Craigroyston art exhibition opens at North Edinburgh Arts

Craigroyston Primary School Art Exhibition 2015

Every year, the pupils at Craigroyston Primary amaze and surprise everyone with their fantastic array of art and this year is no exception (writes Helen Cameron). From patterns and plants to seas and sunshine, and everything in between, the pupils have done it again this year and put on a fabulous show!

For a wee change the venue this year is the North Edinburgh Arts Centre so anyone popping in for a coffee or meeting friends can wander round and marvel at all the pupils’ work. It will be on display for the next few weeks, is free of charge and everyone is welcome to go and view.

The children are hoping to reach a wider audience by using this venue, certainly it is easy for anyone in the area to drop in either on your own or even better bring a friend! Hopefully lots of you will manage along and spread the word about all the local talent!

Many thanks to the staff at the Centre for their help and support in mounting the exhibition and preparing advertising material.

Helen Cameron

NOTE:

The exhibition opened in style at North Edinburgh Arts last night with great musical performances by the school’s Glee Club (including a very impressive ‘Don’t Stop Believin’ – a cappella, too!) – and the talented new woodwind players.

See below for some opening night pictures – and there are lots more on our Facebook page

Do visit the exhibition – you won’t be disappointed! DP

Community recipe book launches this week

Good, healthy recipes produced by local cooks

Everyone’s invited to the launch of the community Cook and Taste recipe book at Muirhouse Community Shop, Pennywell Road on Wednesday from 111am – 1pm!.

We’ll be cooking and giving free delicious tasters, recipe books and information about food related activities in the area. The Time Bank Temptations Choir will also be performing on the day.

All the recipes in the book have been tried, tasted and have proved really successful. “This is good and really tasty. I will try to make it at home”, said Joan, one of the community shop volunteers when she tried the ragu Bolognese. Susan, one of the local volunteers who decided to share her macaroni cheese recipe said: “It’s lovely; quick and easy to cook in the house”.

The recipes in this book come from a partnership project between Pilton Community Heatlh Project (PCHP) and the Muirhouse Community Shop (MCS).

Memes Molina, Food Development Worker at PCHP, said “It’s been a great opportunity to work in partnership with the shop’s volunteers, to do some cooking with local people and discover new recipes with them. This launch is to celebrate the effort and commitment of everyone involved. For some of the volunteers it has been a while since they last cooked at home but people got involved and shared their delicious dishes. PCHP has put together a recipe book called Cook and Taste, where we can now share a selection of these recipes with the local community.”

PCHP’s Food team works with volunteers and local partners to help local people develop their understanding and knowledge to eat well on a budget, including cooking skills, budgeting, meal planning and wider food issues.

PCHP does this by running cooking sessions, lots of ‘cook and taste’ sessions in the community, delivering ‘bite size’ sessions on eating well and much more. People can get involved by joining one of the groups, becoming a volunteer or attending Food for Thought Forum meetings.

PCHP also gives the local community access to food related training courses to develop their skills. We are now able to support others to deliver quick and easy healthy eating sessions using our nutrition toolkit.

http://pchp.org.uk/projects/food

The partnership work between PCHP and MCS started as way to promote healthy eating in the area, in response to the needs of some local people and the shop volunteers.

Everyone can come along to the launch. If you want more information about PCHP activities or other food related activities in North Edinburgh, phone PCHP on 013 551 1671 or visit the website.

Local youth projects share criminals’ cash!

‘Investing in our young people is always money well spent’ – Justice Secretary Michael Matheson MSP

Muirhouse Youth Development Group (MYDG), Granton Youth Centre and The Yard (above) are among the youth projects to receive cash from the latest round of Cashback grants announced today.

In this funding round YouthLink Scotland has awarded £41,156 of CashBack funding to 17 organisations within the youth work sector in Edinburgh to deliver a whole range of projects for local young people.

The CashBack for Communities Youth Work Fund is administrated and delivered by the National Agency for Youth Work, YouthLink Scotland on behalf of Scottish Government.

Among those organisations to receive funding is The Big Project in the city’s Broomhouse area, they benefited to the tune of £4,406 to provide youth clubs twice a week for local youngsters.

Edinburgh City 6VT project have also been given a grant of £2,125 to carry on their work with local young people. Fiona Home, Development Co-ordinator for 6VT, said the support from CashBack over the years had been vital to their work with young people across the capital, especially since the project has recently had to find new premises.

“This June we move to our new location in the Grassmarket, currently we are operating out a church hall nearby. Without this support we would undoubtedly have lost contact with many of our young people, leaving them with nowhere to go and back to hanging out on the streets,” she said.

Broomhouse Young Carers were awarded £1,996 for a summer programme. The organisation offers respite to young carers aged 7-18 by way of weekly support groups, holiday programmes and residentials.

Kids in the Street, who offer street sports and coaching, have been given £2.100 for their youth activity programme. Susan Law, Administrator with KITS said: “The CashBack grant makes a huge difference to the range of sessions we can provide including girls football, street based sessions and our junior football academy.”

Restalrig’s Ripple Project received £3,105 to provide a dedicated girls-only provision to local young people at a vulnerable stage in their lives, providing them with a safe place to explore and address the issues and pressures that impact on young women. With the support and guidance of specialist youth workers, the girls also access a range of educational and leisure opportunities.

Liz Ferguson, who leads the project, said the funding helps to level the playing field for local young people. She said: ““These experiences through CashBack funding, go a long way in helping us develop confident and aspirational young women in a community of significant disadvantage.”

Commenting on the latest round of CashBack for Communities Youth Work Fund awards, Justice Secretary, Michael Matheson said: “Investing in our young people is always money well spent and I am delighted that the Scottish Government’s Cashback for Communities programme is providing this valuable funding for worthy projects across Edinburgh.

“This government is committed to ensuring all young people reach their full potential. The vast majority of them are a credit to society but we want to prevent the small minority getting involved in crime or antisocial behaviour in the first place.”

Chief Executive of YouthLink Scotland, Jim Sweeney added: “Crime is a real blight on our neighbourhoods and it is right that money from the proceeds of crime goes back to the very heart of our communities, our young people. We know that youth work really does change the lives of young people, not only in Edinburgh but in every part of Scotland.”

List of Awards – City of Edinburgh (£41,156)

The BIG Project £4,406
The Broomhouse Centre £1,996
St Teresa’s Youth Club £1,800
Granton Youth Centre £3,000
Beyond Gender Youth Project £1,608
The Yard Adventure Centre £2,912
Edinburgh City Youth Cafe (6VT Youth Cafe) £2,125
Pilmeny Development Project £2,783
Canongate Youth £1,404
Kids in the Street ( KITS) £2,100
Muirhouse Youth Development Group £1,525
Wester Hailes Youth Agency £1,750
Craigentinny-Lochend Social Centre £2,880
The Ripple Project £3,105
Jack Kane Community Centre £1,938
Citadel Youth Centre £4,674
Ferrywell Youth Project £1,150

Leading by example: share your views on community leadership

Community Leadership College – a game of two halves!

Liverpool captain Steven Gerrard played his last game in front of his beloved Kop at the weekend. ‘Legend’ is an overused word, but in a football mad city, Liverpool-born and bred Gerrard personifies the word. Gifted, determined, he’s a giant who leads by example, inspiring and motivating those around him to give every last ounce for the cause.

What’s Stevie G got to do with Muirhouse and West Pilton? Well it’s not so much Gerrard the sporting hero, it’s his leadership qualities we’re interested in – and are the same qualities and skills needed by local people to speak up on behalf of their communities?

We’re running a series of ‘conversation cafe’ events across Muirhouse and West Pilton to get your views and opinions on what YOU need to be a more effective community activist, volunteer or campaigner.

We’ve almost reached ‘half-time’ – we’ve held four sessions and have at least four more planned (with more to be added too) so it’s not too late to share your views over coffee and biscuits. It’s a game of two halves!

Come along to any of the following sessons:

Monday 18 May: West Pilton Neighbourhood Centre, 4 – 6pm

Thursday 21 May: North Edinburgh Arts, 2 – 4pm

Monday 25 May: North Edinburgh Arts, 11am – 1pm

Monday 1 June: West Pilton Neighbourhood Centre, 4 – 6pm.

It would be great to see you!

For further information email: Comlc2015@outlook.com

Making it Work: New sessions at Muirhouse

Muirhouse Millennium Community Centre to offer new sessions for mums and children

Making It Work’s Pauline Bowie is running an information drop-in for a few weeks before the activities begin. These will run in the Cafe area on Tuesdays from 1.00 pm – 4.00 pm. and on Thursdays from 10.00 am – 1.00 pm.

So just pop along if you are interested in attending the Mothers & Toddlers sessions or if you are a single parent with a youngster under five years old.

To find more information access our Website at www.muirhousecommunitycentre.co.uk

James McGinty

Monday is Outdoor Games Day in Muirhouse!

Outdoor Games Day: Monday 18 May, 1 -3pm
Launching a new outdoor play space for everyone

Following a series of community consultations, which generated a great deal of positive support, we are creating a natural play area and community garden for local residents to use over the next two years.

The work is being carried out this week (you may have spotted us out digging!) and will be finished on Friday, ready for the opening on Monday 18th May.

Please join us between 1-3pm for a fun afternoon of games, planting and some FREE lunch. We will have Margaret, of Margaret and Margaret from Licketyspit there, NEA’s growing expert to offer advice and show you some planting tips, as well as lots of sports day activities!

If you are unsure of the location, there will be signs from North Edinburgh Arts to the site which is only a 2 minute walk away!

Contact Joanne at North Edinburgh Arts if you would like to be involved or share your ideas: 0131 315 2151 / centipedeproject@outlook.com

Thirty organisations to attend Jobs Fair today

Attending todays’ Jobs & Employment Fair are:

Adecco
Airport Recruitment Centre
Army recruitment
Bluebird Care
Blueprint training
Care Uk
Freespace
NHS recruitment
Urban Union
Scottish Gas
Home Instead

Support/providers

Community Renewal

Cre8te/Digital Skills Academy

Forth Sector

Freshstart

Income maximisation/Welfare reform

Making it Work

North Edinburgh Childcare

Smartworks

Volunteer Centre

Intowork

Barnardo’s Works East

CITB

Community Jobs Scotland

Cyrenians

Edin College

Edinburgh Guarantee/IYP

SDS

Tomorrow’s People – Working it Out (North Edinburgh)

RUTS

Now all we need are the punters … !

Community employability event PosterV4

North Edinburgh Jobs & Information Fair today

THURSDAY 14 MAY

10.30am – 1.30pm

Are you looking for a new job? A change of direction? looking to get some new skills or start a course … need some help?

Find out more about real jobs, training and learning opportunities near you!

Meet representatives from a range of organisations that can advise and support you with applications, updating your skills, volunteering, caring and more. City council Welfare Refrom officers will also be available to provide advice on benefits and housing.

It’s all available today at Muirhouse Library and Pennywell Shopping Centre – check it out!

Muirhouse: mid-market flats to let

Our subsidiary company MH4 has a number of two bedroom flats available for let now. These flats are set within two blocks, all of which are let as Mid Market Tenancies.

To be considered for one of these flats you need to earn more than £18,000 and less than £37,000. And not rely on Housing Benefit to meet the cost of your rent.
The rent is £518 per month, due on the 1st of each month. A deposit of £518 is also required prior to signing the tenancy agreement.

The flats have an open plan living/dining/kitchen, two double bedrooms with built in wardrobes, a bathroom with an overbath shower and ample storage. Carpets are provided in the bedrooms and livingroom, and vinyl in the kitchen area and bathroom.

The flats are available for occupancy from the start of July.
If you are interested in applying please contact MHA on 336-5282 or email info@muirhouseha.org.uk

It is crucial that you apply quickly so that references and employments and bank details can be checked to allow you to move in July.

Jobs Fair in Muirhouse

Muirhouse Library and Shopping Centre will host an Employment and Learning Fair between 10.30am and 1.30pm this Thursday (14 May).

The event is aimed at both adult jobseekers and young people looking for advice and support to get into work or learning in North Edinburgh. Organisations attending the event will include employability providers from the local area as well as employers with vacancies to fill.

Community Renewal is one of the organisations involved in the jobs fair, and emplyment adviser Diana said: “Previous events have resulted in jobseekers securing interviews on the spot so jobseekers are advised to come prepared with CVs and dressed to impress!”