VOLUNTEER RECRUITMENT FAIR
Wednesday 18th September 11am – 7pm
St Paul’s & St George’s Church
If you are an organisation and you would like a stall at the fair this year, bookings are now open! Visit https://voled.in/fair for more information. Continue reading Book now to avoid missing out on a stall at Scotland’s largest Volunteer Recruitment Fair
A leading student accommodation search engine has today announced that it will award a Quieter Hall accreditation badge to student halls, in an effort to meet the huge national demand from students looking to live in more peaceful halls of residence, as student culture changes.
Universities and student cities have seen a surge in demand for quieter halls of residence in the past year- from students including athletes who focus on their sleep, those with a focus on wellbeing, or those who simply prefer not to live amongst the hustle and bustle of the student party environment.
The first national rollout of such a plan to help students, Mystudenthalls.com has today launched a Quieter Halls badge of accreditation on qualifying properties- with criteria developed in partnership with student wellness expert, Dr Dominique Thompson. Halls in the accommodation search engine’s listings which meet nine compulsory criteria, that demonstrate provisions toward quieter living, are clearly labelled with the Quieter Halls badge.
The criteria takes into account provisions around space, sound and general resident guidelines, and includes noise policies, accommodation of specific requests for quiet rooms and living areas and a quiet surrounding area of the accommodation building.
One of the first properties to display the badge is Student Castle accommodation in the heart of major student hub, Edinburgh- with further accommodation operators across the UK registering their interest in making changes to their sites, in order to qualify for the badge over the coming months.
On the launch of the Quieter Halls badge, Mystudenthalls.com founder and director, Dan Roberts, commented: “In the last few years, we’ve seen a huge shift in student culture. It’s so important that universities and accommodation providers are working to support every student, no matter what their lifestyle, to ensure that all students thrive.
“It’s not about providing entirely quiet student halls – that would be unrealistic. It’s about a clear support of quieter lifestyles and living spaces. We’re proud that our Quieter Hallsbadge helps us takes an important step towards giving students greater control over their experiences whilst at university.”
Dr. Dominique Thompson said: ‘I’m really happy to have partnered with Mystudenthalls.com as a Quieter Halls advisor, helping its operators to better cater for those looking for quieter accommodation.
“Over the past five years, awareness around the importance of student wellbeing has become commonplace, and we now know that it’s not something that can be nurtured through a one-size-fits-all approach to accommodation. So, it’s great to see a provider tailoring its service towards giving students the tools to find exactly the right halls for them.”
For more information on the launch of Mystudenthalls.com Quieter Halls, head to: www.mystudenthalls.com
An Edinburgh food charity has conducted a warehouse refit during its 20th anniversary year, which will enable the charity to help feed an additional 2,000 vulnerable people each week.
FareShare Central & South East Scotland, which is run by partner charity Cyrenians, has also purchased a new, larger industrial chiller – all of which has been funded by Asda. Continue reading Warehouse refit enables food charity to help feed 2,000 more people every week
Scottish Franchise Week 2019 will kick off a series of events aimed at boosting franchising across the country. Continue reading British Franchise Association vows to help make franchising a £1bn industry in Scotland by 2021
Roots By Routes switched to Drylaw Neighbourhood Centre
Continue reading Change of venue for tomorrow’s Family Fun Day
The city council has received more than 8,000 consultation responses to the consultation on major changes proposed for Edinburgh’s city centre. The capital’s population is now aroung half a million people.
The Council went out to consultation on three different proposals over the summer: Edinburgh City Centre Transformation, Meadows to George Street and Low Emission Zones during May, June and July. Continue reading “Tremendous response” to three council consultations
New measures announced as Cabinet meets in Stirling.
First Minister Nicola Sturgeon has officially opened a new £6 million project which uses cutting-edge renewables technology to harness energy from waste water.
Ms Sturgeon launched the Stirling District Heat Network project while visiting the city as part of the 50th Travelling Cabinet.
The project, which received £2 million support through the Scottish Government’s Low Carbon Infrastructure Transition Programme, was developed collaboratively with Stirling Council and Scottish Water Horizons. It is the first of its kind in the UK and will provide affordable and low-carbon heat to the local Stirling community.
The announcement is part of a new package of announcements made in Stirling – which is aiming to become Scotland’s first carbon neutral city – to tackle the global climate emergency. The Cabinet is meeting in the city to discuss key issues affecting the local community, including climate change, and Ministers will also be engaging directly with local residents at a public meeting held in the newly refurbished Engine Shed building.
Carbon emissions resulting from the Travelling Cabinet will be offset by the planting of trees in a local community forest, and the Scottish Government has also committed to ensuring all future similar meetings are as low carbon as possible.
In addition, £300,000 is to be invested to expand the Climate Ready Classrooms initiative to help young people aged 14-17 to develop their understanding of climate change, its causes and potential impacts. The programme aims to engage with at least 50% of Scotland’s secondary schools in the next two years and accredit almost 5,000 young people as carbon literate.
There was also additional support announced for communities across Scotland to undertake their own Big Climate Conversations, which will feed-in to the Scottish Government Public Engagement Strategy on climate change.
Ms Sturgeon said: “Earlier this year Scotland became one of the first countries in the world to acknowledge the fact that we are facing a global climate emergency, and it is only right that we take appropriate action – with all policies being re-examined to ensure they meet our climate ambitions.
“That’s why the action we’ve announced today is important – and it will build on the world-leading measures already underway to address the climate crisis we face.
“We have already proposed one of the most ambitious statutory emissions targets anywhere in the world, and today’s announcements illustrate our commitment to developing new and innovative policies which will make a real difference.
“The Stirling Renewable Heat Demonstration Project is a great example of this, using waste water to help provide energy to local businesses and public buildings.
“We are also changing the way we work as a government to provide an example to others, and our commitment to ensure future meetings are as low carbon as possible is testament to this.”
Six Feet Three Shoes is a celebration of friendship across borders told through feisty, percussive flamenco, Scottish and contemporary dance, with three dancers, in colourful costumes that combine threads of Scottish tartan and Spanish frills, and two musicians on exhilarating live guitar and fiddle. Continue reading Fringe: Six Feet Three Shoes
Join us for the launch of six new ‘community storyboards’ being installed along the North Edinburgh Cycle Path.
LIVE Storytelling
Hear local people share their stories
ALL ACTIVITIES FREE !!!
• Guided historical walks about the old railway at Crewe
• Live Storytelling
• Play Rangers
• BMX Stunt Demonstration
• Face Painting
• Dr Bike session – Bring your bike along for some TLC
• Sandwiches and Salads
• Smoothie Bike
For more information contact lpipskyj@gmail.com or just come along on the day!
Covering the four weeks 30 June – 27 July 2019
Helen Dickinson OBE, Chief Executive | British Retail Consortium
“While retailers will welcome the return to growth, it has nonetheless been a punishing few months for the industry. The combination of slow real wage growth and Brexit uncertainty has left consumer spending languishing with the 12-month average total sales falling to a new low of just 0.5%.
Whereas last year’s glorious sunshine and World Cup Finals led to strong consumer demand over the summer, this year has been weak in comparison, with both June and July showing the lowest sales on record for their respective months. And it is not just high streets that are suffering, with Non-food online growth also one percentage point below the 12-month average.
“The challenging retail environment is taking its toll on many high street brands who must contend with rising import costs, a multitude of public policy costs, and ever higher business rates. A coherent strategy for retail is needed. The Government should freeze future business rates rises and fix the appeals system before embarking on a wholesale reform of this broken tax system.”
Paul Martin, UK Head of Retail | KPMG
“The UK may have had record temperatures in July, but retail sales were far from record-breaking at just 0.3% growth. While any growth is welcome after two months of decline, it’s clear that most players need more than sunshine to get back on their feet.
“Given the weather it’s unsurprising that shoppers reconsidered their wardrobe, but it was online retailers who benefitted most once again. Online non-food sales overall actually grew by only 3.7%, which is considerably lower than previous years. Meanwhile, another category which has historically benefitted from the good weather is grocery, but even here sales are lacklustre, which is a cause for concern.
“With consumer confidence holding up in the face of prolonged Brexit uncertainly, shoppers are notably disengaged overall. The pressure continues to build between online and physical offerings, costs continues to rise and the demands of consumers continue to grow. The key question is, who can handle the heat?”
Food & Drink sector performance | Susan Barratt, CEO | IGD
“Success for England’s big sporting teams tends to provide a boost for food and drink sales, so the men’s cricket and the women’s football teams were both good for business in June. However, the same applied last year with similar sporting success, and the year-on-year comparison was a draw with flat food and grocery sales.
“There has been some inflation though, meaning a drop in real terms and the underlying conditions are tight for food retailers.”
