Category: Stockbridge

Local charity receives funding boost from the ScottishPower Foundation

LifeCare Edinburgh has been awarded a significant funding boost of over £75,000 from the ScottishPower Foundation.  The funding will go towards its vital Help at Home and Meals on Wheels services, enabling the charity to reach over 200 local older people living on a low income with free support. 

Twenty charities across England, Scotland and Wales have been awarded funding totalling almost £1.2 million for projects tackling a range of issues, from cost-of-living support, to promoting diversity and inclusion and raising awareness of the ongoing climate and biodiversity crises. 

Sarah van Putten, Chief Executive of LifeCare said: “The funding from The ScottishPower Foundation will make a significant difference to the lives of hundreds of local older people. 

“At LifeCare, we believe everyone should be enabled to thrive in their own home and be active within their community.  Over 75% of the people we help live alone and without LifeCare, many older people would be left critically isolated.  

“Our services help people to keep well in both body and mind; delivering fresh, hot and nutritious meals to doorsteps with a smile and a chat, providing help with practical tasks when things are getting more difficult to manage, and offering companionship activities to keep people connected.    

“With a rapidly growing older population we are struggling to cope with demand for care coupled with the rising costs of service delivery. None of our services are fully funded and we rely on our fundraising to sustain our life-affirming services. 

“Thanks to this support we will be enabled to offer our meals on wheels service for free to those that need it and open our Help at Home service for free for those on low incomes for the first time.  We are all extremely grateful.” 

Melanie Hill, Executive Officer and Trustee at the ScottishPower Foundation, said: “Projects like LifeCare’s free Help at Home and Meals on Wheels services are a prime example of how the ScottishPower Foundation’s support is helping to create a better future. 

“With this year’s projects providing vital support set to aid vulnerable people, communities, and natural ecosystems across the nation, it’s important for us to recognise and boost the incredible work of these charities.” 

For more information about LifeCare’s services and activities visit:

https://www.lifecare-edinburgh.org.uk/ 

For a full list of the 2024 ScottishPower Foundation funded projects, go to www.scottishpowerfoundation.com

What is Power of Attorney?

A few places still available at LifeCare’s free info event to help local people simplify the future

Thinking about what would happen in the future if our, or our loved ones, faculties deteriorated can be stressful and worrying. How would someone manage our affairs, access our accounts to set up the right care for us, or pay the bills? Without the right processes in place, an already very emotional situation can be made worse with often very serious consequences.  

Local charity, LifeCare Edinburgh understands how daunting and complex these situations can be and will next month host a free information giving event to help debunk the complexities and help people put the right practical support in place to ensure someone trusted can quickly make decisions on behalf of a loved one if they’re not able, or no longer able, to make them themselves.  

Power of Attorney is a legal document where someone – while they still have mental capacity – nominates a trusted friend or relative to look after their affairs if they later lost capacity in the event of an emergency, illness or accident.

It is not limited to people who are older or unwell, everyone needs to consider setting up a Power of Attorney at any stage of life to avoid any future complications. For example, due to having a stroke, serious accident or dementia.  

Delivered in partnership with experts from Lindsay’s Legal Services team, LifeCare will host its first information giving event designed to encourage people to stop and think about what they need to put in place to help simplify the future.  

Sarah van Putten, Chief Executive of LifeCare said “Unfortunately at LifeCare we are well aware of how stressful life can be when people don’t have the right documents in place.  No one can predict when they may face an unforeseen illness, accident or other debilitating event that may render them incapacitated.  

“As one of Edinburgh’s leading charities providing practical care support we know how emotional these situations can be at the best of times but we also know how much worse they can be when family members and loved ones are locked out of helping access the support for the people they care for. 

“Relatives can’t just walk into a bank and access your money, even if it is to pay for your care. Unless you’ve a Power of Attorney, loved ones would need to apply through court, which can be long and costly. 

“We understand that thinking about the future can be upsetting and frightening. Our free and informal information giving event delivered in partnership with Lindsays is designed to simplify matters; there will be no jargon and there will be plenty of time for questions and discussions and an opportunity to discuss any concerns with legal experts for free.”

LifeCare’s ‘What is Power of Attorney’ event, delivered in partnership with Lindsay’s, will take place at 2pm on Wednesday 1st May in the charity’s fully accessible community café, CafeLife at 2 Cheyne Street, EH4 1JB. 

Free tea and coffee will be available along with the opportunity to find out more about LifeCare’s vital services for older people and the community overall.  

The charity is encouraging people to register via Eventbrite in advance of the meeting: https://www.eventbrite.co.uk/e/lifecares-power-of-attorney-information-event-tickets-856970821797?aff=oddtdtcreator

or visit the LifeCare website https://www.lifecare-edinburgh.org.uk/

or call 0131 343 0940 to register interest.

TODAY: Spring Community Event at LifeCare

Enjoy lots of fun spring activities, including a bake sale, face painting, art exhibition featuring artwork from our unpaid carers classes, and our pop up play for under 5s for your littles to enjoy!

This event is free thanks to funding from The National Lottery Community Fund.

All welcome, just drop by!

Free thanks to @TNLComFundScot

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Dobbies’ Edinburgh and Lothian stores invite nominations for national community initiative

Dobbies, the UK’s leading garden centre, today launches Dobbies Community Gardens, to offer support for community and charity groups in Edinburgh and the Lothians to help transform, restore or start their indoor or outdoor green spaces.

Committed to bringing a smile to its local communities, Dobbies is inviting anyone who has a community space that needs gardening knowledge and inspiration – indoors or outdoors – to get in touch, with applications now open.

Dobbies’ colleagues are passionate about gardens and plants, championing garden living all year round to create experiences that bring people and communities together.

The Stockbridge little dobbies and Edinburgh store will select a project to support from the nominations that are made. The winning groups will receive products, tools and plants to help bring their community space to life during a personal-shopper session with a dedicated Dobbies’ colleague. In addition to this, there will be volunteer hours allocated to help bring the project to fruition.

Successful applicants will receive support over the year to keep their indoor or outdoor space blooming.

Nick Anderson, Dobbies’ Operations Director, is looking forward to hearing from groups across the country. He said: “There are so many brilliant community groups near our Stockbridge little dobbies and Edinburgh store – from schools and nurseries, to In Bloom Groups and charities, and even local sports teams.

“Our store colleagues are ready to take on a fresh challenge for this year and we want to hear from groups in Edinburgh and the Lothians who would benefit from our support.

“If anyone knows of a community group that has a garden living project in need of our help, please encourage them to enter.”

Applications are now open and taking part couldn’t be easier. Those entering must be located within 20 miles of Dobbies’ Edinburgh store or five miles of the Stockbridge little dobbies store. For more information about how to get involved in Dobbies Community Gardens, visit Dobbies Community Gardens

Nominated projects will be invited along to the Edinburgh store for the free Grow How session on Saturday 4 May, 10.30am, and the winner will be announced. The Stockbridge little dobbies store doesn’t hold a free Grow How session, the winner will be contacted separately.

The winning team for each store will meet a colleague that will support them throughout the project.

New St Columba’s Stockbridge shop to open on Wednesday

We’re putting the finishing touches to our brand new Stockbridge shop, which will now open on Wednesday 21st February instead of Saturday 17th!

We can’t wait to welcome everyone along to Stockbridge’s newest addition at 10-12 Hamilton Place at 10am!

Free Trad Dance sessions at Stockbridge Library

Join us for a new series of 5 FREE world trad dance sessions at Stockbridge Library.

Dance to the tunes & steps of Old Time Scottish, Bollywood, Pizzica, American Line and Lindy Hop – led by our qualified dance teachers + live music!

REGISTER NOW: https://linktr.ee/traddanceforumscotland

Shelter Scotland’s Stockbridge shop January Spectacular returns for 2024 

Shelter Scotland’s much loved January Stockbridge new year launch event returns for its 21st year on Wednesday 3rd January 2024. 

Running since 2003, the event attracts excited shoppers from across Edinburgh and beyond.  

Every year, staff and volunteers at the Stockbridge shop offer up a huge range of some of the most exciting and intriguing items donated over the course of the year.  

With a scintillating selection on offer, this year’s extravaganza is sure to create a real buzz among the Capital’s collectors, connoisseurs, and fashionistas.  

Bookworms can grab a signed first edition of Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets or a first edition of HG Wells iconic The War of the Worlds.  

The designer brands on offer include Armani, Gucci, and Ralph Lauren.  

For homeware enthusiasts there are beautiful vintage coffee sets tea-sets, and Portmerion China. 

All that in addition to a range of records, pop-culture collectables, board games, jewellery, art, and more. 

Shelter Scotland Director, Alison Watson, said: “For more than two decades now the Shelter Scotland’s January Stockbridge launch event has been marked in the calendars of Edinburgh’s discerning shoppers.  

“Scotland is in a housing emergency: there are more than 9,500 children in Scotland with nowhere to call home, more and more people are becoming homeless, while the housing budget has just been slashed. 

“Your support keeps us in the fight against homelessness, so ahead of this exciting event I’d like to thank all our customers and donors for their generosity.” 

Shetler Scotland Stockbridge Shop Manager, Peter Jew, added: “I can’t wait to welcome all our customers to what is at this point an almost legendary event in Edinburgh. 

“This is a chance to showcase and celebrate our donations and we’re immensely grateful to everyone who contributed.  

“This year we have a truly magnificent selection on offer, this is a great opportunity to grab something special while supporting Shelter Scotland in the fight against the Housing Emergency.” 

LifeCare Edinburgh brings the local community together for festive Christmas lunches  

LifeCare Edinburgh brought members of the local community together to enjoy some early festive cheer this year at their annual charity Christmas lunches. Over 150 two course lunches were served across three days in the charity’s Community Café, CafeLife, by volunteers from aerospace engineering company Leonardo, who chose LifeCare as their charity partner last year.  

Guests also enjoyed entertainment from local choir, The Cheyne Gang, a community singing group for people living with long term respiratory conditions such as COPD, Asthma and Bronchiectasis, as well as a Tombola and Christmas Quiz. 

 LifeCare CEO, Sarah Van Putten, said: “Our Christmas Lunches are a fantastic way of bringing people together in support of a good cause.

“All the money we raise from our lunches and other Christmas activities go directly towards our Winter Warmer Appeal which we launched back in November, due to unprecedented demand for our services through the cost-of-living crisis.

“These funds will enable us to continue to provide vital support to local older people and unpaid carers during the difficult winter months. A huge thank you to all those who came along, including our wonderful volunteers and of course our fabulous choir. Your support funds ours, and it really does make a huge difference.” 

LifeCare Edinburgh is a local charity with a proud 80-year-history of providing uplifting, positive and practical support for older people.

Their vision is of a society where no older person is alone or isolated, and their professional and high-quality support is delivered to the most vulnerable members of the community – including those living with dementia and unpaid (often older themselves) carers – within the home and out and about. 

The LifeCare Christmas lunches have become a key date in the diary for many Stockbridge locals, with the 2023 events the second to take place since the covid-19 pandemic.