I thought I would share this fantastic news with you all first. Last night at the City Chambers our very own Josh Hardwick received a Youth Volunteering award for all his work with TRIM and the shop.
I attended with him and he was absolutely delighted.
I am sure you will all join me when I say huge well done to him.
More details will be posted on our website today
Robert Pearson, TRIM
Old Kirk & Muirhouse Parish Church, Pennywell Gardens
SUMMER FAYRE
Saturday 13 June 10am – 12 noon
All welcome
Congratulations to Craigroyston Primary School choir
Craigroyston Primary School children flew the flag for North Edinburgh at The Assembly Rooms in George Street when they took part in the inaugural Edinburgh Glee Challenge last week.
The Frisson Foundation charity’s vision is to get every primary school child in Scotland singing, and back in 2013 they held their first GLEE event in Fife. Glee has been a real phenomenon and the event proved a huge success. Since then the idea has continued to grow in popularity and last week’s competition was the first event to be staged in the capital.
Craigroyston’s young singers warmed up for the event at the opening of the school’s popular art exhibition at North Edinburgh Arts – where they performed brilliantly without a backing track!
Joining Craigroyston at the event were Bun-Sgoil Taobh Na Pairce, Carrick Knowe Primary School, Clovenstone Primary School and Clermiston Primary School, and after some excellent performances Clermiston were crowned champions.
Congratulations to Clermiston, but well done too to Craigroyston and all the other participants. No doubt they’ll be joined by a few more next year – don’t stop believin’!
For more information on the charity – www.frissonfoundation.org.uk
PC Helen Lyon will be at Muirhouse Community Shop tomorrow (Tuesday) from 11am -12 noon taking your concerns and queries. If you have the chance please feel free to pop in and speak to her tomorrow. #StrongerNorth
Inspirational Young Adult award for Craigroyston pupil
Josh Hardwick from Muirhouse has won the Inspirational Young Adult category at this year’s Edinburgh Evening News Local Hero Awards. Josh received his award at a star-studded gala event at the Assembly Rooms last night.
Craigroyston High School, where Josh is a pupil, also came runner-up in the Schools section.
Josh’s nomination read: “Josh is an active board member of Tenants and Residents In Muirhouse, North Edinburgh Young Peoples Forum and Volunteer at Muirhouse Community Shop.
“He engages with residents from all walks all life, assisting in the community shop on a weekly basis, Josh can often be seen helping with the Food bank distribution
“He is someone who understands the issues that residents face, he is very supportive to their every need when in the shop”
“As a board member of TRIM Josh brings an invaluable young person’s take on issues that we discuss, he is passionate about his community and will do anything possible to make the area better. He engages well with any groups / agencies that attend board meetings or visit the community shop”.
Congratulations, too, to Granton’s Terri Smith, who was runner-up in the Inspirational Young Adult category. Terri suffers from health problems but hasn’t let that stop her giving young people a voice through the Scottish Youth Parliament, where she represents Edinburgh Northern & Leith.
The Inspirational Young Adult was sponsored by the Omni. Centre manager David Edwards said: “We have chosen to support that category because it is important to recognise the amazing contribution young people are making to their communities”.
And so say all of us!
On a night of successes for North Edinburgh, Professor Mike Dixon, a world-leading expert in treating breast cancer, was named Health Champion.
Based at the Western General Hospital, Mike has worked as a specialist surgeon for more than two decades and leads a research team dedicated to understanding why the most common form of breast cancer becomes resistant to drugs, which helps give sufferers the best chance of survival possible. Professor Dixon said he was delighted but his joy was tinged with sadness because his mother, who recently passed away, could not be here to share in the night.
Congratulations also to David Marshall and Thomas Lynch, founders of Dads Rock. The charity supports dads to spend quality time with their children and runs local sessions at both The Prentice Centre and Royston Wardieburn Community Centre. Dads Rock won the Community Champion award (above).
Pilrig Park School was School of the Year, with Craigroyston High School runner-up, and Dean Reilly was runner up in the Fundraiser or Volunteer of the Year for his fundraising efforts on behalf of Leith-based MS Therapy Centre.
The top Local Hero award went to the late Jak Trueman. The fifteen year old from Mid Calder dedicated his last weeks to fundraising as he battled a rare form of blood cancer. He raised over £50,000 for leukaemia and lymphoma research and kick-started the fundraising for Team Jak before his untimely death in February. A worthy winner, indeed.
Cook & Taste is tried and tested – and temptingly tasty too!
It was a full house at Muirhouse Community Shop for the launch of Pilton Community Health Project’s brand new, hot-off-the-press Cook and Taste recipe book yesterday.
Customers, gourmets and curious guests packed the place out and the icing on the cake was a selection of songs from North Edinburgh’s very own Timebank Temptations.
Special mention to the star of the day Kai Crozier (who is 4 and a half). Wee Kai (below) was the Chief Taster during the preparation of the recipe book and yesterday added the role of Master of Ceremonies to his list of duties, keeping order during the speeches!
The recipe book is packed with recipes brought by local people to the shop for PCHP staff to cook with them – they are tried and tested, and they’re delicious! Pick up a free copy from the community shop or Pilton Community Health Project on Boswall Parkway, or download it at http://pchp.org.uk/resources/cook-and-taste-recipe-book
Some images:
There are more images on our Facebook page too …
Craigroyston Primary School Art Exhibition 2015
Every year, the pupils at Craigroyston Primary amaze and surprise everyone with their fantastic array of art and this year is no exception (writes Helen Cameron). From patterns and plants to seas and sunshine, and everything in between, the pupils have done it again this year and put on a fabulous show!
For a wee change the venue this year is the North Edinburgh Arts Centre so anyone popping in for a coffee or meeting friends can wander round and marvel at all the pupils’ work. It will be on display for the next few weeks, is free of charge and everyone is welcome to go and view.
The children are hoping to reach a wider audience by using this venue, certainly it is easy for anyone in the area to drop in either on your own or even better bring a friend! Hopefully lots of you will manage along and spread the word about all the local talent!
Many thanks to the staff at the Centre for their help and support in mounting the exhibition and preparing advertising material.
Helen Cameron
NOTE:
The exhibition opened in style at North Edinburgh Arts last night with great musical performances by the school’s Glee Club (including a very impressive ‘Don’t Stop Believin’ – a cappella, too!) – and the talented new woodwind players.
See below for some opening night pictures – and there are lots more on our Facebook page
Do visit the exhibition – you won’t be disappointed! DP
Good, healthy recipes produced by local cooks
Everyone’s invited to the launch of the community Cook and Taste recipe book at Muirhouse Community Shop, Pennywell Road on Wednesday from 111am – 1pm!.
We’ll be cooking and giving free delicious tasters, recipe books and information about food related activities in the area. The Time Bank Temptations Choir will also be performing on the day.
All the recipes in the book have been tried, tasted and have proved really successful. “This is good and really tasty. I will try to make it at home”, said Joan, one of the community shop volunteers when she tried the ragu Bolognese. Susan, one of the local volunteers who decided to share her macaroni cheese recipe said: “It’s lovely; quick and easy to cook in the house”.
The recipes in this book come from a partnership project between Pilton Community Heatlh Project (PCHP) and the Muirhouse Community Shop (MCS).
Memes Molina, Food Development Worker at PCHP, said “It’s been a great opportunity to work in partnership with the shop’s volunteers, to do some cooking with local people and discover new recipes with them. This launch is to celebrate the effort and commitment of everyone involved. For some of the volunteers it has been a while since they last cooked at home but people got involved and shared their delicious dishes. PCHP has put together a recipe book called Cook and Taste, where we can now share a selection of these recipes with the local community.”
PCHP’s Food team works with volunteers and local partners to help local people develop their understanding and knowledge to eat well on a budget, including cooking skills, budgeting, meal planning and wider food issues.
PCHP does this by running cooking sessions, lots of ‘cook and taste’ sessions in the community, delivering ‘bite size’ sessions on eating well and much more. People can get involved by joining one of the groups, becoming a volunteer or attending Food for Thought Forum meetings.
PCHP also gives the local community access to food related training courses to develop their skills. We are now able to support others to deliver quick and easy healthy eating sessions using our nutrition toolkit.
http://pchp.org.uk/projects/food
The partnership work between PCHP and MCS started as way to promote healthy eating in the area, in response to the needs of some local people and the shop volunteers.
Everyone can come along to the launch. If you want more information about PCHP activities or other food related activities in North Edinburgh, phone PCHP on 013 551 1671 or visit the website.
A-Star Sports doubles up in MITK Awards
Over the last two months, local network Mums in the Know has been hosting its awards across the UK. After receiving over 3,000 nominations and 15,000 votes, the network of readers has decided on its favourite local activities for children – and A-Star Sports has won two awards: Best After School Activity Class and Best Class for 2 – 4 Year Olds.
Local organisation TRIM won the MITK Local Star category and Dads Rock was also commended.
The awards have highlighted the talents of Brian Droudge, owner of two A-Star Sports franchises, through a number of parents’ nominations showcased via the Mums in the Know website, which included being a finalist in a third category – MITK Local Star.
Brian said: “It’s so rewarding to have our coaching highlighted in such a positive way and means a great deal that people have taken the time to vote and given such amazing feedback, too. All of us in the Edinburgh team are passionate about what we do and we take a lot of pride in making physical activity and sport as fun, accessible and enjoyable as it can be.”
Having left school at 16, Brian spent the next 15 years working for large life assurance companies. He also played semi-professional football from the age of 18, as well as managed and coached at various clubs. He has now been coaching physical activity and sports to primary aged children for over ten years and has a great pride in seeing their skills and love of sports grow and develop. He explains: “For me, influencing children’s development on a weekly basis gives me a great buzz, job satisfaction and a very positive feeling about the work I do.”
Brian runs A-Star Sports in Edinburgh South & East, Midlothian and East Lothian as well as Edinburgh North, West and surrounding areas, and employs assistant coaches as part of his multi-sports specialist team.
Following the recent merger of A-Star Sports with leading children’s physical activity provider Sports Xtra, Brian and his team will shortly be introducing an additional range of local activities and ‘Xperiences’ for primary aged children.
Award-winning businesses receive a free article in the winners’ section of the MITK website, social media mentions, window stickers, logo and additional advertising offers.
Over 3000 nominations were received and 15,000 votes cast in this year’s Mums in the Know North Edinburgh Awards. The winners were:
Best Soft Play: Clambers at Royal Commonwealth Pool, Edinburgh
with a special mention to Tumbles, Edinburgh Leisure and Tiki Tots who were also nominated.
Best Class for 0 -2 Year Olds: Monkey Music, Comely Bank Murrayfield and Corstorphine
And a special mention to Music with Jackie and Tinies with Daisy Foundation Edinburgh East who were also nominated.
Best Class for 2 – 4 Year Olds: A-Star Sports Edinburgh North, West and Surrounding Areas
And a special mention to Shuffle Dance Edinburgh and Sparkle Arts who were also nominated.
Best After School Activity Class: A-Star Sports Edinburgh North, West and Surrounding Areas
And a special mention to best Step It Up Dance and Zoo Arts Extra who were also nominated.
Best Place to Eat for Families: Pizza Express Stockbridge
And a special mention to Tony Macaroni, Omni Centre and Vittoria Group who were also nominated.
MITK Local Star: Tenants and Residents in Muirhouse (TRIM) ‘this group really go the extra mile to help the residents and local community’.
And a special mention to Brian Droudge, A-Star Sports Edinburgh North, West and Surrounding Areas and to Dads Rock who were also nominated.
Congratulations to you all!
North Edinburgh to loo-se public lavatories?
Toilets at Granton Square and Canonmills are among a dozen public conveniences earmarked for possible closure by the city council. Local residents are being encouraged to take part in a survey to have their say about the closures.
The Council decided in 2011 to reduce the funding of public conveniences in order to make budget savings of £300,000. It’s believed that around ten public toilets must close in order to achieve these savings.
A list of twelve facilities has been identified for closure, based on criteria such as usage, accessibility and condition:
· London Road
· Tollcross
· St John’s Road
· Canaan Lane
· Middle Meadow Walk
· Joppa
· Hawes Pier, South Queensferry
· Granton Square
· Ardmillan
· Currie
· Canonmills
· Juniper Green
Members of the public are being asked for their feedback on how these potential closures would impact on them individually and their communities – this will help the Council to make the final decision about which public conveniences to close.
Residents can now take part in the online survey which will run until Monday 25 May.
There are currently more than 60 publicly accessible toilets across the city and a community toilets scheme is currently under consideration to further improve provision.
