On Saturday 18th Feb we are gonna be EVEN MORE Family Fun than usual!
We will have BOOKBUG, with a visit from the Bug of the Book themselves, a SLIME WORKSHOP, you can make your own BADGE, there will be LIVE MUSIC, a CRAFT event, INFO POINTS from several local organizations, plus TEA & BISCUITS!!!
SATURDAY 11th MARCH from 11am – 2pm
We are delighted to be hosting an Opening Party for the launch of Granton Station Square on Saturday 11 March 2023, from 11am – 2pm.
The family-friendly event will be free and open to all.
Find out more here: https://www.facebook.com/events/1818248818558144
Makeup brushes at the ready! St James Quarter is bringing back its iconic Love Beauty event this weekend (Saturday 18 and Sunday 19 February).
The one-of-a-kind event is the perfect opportunity for beauty aficionados to come together and celebrate their love for all things glam, with a range of inspiring makeup, skincare, and fragrance workshops, as well as consultations from world-renowned brands.
Guests are invited to visit St James Quarter’s Love Beauty Lounge over the weekend, located on Level 1 beside NEXT.
In this haven for beauty lovers, experts from some of the most loved brands in the Quarter including VIEVE, Charlotte Tilbury, Carolina Herrera, Clarins, Sunnamusk and Neom will be offering demonstrations, mini masterclasses and complimentary treatments as well as spilling the industry’s best kept beauty secrets.
Stylish Scottish eyewear brand Iolla will also partner with beauty experts to reveal top makeup tips and tricks for wearers of glasses. While enjoying refreshments and music from our resident DJ, guests can explore an interactive Beauty Bar play table with products to spritz, swatch, test and try from Dior, Body Shop, Neom and Kiehl’s among others.
In the Love Beauty Studio, on Level 1 in the Quarter’s SOOK space, guests can enjoy one-to-one consultations and mini treatments from skincare favourite, Kiehl’s, and get a Dyson hair styling experience with the brand’s experts, while learning about Dyson’s coveted styling tools. No need to book in advance, just pop along to enjoy a complimentary treatment and some well-deserved pamper time.
John Lewis will also be celebrating all things beauty, with a jam-packed schedule of workshops at its Beauty Society on Level 2, as well as mini makeovers, product demonstrations and gift with purchase offers from many brands including Elemis, Hermes, Bobbi Brown and Estee Lauder.
Once feeling their best, guests will be invited to step into the official Love Beauty photo and video booth to snap a selfie, reveal what beauty means to them and divulge their own top beauty secrets. Situated on Level 2, outside John Lewis, the booth features a special beauty filter to make each pose and pout insta-worthy.
Think you know all there is about beauty? St James Quarter is challenging beauty fanatics to take part in a beauty-themed treasure hunt across the Quarter this weekend.
Guests will be tasked with completing a beauty passport, filled with questions on some of St James Quarter’s most iconic brands, including Neom, Victoria’s Secret and John Lewis, all to be in with a chance of winning an exclusive St James Quarter Beauty hamper, full to the brim with 2023’s beauty must haves.
The beauty passports can be collected from the Love Beauty Lounge from 10am each day and must be returned to the Lounge by 5pm on Sunday 19th February.
Nick Peel, Managing Director at St James Quarter, said: “We’re incredibly lucky to host some of the world’s most exciting and innovative beauty brands within St James Quarter and this weekend gives us the perfect opportunity to celebrate all things beauty.
“From skincare and make-up to haircare and fragrance, Love Beauty brings all the very best of our brands together to help our guests learn something new, stock up on their favourite brands and enjoy complimentary consultations and treatments.
“We’re sure every guest will leave St James Quarter looking and feeling their best, with their look too good not to capture in our pop-up Love Beauty photo and video booth!”
The Love Beauty Lounge and Love Beauty Studio will be open from 10am – 5pm on Saturday and 11am – 4pm on Sunday, with activities taking place throughout The Quarter across the whole weekend.
Keep up to date with the latest info via our Instagram page by following @StJamesQuarter or you can visit https://stjamesquarter.com/event/love-beauty
More than 26,000 families in Scotland saved on childcare costs in December thanks to Tax-Free Childcare and HM Revenue and Customs (HMRC) is urging those yet to sign up not to miss out.
The latest figures revealed by HMRC show an increase of 6,390 families in Scotland using the scheme compared to December 2021.
Tax-Free Childcare is a financial support for working families with children up to the age of 11, or 16 if their child has a disability. The government top up can be used to pay for any approved childcare including holiday clubs, breakfast and after school clubs, child minders and nurseries.
A total of £41.5 million in government top-up payments were made to working families across the UK in December 2022 with each family saving up to £2,000 a year per child or £4,000 if their child is disabled.
Families who have not yet signed up should check their eligibility and apply online today.
Opening a Tax-Free Childcare account is quick and easy and can be done at any time of the year.
Myrtle Lloyd, HMRC’s Director General for Customer Services, said: “We want to help families get the most out of their finances and Tax-Free Childcare can help pay towards their childcare costs. Search ‘Tax-Free Childcare’ on GOV.UK to get started.”
For every £8 paid into the Tax-Free Childcare account, families automatically receive an additional £2. Families can save up to £500 every three months (£2,000 a year) for each child or £1,000 (£4,000 a year) if their child is disabled.
More than one million families in the UK are entitled to some form of government childcare support and the government is encouraging those eligible not to miss out on their entitlements. Families can find out more about Tax-Free Childcare via the Childcare Choices website.
The government is offering help for households. Check GOV.UK to find out what cost of living support, including help with childcare costs.
The City of Edinburgh Council is extending funding to its Energy Advice Service for Council tenants, helping even more households to cut down on costs and carbon emissions.
Funded by the Council and delivered by leading environmental charity Changeworks, the service aims to give tenants expert energy advice to help them save money on their bills. An additional £158,000 funding will increase the capacity of the service so that it can help to support even more tenants through the current energy crisis and beyond.
Councillor Jane Meagher, Edinburgh’s Housing, Homelessness and Fair Work Convener, said: “At a time when energy costs are soaring, the help provided by the Energy Advice Service is vital.
“Over 4,400 of our tenants have saved £1.5m between them since the project began so I’m really pleased to extend this support even further. The move will provide tenants with the opportunity to speak to someone about their bills, reduce carbon emissions and hopefully save money.
“Since the start of the cost-of-living crisis we have been encouraging tenants to get in touch with us if they are struggling financially. It’s so important to make sure people are getting all the benefits and advice they are entitled to and we have a wealth of support and information online.”
The Energy Advice Service has been available to City of Edinburgh Council tenants since 2018 and allows tenants to phone or email to speak with an expert advisor at Changeworks, who gives them free and impartial energy advice and support with issues such as energy debt.
It has been making a real difference to tenants accessing the free service. Between October and December last year, after speaking with an advisor 75% of people using the service said they felt confident dealing with their energy issues, compared to just 23% before using the service.
Tenants using the service also had positive feedback about their experience using the service, with one tenant commenting: “The advisor took a lot of weight and stress away at that time, made me feel more relaxed, [it] helped me with my health.”
Another tenant went on to explain that the advice wasn’t just supporting them, but also their family: “With all the knowledge the advisor has given me, I have been able to pass that onto my family and friends, so she’s helped more than just me.”
Lisa Bygate, Affordable Warmth Service Team Manager at Changeworks said: “In the current environment we’re seeing a greater need for more in-depth support with complex energy related issues, such as fuel debt.
“We’re also seeing demand for the Energy Advice Service increase. This additional funding is going to allow us to help more people and give them more support in more complex cases.”
City of Edinburgh Council tenants can access the service by calling 0800 870 8800 or visiting www.changeworks.org.uk/referral.
To find out more about the service and other ways City of Edinburgh Council is supporting residents with energy costs, visit www.edinburgh.gov.uk/housing-support-advice/home-energy
Today, Thursday 16 March, the Edinburgh Festival Fringe Society is delighted to announce that the first shows for the 2023 Edinburgh Festival Fringe will be available to book at edfringe.com.
This year’s Fringe takes place from 04 – 28 August 2023 and will feature an exciting range of shows, with theatre, comedy, music, dance, circus, musicals, variety, cabaret, events and more all represented in the programme.
Tickets for 190 shows will be released at 12:00 GMT today, with more shows set to be announced on Thursday 30 March and Thursday 11 May.
The official launch of the festival, including the reveal of the iconic printed programme, will take place on Thursday 08 June.
Below is a small representative sample of shows available to book from today. The full list of shows released today can be found at edfringe.com.
Commenting on today’s announcement, Shona McCarthy, Chief Executive of the Edinburgh Festival Fringe Society, said: “Along with the programme launch and the first Friday in August, the announcement of the first batch of shows is one of those thrilling moments in the Fringe calendar.
“The whole Fringe community has been working behind the scenes to prepare for the festival for months now, but having actual shows to browse and book makes the build up to this year’s Fringe that bit more tangible.
“The Fringe is made possible due to a cast of thousands – artists, audiences, venue staff, industry, media, sponsors, partners and local businesses. It’s never too early to start planning a trip to the Fringe; booking early is also a brilliant way to support artists, to let them know there’s already an audience waiting for their show to come to Edinburgh.
“We’ll be announcing a lot more over the coming months, including details of our much-anticipated new app, so stay tuned!”
Theatre
At theSpaceUK, Call me Elizabeth joins Elizabeth Taylor in ‘an intimate look at the movie star’s early life, career, and loves as she grapples with the culture of celebrity and her place as Hollywood’s brightest star’. In Gilbert and Sullivan’s Nightmare at Greenside, we join Old Adam on awards night, ‘hoping he might just get the recognition he deserves’. Audience participation such as ‘sharing a memory and joining in with songs’ is encouraged at Memories of the Early 1950s (Just the Tonic). Combining drag, multimedia, audience interaction, puppetry and a lot of queer joy’, Diana: The Untold and Untrue Story is at Pleasance.
At C venues, Love is Blue follows Olly, a hard-drinking city trader recovering from the death of his boyfriend, who has ‘a chance encounter with homeless teenager Aaron’. Making History by Stephen Fry (St Ninian’s Hall) is ‘the first-ever stage adaptation of the 1996 novel’ in which a student and a physicist discover ‘they have the power to alter history and eradicate a great evil’. At The Stand’s New Town Theatre, Agent November’s Indoor Escape Game – Murder Mr E is a ‘unique blend of immersive escape room and murder mystery’.
Comedy
Chloe Petts is at Pleasance with her new show, If You Can’t Say Anything Nice, and Grace Campbell is offering A Show About More Me(n) at Gilded Balloon. JoJo Pat is Sober and Alive at Just the Tonic, The Sheraton Grand Hotel is offering its Pick of the Fringe and Marjolein Robertson is presenting Marj at The Stand Comedy Club. At theSpaceUK, Escape Velocity presents ‘an anecdotal, confessional, funny story of a rocket scientist’s journey through sex addiction’.
Some famous folk off the telly are coming to the Fringe this year: Frank Skinner and Gyles Brandreth will be at Assembly, Geoff Norcott is at Underbelly, Gary: Tank Commander will be at Gilded Balloon, and the Pleasance will welcome Adam Kay and Paul Merton (the latter alongside his Impro Chums).
Familiar Fringe faces will also be in attendance: Susie McCabe and Jason Byrne are at Assembly, Daniel Sloss plays the Edinburgh Playhouse, Rhod Gilbert performs his latest work in progress at Gilded Balloon and Danny Bhoy, James Nokise and Jo Caulfield are at The Stand Comedy Club. Ensemble-wise, Sh!t-faced Shakespeare and Showstopper! The Improvised Musical are both at Pleasance this year. You’ll be able to catch at least two Fringe shows online this year: Agatha Is Missing, ‘fun-filled murder mystery’, while The Woke Box is ‘a parody Gogglebox about two slobby Pakistani brothers getting brainwashed by an evil TV’.
Music
A Certain Edge is a ‘singer-songwriter, turncoat-musician collective’ blending influences ‘from Bacharach to Bach, Steely Dan to Dylan’ – catch them at the Acoustic Music Centre @ UCC. At Novotel, Jazz at Lunchtime offers what it says on the tin: a ‘saxophone and piano duo, playing jazz standards and melodic originals in a comfortable, intimate jazz club setting’.
Singer-songwriter Dean Friedman brings his Words and Music to St Andrew’s and St George’s West, George St, with a back catalogue featuring ‘Ariel’, ‘Lucky Stars’, ‘Lydia’, ‘Woman of Mine’, ‘Rocking Chair’ and ‘McDonald’s Girl’ among others.
Craig Herbertson, Edinburgh singer and songwriter, ‘presents a celebration in song and story of Edinburgh’ in Craig on the Cliff at St Cuthbert’s Church, while ‘South Australian musician/songwriter William Jack presents a free (non-ticketed) multi-style cello recital’, This Old Cello Box, at St Giles’ Cathedral. theSpaceUK is hosting a plethora of different Night Owl productions inspired by music stars of yesteryear, including Amy Winehouse, Aretha Franklin, Billy Joel, Blondie, Carol King and James Taylor, Whitney Houston and more.
Cabaret and variety
La Clique are back at this year’s Fringe, ‘featuring the best of circus, comedy and cabaret’ at Underbelly, while ‘cabaret legend and variety artiste’ Ada Campe will be Naval Gazing at The Stand’s New Town Theatre. Just the Tonic is offering a Best of Cabaret lineup of ‘an all-star diverse rotating cast of international and regional seasoned artists in the genre’, and Dom Chambers: A Boy and His Deck at Assembly offers ‘exotic acts that connect alternative circus with the dark arts of underground burlesque and cabaret’.
Over at Gilded Balloon, JezO’s Car-Crash Magic Show is an ‘unusual blend of comedy, audience participation and magic’, while theSpaceUK hosts ‘magical legend’ The Great Baldini as he uncovers Illusionati – A Magical Conspiracy.
Dance, physical theatre and circus
Dance teacher and caller Ken Gourlay leads you through some Ceilidhs (Scottish Dancing) at 9 Queen Street. Returning to the Fringe are The Black Blues Brothers, ‘five unleashed acrobats’ performing their comedy tribute to the cult movie – they’re at Assembly Rooms.
The Centrepiece Global Sacred Circle Dance, Lighting up the World with Dance is at Craigmillar Park Church, offering ‘sacred, circle and traditional dances which bring communities together’.
Children’s shows
Fringe regular Marcel Lucont brings Les Enfants Terribles – A Gameshow For Awful Children to Assembly, which is also where you’ll find The Mighty Kids Beatbox Comedy Show Strikes Back! Pinocchio! The Panto is at theSpaceUK, as the titular puppet ‘learns some hard lessons about what it takes to be a real boy’. At Underbelly, Trash Test Dummies is an ‘award-winning, side-splitting, slapstick comedy circus routine’ about household bins.
Musicals and opera
Potty the Plant at Gilded Balloon is a ‘new dark-comedy musical starring Potty, a singing, talking, tap-dancing pot plant’. Blue Morpho at Greenside tells the story of Juliane Koepcke, a teenager in the 1970s who survived a plane-crash and 11 days in the Amazon. theSpaceUK boasts several musical adaptations including Frozen Jr, Shrek Jr and Oscar Wilde’s The Canterville Ghost. And Boys in the Buff at C venues explores issues around body confidence, with two ‘clothing optional’ performances on 15 and 22 August.
TONY! [The Tony Blair Rock Opera] by Harry Hill and Steve Brown is at the Pleasance. Another Afternoon at the Opera with Brian Bannatyne-Scott and Friends is at St Andrew’s and St George’s West, George St, offering ‘an enchanting concert of operatic highlights’.
Spoken word
Alice Hawkins – Suffragette at the Arthur Conan Doyle Centre is ‘a stirring and passionate account’ of the early-1900s feminist delivered by her great-grandson Peter. In Loft Clearance at Greenside we join Eileen ‘as she rummages through a hundred years’ worth of possessions’ in her loft.
A special meeting of the EIS Salaries Committee, held online today, has unanimously rejected the latest revised pay offer from the Scottish Government and COSLA.
The new offer, announced in the media yesterday before it was given to teaching unions, offers only a marginal improvement on previously rejected offers. As a result, the EIS will reject the offer and continue with its current programme of strike action until a more credible offer is put onto negotiating table.
Commenting this afternoon, EIS General Secretary Andrea Bradley said, “This is another inadequate offer to Scotland’s teachers, which was unanimously rejected by the EIS Salaries Committee earlier today.
“The 6% value of the offer for 2022-23 is insufficient, with CPI inflation currently sitting today at 10.5%. The 6% offer for this year is only 1% less of a pay cut than that previously offered, twice, by the Scottish Government and COSLA.
“Teachers have already lost more than 1% of their salaries through being forced into strike action so, essentially, teachers already more than paid for this revised offer themselves. This is just yet more smoke and mirrors from the Scottish Government and COSLA in attempting to make this offer appear more generous than it actually is.”
Ms Bradley continued, “The suggested year two component of 5.5% hasn’t been negotiated via the appropriate forum, the Scottish Negotiating Committee for Teachers (SNCT), at all. Indeed, teaching unions haven’t even submitted our pay claim for 2023/24 yet, as a consequence of the current dispute.
“In attempting to tag on next year’s pay settlement, without any negotiation at all, the Scottish Government and COSLA are attempting to tie the hands not just of teacher trade unions but all public sector unions – and this is unacceptable to the EIS.”
Ms Bradley added, “The conduct of the Scottish Government and COSLA in this process has been equally unacceptable. From dragging the process out interminably, to seeking to create divisions both between different grades of teachers and different groups of workers, to seeking to bypass the agreed negotiating processes and sharing information on pay offers with the media before sharing them with the trade unions representing teachers – these have not been good-faith actions.
“Their emphasis throughout has been on spin rather than genuine attempts to reach an agreed pay settlement through proper negotiation.”
Ms Bradley went on to add, “As a result of the clear decision to reject this offer, taken by our Salaries Committee today, our Executive Committee has also unanimously agreed that the current programme of strike action will continue as scheduled.
“The EIS remains, as ever, willing and available to engage in further discussions with both the Scottish Government and COSLA, through the appropriate forum within the SNCT, to attempt to reach a resolution to this dispute.”
The EIS has emailed its members this afternoon, advising on the decisions to reject the offer and continue with strike action and the reasoning behind those decisions.
A copy of this email can be viewed here.
The Royal Highland Show is inviting new trade exhibitors to apply for a stand at what is anticipated to be one of the biggest Shows ever, with visitors set to flock from across the globe.
As many as 210,000 showgoers are expected to pass through the gates of the Ingliston showground from 22nd to 25th June 2023 to celebrate Scotland’s best showcase of food, farming, and rural life. As Scotland’s largest outdoor event, the Show is a unique chance for businesses to network with a wide cross-section of visitors.
New for 2023 is a buyers event, which will see food, drink, and homeware businesses showcase their wares to an audience of well-known brands – providing an unrivalled chance to present products in person to key contacts in the sector, who are otherwise hard to reach. Further details of this event will be confirmed in the coming months.
An exciting addition to this year’s Royal Highland Show is the Golden Shears World Sheep Shearing and Woolhandling Championship, attracting competitors from over 30 countries and providing even greater retail opportunities for exhibitors.
Over 800 businesses traded at the 2022 Show, selling everything from agricultural machinery and clothing to motor vehicles and food & drink. In particular, traders within the categories of food & drink and lifestyle are being encouraged to apply this year.
A recent economic impact report highlighted that the Royal Highland Show contributes £39.5 million to Edinburgh’s economy, more than Edinburgh’s Hogmanay celebrations – with visitors spending on average £147 across all areas of the Show, including agricultural equipment and food and drink.
Applications are now open and can be made on the Royal Highland Show website (royalhighlandshow.org).
Any queries can be emailed to tradestands@rhass.org.uk.
Jim Warnock, RHASS Chairman, commented: “Our traders are a key factor in making the Royal Highland Show what it is – an iconic event showcasing the very best of Scotland’s food, farming and rural life.
“With an average spend of around £150 per visitor, the retail opportunities for businesses are significant, not to mention the potential for networking with other traders and suppliers.
“Plus, with our new buyers event extending the commercial opportunities for exhibitors even further, this Show is certainly not one not to be missed!”
Local Well pharmacies in Edinburgh have geared up to support patients affected by the closure of the Lloyds pharmacies in the following Sainsbury’s supermarkets:
Patients worried about the closure of their local Lloyds Pharmacy in Sainsbury’s are being invited down to meet the team one of their local Well pharmacies, which are just down the road.
Well Pharmacy, the UK’s largest independent pharmacy chain, has taken steps to make sure that its pharmacies across the country could add the capacity to support former Lloyds Pharmacy patients, including offering roles to some staff displaced by the closures.
And the CEO of the chain, Seb Hobbs, has urged locals to pop into any of the pharmacies to have a chat with the team about their healthcare needs the next time they are passing.
He said: “We were all really sorry to hear about the closures, as we know people really rely on having a local pharmacy that they can depend on.
““We want to make sure patients know there is an established and trustworthy pharmacy nearby that can support their healthcare needs, dispense their prescriptions and provide a full array of community pharmacy services. Our local team would be delighted to meet you, so please pop in anytime.”
Lloyds revealed recently that it planned to close all 237 of its pharmacies within the retailer’s stores, meaning that local patients will need to find a new pharmacy and its many members of staff now face an uncertain future.
Lovebirds Darren and Anneka are celebrating after enjoying a FREE wedding worth £10,000 thanks to top Italian American restaurant Frankie & Benny’s.
The restaurant is known for great food at great prices but it’s also a place to host big occasions. And what better way to bring families together to celebrate those special moments than a wedding!
Just in time for St Valentine’s Day Frankie and Benny’s announced they were offering a FREE wedding for a special couple and were swamped with applications.
The popular restaurant launched the ultimate cost of living crisis busting wedding competition and had thousands wanting to say ‘I do’.
After a lot of consideration the winners were chosen and the lucky couple were Darren, 36, an ecologist from Chesterfield and Aneeka, 38, from Ashton-Under-Lyne who works at a secondary school.
The couple met on a dating website in 2018 and their love blossomed over the following years. The pandemic kept them apart but love conquers all and on Feb 22, 2022, Darren proposed to Aneeka at a beauty spot where they both enjoy long walks.
The cupids at Frankie & Benny’s spent hours on Saturday night getting the reception ready at the restaurant in Batley, Yorkshire. The team decorated the venue in readiness for the Sunday wedding which included food, drink, a DJ, a photographer, a live band with a saxophonist as well as the special celebrity guest James Argent who acted as the officiant.
The spectacular event called ‘With Love From Frankie’s’, worth £10,000, included the tailored ceremony for the lucky couple and twenty friends and family.
Anneka said: “Frankie & Benny’s went above and beyond to make our special day seamless and unforgettable and it brought two families together who had no yet met.
“The service and food was flawless, no one went home hungry! Everyone went home with a huge piece of cake, smile and fond memories, especially us.’
“It’s a story for our relationship. We are going to have that forever, we’ll always laugh and smile about that day,” Darren added.
Sasha Storey, Frankie & Benny’s Head of Brand, said: ““At Frankie & Benny’s we believe nothing should get in the way of love!
“We understand that with the current cost of living crisis it may be hard for couples and families to prioritise paying for a wedding when disposable income has become so squeezed.
“We were thrilled to help take that pressure off and throw an all-out wedding and reception, bringing families and friends together in true Frankies style!”
