This year we are doing something a little different, we are hosting our own Haunted House!
This even will run over the course of two nights, Thursday 27th and Friday 28th October! The event will start at 5pm but spaces will be limited!
If you would like to come along it is £2 per family, all kids must be accompanied by an adult! Feel free to get the kids all dressed up
Join us for creating a bee-friendly installation of the second BEES FIR SCRAN with Artist Natalie Taylor. This time we’ll be at Fidra Court car park verge, which will be seeded with wildflower perennials, which means the installation can be enjoyed for more than just one year.
Wednesday 21 September, 11am to 3pm – Volunteers wanted to help us with some preparation work, drop in any time
Friday 23 September, 2pm to 3.30pm – Main Event: Seeding and seed bombing – All welcome, free event!
SCRAN FIR BEES is supported by The National Lottery: Together For Our Planet Fund.
Community campaigners fighting to save the Silverlea woodland, wildlife and heritage site from a housing development have condemned as “Council lies” the claim that the site is a “barren” flytipping site of “low landscape value and low recreational value with few quality trees”.
A meeting of the City of Edinburgh Council development sub-committee on 10 August flouted the Council’s own policy by approving the building of 142 houses on the green belt in the Muirhouse and the Salvesens area in north-west Edinburgh.
The Save Our Silverlea Campaign describe a photo of the site produced by the Council to justify the development as “totally misleading”.
A SoS spokesperson said: “The photo showed a big pile of flytipped waste – but when a team from Save Our Silverlea visited the site days after the Council meeting, all we found was one white plastic bag and a dumped shopping trolley. The Council photo was either very old or taken elsewhere. Councillors visited the site shortly before the meeting so they should have known the photo was ‘fake news’.”
Save Our Silverlea have produced photos of the site showing massive trees and a verdant and vibrant woodland.
30-40 mature trees are to be felled to make way for the proposed scheme.
“We defy anyone – even a Councillor – to look at these magnificent trees and say this is a “barren” flytipping site. Clearly there has been some flytipping over the years – but if the site was sympathetically opened up to the community as a mini nature reserve with low impact paths and perhaps a children’s play area, then this increased footfall would act as a deterrent to flytipping.
“The Council is effectively “saving” the site by destroying it.”
Freedom of Information request
The camapigners say the city council tried to justify the destruction of dozens of mature trees by claiming they were planting 131 saplings on the narrow strip of grass known as Silverknows Park.
At the Council meeting Save Our Silverlea spokesperson Edward Murray described the real situation: “My flat overlooks Silverknowes Park and I watched them planting these saplings out in mid-February on a bitter cold day with the ground waterlogged,” he explained.
“The end result is the vast majority of these saplings never took root. They’re dead. Are we then to exchange 30-40 mature trees for row upon row of dead twigs in plastic tubes? That doesn’t strike us as a fair exchange.”
On 16 August Save Our Silverlea submitted a Freedom of Information request asking how much the Silverknowes Park Tree Plantation cost.
At the Council meeting Edward Murray described Muirhouse, where he has lived for over 30 years, as “just a dormitory for workers to sleep in before going back to work again”.
Mr Murray added: “Muirhouse is the size of a small town; it has no primary school, no park, not even a pub. It doesn’t even have a supermarket. In short, it is a deprived area. We have nothing down there. It’s one of the most deprived areas in Edinburgh.
“And now, having taken practically everything, you want to take our last green space, the Silverlea site, for development, destroying a wildlife habitat and creating congestion and pollution along the Silverknowes/Muirhouse Parkway, described by Police Scotland as ‘the second most dangerous road in Edinburgh’.”
Save our Silverlea are continuing their campaign: “As climate change threatens the future of humanity, we need to act to defend our green spaces. This land should be used for the local community – not to make £millions for greedy property developers.
“We need much more council/ social housing – build council houses on the brownfield sites where they are now building 1000s of private houses. The struggle to save our Silverlea continues.”
LIFT are having a Meet & Greet Day on Thursday (18th August) from 10am – 1pm at Muirhouse Millennium Centre.
Come along for a chat and a wee bite to eat, meet the staff and find out what LIFT will be up to over the next few months.
SATURDAY 9th JULY 10.30 – 12.30
Art Buds in Muirhouse Family Day 
Art_Buds_Collective will be holding their next Family Day on Saturday 9 July, 10.30am-12.30pm at Granton Beach, and you are invited to come along and bring your family to join in the creative fun. Free, simply drop in!
Art Buds in Muirhouse offer FREE outdoor art classes inspired by nature for children in Muirhouse (postcodes EH4 4, EH4 5, EH5 1, EH5 2) and the surrounding area, and they’re running their July Summer Camp from 18 to 22 July.
We have some final places for children aged 3 – 6 in our morning and afternoon groups.
Find out more and sign up at www.eventbrite.co.uk/e/358458768827
Art Buds in Muirhouse are supported by Creative Scotland
Muirhouse & Salvesen Community Council meeting
Thursday 23rd June 7:00 pm @ Muirhouse Millennium Centre
Come along and meet the new elected councillors and have your say on what you would like to see happen in your area.
For further information email lisamurray90@hotmail.com
FRIDAY 3 JUNE from 11.30 – 4pm
The Old Kirk & Muirhouse Parish Church, Pennywell Gardens
You are invited to this daytime event on Friday 3rd June, where we will host fun workshops to find out what you want for your local area.
Lunch is provided free of charge and there will be activities on offer to keep the kids occupied!
Pre-booking is required – click the link below or call Cara 07701 380928
https://www.eventbrite.co.uk/…/muirhouse-community…
LIB DEMS PICK UP THREE of FOUR SEATS
Ward 1 Almond results: 4 elected
Kevin Lang (Lib Dem)
Norrie Work (SNP)
Louise Young (Lib Dem)
Lewis James Younie (Lib Dem)
The Lib-Dems GAIN one seat at the expenses of the Scottish Conservatives.
Turnout – 51.1%
The North Edinburgh Community Festival is THIS SATURDAY!
Saturday 7th May from 12noon to 6pm.
The 
main stage will be jam-packed from 12noon!
Make sure you catch your favourite act:
12.00pm – Fischy Music
12.50pm – Pulse of the Place
1.15pm – Ama-zing Harmonies
1.35pm – Granton Youth MixTape
2.00pm – Big Fish Little Fish Scotland
2.45pm – Tinderbox Hub
3.10pm – Broughton High School
3.35pm – Yer Local Bams
4.10pm – City of Edinburgh Music School Jazz Quartet
4.35pm – DJ Dynamite
5.00pm – Tinderbox Collective & Guests
See you all on Saturday!
Lukasz Czapla, 41, has been sentenced to at least 23 years in prison following his conviction for the horrific murder of his two-year old son Julius in Muirhouse.
Czapla, who claimed he suffered from poor mental health, murdered his son in a drink and drug-fuelled jealous rage to get back at the child’s mum Patrycja Szczesniak.
The court heard that, on the night Julius died, Ms Szczesniak had told Czapla he was seeing somebody new.
Passing sentence at the High Court in Edinburgh yeserday, judge Lord Beckett said that Czapla’s use of drink and drugs were no excuse for what he did to Julius.
Lord Beckett said: “Your son will never grow up and his loving mother has lost him forever and will forever be haunted by the truly evil act that you did.
“Your son will never grow up and his loving mother has lost him forever and will forever be haunted by the truly evil act that you did.
“You acted out of spite to punish his mother for leaving you and getting on with her life.
“Suffice to say you showed considerable determination to ensure that a defenceless child would die in considerable distress.
“It is no excuse that you were full of drink and drugs. Indeed it is significantly aggravated given that you were being asked to look after a two-year-old.”
Emergency services were called to the family home at Muirhouse Place West in November 2020, where Julius was found seriously injured. He was pronounced dead at the scene a short time later.
The jury heard that Czapla shot Julius three times in the head with a gas-powered air pistol. Three ball bearings were later recovered from the child’s head. Czapla then stabbed the toddler with a metal skewer before smothering him with a pillow.
Detective Inspector Bob Williamson, of Police Scotland’s Major Investigation Team, said: “Julius was a bright, happy young boy and his loss in such horrendous circumstances has been devastating for his mother and his family.
“Lukasz Czapla is now facing the consequences of his actions. The outcome of this case will never bring Julius back but it does bring this aspect to a close. Julius’s family have understandably asked for privacy during this difficult time.
“I would like to thank the local community and our dedicated team of officers, along with our partner agencies, who assisted throughout the duration of the investigation.”
Patrycja Szczesniak, Julius’ Mother, has also released the following statement through Police Scotland and asks her request for privacy to please be respected:
“I only wanted the best for you. If only I could only turn back time to have you in my arms again my child.
“Despite the breakup with Juliusz’s dad, I wanted him to have contact with our son. I never stopped him seeing Juliusz. Julek loved him like every child loves their dad. He trusted him, he trusted him completely.
“Juliusz was murdered only for revenge. His dad wanted me to suffer, he succeeded and achieved his goal, at the cost of my beloved little boy’s life.
“If only I knew what was going to happen. I would have never thought he could do this to my child.
“He was only two and a half.
“Every day I think about Juliusz. I can’t imagine what his little, helpless heart felt that night and I feel his fear and pain every day. He was part of me, part of my heart and soul.
“I wish I could hug him, play with him and watch him grow.
“Every day I ask myself why there is so much evil in this world, why the innocent have to suffer.
“He not only took Juliusz life but my life too.
“That day, the world stopped, not only for me but also for my mother and my sister.
“Juliusz was a very happy child. He lit up the place wherever he showed up. He could put a smile on anyone’s face and always looked forward to calls with his Grandma and Auntie. They managed to build a strong relationship despite the distance in miles between us and enjoyed every minute they had together.
“It is breaking our hearts that we are no longer able to take his hand and lead him through life. To watch him enjoy riding his bike and eating his favourite ice cream. Listen to his giggling and laughing and being amazed by the things he learned every day.
“There was so much we wanted to show him but this chance was brutally taken from us and now the only thing we can do is to prey for the highest possible punishment. We want to believe in the justice system and that justice will be served, although I know there is no sentence that will bring my angel back to life.
“Czapla should not have the right to any defence and we will fight to ensure that monster never leaves prison.
“My suffering and my pain will stay with me for the rest of my life. But the unconditional love I have for my baby; my dearest child Juliusz will never end.
“My family, friends and l will miss him dearly and we will suffer his loss until the end of our days.
“Juliuszek left us the most beautiful memories that will remain in our hearts forever.”
