Author: davepickering

Edinburgh reporter and photographer

Crunch time for ECRN

Community activists from across the city have been urged to attend a ‘vital’ meeting of the Edinburgh Community Representatives Network (ECRN) tonight.  The meeting will decide the future direction of the organisation which was set up to give communities a voice in decisions that affect them.

ECRN provides a forum for city activists to come together to discuss issues of common concern, but in March this year the organisation lost it’s funding for a part-time support worker.  This seriously curtailed ECRN activities and the organisation’s office bearers stood down at ECRN’s annual general meeting in July.  Since then, however, office bearers have had a change of mind and tonight’s meeting has been organised to thrash out a way ahead for ECRN.

In ‘Something Needs To Be Done’, a discussion document tabled for tonight’s meeting, ECRN chairman George Pitcher argues that the need for the organisation to continue is as great as ever, although he believes ECRN should not become a campaigning group.

Mr. Pitcher said:  “Anything which will help people, as groups or as individuals to become involved in community representation is what ECRN should be about.  Building up people’s knowledge and confidence to do things for themselves is the name of the game.  It is certainly not to give clout to ECRN, but to help give clout to the citizens of Edinburgh, whether it be Muirhouse or Marchmont, Cramond or Craigmillar, enabling them to play a vital part in defining and servicing the needs of those very communities in which they live out their lives.  My answer to the question, ‘Does ECRN need to change?’ is a big NO!”

Mr. Pitcher urges ECRN members old and new to attend tonight’s meeting, which will be held in Southside Community Centre on Nicholson Street at 7pm.  “To influence policy decisions, etc., you need to be there so come along and play a part in what could be the most vital meeting ever organised under the Edinburgh Community Representatives’ Network banner”, he said.

For further information on the ECRN or more details of tonight’s meeting call George on 0754 980 9206 or email geo.pitcher@o2.co.uk

National Award for Granton Information Centre

Granton Information Centre has received the prestigious Scottish National Standards certificate for the quality of their information and advice provision at a reception at the City Chambers.

GIC is the first Edinburgh organisation – and one of only a few advice agencies in Scotland – to achieve the award at this level, and their certificate was presented by Sheriff Principal Edward T Bowen QC.

The certificate presentation was the centrepiece of an event organised to celebrate the success of EHAP (Edinburgh Housing Advice Partnership), a consortium set up to provide housing advice services across the city in a contract with the city council. The consortium partners – Granton Information Centre, Community Health and Information (CHAI), Move On and FourSquare – offer a comprehensive range of housing advice services to the people of Edinburgh. EHAP provides a prison outreach project, a schools peer education service for S4 and S5 school leavers, housing advice in local neighbourhood settings and also provides representation at court – both for pre-prepared cases and also through an ‘emergency first aid’ service for people who turn up at court without representation. The EHAP event offered an opportunity to reflect on what has been achieved so far and to look ahead to future challenges.

Frances Durie and the staff team of Granton Information Centre receive their award. (Pic: Dave Pickering)

Welcoming delegates, Councillor Paul Edie (Chair of the Health, Social Care and Housing Committee) said: “Homelessness is something I’m very passionate about and I’m very proud of this council’s record. In Scotland, we have an obligation to eradicating unintentional homelessness by 2012 – not something that applies south of the border – and I think that’s a sign of what a progressive country Scotland is and how our social conscience reflects on public policy”.

He went on: “This council has a very radical strategy to tackle homelessness, developed in partnership with our colleagues in the voluntary sector and rolled out over the last couple of years. Critical to that strategy has been the provision of good quality ‘right first time’ housing advice to our service users. I’m really proud that last year homelessness dropped by 13% in Edinburgh, and EHAP are very important players in that strategy. No less than 99% of people who have used EHAP have not subsequently gone on to present themselves as homeless – that’s a jaw-dropping statistic; in any walk of life if you get that level of satisfaction rating you’d be entirely happy. I’d like to thank our EHAP partners for the great work they are doing to stop people losing their homes – a terrible thing to happen to anyone – and I wish you every success in the year ahead”.

One of Sherriff Principal Bowen’s responsibilities is to ensure ‘the efficient dispersal of Sherriff Court business’ and he explained that, while criminal cases take up the bulk of time at the court, civil business – including housing cases dealing with evictions and repossessions – take up a considerable amount of court time. He said that many of these cases could and should be resolved before they ever reached court, but added that there was also a need for suitable advice provision when cases did come to court.

“A recent review found that there is a need for proper advice – there remains a significant unmet need – and the EHAP service is critical to providing assistance prior to cases coming before the court system; providing there is a proper input by way of advice at an early stage, housing disputes can be resolved. The court needs to have confidence that suitable advice is available, so the service that EHAP provides is critical to the function of Edinburgh Sherriff Court. That’s demonstrated by the figures EHAP has provided for 2010 -11. We are indebted to all those involved in providing the EHAP service, which is widely acknowledged to be highly effective, and it gives me great pleasure to recognise that expertise by the presentation of these certificates today”.

Frances Durie, vice-chairperson of Granton Information Centre, received the award on the project’s behalf. She said: “This is a really tremendous achievement and a great honour for Granton Information Centre. Our staff have worked very hard over a long period to achieve the levels of professionalism that they have, and it’s good that this effort has been rewarded. We’ve always known that people coming to Granton Information Centre will get the highest standard of independent advice available anywhere, but it’s nice to receive wider recognition for the quality of our advice work”.

Granton Information Centre (GIC) provides free, impartial and confidential advice and assistance on a range of issues including welfare benefits, housing advice, tax credits and debt. If you would benefit from any advice you can visit them at their surgeries as per the details below.

Drop in sessions (Granton Information Centre):

Monday & Wednesday: All HOUSING issues: 9.30 – 12.30

Tuesday & Thursday: BENEFITS & MONEY ADVICE issues: 9.30 – 12.30

Outreach:

Tuesday: 10.00 – 1.00 CREWE MEDICAL CENTRE

(Only for patients of Crewe Medical Centre)

Tuesday: 2.00 – 4.00 MUIRHOUSE MEDICAL GROUP

(Only for patients of Muirhouse Medial Group)

Home visits and appointments may be available on request.

To find out more please contact them on 0131 552 0458, 134 – 138 West Granton Road, Edinburgh, EH5 1PE

Roddy Samsun (GIC)

Bulb Planting To Go Ahead On Tuesday

Organisers are keeping their (green) fingers crossed that a bulb planting event will go ahead in Easter Drylaw Gardens on Tuesday.  The ‘big dig’ was scheduled to take place last week but was postponed due to the horrible weather.

The bulb planting will take place from 1 – 3pm; all welcome, but wrap up warm!

For further information contact Moray Penman at North Edinburgh Local Office, email moray.penman@edinburgh.gov.uk

Let There Be Light!

Drylaw Telford Community Council is to raise concerns over the quality of recently-introduced lamp standards across the area.  Members at the community council’s latest meeting in Drylaw Neighbourhood Centre on Wednesday said that the new streetlights are not powerful enough and do not light pavements adequately, and the group plans to raise safety concerns at forthcoming Neighbourhood Partnership meetings.

The city council embarked on a rolling programme of replacing street lights earlier this year, but community council members believe the new lights are not as effective as the older lamp standards they are replacing.

Community councillor Jackie Brown also manages Drylaw’s Rainbow Daycare Centre for older people, and she says members are feeling less safe at night as a result of the lighting replacement programme.

“The new lights are lower and less powerful so don’t shed nearly as much light.  Older members of the community are feeling vulnerable.  Some of them are carrying torches so that they can see where to put the key in the door lock when they get home, while some others are avoiding going out altogether when it gets dark.  It’s not only older people who are affected by the new lights, though – lots of people are not happy with the new lights”.

The city council is introducing the new units to reduce cost, energy use and light pollution.  In October the council’s Planning Committee approved a draft version of the Edinburgh Lighting Strategy for consultation and the closing date for comments is 31 December.  Drylaw Telford Community Council will formally respond to the consultation and also plan to raise concerns at December meetings of Forth Neighbourhood Partnership and the local Clean, Green and Safe action group.

What do you think of the new street lights?  Let us know!