Inverleith’s Summer Programme’s here!

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The Inverleith Summer Programme is packed with things to do over the summer holidays (see details below)

Registration is on Monday 22 June 6pm at Broughton High School so get your skates on!

Summer Programme 2015

It’s Water of Leith clean up time!

Water of Leith Clean Up

Sunday 28 June 11am – 1.30pm 

wol cleanup

Meet at clock at Canonmills clock (foot of Brandon Terrace) at 10.45. Wear long sleeves and long trousers (nettles!) – and bring a picnic!

Local Community Learning & Development Worker Callum Mcleod said: “It’s normally a fun day and if you can make it along I’m sure you’ll enjoy yourself!”

Water of Leith Poster 2015

Extended opening to see (smell?) ‘New Reekie’ at The Botanics!

It’s not particularly pretty and it stinks like a rotting corpse – meet the plant they’re all talking about at the Botanics … !

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Our Amorphophallus titanum (titan arum), one of the world’s biggest and smelliest blooms, is set to flower and could look like the one (above) at Basel. It’s a first for the Royal Botanic Garden Edinburgh and for Scotland.

There was great excitement at the Garden this morning when horticulturists discovered the bud had started to unfurl to reveal a flower. The plant is currently 137cms in height and getting bigger by the day.

It is expected that our titan arum, which is housed in the Lowland Tropics House, will be of great interest to visitors. So, when it is in full bloom, and at its smelliest, the Garden will be open from 9am until 9pm.

Visit our website or follow us on Facebook and Twitter for details and to check its progress.

Rbge

 

Party like a Mad Hatter and celebrate ten years of MoonWalking

‘Have I gone mad? I’m afraid so, but let me tell you something: the best people usually are!’ – Alice in Wonderland

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Thousands of women, men and children across Edinburgh can be excused for having a leisurely lie-in this morning – they’re saving their energy for tonight’s big Moonwalk event at Inverleith Park!

This is the tenth birthday of The MoonWalk Scotland, and this year’s special theme is The Mad Hatter’s Midnight Tea Party. And, although the MoonWalk itself is fully subscribed, you can still enjoy the party!

Highlights include Radio Forth presenters – and hosts for the evening – Grant Stott and Arlene Stuart and Scotland’s very own fabulous Red Hot Chilli Pipers. The fun kicks off at Walk the Walk’s Pink Palace in Inverleith Park from 8pm

While the night’s sure to be a lot of fun, there is of course a serious point to MoonWalk too. The MoonWalk Scotland has raised over £18 million to date, with most of the money raised staying in Scotland to help improve the lives of people with cancer.

So to those thousands of people who will traipse through the streets of Edinburgh at midnight – many wearing Walk the Walk’s trademark brightly decorated bras – whether you’re walking New Moon (6.55 miles), Half Moon (13.1 miles), Full Moon (26.2 miles) or Over The Moon (52.4 miles) – we salute you!

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For more information go to www.walkthewalk.org/moonwalkscotland

Crumbs! PCHP cake will put North Edinburgh on the map!

cake mapbeingbuilt

Pilton Community Health Project will be producing a cake to highlight the best of North Edinburgh as part of this month’s Edinburgh’s Cake Fest – and they could use your help!

PCHP’s Community Development Manager Anita Aggarwal explained: “We are delighted to have been asked to contribute a cake to Cake Fest – they are building a map of Edinburgh made in cake!

“A master cake decorator (a member of the Sugarcraft Guild) will be with us on Thursday 18 June from 9.30am – 1pm to help us decorate our cake, which will be our building and a community garden – hopefully decorated with symbols and figures that represent the best of the area.

“Drop in anytime between 9.30 and 1 to contribute to the cake which will be displayed at the Botanics. Let us know if you need a creche.”

“You can see all the entire map of Edinburgh made from cake at the Botanic Gardens on Sunday 21 June – its all free and the cake will be shared around from 5pm.”

And what exactly is Cake Fest Edinburgh? Well, it’s part of The Year of Food and Drink Scotland 2015 events and, simply put, it’s a free day of cake, entertainment and Scotland’s best food and drink!

Sunday 21 June 2015 is Midsummer’s Day, and on Inverleith House lawn in the Botanic Gardens, Cake Fest Edinburgh will build a giant edible map of the city including over 50 magnificent landmark buildings in cake! Join us to witness this marvel, explore the gardens and sample delicious local produce.

There’s street food and a producer’s market from 10am and throughout the afternoon there will be workshops for the kids and free entertainment all day and evening long. From midday, the cake map will be assembled – careful, now! – and by 5pm the cake map will be complete …

Once the cake map is complete it will be left for all to admire whilst each baking team casts its vote for the Bakers Choice cake. Shortly after 5pm the winner will be announced by a very special guest – and bakers will then be invited onto the map to cut up their cakes to share with onlookers, all for free!

cakefest logo

This event is for all the family and free to attend. For further information visit http://edinburgh.cakefest.org.uk/

Power of Food Festival is fast approaching …

North Edinburgh plays a major part in this month’s Power of Food Festival with events and activities in Blackhall, Drylaw, Granton, Leith, Muirhouse and the Botanics to name just a few …! PF poster
 Hello everyone!
 
It’s an amazing privilege to be in a position today to launch the programme of Edinburgh’s first Power of Food Festival, only five and a half months after we decided to turn the original idea into a reality. It’s been a bit of a mad time getting everything in place, but really exhilarating to see it all coming together thanks to the efforts of a wide range of individuals keen to share their resources, skills, energy and passion. And how appropriate to be launching such an initiative on Volunteers Week! Volunteers are at the heart of community food growing and of the centre of the Festival. 
We look forward to seeing you in one (or several!) of the 15 gardens of the Festival on 20-21 June and hope you enjoy the celebration!
 
Best wishes from

The Power of Food Festival Committee
             Rebecca Crowther
             Christine Giraud
             Marie-Amélie Viatte
Power of Food festival
After months of preparation, The Power of Food Festival is pleased to announce an exciting programme of free events organised by each venue in line with what they do best: connecting people!

From well established award winning gardens, to new grassroot food growing projects, the diversity of the initiatives which feature in the programme will surprise and delight Festival goers. Venues open on the weekend of 20 and 21 June include a library, an office block, a secret garden, and a farmhouse which is undergoing an incredible transformation!

A citywide celebration

From Portobello to Wester Hailes, Granton to Blackhall, Tollcross to Old Dalkeith Road, and many others in between, every corner of Edinburgh will have a garden celebrating the joy of community food growing. There will be a rich menu of events suited for every taste, for children and adults alike, including: children’s poetry writing, bug hunting, storytelling and sharing, choir music, conversations on nature, food and sustainability, wind band, foraging, cooking and eating, as well as practical gardening workshops, and the launch of Edible Edinburgh Food Charter of a Sustainable Food City.

In association with Sustrans, visitors can also join in a guided bike tour of the
gardens (free but ticketed). Bookings can be made online.

Whether on foot or on two wheels, visitors can plan their Festival trip and keep up to date with the latest events and information via The Power of Food Festival website (details below).

Power of Food festival

A Festival for everyone

Why not invite your friends and family to take part in the first Edinburgh Power of Food Festival? The weekend will give everyone a chance to meet people in their local community, to join those who are transforming the city landscape everyday, and to give a deeper meaning to the word ‘community’. Maybe it will be the beginning of a great adventure: who knows where The Power of Food will take you?

The full programme of events can be accessed here: PoF Programme

pofood

Come with family and friends to The Power of Food Festival

Celebrating community food growing and local change makers

summer solstice weekend 20-21 June

W: poweroffoodfestival.wordpress.com E:poweroffoodfestival@outlook.com

Twitter @PoFFest                        FacebookEdinburghPowerofFoodFestival

Power of food poster 2

Inverleith Neighbourhood Partnership public meeting

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Inverleith Neighbourhood Partnership

Public Meeting

Monday 25 May 6.30pm

Blackhall Library

Come along to the Inverleith NP meeting on Monday at Blackhall Library!

If crime is an issue for you, please come and hear what’s being done and what you can do to reduce risks!

 

Here for you? RBS Goldenacre branch to close

Goldenacre is one of eight RBS branch closures

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The Royal Bank of Scotland’s Goldenacre branch is to close on 13 August.

The bank says the decision to close the branch on the corner of Ferry Road and South Trinity Road ‘has not been taken lightly’ and cites a number of reasons for the branch closure, including a decline in the number of people using Goldenacre and an increasing take-up in mobile and telephone banking.

RBS Stockbridge at North West Circus Place will become the new ‘local’ branch for RBS customers when the Goldenacre branch closes in the summer. RBS say they also plan to invest in their Davidsons Mains branch this year.

In a letter to branch customers, RBS Local CEO Debbie Pows said: “Over the next three months we will be actively engaging, helping and supporting our customers and the local community on how they can continue to bank with us in the local area. If you’d like to talk about the decision or about the services that are available in the area you can come into the brnach, call me on 07826 664071 (Minicom 0800 404 6160) or email me at debbie.pow@rbs.co.uk ”

Edinburgh’s Tollcross is another of the eight RBS branches earmarked for closure across Scotland.

 

Inverleith Neighbourhood Partnership meets next Monday

Local crime and Raeburn Place issues on the agenda 

Blackhall Library (2)

The next public meeting of the Inverleith Neighbourhood Partnership takes place next Monday 25 May at Blackhall Library from 6.30pm. Agenda and papers are now available online and can be found here.

If you have concerns about crime / housebreaking in your neighbourhood, come hear from Inspector Happs about some of the work that is taking place to tackle this.

Also, Raeburn Place: what are your views on traffic / waste / street furniture, etc ? Come and share them!

 

Amnes-T in the Park!

Broughton High School students stage event to support  World Refugee Day

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On Saturday 20 June (10am– 2pm), Broughton High School’s Amnesty International Youth Group is holding Amnes-T in the Park to raise awareness of World Refugee Day. Get into the summer festival vibe and come along to the school’s rugby pitch for a day of live music, games and food for all the family to enjoy! 

New local talent, including Rastafarian White Boys, will bring the field alive as you dig into a delicious selection of home baking. The event will focus on the current issues surrounding refugees through a series of artwork made by school pupils. These will highlight important facts in a fun and engaging way!

All ages are welcome, although primary school children should be accompanied by an adult – and entry is free!

All the money raised on the day will go towards helping Amnesty International carry out their vitally important work protecting human rights worldwide.

Niamh McNulty

Broughton High School Amnesty International Youth Group