Port of Leith residents raise £1580 for Macmillan

Port of Leith Housing Association (PoLHA) has raised £1580 for Macmillan Cancer Support.

PoLHA’s sheltered housing developments St Nicholas Court, Hermitage Court and Jameson Place hosted events for their residents and locals as part of the charity’s ‘World’s Biggest Coffee Morning’ initiative last Friday.

Suzie Connery, who manages the Hermitage Court complex, said:
“We are delighted so many people came along to help makes the coffee mornings a success. Without their generosity we would not have been able to raise such a vast amount of money to this fantastic cause.”

Pictured (left to right): Christine McCauldin, Irene Graham, Mary Fox and Ella Maitland

No Boundaries holds first AGM

Charity NO BOUNDARIES are holding

their first annual general meeting

at LifeCare House in Cheyne Street, Stockbridge

at 2pm on Thursday 1 October.

All welcome.

Getting Together, Making a Difference: focus on asylum seekers

Womens International Group (WIG) are holding the second in a series of ‘Getting Together, Making a Difference’ events next week.

CLD worker Lynn McCabe, who supports the WIG group, said: “The event is taking place next Thursday (24th September) from 10 – 12.30 in Royston Wardieburn Community Centre. This event will be addressing important issues such as home, immigration, asylum and human rights. The centre will be a drop-off point that day for anyone wishing to donate basic supplies to support Syrian refugees stranded in Calais.”

See poster (below) for further information or call Lynn on 552 5700

WIG event 24 September

Do the seaside survey

Please see below for details of a new survey on Marine Tourism and Recreation and details of how you can take part:

Dear member,

The first results of the marine tourism and recreation survey are in and they look promising. In the first four weeks we have had almost 1000 responses across 20 activities. Most people have listed more than one activity and so that means we could have approaching 4000 records of where people use the coast and what for. Great news for tourism and recreation in the new world of marine planning as they can be more confident that their interests and views will be taken into account in future decision making.

This is great news but there is no time to relax!!

Returns on activities vary, we are looking for more responses from niche interests such as long distance swimming but also from more popular activities such as angling, rowing, visiting historical sites, motor boat cruising and windsurfing.

Although we have done a lot to promote the survey, through social media (there is both a Facebook page and a twitter feed), through partner organisations and thousands of direct emails, postcards and letters, the personal touch is without a doubt the best way to spread the word and that is where I ask you to help make this the best survey of the sector ever.

Please can you send on the survey to anyone you can think of who may have been to the coast or used the sea for recreation? They could be a family friend who you only ever see on facebook building sand castles, it could be your daughter whose friends are mad about dinghy racing, it could be your colleagues who get together to go for a walk from time to time and occasionally go to the coast or it could be your organisations core business! Please make sure that everyone you can think of has had a chance to have a look at the survey.

Of course there is also the business survey. Anyone who runs a business which relies in some way on the marine environment should fill this one in. A one man band, a bed and breakfast in a coastal town, a marina, boat yard or tour operator!

All you have to do is click here – http://www.marinerecreationandtourism.scot/survey/

Thank you.

Sarah Brown

Project Manager, Firth of Clyde Forum

www.clydeforum.com

07774 160931

STOP PRESS:

Scotland has just been voted the ‘World’s Best Cruising Ground’ in the prestigious Sailing Today Awards

Community invite to strategy consultation

Craighall Centre Health & Social Care event

The three month public consultation on the Edinburgh Health and Social Care Partnership’s draft Strategic Plan and Joint Strategic Needs Assessment ends on 31 October and the Strategic Planning Group, which is overseeing the consultation, is keen to hear from citizens, communities and stakeholders.

The city council is inviting local community groups, organisations and individuals to participate in and give their views on the integration of health and social care services and has organised a number of events across the city to enable you to find out what’s been proposed and have your say.

The local event takes place at Craighall Centre, 210 Ferry Road on Monday 28 September from 1 – 2.30pm (note change of time).

There is a web link included in the flier so people can access to view the plan:

https://consultationhub.edinburgh.gov.uk/

https://consultationhub.edinburgh.gov.uk/

The Vikings are coming!

Today … Leith’s very own Viking Festival!

Leith Walk By-Election tomorrow

The last few doors have been knocked, the final leaflets have been posted through letterboxes … now it’s up to the voters of Leith Walk:

Leith Walk constituents will go to the polls to elect two councillors for the ward tomorrow (Thursday 10 September).

There are 25,526 Leith Walk residents registered to vote in the election, which takes place in one of the most densely populated areas in Scotland.

Under the Single Transferable Vote (STV) system – a form of Proportional Representation – voters use numbers to rank the 10 candidates in order of preference rather than just using a single cross. Voters can express ‘preferences’ for as many or as few of the candidates as they wish.

This will be the first time in Scotland that an STV by-election has been needed to fill two vacancies in the same ward.

Andrew Kerr, Returning Officer for The City of Edinburgh, said: “This by-election will allow the residents of the Leith Walk ward to play a part in Edinburgh’s democracy, choosing two elected members to represent them and their interests on the City Council. I look forward to working with the electorate to make sure the process runs smoothly.

“Voters should remember that STV allows them to vote for as many candidates they like, numbering choices in order of preference.”

Polling stations will be open from 7am to 10pm on 10 September. There are 11 polling places in the ward, details of which can be found on polling cards and the Council website.

Votes will be taken to the Council HQ where the candidates and their agents will watch them counted electronically as soon as the polls close at 10pm.

Full details of candidates are also available on the Council website.

Find out more about the Single Transferable Vote system.

Leith Walk By-Election: In numbers

11 polling places

19 polling stations

3996 postal votes issued

2 councillors to be elected

10 candidates

25,526 eligible voters – about 7% of the city’s electorate

210 books of ballot papers (100 in each)

40 polling staff, including presiding officers and poll clerks.

Forty years old but no slowing down: happy birthday, PoLHA!

Port of Leith Housing Association (PoLHA) marked its 40^th anniversary with a celebration at Hibs’ Easter Road stadium last week. The event was attended by 150 guests including staff, tenants, partners and contractors.

Established in 1975, the Association has invested over £200m creating over 2,700 good quality affordable homes in the Leith and North Edinburgh areas, and the Association has also assisted over 500 young people into further training and work since the launch of it’s TOiL project in 2005.

To mark this impressive milestone, a “This Is Your Life” style production entertained the guests. This featured old stills of Leith and PoLHA along with a short film highlighting the impact the Association makes on the lives of residents and the community.

On a night to remember there was also an audio featuring Douglas McKay, the very first Chair of the Association, and current Chair Margaret O’ Connor and her predecessor Jack Hunter also took part in live interviews.

Keith Anderson, Chief Executive, said: “As one of Edinburgh’s oldest local housing associations to have reached this milestone is a great achievement.

“Our beliefs are still very much what they were 40 years in that we are committed to building even more high quality affordable homes for people in Leith and North Edinburgh.

“I would like to take this opportunity to thank everyone who has supported us over the years. Working together we are better able to deliver our ambition which is to make places great for people to live in and to change lives for the better in future.”

Helping the helpless: local collection points for humanitarian aid

Edinburgh Direct Aid supporting Syrian refugees

Newhaven -based charity Edinburgh Direct Aid (EDA) is supporting international efforts to give aid to the tens of thousands of desperate people who have been forced to flee their homes, run for their lives and risk the safety of their families.

We can help by providing much-needed supplies – we can all help to make a difference.

The public response has already been tremendous, but the following items are urgently needed:

underwear (new!)
toothpaste
toothbrushes
soap
detergent
toilet paper
nappies
sanitary towels
wipes

And equipment needed for education and vocational training:

notebooks

A4 paper

pens/pencils

boardwriters

sewing materials

wool’

WHERE TO DONATE:

GRANTON MUIRHOUSE and WEST PILTON

The EDA warehouse is located behind a wire-grid gate on the south side of West Harbour Road – just past the TEBA boxing studio and opposite Len Lothian. It’s now open on Tuesdays and Saturdays from 11am – 3pm.

It is usually possible to park in the road outside, or to bring a car inside the gate but manoeuvring inside the yard can be awkward.

For further information contact Ian on 0785 785 5849

If it’s more convenient, you can make your donations in Muirhouse or West Pilton – both Muirhouse Community Shop on Pennywell Road (Monday to Friday 9am -3pm) and Pilton Youth & Childrens Project (PYCP) (telephone 332 9815) are also collection points for the Edinburgh Direct Aid appeal.

Please give what you can