North Edinburgh’s COVID-19 Foodshare Group has updated their information factsheet to include more useful teleohone numbers.
The network of community groups expects hear to about funding to help meet demand in the local area later today. The fund is being administered locally by the city council and EVOC.
Final, Final! North Edinburgh Food Network Info UPDATED 17 APRIL 2020
This factsheet has been produced by the North Edinburgh Covid-19 Foodshare Group:
North Edinburgh groups work together to support vulnerable residents
It started with a meeting called by local activist Willie Black at West Pilton Neighbourhood Centre on 18 March. That initial discussion got the ball rolling, lit the fuse. From there, there were email from Spartans’ chief exec Douglas Samuel, quickly followed by another from local Lifelong Learning Development Officer Allan Hosey. A community campaign was building …
The idea? To coordinate a local community response to the unprecendented challenges posed to vulnerable people by the coronavirus.
Despite years of funding cuts, North Edinburgh retains a wealth of voluntary sector organisations able to adapt to changing circumstances, so who better to take on this major logistical challenge?
While individual community groups initially started their own support schemes for local folk through Muirhouse Millennium and Drylaw Neigbourhood Centres, pooling resources and sharing information offered a unique opportunity to devise and deliver a bespoke plan to ensure that North Edinburgh’s most vulnerable residents would not go hungry or be without basic essential supplies.
That was mid-March and three weeks later, following a regular series of Zoom meetings, hundreds of local people are seeing the benefit of local organisations working together in partnership.
A co-ordinated community response to the greatest public health emergency of our lives is now fully operational and is constantly being fine tuned as new information becomes available.
Hundreds of hot food, sandwiches and essential supplies pack deliveries are now being distributed from community hubs to all who need them on a daily basis, provided by project staff and a dedicated team of community volunteers.
Reflecting on progress so far, Spartans’ Dougie Samuel said: “It’s been great to be able to play our part in a wider community effort to help and support local families.
“The Academy has become a hub for the collection and redistribution of daily lunches and weekly food parcels for members of our community. In a true ‘bottom-up approach’ numerous community partners have come together to provide a co-ordinated support over these past few weeks.
“I’m super proud of the way in which numerous organisations, many of whom who did not have close day-to-day relationships previously, are pulling together as one.”
Among the community organisations involved in the sexily titled (!) North Edinburgh Cov-id 19 Foodshare Group are: Drylaw Neighbourhood Centre, Drylaw Rainbow Club Daycare Centre, Fresh Start, Granton Community Gardeners, LIFT, Muirhouse Millennium Community Centre, North Edinburgh Arts, Pilton Community Health Project, Pilton Equalities Project (PEP), SCRAN Academy and The Spartans Community Football Academy. There may be more and apologies if I’ve missed you!
Local politicians and community councillors are also taking a leading role and community organisations like Granton Information Centre continue to provide advice and support for vulnerable people during these anxious times.
Willie Black, who continues to chair the foodshare group’s regular Zoom meetings, said: “Local People and organisations are working flat out and this has been a huge community effort.
“The biggest challenge facing us now is that of capacity. We need the politicians to get us the resources we need to keep the momentum going, because there’s no doubt the demand will increase in the days and weeks ahead.
“In particular we urgently need additional kitchen capacity and accessible community space for storage.
“News of additional government funding is very welcome and it’s key that this gets down to grassroots level as quickly as possible to enable this vital initiative to continue.”
The next Zoom meeting will take place on Thursday.
At the outset of the lockdown, social enterprise SCRAN Academy, based at Fet Lor Youth Club on Crewe Road South, launched a crowdfunding appeal to raise £12,000 to provide hot meals for those who need them.
Deliveries commenced on 20 March.
SCRAN’s John Loughton explained in the appeal: “We have had every bit of earned income and work cancelled since covid19 was announced, as well as having to sadly cancel supporting our young people face to face. This has been tough. But it’s right.
“Despite this, our charity staff and volunteers, working with others, responded in less than 24 hours and have now applied our catering and community experience into creating a supply chain where we are delivering a FREE, HEALTHY and SAFE meal every day to people across North Edinburgh and Leith (initially).
“We hope to help, love and support those most vulnerable to follow advice, reduce stress and stay home. Please help us support the OAPs, frail, struggling families, those with health conditions all access one wee crucial lifeline at this stage.
“Our direct partners include Prep Table Scotland, Pilton Equalities Project (PEP), Fet Lor Youth Club, Ryvoan Trust, Muirhouse Millenium Centre and many others including support from EdinburghCatering Co., ArtFe, EdinFoodSocial and many more locals.
“We’re delivering over 1,500 meals per week, your help will guarantee us at least £1000 a week over lockdown. Roughly £12 will feed 1 pensioner everyday for a week.
“The local community, MPs, MSPs, the NHS and others are supportive and we are taking stringent industry-level measures to maximise safety and hygiene.”
The total raised so far stands at £7500.
There’s been a great response from the people of Edinburgh to help the city get through the current coronavirus pandemic.
We’d like to thank everyone who has been in touch with the voluntary and public sector to offer their skills and time. We know that many of you are keen to also ‘do your bit’ to contribute to this effort and we would like to thank those of you who are trying to find ways to help your communities.
Your kindness and generosity in these difficult times are a reflection of all that is best about the city we share and the people who call it home.
We need everyone to look out for each other now more than ever and being a good neighbour and taking care of those who need help in your building, street or immediate community is going to help get us through – Volunteer Edinburgh has advice and information on how you can help.
If you are part of an existing or newly formed community group please contact EVOC who have developed a directory and are connecting the amazing community responses across the city. EVOC is working hard to connect supply and demand of food at a very local and community level.
EVOC is asking people to complete this basic form or email info@evoc.org.uk for more information.
Council Leader, Adam McVey, said: “The voluntary sector is doing an amazing job pulling everyone together and making sure people can help out appropriately following government guidelines. If you are able to help others then please ‘Think Local and Act Local’.
“Where you can, offer support to your wider family, your friends and your neighbours to help ensure that they can receive the essential supplies and medicine that they may need.
“Volunteer Edinburgh has a range of information and guidance on how to be a good neighbour safely. At the moment the best thing that most people can do is still to stay at home, limit social contact and follow NHS guidelines. This really is the most important contribution that can be made to the safety and resilience of the city.”
Depute Leader, Cammy Day, said: “To keep essential services running and support those who are vulnerable, we’re constantly monitoring how we deploy our own staff as well. We’re working to identify where our services need help and at the moment we’re relying on our own internal capacity to meet those needs.
“We’ll be monitoring this over the weeks ahead and will work with Volunteer Edinburgh if we think we need the wider community to help us. In the meantime staying safe at home is the best thing people can do. If you can offer more then it really is a matter of thinking local and acting local.
“I want to make sure the local community organisations have a key contact to make sure we have a joined up approach and would urge people to make connect via the EVOC.”
Ella Simpson, Chief Officer of EVOC, said: “I am incredibly proud to be part of the voluntary sector in Edinburgh. They know their communities so well and have been absolutely amazing in their responses to Covid-19.
“As we continue to respond it is vital that we all work together – volunteers, voluntary sector and statutory agencies – to support the most vulnerable people in our communities.”
Paul Wilson, Chief Officer of Volunteer Edinburgh, said: “People’s response to the pandemic has been overwhelming. In every street in Edinburgh people are helping each other, looking out for their neighbours and supporting the vulnerable and those in self isolation.
“Never before has it been more important to give your time, if you are able to, be a good neighbour and look out for each other. More than any other city in Scotland Edinburgh has always been a city of volunteers, of people who helped and I am very proud to live here.
“Please everyone be safe, think and act locally, continue to support your community in the weeks to come and most of all be kind.”
North Edinburgh’s voluntary sector has rallied to the cause with community organisations pulling out all the stops to ensure the area’s most vulnerable residents get food and essential supplies.
Now three weeks into operation there’s a co-ordinated effort to pool community resources and expertise to get supplies to people in Muirhouse,Drylaw Telford, West Pilton, Granton and Royston Wardieburn.
Do you, or someone you know, need food, supplies or other support during this hugely difficult time?
An information sheet with key telephone contact numbers is currently being produced and should be available over the next day or two, but in the meatime please email me at northedinburghnews@gmail.com and I will pass on your details to the relevant area organisers.
Remember the key advice: STAY HOME UNLESS ABSOLUTELY NECESSARY
The community centre has been organising a community lunch in the centre on a Thursday for the last month as part of a new initiative to promote our classes and groups.
Unfortunately, we have had to cancel all our adult education groups and classes in the centre including our Thursday activities and sit down lunch. We will, however, be providing a take away service on Wednesday and Thursdays between 12 and 2 for the next few weeks.
The freshly cooked food will be served in take-away containers and can be heated up at home or frozen for future use. We have already paid for this food, so there will be no charge.
To protect yourself and others, please wash your hands carefully on entering the building and minimise your contact with others.
For people who are unable to pick up the food (ie over 70’s, people with health conditions, families with sick children and people who are self-isolating) we will be offering a limited delivery service.
If there’s anyone you know who would benefit from this service, please ask them to get in touch (email lynn.mccabe@ea.edin.sch.uk or phone the centre on 552 5700) and we will do what we can to help.
A meeting of local organisations to co-ordinate support across North Edinburgh will be taking place at West Pilton Neighbourhood Centre at 2.30pm this afternoon and we hope to pull together an information sheet containing information on what services are available locally.
Keep an eye on local facebook pages for future updates.
North Edinburgh activists are to meet tomorrow to formulate a community response to tackling problems caused by the coronavirus pandemic. The meeting will take place in West Pilton Neighbourhood Centre at 2.30pm.
Meeting organiser Willie Black said: “We have already seen communities coming together to do what they can to help their neighbours and our more vulnerable residents, and the purpose of tomorrow’s meeting is to co-ordinate this community response to make sure no person is being missed or left out.
“By working together and pooling our resources we can better respond to the challenges posed to our community by this pandemic.”
Local voluntary sector organisations, food banks, community centre representatives, council officers, community councils and local elected politicians have all been invited to attended.
What can you do to help? Why not attend the meeting and find out!
TODAY AT ROYSTON WARDIEBURN COMMUNITY CENTRE
ALL WELCOME
COMMUNITY THURSDAYS AT ROYSTON WARDIEBURN
You can still join the free COMMUNITY HEALTH MATTERS course which is running at Royston Wardieburn Community Centre on Thursday mornings until 2nd April.
See below for this week’s programme – all welcome!
Free Courses start on Thursday
and also at Royston Wardieburn …
