Let’s make sure no local child goes without an egg this Easter!
Category: Granton
More MVP training
I saw the NEN’s piece about the MVP (Mentors in Violence Prevention) training on 24 March at Pilton Community Health Project.
There is also a session for parents on
Monday 23 March
at 6pm in Craigroyston Community High School.
A couple of senior pupils from the school will help to take parents through the approach, which promotes positive relationships and gives young people the confidence and skills to challenge bullying, violent or anti-social behaviour.
It’s aimed at parents of older primary school children who will be trained in MVP when they start at Craigroyston or Broughton High School, and parents of High School children are also welcome.
The session shouldn’t take longer than an hour and a half, and child care is available if planned in advance. If anyone is interested they can book through me on the details below.
Sarah Neal
CLD Worker (Community Learning & Development & Total Craigroyston)
Royston Wardieburn Community Centre, Pilton Drive North. Tel: 0131 552 5700
Lazarowicz backs living wage
‘Low pay is a moral scandal in our country’ – Mark Lazarowicz MP
Mark Lazarowicz MP is supporting Scottish Labour leader Jim Murphy’s plan to address the problem of low pay by offering employers tax rebates when they increase their staff’s pay to the living wage of £7.85 per hour.
39,000 workers in Edinburgh who are currently paid less than the living wage would benefit and £17 million in funding would go in tax rebates to businesses that support the living wage for their staff.
Under the plans, employers would receive a tax rebate of up to £1000 for every low paid worker who gets a pay rise.
The average rebate would be £445, meaning that if every low paid worker across Scotland was given the living wage, business would get a windfall of over £180 million.
Mr Lazarowicz said that research that shows a living wage leads to:
•a 25% fall in absenteeism
•80% of employers believing the living wage has enhanced the quality of the work of their staff
•66% of employers reporting a significant impact on recruitment and retention within their organisation
Over 400,000 Scots are currently paid less than the living wage – with an estimated 39,000 in Edinburgh alone – and Scottish Labour argues the living wage is best for business and best for fairness.
The North & Leith MP said: “Low pay is a moral scandal in our country and it is also holding our economy back. This plan to extend the living wage could lift thousands of Scots out of low pay. We could give a pay rise to as many as 39,000 workers in Edinburgh alone.
“Edinburgh City Council has already led the way by becoming a living wage employer so it is committed to paying all of its staff at least the living wage. Local businesses will see a bonus too, with £17 million available for businesses in Edinburgh.
“The research shows that absenteeism and staff turnover go down whilst performance and morale go up. It means a happier, more efficient workplace.
“A lot of businesses in Scotland aren’t turning over millions. They are on the sharp end budgeting month to month, they might want to give a pay rise to their staff but the conditions aren’t right.
“That is why Scottish Labour has a plan to convince these businesses to pay the living wage. We will use make work pay contracts to incentivise better pay for staff – and better performance for business.”
Help Granton leavers have their ‘quali’
Hi
I am a parent at Granton Primary School and unfortunately the school has cancelled the traditional ‘qually’ leavers dance: we parents are now having to put this on all at at our own cost as the school is not willing to help.
We are looking for:
- Businesses to sponsor us for the food in return for advertising
- A piper
- Any decor that fits in with Hollywood glamour theme
- And any other help would be appreciated
Annie Lamb
Trade waste bins to be cleared from city streets
Trade waste bins will be removed from Edinburgh’s streets as part of a citywide scheme which will begin rolling out in April. Businesses will no longer be permitted to permanently store their waste containers in public and will be required to present rubbish and recycling during timed collection windows.
The initiative, which aims to improve the appearance of the capital’s streets, has been trialled in a number of city centre locations over the last year. Participating streets Rose Street (and its lanes), Leith Walk and High Street experienced, on average, an 81% drop in the number of bins permanently outside business properties.
Now the policy will be introduced to traders across the city on a phased basis, beginning in April with around 5000 businesses in the city centre. This will be followed by areas like Leith, Southside, Fountainbridge and Portobello.
Environment Convener Councillor Lesley Hinds, said: “Keeping the city clean and attractive will benefit residents, visitors and businesses alike, and removing unsightly trade waste bins from the streets is one big step towards achieving this.
“It is extremely encouraging to see such positive results from the pilot areas, and there is no doubt the scheme will continue having an impact on our environment as it rolls out across the city.”
After being approved by councillors in October 2013, the Trade Waste pilot was introduced to trial areas between January and March 2014, and has since seen bin numbers reduced from 390 to 103 on Rose Street, 116 to 12 on Leith Walk and 37 to eight on High Street.
Throughout the process, officers have worked with businesses to ensure compliance with collection windows, which were agreed after consultation on suitability, and to address difficulties over storage space, timing and cooperation from trade waste companies.
Gordon Minnis, owner of Rose Street North Lane restaurant Calistoga, is delighted with the impact of the Rose Street trial (before and after, above). He said: “The lane looks a lot smarter with only a dozen or so small bins whereas before there were over 40 large containers. It’s also led to a reduction in litter and fly-tipping.
“Our customers are delighted as they have a much better view when dining and don’t need to navigate their way round large waste containers to get to our restaurant.”
Andrew Watson, owner of the Princes Street franchise of McDonald’s, was also part of the Rose Street lanes trial. He said: “The overall cost of the process is more or less the same as it was before, only now it’s much easier to manage and looks a lot better on the street. My city centre store is in such an iconic location, sitting in the shadow of Edinburgh Castle, that keeping the streets around the stores clean and tidy is hugely important to the business.”
As the scheme is rolled out, Environmental Wardens will continue to support behaviour change, helping businesses to adapt and ensuring enforcement, in order to gain the maximum benefit.
Businesses will receive letters to inform them when the changes are being introduced to their area.
Find out more about the Trade Waste pilot on the Council website, including guidance, a map of phase one and more case studies.
What’s all that noise, then?
If you live in North Edinburgh you couldn’t have helped hearing the helicopter circling over the area last night. What was it all about? Police Scotland explain all:
HELICOPTER ACTION
Last night the Police Helicopter was out conducting planned police activity in the Pennywell Road area.
This activity was part of Operation Quarterlight our initiative aimed at tackling motor vehicle crime. Officers from across Edinburgh were deployed, including dog units and of course the chopper.
A 22-year-old man and a 44-year-old woman were arrested and charged with a number of offences. They will both appear at Edinburgh Sheriff Court today.
So there you have it – no hiding place for criminals …
Fresh Start is Lothian Buses charity of the year
FRESH START, the Pilton-based charity that helps people who have been homeless get established in their new home, has been announced as Lothian Buses’ Charity of the Year for 2015.
Throughout 2015, Lothian Buses and Fresh Start will work together on a number of projects including a special bus wrap advertising the work the charity do, visits for the charity’s families to the bus depots, fundraising through staff events and the opportunity for the company’s 2000+ staff to volunteer with the charity.
Tony Depledge, Chair of Lothian Buses said: “Supporting a local charity every year is really important to us. This year we decided to choose a charity that was significantly different to previous years and Fresh Start is exactly that.
“Homelessness can affect anyone and its great that we can highlight the important work that they do.
“We look forward to working with the Fresh Start team over the course of 2015, helping to raise the profile of the charity in our local community whilst having fun raising funds for this fantastic cause.”
Since 2012, Lothian Buses has appointed a Charity of the Year in order to help the organisation benefit from focused fundraising and awareness activities. The Yard, another project based in North Edinburgh, was Lothian Buses’ chosen charity last year and previous recipients include It’s Good 2 Give and Lothian Austistic Society.
Keith Robertson, Fresh Start’s Managing Director said: “This is a great opportunity for us. For a local charity like ours working in the Edinburgh & Lothian area, it will raise awareness of what we do and what homelessness means. Being homeless can have a devastating effect on families and individuals. They lose not only their belongings, but their confidence and self-esteem. We help them to settle in their new home and back into the community. This partnership with Lothian Buses will enable us to reach more people than ever before.”
For more information visit:
http://www.freshstartweb.org.uk
May date set for Spartans’ sports day
Hundreds of local primary school children will be taking part in a major sports event being organised by Spartans Community Football Academy Event at Ainslie Park in May.
SCFA Youth and Community Worker Jamie Tomkinson said: “The Spartans Community Football Academy Sports Day will be held on the 20th of May. Eight local primary schools are involved – we reckon that will be around 350 P7s over the course of the day!”
Twelve different sporting activities will be delivered by local agencies on the day: Kabo boxing, Edinburgh Judo, Edinburgh Leisure, Fet-Lor, Granton Youth Centre and MY Adventure will all be supporting the programme – and Keith Cook, who is a five-time Commonwealth Games medallist, will share his fencing skills. NEN, North Edinburgh’s community newspaper, has been invited to cover the event.
“Lorna Cruikshank, one of our young volunteers, will deliver a hockey station and we have a local samba band coming along to create an atmosphere and do a show for the opening ceremony!” Jamie added. “Many organisations have come on board to support the day – Ainslie Park Leisure Centre are letting us use one lane of their pool for the triathlon and Nike, who were a major part of last year’s success, will be volunteering throughout the event.
“There’s a lot of organising to be done and we are putting the finishing touches to the programme but the Sports Day is going to be a lot of fun – we’re all really looking forward to it and I’m sure the P7s are too!”
Get involved in GYC’s Big Obstacle
I am getting in touch to tell you about ‘The Big Obstacle’, an event being organised by three young people from Granton Youth Centre.
‘The Big Obstacle’ is a 5k fun run with obstacles. It will be held on Sunday 29 March 10am-1.30pm at Cramond Promenade.
This event is being planned and organised by 3 young people from North Edinburgh, who have worked hard to secure funding from Starbucks for their event.
The aim of the fun run is to give local youth organisations a platform to fundraise, raise the profile of the great youth work that goes on in North Edinburgh and also to encourage local young people to participate in physical activity.
There will be two races on the day, one for 11-17 year olds and one for 18+. We will also have a fun day event at the same time, where we would like youth organisations to have a stall to promote their work.
We are looking for young people and adults to enter our fun run and organisations entering the run will get a free stall at the fun day.
All participants signed up to the run will have the opportunity to take part in a 4 week running club in preparation for the event. Places are limited and will be on a first come basis.
If you would like to find out more about the event and how you can get involved please get in touch at thebigobstacle@grantonyouth.com.
I will look forward to hearing from you!
Kerry Shand
Youth Volunteer Coordinator
Granton Youth Centre
3-11 West Granton Road
Edinburgh
EH5 1HG
0131 467 5854
Support your local Fire Fighters!
The national car wash takes place on Saturday 14 March
Firefighters across Scotland are preparing to roll up their sleeves to take part in the National Car Wash this weekend, raising vital funds for The Fire Fighters Charity.
Crewe Toll and McDonald Road are among the dozens of community fire stations where firefighters will be on hand to make your car sparkle – and as you drive away in your gleaming car, your donation to The Fire Fighters Charity will help thousands of serving and retired fire service personnel and their families!
Regional Fundraiser for Scotland Margaret Barnes-Smith said: “Monies raised through national fundraising initiatives provide a real boost to The Fire Fighters Charity and we are delighted that so many of our fire stations are getting involved.
“Firefighting can be dangerous, stressful and traumatic. When fire fighters are injured, they can be in pain and unable to work for months. Dealing with life or death situations every day often takes its toll emotionally too.
“The Fire Fighters Charity is here for every one of the UK’s serving members of fire and rescue staff – and their families. No other organisation provides such a full package of high quality support, exactly tailored to the needs of fire fighters.
“We also give lifetime support to retired fire fighters and their families. They’ve risked so much for us and in return, we provide help and support when they are in real need.
“It costs £9million a year to keep our charity running. With no government funding, we rely completely on donations and goodwill. Please come along to your local fire station and support us.”
Chief Executive of The Fire Fighters Charity, Jill Tolfrey, said: “The National Car Wash provides a vital source of income for the Charity, as well as being a fun and popular event. It costs over £8million a year to keep The Fire Fighters Charity running – and with no regular government funding, we rely completely on your donations and goodwill. You can show your support to our firefighting heroes by visiting your local fire station on Saturday 14 March – and afterwards drive away safely, in a clean car!”
As well as being a fun fundraising event for The Fire Fighters Charity, the firefighters want to share a very serious message about fire safety in the home. Each year fire destroys lives, something firefighters see regularly and by taking some precautions this risk can be minimised.
While your car is being pampered you’ll have the chance book a FREE home fire safety visit with SFRS – as part of the service’s commitment to building a safer Scotland everyone in Scotland can have a free home fire safety visit – smoke alarms can also be fitted free of charge if your home requires them.
You can arrange a free home fire safety visit by calling SFRS on the freephone number 0800 0731 999 or by texting ‘FIRE’ to 80800. You can also fill out a form at www.firescotland.gov.uk or contact your local community fire station.
East area fire stations taking part this Saturday:
Bathgate Fire Station
Crewe Toll Fire Station
Dalkeith Fire Station
Eyemouth Fire Station
Galashiels Fire Station
Hawick Fire Station
Innerleithen Fire Station
Liberton Fire Station
Livingston Fire Station
McDonald Road Fire Station
Newcraighall Fire Station
Peebles Fire Station
Selkirk Fire Station
Sighthill Fire Station
Tollcross Fire Station
West Calder Fire Station
Callander Fire Station
Denny Fire Station
Falkirk Fire Station
Larbert Fire Station
Stirling Fire Station
Auchtermuchty Fire Station
Cupar Fire Station
Dunfermline Fire Station
Glenrothes Fire Station
Kirkcaldy Fire Station
Lochgelly Fire Station
Methil Fire Station
Newburgh Fire Station
St Andrews Fire Station