Storm force winds, hail and driving rain were not enough to deter some hardy souls from braving the elements today. Granton Parish Church minister Norman Smith was spotted walking his dogs along the Promenade at lunchtime.
“I’m from the Western Isles originally”, he explained. “This weather is just like a normal weekend back home for me!”
Current update 8th December:
Council Venues and Facilities
Public Meetings:
Schools:
Refuse Collections:
Edinburgh’s Christmas:
When there are high winds the Council’s main actions will be:
This work will be carried out by various sections in the Council, including the neighbourhood roads teams, forestry service and property conservation staff.
It may be necessary for the Council to close roads, parks or other spaces to carry out work or to prevent the risk of harm.
Our advice to the public during high winds is to:
City of Edinburgh Council
Decision taken due to expected travel disruption
All Edinburgh schools will shut at noon today because of the high winds forecast and the expected severe disruption to travel and transport. School transport has been arranged to collect children at noon.
Children and Family Centres/Nurseries/Community Centres are also closing at noon.
All community use of schools from noon onwards today will be cancelled including the Adult Education Programme.
The Scottish Government has issued advice to all local authorities on this which you can see in its news release from this morning: severe weather update.
The Council has some general advice for the public and information on its own responsibilities on the high winds page.
City of Edinburgh Council
Out of School Clubs
Children in North Edinburgh Childcare’s Out of School Clubs have been busy as usual. Over recent weeks they have had the chance to enjoy a wide range of physical activity workshops including judo, football and dance classes. The children are now starting to get excited about Christmas. They are decorating their clubs in preparation of the festive season and looking forward to the holiday club which will be open throughout the school holidays excluding public holidays.
North Edinburgh Childcare
… away free daffodil bulbs at Edinburgh & Lothians Greenspace Trust’s Innertube Christmas fun day this weekend!
On Sunday 11th December 2011, local environmental charity the Edinburgh & Lothians Greenspace Trust (ELGT) will be getting active and improving biodiversity as well as delivering craft workshops and fun activities for families. This will take place on Edinburgh’s network of off-road cycling and walking paths as part of the Innertube project being delivered this year by the Bike Station and ELGT, funded by the People’s Postcode Trust ‘Dream Fund’.
The Innertube Christmas Fun Day is a free community event packed full of activities including Christmas crafts, bulb planting, making bird feeders, Dr Bike, storytelling and festive refreshments!
The event will take place at the Hawthornvale entrance to the Innertube cycle path network in Newhaven on Sunday from 11am – 2pm.
ELGT needs volunteers and families to come along to this free community drop in event to plant daffodil bulbs, listen to storytelling and make Christmas crafts with natural woodland materials. Volunteers will be rewarded with hot chocolate, mince pies and some free daffodil bulbs to take home and plant, either in the garden or in pots. There will also be the opportunity to have bikes checked by Dr Bike and make a bird feeder to take home and keep the birds fed this winter.
ELGT Community Projects Officer Esperanza Martin said: “Communities along the Innertube have been very active this year, carrying out environmental improvement activities such as conservation work, litter, vegetation and path clearance work as well as fun guided activities like bird, bat and heritage walks and storytelling. This community fun day is going to provide something for everyone and also the opportunity to celebrate the hard work that has been carried out in 2011!”
ELGT carries out practical environmental projects, such as the creation of community parks, gardens, woodlands, allotments and other greenspaces and works with communities in Edinburgh and the Lothians, getting people active and enjoying all kinds of greenspaces around the capital.
Quality local greenspaces are fantastic, free resources for play, education, exercise and enjoyment and can have a positive impact on health and wellbeing, particularly in disadvantaged areas.
To keep updated as this exciting & innovative greenspace project develops, sign up for email updates at www.elgt.org.uk or follow us on Twitter @greenspacetrust @innertubemap
You can follow the Innertube project and add your own stories by visiting the interactive project website innertubemap.com
ELGT
… away free daffodil bulbs at Edinburgh & Lothians Greenspace Trust’s Innertube Christmas fun day this weekend!
On Sunday 11th December 2011, local environmental charity the Edinburgh & Lothians Greenspace Trust (ELGT) will be getting active and improving biodiversity as well as delivering craft workshops and fun activities for families. This will take place on Edinburgh’s network of off-road cycling and walking paths as part of the Innertube project being delivered this year by the Bike Station and ELGT, funded by the People’s Postcode Trust ‘Dream Fund’.
The Innertube Christmas Fun Day is a free community event packed full of activities including Christmas crafts, bulb planting, making bird feeders, Dr Bike, storytelling and festive refreshments!
The event will take place at the Hawthornvale entrance to the Innertube cycle path network in Newhaven on Sunday from 11am – 2pm.
ELGT needs volunteers and families to come along to this free community drop in event to plant daffodil bulbs, listen to storytelling and make Christmas crafts with natural woodland materials. Volunteers will be rewarded with hot chocolate, mince pies and some free daffodil bulbs to take home and plant, either in the garden or in pots. There will also be the opportunity to have bikes checked by Dr Bike and make a bird feeder to take home and keep the birds fed this winter.
ELGT Community Projects Officer Esperanza Martin said: “Communities along the Innertube have been very active this year, carrying out environmental improvement activities such as conservation work, litter, vegetation and path clearance work as well as fun guided activities like bird, bat and heritage walks and storytelling. This community fun day is going to provide something for everyone and also the opportunity to celebrate the hard work that has been carried out in 2011!”
ELGT carries out practical environmental projects, such as the creation of community parks, gardens, woodlands, allotments and other greenspaces and works with communities in Edinburgh and the Lothians, getting people active and enjoying all kinds of greenspaces around the capital.
Quality local greenspaces are fantastic, free resources for play, education, exercise and enjoyment and can have a positive impact on health and wellbeing, particularly in disadvantaged areas.
To keep updated as this exciting & innovative greenspace project develops, sign up for email updates at www.elgt.org.uk or follow us on Twitter @greenspacetrust @innertubemap
You can follow the Innertube project and add your own stories by visiting the interactive project website innertubemap.com
ELGT
Global Citizenship
Global citizenship is a key feature of the curriculum in our nursery. Children are encouraged to respect and value diversity by learning about different cultures from across the world. We are therefore delighted to announce our partnership with Larbec International Academy, a school for children aged 2-12 years located in the Kumasi region of Ghana. Two members of the nursery team will be visiting the school in Ghana early next year. This will be followed shortly afterwards by a reciprocal visit from our Ghanaian partners who will spend time in our nursery providing everyone with the opportunity to learn more about one another’s cultures. All of the children and staff are very excited about this venture and are currently fundraising to help meet the costs of the visits which are also being partly funded through the British Council’s Global Schools Partnership programme.
Theresa Allison
‘It was the night before Christmas and Jack is so excited thinking of Santa filling his stocking. His mum comes in to read him a bedtime story and Jack gently falls asleep … what dreams are in store for Jack on this very special Christmas Eve?’
Staff and pupils staged ‘A Magical Christmas Dream’ to a packed house at Oaklands School yesterday and the performance kicked off Christmas celebrations in fine style. The audience was transported to a magical land where the cold weather outside was forgotten and the Disney song and dance routines would surely have warmed the heart of Scrooge himself!
From Nursery to Seniors, every child played their part in making ‘A Magical Christmas Dream’ a huge success and the show was the perfect start to Christmas celebrations, and Head Teacher Maureen Mathieson also gave a huge ‘thank you’ to the army of ‘Santa’s Little Helpers’ who made the event possible. Take a bow: Pilrig Park School, Rowanfield School, Simon Davidson (lighting), St. George’s School, Oaklands ensemble (Caroline, Jessica, Moira, Alison and Mr and Mrs. Frater) and all the Oaklands staff (with particular thanks to Angela, Susan, Laura, Dyanne, Dot, Sonia, Kausar and Sarah). A Christmas show wouldn’t be complete without Santa, of course, so a special thank you to Hamish too!
My name is Norman Smith and I am minister of the church of Scotland in Granton. I am writing to you in my capacity as chairman of our Waterfront project that seeks to foster community between existing and new communities of north west Edinburgh. There is an excellent promotional video on our website at www.new-community.org.uk and you may also find the other videos there interesting as they record local community views expressed at the Community Festival in 2011.
Norman Smith
A knife attacker left a delivery driver with his insides “hanging out” during an attempted murder outside a Stockbridge shop.
Aaron Gray, 23, left Mark Miller, 26, bleeding heavily from wounds following the assault near Pizza Hut in Raeburn Place, Stockbridge, on 3 April.
Surgeons carried out an emergency operation on Mr Miller to repair his injured bowel and blood vessels.
The judge deferred sentence on Gray until January for background reports.
Gray admitted attempting to murder Mr Miller.
He had changed his plea during a trial at the High Court in Edinburgh.
Mr Miller, a hospital worker who also worked as a delivery driver for the restaurant chain, said he was heading back to the outlet when he became aware of a male shouting, whom he did not know.
He said he had ignored him and the man left the scene in a car, but returned minutes later and emerged from a passenger door.
Mr Miller said: “He came running towards me. It happened that quick,” he said before the pair got involved in “a scuffle”.
He said: “I managed to get up on to my feet. I was still holding on to him. Then I just let go of him. Then I put my hand down on to my stomach and I realised I had been stabbed. My insides were hanging out.”
Advocate depute Graeme Jessop said Gray claimed he knew Mr Miller which the victim denied.
Mr Jessop said the surgeon was of the opinion that the injuries were actually life-threatening if it was not for the immediate medical intervention.
Police made attempts to trace Gray at several addresses following the attack, before he later handed himself in at a police station.
The victim suffered anxiety and depression following the assault. He said he now finds it very difficult to go out on his own and remains off work following the attack on him, the court heard.
