Category: North Edinburgh News

Out of the Blue at Forest Fringe

Out of the Blue at Forest Fringe 

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The Forest Fringe grew from a totally independent, not-for-profit space in the midst of the Edinburgh Festival …

Out of the Blue grew from a totally independent, not-for-profit space in the midst of Edinburgh – all year round …

Now Out of the Blue and the Forest Fringe are engaged in a merging of space, ideas and productions at the Out of the Blue Drill Hall as part of as an ever audacious programme of experimentation and adventure which makes exciting, improbable, spectacular things happen.

Out of the Blue’s contribution of home grown Leith talent is wide ranging.

Tales from the Hanging Captain
Sat 13th & Sun 14th August

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An exuberant theatre production – made in Leith for the people of Leith – and beyond! Having previewed as part of this year’s Leith Festival the company regroup to get their stories out to the wider world.

As locals gather in the fictional Leith bar ‘The Hanging Captain’, auld Sandy takes the audience on a voyage through time and shares the stories of the Dockers involvement in the whaling industry, the ‘Darien Scheme’ and the strikes of 1913.

As Joyce Mcmillan has said: “if ever there was a town full of stories, that knew how to persevere in telling them, it’s the venerable, beautiful and unpredictable Port of Leith.”

And who better to perform the riveting stories than two of Out of the Blue’s all year round resident theatre companies, Active Inquiry and Strange Town.

Joyce McMillan said in her 2015 review of the companies’ “Persevere” production: “difficult not to be moved and shaken by the profound sense of place, time and continuity conjured up by this fine 24-strong community company” (June 2015)

Local people involved in the production also commented:

“It was a great experience to be part of a project which engaged with the history of our local area, whilst simultaneously engaging with the community that lives here now”

Chains on sink plugs
Thu 18 & Fri 19th August, 12pm

David Nicol is a long time participant at the Out of the Blue Drill Hall who is a poet and actor, musician and painter.

Chains on sink plugs is his first solo show.

Chains on sink plugs is a personal journey explore what it like being in a wheelchair from the 1970s to 21st century. What it’s like being on wheels instead of legs. And gives people a glimpse of a world many don’t know exists.

#artcore radio plays
DEAD ENDS
Fri 12th – Fri 19th August

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“DEAD ENDS” is a new radio drama serial created for and performed by 18-25 year olds, which is launching as part of this year’s Forest Fringe based at the Out of the Blue Drill Hall.  It features a realistic story about a group of young people who work in a fictitious historical/ghost tour company in Edinburgh. They are poorly trained, badly paid. Some of them care about their work and others do not . . .

The current series consists of eight episodes, released at midnight each day of the run.

To find out more, to listen to the latest episode, or to subscribe to the podcast via iTunes once it goes live on Friday 12th August, visit; www.deadendtours.co.uk

“DEAD ENDS” is produced by Strange Town for #artcore

The youth arts project, #artcore is based at Out of the Blue, and is one of nine youth arts hubs in Scotland, funded by Creative Scotland’s Time to Shine Fund

www.artcore.org.uk   www.strangetown.org.uk

Listing Information

All performances are at the Out of the Blue Drill Hall, 36 Dalmeny Street, Edinburgh, EH6 8RG

Performance dates and times

Forest Fringe: Thu 11th – Sat 20th Aug
Tales from the Hanging Captain: Sat 13th & Sun 14th August, 1pm
Chains on sink plugs: Thu 18 & Fri 19th August, 12pm
#artcore radio plays DEAD ENDS: Fri 12th – Fri 19th August

Tickets

All tickets are free by donation
To book tickets, please visit http://www.outoftheblue.org.uk/category/forest-fringe/

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Male, pale and stale? Reinvigorating Community Councils

ELREC (Edinburgh & Lothian Regional Equality Council) and Granton & District Community Council have organised an event to encourage more BME residents to get involved in neighbourhood activities through Community Councils …

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You are invited to an event:

Celebrating Diversity in Community Councils

Thursday, 11 August, 6 – 8.30pm

Royston Wardieburn Community Centre, 11 Pilton Drive North

The key aim of the event is to increase the representation of BME communities in community councils and  hosted jointly by ELREC- Diversity in Public Life project and the Granton & District Community Council.

Edinburgh & Lothians Regional Equality Council (ELREC) has been working on Diversity in Public Life project since last year, aiming to increase the participation of the BME community in public life and in the democratic process. The project works with the diverse communities and it is funded by the Scottish Government. Under this project, a special scheme, Public Life Champion (PLC) has been launched to provide advice, training and mentoring to BME individuals who live/work across Edinburgh and the Lothians.

Community council triennial elections will take place in Sept-Oct 2016. In the wake of oncoming election, the event will provide useful information (i.e.: nomination/registration process) and practical advice for those who are interested to stand as a community councillor. This event will also help establish a link between community councillors and the prospective BME candidates.

If you are interested to represent the views of your local community to the local authority and other public bodies, then joining the community council would be an ideal vehicle as well as an entry point to get into public life.

See details about: what is community council ? 

The event is open to BME residents lived across Edinburgh & Lothians and community council members. Tea/Coffee and refreshments will be provided. Booking is required to give us an estimate for the catering service. Please let us know if you have any special requirements. Please circulate among your contacts/networks who might be interested on this.

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To book your place online, please click here. 

For more information, please contact us by email:publiclife@elrec.org.uk or Tel: 0131 556 0441

Local twirlers fly the flag for Scotland

Megan and Chloe

TWO local young women will fly the flag for Scotland when they take part in the World Baton Twirling championships in Helsingborg, Sweden next week – and they’ll carry the support of both local MSP Ben Macpherson and the Scottish Parliament! Continue reading Local twirlers fly the flag for Scotland

Summer Holidays – but not for all …

Can’t afford to get away on holiday this summer? You’re not alone – it’s a Europe-wide issue, as EC economic analyst M. Vaalavuo explains ...

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Schools are closed, summer holidays are here, and also this blog is having its well-deserved summer break. Like many of you, authors of Evidence in Focus are leaving their desks to travel in Europe and beyond. However, without wanting to spoil your holidays, this may be a good time to recall that 39 per cent of Europeans cannot afford paying for one week annual holiday away from home.

This is a form of deprivation that is taken into account in the calculation of the EU’s indicator of the risk of poverty and social exclusion (AROPE) which counts people who face

  1. monetary poverty (discussed already in several blog posts e.g. comparing the situation of young and old Europeans and looking at parental employment and child poverty), and/or
  2. low work intensity, and/or
  3. severe material deprivation.

The last one is an absolute measure of living standards that complements the measure of relative monetary poverty (people with disposable income below 60 % of the country’s median income). The EU severe material deprivation rate is currently defined as the share of the population living in households that cannot afford at least four out of nine items. 8.9 per cent of the EU population were in this situation in 2014.

One week annual holiday away from home is one of these nine items. Other items are for example the capacity to face unexpected financial expenses, to afford a washing machine or a car, and the ability to avoid arrears in mortgage or rent payments. The most prevalent forms of deprivation concern holidays and the capacity to cope with unexpected expenses.

Across countries, there is a huge variation in the share of people who cannot afford holidays away from home (see chart). In the Nordic countries, Luxembourg, the Netherlands and Austria, fewer than 20 per cent of the population are deprived of an annual holiday in 2014, while in Hungary, Croatia and Romania this concerns more than 60 per cent.

Not surprisingly, people who are at risk of monetary poverty are also most likely to be deprived of holidays away from home: 70 per cent of them cannot afford holidays. But even among those who are not poor in monetary terms, a third is deprived of holidays away from home.

However, the situation is improving in many countries. Since 2008, the share of people not affording holidays away from home has decreased in 15 EU Member States: especially in Poland (11 pp.), Malta (10 pp.), Portugal (9 pp.), Austria (9 pp.), and Bulgaria (9 pp.). Furthermore, after an initial increase in the share from 2008 to 2010 in the Baltic countries, the share has since then fallen in Lithuania by 20, in Latvia by 18 and in Estonia by 16 percentage points. This development can be considered a real improvement in living conditions of these people, but it still leaves us many to be worried about.

After the holdidays … Evidence in Focus will be back in September. We wish you a great summer!

Author M. Vaalavuo is a socio-economic analyst in the unit of Thematic Analysis of DG EMPL

The views expressed in this article are those of the authors and do not necessarily reflect the views of the European Commission.

Editor’s note: this article is part of a regular series called “Evidence in focus“, which will put the spotlight on key findings from past and on-going research at DG EMPL

European Health Insurance Card

European Health Insurance Card

What is the European Health Insurance Card?

A free card that gives you access to medically necessary, state-provided healthcare during a temporary stay in any of the 28 EU countries, Iceland, Lichtenstein, Norway and Switzerland, under the same conditions and at the same cost (free in some countries) as people insured in that country.

Cards are issued by your national health insurance provider.

Important – the European Health Insurance Card:

  • is not an alternative to travel insurance. It does not cover any private healthcare or costs such as a return flight to your home country or lost/stolen property,
  • does not cover your costs if you are travelling for the express purpose ofobtaining medical treatment,
  • does not guarantee free services. As each country’s healthcare system is different services that cost nothing at home might not be free in another country.

Please note: when you move your habitual residence to another country, you should register with the S1 form instead of using the EHIC to receive medical care in your new country of habitual residence.

 

Don’t miss Granton Gogglebox!

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You Name It! Youth Theatre present Granton Gogglebox at Granton Youth Centre tonight at 7pm.

It’s the final performance, there are a few tickets left – it’s a great show and it’s FREE!

Book your seats by emailing wendy@grantonyouth.com or by calling Granton Youth Centre on 0131 467 5854.

Don’t Miss It!