Author: davepickering

Edinburgh reporter and photographer

New Community Creche for North Edinburgh?

New Year, new community crèche for North Edinburgh?  Local organisation Stepping Stones has held discussions with Community Learning and Development staff at Royston Wardieburn Community Centre to explore the possibility of setting up a new community crèche when the new Centre opens next year.

Stepping Stones’ Marilyn Keilloh explained:  “The ‘new’ Royston Wardieburn Community Centre will be opening to the public in the New Year.  Lydia Markham (Community Learning and Development) and I have had a very brief meeting about the possibility of developing a community crèche facility in the Centre.  We have arranged a meeting for Thursday 12 January from 1 – 3pm in the new centre and would like to invite anyone who is interested in developing a facility like this in the area to come along”.

For further information call Marilyn at Stepping Stones North Edinburgh on 551 1632 or Lydia at Royston Wardieburn Community Centre on 552 5700.

 

Easter Drylaw Park 'very good'

Alex Dale, Drylaw Telford Community Council’s representative on Inverleith Neighbourhood Partnersip’s Clean, Green and Safe Action Group, has reported that Easter DrylawPark has been uprated from ‘good’ to ‘very good’ in the city council’s latest  2011 Parks Survey.

Easter Drylaw Park ‘very good’

Alex Dale, Drylaw Telford Community Council’s representative on Inverleith Neighbourhood Partnersip’s Clean, Green and Safe Action Group, has reported that Easter DrylawPark has been uprated from ‘good’ to ‘very good’ in the city council’s latest  2011 Parks Survey.

Winter fun at Hawthornvale

Families, cyclists and craft enthusiasts braved the chilly weather and had a lovely time with The Bike Station and ELGT at Sunday’s Innertube Christmas Fun Day. We heard wonderful stories from Macastory and adults and children had a great time scavenging for natural woodland materials such as holly and ivy, to make festive wreaths to hang on the door. These are some of the best examples!

Katriona Harding

Edinburgh & Lothians Greenspace Trust

Last Posting Dates

Not posted your Christmas cards yet?  It’s not too late – last posting dates for Christmas deliveries are:

Second Class – Saturday 17 December

First Class – Tuesday 20 December.

Better get your skates on!

 

Gymnastics Festival is a huge success

This afternoon’s gymnastics festival at Broughton High School was a tremendous success, with children from across the city performing to a full house.  Among those taking part were Broughton’s City of Edinburgh Display Team, Castlebrae, Stockbridge, Broughton High, Corstorphine, Forrester High, Flora Stevenson, Ferryhill, Pentland schools and the City of Edinburgh Gym Club Display Team staged a fantastic finale.

Gymnastics Festival at Broughton High School today

Young gymnasts from across the city will come together to showcase their skills at an exciting event at Broughton High School today. 

Jude Salmon, Active Schools Coordinator for the Broughton cluster, said:  “The first Inter City Gymnastics Festival will take place at Broughton High School this afternoon (Friday 9th December) from 2 – 4pm.  This Festival is a non competitive display event, where all Edinburgh schools who take part in extra curricular gymnastics programmes will come together to perform routines to showcase their skills.

“ActiveSchools have been working in partnership with Activcity, City of Edinburgh Gymnastics Club and Edinburgh Leisure to introduce this all inclusive event to provide a platform to encourage long term participation in gymnastics and physical activity.  The event will bring together children of all levels and abilities to perform a short routine to their friends, families and peers.”

Jude Salmon

Active SchoolsCo-ordinator

Broughton Cluster

Mobile:07884235111

Email: jude.salmon@ea.edin.sch.uk

A Greenhouse Garden in West Pilton

A community garden in West Pilton growing fresh fruit, vegetables and herbs for everyone to enjoy. Come along and get involved helping build and plan the wee garden. Do you like gardening or want to learn?  Residents in West Pilton Brae looking out onto the grassland will be the first people involved deciding what the garden could look like and what to grow.

I went door to door last year asking some of the residents views on having a community garden area growing fruit and veg, and what the grassland behind the ‘greenhouse’ is currently used for.

Some of the older residents remembered allotments in the area that were demolished during redevelopment, and most folk I spoke to like the idea and could see the benefits of food on their doorstep but were a bit worried about vandalism.

Dog walkers use the open space so just a bit of the grassland would be used for a garden. None of the woodland surrounding would be touched as the local kids play in it and it is a beautiful landscape feature.

The garden could provide an opportunity for young and old to get together in a healthy fun environment, learning where food comes from seed to plate. The local schools could visit and work there as could local equalities groups. Seasonal gluts in crops could be used for cooking classes and sharing of recipes.  And people living in flats without a garden could share the growing space – those with gardens could swap plants and gardening advice.

Tenants and Residents in Pilton meets monthly in West Pilton Neighbourhood Centre, giving anyone living locally a chance to voice their opinion and be involved with the community garden.  We have obtained permission from the council to use part of the grassland for a community garden. A bit of money is available to buy ten fruit trees to start the garden and soft fruits like raspberries and strawberries would grow well.

I will be going around the doors again to ask folk what they think and give anyone interested more information – contact details are below.

I like the gardening quote:  “Gardening requires a lot of water, most of it in the form of perspiration“!

Please get involved and help fight food poverty – we could transform the grassland into a sheltered oasis.

Kirsty Sutherland

http://piltonresidents.org.uk/

07504 849 855