Benji the PlayTalkRead bus is coming to North Edinburgh next week:
You can catch Benji at
West Pilton Neighbourhood Centre on MONDAY 9 March
Muirhouse Library on TUESDAY 10 March
Pennywell Road Shops THURSDAY 12 March
Don’t miss the bus!
Benji-Edinburgh-March-2015-Poster-Small
Come along and ask candidates the questions that matter to you! Pilton Community Health Project will be holding hustings in each of the two constituencies in the area.
Candidates for Edinburgh North and Leith have been invited to attend hustings on Thursday 19 March from 6.30 – 8pm at Royston Wardieburn Community Centre. A light soup supper will be available from 6 with questions starting from 6.30. The event will be Chaired by the very able Harry Woodward.
Candidates for Edinburgh West have been invited to attend hustings on Thursday 26 March from 6.30 -8pm at Muirhouse Millennium Community Centre. A light soup supper will be available from 6 with questions starting from 6.30. The event will be Chaired by the very able Harry Woodward.
Get in touch if you would like some help with childcare or have any questions – contact Anita on 0131 551 1671.
‘Law enforcement agencies and governments can only take things so far. The way to change attitudes is to identify and build on the assets you have in your communities. You guys – the students and young people – are the assets’ – Justice Secretary Michael Matheson
Craigroyston Community High School pupils who have learned how to tackle violence and bullying through a training initiatve shared their experiences with the Cabinet Secretary for Justice Michael Matheson yesterday.
The Justice Secretary watched a presentation on the Mentors in Violence Prevention(MVP) initiative and listened to the experiences of participants before chatting informally with students about their participation in the groundbreaking project.
Craigroyston staff and students explained that the Mentors in Violence Prevention(MVP) scheme is already having some success in changing unacceptable behaviour – early feedback suggests improved attitudes amongst those who have taken part.
MVP Scotland trains senior pupils to become mentors who, in turn, equip younger students in ways in which to intervene and prevent incidents that could lead to gender violence, which can be domestic abuse, sexting, assault or homophobia. Pupils are taught to challenge their own friends and peers about their behaviour if and when it’s appropriate.
It was first piloted in Portobello High by the Violence Reduction Unit in 2011 and has since been rolled out to 11 secondary schools in the Capital. The unit’s Chief Inspector Graham Goulden spoke to pupils during the morning’s visit about its work.
Chief Inspector Goulden (above) said: “The MVP programme is emerging as a great way to continue to safely discuss many issues that contribute towards abuse and violence in Scotland. It provides schools with an approach that supports learning, as young people are faced with a range of external influences that impact on their resilience, such as online media. Bullying is still an issue in our schools and also strips young people of control.
“At the heart of violence and abuse is a breakdown in relationships. Let’s use relationships in the form of friendships to counter all of these issues allowing young people to do their best at an important time in their academic lives.”
Forth Councillor Cammy Day – who is also Edinburgh’s Community Safety Convener – also attended the event and spoke about how MVP is an important part of the local anti-crime #StrongerNorth campaign.
He said: “MVP is a key feature of the #StrongerNorth initiative as it really engages young people by helping them to recognise unacceptable behaviour, and gives them the power to face up to it. These skills are helping them to change attitudes whether it’s in school, in their homes or when they’re with their friends.
“Most school children have a great attitude and are involved in many positive schemes, but we know that the bad attitude of even just a few can have a real impact on communities.
“#StrongerNorth and projects like MVP and Total Craigroyston are aimed at nipping unacceptable behaviour in the bud before it escalates into something worse, and it was fantastic to hear first hand today about how these schemes are really working.”
Justice Secretary Michael Matheson (above) said: “I was delighted to be invited along to Craigroyston Community High School to see the excellent work ongoing to tackle the issues of violence and bullying in schools.
“Since 2008, incidents of violence among young people have halved across Scotland, but it is crucial we are not complacent and education is key to ensuring our young people change the culture of violence in our society.
“The work being done through the Mentors in Violence programme by the Violence Reduction Unit to train these young people to deliver their own training is having a huge impact not only within the school but also throughout the wider community.
“The programme empowers young people by bringing issues such as bullying and violence out into the open to allow for full, frank and informed discussions around the risks and consequences.
“Most importantly, it’s giving our young people a confidence and sense of responsibility that will benefit them throughout their lives.”
Some images from the Craigroyston event (also on Facebook):
Mark Lazarowicz MP attacks buck passing by Government and providers
Mark Lazarowicz MP has attacked the buck passing by Government and broadband providers that is denying numerous properties access to superfast broadband that is vital to Edinburgh’s economic future.
Speaking after a Westminster debate on the subject, Mr Lazarowicz said: “I am repeatedly contacted by constituents living in different parts of my constituency ranging from the City Centre to North Edinburgh and the waterfront area who can’t get access to superfast broadband.
“It’s a vital part of economic infrastructure for businesses, the many people working from home as well as for anyone to access information and government services.
“Sometimes, developers may not install cable when converting or building properties but then the broadband provider won’t connect them either because of the cost.
“The Government says it won’t provide public funding where superfast broadband can be provided commercially but broadband providers won’t do it because they say it is not commercial for them to do so.
“It’s high time broadband providers and the UK and Scottish Governments took action: if private providers won’t tackle the notspots Government must act because it is too important to Edinburgh’s economy to leave people in our city unable to access superfast broadband.”
Mr Lazarowicz has raised this issue in Parliament on a number of occasions but the Government has simply pointed to the funding it is providing with the Scottish Government following suit in highlighting its partnership with BT in rolling out access.
The UK Government’s target is superfast broadband should be available to 95% of properties by 2017 – but there is no statutory obligation for developers to install broadband cable in new build properties let alone converted buildings.
The North & Leith MP’s speech can be found here.
More and more local and national governments have come to the view that engaging with citizens and planning, purchasing and delivering services at a ‘sub-local’ or ‘localities’ level is the way to add value.
In Edinburgh the City of Edinburgh Council has agreed a localities way of working, with the city divided into four quadrants, or localities, as described in the Council’s ‘Organise to Deliver’ reports.
Simultaneously, there is a drive within the legislation covering the integration of Adult Health with Social Care that services will be designed and delivered closer to communities.
What does this mean for Edinburgh? What does this mean for the city’s Voluntary Organisations? What are your hopes and your fears? What are your expectations of EVOC?
EVOC intends to bring organisations together to consider current plans, and their implications for our communities, by means of a series of four thinkSpace events spread across the city.
This comes out to you as a request to ‘save the date’ to attend the event within the locality most relevant to your service provision:
SOUTH WEST
Tuesday 21 April 2 – 4.30pm, WHALE Arts
NORTH EAST
Thursday 30 April 10am – 12.30pm, The Halls
SOUTH EAST/CENTRAL
Wednesday 6 May 10am – 12.30pm, Methodist Church
NORTH WEST
Monday 11 May 2 – 4.30pm, Royston/Wardieburn Community Centre.
If you have any comments or queries, please don’t hesitate to contact Dianne Morrison on 0131 555 9100 in the first instance.
EVOC will continue to publish relevant documents on its ‘Organise To Deliver’ page:http://www.evoc.org.uk/information/organise-deliver-bold-initiatives/
Milind Kolhatkar
senior development officer – community planning
His Excellency Rolando Drago, Chilean Ambassador to the UK, accepts the gift of a painting from award-winning botanical artist Gülnur Ekşi during the Royal Horticultural Society’s London Botanical Art Show last weekend.
Also in the photograph is botanist Paulina Hechenleitner – accompanied by daughter Martha – one of three authors of the forthcoming book Plants from the Woods and Forests of Chile for which Gülnur has prepared 35 paintings.
The book – the first one of its kind in English – will be published by the Royal Botanic Garden Edinburgh in early October 2015.
‘This latest evidence shows that some of those most in need of support, namely parents and disabled people are being hardest hit. For us to be in this situation in 21st century Scotland is unacceptable.’ – Michael McMahon MSP
Parents and people with disabilities are being hit hardest by the UK Government’s programme of welfare reform according to new research commissioned by the Scottish Parliament’s Welfare Reform Committee.
The report, published yesterday, represents the first time the impact of the UK Government’s welfare reform agenda on different household types in Scotland has been quantified.
The research for the Committee was conducted by Professors Christina Beatty and Steve Fothergill of the Centre for Regional Economic and Social Research at Sheffield Hallam University.
The new evidence shows that in Scotland, it is estimated that couples with dependent children will lose an average of more than £1,400 a year, and lone parents with dependent children stand to lose an average of around £1,800 a year from their income stream.
In all, families with children will lose an estimated £960m a year – approaching two-thirds of the overall financial loss in Scotland.
Disabled claimants and those with health problems have also been shown to be disproportionately affected. Reductions in incapacity benefits are estimated to average £2,000 a year, and some of the same people also face big losses in Disability Living Allowance and reductions in other benefits.
Committee Convener Michael McMahon MSP said: “The Welfare Reform Committee has amassed a growing volume of evidence documenting the impact of the welfare reform agenda on Scotland’s communities. This latest evidence shows that some of those most in need of support, namely parents and disabled people are being hardest hit. For us to be in this situation in 21st century Scotland is unacceptable.”
The report also shows that almost half the reduction in benefits might be expected to fall on in-work households.
Deputy Convener, Clare Adamson MSP said: “The Scottish Government is to be commended for introducing measures to alleviate some of the worst effects of the welfare reform agenda. New powers over a range of benefits are due to be given to Holyrood in the coming years and this research will help direct those new powers to help those most in need of support.”
Until now, there has been no way to assess the impact across the various benefits on different types of households. Because of the cumulative impact of people being affected by several different benefit streams, the overall impact of welfare reforms has been hidden.
The statistics are expected to become an essential tool for government and local authorities in shaping targeted responses and service delivery.
The research follows two previous reports which measured the financial impact of welfare reform on Scotland as a whole and by local authority area, and the impact down to ward level.
The Committee expects to hear oral evidence on this report at its meeting on 10 March.
Professor Steve Fothergill, of the Centre for Regional Economic and Social Research at Sheffield Hallam University, said: “The figures demonstrate that the welfare reforms impact very unevenly. The very big impact on families with children, in particular, has previously been under the radar because it is the cumulative result of several individual reforms. Coalition ministers have argued that “we’re all in it together”. The impacts of welfare reform, documented in our report, show this is far from being the case.”
Inverleith St Serf’s Church and Goldenacre Fairtrade won two Lord Provost of Edinburgh Fair Trade awards last night: the Fair Trade Achievement Award and Fair Trade Faith Community Award.
The awards celebrate the long term commitment to fairtrade and more recent innovations, including their support of the Muirhouse Community Shop on Pennywell Road.
Inverleith St Serf’s Church’s fairtrade connection started almost 20 years ago, with Ian and Alison Craddock at Inverleith Church and Bridgid Donald at St Serf’s Church establishing fairtrade stalls.
With the merger of the two churches into Inverleith St Serf’s Church there was an opportunity to expand the stall and provide greater choice of items for sale for members of the congregation and the wider community – the charity aim to have new items on the stall every fortnight.
The stall has been in the Traidcraft ‘Top Seller’ category for thee years and has seen orders of fairtrade items increase from £3,315 in 2010 to £7,075 in 2014, principally through Traidcraft, One World Shop and Hadeel. There has been a year on year increase in sales over this period.
The stall set up a Twitter feed early 2013 (@FairtradeStall), tweeting about fairtrade and UK and global poverty and other topical issues aimed at reaching a wider audience (e.g. local events, news, music, literature, photography). Through this social media activity the stall established a link with Tenants and Residents in Muirhouse (TRIM).
Two large donations from the stall helped TRIM during their first year (late 2013). Early in 2014 the Inverleith St Serf’s Church Kirk Session agreed to support TRIM, with retiring collections for TRIM during 2014, and food donations received by the stall going to TRIM for the foreseeable future. Half the stall’s 2014 profits will be given to TRIM.
This brings cash donations from Inverleith St Serf’s Church to TRIM to £1546.82 during 2014, going towards equipment, training and extra food purchases for the shop.
TRIM splits food donations between their foodbank and community shop. Accordingly the Inverleith St Serf’s Church congregation can use the stall to support third world producers (through purchases) and local causes (through donations).
Food donations range from tinned goods brought in from home to fairtrade items from the stall (e.g. pasta, rice, tea, fruit pots and much more). These donations are distributed right from the heart of the Muirhouse community, ensuring rapid and effective distribution to those who need them most and the link between the church and community shop has continued to grow.
The Goldenacre stall is now currently run by Graham Mackenzie – and supported by three generations of the Mackenzie family! – at Inverleith St Serf’s Church.
Goldenacre Fairtrade would be happy to discuss their innovative work with other churches, community organisations and local media.
More information about the Goldenacre Fairtrade nomination submission can be found here:
https://www.facebook.com/permalink.php?story_fbid=914215261922130&id=562886720388321
‘We want the 42 bus service to Craigleith Retail Park restored with immediate effect’ – DTCC’s Alex Dale
Four local Community Councils and a residents group have joined forces to call for the immediate reinstatement of a local bus service to Craigleith Retail Park.
Drylaw/Telford, Muirhouse/Salvsen, Craigleith/Blackhall and Stockbridge/Inverleith community councils, along with Easter Drylaw Residents Association, are urging Lothian Buses to bring back the 42.
Drylaw Telford CC chairman Alex Dale explained: “I have set up a CEC petition form (see below) calling for the return of bus service 42 to the retail park with immediate effect.
“The service was withdrawn by Lothian Buses at the end of last year. They said buses entering and leaving the retail park were held up because of congestion and that these delays meant the service couldn’t keep to its timetable further along the route.
“As the bus uses the section of the park owned by Sainsbury’s, I have been badgering away over the past months to try and solve the issues. In the end Sainsbury’s agreed to pay for equipment to both the buses and the traffic lights which will allow buses priority at these lights – this is now in place and Lothian Buses are at present trialling the system with the 38 bus, which still accesses the park.
“If the trial is successful Lothian Buses will look at a possibly returning the service at their Autumn timetable, but our community councils agree that the company should return the service 42 with immediate effect as part of the trial, and not wait till Autumn.”
service 42 Signature form of those individuals supporting the petition (1)
Members of the public/local businesses can also view and sign petition by going to www.edinburgh.gov.uk/petitions and selecting ‘Support a Petition’.
The Closing Date is the 13 March 2015.
The Big Lunch encourages Scots to get numbers climbing and boost community spirit!
Organisers of the UK’s annual get-together for neighbours are calling for at least 10% of Scots to get stuck into a day of food, friendship and fun on Sunday 7 June.
The call to action was launched on Thursday – the ‘100 days to go’ mark before the big day. It is hoped that millions of neighbours across the UK will again be getting together in an effort to boost community spirit where they live. A massive 4.83 million people took part in the lottery funded initiative in 2014.
Emily Watts, Communications Manager for The Big Lunch in Scotland encouraged more people in Scotland to get involved this year. She said: “C’mon Edinburgh! We want to see the number of people taking part in Scottish communities climbing to 10% of the population. Year on year, feedback from previous participants is very positive, with people feeling more connected to their communities after a Big Lunch. People start new relationships that continue after the day too.
“We know Scots are friendly but we all recognise the feeling that we could make more effort with our neighbours. The Big Lunch is an excuse to chap the door and ask if they’d like to get together.”
The Big Lunch, partnered by Halifax and ASDA, is now in its seventh year. Big Lunches can be big or small, take place on a street, park or community venue and be as simple and inexpensive as you like. There are no rules to getting involved besides that people are the key ingredient!
In 2014, thousands of communities from all across the country took part in the big event. Lou, who organized her street’s first ever Big Lunch street party in Edinburgh last year, said: “Before our Big Lunch I knew the neighbours near our house to speak to, but not further up the street. Now we all know each other and feel able to stop and say hello, which I wouldn’t have done before.
“Our neighbours really got into the spirit of contributing something on the day, bringing lovely food to share and helping with party tunes and activities for the kids. This made it really easy and inexpensive to pull together. Looking back, it felt like a day from a bygone era and I’m glad we put the time aside to get to know our community better. I really recommend getting involved in 2015!”
Edinburgh neighbours who are interested in getting involved this June can register for a free pack, now available from www.thebiglunch.com or on 0845 850 8181. Packs include invitations, posters, recipes and activity ideas, as well as lots of information to get events off the ground. All pack materials are undated so communities can have Big Lunches when best suits them if they can’t join in on Sunday 7 June.
Footage from previous year’s Big Lunches: http://www.youtube.com/watch?
The Eden Project started The Big Lunch in 2009 with the belief that we’re better equipped to tackle the challenges we face when we face them together.
The Big Lunch is led by the Eden Project, funded by the Big Lottery Fund and supported by Halifax and Asda.
Find out more about The Big Lunch at www.thebiglunch.com
