Schools are out and we’ve got lots of fun children’s activities lined up for the next two weeks!
Note that we are closed on Friday and Monday for the public holidays, but are open on Saturday! Join us for a special Bookbug with your favourite cuddly toy. Slightly older kids will enjoy STEM Club and Board Games.
We’ll share more details of events next week.
2026 is the National Year of Reading – #GoAllIn
A pedestrian who died in a crash in the Corstorphine area has been named as Bill Hepburn, aged 66, from Edinburgh.
His family has asked for privacy and released the following statement:
“Our family are heartbroken at the loss of Bill who was a loving husband and father.”
The incident happened around 9am on Wednesday, 18 February, in a supermarket car park off Meadow Road Place and involved a blue Volkswagen Polo.
Sergeant Paul Ewing said: “Our thoughts remain with the family and friends of Bill and enquiries continue to establish the full circumstances.
“Anyone who has not spoken to us and has any information that could help is asked to get in touch with road policing officers via 101, quoting incident number 0688 of Wednesday, 18 February, 2026.”
Corstorphine Window Wanderland is back for 2026
Once again it will brighten up the last weekend of February by transforming the streets of Corstorphine into a magical outdoor illuminated gallery for all to enjoy.
This is a FREE event and everyone is invited to take part – residents, schools, community groups and businesses. We hope you will alll get involved with decorating windows or wandering, or both!
Windows will be lit up between 6pm and 9pm on the evenings of Saturday 28 February, Sunday 1 & Monday 2 March 2026.
To take part in the event and add your window display to the map, please sign up on the website https://www.windowwanderland.com/event/corstorphine-2026/
MONDAY 23rd FEBRUARY at 6pm
The CCC AGM will take place on Monday 23rd February at 6pm in the Centre. Non-members are very welcome to attend, if you would like to hear the reports and know more about the organisation, but you can’t vote.
If you live in Corstorphine you might like to become a member and be involved in how the organisation is governed. The Hub is owned by the community, through CCC members, so being a member really makes a difference.
Details of how to join and an application form can be found on the CCC website, and paper copies of the form can be found at the reception desk at the Hub.
For all of February, we are hosting an exhibition from the Edinburgh, Lothians and Borders Police Historical Society about Edinburgh & Leith during World War II.
To tie in with this, we have a lecture on Monday 9th February at 6:30pm delivered by Tom Wood: The Bombing of Edinburgh & Leith – 1939-1942. There is no need to book ahead and it is free to attend.
We are hosting a second lecture on 23rd February on The Memorial Roll about Edinburgh Police and the uncommemorated lives lost during World War II – more details to follow.
The author, Gerard McEwan, has generously donated a copy of this book which is part of our Local History collection. Access this collection in the library and other resources online with your library card!
How is it already February? Spring is just around the corner and there’s still lots to do to get our new sites ready for growing!
Come along and lend a hand and spend some time outside with us!
Corstorphine First Aid Support and Training is celebrating after being selected by Tesco customers to receive a £1,500 donation.
Shoppers at Tesco Extra Corstorphine voted for local community causes using Tesco’s famous blue voting tokens, with three groups receiving cash grants as part of the supermarket’s Stronger Starts campaign.
Corstorphine First Aid Support and Training was one of three local charities that customers voted for, receiving £1,500 as part of the scheme after receiving the most votes.
The winning charity is comprised entirely of volunteers, who are trained in first aid techniques and provide medical cover for events in Edinburgh and beyond, as well as first aid training to businesses and community groups.
The funds will allow the group to purchase essential first aid equipment so they can continue first aid training and help to keep people safe.
Dominic Burns, Chair at Corstorphine First Aid Support and Training, said: “We are absolutely delighted to have won this funding as part of the Tesco Stronger Starts campaign, and would like to thank our local community for their votes.
“Corstorphine First Aid is a community focused charity and this money will be used to support our activity in teaching and providing life saving first aid skills to people across Edinburgh.”
The other groups to receive grant funding from the store’s Stronger Starts blue token votes include The Royal Zoological Society of Scotland [RZSS] and Corstorphine Primary School, as well as Fox Covert Primary School.
The funding will support RZSS and Corstorphine Primary school in their joint initiative, which sees representatives from Edinburgh Zoo get the pupils involved with nature and animals through educational demonstrations within the school.
The grant awarded to Fox Covert Primary School, will support the school’s breakfast club, ensuring that all pupils can have a healthy snack and a good start to their day.
Stronger Starts helps schools and children’s groups provide nutritious food and healthy activities that support young people’s physical health and mental wellbeing, such as breakfast clubs or snacks, as well as purchasing equipment for healthy activities.
Deborah Brown, Community Champion at Tesco Corstorphine Extra, said: “Our Tesco team would like to thank all of our customers for their help in supporting these three fantastic causes through our Stronger Starts campaign.
“Every vote helps us to provide funding to groups making a difference in our community.”
Claire De Silva, Head of Communities at Tesco said: “We are incredibly proud to award Stronger Starts grants to over one hundred schools and local projects, supporting the vital work they do for our children and communities.
“Since we launched our grants programme in 2016, more than £120 million has been given to more than 67,000 local schools and community groups.”
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!
Our Charity Shop reopens on Monday 19th January.
Come on down and grab a bargain, everything is half price!!
With a food and beverage plan built around conservation, community, and engagement, early priorities to be delivered by the team will focus on improving quality and consistency across the site, refreshing menus with seasonal produce in collaboration with local suppliers, and embedding a service culture that mirrors the zoo’s educational and conservation values.
Adding to the list of iconic Sodexo Live! client partners across Scotland, including V&A Dundee, Royal Botanic Garden Edinburgh, Signet Library and Hampden Park, this collaboration will celebrate and strengthen the zoo’s unique identity, making food and drink an integral part of its story.
Claire Morris, CEO of Sodexo Live! UK & Ireland, said: “Edinburgh Zoo is a world-class visitor attraction, and this partnership gives us the unique opportunity to really transform the catering offering to reflect RZSS’s vision.
“By positioning Edinburgh Zoo as a place of global exploration and education – a living classroom for all – we want to create a sense of culinary adventure and discovery through exciting, diverse global flavours aligned to the animals’ natural habitats.
“We want our food to be more than just a service – we want it to add joy and make visitors’ zoo experience even more immersive and meaningful.”
Ben Supple, RZSS Deputy Chief Executive, said: “We want to provide visitors to Edinburgh Zoo with the very best experience as this will encourage more people to learn about and protect our natural world.
“Catering is an essential part of that and we are looking forward to working in partnership with the Sodexo Live! and Heritage Portfolio team to develop an exceptional offer which celebrates local, high quality and sustainable produce.”
The collaboration represents a truly local partnership, combining extensive Scottish hospitality knowledge with RZSS’s mission to ‘protect, value and love nature.’ Inspired by the zoo’s animals and their habitats, a ‘Feeding Natural Curiosity’ philosophy will be implemented, guiding menu development, emphasising global flavours, from-scratch cooking, zero-waste initiatives, and community partnerships.
Sodexo Live! supports some of the UK’s most iconic music, cultural and sporting events, plus conference centres and airport lounges, by delivering world class hospitality and food services. Producing outstanding catering and event services, it serves some of the most prestigious venues across Britain, delivering amazing experiences that go beyond the remarkable food it creates.
Globally, partners include The Scottish Open, Royal Ascot, the Tour de France, and exceptional venues such as the Eiffel Tower Restaurants, the Royal Academy of Arts in London, Hard Rock Stadium, and the Hollywood Bowl in Los Angeles.
For more information see www.sodexolive.co.uk
