”

Edinburgh Science school projects reach around 60,000 people every year.

Careers Hive 2024 supporters:

Baillie Gifford, BlueFloat Energy & Nadara Partnership, Edina Trust, City of Edinburgh Council, Hitachi Energy, Royal Academy of Engineering Ingenious, British Army, Edinburgh Airport, Institute of Acoustics, Maths Week Scotland, Muirhall Energy, Seebyte, STMicroelectronics and Vattenfall 

Flight Club launches new food and drinks menu 

And they’re celebrating with a free drink for all who come to try it between 14th – 18th October!

Flight Club, the lively and fairground-inspired bar known for its craft cocktails, sharing plates, and Social Darts combo, is launching a reimagined menu: delectable new dishes, upgrades to the favourites and a fresh selection of gorgeous drinks. 

Launching on 14th October, the revamped food menu is geared towards dishes that can be enjoyed by groups of friends (and can be eaten with a dart in hand!). The drinks list has had a makeover too, featuring some stunning newcomers and an expansion of its low-and-no-alcohol offering, culminating in an impressive selection of delicious booze-free options to choose from. 

To celebrate the arrival of this exciting new menu, from 14th – 18th October 2024, Flight Club is offering a free drink from its new Signature Spritz menu (or beer if a spritz isn’t your thing) for those who come in to eat (T&C’s apply)*.  

All-new dishes 

Lovingly designed by Arnaud Kaziewicz, Flight Club’s Head of Food Development and Masterchef: The Professionals finalist, the new menu consists of tapas-style small plates, pizza paddles, and a crowd-pleasing selection of grills and salads.  

Mix-and-share dishes include South Korean pork belly bites with chilli and honey glaze, Yakitori beef skewers made from prime British beef marinated in soy and ginger, and Middle Eastern sliders with plant-based lamb, smoked Applewood cheese, gherkins, and slaw.

New sourdough pizza flavour combinations include the gorgeous Gorgonzola portobello: tomato sauce, mozzarella and grilled portobello mushrooms, finished with white truffle oil and Italian pork and fennel sausage: plant-based sausage, caramelised onions and salsa verde. 

Other newcomers include a poké bowl with coconut lemon rice, crunchy slaw, cauliflower, lettuce, and red pepper sauce and a chicken tikka wrap with coconut raita, tomato, lettuce, and cucumber. 

Freshly crafted beverages 

The redesigned drinks line-up includes four new cocktails, a new selection of signature spritzes, and a significant increase in low- and no-alcohol options.  

New cocktails include ‘Highland Blush’, a combination of raspberry gin, whisky, raspberry, lemon, almond, and vegan foaming bitters and ‘Take a Trip’ – Hendrick’s gin, St. Germain elderflower liqueur and lime, topped with Trip Cucumber & Mint. Another new entry on the cocktail list is ‘Nunya Beeswax’.

This tequila number was created at Flight Club Bristol as a one-off for Bristol Cocktail Weekend 2023. The drink was such a hit it was named Cocktail of the Year. Naturally, it had to feature in the new line-up. 

Arnaud Kaziewicz, Flight Club’s Head of Food Development said, “This menu refresh has been months in the making, involving countless taste tests and iterations to get every dish and cocktail completely right.

“We’re hugely passionate about delivering a truly memorable experience at Flight Club and our food and drinks is a big part of that. We always want to give our customers something new to sink their teeth into and we’re excited to finally share this with them.” 

Celebrating 40 Years of Scotland’s Photography

This October the National Galleries of Scotland is partying like it’s 1984 with Celebrating 40 Years of Scotland’s Photography Collection, at the Portrait gallery from 26 October 2024 – 16 March 2025.

Step back in time to the 1980s when the National Galleries of Scotland officially began its world-class photography collection. Explore over 100 art works from Scotland’s national photography collection, dating from the 1840’s to the present day in this free-to-visit exhibition.

Marvel at historic photographs, visit some famous faces and discover an exciting range of what makes a photograph in this eclectic celebration of the nation’s photography collection.

Celebrating 40 Years of Scotland’s Photography Collection marks this magnificent milestone, reflecting on all that has been accomplished in the last four decades and looking to the future. In the 1980s recognition of photography as an artform was growing rapidly as museums and galleries around the world were looking to establish and grow their collections.

National Galleries of Scotland were no different. Having begun collecting photography in the late 19th century, it was in 1984 that the National Galleries of Scotland collection was formally established.

A world-renowned photography collection it is regarded as one of the best in the UK, its breadth and quality matches those of London institutions such as the V&A and National Portrait Gallery, London. Due to its original remit to collect the very best of Scottish and international photography, the collection has developed over the last 40 years to have global reach.

Now over 55,000 artworks strong the ever-growing collection is showcased in this lively exhibition which explores the major themes, subjects and processes from throughout the history of photography. Including works by major photographers such as Julia Margaret Cameron, Robert Mapplethorpe and Annie Leibovitz.

Highlighting the enticing and universal nature of photography, the exhibition will include six themes; portraiture, landscape, documentary photography, archives, inclusion and experimentation.

Find portraits of famous Scots such as, Andy Murray, The Proclaimers, Jackie Kay and David Tennant as well as fun and vibrant portraits such as Viviane Sassen’s In Bloom.

A newly acquired work consisting of photographs, film and performance by Glasgow-based artists Beagles & Ramsay will be on display for the first time.

The Sanguis Gratia Artis (Black Pudding Self-Portrait), is a performance piece alongside photographs where the artists make black pudding out of their own blood to explore the boundaries of the self-portrait.

Celebrating the connectivity and nostalgia that photographs bring to people worldwide, the exhibition looks at how this incredible artform can be traced through generations of Scottish photographers and schools of photography.

Embracing the eclectic nature of photography, vibrant displays will create interesting contrasts and connections between historic and contemporary images. Discover how the ideas and subject matters that started with David Octavius Hill and Robert Adamson in the 1840s continues to be photographed centuries apart with different and modern cameras.

Take pride in the influential alumni of Scottish photography schools whose connections extend around the world, making Scotland a significant home to photography.

Explore the idea of what makes a photograph, reflecting on changing technology and taking a look at artists who are pushing the boundaries of what we might have traditionally thought of as a photograph.

About the exhibition

National Galleries Scotland: Portrait

26 October 2024 – 16 March 2025

Celebrating 40 Years of Scotland’s Photography Collection | National Galleries of Scotland

Free

Scottish Building Society support for Portobello project

SCOTTISH BUILDING SOCIETY FOUNDATION has announced the launch of its fourth round of funding to support charities and continue its commitment to empowering good causes across the country.

Following the success of the previous 3 rounds, the Scottish Building Society Foundation has awarded a total of 28 grants to charities, enabling them to make a life-changing impact on local communities across Scotland.

11 charities were successful in their application during this third cycle, with the initiative seeing grants provided to charities across Glasgow, Edinburgh, Aberdeen, Highlands, South Ayrshire and the Scottish Borders. 

One of the awarded charities, Highlands-based Partnerships for Wellbeing, will use the funding to give vulnerable adults regular opportunities to socialise and combat loneliness.

Jeff Zycinski, Manager of the charity, said: “It may seem simple, but our Friendship Club meetings and outings mean so much to those who take part. 

“It’s about getting out of the house, building a network of pals, having a laugh, maybe sharing a worry, and having new things to tell your family when you get home. It’s about living a long life well. The grant from The Scottish Building Society will help us do all of that.”

Other charities to receive grants include Urram; Parents and Friends of Ayton Primary School; Greener Peebles; Eyemouth & District Community Trust; Easterhouse Football Academy; S.I.S.G. Enterprises; Sunny Govan Community Radio; Arkaig Community Forest; Portobello Central SCIO and Aberdeen City First Responders.

A recent report from Foundation Scotland showed that following the first two rounds of funding, over 30,000 people had benefited from awards.

The next round of funding is open from now until Monday 21st October. Charities can apply for grants of up to £5,000 to power their initiatives and strengthen community impact. Scottish Building Society Foundation particularly welcomes applications that support:

  • Community facilities and services, transport, open spaces, affordable housing, community development, reduction of poverty, and care for the elderly 
  • Local community events 
  • Youth and education, providing training opportunities and support for vulnerable youngsters 

Launched in May 2023 by Scottish Building Society in partnership with Foundation Scotland, the Foundation aims to establish a best-in-class benchmark supporting community-based charities and groups. So far, 28 charities across Scotland have been awarded grants from the organisation’s initial fund of over £175,000.

Paul Denton, CEO of Scottish Building Society added: “As a mutual organisation owned by and run for the benefit of our members, we understand the importance of local communities and want to empower them wherever we can.

“Our last round was the highest number of charities we supported, awarding funding across the whole country.

“All of these charities support fantastic causes, and for many people, community groups and charities serve as a vital lifeline. We understand their impact, and with the support of our members, we are committed to continuing our part in helping them thrive and make a lasting difference.

“As we approach our next round of applications, I look forward to continuing our work to invest in good causes.”

For more information on the Scottish Building Society Foundation or to make an application, visit: https://www.scottishbs.co.uk/scottish-building-society-foundation

Life-saving data tool launched in Scotland

Water Safety Scotland (WSS) has launched its groundbreaking Drowning and Incident Review (DIR) Dashboard, providing an unprecedented tool to analyse and prevent water-related fatalities in Scotland.

The DIR, developed by RoSPA and the Scottish Fire and Rescue Service, reviews all accidental drownings in Scotland and offers detailed data to guide local and national prevention efforts.

The new DIR Dashboard will allow stakeholders to access vital data on drowning incidents, contributory factors, and post-incident measures. This tool will significantly enhance Scotland’s ability to take a targeted approach to preventing water emergencies.

Carlene McAvoy, Founder of Water Safety Scotland and DIR co-author, said:
“The DIR enables us to take a focused approach to preventing water-based fatalities with data that was never previously available before in Scotland.

“The new DIR Dashboard will provide even greater access to critical information, allowing us to better understand and address the causes of drowning. This will be particularly useful for both national and local efforts in prevention”.

The DIR Dashboard offers stakeholders access to comprehensive drowning data, helping to inform water safety measures and prevention strategies. By visualising and analysing key factors, the tool will support both local and national efforts to reduce water-related deaths.

Procurator Fiscal Andy Shanks, who leads on death investigations for COPFS, said: “The Procurator Fiscal is responsible for the investigation of all sudden, accidental, or unexplained deaths in Scotland.

“The purpose of each investigation is to establish the circumstances and cause of the death and to identify any preventable dangers to life and the safety of the public.

“We welcome the introduction of the Drowning and Incident (DIR) Dashboard and will continue to support this process, and any other measures intended to reduce the numbers of accidental drownings in Scotland.”

Station Commander James Sullivan, SFRS’ Lead Officer for Water Safety Scotland and Co-author of DIR said: “DIR is a unique process that provides an opportunity to understand contributory factors and events leading up to a water emergency that enables targeted prevention efforts across Scotland. 

“DIR is the result of innovative and collaborative working that would not have been possible without the commitment and influence of Water Safety Scotland’s members.”

The DIR Dashboard goes live today, offering users an accessible platform for viewing data on drowning incidents and preventative measures. More information is available via the Water Safety Scotland website.

Self Assessment: online help is just a click or a swipe away

Self Assessment customers urged to use online guidance as top 5 calls to helpline revealed

  • HMRC reveals the most common calls to its Self Assessment helpline, all of which can be answered quickly online
  • Customers can access help online to register for Self Assessment or tell HMRC they no longer need to complete a tax return
  • Anyone new to Self Assessment can register using the quick and easy tool on GOV.UK

HM Revenue and Customs (HMRC) reveals the top 5 reasons why people are calling the Self Assessment helpline and reminds them that they can self-serve to quickly access the information online.

Currently, the most common reason for speaking to an HMRC advisor is about coming out of Self Assessment. Customers don’t need to call HMRC and can instead visit GOV.UK to check if they need to send a Self Assessment tax return. If they no longer need to send one, they can use the online service to tell HMRC without the need to speak to an advisor.

The 5 most common reasons for calling the helpline are:

  1. I no longer need to complete a Self Assessment tax return
  2. I need to register for Self Assessment
  3. Can you tell me if I still have to complete a tax return?
  4. What’s happening with my Self Assessment registration?
  5. What’s happening with my Self Assessment repayment?

More than 12 million taxpayers are due to complete Self Assessment for the 2023 to 2024 tax year and pay any tax owed by the 31 January 2025 deadline. HMRC’s Self Assessment helpline and webchat services are available for those who need them but there is lots of help available online.

Myrtle Lloyd, HMRC’s Director General for Customer Services, said: “We want to help customers get their tax returns right first time which is why we have produced a wealth of online resources and guidance to support them every step of the way. Just search ‘Self Assessment’ on GOV.UK to find out more and start your return today.“

Anyone who is new to Self Assessment needs to register to receive their Unique Taxpayer Reference before they can send a tax return for the 2023 to 2024 tax year.

Taxpayers may need to complete a tax return, even if they pay taxes through PAYE, for example, if they:

  • are self-employed and have earned gross income over £1,000
  • are self-employed and earned up to £1,000 and wish to pay Class 2 NICs voluntarily to protect their entitlement to State Pension and certain benefits
  • are a partner in a business partnership
  • had a total taxable income of more than £150,000
  • have received any untaxed income including pension income over £2,500
  • received income over £1,000 from trading or providing services online
  • have to pay the High Income Child Benefit charge
  • received interest from banks and building societies or investments (more than £10,000)
  • received rental or letting income from UK land and property

HMRC is encouraging customers to be prepared and have all the information they need ready to file their tax returns early, so they can avoid any last-minute stress and know what they owe sooner. 

HMRC has a range of online help and support and YouTube videos to assist anyone completing their return, including first-time filers.

Criminals use emails, phone calls and texts to try to steal information and money from taxpayers. Before sharing their personal or financial details, people should search ‘HMRC tax scams’ on GOV.UK to access a checklist to help them decide if the contact they have received is a scam

Customers should never share their HMRC login information with anyone. Someone could use them to steal from them or claim benefits or a refund in their name.

More information on Self Assessment

October Break at Drumbrae Library

Hellooooo!! The October break is only a week away and we have fantastic events running through the week!

All are free and there is no need to book 😃 See you there!

You might be wondering… what is Pokémon day? Well I’ll tell you!

We are going to have a scavenger hunt around the library with 3D printed Pokémon and once you’ve found the Pokémon and spell out the secret word, you’ll get a prize! There are only 70 prizes to give out so you’ll have to be speedy!

There will also be lures placed on all the Pokéstops surrounding the library in Pokémon Go so be sure to catch ’em all!