Uncategorized – Page 249 – The NEN

Can you help Karen find her family?

My name is Karen Paterson and I am writing this letter in the hope of tracing my father and uncles who myself and my sister Nicola have not seen for over thirty years.

We live in South Wales but my father was from Edinburgh, he was in the RAF when he met my mother.

Our fathers name is Douglas James Paterson, he has two brothers, the oldest being James Paterson who married a lady called Rose, and the youngest brother is Ross Paterson who married a lady called Sheila. My grandmother, I remember, was known as Ella Paterson and lived at Moredunvale Bank in Moredun.

It would be so nice to be able to get to know my family. I would be so grateful if anyone that reads this letter has any information that could help me with my search. If you do have any information you can email at karenpat75@gmail.com

Stepping Stones require playworker

Stepping Stones North Edinburgh are recruiting – see below …

PLAYWORKER ADVERT POSTER (2)

STV Appeal support for Edinburgh's Streetwork

Streetwork is one of ten youth projects to receive STV Appeal funding

The STV Appeal has granted a total of £30,000 to support 10 projects across Scotland, in partnership with the Youth and Philanthropy Initiative (YPI).

One of the projects awarded a £3,000 grant is Streetwork in Edinburgh which works with vulnerable people on the streets providing street based outreach and one to one follow up support to enable a life beyond the street. Streetwork has been working with vulnerable people for over 22 years and through their outreach work aims to break the cycle of crisis and chaos for our most vulnerable people, including young people. The project was nominated by Drummond Community High School.

One of the service users, aged 17, met Streetwork while on the streets and explained the difference it made for him: “Streetwork gave me help in pointing me in the right direction and providing support that I needed. They helped me contact other agencies to help me sort out my flat and debt problems by helping me contact the right people.”

Managed in Scotland by The Wood Foundation, YPI is a UK and North America wide programme which engages young people in social change and empowers them to critically understand their local community.

YPI Scotland, which was delivered in 108 secondary schools across 18 local authorities during the 2013/14 academic year, asked students to research local need within their community and identify charities they felt were making a difference, before advocating on behalf of their chosen cause for the chance to secure the £3000 STV Appeal grant.

Ten winning projects have now been chosen by the STV Appeal to receive £3,000 each from the STV Appeal, all addressing child poverty at a local level:

VSA Young Carers (Aberdeen) nominated by St Machar Academy
Befriend a Child (Aberdeen) nominated by Hazlehead Academy
Streetwork (Edinburgh) nominated by Drummond Community High School
Children’s Holiday Venture (East Lothian) nominated by Knox Academy
Drumchapel Women’s Aid (Glasgow) nominated by Turnbull High School
Haldane Youth Services (West Dunbartonshire) nominated by Vale of Leven Academy
Petal Support (South Lanarkshire) nominated by Cathkin High School
Riding for the Disabled Arran Group (North Ayrshire) nominated by Arran High School
Inverclyde Foodbank (Inverclyde) nominated by St Columba’s High School
Govanhill Family Support Group (Glasgow) nominated by St Benedict’s High School

Now in its fourth year, the STV Appeal is determined to make an even bigger difference in the lives of children and young people living in poverty in Scotland. The money raised is distributed to provide practical help like food and warm clothes; create opportunities for training and employability; and enable social and emotional support for those who need it most.

Claire Gibson, CEO at Streetwork said: “It was a pleasure to support the students from Drummond Community High School in their Youth Philanthropy Initiative. The students were very impressive and immediately engaged with the work of Streetwork and the difference we make. The presentation from Drummond Community High was excellent and we were honoured to be awarded £3,000 towards our work with vulnerable young people in Edinburgh.”

Jonathan Christie, YPI Scotland Manager at The Wood Foundation, said: “The opportunity to work with the STV Appeal, and other likeminded partners, is central to the ongoing growth, development and success of YPI Scotland. Across our 140 participating secondary schools, over 18,000 young people will engage in YPI this year, directing a total of £440,000 to small, local charities; charities providing invaluable support in their community. We are delighted the STV Appeal has chosen to support these ten projects, whilst investing in both youth voice and community social action.”

Elizabeth Partyka from the STV Appeal said: “The ten winning projects all do fantastic work to support children and young people affected by poverty across Scotland. We have really enjoyed the opportunity to work in partnership with the Youth and Philanthropy Initiative and we hope the grants from STV Appeal will help each project make an even bigger difference in their community.”

'Auld enemy' clash to help boost Ebola response

Government to match up to £5 m of public donations to UNICEF’s Ebola appeal

The British government will support a major fundraising appeal to help children who have been made orphans because of Ebola in Sierra Leone.

Up to £5 million of donations from members of the British public to UNICEF’s Ebola appeal will be matched by the UK Government, providing urgent support for families and children living under the threat of the disease.

Building on the success of SoccerAid, UNICEF, the world’s leading children’s organisation, will use the upcoming Scotland v England football match to boost their emergency appeal. Britain and Sierra Leone share a mutual love of the beautiful game, making this appeal particularly poignant due to the fact that football matches in Sierra Leone have been cancelled since August.

Ebola has put thousands of children in danger with many being orphaned by the disease. With schools closed, children have been cut off from their friends and many are fighting for survival on a daily basis. This funding will help care for and protect some of the most vulnerable children, especially those who have lost their parents and are in desperate need of food and other supplies.

Prime Minister David Cameron said: “The UK has secured real action from G20 leaders here in Brisbane but the generosity of the British people in helping those caught up in the Ebola crisis in West Africa has been second to none. That’s why we will match up to £5m of the money raised during Tuesday’s match, helping to make a real difference to the families and children living under the threat of the disease.”

International Development Secretary Justine Greening said: “This week’s Scotland v England match will give the British public the chance to show their support for UNICEF’s Ebola appeal in Sierra Leone.

“By matching pound for pound all public donations to the appeal we will help UNICEF give double the support to children who have been orphaned and had their lives turned upside down by this dreadful disease.”

This is the second time the Government has activated the UK Aid Match Scheme in response to Ebola, underlining the unprecedented nature of this outbreak. The British people have already responded generously to the DEC appeal and again the government is helping this appeal go twice as far by matching donations from the UK public pound-for-pound.

The UK has committed £230 million to date supporting the global effort to contain, control and defeat the disease in Sierra Leone. This includes:

Supporting 700 treatment beds to help up to 8,800 patients over 6 months;
Opening up to 200 Community Care Centres where people who suspect they might be suffering from the disease can seek swift and accurate diagnosis and appropriate care;
Building, running and staffing three new labs in Sierra Leone to help check the spread of the deadly Ebola virus, quadrupling the number of tests that can be carried out every day;
Supporting NGOs on the ground to work with people to agree practices which will allow them to honour their friends and relatives, while ensuring bodies are safely buried;
Doubling the number of burial teams in Freetown – and providing twenty more across the country. We have already made extensive progress on this, with UK support burial teams in the western area, which accounts for approximately a third of Sierra Leone’s population, are now burying 100% of reported bodies within 24 hours and,
Supporting a command and control centre to manage burials and Ebola patients across Freetown and the Western area.

In addition, RFA Argus and three Merlin helicopters are in Sierra Leone to deliver transportation and logistical support for medical teams and aid experts working in the country. In total, around 800 military personnel have been deployed to help with the establishment of Ebola treatment centres and an Ebola training academy.

African Tudors remembered

African people in sixteenth century Scotland
– A forgotten population. But remembered today

Wednesday 3rd December 2014
12.45pm-1.30pm

Join historian Onyeka at the Scottish National Gallery as he discusses the untold story of African people in Scotland during the Tudor period.

Onyeka is the author of Blackamoores: Africans in Tudor England, their Presence, Status and Origins, a groundbreaking publication that unearths the hidden history of African people in Tudor England and Scotland. The research in Blackamoores highlights the contribution African people made to the development of cities such as Edinburgh and challenges the commonly held belief that these people were slaves or placed at the lowest rung of society.

In his groundbreaking book, Onyeka argues that African people were present in cities and towns throughout England, but that they did not automatically occupy the lowest positions in Tudor society. This is important because the few modern historians who have written about Africans in Tudor England suggest that they were all slaves, or transient immigrants who were considered as dangerous strangers and the epitome of otherness. However, this book shows that some Africans in England had important occupations in Tudor society, and were employed by powerful people because of the skills they possessed. These people seem to have inherited some of their skills from the multicultural societies that they came from, but that does not mean all of those present in England were born in other countries: some were born in England.

The arguments in this book are supported by evidence from a variety of sources both manuscript and printed, most of which has not been widely discussed – whilst some of it Onyeka has discovered, and this may be the first time that it has been revealed. Other evidence is taken from texts that are the subject of popular discussion by historians, linguists and so on, but Onyeka encourages the reader to re-examine these works in a different way because they reveal information about the presence, status and origins of Africans in Tudor England.

African people in sixteenth century Scotland
– A forgotten population, But remembered today

Wednesday 3rd December 2014 12.45pm-1.30pm

Free admission

Hawthornden Lecture Theatre, The Mound, Edinburgh EH2 2EL

This will be a thrilling afternoon and one of the last opportunities to hear Onyeka discuss this subject matter.

To book, please visit https://www.eventbrite.co.uk/e/blackamoores-at-the-scottish-national-gallery-tickets-13642247329

For more information please visit www.narrative-eye.org.uk or email admin@narrative-eye.org.uk

STV Edinburgh will launch with live magazine show

New local channel on air in January

STV Edinburgh will launch in early January 2015 with a magazine show broadcast live from the capital each weekday evening. The Fountainbridge Show will be presented nightly from the studio by former Heart and Real Radio breakfast show host Ewen Cameron and broadcaster and presenter Hayley Matthews.

Ewen and Hayley will be joined on the live programme by roving reporters Zara Janjua and George Ward. The Fountainbridge News will air from 1830 – 1900 each evening, followed by The Fountainbridge Show from 1900 – 2030.

The Fountainbridge Show will reflect what’s happening in the city each day with a combination of local news, community features and live entertainment.

STV Edinburgh will be on air midday to midnight each day with an entertaining mix of news and features, live and interactive formats, and quality acquired and archive programming, including Take the High Road and Days of Honour.

Paul Hughes, channel editor for STV Edinburgh said: “The launch of STV Edinburgh offers a brand new platform for local community groups in the capital city to share their stories. The Fountainbridge Show is part of an entertaining schedule with locally relevant content for this unique city.

“STV Glasgow has delivered a strong performance since launch nearly six months ago and we anticipate a positive response from the people of Edinburgh when we begin broadcasting in early January.”

The launch of STV Edinburgh follows the launch of STV Glasgow in June 2014. STV Glasgow reaches a monthly audience of 600,000 in Glasgow and the west, with 64% of the transmission area tuning in since launch.

Ofcom announced the award of licences to STV for Glasgow and Edinburgh in January 2013. STV Edinburgh will be delivered in partnership with Edinburgh Napier University, offering students the opportunity to work in a live television environment. STV has also submitted applications to Ofcom to deliver local TV in Aberdeen, Ayr and Dundee.

STV Edinburgh will broadcast on Freeview channel 23, Sky channel 117 and Virgin channel 159 and will be available to watch live on the STV Player. Ahead of the channel’s launch, viewers will be asked to retune their televisions to pick up the Freeview signal for channel 23.

The new channel will complement STV’s current portfolio of locally focused services on air, online and on mobile.

#StrongerNorth Going, going, gone …

They said they’d lift it, they’ve lifted it: special uplift in Ferry Road Drive this morning …

Make a child's Christmas with Licketyspit

Share some seasonal spirit – here’s an idea for a Christmas gift with a difference …

Dear Friends,

Licketyspit was founded in 2004, so we have survived and thrived, often against the odds, for ten years!

We have been kept going by the thousands of Scottish children, families and teachers who help us to create our work and support it with such enthusiasm and by the fantastic artists and colleagues who have consistently gone the extra mile for us in the interests of children and families.

We hope everyone we know and who knows us will want to celebrate with us by donating a £6 ticket for a child/family who wouldn’t otherwise be able to come to our Christmas show, Hare & Tortoise at North Edinburgh Arts (1st – 20th December).

If you go to the Licketyspit website http://www.licketyspit.com there’s a PayPal Donate button on the front page and we will email a Gift Aid form to you afterwards. These tickets will be distributed through The Haven Project and Circle, both organisations working in Muirhouse with disadvantaged families.

This is our fourth production of Hare & Tortoise following amazing outdoor performances on Glasgow Green for the Commonwealth Games Festival 2014 in July. It features Actor/Licketyspit Associate Artist, Johnny Austin (Quangle Wangle, Magic Spaghetti) and the wonderful Buchan Lennon.

We are having a Birthday performance (limited ticket availability) on Friday 12th December at 5pm followed by a Bun Brothers Tea hosted by Scotland’s Commissioner for Children and Young People, Tam Baillie at 6.15pm. We would be delighted if you could join us for either or both events. We have attached an invitation below, please feel free to circulate to any colleagues or contacts that you think may be interested. Please RSVP to info@licketyspit.com

Hope to see you there!

With thanks and very best wishes,

Virginia, Beth and all at Licketyspit

Make a child’s Christmas with Licketyspit

Share some seasonal spirit – here’s an idea for a Christmas gift with a difference …

Dear Friends,

Licketyspit was founded in 2004, so we have survived and thrived, often against the odds, for ten years!

Hope to see you there!

With thanks and very best wishes,

Virginia, Beth and all at Licketyspit

NEN Facebook

Still upgrading …

To access the latest NEN Facebook news, click on the Facebook icon THEN click on the wee NEN front page icon (David) on the top command line bar – that will get you there.

This is a temporary solution only – we’re working on a permanent one.