Category: Leith

CCTV appeal following fatal crash on Easter Road

Police Scotland has released images of two women they believe may hold information which might assist in relation to a fatal road traffic collision which occurred around 2.40am on Sunday, 19 June, 2022 on Easter Road.

A 21-year-old man died as a result of the collision and 23-year-old man has been arrested in connection with the collision.

The first woman is described as white, aged between 30-40 years, large build, blonde hair with darker roots tied up in a bun, wearing glasses, light clothing, carrying two full “bags for life” and a mobile phone.

The second woman is described as white, aged between 50-60 years, very skinny build, dark hair, dark trousers and possibly a maroon jacket, carrying a large dark handbag and was seen struggling to walk.

Constable Joanna Murphy, from the Edinburgh Road Policing team, said: “I would urge the women, or anyone who has information relating to the women, depicted in these images to make contact with the Police.

“Anyone with any information is asked to contact the police on 101, quoting incident 0590 of Sunday, 19 June 2022.  Alternatively, call Crimestoppers on 0800 555 111 where information can be passed on anonymously.”

Challenge Poverty Week: Health Issues in the Community taster sessions

Making a difference during #ChallengePovertyWeek can be as easy as signing up to our taster sessions for #HealthIssues In the Community course.

Running on the 6th & 26th of October and the 15th & 23rd of November.

Book your #free place by emailing us at placemaking@polha.co.uk

Local artist Kate George brightens up Leith with seasonal mural

Port of Leith Housing Association (PoLHA), working alongside local arts charity Out of the Blue, have commissioned a mural for the garden of one of its developments in Leith.

PoLHA asked what type of mural residents would like and using the chosen theme of gardens, artist Kate George held a riso print workshop with tenants at Out of the Blue to create garden-themed shapes to include in the design.

Inspired by the tenants’ ideas, Kate and the team layered different nature based shapes including a swift and a robin to create a design for the 12 metre long mural.

Artist Kate George commented: “I was approached by Out of the Blue as I have previously worked on large scale murals and my studio is based at their Drill Hall. I always use community input into the designs.

“We surveyed the tenants and found that they wanted a garden themed mural featuring plants and flowers; most importantly they wanted it to be bright.

“This mural was different to any I’ve produced before as I used the Out of the Blue riso print studio to work with tenants to create riso prints of garden themed shapes then applied these to the mural design. It’s changed my approach to community murals that I’ll undertake in future.”

Heather Kiteley, Group Chief Executive of PoLHA, said: “This mural is an excellent example of us working with community organisations and our tenants to create brilliant outside spaces.

“I love the bright design which makes the garden an even more appealing place for residents to enjoy.”

M & S Ocean Terminal store to close

Marks and Spencer is to close it’s food store in Ocean Terminal. The store will close before the end of the year, but the company insists ‘the vast majority’ of Leith staff will be offered new jobs other M & S stores.

Scott Munro, M&S’s regional manager for the east of Scotland, said: “Shopping habits are changing and we’re reshaping our store estate across Scotland and the UK to make sure we’re reflecting the needs of our customers.

“As part of this transformation, we have today announced to colleagues our decision to close the M&S Ocean Terminal store at Ocean Terminal later this year.

“Our priority is to support our colleagues through these changes and we are confident of being able to offer new roles to the vast majority of those affected.

“We are committed to Edinburgh and this decision means there are more opportunities to invest in our eight other stores across the city.”

A spokesperson for Ocean Terminal said:  “Proposals by M&S to downsize its portfolio of stores across the UK have been well known for some time. Owing to the changing direction of M&S’s business needs, they have taken the decision not to renew their lease at Ocean Terminal. We wish them well for the future.  

“But their decision does not impact on our plans. Instead, it has allowed us to actively pursue a range of opportunities for partnership with alternative food retailers as part of ongoing plans to reconfigure Ocean Terminal and shape the ongoing transformation of the centre and its important waterfront location.” 

Responding to news of the closure of the Marks & Spencer store in Ocean Terminal, Foysol Choudhury MSP said: “I was shocked to find out today that the M&S store in Ocean Terminal is set for closure with the loss of a number of jobs. This could be the death knell for Ocean Terminal.

“Marks & Spencer is one of Ocean Terminal’s remaining flagship outlets for the area.

“With the tram set to arrive before long, I fear that this is a short-term decision that will damage Leith in the long-term.

“I will be writing to Marks & Spencer to seek a meeting to urgently review this decision.”

Leith musicians off to Prague Fringe

Two popular Leith musicians will shortly be showcasing their talents in the unlikely environment of Eastern Europe, having received, for the second time, an invitation to perform at the Prague Fringe, a festival of music, comedy and drama which is held annually in the Czech capital.

Capital-based singer-songwriters Kevin Gore and Bobby Nicholson are best known for their Gone Native show which they have  hosted for several years  as part of  the Edinburgh Fringe, performances taking place nightly in the basement of the legendary  Royal Oak  pub in  Infirmary Street .

Gore and Nicholson performed at the last Prague Festival, in March 2019 and, as well as attracting capacity audiences for their run of four sold out shows, they received excellent feedback from both attendees and professional reviewers, hence the invite to return this year.

It was a Czech tourist visiting Edinburgh three years ago who, after witnessing the show, which, according to Gore, is a musical production featuring songs largely based on social justice and Scottish history, ancient and modern, often tinged with humour,  suggested that the duo apply to perform at the Prague event and, after sending off samples of their work to the promoter, they were delighted to receive an invite.

“We’re really excited about taking the show to Prague once again” said Gore who recently recorded a tribute song for Edinburgh boxing legend Ken Buchanan which he performed at last months’s unveiling of Buchanan’s statue in the city and which forms part of the Gone Native setlist.

“We are the only musical act appearing at the festivaI. We have been receiving five star reviews from our involvement at the Edinburgh Fringe and we see this as a great opportunity to get our material out in front of a wider audience.

“We’re changing the name of the show to Gone Edinburgh for the Prague event to reflect the fact that we’re taking the show abroad. The content will be largely the same and we’re delighted to be returning to the venue which is very close to the iconic John Lennon memorial wall in the city’s  Old Town district.”

Gore and Nicholson fly to Prague this week and will perform Gone Edinburgh on six successive nights at the Café Club Misenska in the city.

Further details can be found on www.praguefringe.com

Health Issues in the Community training course

Health Issues in the Community (HIIC) is a course that helps people understand what affects their health & the health of their communities. HIIC supports people to develop the skills & knowledge to address health issues using community development approaches & bring about change.

Through a small grant from Edinburgh PACT’s Capacity to Collaborate fund we (Edinburgh Community Food, Inspiring Leith, YMCA and Port of Leith) will be running a HIIC course in Leith early next year – more details coming soon!

Before that we want to give workers, who might not be familiar with the course, the chance to find out more about it and what it might be like for people who want to participate in the full course.

We’ve also got a small amount of funds to support local workers attend the full HIIC training for trainers if these sessions inspire you!

The next 2 sessions will take place from 12 – 1.30 on the 14th and 21st of September at the Hibs Foundation Community Space, North Stand Entrance of Easter Road Stadium.

Book your  place by filling in this form: https://forms.office.com/r/Qjd48Fcs4d

Eat Well for Oral Health at Dr Bell’s

Edinburgh Community Food are offering a free Eat Well for Oral Health cooking, nutrition and oral health 8 week programme starting at Dr Bell’s Family Centre on Thursday 25th August for families living in the Leith area with a child under 5.

They will also be offering this programme at Pilton Community Health Project from 20th September.

To book your place or to find out more, contact Jo at:

Jo.howie@edinburghcommunityfood.org

https://www.edinburghcommunityfood.org.uk/eat-well-for…

Edinburgh Climate Festival 2022

The Edinburgh Climate Festival will take place at Leith Links on September 3rd 2022 from 12 -5 pm. 

The Festival, now in its 7th year, will offer a free, family-friendly & community-led marketplace event with workshops, performances and more. 

September 2022 sees the beginning of Scotland’s Climate Fringe Festival, with the Edinburgh Climate Festival marking Edinburgh’s first major event of the Climate Fringe!

The Festival aims to celebrate and inspire community climate action. Entry is free and open to all. There will be activities for all age groups from storytelling and arts and crafts, to free Yoga classes and upcycling activities.

Free e-tickets can be purchased here, with the option to give a donation.

Testimonials

“I absolutely loved the festival, the energy was brilliant! I was just sad that I didn’t have time to see all the stalls, but that’s because I spent too long in other motivating conversations, so on the whole it was pretty great for me!” – 2021 Volunteer

“So many activities and workshops and education to inspire positive collective action. This kind of creativity as a community is what activism is all about and I loved to be apart of it!” – 2021 Participant

“Many thanks again for inviting us to the Climate Festival yesterday – we had a great day. I hope there’ll be many Climate Festivals in the future!” – Chris Jardine, Greenpeace, 2019 Speaker

“We had a great time and was fantastic to engage with so many interested people. We had some great conversations and was great to exchange skills and give advice on taking action. Loved teaching these inspirational teens new mending and making skills yesterday at the Edinburgh Climate Festival.” – Fashion Revolution, 2019 Stallholder

The Edinburgh Climate Festival 2022 will be brought to you by Edinburgh and Lothians Regional Equality Council (ELREC), the Salisbury Centre, NKS, Transition Edinburgh, Earth in Common and Our Future Edinburgh

The festival is supported by the Climate Fringe and The National Lottery Community Fund Scotland.

Dr Bell’s Family Centre programme

HEALTHIER FUTURES FOR FAMILIES IN LEITH

Our new programme is live & starts on Monday 22nd August 2022.

If you live in the Leith area, have at least one child under the age of 5 you can sign up to some of our fantastic groups. Dads are welcome to join us too!

Please email us for more info at info@dbfc.org.uk