On Thursday 5th December at 6pm, come join us for a festive evening of carol singing, choir singing and live music performance in the warm and welcoming surroundings of The Hub @ Edinburgh College, Granton Campus.
Free festive treats and mulled wine will be served by Edinburgh College Professional Cookery students to get us in the festive spirit, and there will be live performances from Edinburgh College musicians, with lyrics made available for singalongs for everyone to join in.
This is a free, family-friendly event and all are welcome!
The Hub is fully accessible but if you have any concerns about accessing the event please do get in touch.
This event is run in partnership with Edinburgh College and The City of Edinburgh Council.
But this year we have added an extra ho ho ho … book a slot to meet Santa on Saturday 7th December 11.30am – 2.30pm at our family friendly community hub on Cheyne Street.
£8 (including a small gift) with all proceeds supporting our vital services, call 0131 343 0940 to book in.
Following years of uncertainty and possible demolition, the asset transfer between the City of Edinburgh Council and the management team and board of trustees of Duncan Place has recently completed. This firmly places the much-loved community hub in the ownership of the Duncan Place charity for the people of Leith for generations to come.
Duncan Place Community Hub was originally built in 1920 as Leith Academy Technical College & Gymnasium, it transitioned to a community centre in the 70s and has been home to the local artist group, Academy Arts since 1978.
In 2014, the council temporarily closed the building to carry out inspection works into its structural safety, which resulted in permanent closure the following year. The funds were not available for the council to carry out the required works to preserve and restore the building and so it faced potential demolition.
However, various members of the community came together in an attempt to rescue the building for the people of Leith. Duncan Place centre manager, Nicola Lamberton and the five strong board of trustees worked tirelessly over a seven year period to transfer the asset across to the community under the Community Empowerment Bill.
Working closely with the Economic Development team at the council, Duncan Place was able to access various grant funds to deliver the required refurbishment programme for the building.
Between funds awarded from Scottish Government and the Lottery, Duncan Place received in excess of £2.1m to carry out the restoration and refurbishment works to ensure the building was futureproofed for many years to come.
Commenting on the asset transfer, Nicola Lamberton, the manager of the Duncan Place Community Hub charity said: “This is a huge milestone for everyone in the community to know that the future of the hub is secure and it’s owned by the charity for the people of Leith.
“We always recognised the social value that the hub brought to groups and to individuals living in Leith and beyond. This is why we have been so determined over the years to ensure the building was retained in order to continue to support so many amazing organisations and local people.”
Operating as a social enterprise and registered charity, Duncan Place is now home to six organisations that have long term tenancies in place with the community hub using it as their permanent base, these include Duncan Places own space, LGBT Health & Wellbeing, Edinburgh Colleges English for Speakers of Other Languages programme, Kin Collective, Home-Start Edinburgh and AdvoCard.
In addition to these organisations using the hub, there are a further 40 community groups that regularly hire the space to hold their classes and events. Any profit made is used by the Duncan Place charity to offer low cost community activities.
The growing programme of events can be viewed on the charities website: www.duncanplace.org.
Ben Macpherson, MSP for Edinburgh Northern and Leithadded: “Scottish Government provided much of the funding required to deliver the refurbishment programme for Duncan Place Community Hub and I’m delighted to see the building transformed and thriving.
“The model adopted by Duncan Place whereby local charities pay an affordable rent and in return receive a secure tenancy in the area is wonderful. To know that the rents raised ensure financial sustainability for the organisation, as well as enabling the hub to provide low cost community activities is something that I am proud to have supported”.
Councillor Mandy Watt, CECs Finance and Resources Convener, said: “This milestone has been years in the making and we’ve enjoyed seeing Duncan Place brought back into use. Now, the council is giving ownership of the building back to the people of Leith.
“It’s brilliant news for the area and a good example of collaboration and partnership working between the public and voluntary sectors. Everyone from local councillors to group members have supported this project moving forward.
“The revitalised Duncan Place building will not only help to reduce inequality by providing much needed affordable space for events, classes and workshops, it will support jobs and support local people, acting as a true community hub.”
New research from Local Government Information Unit (LGIU) Scotland reveals that 70% of all councils believe they will be unable to pass a balanced budget within the next five years without immediate changes.
The second annual State of Local Government Finance in Scotland, found councils are taking every measure available to balance their budgets including raising council tax, reducing expenditure and increasing fees and charges, sharing services and engaging in commercial activity. However, many councils believe this will still not be enough to prevent the risk of an unbalanced budget.
Nearly every respondent said they believe cuts to services will have a negative impact on quality of life in their council, and over 90% that cuts will increase the risks to vulnerable people.
The report found satisfaction with the Scottish Government is alarmingly poor across the sector. Not a single respondent said they were happy with the Scottish Government’s performance on delivering a sustainable funding system or considering local government in wider policy decisions.
Respondents representing 84% of Scottish councils, made up of council leaders, CEOs and CFOs said times are increasingly hard for local authorities, with ongoing pressure from the cost of living crisis and inflation adding new burdens on top of long-term challenges: demographic change, financing of Scottish Government priorities, and pressures with recruitment and retention of staff.
With councils’ confidence in the sustainability of council finances critically low, the sector is in favour of widespread reform, including multi-year financial settlements, ending ring-fencing, and reform of council tax.
Councils are optimistic about the role that local government, sufficiently funded and empowered, could have to advance the prevention agenda, tackle local and national shared priorities, deliver services and empower communities.
The report recommends an agreed national convention between Scottish Government and local government to cover procedures and actions that would then be needed to set a balanced budget; enshrining in legislation the principles of the Verity House Agreement, and committing to an annual review by Scottish Parliament covering the key principles.
Some of the medium to long-term recommendations include reconsidering a whole-system approach to funding wider public finances including a review of council tax, the funding formula and increasing the range of revenue-raising options available for councils.
Jonathan Carr-West, Chief Executive, LGIU Scotland, said: “This year’s results make for grim reading about the state of local government finances in Scotland. The message from our second annual State of Local Government Finance in Scotland builds on last year: we are nearing the point of no return. The report paints a picture of a system under continual and significant strain, with the scale of financial pressures increasing from 2023.
“Local government finances in Scotland are hanging by a thread. However, the thread has not yet broken. Today’s report delivers a stark warning that councils are in a precarious financial position and there is not much time until the sector starts to see potentially catastrophic consequences.
“Change is urgently needed. Councils will soon be unable to balance their budgets, meet their statutory duties, or provide for their communities. We need to change course now before it is too late.
“The challenge now is how do we move from the situation we are in now, to one where councils are able to deliver the transformative impact they are confident that they could deliver.
“Reform is necessary, empowerment will be essential, and trust between Scottish Government and local government – in a critically poor state – must be restored.”
The LGIU asked Scotland’s Council Leaders, Chief Executives and Chief Finance Officers about their experiences trying to run councils in the last financial year, and their views on how councils’ financial sustainability could be assured.
COSLA Resources Spokesperson, Councillor Katie Hagmann, commented:“The publication of today’s report by the LGIU highlights the sheer scale of the financial challenges facing our councils.
“The fact that 70% of councils in Scotland may be unable to balance budgets in the near future should serve as a warning to all. Additionally, it emphasises the need for the Scottish Government to provide Local Government with an increased funding settlement which is both fair and flexible in 2025/26.
“COSLA also welcomes the LGIU’s call for a whole system approach to Local Government finance.
“This echoes our asks in our ‘Invest Locally in Scotland’s Future’ budget lobbying campaign. Without a clear focus on prevention and upstream investment, along with local flexibility, our councils will be unable to tackle higher demand, in key areas such as homelessness prevention and social care.
“COSLA is calling for the Scottish Government to provide at least £14.5bn in revenue funding and £872m in capital funding in the 2025/26 Budget.
Meeting this demand would not make up for the cuts councils have faced and felt by our communities in recent years, however it would be a positive step forward in providing fair and flexible funding to meet the challenges outlined in the LGIU report.”
If so, do you trust that the loyalty discounts are as good as they seem, and that you are getting a good deal?
The Competition and Markets Authority (CMA) is working to make sure people get a fair deal as they continue to face cost of living pressures. As part of our work in the groceries sector, we’ve been investigating supermarket loyalty pricing and have today published the final report of our investigation.
As part of our investigation, we wanted to check:
whether promotions can be trusted
how promotions compare to prices available at other supermarkets
how accessible these promotions are
whether consumers are being treated fairly
We asked shoppers how they really feel about loyalty pricing, and found that:
68% think that loyalty prices offer good savings for members
26% said that loyalty pricing would make them more likely to shop at a particular supermarket
40% do not trust that the loyalty price is a genuine saving on the usual price for that product
55% said they think that non-member prices during a loyalty price promotion are generally higher than the price usually charged for the product
We analysed around 50,000 grocery products on loyalty price promotions and found very little evidence of supermarkets inflating their usual prices to make loyalty promotions seem like a better deal.
Our messages to shoppers:
Loyalty prices offer genuine savings
Our findings reveal shoppers can make an average saving of 17 to 25% compared to the usual price when buying loyalty priced products at the 5 supermarkets examined (Tesco, Sainsbury’s, Waitrose, Co-op and Morrisons).
Shop around for the best deal
Are you a bargain hunter? We found loyalty prices typically beat other supermarkets’ regular prices and are often similar to other promotional prices. But we also saw examples of other promotions and regular prices being cheaper for some products so shop around to find the best deals.
Our messages to supermarkets
Supermarkets should:
read our advice on how to help them stay on the right side of the law
make sure none of their loyalty price promotions have the potential to mislead shoppers
consider whether they could do more to make sure that those under 18, customers without smartphones, and people without fixed addresses are not prevented from joining loyalty schemes and accessing cheaper loyalty prices
The National Lottery Community Fund has opened a new £166 million funding stream that will give Scotland’s communities a much needed boost over the next five years.
With a focus on building the strengths of people and communities in greatest need, community groups across the country can now apply to share these life changing funds.
The two new programmes, Community Action and Fairer Life Chances, are aimed at helping communities to tackle poverty, disadvantage, and discrimination, three of the biggest barriers to people and communities finding their power and agency.
They will award bigger and longer grants than previous funds giving community groups more security over a longer term, and they will fund organisations of different sizes and levels of experience.
Both programmes will help The Fund to deliver its UK wide strategy ‘It starts with community‘ by focusing on four mission areas.
Community Action will support projects that help communities of all shapes and sizes, including those who are geographically dispersed, to come together around activities that matters to them, or which help communities to be environmentally sustainable.
Fairer Life Chances is for projects providing services that support children, young people and families, or that help people to be healthier or have better access to support.
Organisations applying to the new programmes will be expected to show how their project fills a gap, how it will reach and support people and communities experiencing poverty, disadvantage, and discrimination and how it will involve their voices and makes use of their skills and experience.
They must also show how their project makes a difference and how they will measure that impact.
Announcing the news yesterday, Kate Still, Scotland Chair of The National Lottery Community Fund, said: “We’re delighted to open these new funding programmes which were developed with and for Scotland’s essential community and voluntary sector. Over the next five years we want to support activity that inspires community action and leads to fairer life chances for those most vulnerable in our society.
“That’s why our new programmes will invest most where the need is greatest, reaching people and communities across Scotland that are experiencing poverty, discrimination and disadvantage. We’ll do this by funding projects that build on the strengths within communities and which give people more agency and control over their lives and the activities and services that support them.
“None of this would be possible without National Lottery players who can take pride in knowing that their contribution will make a huge difference to the lives of people up and down the country.”
This year marks 30 years since the first National Lottery draw in 1994. Thanks to National Lottery players, The National Lottery Community Fund has awarded £1.9 billion to over 46,000 charities and community groups in Scotland during that time.
Jack preparing soup at The Usual Place
One project already empowering young people with additional support needs is The Usual Place in Dumfries, which is using its National Lottery grant of £199,852 to run accredited training programmes in food, drink and hospitality.
Craig McEwen, Chief Executive of The Usual Placesaid: “We welcome these new funding programmes from The National Lottery Community Fund, which represent a transformative step toward sustainable support for third sector organisations.
“In today’s rapidly changing funding landscape, we are crying out for multi-year, equity-based funding to provide essential stability for organisations like ours. It would allow us to plan with confidence, reach more young people with additional support needs and make long-term investments in meaningful solutions for those facing poverty, disadvantage, and discrimination.
“This approach goes beyond financial security; it reflects the value of lived experience and the importance of amplifying community voices in shaping impactful, responsive services.
“We’re excited to see how they this new funding will empower organisations like ours to deepen our work, build on our strengths, ensure that every individual we serve has a voice in shaping their own future and help create a fairer future for all.”
Community Action and Fairer Life Chances opened to applications yesterday – Wednesday 27 November.
Groups with ideas for funding are encouraged to get in touch to discuss their idea by email at advicescotland@tnlcommunityfund.org.uk, or by phone on 0300 123 7110 (open from 9am to 5pm, Monday to Friday).
The Centre, Livingston, one of Scotland’s largest shopping centres, has announced its Christmas events plan to raise funds and awareness for the children’s charity, Children’s Hospices Across Scotland, (CHAS), which includes its first-ever Christmas ‘Movie Under the Stars Drive-In’ and free festive workshops.
This is the third year the shopping centre has partnered with CHAS, which provides the only hospice services in Scotland for children and young people with life-shortening conditions. Various events over the years have included an Elf Walk and Breakfast with Santa.
This year on the 6th December, The Centre, Livingston is hosting its first-ever Christmas ‘Movies Under The Stars Drive-In’ on the 3rd floor of Car Park 1, featuring the family-favourite film, Elf at 6pm, and the classic romantic comedy, Love Actually at 9pm.
All proceeds will be going to CHAS. Terms & Conditions are on the website, www.thecentrelivingston.com.
Kids will also get the chance to decorate a special bauble, with help from Santa’s Elves, and hang them on the Christmas trees at festive arts and crafts workshops, located near the Post Office. These will run on weekends in the run up to Christmas; 30th November – 1st December, 7th – 8th December and 14th – 15th December, between 11am-4pm.
As part of the charity partnership, CHAS will also be hosting a pop up in the shopping centre on Saturday, 30th November and Sunday, 1st December to raise funds and awareness about the services they offer.
Throughout the festive period shoppers will also be able to make donations at two CHAS contactless pods, located opposite the Post Office and next to the washroom facilities adjacent to Hotel Chocolat, which will be in situ until the end of the year.
Tess Sundberg, Marketing Manager at The Centre, Livingston, said: “We are very excited to launch our Christmas events plan this year, which includes our first Christmas Drive-In Movie Night and free festive arts and crafts, to help raise money for CHAS again.
“This is a charity which is very close to our hearts which is why we like to partner with them at this time of year to help raise funds and even more awareness of the incredible work they are doing. We look forward to welcoming them at their pop up on the last weekend of November.”
Alison Rennie, Community Fundraiser at CHAS, said: “We are very excited to partner with The Centre, Livingston for another magical Christmas season.
“Their incredible support helps us bring joy, comfort and unforgettable moments to children with life-limiting conditions and their families during the most precious time of the year. Together, we can make a real difference this Christmas, creating memories that will last a lifetime.
“We are really looking forward to hosting our pop up in the shopping centre on Saturday, 30th November and Sunday, 1st December. Visitors can meet our team and learn more about the vital care we provide. We’ll also be selling a range of festive CHAS Christmas merchandise, perfect for gifts, and some of your favourite characters will be there to add to the holiday magic.
“We’ll also be joined by the wonderful Linlithgow Male Choir, who will be entertaining shoppers with carol singing on Saturday, adding to the festive cheer.”
Other activities taking place at The Centre, Livingston include an ‘Advent Calendar Spin the Wheel’, located near Waterstones, where shoppers will get the chance to win various prizes every day from the 1st – 24th December.
These include a luxury Velvetiser hot chocolate machine from Hotel Chocolat, worth £99.95, a Rituals Gift Set worth £43.90, JBL Headphones from Vodaphone worth £50, a meal for two at wagamama and lots more. Daily updates can be found on The Centre, Livingston social media channels.
Gilmerton Primary School on Moredun Dykes Road, has received a donation of £1,000 worth of equipment from Amazon in Edinburgh.
The donation from Amazon went towards updating the school’s library to promote reading to pupils. The donation included bookshelves, beanbags and technology, and followed a £500 donation of books made to the school by Amazon earlier in the year.
To mark the donation of equipment, the team from Amazon in Edinburgh visited staff at Gilmerton Primary School to donate the items.
Megan Malone from Amazon in Edinburgh said: “I’m so pleased Amazon is supporting pupils at Gilmerton Primary School with this donation.
“It was great to see how far the library has come along from being just an empty classroom and getting to meet members of staff at the school to help them develop this, and I hope this donation inspires pupils to read more and spend time in the library.”
Catriona Webster at Gilmerton Primary School, added: “Thank you to Megan and the team at Amazon for this donation.
“This equipment means a lot to our pupils and will have such a positive impact on their learning. We look forward to making use of our updated library!”
Community donations and employee volunteering are just two of the ways Amazon supports the communities where it operates.
Amazon co-founded The Big House Multibank in Fife with former UK Prime Minister Gordon Brown to support to families in need. The Multibank network has now donated more than 5 million surplus goods to over 500,000 families across Scotland, Wales, Greater Manchester, London, and Tees Valley.
Amazon has supported more than one million students across the UK with free STEM education programmes through Amazon Future Engineer and helps community organisations transport meals and other essentials to families in need through its pro bono logistics programme, Amazon Local Good.
Amazon partners with Comic Relief and is the official home of the charity’s iconic Red Nose. Together with its employees, customers, and partners, Amazon has raised over £4.8 million to fund projects that support people across the UK, and around the world.
There is just one day to go before the brand new Soundhouse Winter Festival kicks off in Edinburgh, thanks to support from The National Lottery through Creative Scotland.
The programme is packed with big names and up and coming bands from across Scotland including award winning feminist rock goddess Megan Back, who hasrecently returned from gigs in California, performing tracks from her new album out next year; and impulsive punk/rock n’ roll multi-instrumentalist Callum Easter performing with his full band the Roulettes and special guest indie/folk soloist Iona Zajac.
They will be headliningalongside some of Scotland’s finest jazz and trad musicians including Fergus McCreadie, Su-a-Lee, Duncan Chisholm, Hamish Napier, and Donald Shaw; a screening of silent film The Rugged Island: A Shetland Lyric accompanied by music composed by multi-instrumentalist Inge Thomson and fiddle player Catriona Macdonald; and live performance poetry with Edinburgh’s previous Makar Hannah Lavery accompanied by music from Kate Young.
Callum Easter & The Roulettes who play the Queen’s Hall, Edinburgh on Monday, 2 December with special guest Iona Zajac
The festival’s programme also includes early evening concerts at the Traverse with Nicole Smit performing some cool jazzy numbers with her Quintet (Vid Gobac on drums, Cameron Bradley on piano, Dave Toule guitar, and Kassandra E’Silva on saxophone); Gaelic singer-songwriter Rachel Walker performing with one of the country’s foremost folksingers and accompanists Aaron Jones; Edinburgh-based poetic psychedelic supergroup Acolyte (Ruairidh Morrison on bass, Gloria Black on synth and backing vocals, Daniel Hill on percussion and led by award-winning poet and spoken word artist Iona Lee); and acclaimed singer songwriter Victoria Hume, joined by long-term collaborator Chris Letcher.
Plus, there will be a showcase of emerging new jazz musicians including the Rosalind Orr Trio, TAO and C.A.L.I.E; a masterclass with jazz pianist Fergus McCreadie; and two workshops -Gaelic lullabies with Rachel Walker, and jazz saxophone with one of Scotland’s leading jazz instrumentalists Helena Kay.
Jane Ann Purdy and Douglas Robertson, producers of the Soundhouse Winter Festival said: “We are thrilled to be presenting a five-day festival of live ‘music from Scotland’ at this time of year.
“There are so many world class musicians working here right now that we were literally spoilt for choice. We hope the Soundhouse Winter Festival will not only be a chance for music lovers to hear some of their favourite live bands, but also a chance to hear some of the best up and coming artists of the moment.”
