Category: Comely Bank

Happy Birthday, LifeCare!

Local Older People’s organisation is eighty years young

LifeCare Edinburgh, the older people’s care charity is proudly celebrating its 80-year anniversary.  Established in September 1941, the renowned local organisation offers a range of vital care and community services that have greatly improved the lives of tens of thousands of local older people across the last eight decades.  

Initially set up as ‘The Edinburgh and Leith Old People’s Welfare Council’, and later changed to ‘LifeCare’ in 2005, the organisation was created by three trail-blazing local females who wished to deliver activities “giving older members of the community a fuller share in community life”. 

The charity was one of the first organisations set up to do this in Scotland and they quickly built up a wide range of essential services, many of which are still on offer today.  They leave a great legacy, as these vital services have greatly enriched the lives of generations past and continue to deliver incredible caring support eighty years on.

Vital services delivered today

Today, LifeCare provides essential help and support to hundreds of local older people every year. 

Services include three centre-based Day Club services at The Cottage in Portobello, St Bernard’s and The Dean on Cheyne Street.  In the community, the charity offers Registered Outreach, Help at Home, Community Engagement Activities and their recently reintroduced Meals on Wheels service re-established as essential support through the pandemic. The LifeCare team have delivered over 12,000 meals to doorsteps to date. 

Further to this, LifeCare operates a partnership befriending programme Vintage Vibes, with Space (Broomhouse), designed to tackle social isolation and loneliness amongst the over 60s. From their bright and spacious centre on Cheyne Street, LifeCare runs the fully accessible ‘CaféLife’ and operates the community hub for local classes, activities, parties and clubs. 

Eight decades of experienced care delivering positive outcomes

The issues the charity supports haven’t changed across the years.  Care services provided today continue to tackle long-term issues with isolation, loneliness, dementia, mobility problems, food poverty, mental health concerns and support for unpaid carers.  These vital services enable the elderly to remain living independently, to stay physically and mentally well, to keep connected, mobile and active.  

Margaret Stewart, Care Service Manager at LifeCare – and the charity’s longest serving employee who has dedicated 17 years to the organisation – said: “We are all extremely proud of the charity’s history and longevity, it’s terrific to be part of such an established organisation which continues to deliver lifechanging support eighty years on. 

“LifeCare is truly embedded in the local community – we are well known, reliable and we deliver the highest quality care support for local older people and that’s why we are still going strong today.  

The organisation has weathered several challenges and changes across our 80-year history.  We have adapted and redesigned services to fit changing circumstances through the years, we’ve moved premises, and of course most recently, we have navigated COVID-19 to deliver vital care to over 770 local older people throughout the crisis.  Many of these individuals had no or little other available support.  Our dedicated staff and volunteers worked tirelessly to ensure no client in need went without through the devasting time.  

“As a charity, we make sure that everyone who needs us can access our care.  Our care is considered, non-rushed and enables an older person to stay living in their own home for as long as possible.  Wherever possible a person’s care is delivered by the same friendly face so we develop strong relationships and offer bespoke activities that give something to look forward to.  

“We can only achieve this through the generosity of our funders.  A huge thanks to everyone involved, your support truly helps to protect the physical and mental health of some of the most isolated and vulnerable older people living in our communities today.” 

The charity has received congratulations and best wishes from throughout the community.  

Hal Osler, Councillor for Inverleith Ward, (below) said: “We are extremely lucky to have an organisation like LifeCare, not only do they provide much needed care and support to some of most vulnerable citizens they also provide us with space to celebrate as a community.

“It was an honour to share in their 80th birthday and such a joy to see and hear so much happiness after such a dark time. I would like to thank all the staff for all their hard work especially in the last 18 months and the continued support and care that they give to the wider community. You are very special and I look forward to celebrating many other milestones in the future.”

Inverleith Ward Cllr Max Mitchell (above) added: “LifeCare is a truly inspiring organisation doing such important work and we are so fortunate to have them.

“I am very grateful to the staff who go above and beyond on a daily basis to support and empower our older and more vulnerable members of the community. It was a real pleasure to join LifeCare to celebrate their 80th birthday and share in such a joyous occasion.”

LifeCare Edinburgh is a registered charity and relies on the support of its funders.  Key relationships include Barclays, Tesco Bank, The TOR Foundation, Foundation Scotland and all the many local people who take part in community fundraising events. 

For more information visit https://www.lifecare-edinburgh.org.uk

North Edinburgh options in the frame for Gaelic High School

Royal Victoria Hospital and Fettes Police HQ sites under active consideration

The City of Edinburgh Council is re-evaluating the feasibility of two sites in central Edinburgh for a Gaelic high school following internal discussions.

Council officers will work with partners to reassess the potential of the current Police Scotland headquarters at Fettes and the site of the former Royal Victoria Hospital in Comely Bank as additional options for the home of a new Gaelic Medium Education (GME) secondary school.

The move comes after a meeting between the Cabinet Secretary, Shirley-Anne Somerville MSP and Education Convener Councillor Ian Perry and Vice Convener Alison Dickie in July to discuss the Council’s proposals for a dedicated GME high school on the Liberton site, which the Cabinet Secretary again welcomed as an excellent option.

The Councillors wrote last week to the Cabinet Secretary following their meeting last month to confirm that the two central sites will be re-assessed given concerns about ‘centrality’ raised by some parents during the development of plans for the Liberton site.

The letter makes clear that significant Scottish Government financial assistance, in the region of at least £48m for the build cost alone, as well as support to secure either site to make a more central option viable.

A report outlining these latest developments, and the letter sent to the Cabinet Secretary, will be presented to the Education, Children and Families Committee next Tuesday (24 August).

The report says that the proposal for a statutory consultation should be temporarily halted pending a response from the Scottish Government regarding the two central sites.  

Cllr Perry said: “We had a very constructive and helpful meeting with the Cabinet Secretary last month and set out again our proposals to further the growth of GME in the Capital. 

“Given the concerns some Gaelic parents raised over ‘centrality’, we are reassessing the feasibility of two possible sites – at Fettes and at Comely Bank.  It must be stressed, however, that significant Government support would be required to make these viable options. 

“Our number one priority remains identifying the best and most workable solution for a fully immersive GME high school for the city. In the meantime we are proposing temporarily halting the plans for a statutory consultation until we receive a response from the Scottish Government.”

Cllr Dickie said: “We’re fully committed to ensuring GME can grow and thrive in Scotland’s Capital and we have welcomed the Scottish Government’s continued encouragement about our plans for a new and dedicated school at Liberton. 

“It is vital though that we get this absolutely right for children and their families, and for the growth of Gaelic Medium Education in the city.  Given then, the growing appetite for a more central location, we have made a decision to pause to re-evaluate previously visited options and their related barriers. 

“As well as the substantial financial hurdle involved, we’d need certainty that the land would be available to meet the timescales involved.  Most of all though, we need options that deliver the best educational outcomes for our children and young people.”

Inverleith Neighbourhood Network to meet on Tuesday

Dear Inverleith Neighbourhood Network (NN)

The next meeting of this group is Tuesday 17th August at 6pm on Teams (link below)

Please find attached:

  • Minute of previous meeting of 24th June 2021
  • Agenda for meeting of 17th August 2021
  • NEP report (Roads and Housing Revenue Account HRA)
  • Transport Infrastructure Investment report

We have no Community Grants applications to consider at this meeting, but Cllr Barrie is still looking for volunteers to join a Funding Panel that will consider any applications in future.

We are particularly keen to have anyone representing projects in the Drylaw Telford area.

Please get back to me if you are willing to assist in this.

INN-Agenda-170821Download

Inverleith-NEP-proposals-HRA-2021-22Download
Inverleith-NEP-updates-Roads-2021-22-240621Download

Transport-Infrastructure-Investment-Capital-Delivery-Priorities__-for-2021-22Download

Inverleith-NN-Notes-240621-finalDownload

Click here to join the meeting

Elaine Lennon

North West Lifelong Learning Development Officer, City of Edinburgh Council

8 West Pilton Gardens, Edinburgh, EH4 4DP

Tel: 0131 529 5270 / 35270

LifeCare Edinburgh receives support from Arnold Clark

LifeCare Edinburgh has received £1,000 from Arnold Clark’s Community Fund to help the charity deliver its essential care to hundreds of older people living across the North of the city. 

The renowned local charity offers registered care, outreach activities and help at home services for older people. Established in 1941, the organisation supports elderly clients suffering with dementia, mobility issues, those experiencing isolation and loneliness, food poverty, mental health problems and offers dedicated support for carers.  

LifeCare’s vital services have not stopped through the pandemic. Since March 2020, the charity has supported over 770 elderly individuals with vital positive support designed to protect and maintain the physical and mental health needs of some of the most isolated older members of the community. 

The committed team has worked tirelessly to safely deliver essential care, practical help and companionship activities to ensure older people received the support they needed to stay well.  The charity also launched several important new initiatives, such as their hugely successful meals on wheels service, specifically designed to help support the most isolated and vulnerable.  

Margaret Stewart, Care Service Manager at LifeCare said: “Throughout LifeCare, we have worked tirelessly to ensure no client in need went without our dedicated support and contact. 

“We have delivered over 7,500 hours of registered care through the crisis to date, over 10,000 hours of help within the home, made over 4,300 calls to carers most in need and served up over 10,000 hot nutritious meals to doorsteps. 

“We simply could not deliver this vital care without the generous support from our funders.  A huge thank you to Arnold Clark for this recent award which will help us to continue to care for those who need our help.”

Chief Executive and Group Managing Director Eddie Hawthorne said: “The Arnold Clark Community Fund is here to connect us with our local communities, and we’re delighted that we’ve been able to help LifeCare with this grant.

“The past year has been challenging for so many of us, which is why it’s important that organisations like LifeCare, who work so hard improve the lives of others, continue to get the support they need.

“We hope this grant will make a difference and help them continue to provide essential care to the elderly living in Edinburgh.”

For more information visit https://www.lifecare-edinburgh.org.uk/

Voluntary Sector Forum to meet next week

Forth and Inverleith Voluntary Sector Forum will meet on Tuesday 20 July at 1pm via Zoom

Join Zoom Meeting:

https://us02web.zoom.us/j/84802007045?pwd=WmU3REQrL2ZNa3NEVDg4Zlp3TkVGdz09

Meeting ID: 848 0200 7045

Passcode: 991758

We will use this following agenda to guide our discussion:

1 Welcome and Introductions

2 Pilton Community Health Project and ASH Scotland present on new work addressing smoking rates in areas of deprivation (see below)

3 Evaluating Third Sector contribution to LIP priority 3 – tackling poverty and inequality

4 LOG Update

5 Training Opportunities for third sector (EVOC)

6 Member update

Smoking-Information-DocumentDownload

Hope to see you there,

KATE BARRETT

EVOC Development Worker – Community Planning

LifeCare invites locals to take part in a summer of virtual events

Older people’s care charity delivering fun and free online community sessions 

LifeCare Edinburgh is inviting local people to sign up to take part in its varied calendar of virtual community events.  

Funded in partnership with Inverleith Neighbourhood Network, Foundation Scotland and The TOR Foundation locals can take part for free. Events include history talks, quizzes, conversation groups discussing current affairs and special events such as the recent private virtual visit to Edinburgh Zoo.   

The renowned local charity offers registered care, outreach activities and help at home services for older people living across the North of the city.

Established in 1941, the organisation supports over 800 elderly clients a year including those suffering with dementia, mobility issues, those experiencing isolation and loneliness, food poverty, mental health problems and support for carers.  

The charity usually delivers its calendar of community events in-person at the LifeCare Centre on Cheyne Street, however organisers set up the sessions through Zoom in response to the pandemic.   

LifeCare understands that some people need a little encouragement and support to get started using Zoom.  Organisers therefore offer free, safely delivered one-to-one support for individuals to get started with the IT platform ensuring they have the skills and confidence to use technology to be part of their community. 

Aleks Pacula, LifeCare’s Community Engagement Facilitator said “We’re thrilled that we’ve been able to continue our successful calendar of events across the last year – we have more people signed up than ever before.  

“Shifting the delivery from in-person to Zoom had a few challenges at first but everyone is very much enjoying it now and it’s allowing more people to take part. We all look forward to the sessions – it gives us a chance to catch up with each other safely, see a friendly face, have some fun together and learn new things about where we live. 

“We’ve received a lot of feedback telling us that the talks bring back fond memories and give people the opportunity to share life-experiences with others. Our free tutorials helping people to use Zoom for the first time have been very popular.  

“I know our regulars found the help really useful at the start and they are unstoppable now!  We regularly update our calendar of events online so visit the LifeCare website to find out more and get involved.” 

The charity has already announced a few highlights to look forward to across the summer.  

In addition to their usual weekly schedule of events they will be hosting “Lothian castles on film” by Anne Daly on Tuesday 29th June at 3pm, “The visit of George IV to Scotland in 1822” by Eric Melvin on Tuesday 27th July at 3pm and “Greek inscriptions in Edinburgh” by Ian McHaffie on Tuesday 24th August at 3pm. 

 Gavin Barrie, Chair of Inverleith Neighbourhood Network said “We are extremely pleased to hear about the success of LifeCare’s Community Engagement Project.

“The important project reaches out to some who may be suffering isolation in our community.  The programme demonstrates all that is good when various arms of our community pull together to assist those in need of support. We were delighted to help LifeCare achieve its aims of engaging with local members of our community.” 

Beverley Francis, Chair of LifeCare said “A huge thanks to our generous funders for enabling LifeCare to continue to deliver and grow our important calendar of community engagement activities.  

“These events deliver huge benefits to those in our communities in normal times, but they are even more important through the current time. Activities are designed to keep people connected, give something to look forward to and to provide something stimulating for health and wellbeing needs.  We are encouraging anyone that is interested to get in touch to find out more.” 

LifeCare Edinburgh is a registered charity and relies on the support of its funders.  Key relationships include Barclays, The TOR Foundation, Foundation Scotland, Tesco Bank and all the many local people who take part in community fundraising events.  

For more information visit https://www.lifecare-edinburgh.org.uk/lifecare-space/whats-on/ 

Scran Café: Youth powered café launched by Scran Academy

Scran Academy, a leading social enterprise in Edinburgh, is delighted to announce the launch of the new Scran Café, a professional café within NHS Lothian’s Comely Bank Centre, planned, launched and run by inspiring young people aged between 13 and 21 from across Edinburgh.

The café’s initial focus will be to create a welcoming, relaxing and safe haven for as many as 100 frontline NHS workers and clinical trainees on a daily basis, offering freshly made meals, drinks and other refreshments. 

With an innovative social business model involving a voluntary, private and public sector collaboration, this unique partnership between Scran Academy and NHS Lothian will see more than 100 young people, too often judged and failed by both their city and country, access dedicated employment experience and skills support over the coming three years.

Through the charity’s existing community-based Academy School and Scransitions, a new 16+ employability programme, this ground-breaking social venture will empower these young people with the skills and confidence to lead in the hospitality industry. 

At the same time the programme will take a significant bite out of the poverty-related barriers, life challenges and injustices they face on a daily basis – being care-experienced, disengaged from mainstream school, at risk of homelessness, unemployed or suffering from poor mental health.

Scransitions is supported by The National Lottery Fund’s Young Start Project, the Edinburgh Thrive initiative and Walter Scott Giving Group, who have all generously enabled the £300,000 project to run for three years.

The Café will open to the public later in the year as restrictions are eased.  There are already strong signs that the café will become an essential resource to the wider community, instrumental in joining up other Scran programmes and initiatives.

Through the charity’s partnerships and intergenerational work including projects involving low-income family, elderly and homeless organisations, there are hundreds of individuals keen to access the cafe and get involved.

The cafe will also provide a free community library, with support from Edinburgh International Book Festival and other bookstores.

Founder of Scran Academy and social entrepreneur, John Loughton BEM (above), himself a young person who grew up struggling in North Edinburgh, said: “At Scran we do hand-ups, not just hand-outs.

“We must all respond and adapt to what is an oncoming crisis for today’s generation that has resulted from education systems failures, a bleak employment context and the rising grip of poverty and mental health. It’s brutal for young people and our work has never been more needed.

“What Scran’s story shows is that if we support local community organisations that are run with passion and authenticity, we can develop creative solutions to social inequality. It also shows that unlike the stereotypes so often in the media, young people make a real and positive contribution to society and your post code does not have to be your destiny. 

“I also want to take this opportunity to thank all our funders, schools and volunteers whose contribution to the operation of Scran has made a huge difference to the young people of Edinburgh.”

Lifecare Monthly History Talk: The Shops of Stockbridge

May is Local and Community History Month so come along to LifeCare’s History talk on Tuesday 25th May at 3pm, taking place using Zoom.

We will be taking a look at the Shops of Stockbridge, past and present with Mhairi Curran.

For more information, contact our Community Engagement Facilitator Aleks, to reserve your space: alekspacula@lifecare-edinburgh.org.uk or call 0131 343 0940

New chair and four new trustees for LifeCare Edinburgh

LifeCare Edinburgh has appointed Beverley Francis as its new chair and welcomes four new trustees to the board as the organisation celebrates its 80th year.

The renowned local charity offers registered care, outreach activities and help at home services for older people living across the North of the city. Established in 1941, the organisation supports over 800 elderly clients a year including those suffering with dementia, mobility issues, those experiencing isolation and loneliness, food poverty, mental health problems and support for carers. 

Beverley Francis has been involved the charity since 2018 and was appointed vice-chair a year ago.  Elaine Aitken will take up the position as vice-chair having been with the charity since 2017. 

She brings extensive public and third sector experience to the role.  Bringing 16 years in key positions within Scottish Government, including in welfare reform and most recently in health improvement, Francis also has her own consultancy supporting the third sector. 

She is currently in the role as Interim Director for ProjectScotland where she has supported the merger with Volunteering Matters and has previously supported mental health charities AdvoCard and Partners in Advocacy. 

Ms Francis takes over as chair from Jock Miller who held the position for six years. Miller will remain on the board as a trustee.

A further four trustees have joined the board.  Susan Mallinder, Christopher Paton, Jane Hogg and Momin Rasheed all joined the charity at the start of the year.  The new trustees all bring varying backgrounds, experience and skills which will help to shape and drive the organisation’s continued success.

Beverley Francis said: “On behalf of everyone on the board, past and present, we would like to sincerely thank Jock for his leadership, dedication and sheer hard-work over the past 10 years. 

“Through his direction we have successfully and quickly navigated the multiple challenges of COVID-19 and continued to provide essential care to over 500 older people through the crisis who simply could not survive without it.

“I feel absolutely honoured to take up the role of chair at such a vitally important time for us all. 

“Older people have been disproportionately affected by this life-shattering crisis.  We do not yet know the real impact this past year will have had on the people we care for within our communities.  So, we need to be ready to adapt, redesign and deliver the bespoke care they will need in a compassionate and caring way. We need to make sure our older people can safely and confidently re-enter our communities, and they will need our support to do so.

“As LifeCare enters its 80th year as a charity, we are all thrilled to welcome four new trustees to the board who are all eager to get involved.  I am excited to work more closely with the senior management team, alongside our new chief executive Damian McGowan.  Once we are able, I very much look forward to getting out into the community to safely meet with the people we support, our hardworking staff and all of our dedicated volunteers.”

LifeCare Edinburgh is a registered charity and relies on the support of its funders.  Key relationships include Barclays, The TOR Foundation, Foundation Scotland, Tesco Bank and all the many local people who take part in community fundraising events.

For more information visit https://www.lifecare-edinburgh.org.uk/