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Inspirational MYDG

Bike Club Development officer amy Hickman said “Muirhouse Youth Bike Club is an inspirational project which will enhance employability and increase physical activity levels in the area” Speaking at the official launch of the MY Bike Club and MY Adventure.

Young people, members of the public, staff and volunteers from other organisations all packed into the Klub to find out more about the programme of activities Muirhouse Youth Development Group is now able to offer

The afternoon kicked off with everyone coming down to The Klub in Muirhouse shopping centre where they were welcomed by staff and volunteers from MYDG.  Amy Hickman, Bike Club officer, welcomed everybody to The Klub. Jonny Kinross, MYDG development worker, gave an overview of the two projects.

Bike Club funding has been used to become a City & Guilds accredited centre delivering bike maintenance courses to young people. Young people will also be trained up to deliver Scottish Cycle training and GoMountain Bike courses. This will allow MY Adventure to deliver a variety of outdoors activities to groups across Edinburgh, including cycling activities and Dr Bike surgeries.

Councillor Cammy Day attended to show his support for this project.  He finished proceedings by officially opening the workshop and congratulating MYDG on becoming the first Bike Club in Edinburgh, and the first organisation to deliver the City & Guilds qualification in the city!

Young people and visitors were invited to have a look around the new workshop and to have a go on their obstacle course. Everyone admired the new tool boards and fetching Bike Club overalls purchased through Bike Club funding.  They also had Bike Mechanics on hand to fix any bikes in need of some TLC.  All in all a pretty good afternoon, well done to everybody at MYDG!

Amy added “Muirhouse is showing Edinburgh the way forward by becoming the first project in the capital to join this UK-wide initiative. The new Bike Club project will play a key role in the regeneration of Muirhouse by providing local children and young adults with skills and qualifications for the workplace and by switching them on to learning.”

Amy Hickman and Cammy Day look on as Bike mechanic gets to work. Picture: Amy Hickman

“Through the project, young people from Muirhouse will be trained to deliver bike maintenance, Scottish Cycle training and GoMountain Bike Skills. Once qualified, they will go on to deliver bike safety courses and GoMountain Bike Courses to primary and secondary school pupils. The project also lets young people contribute to the local community.”

“Muirhouse Youth Development Group is working with Bike Club,ActiveSchoolsand Muirhouse Youth Adventure to roll out this programme. Bike Club is a UK-wide organisation that offers grants and expert support to youth clubs, schools and other groups to promote health and learning among 10 to 20 year olds. It is operated by a consortium of three charities: UK Youth, ContinYou and CTC – The UK’s National Cyclists’ Organisation, with Youth Scotland as a development partner. Bike Club is funded by the ASDA foundation.”

If you would like more information please contact MYDG on 332 3356

Well done to all at MYDG

Councillor Cammy Day with Bike Club Officer Amy Hickman and MYDG Youth Worker Peter Airlie. Picture: Amy Hickman

Million Pound Pot For Retiring Council Man

A senior director of the city council has left his role – triggering a huge pension pay-out. Jim Inch has stepped down as director of corporate services after agreeing to take early retirement.

Council officials say that there are no direct costs to the council of his retirement from his £120,513-a-year post. But he will start benefiting from a pension pot now worth over £1.3 million, and his retirement will automatically trigger a £160,390 lump sum payment.

Mr Inch sent a message to all council staff, thanking them for their work and support.

His retirement follows that of former chief executive Tom Aitchison, who stood down at the end of last year and received a £209,845 lump sum from his pension. Director of finance Donald McGougan will also leave his post in June, which will earn him a payment of at least £170,802.

The pension deals have been labelled “obscene” by taxpayer groups. A review is underway into the posts held by Mr Inch and Mr McGougan. Temporary appointments are to be made for six months as chief executive Sue Bruce decides whether to revamp the corporate services and finance departments.

Source: Edinburgh Evening News

Spartans Win Second Trophy Of The Season

Spartans picked up their second trophy of the season with a convincing 3-0 win over Edinburgh City in the final of the South Region Cup.

Co-manager mike Lawson said “Sam and I were delighted with what was a very professional performance by our experienced squad at Tynecastle yesterday. Apart from two small spells in the middle of either half where we needlessly kicked the ball away too often, we in the main controlled the game and kept possession of the football.  It was a very hot afternoon for both sets of players and the team chasing the ball were always going to have the harder job and so it turned out.

It took Spartans only 15 minutes to open their account when a Dean Hoskins corner was whipped in and Omar Kader got his head on the end of it and his delicate header from close range beat Alan Stobie in the City goal.

City almost equalised on the half hour mark when a Robbie Ross corner was played in and the Spartans defence didn’t clear the danger, the ball landed at Ross Macnamara and his scissor kick effort went just over the bar.

Just before the interval Spartans were awarded a penalty kick when Danny O’Donnell broke down the wing and his cross was blocked by the hand of City defender Ruairdh Scott. Gavin Malin stepped up and fired the ball past the keeper and into the net to double Spartans advantage.

Kader got his second of the afternoon when Ross Archibald went on a run down the wing and squared to unmarked Kader in the six yard box, Kader was left with the simple task on knocking the ball into the net.

Lawson added” The first goal was always going to be crucial and with the game in the balance Deano’s delivery, Towner’s header towards goal and Omar’s flick in front of the keeper were all top drawer. From then on it was always going to be very difficult for the Meadowbank boys and so it proved. Despite the distractions Gavin riffled home the penalty and Omar scored a simple third after the best move of the match. Their is no sentiment in football but I hope City break their cup drought some time soon but only if it’s not at our expense.”

“The Premier League trophy and two cups are now safely at home in the Academy Boardroom and we have two more cups to try to retain. Before that comes three league games in the five days and Sam and I will work out how to juggle our small squad to keep the players as fresh as possible. It won’t be easy.”

Spartans next fixture is tomorrow night at the Academy against Lothian thistle, kick off is at7.30pm.

Fire Rips Through Disused Nursery

A fire that was started deliberately has ripped through the disused West Pilton Family Centre on Ferry Road Drive.

Police and Fire service staff were advising local residents to go inside and close all windows and doors  as there is a risk due to the amount of Asbestos that was in the building.

Police are appealing for information and have asked anyone with information to contact them on 311 3131.

Pictures: Thomas Brown

HELPFUL HENRY KEEPS IT IN THE FAMILY!

Drylaw man Henry MacDonald received Drylaw Telford Community Council’s annual award for good citizenship last night (Wednesday 27 April). Sixty-eight year old Henry was following in his father’s footsteps – dad Harry was the first recipient of the award which was established in 2000!

Drylaw Telford Community Council introduced the annual award for good citizenship following the death of local campaigner, activist and enthusiastic community councillor Tam Tierney in 1999. Since the launch of the award there have been dozens of nominations and eleven recipients, but father and son Harry and Henry are the first members of the same family to receive the award.

Drylaw Telford Community Council hosted a reception at Drylaw Neighbourhood Centre last night and Henry was joined by friends and family (including identical twin brother George and dad Harry), church members and community councillors at the celebration. Guests included Tam Tierney’s widow Cath and their son Thomas, and all four Inverleith councillors – Lesley Hinds, Stuart McIvor, Tim McKay and Iain Whyte – also attended.

Councillor Tim McKay, convener of Inverleith Neighbourhood Partnership, presented Henry with a plaque and said: “Henry was cited by six nominees for his work as a volunteer with Drylaw Church. His helpfulness clearly shines through, and Henry is obviously following in a family tradition! I am delighted to present this well-deserved award on behalf of the community council”.

Drylaw Parish Church minister Pat Watson added: “Since I arrived at Drylaw over five years ago Henry has just been so helpful. As well as welcoming guests to the church and preparing lunches Henry is always helping out – you can be sure that if anything is left lying around for too long our Henry will dispose of it! People dropping in will also be offered a cup of tea and a bacon roll, too, so as well as being warmly welcomed they will be well-fed too! Henry really makes a valuable contribution to church life just as Harry did. Harry kept the church grounds looking beautiful until just a couple of years ago and Henry is keeping up the good work – if Henry is able to do even half the work his dad did over the years Drylaw church will be well served for years to come. Many congratulations”.

It’s been quite a year for the local McDonald clan – as well as Henry’s award, mum and dad Harry and Nan celebrated their 70th wedding anniversary last month.

While he was delighted to receive the award, Henry won’t be resting on his laurels – on Sunday he’ll be putting his best foot forward when he takes part in an annual sponsored walk over the Forth Road Bridge for the Christian Aid charity. It’s an event Henry’s supported for many years and he took the opportunity to add quite a few names to his sponsor sheet at the Drylaw event!

Dave Pickering

Spartans Hat-Trick Of Titles

Spartans were crowned Central taxis Premier Division Champions earlier this month for the third consecutive year. The Ainslie Park men traveled to Rosewell, the home of Whitehill Welfare and clinched the title thanks to a Ross Archibald goal. Co-manager Sam Lynch said “We deserved the title over the course of the year and I am delighted with the win. The boys are ecstatic, the atmosphere in the changing room is superb. We won’t get carried away however, we are still in the later stages of a few cups and we will now concentrate on them.” Lynch added “I thanked the players for their superb efforts over the season and congratulated them. Tonight is my seventh league title at Spartans and I’ve enjoyed every one.”

Spartans faced the same opposition a week earlier and were defeated 2-1, their first league defeat of the season and this delayed them being crowned Champions. One week later and they were held by Whitehill until the dying stages of the game when they were awarded a penalty late in the game and team Captain Ross Archibald stepped up to fire the ball home.

Goal here Archibald said “That is the most important goal I have scored this year as it gave us the vital three points that means we have the title. It’s been a long time coming for us. I think over the season we have been the most consistent team in the league, although maybe not always the best team. We have played good football and when we didn’t play well we ground out results.”

The Spartans squad celebrate after picking up the trophy

Club chairman, Craig Graham has nothing but praise for the team and what they have achieved. He said: “From the start of the season the number one objective was to win the league. It became clear that we were going to win the league and the players have done exceptionally well especially considering there were a number of close games that could have gone either way but the players used resilience and skill to prevent any losses.”

“The thing with winning the league two years in a row is that you become the team to beat and as a result the opponents often bring their best game, which didn’t make it easy for us. We are quite fortunate that we have a number of players who have been with us for five or six seasons and their experience was a huge benefit to the team. If they lost an early goal they didn’t panic and were able to work to get it back.”

Craig admits that there may be a temptation to relax after the league triumph but the team is still in contention for four cups he said: “There’s always that danger the team loose their edge but it’s a big game at the weekend. The focus now is to win all four cups in addition to the league which has never been done at this level before.”

The other half of the management team, Mike Lawson was on holiday on the night the league was won and on his return he said “Our first aim this season was to retain our league title and that we have done with a good bit to spare. At Spartans we know that on their day any given side can beat any other in our league and apart from ourselves the table shows that. Our squad of players is very similar to any in the top half of the league but it’s our consistency of performance which puts us above the rest.  Our boys manage to play near the top of their game week in, week out and that shows in the league table.”

Lawson continued “For what they have achieved so far this season I congratulate each and every one of them. The new boys have fitted in well, the experienced players have helped those developing and the younger influx have kept everyone on their toes. It’s hard to pick any individual player out but I would say it is fitting that our “on fire” captain stepped up to score the goal which secured the league title.”

Picture: Craig Graham

Inverleith Park

A protest regarding plans for Inverleith Park is planned for next week’s Council meeting.

Local Councillors Lesley Hinds and Iain Whyte have united to highlight ‘deep community concern’ over the park’s future
Edinburgh council says Inverleith Park’s depot is no longer needed and propose selling off the space for housing. Friends of the park have arranged a demonstration outside the council chambers at 9am on Thursday 28 April.

The area’s councillors Lesley Hinds and Iain Whyte have tabled a motion for the meeting. They will ask the council to agree to the following:

“Council notes the deep concern of the local community regarding the proposed disposal of the depot site within Inverleith Park. Council therefore instructs the Director of City Development to report to the Policy and Strategy Committee setting out the current position with regard to the proposal to dispose of the site; the Planning status of the land and the details of any community consultation undertaken or planned on this proposal.”

Community Cook Book Launched

Ladies Who Launch! - 'It's Yummy Mummy' launch at North Edinburgh Arts Centre

Can you feed a family of five a healthy nutritious meal on a budget of just a fiver?  Sounds impossible, but mums from Muirhouse and West Pilton rose to challenge and have produced ‘It’s Yummy Mummy’, a cook book packed with recipes that not only won’t break the bank but taste great too!

The community cooks from Muirhouse Womens Group and West Pilton Neighbourhood Centre’s Buggy Brigade launched their recipe book at North Edinburgh Arts Centre yesterday (Wednesday 30 March).

The ‘It’s Yummy Mummy’ initiative is part of the Community Healthy Lifestyles Project launched last year.  Project coordinator Lisa Arnott explained:  “The project was launched last year, and the mothers organised a cooking competition with the winning recipes selected to go into a cookbook.  We received a wealth of great recipes from all across North Edinburgh, and entrants were then invited to cook their recipes for a panel of judges.  The cook book contains a wide range of the very best recipes – and every meal in the book can be created to feed a family of five for £5.” Continue reading Community Cook Book Launched

Holyrood Candidates Confirmed

The Scottish Parliamentary Elections will be held on 5 May and the following candidates have been confirmed:

Edinburgh Eastern

Ewan Aitken, Scottish Labour Party and The Co-operative Party
Cameron Buchanan, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Kenny MacAskill, Scottish National Party (SNP)
Martin Veart, Scottish Liberal Democrats

Edinburgh Central

Marco Biagi, Scottish National Party (SNP)
Sarah Boyack, Scottish Labour Party
Alex Cole-Hamilton, Scottish Liberal Democrats
Iain McGill, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party

Edinburgh Northern and Leith

Malcolm Chisholm, Scottish Labour Party
Dan Farthing, Scottish Liberal Democrats
Sheila Catriona Dorothy Low, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Shirley-Anne Somerville, Scottish National Party (SNP)

Edinburgh Pentlands

Simon James Clark, Scottish Liberal Democrats
Ricky Henderson, Scottish Labour Party
Gordon MacDonald, Scottish National Party (SNP)
David William McLetchie, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party

Edinburgh Southern

Gavin Brown, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Jim Eadie, Scottish National Party (SNP)
Paul Godzik, Scottish Labour Party and The Co-operative Party
Mike Pringle, Scottish Liberal Democrats

Edinburgh Western

Lesley Hinds, Scottish Labour Party and The Co-operative Party
Colin Keir, Scottish National Party (SNP)
Gordon John Lindhurst, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Margaret Joy Smith, Scottish Liberal Democrats

Lothian

ALL SCOTLAND PENSIONERS PARTY – Scottish Senior Citizens Party
Alex Lawson; David Lawson; Morag Thompson; Anna Kerr; Tommi Kerr

BRITISH NATIONAL PARTY
David Orr; Leanne Tracy Marshall; Kevin William Doyle; James Alexander Main

SCOTTISH CHRISTIAN PARTY “PROCLAIMING CHRIST’S LORDSHIP” – Christians Together
Abimbola Olusola Kadara; Mbuli Malanga Aime Lombaya; Bridget Johnson Mosanya; David Peter Rodney Hews

SCOTTISH CHRISTIAN PEOPLES ALLIANCE
Michael Thomas McGlynn

SCOTTISH CONSERVATIVE AND UNIONIST PARTY
David McLetchie; Gavin Brown; Cameron Buchanan; Gordon Lindhurst; Iain Mcgill; Scott Douglas; Christopher Donnelly; Andrew Hardie; Sheila Low

SCOTTISH GREEN PARTY – Alison Johnstone for MSP
Alison Johnston; Steve Burgess; Maggie Chapman; Peter Andrew McColl; Shonagh McEwan; Adam Ramsay; Kate Joester

SCOTTISH LABOUR PARTY
Sarah Boyack; Kezia Dugdale; Neil Findlay; Ann Henderson; Jalal Chaudry; Simon MacFadyen; James Ashe

SCOTTISH LIBERAL DEMOCRATS
Margaret Joy Smith; Alexander Geoffrey Cole-Hamilton; Gordon Ferguson Mackenzie; John Loughton; Jacqueline Dianne Bell; Daniel Marisco Farthing; Ian James Younger

SCOTTISH NATIONAL PARTY (SNP) – Alex Salmond for First Minister
Kenny MacAskill; Fiona Hyslop; Shirley-Anne Somerville; Angela Constance; George Kerevan; Colin Beattie; Alex Orr; Bill Wilson; Gordon MacDonald; Calum Cashley; Jim Eadie; Alasdair Rankin

SCOTTISH SOCIALIST PARTY – Independent Socialist Scotland
Colin Fox; Catriona Grant; Laura Bennison; Andrew McPake; Alistair Hendry; Barbara Scott

SOCIALIST LABOUR PARTY
David Don Jacobsen; Michael Lynch; Linda Sheridan; Barbara Ann Bryan

SOLIDARITY – SCOTLAND’S SOCIALIST MOVEMENT – SOLIDARITY
Patricia Joan Smith; Ian Drummond; Vanesa Fuertes; Willie Black; Jack Fraser; Shirley Margaret Gibb; Anne Edmonds; Adrian Stuart Cannon

THE LIBERAL PARTY – Liberal Party – Against Coalition Cut Backs
John Hein

UK INDEPENDENCE PARTY (UKIP)
Otto Inglis; Gordon Norrie; Alistair Forrest; Gavin Clark; Alastair MacIntyre

INDEPENDENTS
Mev Brown
David John Hogg
Margo MacDonald
Ken O’Neill

Polls open from 7am – 10pm.

Dave Pickering

 

Shore social housing snapped up

Port of Leith HA's Shore development

An affordable housing development which overlooks the Shore in Leith has ‘sold-out’ within a month of being released by Port of Leith Housing Association (PoLHA).

Sixteen properties in the 60-apartment are designated for ‘shared ownership’, where people buy and own a percentage of the property and rent the remainder from the Association, and each of these have now been reserved.  PoLHA received around 60 applications for the properties, which were priced from £127,500 to £170,000 with most purchasing a 25% share. The remainder of the flats will be allocated for social rent.

Keith Anderson, Chief Executive of Port of Leith Housing Association, said: “We have had a phenomenal response to the shared ownership offering at Coburg Street.  These are set to be great flats in a great location so that undoubtedly added to their appeal.  However, it also highlights the desperate need there is for affordable homes and how difficult it is for people, particularly young people on starter salaries and others working in key roles such as nursing, to get on the housing ladder. The need for affordable housing has never been greater.”

The flats have open-plan living spaces with modern fitted bathrooms and kitchens including all integrated appliances. Most of the two bedroom properties feature en-suite shower rooms. There are balconies and terraces in 10 of the properties, with a communal landscaped courtyard, as well as a secure underground car park.

Building is due to be completed in the autumn.

Dave Pickering