Category: Granton

Barratt Developments Scotland donates £10k to SocialBite

Five Scottish charities to receive a share of £50k fund to help people facing homelessness, financial crisis or social exclusion

Local housebuilder Barratt Developments Scotland, which includes Barratt Homes and David Wilson Homes, has donated £10,000 to help homeless people in Edinburgh.

Social Bite is one of five charities to benefit from a share of Barratt’s £50k fund to help people facing homelessness, financial crisis or social exclusion. 

The UK charity is an innovative social enterprise, which is committed to ending homelessness through food, employment and housing. In Edinburgh it has coffee shops on Rose Street and Shandwick Place, along with the Social Bite Village – a supported community providing accommodation and assistance for up to 20 people affected by homelessness.

Josh Littlejohn MBE, co-founder of Social Bite, says Barratt’s donation will go towards supporting those who are affected by homelessness, experiencing high financial risk, or in crisis and in need of support.

Josh Littlejohn said: “On behalf of Social Bite and the people we support, I’d like to thank Barratt Developments Scotland. We know that ending homelessness requires everyone to play their part, and we are incredibly grateful for this generous donation.

“This support will enable us to continue to develop innovative programmes of food provision, supported employment and housing; to bring about systemic change, and empower people who have been homeless to transform their own lives.”

Churches Action for the Homeless (CATH) in Perth, The Highland Homeless Trust in Inverness, Aberdeen Cyrenians in Aberdeen and Community Veterans Support in Glasgow are among the other charities to benefit from a share of Barratt Development’s bumper £50,000 fund.

Alison Condie, managing director of Barratt Developments East Scotland, said: “As a homebuilder, we work in communities across the country to increase the availability of quality homes.

“Addressing homelessness is a cause that’s very close to our hearts but, sadly, the pandemic has exacerbated many of the social and financial issues and put many more people at risk.

“We are pleased to be able to provide some financial support to these organisations at a time when they need it most, and hope that our donations will help those who are vulnerable or facing hardship across the country.”

For more information on Barratt Developments Scotland, which includes Barratt Homes and David Wilson Homes, visit https://www.barratthomes.co.uk/

Junior Dodgeball coming to Granton

Thursdays at WARDIE RESIDENTS CLUB from 6.30 – 8pm

Starts 5th MAY

Hey folks!

Junior #Dodgeball is coming to #Granton

First session will be completely free for anyone to come along and give it a go!

Register via Spond: https://group.spond.com/UYNRU (an app we are using to manage attendance)

#ChooseDodgeball #Parents #Kids

Hope springs eternal at Walled Garden

PLAQUE UNVEILED TO COMMEMORATE FORMER CASTLE TENANT

On 28 March we had a gathering at the Walled Garden when John & Agnes Smith, the previous owners, unveiled Historic Environment Scotland’s plaque commemorating Sir Thomas Hope (writes LINDA GARCIA).

Thomas Hope was born around 1580. He studied with the intention of going into law and was admitted as an Advocate on 7 February 1605.

Hope gained prominence in 1606 when he defended John Forbes (c. 1568-1634), Minister of Alford, and others, at Linlithgow, on the charge of having committed treason when they declined to acknowledge the jurisdiction claimed by the Privy Council (of James VI of Scotland, James I of Great Britain and Ireland) over the General Assembly of the Church of Scotland.

Although his clients were convicted, Hope had shown himself to be in the top rank at the Bar. He became a very successful lawyer and profits from his practices enabled him to build estates in Fife, Stirlingshire, Midlothian, East Lothian, and Berwickshire. In May 1626 he was appointed Lord Advocate and in 1628 he was granted a Nova Scotia baronetcy.

In 1634 he managed to secure the conviction of James Elphinstone, Lord Balmerino, for treason. These were difficult years of religious strife but Hope managed to avoid any participation in the preparation of the National Covenant, nor did he sign it. However, he did pronounce an opinion in favour of its legality.

Although his son, Sir Thomas Hope of Kerse, served with the army of the Covenanters, Hope neither declared the action of the Covenanters to be illegal, nor did he defend episcopacy, thus putting himself in a precarious position.

Indeed, when a Committee of the Estates (Scottish Parliament) required his official signature to Writs of Summons against opponents of the Covenant, he refused it because there was no authority for this from King Charles I.

In 1643 he opposed the proposal to summon the Estates without any warrant from Charles. Hope’s publications include the legal treatises Minor practicks and Major practicks, Carmen saeculare (1626) in honour of Charles, and a Latin translation of the Psalms and the Song of Solomon.

Sir Thomas Hope died on 1 October 1646. Of his four sons, three became Lords of Session and one of these became Lord Justice General. A fourth son was Cupbearer to Charles I.

Descendants of Sir Thomas Hope would become Earls of Hopetoun as a reward for supporting the Act of Union with England in 1707, and later on Marquises of Linlithgow.

LINDA GARCIA

Friends of Granton Castle Walled Garden

Plaque unveiling at Granton Castle Walled Garden this afternoon

HISTORIC Environment Scotland (HES) will unveil a plaque to commemorate Sir Thomas Hope at Granton Castle Walled Garden this afternoon.

Sir Thomas Hope, one of Scotland’s leading legal minds in the 17th century, lived for a time in Granton Castle. The Baronet is buried in Greyfriars Kirkyard.

To attend or for more information please contact grantongarden@gmail.com