Telford students get a taste of TV stardom!

Aspiring film and TV actors from Edinburgh’s Telford College had a taste of life on screen thanks to special performance workshops led by two of Scotland’s well known TV faces at the college last week.

Former Taggart star Colin McCredie and ex-River City regular Jenny Ryan – who is also a former Telford student – were on hand to provide advice for students on how to get into TV acting and maximise their performance in front of the camera.

Over 20 students from Edinburgh’s Telford College Performing Arts Studio Scotland (PASS) benefited from more than fifty years acting experience from the duo, designed to provide a real taste of a career in the film and TV industry.

PASS Programme Area Leader Scott Johnston, who organised the workshops, said: “It is great that two of Scotland’s most hard working and talented TV actors are able to come in and speak with the students. The workshops have been great so far and a real eye opener to the world of television. We have a group of seriously talented individuals here at PASS and we work hard to ensure they get to experience all aspects of an acting career.”

He added: “Most performing arts courses are very heavy with theatrical performance and students get very little chance to experience what it’s like working in front of a camera, which is totally different than being on stage. Thanks to Colin and Jenny, the students now have a real and tangible understanding of how TV acting works and hopefully they will be able to apply this to their future work; some of them may even go on to be the TV stars of the future.”

The workshops covered subjects such as show-reels, auditions and TV script work as well as covering some of what happens behind the camera.

Colin McCredie is best known for playing DC Stuart Fraser in one of Scotland’s most popular crime series Taggart. Since leaving the show in 2010 Colin has gone on to hold many starring roles including Nick Morrison in River City, as well as various film, TV and theatre roles. He said: “It’s been brilliant working with the fantastic students at Telford and sharing the technique & experiences of acting on film with them. And who knows – maybe we’ll spot the next Karen Gillan!”

Ex Telford student Jenny said: “It’s been a pleasure to visit my old college and see the fantastic facilities they have here now and to work with the students who judging by their final performance last week the students are of an exceptionally high standard”.

PASS was set up in 2010 to offer an extensive range of performing arts courses to Edinburgh students. Designed as a training institution for those looking for a career in the performing arts, it allows students to showcase their talents through a variety of performance choices.

Scott added: “The concept of PASS is something we have been developing at Telford for some years now, with an aim not only to provide a state-of-the-art teaching environment for Scotland’s aspiring actors, dancers and theatre technicians, but to also give the performing arts industry in Scotland a boost by providing a dedicated, professional training academy.”

More information about PASS can be found at Edinburgh’s Telford College’s websitewww.ed-coll.ac.uk

Olympic Reflections

 

The North Neighbourhood Olympic Torch Project came to a dramatic finale on the 30 May when participants took part in a Mini Olympians final event at Bangholm (writes Ricky Karoyan). Pupils were split into countries before taking part in various Olympic sports – from athletics to martial arts – and competing to win gold!  Pupils were awarded prizes based on effort and being a good player in keeping with the Olympic values.

The torch started it’s journey at Craigroyston Primary on Tuesday 21 February.  The torch was then delivered to St Davids and ended up at Lorne Primary on the 21 May.   As the torch travelled from school to school the pupils got to experience one of the Olympic sports, whilst also sharing the experience with a neighbouring school.  They even got to meet some Team GB Olympians, such as hockey player Graham Moodey) and athlete Lynsey Sharp, who visited schools in their Olympic Games kit!  This project involved P3’s from 11 schools from across North Edinburgh.

The activities experienced were hockey, basketball, judo, athletics, Paralympics events, handball, taekwondo, seated volleyball, fencing and boccia.

The pupils had a great time and learned lots of exciting new sports and skills with neighbouring schools.  Active Schools were really impressed with the effort that the classes put into their class presentations and their flag and mini torch making.

A special thanks to all the schools who supported this project and for their enthusiasm and energy.  Also a big thanks to Telford College who delivered our final festival, bringing lots of energy and excitement to the event. Lets hope our mini Olympians are future Olympic athletes in the making!

Ricky Karoyan

Active Schools Coordinator, Craigroyston Cluster

D Mains and Silverknowes Association AGM

Davidsons Mains and Silverknowes Association are holding their Annual General Meeting on Tuesday 19 June at 7.30pm in Holy Cross Church Hall on Quality Street.

The meeting offers an opportunity to meet and put questions to the area’s newly elected councillors – Lindsay Paterson (Conservative), Alistair Shields (Lib Dem) and Norman Work (SNP).

D Mains Gala tomorrow

Organisers of Davidsons Mains Childrens Gala are keeping their fingers crossed for no more rain with the eightieth annual Gala due to take place tomorrow from 11.30am.

Everything is in place – Gala King Lewis Crosbie and Queen Anna Wynn with their Court (pictured below) will be leading off the procession – so here’s hoping for some summer sunshine!

For full information on the gala programme see the website dmainsgala.org.uk

New Edinburgh Orchestra at St. Serf's

New Edinburgh Orchestra will be performing a concert at St Serf’s Parish Church Hall tomorrow (Saturday) at 7.30pm. Conducted by Tim Paxton, leader Joanna Duncan, the orchestra will perform:

David Horne’s Strands, Elgar’s Cello Concerto in E Minor Op. 85 (solo cello Harriet Bruce) and Devorak’s Symphony No & in D Minor Op 70.

Tickets are available on the door or can be purchased online at wegottickets.com

 

New Edinburgh Orchestra at St. Serf’s

New Edinburgh Orchestra will be performing a concert at St Serf’s Parish Church Hall tomorrow (Saturday) at 7.30pm. Conducted by Tim Paxton, leader Joanna Duncan, the orchestra will perform:

David Horne’s Strands, Elgar’s Cello Concerto in E Minor Op. 85 (solo cello Harriet Bruce) and Devorak’s Symphony No & in D Minor Op 70.

Tickets are available on the door or can be purchased online at wegottickets.com

 

Legionella outbreak claims another life

A further death linked to the outbreak of Legionnaires’ disease in Edinburgh was confirmed  when a man with significant pre-existing underlying health conditions died in Edinburgh Royal Infirmary last night.

Cabinet Secretary for Health and Wellbeing Nicola Sturgeon said: “My sincere condolences go to the family and friends of the patient who passed away in Edinburgh tonight in a case linked to the outbreak of Legionnaires’ disease in the city. My thoughts are with them at this very difficult time. Despite this sad and tragic development, it remains the case that we believe the outbreak to have peaked. However, we continue to monitor the situation carefully and advise anyone with any concerns to contact the special NHS 24 helpline on 08000 85 85 31. The Health and Safety Executive and Edinburgh City Council are continuing to make progress in their investigations into the possible source of the outbreak.”

Dr Duncan McCormick, Chair of the Incident Management Team and Consultant in Public Health Medicine at NHS Lothian, said: “Whilst we realised that further deaths were a possibility this additional death is extremely sad and I would like to express my sincere condolences to the family of the patient.”