SATURDAY 22 FEBRUARY from 11 – 5 at WEST PILTON NEIGHBOURHOOD CENTRE
2025 North Edinburgh Film Festival – don’t miss this family-friendly celebration of film and community stories!
Presented by Screen Education Edinburgh and North Edinburgh Arts, this year’s NEFF brings a diverse programme of over 30 films – from powerful local stories to short animations and global perspectives.
Saturday 22 February 2025, 11am-5pm
West Pilton Neighbourhood Centre
Free event
Highlights include:
Films from North Edinburgh – stories made by the community, for the community
Global shorts & animations, from near and far
Special performance by Curious Seed, featuring films by local artists and Craigroyston Community High School pupils
Workshops for aspiring filmmakers of all ages
The day also includes film installations and free food for attendees and wraps up with a screening of eight new locally made films. There’s plenty to explore so come and join us!
£1,500 Prize Offered as Search Begins for Best Literary Essay
Past winner urges everyone with a story to tell to get writing
Prize honours journalist and book festival chair Anne Brown
Wigtown Book Festival has launched the annual Anne Brown Essay Prize for Scotland.The £1,500 prize is awarded for the best literary essay by a writer in, or from, Scotland.
Each year the number of entries has grown, along with variety of subjects tackled by their writers.
Adrian Turpin, Wigtown Book Festival Artistic Director, said: “Essays are among the most powerful forms of writing, allowing writers to dig deep into issues and share ideas and feelings with readers in a way that combines impact with intimacy.
“Sadly, there are all too few outlets for essays these days. The Anne Brown Essay Prize is an attempt to change this, providing a platform for essayists from or with a strong connection to Scotland – a country where the essay has a proud tradition.
“As ever we will be looking for compelling writing that will engage readers by offering them fresh perspective on anything and everything, from the level of individual human experience through to vast events which shape our entire world.”
Last year’s winner was Edinburgh-based Sarah Whiteside for Thin Slices.
Sarah urged writers to enter the competition, saying:“The essay form allows for complexity and nuance and I think it’s great the Anne Brown prize is dedicated to supporting these qualities in Scottish writing.
“My essay was a personal story that aimed to show autism as a difference rather than a deficit, something I feel passionately about; it was so affirming to know my words would be shared and read as part of a wider conversation.
“If you have a story to tell, and everybody does, and particularly if you come from an underrepresented community, I would encourage you to share it by entering this year’s competition.
“I definitely didn’t think I would win, so don’t let yourself be put off by that!”
In addition to the cash, the winner receives a trophy designed by artist Astrid Jaekel, their entire essay is published on the festival website and a lengthy excerpt appears in The Herald.
Previous winners were Dani Garavelli for The Bequest, which movingly explores her Italian-Scottish heritage and Rodge Glass for On the Covenant, which addressed aspects of his relationship with his Jewish family.
The competition commemorates journalist and former Wigtown Book Festival Chair Anne Brown and is supported by her children, Richard and Jo.
The 2025 winner will be revealed at a special event during the festival, which runs from 26 September to 5 October.
Scientists have developed a detection system that could vastly improve the accuracy of human facial and activity recognition at long distances and through obstructions like fog, smoke or camouflage.
The researchers say their sensitive light detection and ranging (LiDAR) system can generate high-resolution three-dimensional images with double the efficiency of similar LiDAR systems being developed by other research groups, and at least 10 times better image resolution.
At 325 metres – the length of around three soccer pitches – researchers were able to 3D image the face of one of their co-authors in millimetre-scale detail.
The same system could be used to accurately detect faces and human activity at distances of up to one kilometre – equivalent to the length of 10 soccer pitches – the researchers say.
Lead author Dr Aongus McCarthy is a specialist in optical and optomechanical design and a Research Fellow at Heriot-Watt’s Institute of Photonics and Quantum Sciences (IPaQS).
He said: “The results of our research show the enormous potential of such a system to construct detailed high-resolution 3D images of scenes from long distances in daylight or darkness conditions.
“For example, if someone is standing behind camouflage netting, this system has the potential to determine whether they are on their mobile phone, holding something, or just standing there idle. So there are a number of potential applications from a security and defence perspective.”
The system uses pulses of laser light to measure the distances to objects in a scene. The team’s breakthrough involved being able to measure the time it took for a laser pulse to travel from the system to the object and back with an accuracy of approximately 13 picoseconds – a picosecond being one million millionth of a second. This timing is around 10 times better than the researchers had been able to do previously.
“The timing is really phenomenal,” Dr McCarthy explained. “It allows us to measure variations in depth very, very accurately – on a millimetre scale – which means we can distinguish between closely separated surfaces at very long distances.”
The system could lead to ‘step change improvements’ in applications such as facial and human activity recognition, and the imaging of scenes through ‘clutter and atmospheric obscurants,’ the researchers say.
A key advantage of the system is being able to accurately measure distances in broad daylight – when scattered light from the sun typically has a negative impact on the measurement process. By using a laser wavelength greater than can be seen by the naked eye – at 1550 nanometres – the daylight background is significantly reduced. This wavelength is also ideal for very high transmission in the atmosphere and in optical fibres.
Another advantage is that the laser output of the system is low power and ‘eye safe’ – meaning the laser beams from the system are safe to look at from any distance.
The researchers tested their system at three distances they could see from their rooftop laboratory. These were a neighbouring rooftop 45 metres away, a location on the ground 325 metres away and a distant radio mast exactly one kilometre away. It was at the 45 metre and 325 metre locations that research co-author Gregor Taylor posed while his colleagues scanned his head.
Dr McCarthy said he would now like to test the system over much longer distances: “Could we recognise a vehicle type at 10 kilometres, whether it’s a car or a van or a tank? These kind of distances would be of real interest.”
Dr McCarthy said the system could also be used to monitor the movement of buildings or rock faces to assess subsidence or other potential hazards.
The team built the system using a highly advanced detector developed by NASA’s Jet Propulsion Laboratory and Massachusetts Institute of Technology, which are well known for their groundbreaking scientific and technological research.
This detector, called a superconducting nanowire single-photon detector (SNSPD), has to be cooled to a very low temperature of approximately minus 272 degrees Celsius – or 1 Kelvin – the base unit of thermodynamic temperature measurement.
It then becomes ‘superconducting’ and has no resistance to electrical current flow until a photon of light lands on it.
The special ‘cryocooler’ fridge that cooled the team’s detector to the low temperature to carry out their research was another crucial component of the research.
This compact cooling system was designed and developed by the Quantum Sensors group of Robert Hadfield, Professor of Photonics at University of Glasgow’s James Watt School of Engineering.
Our dedicated team of #SpecialConstables volunteered over 820hrs in #Edinburgh during January 2025 – an incredible effort from an incredible team!
With a long and impressive history, the Special Constabulary is a part-time, volunteer body consisting of voluntary officers with identical powers to that of police officers. As a special constable, you’ll work alongside our police officers in your spare time – forging strong partnerships in the community, patrolling our streets, preventing crime, and interacting with all kinds of people to give back, keep your local community safe and make a real difference.
You can work full time and be a Special Constable in just 96 hours per year or a few hours a week. The role is diverse, demanding, and rewarding. You could be doing anything from policing a football match to assisting at a road accident. Special constables also police major sporting and public events and provide an excellent bridge between the Police Service and the public, representing both the community within the police service and the police service within local communities.
Special Constables can act as a positive force for change – bringing with them an extensive pool of skills, talents, experience, local knowledge, and diverse backgrounds – as well as enhancing the overall level of service provided by the police. So whatever your walk of life, step forward now and find out how being a police volunteer could be the perfect fit to suit your lifestyle.
If you would like to volunteer with Police Scotland , serving communities in the capital, follow the link to find out more … https://orlo.uk/z9Jrl
The centenary of the remarkable Scottish artist Ian Hamilton Finlay (1925-2006) will be marked in a new free display of his work on the ground floor of Modern Two in Edinburgh from 8 March to 26 May 2025.
This exhibition will showcase key highlights from Ian Hamilton Finlay’s artistic career, starting in the early 1960s until his death in 2006. Hailed as a unique combination of poet, sculptor, printmaker, gardener and provocateur, Finlay’s practice covered a wide range of media which will be reflected in this display of sculptures and prints as well as never-before-seen archival materials and a room-sized installation, all from Scotland’s national collection.
From the Classical world to the French Revolution, the Enlightenment to World War Two, Finlay, a self-proclaimed ‘anti-modernist’, often looked to history for inspiration. Recurring motifs including boats, tanks, wallflowers and ships can be spotted throughout the range of artwork that will be on display. Although simple by design, they often draw on more complex references to history, literature and art – with subtle humorous nods.
Ian Hamilton Finlay; with John Andrew
Born in the Bahamas in 1925 to Scottish parents, Finlay moved to Scotland in his early childhood, taking up a brief stint at Glasgow School of Art and eventually settling in Edinburgh in the late 1950s. His love of the written word influenced the start of his career as a playwright and poet. He became a key figure in the concrete poetry movement – a type of visual poetry where words are arranged to create patterns and images on the page.
Visitors will see early examples of Finlay’s concrete poetry, including the screenprint Star/Steer (1966), which tells the visual tale of a ship navigating stormy seas under the silvery light of the stars, presented through cascading words.
The artist’s first steps into the world of sculpture will also be explored through his days as a hobbyist toy-maker in 1960s Edinburgh. The exhibition will feature the wooden Toy Cow (1962-63), one of the earliest examples of Finlay’s sculptural work, alongside photographs of the artist amongst his toy creations.
A visionary artist, Finlay harnessed the power of collaboration throughout much of his work, drawing on the expertise of fellow makers and creators to bring his artistic visions to life. From stone-carvers to typographers, ceramicists to calligraphers, he employed a wide range of specialist technicians to realise his work.
In 1966, Finlay and his wife Sue moved into a semi-derelict farmland called Stonypath, south-west of Edinburgh, sheltered within the Pentland Hills. Here, he would go on to create what is often considered his greatest work: an ambitious, expansive garden filled with sculptures.
Renamed ‘Little Sparta’, in reference to the Spartan wars in Ancient Greece, and a humorous nod to his own personal battles with organisations such as the Scottish Arts Council, Finlay grew his creative practice in its grounds over the course of 40 years.
Rarely leaving its confines for decades due to agoraphobia (a fear of open, crowded spaces), Finlay created over 260 sculptures and artworks at Little Sparta, distributed across its four acres of curated gardens. The site remains an integral part of Finlay’s artistic legacy and is open to the public to enjoy each summer.
Visitors to the exhibition can take a glimpse into the lush grounds of Little Sparta for themselves through Finlay’s installation Nature over again after Poussin (1979). Filling a whole room, the work comprises 11 photographs set on plinths, each offering different viewpoints of Little Sparta.
A carved stone can be found within each image, ‘signed’ with the initials of artists who embraced a more classical approach to painting landscapes. The work encourages a moment of escapism, embracing time to get lost within the serenity of each photo.
The exhibition will also take over the Keiller library, where visitors can uncover more about the man behind the artwork through a selection of rare archival materials. Objects including letters, personal photographs and notebooks, many of which have never been on display before, will give a unique insight into Finlay’s inspirations, artwork and life.
Patrick Elliot, Chief Curator of Modern and Contemporary Art at the National Galleries of Scotland said: ‘Ian Hamilton Finlay was a completely unique figure in British art.
“Severe agoraphobia meant that he seldom left his house and garden in the Pentland Hills. Collectors, museum curators and art lovers from all over the world came to see him and his garden over a period of 40 years.
“He was a complete maverick, a wonderful, complicated, fascinating man and artist. Totally uncompromising and at times difficult, he created what is, in many people’s eyes, the greatest artwork created in Scotland in the second half of the twentieth century: his garden at Little Sparta.’
Ian Hamilton Finlay is free to visit and yours to discover at Modern Two from Saturday 8 March 2025.
In collaboration with Government of Ukraine, UNICEF and the World Bank, £25m of UK funding will support an inclusive and sustainable social recovery in Ukraine
The SPIRIT programme (Social Protection for Inclusion, Resilience, Innovation and Transformation) will support Ukraine to strengthen more inclusive and efficient social protection systems and revitalise community and family-based services.
SPIRIT will support the Foreign Secretary’s priority to ensure a safe and loving family for every child, improving social care services for 10,000 families across 10 regions
The programme will help Ukraine lay foundations for a recovery that meets the needs of citizens in all their diversity including people with disabilities, veterans and other war-impacted groups.
The UK will invest £25 million to strengthen Ukraine’s social protection system and services to support an inclusive and barrier-free recovery. The funding announced during the visit of the Foreign Secretary, David Lammy to Kyiv will catalyse Ukraine’s ambition for reform of the social sphere.
This support will help Ukraine to meet the varied needs of the population and accelerate Ukraine’s Euro-Atlantic pathway. The UK will partner with UNICEF Ukraine and the World Bank to deliver SPIRIT, working closely with the Ministry of Social Policy of Ukraine, the European Union and key partners in the social sector.
The SPIRIT programme recognises that investing in people – and the support and services they need – will be critical for Ukraine’s long-term recovery and socio-economic future.
Russia’s full-scale invasion has had an immense and devastating human impact in Ukraine. This has been disproportionately felt by the most vulnerable and war-impacted groups, including women, children and families, people with disabilities, older people, veterans, and those in frontline areas.
The programme will support Government of Ukraine in their social reform agenda, bringing together Ministries and local government, international financial organisations, donors, civil society, academia, and private sector.
Following the signing of the ‘Social Recovery and Inclusion Partnership for Ukraine’ by the UK, the Ministry of Social Policy of Ukraine, the European Union, UNICEF and the World Bank at the Berlin Ukraine Recovery Conference 2024, SPIRIT demonstrates commitment of the UK government and partners to support Ukraine’s socio-economic future and further our collaboration.
The SPIRIT programme has three main priorities:
Improving access to high-quality community and family-based social services for at least 10,000 families with children across 10 regions. In cooperation with the Ministry of Social Policy, we will deliver small grants and capacity-building to 100 civil society and local community actors to enable them to provide social services, while building a local marketplace of accessible service providers and empowering local actors to meet the growing demand for social protection support.
Establishing a Social Recovery Office with the Ministry of Social Policy to drive reforms, improve coordination in the sector, and enhance collaboration with international financial institutions and development partners. The Social Recovery Office will help Ukraine respond to pressing demographic challenges, meet the needs of the most vulnerable, and support development of a more robust and inclusive social protection framework.
Launching a range of cross-sectoral initiatives that support social recovery and inclusion priorities in Ukraine. Projects will work across health, economic and social sectors, piloting new models of support and services to cater for the most vulnerable and war-impacted groups. This includes women, families with children, people with disabilities, older people, and veterans. These initiatives will foster human capital, enable inclusive reforms and build the institutional capacity needed for Ukraine to address the demographic, economic, and societal changes driven by the war.
Working with the Government of Ukraine and UNICEF, SPIRIT includes a specific focus on accelerating ‘Better Care Reform’ to strengthen families, prevent separation, and ensure a safe and loving family environment for all Ukrainian children.
The British Ambassador to Ukraine, Martin Harris said: “I am proud that the UK is announcing critical funding for Ukraine’s social recovery.
“The £25m contribution will strengthen Ukraine’s social systems and services that are under overwhelming pressure from Russia’s brutal invasion. Investing in Ukraine’s social systems is an investment in Ukraine’s people – and we know that Ukraine’s people are its greatest resource.
“SPIRIT is a testament to 100 Year Partnership and shared values between our two countries, including our commitment to meet the needs of women, children, people with disabilities, older people, veterans, and marginalised groups.
“In the very worst of circumstances, Ukraine is pursuing an ambitious reform agenda to build a brighter, fairer and ‘barrier-free’ society. In partnership with the Government of Ukraine, UNICEF and the World Bank, the SPIRIT programme will drive forward this vision and lay the foundations for a future where the well-being, dignity and potential of every Ukrainian is ensured.”
Oksana Zholnovych, Minister of Social Policy of Ukraine outlined: “Human capital development is at the centre of Ukraine’s recovery.
“The SPIRIT programme represents a crucial step in building institutional capacity, strengthening the social protection system and supporting critical reforms to improve efficiency, effectiveness, and inclusion.
“We are grateful to our partners, the FCDO, World Bank, and UNICEF, for their support and shared commitment to fostering social cohesion, leaving no one behind.
Munir Mammadzade, UNICEF Representative to Ukraine indicates: “The SPIRIT programme is a critical investment in protecting and improving the lives of the most vulnerable, especially children and families in need across Ukraine.
“This initiative will further strengthen national systems and community-based services to nurture and maximize the country’s most important resource, its human capital, to drive inclusive and prosperous growth.”
Bob Saum, World Bank Regional Country Director for Eastern Europe added: “Addressing social cohesion and inclusion, including meeting the needs of vulnerable populations will contribute to maximizing benefits of Ukraine’s post-war recovery economic growth.
“The SPIRIT program will help build institutional capacity to support veterans, people with disabilities, and other at-risk groups while advancing Ukraine’s EU integration goals.”
We are proud to be supporting Safer Internet Day (Tuesday, February 11) again this year.
Today’s young people enjoy spending time online, and it is a great way for them to learn, socialise and have fun but avoiding online harm has become more complicated in recent years.
This year’s Safer Internet Day theme ‘Protecting yourself and others from scams online’ will look at the prevalence of online scams and invite young people to share their experiences and ideas on how to tackle the issue.
It is great that young people are involved in Safer Internet Day, we think it’s important to ensure their views and experiences are heard so they can help shape decisions that are made about how to keep them safe online.
And that’s why we are running a campaign in partnership with West Dunbartonshire Youth Council and West Dunbartonshire Council called ‘Shameless Youths’ which is being led by the young people themselves.
We hope to encourage more conversations between young people and the adults in their lives about being online and help them to have healthy relationships online and offline.
We are also working with a group of 14 enthusiastic young people from across the UK and Scotland – the NSPCC’s Voice of Online Youth – so they can influence decisions about to make the online world safer for them.
Advice and support about online safety is available for parents, carers, teachers and young people on the NSPCC website.
Children can get in touch with Childline on 0800 1111 or via childline.org.uk to speak with a counsellor confidentially if they are worried about something. They have a tool called Report Remove for under 18 year olds who have had a nude image of them shared online, to help them get it removed.
THE NORTH EDINBURGH COMMUNITY TURNED OUT IN FORCE TO SAY A FINAL GOODBYE TO BETTY McVAY THIS WEEK:
I first met Betty back in the 1980s. I can’t remember what the details now, it was such a long time ago, but it was something to do with Drylaw Telford Community Council, Pilton Sporting Club and Pilton Central Association. What I do remember was some advice from PCA’s development worker, who helpfully warned me: “Betty’s bark is worse than her bite”.
I received quite a grilling from the feisty wee wifey who was Betty McVay that day. Fortunately she didn’t actually bite me, and while her bark was certainly sharp enough, I did survive the ordeal.
That first encounter was the first of so many over the forty-odd years that followed, and I found that her initial suspicion and mistrust was built on years of community experience. Betty was scathing of ‘incomers’, projects and community workers being ‘parachuted in to help the poor people’.
Maybe because we shared a common background, both born and raised in the Old Town, we developed a bond and a trust that grew over the years.
Betty could be painfully forthright about many things and many people. Woe betide any worker or politician who tried to soft soap Betty: sometimes I would wince when she turned her withering fire on some hapless individual or other along with a steely stare that would curdle milk!
The wrath of Betty was a force to behold, but there was another softer, gentler side to her too. She was fiercely supportive of causes she believed in and was a loyal friend to so many individuals and organisations it would take just too long to list.
I felt really privileged to receive an invitaion to attend Betty’s 80th birthday party at West Pilton Neighbourhood Centre – it was as if I had made it at last and finally accepted into Betty’s ‘circle of trust’ after all these years!
I worked with and learned from Betty in a number of organisations and campaigns over all those years: initially through the Pilton Partnership and Greater Pilton Community Alliance – the ground-breaking initiative to break down barriers between North Edinburgh’s individual communities and work together as one to tackle poverty.
I remember I interviewed Betty when she was awarded an MBE for her service to communities – ‘Arise, Oor Betty’ was the headline on our front page splash!
Then there was the Edinburgh Community Representatives Network, joining forces with other communities to challenge the inequities of the (unfair) Fairer Scotland Fund. We lost that fight, but Betty had many successes too – the jewel in the crown being the establishment of her beloved North Edinburgh Childcare Centre.
In later years, when Betty was supposed to be slowing down after a health scare, I worked with her through Community Action North to organise an Older People’s event as a final activity to wind down Pilton Central Association.
I would schedule an hour for those planning meetings, which we held at North Edinburgh Arts – but that was never going to happen! The agenda quickly went out the window and Betty embarked on a roller coaster of stories and recollections, barely pausing for breath and covering a spectrum of local, national and even international characters and events spanning half a century and more! We did find the odd ten minutes to discuss the event we were supposed to be planning, though!
It was never easy to make sense of my notes after these marathon sessions, but the Older People’s event did take place eventually and it was a great success!
And even in those final years, right up to the end, it was always a joy to spend time with her, especially when there was a wee spark of the old venom: she may have mellowed, but Betty was still Betty! Biting back, right to the end.
Flexible grants to drive efficiency, support nature and climate friendly farming
Farmers and crofters will benefit from £20 million additional capital support this year and £26 million next year, First Minister John Swinney has confirmed.
Speaking at the NFU Scotland annual conference he outlined how at least £14 million of the funding will deliver a Future Farming Investment Scheme, providing flexible capital grants.
Other significant announcements included:
an additional £7 million in 2025 through the Agri-environment climate scheme (AECS) to undertake activities supporting nature, climate and biodiversity alongside food production
hosting a new entrant’s summit bringing key individuals together to find solutions to attract more people into farming
a three year programme of national land Lidar laser scanning to accurately map terrain
committing £75,000 to RSABI (founded as the Royal Scottish Agricultural Benevolent Institution) to provide mental health support for farmers and crofters
further details of how the routemap to implementing a new framework of agriculture support will work
a commitment to delivering ultra-high frequency (UHF) electronic identification for cows to improve traceability
Mr Swinney said: “I want to see a farming sector that is equipped and ready to meet the challenges and seize the opportunities of the future. That is why at least £14 million will be delivered through our Future Farming Investment Scheme.
“We will work at pace to consult with industry to ensure the capital grant scheme guidance and priorities work for a range of businesses and that the application processes are simple and straightforward. They will not be prescriptive, as long as the funds are used to drive efficiency or support nature and climate friendly farming your bid will be valid and could receive support.
“A flourishing Scotland means a flourishing rural Scotland. And for rural Scotland to thrive, farming must thrive. I look forward to working with the industry – building on the constructive working relationships we have with NFU Scotland to show that this government is committed to continuing to support our nation’s farmers.”
2025 North Edinburgh Film Festival – don’t miss this family-friendly celebration of film and community stories! 
Saturday 22 February 2025, 11am-5pm
West Pilton Neighbourhood Centre
Free event
Films from North Edinburgh – stories made by the community, for the community
Global shorts & animations, from near and far
Special performance by Curious Seed, featuring films by local artists and Craigroyston Community High School pupils
Workshops for aspiring filmmakers of all ages
