Category: Granton

City says Thank You!

There’s been a great response from the people of Edinburgh to help the city get through the current coronavirus pandemic.

  • Edinburgh Partnership thanks the public and voluntary organisations for all their help so far pulling the city through this pandemic
  • People asked to ‘Think Local and Act Local’ and be good neighbours, where they can
  • To keep essential services running and look after vulnerable people Council constantly monitoring how it deploys its staff

We’d like to thank everyone who has been in touch with the voluntary and public sector to offer their skills and time. We know that many of you are keen to also ‘do your bit’ to contribute to this effort and we would like to thank those of you who are trying to find ways to help your communities.

Your kindness and generosity in these difficult times are a reflection of all that is best about the city we share and the people who call it home.

We need everyone to look out for each other now more than ever and being a good neighbour and taking care of those who need help in your building, street or immediate community is going to help get us through – Volunteer Edinburgh has advice and information on how you can help.

If you are part of an existing or newly formed community group please contact EVOC who have developed a directory and are connecting the amazing community responses across the city.  EVOC is working hard to connect supply and demand of food at a very local and community level.

EVOC is asking people to complete this basic form or email info@evoc.org.uk for more information. 

Council Leader, Adam McVey, said: “The voluntary sector is doing an amazing job pulling everyone together and making sure people can help out appropriately following government guidelines. If you are able to help others then please ‘Think Local and Act Local’.

“Where you can, offer support to your wider family, your friends and your neighbours to help ensure that they can receive the essential supplies and medicine that they may need.

“Volunteer Edinburgh has a range of information and guidance on how to be a good neighbour safely. At the moment the best thing that most people can do is still to stay at home, limit social contact and follow NHS guidelines. This really is the most important contribution that can be made to the safety and resilience of the city.”

Depute Leader, Cammy Day, said: “To keep essential services running and support those who are vulnerable, we’re constantly monitoring how we deploy our own staff as well. We’re working to identify where our services need help and at the moment we’re relying on our own internal capacity to meet those needs.

“We’ll be monitoring this over the weeks ahead and will work with Volunteer Edinburgh if we think we need the wider community to help us. In the meantime staying safe at home is the best thing people can do. If you can offer more then it really is a matter of thinking local and acting local.

“I want to make sure the local community organisations have a key contact to make sure we have a joined up approach and would urge people to make connect via the EVOC.”

Ella Simpson, Chief Officer of EVOC, said: “I am incredibly proud to be part of the voluntary sector in Edinburgh. They know their communities so well and have been absolutely amazing in their responses to Covid-19.

“As we continue to respond it is vital that we all work together – volunteers, voluntary sector and statutory agencies – to support the most vulnerable people in our communities.”

Paul Wilson, Chief Officer of Volunteer Edinburgh, said: “People’s response to the pandemic has been overwhelming. In every street in Edinburgh people are helping each other, looking out for their neighbours and supporting the vulnerable and those in self isolation.

“Never before has it been more important to give your time, if you are able to, be a good neighbour and look out for each other. More than any other city in Scotland Edinburgh has always been a city of volunteers, of people who helped and I am very proud to live here.

“Please everyone be safe, think and act locally, continue to support your community in the weeks to come and most of all be kind.”

North Edinburgh’s voluntary sector has rallied to the cause with community organisations pulling out all the stops to ensure the area’s most vulnerable residents get food and essential supplies.

Now three weeks into operation there’s a co-ordinated effort to pool community resources and expertise to get supplies to people in Muirhouse,Drylaw Telford, West Pilton, Granton and Royston Wardieburn.

Do you, or someone you know, need food, supplies or other support during this hugely difficult time?

An information sheet with key telephone contact numbers is currently being produced and should be available over the next day or two, but in the meatime  please email me at northedinburghnews@gmail.com and I will pass on your details to the relevant area organisers.

Remember the key advice: STAY HOME UNLESS ABSOLUTELY NECESSARY

 

 

College students go green with £190,000 Climate Challenge funding

Edinburgh College Students’ Association (ECSA) has been awarded over £190,000 as part of the Scottish Government’s Climate Challenge Fund (CCF), allowing it respond to the Climate Emergency.

Building on a previous project, this funding will lead to the creation of a new climate change project that will run through to 2022.

The new project will offer free support to help Edinburgh College students to travel more sustainably, and to reduce their food and textile waste.

Activities will include cycle training and bike maintenance workshops, continuing the current Liftshare scheme, introducing a Community Fridge at each campus, and running swap-shop events.

In addition, the team will work to increase understanding of climate change among our student community by running workshops during class time and providing opportunities to develop sustainability skills through extracurricular and voluntary activities.

ECSA Director Al Wilson said: “We’re thrilled to receive this funding from the Scottish Government to continue our Go Green project. Our aim is not only to help the College and our students reduce their carbon footprint, but also to increase climate literacy, help change behaviours, and to support the wider community – through schemes like our Community Fridge.”

Edinburgh College Principal Audrey Cumberford said: “I’m delighted that our Students’ Association have been allocated this funding to allow them to continue carrying out their fantastic work in Sustainability. Our students are hugely passionate about the increasing climate challenges facing us all. 

“The team has already achieved so much, inspiring many students and staff to factor climate change into their daily lives, ensuring that we all contribute to a greener society.

“We all look forward to the next project getting underway and seeing the College community come together raise awareness of climate change and take action to protect our planet.”

In April 2018, ECSA became the first college students’ association to be awarded CCF funding, which led to the current Go Green low-carbon travel project. That project is now close to completion and has achieved astounding results – saving 321 tonnes of CO2 equivalent.

This leads to a projected lifetime saving of 1009 tonnes of CO2 equivalent – a 244% increase on the target initially set out by the team.

In addition, ECSA has engaged with more than 1200 students throughout the project, delivering classes focused on Sustainability over the past two years. Feedback gathered found that 54% of students felt their climate knowledge increased through these sessions.

If you would like to hear more about plans for the next project, contact the team by email go.green@ecsa.scot.

GIC still providing support and advice

Due to the Coronavirus restrictions our office currently remains closed to the public – but Granton Information Centre is still operating!

Please call us Mon – Fri, 9.30am – 4pm on 0131 551 2459 or 0131 552 0458 if:

•  You would like to arrange a telephone appointment to discuss money, benefits, housing or debt

•  You wish to discuss an existing case

•  You require a foodbank referral

All messages will be returned as long as you clearly leave a telephone number for us to reach you on.

Emails are being checked daily – our email address is info@gic.org.uk

GIC Covid19 advice

Granton Information Centre – here for you

 

Granton Information Centre: still here for you

Due to the Coronavirus outbreak our office is currently closed to the public – but  GIC is still operating!

Call us Monday – Friday, 9.30am – 4pm on on 0131 551 2459 or 0131 552 0458 if:

•You would like to arrange a telephone appointment to discuss money, benefits, housing or debt

•You wish to discuss an existing case

•You require a foodbank referral

All messages will be returned as long as you leave a clear telephone number for us to reach you on.

Emails will be checked daily: our email address is info@gic.org.uk

Meeting to discuss community response to Coronavirus pandemic

North Edinburgh activists are to meet tomorrow to formulate a community response to tackling problems caused by the coronavirus pandemic. The meeting will take place in West Pilton Neighbourhood Centre at 2.30pm.

Meeting organiser Willie Black said: “We have already seen communities coming together to do what they can to help their neighbours and our more vulnerable residents, and  the purpose of tomorrow’s meeting is to co-ordinate this community response to make sure no person is being missed or left out.

“By working together and pooling our resources we can better respond to the challenges posed to our community by this pandemic.”

Local voluntary sector organisations, food banks, community centre representatives, council officers, community councils and local elected politicians have all been invited to attended.

What can you do to help? Why not attend the meeting and find out!

 

Coronavirus: City daycare services to cease TOMORROW

The UK government intimated yesterday that Britain’s over-70s will ‘soon’ be told to self-isolate for four months to stop the spread of coronavirus. Things are moving at breakneck speed, though, and that ‘soon’ is NOW – and  hundreds of older people across the city will find themselves without much-appreciated daycare centres TOMORROW.

Older people’s organisations were advised this morning that their daycare services should be ‘stepped down’ from TOMORROW. Local services affected include Pilton Equalities Project and Drylaw Rainbow Club Daycare Centre in Drylaw Church, who have been asked to devise alternative ‘social distancing’ provision.

Edinburgh Health and Social Care Partnership contacted organisations in receipt of grants at 11.30 this morning. It said:

‘I am writing to you as recipients of grants and as organisations that currently run activity based services for older people in Edinburgh. I wanted to share with you that today we wrote out to all providers of day care opportunities for older people to confirm a difficult decision that we have taken as a Partnership, which I’m sure will not come as a surprise, in light of the recent Scottish Government guidance published last week (attached for your reference).

It has been recommended that long term care facilities be subject to ‘social distancing’ to reduce the risk of infecting residents and their carers. This includes social isolation in rooms and removing communal mealtimes wherever this is possible. This will be a difficult time for many people and these are not decisions taken lightly but ones to reduce the risk of mortality in this particularly vulnerable group.

We have therefore decided to suspend all our own day centres and step down commissioned day opportunities until further notice.

We have advised providers that Monday arrangements should continue as planned with service users, carers and families informed that this will be the last day of service for the foreseeable, as in the current evolving circumstances, we are struggling to justify bringing vulnerable people together.

We of course acknowledge that there is significant therapeutic and social value but we cannot in good faith increase the potential risk of harm to people that we support. For this reason, I am certain that you will understand and agree that this is the right decision to be taking just now, based on what we currently know.

We would strongly recommend that you do the same, and stand down your current grant funded activities. Where possible, we would also ask that you activate your business continuity plans and ensure that you can provide alternative provision, targeted at those that need it most to remain independent and safe at home.

Those for whom attendance at your services provides an alternative to a contact which would otherwise be homecare, we would ask you to look at in relation to essential visits and telephone contact arrangements, where possible. If this creates additional demands that cannot be met you should contact Social Care Direct in the first instance so that any additional needs can be considered accordingly.

We will be reviewing the risk profile of all our services and endeavour to return to ‘business as usual’ as soon as, on balance, it is the right and reasonable thing to do. I cannot hand on heart tell you when this might be, the next period is somewhat unprecedented. We’re therefore going to need to be resilient and support each other.’

An attached letter from Judith Proctor, Edinburgh Health & Social Care’s Chief Officer, said:

‘I am writing to confirm a difficult decision that we have taken as the Edinburgh Health and Social Care Partnership which affects either you personally, a family member, or someone you care for.

I want to reassure you that we are taking all available measures to ensure the health and wellbeing of our service users and our carers. At this current time, based on what is known of COVID-19 and other similar respiratory viruses, it is likely that older people and those with chronic medical conditions may be more vulnerable.

Recent Scottish Government guidance recommended that long term care facilities be subject to ‘social distancing’ to reduce the risk of infecting residents and their carers. This includes social isolation in rooms and removing communal mealtimes wherever this is possible.

We have therefore decided to suspend all our own day centres and step down commissioned day opportunities until further notice.

This means that as of 17th March 2020, if you, or someone you care for, regularly attends a day centre, this will no longer continue. We will of course review this decision regularly, as we learn more.

This will be a difficult time for many people and these are not decisions taken lightly however in the current evolving circumstances, we are struggling to justify bringing vulnerable people together. We cannot in good faith increase the potential risk of harm to you or your loved ones.

For this reason, I am certain that you will understand and agree that this is the right decision to be taking just now, based on what we currently know.

Alternative arrangements are being made to ensure that you personally, or someone you care for, continues to receive the support needed to remain at home and they will be contacted to confirm what these arrangements are.

This may include home visits, telephone contact arrangements or alternative arrangements to meet individual needs.

Staff at PEP have spent the day reorganising the service they can provide to their clients, many of whom are frail and elderly.

PEP Manager Helen Tait said: “We are planning to identify the most vulnerable and provide meals, and things like shopping – if there is anything left on the shelves, of course!   All staff will be supporting our service users where needed.”

A spokesperson for Drylaw’s Rainblow Club Daycare Centre said: “The Centre will still be staffed and are open for anyone that requires care at home, shopping or meals. If you know of anyone requiring our services please call us on 0131 343 6643.

“These are difficult times – lets all pull together and keep safe.”

Crewe Medical Centre CLOSED

Crewe Medical Centre has been closed for routine appointments until further notice:

The surgery is closed for routine appointments until further notice. If you need medical advice please phone us during opening hours on 0131 552 5544 and a doctor will call you back.

For information on the coronavirus outbreak please go to NHS Inform or call the helpline on 0800 028 2816

If you have symptoms of coronavirus, do not go to your GP surgery, pharmacy or hospital. Call your GP or 111 for advice on what to do.