Broughton – The NEN – North Edinburgh News

Edinburgh learners receive exam results with improvement in almost all key measures

Levels of attainment for learners across the city have improved from last year across almost all key measures

There has been a significant improvement in the number of young people in S5 achieving three or more Higher qualifications at grade C or above and the proportion of S5 students achieving both three or more and five or more awards at SCQF Level 6 across Edinburgh.

The results also demonstrate improvement in almost all S4, S5 and S6 measures compared to 2019 (pre pandemic) and 2024 and 2025.

Over 11,226 candidates in Edinburgh received their results from the Scottish Qualifications Authority (SQA) today (Tuesday 4 August) across 164 subjects.

A total of 59,459 awards were handed out for subjects including web design, carpentry, accounting, sport science and beauty.

National 5s saw passes (A-C grades) of 80.9%, a 0.9% increase on 2025 figures, and Highers saw passes of 78.5%, an increase of 1.9% on last year.

Education, Children and Families Convener, Councillor James Dalgleish said: It has been amazing to see attainment increase in almost all key measures for Edinburgh students.

“There is a huge range of qualifications and awards achieved by our learners in 165 subjects, representing the hard work, effort and commitment of learners, teachers and school staff. Each and every one of our young people’s journeys and achievements are unique to them and today’s results mark the next step in their journey, whether that’s to college, university, an apprenticeship or into the world of work.

“We want to provide inclusive and relevant curriculum pathways into further or higher education and to the workplace for every single learner in all of our schools. There is much to celebrate and be proud of in this year’s set of results and my thanks go to all those who have supported our learners to this point including school staff, parents and carers.”

Moustafa Watti (17), a former pupil at Broughton High School achieved three As in Advanced Highers in maths, biology and chemistry today. He is going to study medicine at the University of St Andrews next month.

He said: “I signed up for the results to be sent by text and knew they would be sent from 8am. I received my text results at 8.06am – that felt like a long six minutes!

“I was delighted to get three As, I didn’t think I would even get one A so I was shocked. I only needed two Bs to get into university so I am over the moon with my results and my parents are delighted.”

Bibi Coane (15) is going into S5 at Broughton High School. She got six Nat 5s at A and one Higher A in music today. She is part of the City of Edinburgh Music School, based at Broughton, allowing musically talented pupils to do their music exams early.

Bibi said: “I am really happy with my results, I expected As but there is always a little doubt.

“Next year I am doing Advanced Higher Music a year early as I am part of the music school, as well as four Highers. The music school is amazing, I get one on one lessons and it’s allowed my cello and piano to come on really quickly. I might study music at university, but I also love history and might study that.”

Lennon Watts (16) and Dan McCandless (16) are going into S5 at Broughton High School and are part of the Scottish FA Performance School based at the school. Lennon achieved six Nat 5s at A and B level and is going on to play full time with Celtic under 19s squad. He will come to school one day a week to study two Highers.

Lennon said: “I am really happy with my results, we do one less Nat 5 because we do seven periods of football a week. Next year will be tough to manage the football and my Highers but I want to get them so I can keep my options open. I plan to do another two Highers in S6, again coming in one day a week.

Dan got six Nat 5s at A and is going to play with Hearts under 17 squad next year while also doing school full time.

Dan said: I am happy with my results and I am going to do four Highers next year. It is difficult to juggle school and football, I’ll be at school every day then go straight to training and be there until about 8pm but I want to get my Highers so I have something if football doesn’t work out.

“The football school at Broughton has been great, it’s a lot of extra training, and they are flexible when you have games or extra training with your team.”

Broughton High School pupil wins national photograph award

A Broughton High School pupil has won a national photography award after impressing judges in the Scottish Civic Trust’s My Place Photography Competition.

Eliza G was named winner of the Secondary School Category at Scotland’s Civic Celebration, held in Glasgow and attended by young people, community organisations and civic leaders from across the country.

The My Place Photography Competition invites young people to explore the buildings, streets and places that matter to them through photography.

Judges praised this year’s entries for the insight and creativity they brought to Scotland’s built environment.

Joe Traynor, Director of the Scottish Civic Trust, said: “The My Place Photography Competition encourages young people to look closely at the places around them and consider what makes them distinctive.

“Eliza’s photograph stood out for the quality of observation and perspective it brought to the subject. We are delighted to celebrate this achievement.”

Eliza received the award during Scotland’s Civic Celebration in Glasgow on Wednesday 29 July, where winners from across Scotland were recognised alongside community-led regeneration projects and civic initiatives.

The competition forms part of the Scottish Civic Trust’s My Place programme, which encourages young people to engage with their local heritage and built environment. For more information visit: scottishcivictrust.org.uk

ELREC: No Room For Racism

Following the escalation of anti-immigration protests in Glasgow’s city centre on Saturday, a food delivery driver was attacked by a group of protesters and subjected to racist insults and threats.

Chief superintendent Emma Croft stated that “The level of disorder, violence and intimidation we saw in Glasgow on Saturday was nothing short of disgraceful.”

We cannot agree more. The aggression directed at people within our communities, that leave people worried for their own and their family’s safety and prevent them from going after their work and their daily lives is despicable, inexcusable, and deeply concerning.

In a society that grows and thrives on diversity, there is no space for spreading fear, hate, and violence.

We stand for an inclusive, open, and safe Scotland for all and we stand with the people affected by the racism displayed at the protests in Glasgow.

If you experienced or witnessed harassment of any sort, please know that you can report this to authorities and can seek support.

Operation Recomply at Out of the Blue

Excited to be screening Operation Recomply in July.

Operation Recomply, the name given to the counter-terror policing operation, is an independent documentary which follows the events surrounding the Filton 25 case: a group of activists who entered an Elbit Systems facility in Filton, exposing Israeli drones being manufactured on British soil.

Told through the eyes of Filton 25’s loved ones, the film documents their fight for justice as the state escalates its crackdown on the pro-Palestine movement.

Friday 17th July

7pm (doors open at 6.40pm)

The Out of the Blue Drill Hall

£6.50 – £10

To find out more and secure your tickets, just head over to our website.

https://outoftheblue.pulse.ly/5olav6vo0d

Images: (c) Operation Recomply Film

CeilidhKids Workshops

EUROPEAN COMMUNITIES DAY – SATURDAY 16 MAY

OUT OF THE BLUE DRILL HALL

Sign up, and join in the fun at one of the two FREE family-friendly Scottish Ceilidh workshops which are part of the afternoon activities taking place at this year’s Festival of Europe Scotland’s European Communities Day.

Particularly aimed at families with children aged 3-9 years, new Scots and Old Scots can discover and enjoy for the first or 100th time the dances and tap along to the music.

Lead by Caroline from Ceilidhkids each workshop is aimed at families with children aged 3 – 9 years. It’s family dancing, not children’s dancing so children should be accompanied by an adult willing to join in. One adult can dance with two children.

The dance steps are simplified and non-scary. As it is a shoes off dance floor there is a chance for everyone to show off their favourite socks!

Workshop 1: 2pm – 2.55pm

Workshop 2: 3.05pm – 4pm

But there will be first come spaces saved for those who turn up on the day! Please note: a ticket is required for every person attending (both adults and children), so be sure to book a place for each member of your group.

We hope you can join us!

This Ceilidh Workshop is part of European Communities Day, 16 May, Out of the Blue Drill Hall. It is made possible thanks to #NationalLottery players

Find out more about #FestivalofEuropeScotland and European Communities Day here: https://festivalofeuropescotland.org/…/european…/

Credit Photo: Ruth Armstrong Photography

Ceilidhkids

Gretna 111 exhibition at Out of the Blue Drill Hall

18 – 23 MAY – FREE ADMISSION

Exhibition announcement!

The Gretna 111th Anniversary Pop-Up Exhibition commemorates the Gretna train disaster, which killed over 200 men from the 1/7th Royal Scots who were based here at the Dalmeny Street Drill Hall).

Curated by The Royal Scots Regimental Museum, the exhibition is designed to raise awareness of the crash, which took place in May 1915.

The Drill Hall has been chosen for this exhibition due to its history of being the 7th Battalion’s Drill Hall and its association with the people of Leith. 216 members of the 7th Battalion were killed during the disaster on the morning of 22nd May 1915.

Central to the exhibition will be the Tree of Life which contains the names of all 216 men. This will be supported by display boards featuring the stories of local soldiers and their families.

There will also be a diorama of Larbert Station (where the soldiers originally departed from) that captures the time when the soldiers were about to embark on the troop train.

We’ll be sharing more information in the coming weeks, but in the meantime, why not pop the dates in your diary!

Monday 18th – Saturday 23rd May

10am – 4.30pm

The Out of the Blue Drill Hall

Free entry

To find out more just head over to our website.

https://outoftheblue.pulse.ly/thvvxdlsvf

Photograph (c) The Royal Scots

Celebrating the work of the Drill Hall resident artists and makers

Cellular Exhibition – Tuesday 14th to Friday 24th April
Exciting FREE exhibition showcasing the work of Drill Hall residents
Featuring over 20 artists and makers from paintings and illustration to jewellery
Meet the artists: Wednesday 15th April (6.30pm – 8.30pm)

Out of the Blue Drill Hall is excited to host a new exhibition showcasing the work of over 20 of its resident artists and makers, from painters and illustrators to jewellery makers and printmakers.

This 6th showcase exhibition will run from Tuesday 14th to Friday 24th April (10am to 5pm) with an opportunity to meet the artists and makers on Wednesday 15th April from 6.30pm to 8.30pm at the official exhibition launch.

Every great work of art starts with a single cell – a solitary thought, a lone brushstroke, a single spark. The artists and makers of the Drill Hall emerge from their individual workspaces to weave these threads together.

Cellular invites you to explore a diverse ecosystem of work, bridging the gap between the maker’s private process and the public’s gaze.

With so many artists and makers taking part, there really is something for everyone. Painters include award-winning artist Daniel Murray. Working in acrylics on board, he paints realistic portrayals of the human form and the natural world, often mixing these subjects with abstracted landscapes inspired by the highland environment he grew up in.

Leith Jewellery Studios founder Amanda McGrattan will be showing her jewellery at the exhibition. Amanda’s work has been inspired by the grit and vibrancy of graffiti and urban street art. She translates the world around her into wearable narratives using a signature blend of textured and oxidized silver, liquid and powder enamels, and vivid acrylics.

Textile work includes pieces by Needle Bow, a garment and accessories brand, designing and producing bespoke garments and accessories, using upcycled materials wherever possible.

The exhibition is being co-curated by painter Aoife O’Callaghan and textile artist Monika Fejes of Remode Collective. They’ll both be exhibiting and showcasing their work.

Aoife comments: “I am excited to be building on our previous exhibition. The sense of community amongst the Drill Hall tenants is growing, and I’m looking forward showcasing some of our work in our home-studio environment.”

Out of the Blue Chief Executive Rob Hoon adds “The Out of the Blue Drill Hall houses a huge range of creative activity, and it’s a great pleasure to see the variety and quality of artists’ work displayed in the Cellular Exhibition, for all to enjoy.”

Details of the Cellular Exhibition, as well as a list of participating artists and makers can be found on the Drill Hall website.

Participating Artists and Makers

Stamped Cat (Linocut prints)
Violetta Palak Jones (Paintings)
Daniel Murray (Paintings)
Graeme Walker (Abstract paintings)
Cam Life Designs (Jewellery, precious metal weaving, painting / sculpture)
Solen Collet (Photography)
Martin Fishman (Jewellery)
Jacob Danson Faraday (Jewellery, metal work)
Aoife in Leith (Paintings)
Shamil Sokolov (Jewellery)
Lawfieldcrafts (Silver and glass)
AMcGrattanJewellery (Handmade jewellery)
Gillie Welstead (Silver and gold jewellery)
Mairi MacSween Designs (Illustration)
Needle Bow (Textiles)
Ylfa (Accessories & jewellery – head pieces, hair pins and earrings)
Second Sun (Silver jewellery)
Elaine Wilson (Painting and tapestry)
Guy Howe Conners (Jewellery)
Samuel Watterworth (Plotter art)
Felicity Inkpen (Paintings, drawings and prints)
Knockwood Studio (Music and its visualisations)
Remode Collective (Mixed media textile art)

Follow Out of the Blue Drill Hall on Facebook and Instagram

Poster designed by Cameron Murdoch of CAM Life Designs.

Scotland’s Largest Multi-Category Spirits Tasting Returns to Edinburgh

Edinburgh’s booming cocktail scene takes centre stage this March as Drinkmonger Spirits Fair returns to Mansfield Traquair on Saturday 14th and Sunday 15th March 2026, with award-winning local bartenders hosting sessions and sharing practical serves visitors can recreate at home – highlighting growing interest in a broader mix of spirits alongside traditional whisky.

Now in its third year, the event brings together more than 30 producers and over 150+ spirits and mixed drinks, positioning it as Scotland’s largest multi-category spirits tasting. Visitors can explore gin, agave spirits (tequila & mezcal), whisky and rum, alongside vermouths and liqueurs, with Japanese sake and shochu introduced as a discovery highlight for 2026.

The event arrives at a time when drinking habits are evolving, with bars reporting rising interest in cocktails, agave spirits and aperitif-style serves alongside established favourites. Organisers say the show has grown to reflect how people now discover drinks – socially, through bartenders and shared experiences rather than traditional structured tastings.

Organised by the team behind Royal Mile Whiskies – winner of Specialist Spirits Retailer of the Year at the Spirits Business Awards 2025 – and the long-running Whisky Fringe (which sold out in under an hour in 2025), the drinks show combines specialist credibility with a relaxed, accessible format.

Guests can move freely around the venue, chatting with producers and bartenders and trying drinks neat, mixed or in simple cocktails at their own pace.

New for 2026, partner brands have been paired with award-winning Edinburgh bartenders across three sessions each day, including Robert Meek (Bar Manager, Port of Leith Distillery) and Sian Buchan (Co-Owner, Uno Mas). The sessions focus on approachable serves and practical techniques visitors can recreate at home, highlighting the role of local bartenders in shaping drinking trends.

Scottish producers including Pickering’s Gin and North Uist Distillery will appear alongside international brands such as Don Julio, Casamigos, Redbreast and Nikka, with rum producers including Black Tot and Doorly’s also featured, allowing visitors to compare styles across multiple categories in one place.

An on-site festival shop will allow visitors to purchase favourites discovered during the event, with a £10 voucher included with each ticket redeemable against a £40+ purchase at the Drinkmonger Festival Shop on the day, or later at Drinkmonger Bruntsfield, Pitlochry or online (valid until the end of April 2026).

Sam Brabbs, Purchasing Manager at The Dormant Distillery Company, said: “We’ve worked hard over the last few years to make Drinkmonger Spirits Fair feel like the city’s fantastic bar scene under one roof.

“You can wander around, chat to the people behind the drinks, try some cocktails and explore an intriguing range of spirits you might never normally order, and leave with ideas you can actually recreate at home.

“It’s exciting to see it grow into Scotland’s largest multi-category spirits tasting, and we’d love anyone with an interest in spirits to pick up a ticket and come down.”

Held throughout the ornate halls of Mansfield Traquair, the fair is designed as a social day out as much as a tasting experience, showcasing Edinburgh’s bartending talent and giving visitors the chance to explore a wide range of spirit categories in one place.

Tickets are £35 and include tasting access, cocktail sessions, a branded tasting glass and the £10 voucher.

Happy 15th Anniversary, NEN blog!

NEN PUBLISHED OUR FIRST BLOG POST ON THIS DAY IN 2011

The very first NEN blog post was published on this day in 2011. The post read:

Hello, and welcome to the brand new NEN blog.

For those of you not already familiar with the newspaper, we are a local community paper serving the North Edinburgh community. We’ve been here for over thirty years.

This blog, along with our new Facebook page and Twitter stream, represents our first foray into the world of social media. We really want to encourage more participation, more questions and ideas from the North Edinburgh community – both online and offline – and hope that these new tools will help us to do that.

We already have a good website, where you can always find the latest edition of the printed newspaper. The blog won’t be replacing that, but will instead be there to show people the latest news about the area, and also to help us cover the current funding crisis we are facing as an organisation.

Above all, we want to include your input on the blog – be it ideas for stories, comments, pictures and events. So get in touch!

The NEN’s website was sadly deleted when funding ceased but our social media presence continues on both Twitter and Facebook and the blog is still going strong with 10 – 12 posts daily.

2025 was the NEN blog’s busiest ever year with 36,000 visitors. As I write this we’ve published more than 38,000 posts – all of these remain accessible online – and we’re currently on a run of publishing on 2749 consecutive days.

When the NEN office in Crewe Road North closed much of the NEN archive material was lost, but thankfully some of our picture library was salvaged and can now be found at granton:hub (Madelvic House), where the volunteer archive team has also collated all remaining hard copies of the North Edinburgh News newspaper.

Hopefully, between the physical archive and the NEN blog, you can find all you need to know about our community’s rich history – and we’re adding to that history every day!

Tesco customers thanked for generous Winter Food Collection support as almost 1.5 million meals donated

Stores across the country have been overwhelmed by the generosity of customers who donated at the Tesco Winter Food Collection.

An incredible 1.48 million meals’ worth of long-life food items were donated to the collection between 24 November and 29 November across the retailer’s large and Express stores, including 41,804 in and around Edinburgh.

More than 2,000 volunteers helped store colleagues throughout the collection where every item donated provides much-needed support for food redistribution charities FareShare and Trussell in the run up to Christmas.

In addition, more than £300,000 was donated to both charities thanks to customers rounding up their bill at the till to the nearest pound and online donations throughout the collection period. When combined with Tesco’s financial support of the charities, it equates to more than £2m in funding in 2025.

Trussell research shows over 14 million people in the UK are now facing hunger, including 3.8 million children. They predict that their community of foodbanks will need to give out an emergency food parcel every ten seconds this winter to meet the need.

FareShare continues to see high levels of need and say that more than a third of its partners now primarily serve families with children, or services for children. Research carried out by the charity’s network partner, The Felix Project, recently found that almost a quarter of UK working parents have had to turn to a food support service in the last year.

Donations to Trussell help food banks to provide emergency food parcels to people who cannot afford the essentials, while donations to FareShare support thousands of frontline local charities in communities across the country.

This winter will see heightened levels of demand for both charities’ services with the Christmas holidays being a particularly difficult time for families due to the increased costs that occur at this time of year.

Tesco UK CEO Ashwin Prasad said: “As ever, we have been overwhelmed by the generosity of Tesco customers who have shown how much they value the hard work of our partners Trussell and FareShare in their local communities.

“I just want to say a huge thank you to everyone who donated and made this such a special event in stores across the UK. Every single item donated really helps to make a huge impact in communities across the UK supported by Trussell and FareShare.”

FareShare Chief Executive, Kris Gibbon-Walsh, said: “Once again, the generosity of Tesco customers at the Winter Food Collection has been humbling. The long-life items collected will go to 8,000 charities across the UK, helping to support people during the winter months.

At a time when many people are forced to choose between keeping warm and eating, demand for these local charities’ services is higher than ever. The food that we can provide thanks to the Winter Food Collection makes a real difference, helping to bring people together, strengthen communities and support those in need.

“Thank you to every single person that donated an item of food, topped up their shopping bill or generously gave their time to volunteer in store. Your support will help provide a meal for someone facing hardship this winter, enable them to connect with other vital services, and make a positive difference. Thank you.”

Matthew van Duyvenbode, co-chief executive of Trussell, said: “We are so grateful to Tesco for supporting our community of food banks through the coldest season by organising the annual Winter Food Collection.

“Crucially, it’s thanks to you – Tesco customers – who donate food and money so generously. By doing this, you’re ensuring food banks can continue to help people in your local community who are facing hunger and hardship. Thank you for your kindness. When we all play our part, we can end hunger for good.”

With both charities requiring ongoing support, Tesco shoppers can continue to donate food at permanent collection points at every Tesco store in the UK or make a donation after their online shop until the end of February.

You can also donate at https://fareshare.donr.com/tesco.