We’re just one week into the school holidays – only SIX weeks to go! See below for a list of what’s available locally to keep your little darlings amused …
Summer Programme 2015 All in One
Category: Blackhall
Sainsburys Blackhall to support Meningitis Research Foundation
Sainsburys Blackhall are very pleased to announce that our new Local charity of the year for 2015/16 is The Meningitis Research Foundation (Scottish charity no. SCO37586).
Thank you to all our customers and colleagues who took time to vote.
Forth’s youth told: think BIG!
Think BIG. Think bold. Be creative. And there’s no such thing as a daft idea! That was the message to participants at an event held at Pilton Youth & Childrens Project last week – and the results of the day’s work will help to guide youth service provision across Forth Neighbourhood.
Organised by Forth Neighbourhood Partnership and Total Craigroyston, YouthTalk brought together young people from across Forth with community representatives and decision makers to discuss three key issues.
‘Positively Engaging Young People’ is one of Forth Neighbourhood Partnership’s main priorities and Convener Cllr Cammy Day explained to delegates: “We want young people’s views and aspirations to influence decisions that are taken locally and to listen to their suggestions about how things can be improved for them. We want them to have a real say in the future of this community and how it develops over the next ten or more years”.
A background report to aid discussion was prepared prior to the Youth Talk event. During the review young people across Forth were approached in schools, libraries, at youth groups, basically anywhere they assembled – and asked their opinions on the area. North Edinburgh Young Peoples Forum organised and conducted a survey in four local High Schools and the local Street Work team also gathered views: all told around 1400 young people gave their opinions on their local community -what they like, what they hate and what Forth needs to make it better for young people.
Assisted by motivational speaker Mike Stevenson from Thinktastic, Wednesday’s YouthTalk event saw young people and ‘seniors’ working together in small groups to discuss three ‘ideas’:
How do we involve more young people in positive activity?
How do we better promote the positive contribution our young people make in their community?
What should an ideal youth-friendly community look like – and how do we get there?
Once participants got into the swing of things, the conversation – and the ideas – began to flow. Some of the ideas generated – for example a common social media address for local youth groups to share information, and an annual celebration of young people’s achievements – proved very popular and could be acted on almost immediately. Others, however, may take longer – you did ask the young people to think BIG, Mike!
All of the ideas generated – big and small – will be recorded and a report of the YouthTalk event will be circulated in due course. It will make interesting reading!
And finally, thanks so much for the warm words and that round of applause for the NEN – it was really touching and much appreciated!
Sainsburys Blackhall charity partner: the voting’s open!
Sainsburys Blackhall have just come to the end of their yearlong “Local Charity of the Year Partnership” with Muirhouse Youth Development Group.
Colleagues and customers at our Blackhall store helped to fundraise £7,050 for this good cause and would like to wish MYDG very good luck for the future.
Pictured above: Murray Dunnett, Dean Shanks, Amy Patterson and Chris Thomson. Murray and Amy have also been working with MYDG and MYadventure on the Bothy at Towford.
It is now time for Sainsburys Blackhall to decide on their next Local charity Partner of the year, and voting is now open for colleagues and customers to decide who they would like to help this year.
The three shortlisted nominations are:
Stroke Association Scotland
Pilton Youth and Children’s Project (PYCP)
Meningitis Research Foundation
Customers can vote in store at the customer service desk or on line at www.sainsburyslocalcharity.co.uk until 28 June.
Gail, Sainsbury’s
It’s Power of Food Festival weekend!
It’s here! Edinburgh’s community gardeners take centre stage this weekend as The Power of Food Festival takes place at venues and locations across the city.
For further info visit https://poweroffoodfestival.wordpress.com/
Edinburgh Guarantee spells success for school leavers
More school leavers than ever in Edinburgh are moving into work, education, or training, thanks to the strong partnership that has developed between the public and private sectors through the Edinburgh Guarantee.
Figures published by the Scottish Government today show that the success rate of school leavers in Edinburgh achieving and sustaining a positive destination are at the highest rate ever. The figure is up 10 per cent since the Edinburgh Guarantee began four years ago and is now at 93.1 per cent. The Capital is now the best performing city in Scotland and is 12th out of all local authority areas, which puts us well above the national average.
The statistics show that more school leavers in Edinburgh are getting into jobs compared to September 2013 with over one in four of school leavers in employment at the snapshot taken in March. Just over 40% are getting into and sustaining places in Higher Education while over a quarter of school leavers opt for Further Education.
The majority of schools improved their performance since September 2013.
The largest increase was at Craigroyston Community High school up 13.1 per cent (see separate article), Currie performed extremely well with their figure now sitting at 97.9 per cent, and Firrhill and Gracemount were up by 6.8 per cent.
This success has been underpinned by the active support of the city’s employers in recruiting young people into their businesses, with 350 opportunities offered since April 2015.
Sue Bruce, Chief Executive, the City of Edinburgh Council, said: “Today’s figures will be welcomed across the city by young people, employers in the private, voluntary and public sectors and those working in education. Giving young people the best start they can have in life is a key priority and I am delighted that the Edinburgh Guarantee is playing such an important role in securing the future success of our young people in the city.”
Cllr Paul Godzik, Convener of the Education, Children and Families Committee, said: “Whether it’s employment, apprenticeships or training, young people need to move out of school and into a positive destination quickly. It is really encouraging that there has been such an improvement in the figures this year as moving on to make a new start in life is the boost young people really need to raise their self esteem at this critical point in their lives.”
Cllr Frank Ross, Convener of the Economy Committee, said: “Ensuring that Edinburgh’s young people have opportunities is vital for the economic success of our city. These year’s figures demonstrate that initiatives such as the Edinburgh Guarantee are making a real difference to many young lives. I am confident that with sustained investment we’ll continue to drive up this figure and see many more young people taking a positive next step in their lives.”
Stephen Ramsay (pictured top) , panel beater modern apprentice at DSL Motors, said: “When I was at Craigroyston High School I was invovled in a Formula 1 project and I really enjoyed it. My career advisor helped me with an interview for Edinburgh College and I am now a modern apprentice doing a four year course in Automotive Paint Refinishing. As soon as I left school I wanted to get involved in this trade and I want to work in this field until I retire.”
A positive destination is defined as a place in Higher Education, Further Education, a job, paid apprenticeship, or work-focused training.
Click here for a short video featuring Cllrs Burns, Godzik and modern apprentice Stephen Ramsay.
Inverleith’s Summer Programme’s here!
The Inverleith Summer Programme is packed with things to do over the summer holidays (see details below)
Registration is on Monday 22 June 6pm at Broughton High School so get your skates on!
Happy birthday, city libraries!
Edinburgh’s library service began 125 years ago today
Edinburgh’s library service is celebrating its 125th birthday by serving up a feast of special events to mark the landmark anniversary.
A big birthday bash, readings by children’s authors, a rare glimpse of Japanese art and a debate on the future of libraries are all examples of the packed programme of events taking place this month.
The Central Library was the first to open in the Capital to the public on June 9th, 1890, and now a total of 28 across the city welcome 3.4 million visitors each year.
Lord Roseberry officially opened it after previous attempts to set up a free public service failed as it would “put an unnecessary burden on the ratepayers”!
Andrew Carnegie offered £50,000 to establish the iconic library on George IV Bridge and less than a year later he laid the foundation stone.
In the space of 15 years, Edinburgh opened a substantial number of branches in the north, south, east and west districts, as well as a library in Portobello Town Hall.
The Council has continued to invest in new buildings in the 21st century, with a new library for Muirhouse in 2000 and the most recent community hubs opened in Drumbrae and Craigmillar in 2012.
Recent upgrades have been carried out at Stockbridge, Leith, McDonald Road, Morningside and Central.
Councillor Richard Lewis, Culture and Sport Convener, said: “Libraries have been serving the people of Edinburgh for well over a century and I’m delighted to be part of the birthday celebrations.
“Our library team can keep a large group of toddlers entertained at Bookbug sessions, support the ever-changing population of Edinburgh through community language collections, help people to get connected digitally, and also open up a world of heritage, history and information. I’d like to thank staff for all of their hard and imaginative work.
“There’s a wealth of information and services mainly for free at our fingertips through libraries – support your local branch by keeping them going for at least another 125 years by paying a visit today.”
Edinburgh’s libraries – something to shout about!
Sainsbury’s in Edinburgh trials cooking oil recycling banks
Sainsbury’s stores across Edinburgh are trialling recycling banks for cooking oils. The trail launched on 20 May with the aim to encourage customers to recycle, whilst also saving their kitchen sink from blockages often caused when oils are poured down the drain.
In partnership with Olleco, Scottish Water and Zero Waste Scotland, customers can simply deposit household cooking waste including vegetable oil, animal fat and lard in a plastic bottle at the recycling banks located in Sainsbury’s car parks. From there the oils are collected by Olleco and taken to their recycling plant to be made into biodiesel.
Paul Crewe, Head of Sustainability at Sainsbury’s, said: “Cooking oils probably aren’t the first thing you’d think of recycling however it’s a great way of keeping your drains clear and putting waste to a good use. This is an exciting trial that adds to the recycling our customers already get involved in, including clothing, and even Christmas cards! The recycling banks are really easy to use so we hope customers across Edinburgh and the surrounding area get involved in the trial.”
The trial has been welcomed by Scottish Water, as this links to their Cycle campaign which aims to highlight simple steps to prevent blocked pipes.
Power of Food Festival is fast approaching …
North Edinburgh plays a major part in this month’s Power of Food Festival with events and activities in Blackhall, Drylaw, Granton, Leith, Muirhouse and the Botanics to name just a few …! 
Hello everyone!
It’s an amazing privilege to be in a position today to launch the programme of Edinburgh’s first Power of Food Festival, only five and a half months after we decided to turn the original idea into a reality. It’s been a bit of a mad time getting everything in place, but really exhilarating to see it all coming together thanks to the efforts of a wide range of individuals keen to share their resources, skills, energy and passion. And how appropriate to be launching such an initiative on Volunteers Week! Volunteers are at the heart of community food growing and of the centre of the Festival.
We look forward to seeing you in one (or several!) of the 15 gardens of the Festival on 20-21 June and hope you enjoy the celebration!
Best wishes from
The Power of Food Festival Committee
Rebecca Crowther
Christine Giraud
Marie-Amélie Viatte
After months of preparation, The Power of Food Festival is pleased to announce an exciting programme of free events organised by each venue in line with what they do best: connecting people!
From well established award winning gardens, to new grassroot food growing projects, the diversity of the initiatives which feature in the programme will surprise and delight Festival goers. Venues open on the weekend of 20 and 21 June include a library, an office block, a secret garden, and a farmhouse which is undergoing an incredible transformation!
A citywide celebration
From Portobello to Wester Hailes, Granton to Blackhall, Tollcross to Old Dalkeith Road, and many others in between, every corner of Edinburgh will have a garden celebrating the joy of community food growing. There will be a rich menu of events suited for every taste, for children and adults alike, including: children’s poetry writing, bug hunting, storytelling and sharing, choir music, conversations on nature, food and sustainability, wind band, foraging, cooking and eating, as well as practical gardening workshops, and the launch of Edible Edinburgh Food Charter of a Sustainable Food City.
In association with Sustrans, visitors can also join in a guided bike tour of the
gardens (free but ticketed). Bookings can be made online.
Whether on foot or on two wheels, visitors can plan their Festival trip and keep up to date with the latest events and information via The Power of Food Festival website (details below).
A Festival for everyone
Why not invite your friends and family to take part in the first Edinburgh Power of Food Festival? The weekend will give everyone a chance to meet people in their local community, to join those who are transforming the city landscape everyday, and to give a deeper meaning to the word ‘community’. Maybe it will be the beginning of a great adventure: who knows where The Power of Food will take you?
The full programme of events can be accessed here: PoF Programme
Come with family and friends to The Power of Food Festival
Celebrating community food growing and local change makers
summer solstice weekend 20-21 June
W: poweroffoodfestival.wordpress.
Twitter @PoFFest FacebookEdinburghPowerofFoodFestival