Author: davepickering

Edinburgh reporter and photographer

Total Craigroyston – improving outcomes for children and families

Total Craigroyston is the latest ‘early intervention’ strategy to support families with children in North Edinburgh. Total Craigroyston Manager CHRISTINE MACKAY explains what it’s all about …

Total Craigroyston has been set up  to encourage  all the various organisation which work with Children and Families to work together to  improve outcomes for children and families in the neighbourhood around Craigroyston Community High School.

Our initial focus will be on children who are looked after by the Council to ensure that they have all the support they need to give them the best opportunity to succeed in their lives. We will also be working to reduce the need for children to go into care, and that means finding ways to  support families at an earlier stage and in a variety of ways.

The idea is to take a holistic approach – ensuring that all of the local resources in both the statutory and the voluntary sectors are on the same page, facing the same direction and contributing to the agreed outcomes. It may be that we need to change how some of our services are delivered so that we can offer support at an earlier stage and we want to involve local people as well as local staff  in helping us think what changes might be necessary.

We held a meeting in mid-March, bringing together the local Neighbourhood Partnership, the Edinburgh Partnership and the Total Craigroyston steering group (pictured below) to start the discussion and what everyone agreed on was the need to ensure that local residents, service users and local staff are completely involved in shaping the direction of Total Craigroyston.

To help us do this we have been working with an organisation called  SNOOK, and over the month of June we will be running a series of events and workshops aimed at local residents, service users and local staff so that we can  come up with a set of ideas and proposals, based on local knowledge and expertise,  that we can take forward.

A Design Workshop will be held on Monday 28 May from 9.30 – 12.30 in Craigroyston Community High  School. Come along and give your ideas for changing the way we do things. A crèche is available but places must be booked. Please contact Stephen Straiton on 469 3375 or email Stephen.straiton@edinburgh.gov.uk

On Saturday 2 June, the SNOOK team will be out and about at Muirhouse Shopping Centre, North Edinburgh Arts and Muirhouse Library  speaking  to local people and hearing views.

A Young People Speak Out  session will  be held in Pilton Youth and Children’s Project  on  Wed 6 June  from 7 – 9pm to help us gather young people’s views.

A Prototyping Lab (don’t be put off by the title!!) will be held on Monday 18 June from 10 – 4pm in West Pilton Neighbourhood Centre. This will give the SNOOK team an opportunity to present the ideas that have been gathered and to have a think about the ones we want to take forward. A crèche is available but places must be booked. Please contact Stephen Straiton on 469 3375 or email Stephen.straiton@edinburgh.gov.uk

If you are interested in being involved in any way or you have ideas or a story to tell about your involvement with local services please get in touch. We are based at the Local Neighbourhood Office in West Pilton Gardens. Tel no 529 5050. email Christine.mackay@edinburgh.gov.uk. Please contact us if you’d like more information.

 

Christine Mackay

Manager, Total Craigroyston

 

Letter: Famine – time to change the system

Dear Editor

Famine does not happen in the UK, although there is still widespread poverty and all he misery that flows from that. Famines are happening around the world: we have all seen the dreadful pictures, particularly harrowing are the pictures of children dying. One’s heart breaks that this is happening every minute of every day.

The financial crisis caused by the banks, which is now being passed onto the people, has shown that private ownership and control of major producing companies are not capable of maintaining them in the interest of everyone: they are too busy looking after profits, buying, selling and closing down places of work.

This is Capitalism.

Private ownership driving force is for profit.

Private ownership thrives on increasing exploitation of people for profit.

Private ownership leads to exploitation of animal and other forms of life for profit.

Private ownership leads to gross exploitation of natural resources for profit.

Despite industrial and technological development giving an opportunity to solve the world’s problems of hunger and disease, it has been used to make massive fortunes for a very small number of people worldwide.

The system has been challenged by many generations of people who have gained improvements in many areas of life, but the present crisis confirms the system is incapable of managing the economy.

A change has to come, but those who control and gain from the existing system are resisting as hard as they can.

A new way to tackle the terrible problems of mass famine, unemployment and poverty must be allowed to operate. Appealing to the better nature of existing owners of industry, etc, obviously has no effect!

A Delahoy

Silverknowes Gardens

 

Security RULES for cyclists

Lothian and Borders Police are offering cyclists the opportunity to make their bikes secure at two forthcoming sessions.

At Craigleith Retail Park on Thursday 24 May (12 – 2pm) and at Ocean Terminal on Tuesday 5 June (5 – 7pm) you can have your bike registered and UV marked for £5, or registered, UV marked and electronically tagged for £10. Some lucky cyclists could get this done for free so get there early!

Remember those rules:

Register It

UV mark it

Lock it

Electronically tag it

Secure it

 

Lothian and Borders Police

The Muirhouse Centipede's on the march!

The Centipede Project, the community regeneration initiative launched in Muirhouse in March, has received a welcome boost with news that the project has been awarded funding to help take plans forward.

Linda Dunbar, Locum Minister at Muirhouse St Andrew’s Parish Church, organised the initial consultation event held in the church. That event generated a number of great ideas – the favourite being a community gardens project – and now it seems that those ideas have taken a step closer to becoming a reality.

Linda said: ‘We have had great news at the Centipede Project – we have been awarded £5000 Pilot Project funding from the Church of Scotland’s Parish Development Fund, so we are now gearing up to develop some of the ideas for the Community Gardens project. We hope to send out more information by the end of the month, but in the meantime a new Facebook page – Marvellous Muirhouse – has been set up for people, groups and projects to promote their activities and to celebrate all the good things going on in Muirhouse and surrounding areas. You can find the page at https://www.facebook.com/MarvelousMuirhouse so please:

  • log on and ‘Like’ the page
  • post on the page to tell everyone about your activities.
  • pass the information on to all your contacts.

This has the potential to be a great networking resource; if you want to see a similar page and how the networking has taken off, have a quick look at Glorious Govan on Facebook, https://www.facebook.com/#!/GloriousGovan.”

The Muirhouse Centipede is on the march!

The Muirhouse Centipede’s on the march!

The Centipede Project, the community regeneration initiative launched in Muirhouse in March, has received a welcome boost with news that the project has been awarded funding to help take plans forward.

Linda Dunbar, Locum Minister at Muirhouse St Andrew’s Parish Church, organised the initial consultation event held in the church. That event generated a number of great ideas – the favourite being a community gardens project – and now it seems that those ideas have taken a step closer to becoming a reality.

Linda said: ‘We have had great news at the Centipede Project – we have been awarded £5000 Pilot Project funding from the Church of Scotland’s Parish Development Fund, so we are now gearing up to develop some of the ideas for the Community Gardens project. We hope to send out more information by the end of the month, but in the meantime a new Facebook page – Marvellous Muirhouse – has been set up for people, groups and projects to promote their activities and to celebrate all the good things going on in Muirhouse and surrounding areas. You can find the page at https://www.facebook.com/MarvelousMuirhouse so please:

  • log on and ‘Like’ the page
  • post on the page to tell everyone about your activities.
  • pass the information on to all your contacts.

This has the potential to be a great networking resource; if you want to see a similar page and how the networking has taken off, have a quick look at Glorious Govan on Facebook, https://www.facebook.com/#!/GloriousGovan.”

The Muirhouse Centipede is on the march!

Hello, goodbye!

Crewe Toll’s cycling fire-fighters called in on a flying visit to Oaklands School this afternoon. The guys from White Watch are on the homeward leg of their Land’s End to John o’ Groats charity cycle challenge, and they stopped off at the Ferry Road school to present a cheque for £8000.

The cyclists were welcomed by Oaklands staff and pupils and colleagues from Crewe Toll also dropped in to Oaklands to cheer their mates on.

Oaklands Head Teacher Maureen Mathieson said: “This makes a huge difference and we are so grateful to the Crewe Toll team for making this tremendous effort for us. We’d also like to thank everyone who sponsored the fire-fighters. The money raised enables us to buy specially built cycles for the Oaklands children to enjoy. It’s terrific!”

The team are well on schedule to complete North Quest, their thousand mile challenge – averaging a hundred miles a day – and there was just time to present the cheque, enjoy a cuppa and get back in the saddle for the next stage.

Despite the aches, pains, chafing and sprains the Crewe Toll lads expect to complete their epic ride in three days time, and have set their sights on making another target – enjoying a pint in Inverness before closing time on Saturday!  Well done, lads – you deserve it!

A Ragged Trousered Appreciation

A Timely Reminder

On Saturday 21 April at North Edinburgh Arts Centre the audience was treated to a brilliant performance by two magnificent actors playing all the characters in Robert Tressell’s classic story ‘The Ragged Trousered Philanthropists’.

The subject, of grinding exploitation of workers employed by a building and decorating firm, was played with emotion, seriousness and a good deal of humour. The confusion and self-interest of some of the characters has its modern counterparts, but so does the message of what must still be done.

The actors, Rodney Matthew and Neil Gore, will be giving performances of the play at the Edinburgh Fringe at Venue 2 this August. It deserves to – and should – play to packed houses.

A Delahoy 

Weekend fire in West Pilton flat

Fire crews were called out to a fire in the kitchen of a flat in West Pilton Gardens, Edinburgh on Saturday evening.

Two fire engines and a height appliance attended the incident, caused by a cooker catching fire, after the call came in at 8.22pm. Two firefighters entered the ground floor flat in the three-storey block and extinguished the fire using a CO2 extinguisher and a high-pressure hose reel.

An ambulance attended and paramedics checked over a 20-year-old male, 19-year-old female and a 10-month-old baby, but none of the occupants required hospital treatment.

Lothian and Borders Fire and Rescue Service

Deal done: it's Labour and SNP

The Labour Party and the SNP have signed an agreement to work together to run the City of Edinburgh Council following the local government elections on 3 May.

The agreement follows concerted efforts to reach an all-party alliance between all the groups that had councillors returned by the electors last week. The coalition partners said they hoped to continue to work with the other groups in the interests of the people of Edinburgh.

Andrew Burns, Labour Group leader, said: “After listening to the will of the electorate and after intense negotiations over the last few days I am delighted that we have managed to reach an agreement to lead the city of Edinburgh for the next five years. Edinburgh electors gave a very clear mandate to Labour and the SNP, delivering 38 out of 58 councillors. A Labour-SNP coalition will now provide the stability and certainty needed to move Edinburgh forward.”

Steve Cardownie, SNP Group leader, said: “The SNP looks forward to working in partnership with the Labour group with a progressive and exciting agenda to meet the challenges the city faces. With this strong partnership we are best placed to ensure Edinburgh serves its citizens well and emerges from the recession quickly and strongly. Our groups’ economic policies are almost one and the same and we are confident they will deliver for the people of the city.”

Chief Executive Sue Bruce, who was notified of the agreement today, said: “I look forward to working with the new administration, and indeed all councillors, over the next five years.

“A successful Council needs a partnership between the elected members who set the direction and policies, and the officers charged with putting that into practice. Together, our responsibility is to ensure that we take Edinburgh forward and make a real difference to the people who live and work here.”

The coalition parties have agreed the following division of positions: the Labour Party will nominate candidates for the positions of Leader and Lord Provost; the Scottish National Party will nominate candidates for the positions of Deputy Leader and Deputy Lord Provost.

The first meeting of the new Council is on Thursday 17 May, at which it will appoint a new Lord Provost. It is intended that the other aforementioned positions will be agreed at the same meeting.