Category: West Pilton

Celebrate International Women’s Day at North Edinburgh Arts

SHE Scotland invite all women to our International Women’s Day event on Friday 6th March at North Edinburgh Arts.

We will be sharing our Ambassadors workshops and celebrating together. There will be a creche during the workshops.

We will also be opening the SHE Motherhood Exhibition by the fabulous SHE Photography.

Local Community Council meets tomorrow

This is to confirm that the next meeting of West Pilton & West Granton Community Council will take place at 7pm in West Pilton Neighbourhood Centre on Tuesday 3 March.
If you are an elected official or community council member and cannot attend then please submit your apologies to me by 5pm on Tuesday.
I attach an agenda for the meeting and minutes of the February meeting.  As agreed last time, we will have a more detailed discussion into the issue of waste, dumping and flytipping.
See you on Tuesday.
Peter Faassen de Heer
Secretary, West Pilton West Granton Community Council

New play equipment at West Pilton Park

A new play park and outdoor gym was opened in West Pilton last week.  Councillor Susan Rae cut the tape with Friends of West Pilton Park’s Sara Martin, ELGT’s Charlie Cummings and Scotland Manager of Fields in Trust, Colin Rennie.

Children from Pirniehall and Forthview Primary schools also braved the weather to check out the new facilities.

You can learn more about the development and watch an interview with Susan, Sara and Colin who talk about the importance of developing greenspaces and supporting local communities in urban areas here.

Founder Member of Friends of West Pilton Park, Parklife, Sara Martin said: “The local residents are delighted with the new junior play park and outdoor gym facilities.

“The old play parks were disjointed, very limited and definitely past their sell-by-date. The newly upgraded play park and outdoor gym are so much more interesting, with lots of exciting new equipment to try out and enjoy.

“Thank you Edinburgh & Lothian Greenspace Trust for delivering it.”

Ama-zing Harmonies returns tomorrow

Our young people’s Transition to Confidence Workshop for this month is on Monday 24th February.

Topic: Young People’s confidence boosters

Venue: West Pilton Neighbourhood Centre

Time: 5-6pm

Free and fun packed full activities For Ages 9 and above. Spaces available!

Our choir group also resumes for the year on Monday 24th February.

Our singing club offers refreshing music, dance and food in a relaxed atmosphere.

Come and join us at West Pilton Neighbourhood Centre from 6 – 7pm tomorrow and every last Monday of the month.

See you there!

Recruitment Day in Muirhouse

Full time and part time roles available in branches across Lothian

Next Step Edinburgh are teaming up with Semichem and Scotmid for an open morning in Muirhouse this Friday 21 February.

Store Managers will be on hand to talk to prospective candidates about what it is like to work with them. Full time and part time positions are available and the successful applicants will enjoy training, staff benefits and excellent career prospects.

As the event has been organised by Next Step Edinburgh, there is also additional support available including support with CV writing, interview prep and much more.

The event takes place at 9.30 – 11.30am at Pennywell Resource Centre, 31 – 33 Pennywell Road, EH4 4PJ.

If you can’t make that date then there will be another session on Tue 25 February 9:30am – 11:30am at the Recruitment and Skills Centre (RSC) at Fort Kinnaird Shopping Centre.

All welcome – just come along with your CV.

If you have any questions then please contact 

Next Step on 0300 365 0025 info@communityrenewal.org.uk

Forthview kids to GoFitba!

Local school children from Forthview Primary School are to have the opportunity to participate in an exciting 12-week community project delivered by The Scottish Football Partnership Trust and The Spartans Community Football Academy.

GoFitba is a free to access football-based health and wellbeing project for Primary schoolchildren developed by The Scottish Football Partnership Trust and delivered by community football clubs. 

The project aims to support the Curriculum for Excellence’s Health and Wellbeing outcomes as set out by The Scottish Government’s Schools (Health Promotion and Nutrition) (Scotland) Act 2007. 

Through a fun and progressive structure and delivery, the weekly two-hour project offers young children a platform of regular and fun physical activity and an understanding of the importance of leading a balanced and healthy lifestyle through diet and nutrition.

In addition, the project aims to increase the young people’s self-motivation, improve their self-confidence, further develop their social and interpersonal skills and improve their general self-esteem.

The project timetable provides one structured afternoon per week and takes a holistic approach to teach the children the benefits of regular physical activity within a football environment. 

Starting this Friday, the youngsters participate in an hour of fun football activity, and during the second hour of each session they take part in an interactive educational journey to explore the benefits of leading a healthy lifestyle through diet and nutrition.  Each session ends with the children being served a hot, healthy meal and an opportunity to enjoy some social time with their peers.

Stuart McCaffrey, Chief Operating Officer at The SFP Trust said “The sport of football when used positively can act as a significant tool for personal and community development. 

“We are excited to be delivering this project with (name of club) – a club truly at the heart of the community – and to be given the opportunity to positively engage with local school children to encourage them towards a healthy and active lifestyle.”

Douglas Samuel of The Spartans Community Football Academy said, “We are delighted to be working in association with The SFP Trust on this project which will see The Academy welcome 20 local schoolchildren over the next 12 weeks. 

“Spartans Community Football Academy is always looking for new ways to engage with the local community and the GoFitba project is a fantastic way to showcase what we can offer to young members of our community at our excellent facilities here at the Academy. 

“Participation in sport can bring a lifetime of benefits and we look forward to working with the children from Forthview Primary School to Get Fit, Get Healthy and Have Fun!”

BEWARE: Dinosaurs in North Edinburgh!

DINOSAUR DISPLAY HATCHES IN PENNYWELL!

Local residents are being encouraged to track down and report any unusual sightings of baby dinosaurs in their neighbourhood. It comes as a dozen lanterns were let loose in Pennywell and Muirhouse after featuring in the Royal Zoological Society of Scotland’s Lost Worlds display at Edinburgh Zoo.

The batch of hatching dinosaur eggs – each symbolising a sign of the zodiac – can be visited in North Edinburgh Arts, Muirhouse Library and North West Locality Council Office until Friday 21 February.

The free event has been made possible through the City of Edinburgh Council’s partnership with the Royal Zoological Society of Scotland (RZSS), Urban Union, Robertson Partnership Homes and support from North Edinburgh Arts and Police Scotland.

Edinburgh’s Housing, Homelessness and Fair Work Convener, Cllr Kate Campbell, said: “Pennywell is a fantastic community which has experienced a great deal of redevelopment in recent years, so I hope the lantern trail will encourage lots of people to explore the area and see how it has evolved.

“Throughout all of this change, our mission and that of the community has always been to create new and exciting opportunities for residents and local businesses. We’ve worked with developers and the Scottish Government to do this, creating the Pennywell All Care Centre for health and wellbeing and of course the incredible North Edinburgh Arts centre, where dinosaurs now roam.

“More than £42 million has been invested in the area which has created 356 affordable homes and more for private sale. With investment of £2.5 billion planned over the next 10 years, we’ll be looking to replicate projects like this under our ambitious plans for council housing.”

The regeneration of Pennywell and Muirhouse is well underway and will deliver around 1,000 new homes for sale and rent, enhanced public services and retail offering and a new public square, alongside new opportunities for learning, arts, culture and employment.

Neil McKay Managing Director of Urban Union added: “Our new collection of homes builds on the success of Phase 2 and 1, by offering an exceptional range of modern, warm and welcoming homes, together with new local amenity.

“We hope the lanterns’ fun pre-historic theme and message of conservation are welcomed by the community and allows everyone to explore the regeneration of Pennywell and Muirhouse.”

James Freel, managing director of Robertson Partnership Homes, said: “We’re really proud to support events that embody the true meaning of community, bringing people together to not only enjoy the lanterns but discover the incredible transformation of the area.

“Regeneration has been at the heart of the whole project and we’re on track to deliver high quality residential units across the town centre. We’re looking forward to literally shining a light on the fantastic progress made so far.”

RZSS events and experiences manager Jonathan Brown said: “Giant Lanterns Lost Worlds gave our visitors the opportunity to discover the amazing creatures that once lived on our planet and helped us raise awareness of the very real threat of extinction faced today by endangered species around the world.

“We were thrilled to see so many people enjoying the event and learning about our wildlife conservation work. It is exciting to have this opportunity to bring it to light again within the local community.”

As a wildlife conservation charity, RZSS is dedicated to connecting people to nature and safeguarding threatened species. This year the theme for the lanterns at the Zoo was Lost Worlds, including hundreds of pre-historic creatures from the beginning of life on earth through to the ice age.

The City of Edinburgh Council and its partners are committed to the conversation of the planet and over the next decade, the Council has committed to planting one million trees and cutting carbon to net zero.

Earlier this week, a new Council report revealed Capital households are more climate aware and generate less waste per resident than those of any other major Scottish city. The city is prioritising plans to tackle climate change with ambitious plans to cut carbon to net zero by 2030 and was recently announced as the second most sustainable city in the UK.

The Pennywell display maximises the time Edinburgh has with these lanterns by reusing elements of the display and spreading the Zoo’s message of conservation.