Tom Kitchin’s new gastropub The Scran & Scallie on Comely Bank Road will open for the first time this Sunday (31 March) and will then be open seven days a week.
Good luck to all involved with with the new venture.
Author: davepickering
Edinburgh reporter and photographer
Centipede Big Easter Bash is postponed
Muirhouse Centipede Project’s ‘Big Easter Bash’, which was to have been held on Easter Sunday, has been POSTPONED.
Organiser Linda Dunbar explained: “Given the state of the ground and the snow forecast over the weekend we have taken the decision to postpone the Centipede Project’s Big Easter Bash. It is not the weather for planting or egg rolling. The event will be rescheduled – hopefully later in April, and we’ll be in touch as soon as we have a new date.”
North Edinburgh Arts Director Kate Wimpress added: “I think this is the best decision, and we have circulated this on our Facebook/website/email networks. I’ll look forward to working with you on the rescheduled date.”
The cancellation of the event is a disappointment, but the Big Bash will be something to look forward to when (if?) the sun eventually starts shining again!
Glennon sponsors Edinburgh Gaelic football school league
Timber processing firm Glennon Brothers has announced it is to sponsor the Edinburgh-based Gaelic football school league for three years.
The youth element of Dunedin Connollys football club was established in 2012 and Glennon Brothers will provide financial backing to fund new kits and equipment to support the newly named ‘Glennon Brothers School League’, giving something back to the Scottish community in which over half of its employees are based.
Glennon Brothers joint managing directors Mike and Pat Glennon, accompanied by David Roger, CEO of Glennon Brothers in Scotland, attended the launch event of the league on Thursday 14 March at the Irish Consulate in Edinburgh where the sponsorship was announced.
The evening kicked off with a photo opportunity for the team and its new sponsors, followed by a networking event for key VIP guests including the Irish Minister of State for Small Business, John Perry and Consul General of Ireland to Scotland, Susan Conlon, as well as industry bodies Enterprise Ireland and Scottish Enterprise.
Mike Glennon, joint Managing Director at Glennon Brothers, said: “We are delighted to have the opportunity to sponsor the Edinburgh school league for Gaelic Football. We all know that involvement in sport is enormously positive for young people. Without the time, commitment, and patience of countless volunteers, and the team at Dunedin Og, many young people would miss out on the wonderful opportunities that sport can provide, and we are delighted that we can support this venture and give back to the Scottish community which is so important to the success of our business.”
Pat Glennon, joint Managing Director at Glennon Brothers, added: “This sponsorship is a key part of our celebration of 100 years in business in 2013 and clearly marks the significance of Scotland to Glennon Brothers today. We wish the Edinburgh school league every success.”
Peter Dillon, Dunedin Connollys Chairman said: “We are very grateful to Glennon Brothers for their kind and generous financial support of the Gaelic school league. It makes a huge difference for the families and children involved in the league, creating a solid foundation for us to build upon following the clubs inception last year. We are excited about spreading the word about Gaelic football to the Edinburgh youth community and are hopeful that the club will now go from strength to strength!”
Leith’s Naomi is Prince’s Trust Ambassador of the Year
HRH The Prince of Wales was joined by a host of celebrities on Tuesday (26 March) at The Prince’s Trust & Samsung Celebrate Success Awards, which recognise young people who have overcome issues such as abuse, drug addiction, homelessness and depression. And shining bright among all those stars was a local lass – Leith’s Naomi Johnston, who was named Young Ambassador of the Year at the gala event hosted by Ant and Dec.
Dame Helen Mirren, Homeland star Damian Lewis and Luther actor Idris Elba were among guests gathered at London’s Leicester Square Odeon to pay tribute to young people who have transformed their lives with the help of youth charity The Prince’s Trust.
Naomi Johnston, 27, from Leith in Edinburgh won the Mappin and Webb Young Ambassador of the Year Award after overcoming homelessness, a violent attack and a chaotic lifestyle to become a Prince’s Trust Young Ambassador and using her own experiences to inspire and support other young people.
Dame Helen Mirren DBE said: “All the young people here today are truly inspirational. Their remarkable stories have blown me away. Naomi has overcome a great deal and I feel very privileged to have met her and presented her with this Prince’s Trust award. She has shown that with resilience and hard work you really can reach your potential and be an inspiration to other young people.”
Justin Stead, CEO of Mappin & Webb, said: “I would like to offer my most heartfelt congratulations to Naomi for winning the Mappin & Webb Young Ambassador of the Year Award. She is a fantastic Young Ambassador for The Prince’s Trust and I wish her every success in the future.”
Television presenters, Ant & Dec hosted The Prince’s Trust & Samsung Celebrate Success Awards in front of the youth charity’s founder and president, HRH The Prince of Wales, and a 1,500 strong audience.
Other stars in attendance included rapper Tinie Tempah, producer Mark Ronson, actor Sam Claflin, presenter Laura Whitmore, actress Helen McCrory, interior designer Kelly Hoppen, and journalist Katie Adie OBE.
Athlete Victoria Pendleton attended having been earlier presented with a CBE by HM The Queen at Buckingham Palace. Laura Mvula, BRITs Critics Choice Award 2013 nominee, also performed at the event.
Youth charity The Prince’s Trust helps disadvantaged young people to get their lives on track. It supports 13 to 30 year-olds who are unemployed and those struggling at school and at risk of exclusion. Three in four young people supported by The Trust move into work, education or training.
Samsung and The Prince’s Trust are now calling on local people to raise money to help more young people like Naomi. Text TRUST RED to 70555 to donate or visit www.samsunggoesred.co.uk to find out more.
North Edinburgh to tackle dog fouling in new initiative
Environmental Wardens Team Leader Mark Bannon on a forthcoming initiative:
NORTH NEIGHBOURHOOD TEAM
Dog Fouling Exercise 8 April -12 May
Introduction
This planning is well underway and involves SfC partners to address dog fouling issues. A partnership initiative approach will provide, education, multi-agency working and enforcement to target problems encountered in an effort to minimise this anti social behaviour.
Main Aim of this Initiative:-
To reduce dog fouling and enforce on those offending. Encouraging changes in public behaviour and attitudes is a complex and lengthy business. Who would have thought twenty years ago that most buildings and workplaces, both public and private, would now have implemented no smoking policies? This has been achieved largely via consensus between smokers and non-smokers. In order to succeed, anti dog-fouling policies must achieve that same level of agreement between dog owners and non-owners.
The North Neighbourhood Environmental Wardens, Community Safety Officers, Safer Neighbourhood Team and CCTV
- a high visibility and low visibility presence from an enforcement role helping to create a clean environment for members of the public in our local community
- patrol areas of local ‘Hot Spots’ known for dog fouling. Referrals will be made to the Task Force on a daily basis
- take enforcement action against anyone found to be contravening the Dog Fouling (Scotland) Act 2003.
Mark Bannon
Working It Out helps MS Therapy Centre
Fourteen young people from the Working It Out project have donned their overalls and redecorated the Multiple Sclerosis (MS) Therapy Centre in Leith. The centre, which offers practical therapies to people who live with MS, had appealed for volunteers to help with its first makeover in more than a decade. When the young people from Working It Out heard, they were only too happy to get involved.
Working It Out is a four-month programme run by Tomorrow’s People, which aims to instill confidence, motivation and offer support to unemployed 16 to 24 year olds in Edinburgh. Heather Law, Task Force Leader, Tomorrow’s People said: “Working It Out supports young people into work, training or education. We also work on various community challenges, so we were delighted to volunteer our services to help the MS Therapy Centre.
“It’s been a real opportunity to find out about the work the centre does and it’s great to know that the young people’s hard work will be appreciated by those who use it. Helping out with the redecoration gives our young people a real sense of achievement as they improve something in their community. We are all very much looking forward to it.”
Speaking before the redecoration began, Nancy Campbell, Operations Manager at the MS Therapy Centre said: “I am delighted that Working It Out has agreed to help us. It is a great project and I am sure that the young people will do an amazing job redecorating the centre. We are trying to create a more welcoming and therapeutic environment for our clients and volunteers and with the help of local tradesmen who have donated materials and the young people who are doing the painting, I am hoping to see a transformation! “
I think Nancy gor her wish!
Meet your community cops at Millenium Centre
New police drop-in dates for the Millennium Community Centre are:
Wed 3 April 11.30-1.30
Wed 17 April 11.30-1.30 and
Wed 1 May 11.30-1.30
Eileen Carr
Boys’ Brigade is tops for training
The Boys’ Brigade receives credit for its top training course
King George VI Youth Leadership Training (KGVI), The Boys’ Brigade’s premier training course, is among a number of Community Learning and Development programmes (CLD) to be credit rated onto the Scottish Credit and Qualifications Framework. The KGVI course has been rated at level seven, with 13 credit points.
Credit points are used in Scotland to give learning outcomes a currency and allow learners and employers to compare different qualifications. The number of points is based on the amount of time that an average learner should expect to take to achieve the outcome. It is also possible to transfer credit points to other programmes, such as university and college courses.
Alan Hunter, Training and Development Officer at The Boys’ Brigade said: “It is a great boost to receive this level of recognition, for a programme which has so much impact on the 17-22 year olds participating. The credit points represent significant value to those moving into further education.”
In 2012, a record 35 BB members took part in the KGVI course, which began in the 1950s in memory of King George VI. As part of the two year course, the future leaders, all aged between 17 and 21, attend two residential weeks at The Boys’ Brigade HQ at Carronvale, where they are mentored and visited by course staff members. The course includes training in child protection issues, leadership and drill as well as physical training.
Liam Boath ,21, is a current KGVI candidate and a fourth year student at Abertay University and is hoping to move on to Teacher Training. He said: “KGVI being credit rated is excellent because, it will help show to future employers, or universities, that we can learn new skills and apply them to our lives, not only to help ourselves progress, but to help those around us to be the best they can be, just like the KGVI course encourages us to be.”
Mitchell Kinnen, 17, is a sixth year pupil at Calderside Academy and is hoping to start University after the summer. He said: “Part 1 of KGVI helped me overcome a big confidence issue, which I have had since Primary School. It has helped me decide on my further education options and being able to get credit points for my uni application, is totally awesome. KGVI is an amazing experience and I have enjoyed every minute of it.”
Alison Chambers, former member of KGVI staff and Faculty Head at Moffat Academy said: “SCQF is being used more and more to measure achievement in schools, colleges and universities and now KGVI, what an achievement! Having the course on the SCQF scale allows cadets to use this as a focus point in personal statements, CV’s and job interviews. When asked about their rich KGVI experience they will now be able to say that the course is at the same level of Advanced Higher in schools or HNC in colleges. The experience of the KGVI course is very different to the experience of working towards an Advanced Higher or HNC but when it comes to a broad leveller, KGVI is up there at level 7!”
The Boys’ Brigade was founded by by Sir William Alexander Smith in Glasgow on 4 October 1883. From this one Company the BB has grown in to a worldwide movement and has worked with millions of children and young people. In Scotland, around 20,000 young people aged 5 to 18 take part in one of its 450 groups every week.
Council’s new property repair service begins next week
Owners of shared properties looking to organise repairs will be able to get help from a new Council service from Tuesday 2 April. The Shared Repairs Service will provide advice and information to owners through the process of organising repairs from finding a contractor to arranging payment. It will also signpost owners to other repair support services such as property factoring, property management agencies and mediation, and the use of legislative powers like the Tenement Management Scheme.
The Council will retain its statutory notice powers and will maintain the current 24/7 emergency service for urgent repairs.
An extensive consultation with a wide range of stakeholders last year identified that there is still demand for the Council to provide a project management service for more significant shared repairs. Options for this will be explored over the coming months, with a report expected to Council in about 3 months
Councillor Alasdair Rankin, Finance and Budget Convener (pictured below), said: “Maintaining the safety of Edinburgh’s properties is a concern for us all. Our aim is to find the right balance, based on the outcomes of the consultation exercise, with the Council taking a lead role in emergencies and providing support for non-urgent cases.”
From April advice and information will be available through the Council’s website, neighbourhood offices and libraries, getting in touch with the Council’s contact centre and by meeting with officers. The topics covered will include building inspections, working with neighbours, mediation, finding a contractor and arranging payment.
Cllr Rankin added: “This new service will be focused on our customers. Staff are receiving comprehensive training so that they can ensure property owners get the information and advice they need. We also know that there is demand from the public for the Council to have a bigger role in this area and we will be looking at potential options.”
The Property Conservation Service, which used statutory notices for emergency and non-emergency repairs, will cease operating from April 2013. However, work will continue to resolve outstanding complaints and to settle outstanding bills.
The new service was considered at a recent Council meeting, with councillors agreeing to a further report in the summer on options to expand the service.
![Alasdair_Rankin_11_200x200[1]](https://i0.wp.com/nen.press/wp-content/uploads/2013/03/alasdair_rankin_11_200x20011.jpg?ssl=1)
Meet the Funders event in April
Is your community group looking for funding? Daft question, really – things have never been tougher for the voluntary sector. There are still some funding opportunities out there, however, and next month at the Assembly Rooms there’s a chance to meet potential sponsors.
The city council-organised Neighbourhood Partnership ‘Meet the Funders’ event takes place on Thursday 18 April from 1 – 4pm at the Assembly Rooms on George Street. An impressive group of funding providers will be exhibiting on the day, so if you’re a group looking for support this is an opportunity not to be missed. It’s completely informal and you can drop in any time – put the date in your diary now!
