North Edinburgh News – Page 3286 – The NEN

What’s The Matter now?

North Edinburgh Young People’s Forum would like to invite you to the launch of the second edition of their version of The Matter: Matters2Us, and this issue will focus on Anti-Bullying.

In July 2013, the Young People’s Forum were successful in their application to the Respectme Anti-Bullying fund to produce a second edition of their newspaper, this time asking the question:

How would you like to be supported if you were being bullied or see someone else being bullied?’

The group then consulted with over 100 pupils across two primary schools in North Edinburgh, going into classrooms over two days, spending time with the young people and finding out their thoughts on bullying.

The Young People’s Forum would now like to share what the young people who they met with said and would like to invite you to attend the launch of this second edition.

This will take place on Wednesday 20 November at Craigroyston Community High School at 5.30pm.

There will also be an opportunity to hear from a local parents group on how they have made a user friendly guide to their schools Anti-Bullying Policy to support parents, young people and the community to understand it.

We would be delighted if you could attend.

Clare Gibson (Youth Work Organiser, CEC Community Learning & Development) on behalf of North Edinburgh Young People’s Forum

Scottish champions Craigroyston compete in USA

F1 in Schools Scottish champions Craigroyston Community High School are currently competing at the World Championships in Austin, Texas. They flew out last Thursday and have spent the past few days settling in and preparing to do battle with teams from around the world.

The team comprises of Ciaran Harrison, Joe Dudgeon, Gavin Singleton, Stephen Ramsay and Thomas Paget (pictured below) supported by staff Ms Carrie Anderson and Mr George Thomson. The news is that the boys are doing the school, Edinburgh and Scotland proud!

See what happened on Day 1 Sunday 10^th November – at the Opening Ceremony & Time Trial Racing <http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=T6fwl8cnqqc>

Day 2 yesterday saw the Reaction Racing <http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zBZzqK4sIVs>

The team now competes in the Knockout Competition, and we will keep you posted as news wings its way from the USA.

If you would like to see more about the F1 in Schools Competition then follow this link: www.f1inschools.com<http://www.f1inschools.com>

Desmond Spiers

Craigroyston Community High School

First UK aid arrives in the Philippines

A chartered Boeing 777 carrying 8,836 shelter kits from UK Government stores in Dubai landed in the city of Cebu in the middle of the night local time and was met by Department for International Development (DFID) humanitarian workers.

It comes ahead of DFID-funded food, water, medicines and other supplies to be delivered by NGO partners over the coming days and weeks.

The shelter kits consist of plastic sheeting, rope and rope tensioners, and each one will keep a family of five sheltered from the elements. The kits will now be delivered to NGO partner World Vision for distribution in the worst-affected areas of the Philippines.

This is just the first of several UK-funded humanitarian flights scheduled to fly from both Dubai and the UK in the coming days as part of the UK’s response to Typhoon Haiyan.

International Development Secretary Justine Greening said: “UK humanitarian aid is now on the ground to be distributed urgently to the people who need it. It will be followed rapidly by other basics like food and water purification kits, and the equipment needed to clear the way to get that aid to hard to reach communities.”

The total UK response to the typhoon stands at up to £15m, following the announcement that the Government will match-fund up to £5m of the DEC appeal. The UK has also deployed HMS Daring to support aid efforts.

The Scottish Government will also come to the aid of the stricken islanders through a £600,000 commitment to the Disasters Emergency Commitee appeal.

Making the announcement yesterday, External Affairs Secretary Fiona Hyslop said: “The devastating pictures from the Philippines can’t fail to touch the hearts of all who see them. The Scottish Cabinet discussed the situation this morning and today we are pledging a donation of £600,000 to the Disasters Emergency Committee in Scotland’s Philippines Typhoon Appeal.

“This is one of the biggest disasters in many years – and indeed is reminiscent of the 2004 Boxing Day tsunami in terms of the scale of the devastation caused. We are in touch with Scotland’s aid agencies who inform us that with reports still coming in from more remote areas that the numbers of people affected may well rise further.

“The Scottish Government funding will help our aid agencies support those affected including through the supply of clean water and medical supplies – essential if we are to avoid disease getting hold and making a tragic situation even worse.

“As well as the Scottish Government’s donation I urge the people of Scotland to dig deep to help support our aid agencies responding to the devastation caused by Typhoon Haiyan.”

Chair of the Disasters Emergency Committee in Scotland, Norman McKinley, said, “DEC members are doing all they can to get aid through but we urgently need help to minimise the suffering and reach people as quickly as we can. The priorities are getting food, water and shelter to people in desperate need. We also greatly welcome the Scottish Government’s support today, which will enable us to make a huge difference to so many people who have lost everything overnight”

In the bleak midwinter: meeting called to co-ordinate community-centred response to poverty challenge

The impact of the Bedroom Tax, general poverty and the rise of Food Banks in the area is a clear indication that many in our community will be facing a bleak and possibly health destroying time.

The comments made by the Trussell Trust, who organise the Food Banks, that they are limited to crisis response – ie 3 or 4 food packs per year per family – shows that we require a much bigger response. Community Centres in every area should be at the heart of the response. The question is how do we do this?

We wish to join together with all Community Centres, the City of Edinburgh Council and organisations like the Red Cross and similar bodies to work out a common strategy of how we as Community Centres could find ways of providing assistance to this section of our community.

We would like to invite all Management Committees of Community Centres and other interested bodies to a meeting to discuss this at:

West Pilton Neighbourhood Centre on Thursday 14 November

from 12.30 –3pm

RSVP to:

Gwen Campbell

Pilton Central Association, West Pilton Neighbourhood Centre

Telephone 0131 551 3194

Post PEP nomination papers pronto!

PEP AGM papers-1

Pilton Equalities Project’s (PEP’s) annual general meeting takes place on Thursday 21 November at 11am, but if you’d like to become a board member you must submit your nomination papers by this Friday (15 November).

All of the information you need can be found on the attached papers (above) – or you can email pepequalities@btconnect.com

Go on, support a local community project!

Celebrate the history of Circle

Best wishes to all at Circle Scotland, the national children and families charity based in West Pilton Park, who are holding their annual lecture tonight in the Botanic Gardens Lecture Theatre.

Tonight’s speaker is Dr Mark Smith, Head of Social Work at the University of Edinburgh, and the theme of the lecture is ‘Celebrating the history of Circle’.

Circle was born as an independent charity in 2006, but the organisation has a long and illustrious history – Circle was created from Family Service Units, which were established in areas of deprivation just after World War Two.

Circle’s is a story worth telling and tonight’s event promises to be fascinating. Hope it goes well.

Edindex is ten years old

EdIndex, Scotland’s largest choice based letting system for social housing celebrated its tenth anniversary yesterday (Monday 11 November).

The system was introduced in 2003 by the City of Edinburgh Council to allow people the chance to bid for social housing, while providing greater choice when applying for homes. EdIndex was used to replace a complex system that involved numerous applications to individual landlords, by providing access to 23 housing associations and co-operatives throughout the city, through one single application.

Since it’s creation, more than 32,000 people have been housed in Edinburgh through EdIndex. Over 3.6 million bids have been received over the last ten years, including people going into social housing for the first time and existing tenants looking to move home.

The system is designed to be as accessible and flexible as possible and bids can be made online, in person, by email, letter or telephone. When homes become available they are advertised online and in the weekly publication ‘EH – Your Key to Choice’, to help applicants choose the most suitable property for them.

Housing Leader Councillor Cammy Day, said: “This marks an important milestone for EdIndex, which represents a modern, user-friendly system that puts choice at the heart of bidding for social housing. As the number of applications continues to increase, it is more important than ever that we have an easy to use process that is fair for all applicants. Over the years, EdIndex has gone from strength to strength and has been adopted by a number of other organisations across Scotland, demonstrating its value and success.”

Demand for social and affordable housing in the capital continues to increase and an average of 946 people are registered on EdIndex every month. Applicants are prioritised depending on their housing need. Applicants’ points increase the longer they are registered on the system.

Your health: Stockbridge drop-in event next week

Health_event_2013

Interested in health issues? Do you live or work in the Inverleith Neighbourhood Partnership area? Then drop in to a free fun information event in Stockbridge House in Cheyne Street next Monday evening.

See attached poster for all the info …

Craigroyston marks Remembrance Day

Craigroyston Community High School commemorated Remembrance Day by holding two special assemblies led by the pupils. A selection of words, hymns, songs, and poetry, along with a moving video featuring the stories of a variety of veterans were presented to pupils and staff.

At 11am precisely the whole school came to a standstill as everyone stood for the two minute silence. The wreath laying was carried out by two representatives from each year group accompanied by a piper playing Flowers of the Forest. Honoured guests included local councillors, veterans, parents and council officials.

Desmond Spiers, Craigroyston Community High School