Just capital! Free wi-fi in Edinburgh this Easter

Connected Capital: Enjoy free wi-fi this Easter

Edinburgh residents and visitors are to benefit from free wi-fi in 70 public buildings across the city as part of the City of Edinburgh Council’s Connected Capital Programme.

Attractions such as the majority of Edinburgh Leisure centres and the National Museum of Scotland, Edinburgh Zoo and Dynamic Earth, will be live in time for Easter and the rest will come on line in the coming weeks and months.

Those travelling on Edinburgh’s trams and Lothian Buses are already benefitting from free wi-fi as the project is rolled out across the city.

Edinburgh is one of 22 cities across the UK benefiting from the Government’s SuperConnected Cities £150m Programme, which is being delivered through Broadband Delivery UK.

Councillor Frank Ross, Economy Convener, said: “This is great news as the new service will mean that everyone will be able to get free access to the latest information on their favourite apps and websites while out and about and when going to the gym, taking in some art or when taking their children to one of Edinburgh’s many museums. It is also great timing as some of the attractions gearing up for Easter crowds already have public wi-fi installed.

“This project is central to the Council’s plans for growing the city economy, and encouraging residents and visitors to stay longer and increase their spend.”

Edinburgh Leisure, ICT Manager Stuart Fairbairn, said: “Edinburgh Leisure is delighted to offer free wi-fi in 13 of its venues thanks to this funding from the UK Government via our partners at The City of Edinburgh Council. It will allow us to provide our busy customers with a great opportunity to stay connected while working out or relaxing in these venues, giving them yet another reason to stay healthy and active with Edinburgh Leisure.”

Hugh Wallace, Head of Digital Media, National Museum of Scotland, said: “We’re already seeing a healthy level of uptake, and people connecting to the service are then linking to museum-based material on our website (what’s on information, downloadable apps, e-newsletter sign-up). When we fully promote the service we will encourage the sharing of content, engagement with the museum’s collections, and offer further downloadable options – something we hope will provide a real step change for our visitors.”

Culture Secretary Sajid Javid said: “I’m delighted Edinburgh took up the challenge to become one of the UK’s Superconnected Cities as part of the Government programme. It’s vital that our cities have the digital infrastructure like superfast broadband and wifi in place to deal with the demands of the digital age. Our investment in Edinburgh has delivered a welcome boost to the local economy, and is all part of our long term economic plan.”

Buildings that currently have free wi-fi include:

Edinburgh Zoo
National Museum of Scotland
Dynamic Earth
All Edinburgh Leisure centres with the exception of Warrender Swim Centre and the Edinburgh International Climbing Arena (EICA)

Buildings which will go live at some point in the next few months:

Queen’s Hall
Nelson Monument
People’s Story Museum
The Lyceum
Festival Theatre
King’s Theatre
City Art Centre
Edinburgh Festival Fringe
Scottish Poetry Library
Out of Blue Drill Hall
Museum of Edinburgh
Museum of Childhood
The Writers’ Museum
Museum Collections Centre
Lauriston Castle
Old City Observatory and the Dome
Trinity Apse
The Church Hill Theatre
Usher Hall
Royal Botanic Garden Edinburgh
Traverse Theatre
Warrender Swim Centre and the EICA (EICA)

Free wi-fi is also being installed in a number of the Council’s community centres, care homes and young people’s accommodation.

Tierney Award for Susan – Leader of the Pack!

Susan Jeffrey received Drylaw’s Thomas Tierney Award for Good Citizenship at a packed Drylaw Neighbourhood Centre last night. Susan was joined by friends, family and colleagues at a reception organised to mark the annual award that celebrates our unsung local heroes (writes Dave Pickering).

Susan was the unanimous choice of Drylaw Telford community members for her incredible contribution as a volunteer with the Brownies at Drylaw Parish Church – Susan has been with the pack on a Monday evening for thirty years!

Presenting the award, Councillor Lesley Hinds said: “It’s really nice to see such a big crowd here tonight and it’s particularly good that Mrs Tierney has joined us once again.

“The community council received four every strong nominations this year ans it says a lot that Susan was the unanimous choice of the community council for her thirty years service with the local Brownie Pack, but also in recognition of her work as a fundraiser with Drylaw Church, where she chaired the fundraising committee.

“Presenting the award gives me particular satisfaction this year as I am an ambassador for the local Girl Guiding movement and I know just what a difference people like Susan can make to young people’s lives. I wonder just how many girls and young women have been influenced in a positive way over those thirty years? Susan has been described as a ‘warm, caring person’ and while she may be quiet and reserved she has made a great contribution to community life here in Drylaw.”

Susan said: “I would like to thank everyone – my friends and family – who have helped and supported me. I don’t know if I will manage another thirty years but we will see how things go!”

Speaking after the presentation Guide Leader Elizabeth Martin, ex-Commissioner of Raeburn Division (which covers Pennywell District, of which Drylaw is part) said: “It was an honour for me to present Susan with her 30 year knot at 170th ‘B’ Brownies in January, my final role as Division Commissioner for Girlguiding Raeburn.

“Susan has seen many girls go through Brownies and some have even become leaders within Girlguiding and Scouting. She always encourages the girls to do their best along with encouraging the volunteers she has had over the years to take a full part in the unit. Susan runs a very full programme of activities for the girls and plans the unit meetings with her other leaders. Congratulations, Susan on your Award.”

If you’d like more information about Girlguiding – perhaps your daughter is interested in joining or you’d like to find out about volunteering with the organisation, visit www.girlguiding.org.uk

Susan is the fifteenth recipient of the annual award – and the women have forged into a clear lead! The tally now stands at 9-6 in the girl’s favour, so come on Drylaw boys – get out and support your community!

Thomas Tierney Award for Good Citizenship Award Winners:

2000 Harry MacDonald

2001 David Pickering

2002 Anna Aitken

2003 Alexander Sandilands

2004 Emma Robertson

2005 Florence Atkinson

2006 Evelyn Crawford

2007 Jackie Brown

2008 Eileen Outterson

2009 Margaret Robinson

2010 Henry MacDonald

2011 Ian Moore

2012 Alex Dale

2013 Mhairi Curren

2014 Susan Jeffrey

More pictures from last night’s event:

Dave Pickering

Spring Walk: book NOW!

Last chance to book!

Zoo Arts Extra
Spring Art Walk & Gallery Visit
Friday 27 March, 1.15pm
FREE, For all ages

Walk from North Edinburgh Arts (NEA) to the Gallery of Modern Art

Leaving from NEA at 1.15pm

Please arrive 10 minutes before
If you’re coming from the High School, we’ll meet you on Pennywell Road at 1.20pm
Primary school age participants are welcome to come to NEA direct from school and wait in a supervised lunch / activity space (with art materials!)
If you would like to be collected from school, please phone to arrange

On the Walk:
The walk will take about an hour and a half. Valla, our garden coordinator at NEA will be with us to show us edible plants and tell us about the environment of the cycle path and walk way.

Artist Mark Kirkham (http://edinburghsketcher.com/) will help us sketch all kinds of things along the way.

Art materials, cameras, waterproofs provided.

We will also be leaving the walkway cleaner than we find it; with special litter grabbers provided! Scooters are a good idea for young ones who may find the walk a bit long. Please NO bikes!

At the Gallery of Modern Art:

We’ll wash hands and have snacks and something hot to drink
Draw, photograph and play in the grounds of the gallery
Split into small groups for a look around the exhibitions (with activities).

Afterwards

Head across the road to GMA 2, and through the amazing Dean Cemetery – perfect spot for a bit more sketching and photography – and catch the 37bus home (from Queensferry Road).

Back at North Edinburgh Arts by around 5.30pm (We will notify parents of any change by text).

This activity is for ALL AGES; individuals AND families.

Coming without a parent or responsible adult?
We need permission from a parent/carer to take you with us, as well as contact phone numbers.

Pick up a permission slip from North Edinburgh Arts, Muirhouse Library or your school’s reception / admin office (Pirniehall, St David’s, Forth View, Ferryhill & Craigroyston Primaries).

Or, request the form from admin@northedinburgharts.co.uk

Edinburgh Police Choir on lookout for new members

The Edinburgh Police Choir is looking to recruit new tenors to its ranks. We are arguably the most exciting and innovative contemporary choir in Scotland, made up of police officers, support staff and members of the local community.

The choir started in 2008, and has performed at some cracking venues, including the Festival Theatre, Usher Hall, the SECC, Scottish Parliament and as far afield as New York. More recently the choir finished in 6th place at the 2014 BBC Choir of the Year adult category, and in 2nd place at the Manchester Amateur Choral Competition last month, although most of our performances raise money for charity.

If you can hold a tune, don’t mind working hard and would like to perform great material in some fabulous venues, then get in touch to arrange to meet the choir. We rehearse in north-west Edinburgh on Sunday evenings.

email us at edinburghpolicechoir@gmail.com

check out our website at www.edinburghpolicechoir.com

or ring 07971920435

Soapbox: Fixing North Edinburgh

Muirhouse man and award-winning film maker Garry Fraser gives his take on his community’s current problems …

It’s kinda ironic that the police put out their chopper every night and day, costing some were like £400 grand per month. The aim of this chopper is to catch the young team in their stolen cars and bikes. A’m sure the figures are out but North Edinburgh has the highest crime rate in Scotland. They have evicted folk, jailed folk, issued community sentence orders and then cut off another generation to jail as they are too old.

None of their policies work, which leaves the System scratching its head wondering ‘what are we doing wrong?’ You have a massive college in North Edinburgh where folk from around the world come to study – but only two streets away it’s another world. They shipped everybody out of Muirhouse when knocking down the Pennywell flats. Over the years they took away most forms of economic growth: i.e. the pipes and the gas works even Granton’s fishing boats.

Every local MP & MSP & councillor get in to their comfy seats and forget about this and do nothing, apart from sit over an HIV & smack epidemic that of course lasted through the 80’s & 90’s – now comes weed & legal highs.

Its like south central Edinburgh.. How many police stay in the area were they enforce the morals? How many of those wee guys, if trained in whatever, would probably take a job or go and study but only if they were helped and supported through the college system. Every brickie or trades guy who makes it from Muirhouse, Pilton, Royston or Drylaw ends up being one of the best on the site – that’s a fact …

Most folk down there who get a real chance and opportunity in work or education grab it with both hands as they know what the alternative is … that’s robbing, stealing, dealing and living within the chains of masculinity. That is now, because there are no real opportunities.

Ye need to empower a community and let them come up wi’ their own solutions. You need to invest in education to reduce the gap in equality.

You need to have a rehab or treatment centre bang in the community to get three generations of methadone and other daft prescription drugs clean: ye can’t sell green to addicts through drugs policies then jail folk for selling weed to pay for food, power and for some their own smoke.

Ye can’t put shops with pubs chippy’s and bookies then wonder why folk get addicted to putting bets on! Fatty foods, drink then say ‘Oh, why are they dying of preventable illnesses well before their time?’

When I went to college they say I saved them £1.6 million over three years in the social return on investment – imagine what these wee guys now are costing?

See whoever gets elected for the North Edinburgh do you think they will do anything about these injustices while they say they wish to cut austerity?

I taught maself to read, taught maself to write, love ma people and these rich folk take take take & give nothing back apart from academic reports done by their pals.

The system is rigged …

Congratulations, Hearts – and NEN told you so!

Heart s won the Scottish Football Championship title this afternoon without kicking a ball. Rangers victory over nearest challengers Hibs at Easter Road was enough to ensure the Tynecastle men secured the title.

Hearts topped the league after a victory over Rangers on day one and have never been headed in a remarkable season – the Jam Tarts have been relentless and have built up an unassailable 23 point lead at the top of the league with seven matches still remaining.

Hearts have lost only once during a dream campaign: sitting on 78 points, they’ve won 25 and drawn three of the league matches they’ve played so far, with the one blot being a 3-2 home defeat by Falkirk.

They have scored 84 goals along the way – that tally includes ten scored in a remarkable record-breaking 10-0 victory over Cowdenbeath. Worthy champions indeed – Rangers and Hibs will continue to slug it out for runner-up spot until the end of the season, but who remembers who finishes second?

Hearts’ success is down to meticulous planning, preparation and attention to detail both on and off the pitch, as head coach Robbie Neilson acknowledged. He told fans: “It’s a fantastic achievement and a great day for the club. It’s also testament to the support we’ve had from the fans, it’s also due to the hard work from Ann Budge, Craig Levein and all of the players. Everything that we have asked them to do, they have done it and they deserve every minute of it.

“The key factor has been the hard work from the players. They have bought into the changes made to the training regime. They have worked hard and they deserve everything. I couldn’t ask any more of them, every day at training they give everything. Every game they give me everything and to a man they have been fantastic this season.”

Few would have predicted Hearts’ rags-to-riches revival this season – the pundits, the experts to a man (and woman) predicted Rangers would land the title crown. The Scotsman, Express, The ~~Hun~~ Sun and Daily ~~Ranger~~ Record all said the league trophy would head to Ibrox. BBC Scotland’s Sportsound team confidently said the same.

Only one lone voice spoke from the wilderness:

‘No, it’s Hibs rivals Hearts who are poised to complete a remarkable resurrection. The club now has something the other contenders lack – stability – and the management team, knowing that Hearts were almost certain to be relegated at the end of last season, has meticulously planned this seasons’s campaign with that in mind.

The players brought in appear to have one thing in common – for different reasons, each has a point to prove – and there’s a quiet confidence emanating from down Gorgie way. Whisper it, but don’t be surprised if the Jambos go on to lift the title.’

Yes, you’ve guessed it … step forward your community newspaper North Edinburgh News. NEN – finger on the pulse of Scottish football!

Grown-up debate: meeting to discuss cuts to adult education classes

Campaigners have organised a public meeting to oppose cuts to adult education classes at Craigoyston Community High School. Adult education has always been a key element of life at the local high school – indeed, it’s seen by many as the ‘community’ in ‘community high school’ – but budget cuts now see adult education classes under threat (writes Dave Pickering).

The meeting takes place at the school on Tuesday at 3.30pm.

An online petition at www.change.org has already attracted almost 200 signatures and campaigners now hope to broaden that support.

The change.org petition reads:

‘Day Time Adult Education classes are under threat across the City of Edinburgh. We at Craigroyston Community High School are campaigning to save our day time classes.

There has been a change in the way money raised through lets and classes is allocated. Rather than the money going to the school it will now go directly to The City of Edinburgh Council.

This undermines the incentive for schools to run Adult Day Time classes and this will have a profound impact on Adult Learners.

Please support our Campaign to save Adult Education Day Time classes not only at Craigroyston Community High School but city wide as well.’

Vanessa Cousins, who initiated the local campaign, said: “Thank you everyone for signing up to our campaign – the response has been really encouraging. I am also setting up a Facebook page called Adult Learners Unite and I hope that this and our public meeting at the school will highlight our concerns even more. It’s important that we get the message about as widely as possible – we are short of time as changes could be taking effect as soon as April.”

Dave Pickering

Perfect weather conditions to view solar eclipse

Bright, sunny … and no cloud! Conditions are perfect to experience this morning’s solar eclipse, one of the natural world’s most stunning phenomenon.

At around 9:35 Edinburgh will briefly be plunged into a eerie darkness as the the Moon covers up the Sun. The whole process will start at around 8:30 as the moon slides in front of the sun and will end at 10:44 when the sun’s full brightness is restored.

It’s an event the ancients believed signalled the end of the world but I am confident we will return to post later today …

However, be careful when trying to view the eclipse:

WARNING. NEVER LOOK DIRECTLY AT THE SUN WITH THE NAKED EYE, OR WITH CAMERAS, TELESCOPES, GLASSES OR DEVICES OF ANY KIND UNLESS SPECIFICALLY STATED THAT IT IS SAFE TO DO SO.

LOOKING AT THE SUN WITHOUT PROPER PRECAUTIONS CAN CAUSE SERIOUS EYE DAMAGE.

March 20, 2015 — Total Solar Eclipse

Spartans benefits from old school ties!

Local businessman Daren Henderson went back to his roots when he presented a £1000 cheque to Spartans Community Football Academy last month. Daren, who owns the Edinburgh Driveway Company, is a Muirhouse laddie, and he handed the cheque over to his old Muirhouse Primary pal – and now Spartans Community youth work manager -Kenny Cameron: the pair were P1s together! (writes Dave Pickering)

Daren explained: “When I watched the Spartand video NEN posted on YouTube (see below) I couldn’t help but listen to the youngsters and think: that was me! I was that young boy with nothing to do but hang around the street corners of Muirhouse and Drylaw.”

Daren immediately decided to support the Spartans Community Football Academy, which provides opportunities for local young people that weren’t so readily available when he and Kenny were growing up.

“The Spartans Community Football Academy is very close to my heart and it was a pleasure to hand over a cheque – this money goes straight into the coffers of the academy and helps take local kids of the streets of North Edinburgh and into much more meaningful activities”, he said. “As an extra, The Edinburgh Driveway Company will be funding go-karting and combat activities as part of Spartans summer programme AND one lucky kid gets to come and work with us for a whole week as part of his/hers work experience to give them that much needed experience of working life.”

Daren’s generosity won’t end here. “This relationship is ongoing and I will continue to support this fantastic organisation – the work they do throughout the whole north Edinburgh community is absolutely second to none.”

Kenny Cameron said: “It was great to see Daren and his support is really appreciated by everyone here at the Academy.”

For more informaton on the Edinburgh Driveway Company visit their Facebook page: https://www.facebook.com/theedinburghdrivewaycompany

Dave Pickering

Lallie Wilson exhibition at North Edinburgh Arts

Lallie Wilson: Exhibition Opening Invite
Friday 20th March
North Edinburgh Arts
6 – 7.30pm

North Edinburgh Arts is pleased to present the first major painting exhibition by the artist Lallie Wilson. Based in Musselburgh, Lallie has a body of mixed media artworks and colourful paintings. The exhibition portrays Lallie’s life story; from a young girl in wartime Britain, to a woman still painting many years later.

Daily opening times of exhibition:

Monday 10am – 5pm
Tuesday – Thursday 10am – 7pm (except Thursdays 1-5pm)

The exhibition will run until 27 April.

North Edinburgh Arts are always on the look out for groups and artists who would like to exhibit their work. Find out more on our exhibition page here.