The North Edinburgh Community Festival is THIS SATURDAY!
Saturday 7th May from 12noon to 6pm.
The main stage will be jam-packed from 12noon!
Make sure you catch your favourite act:
12.00pm – Fischy Music 12.50pm – Pulse of the Place 1.15pm – Ama-zing Harmonies 1.35pm – Granton Youth MixTape 2.00pm – Big Fish Little Fish Scotland 2.45pm – Tinderbox Hub 3.10pm – Broughton High School 3.35pm – Yer Local Bams 4.10pm – City of Edinburgh Music School Jazz Quartet 4.35pm – DJ Dynamite 5.00pm – Tinderbox Collective & Guests
Plus Children and Families marquee with lots of workshops
the Open Space area with lots of activities for young and old,
sport activities if you’re feeling energetic,
52 + stalls with local organisations providing information and activities,
food vans offering complimentary food and festival delights,
a sit down Community Lunch inside the WPNC.
Oh and don’t forget the UNDER THE SEA PARADE, from Millennium Centre to the Park!
PLAQUE UNVEILED TO COMMEMORATE FORMER CASTLE TENANT
On 28 March we had a gathering at the Walled Garden when John & Agnes Smith, the previous owners, unveiled Historic Environment Scotland’s plaque commemorating Sir Thomas Hope (writes LINDA GARCIA).
Thomas Hope was born around 1580. He studied with the intention of going into law and was admitted as an Advocate on 7 February 1605.
Hope gained prominence in 1606 when he defended John Forbes (c. 1568-1634), Minister of Alford, and others, at Linlithgow, on the charge of having committed treason when they declined to acknowledge the jurisdiction claimed by the Privy Council (of James VI of Scotland, James I of Great Britain and Ireland) over the General Assembly of the Church of Scotland.
Although his clients were convicted, Hope had shown himself to be in the top rank at the Bar. He became a very successful lawyer and profits from his practices enabled him to build estates in Fife, Stirlingshire, Midlothian, East Lothian, and Berwickshire. In May 1626 he was appointed Lord Advocate and in 1628 he was granted a Nova Scotia baronetcy.
In 1634 he managed to secure the conviction of James Elphinstone, Lord Balmerino, for treason. These were difficult years of religious strife but Hope managed to avoid any participation in the preparation of the National Covenant, nor did he sign it. However, he did pronounce an opinion in favour of its legality.
Although his son, Sir Thomas Hope of Kerse, served with the army of the Covenanters, Hope neither declared the action of the Covenanters to be illegal, nor did he defend episcopacy, thus putting himself in a precarious position.
Indeed, when a Committee of the Estates (Scottish Parliament) required his official signature to Writs of Summons against opponents of the Covenant, he refused it because there was no authority for this from King Charles I.
In 1643 he opposed the proposal to summon the Estates without any warrant from Charles. Hope’s publications include the legal treatises Minor practicks and Major practicks, Carmen saeculare (1626) in honour of Charles, and a Latin translation of the Psalms and the Song of Solomon.
Sir Thomas Hope died on 1 October 1646. Of his four sons, three became Lords of Session and one of these became Lord Justice General. A fourth son was Cupbearer to Charles I.
Descendants of Sir Thomas Hope would become Earls of Hopetoun as a reward for supporting the Act of Union with England in 1707, and later on Marquises of Linlithgow.
HISTORIC Environment Scotland (HES) will unveil a plaque to commemorate Sir Thomas Hope at Granton Castle Walled Garden this afternoon.
Sir Thomas Hope, one of Scotland’s leading legal minds in the 17th century, lived for a time in Granton Castle. The Baronet is buried in Greyfriars Kirkyard.
The Scottish Youth Parliament election results 2021 were announced on Monday 22 November. Eleven new Members of the SYP will now represent young people in Edinburgh.
Ten of those elected are from state schools in the city, seven are young women and three are from a Black and Minority Ethnic background.
One remaining seat, in Northern and Leith, will be contested in the new year.
Edinburgh registered the highest number of expressions of interest in Scotland from potential candidates and fielded the most candidates (26) of any local authority.
We also achieved the highest voter turnout in Edinburgh since 2015, despite many of the usual campaigning activities being curtailed because of the pandemic.
Councillor Ellie Bird, Young People’s Champion, said: “I want to commend the astonishing achievements and contributions of all 26 candidates that stood across Edinburgh in the Scottish Youth Parliament election, and warmly welcome the eleven new MSYPs into our city’s elected member family.
“The success of this year’s election is a testament to the commitment and passion of everyone involved in prioritising the voice of young people, at a time when it’s never been more important.
“Due to the restricted access to schools, youth clubs and community centres, candidates have had to rely on their own ingenuity, creativity and sheer dogged persistence to get their message, and their vote, out.
“The determination that these young people have demonstrated in standing up for what they believe in by putting themselves forward for election and to be accountable to their electorate, especially during such a challenging period for young people, is nothing short of inspirational.
“I know they all have a lot to offer their communities and the causes they care about most, and I can’t wait to see what they do next and look forward to working with Edinburgh’s newest group of elected representatives to place young people at the heart of policy and decision making.”
For more information about the election and the successful candidates, please see @edinburghMSYPs
In the Frame is a free programme for people living in North Edinburgh to learn documentary filmmaking and make their own short film.
Running from 20th September 2021 to March 2022, the programme will amplify the voices of local people and capture snapshots of life in the community by providing a platform to express themselves through a series of short documentaries.
Participants will learn each stage of documentary filmmaking, from an introduction to the genre via watching films, to learning the key skills in camera, sound, directing, editing, and interview techniques. We will also cover the ethics of documentary and support learners to use these skills to devise and produce a short film.
Many films used as case studies will come from the Pilton Video/SEE archive, which reveal some of the hopes and issues that matter most to the community in North Edinburgh over the past 40 years.
No previous film experience is required and In the Frame is open to people living in North Edinburgh (Crewe, Drylaw, East Pilton, Granton, Pennywell, Muirhouse, Royston, Salvesen, Telford, Wardieburn, Waterfront and West Pilton).
The programme will take place on Tuesday evenings for adults (aged 19 and over)and Wednesday evenings for young people (aged 14 to 18)with films shot throughout November and December and editing in January & February, with the film’s receiving their premiere on the big screen in March.
The programme is funded by Inspiring Scotland’s Creative Communities Programme which is funded jointly by the Scottish Government’s Culture and Justice directorates and aims to extend opportunities for people to take part in creative endeavours throughout their lives.
To find out more and to take part, please complete our short form here and the team will be in touch.
Scran Academy is celebrating after being shortlisted for a leading UK industry Award. This week, Scran was announced as a Finalist in the Apprenticeship and Skills category of the Public Sector Catering Awards and the recognition will see the youth-led organisation appear at the Ceremony in London later this year.
Scran Academy’s initial focus was to use the innovative food social enterprise to help young people from North Edinburgh to overcome their learning and life barriers and lead more meaningful lives.
Scran’s community-based school uses food to support learners disengaged from mainstream school to access qualifications and work. Despite being less than four years old, they have grown and scaled their impact to support thousands of people throughout the pandemic and city wide.
This includes the creation of the youth-led Scran Café based at the Comely Bank NHS Centre, which creates a welcoming, relaxing and safe haven for as many as 100 frontline NHS workers and clinical trainees on a daily basis.
Last year Scran also launched the Scran Van, a food truck that provides free healthy food to children and families across the city to combat hunger and increase positive youth activities.
All of these food initiatives puts employability skills, job opportunities and personal development for youth at the heart of what they do.
This award nomination comes as this ground-breaking social venture seeks to empower hundreds more young people with the skills and confidence to lead in the hospitality industry.
At the same time the programme will take a significant bite out of the poverty-related barriers, life challenges and injustices the young people face on a daily basis – being care-experienced, disengaged from mainstream school, at risk of homelessness, unemployed or suffering from poor mental health.
Nominee and Founder of Scran Academy and social entrepreneur, John Loughton BEM, said: “This nomination is a real vote of confidence in our community work and a recognition in the power of food to change lives.
“Will Bain and his team work magic at Scran to ensure food is positive for all people, not just those that can afford it. At Scran we do hand-ups, not just hand-outs and young people go on to change their own lives once they realise people believe in them.
“Scran’s story shows is that if we support local community organisations that are run with passion and authenticity, we can develop creative solutions to social inequality. It also shows that unlike the stereotypes so often in the media, young people make a real and positive contribution to society and your postcode does not have to be your destiny.”
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