Want to use your skills, insight and experience to support those moving on from homelessness in Edinburgh?
Join the Fresh Start Board of Trustees!
Over the past 25 years, we’ve been supporting those who have experienced homelessness to move on to the next chapter of their lives with the dignity and stability that everyone deserves. With rising demand for our services and a strong reputation built over years of delivery and community partnership, we’re recruiting new Trustees to help strengthen governance and support the sustainable, values-led expansion of Fresh Start
As a Trustee, you’ll be responsible for the charity’s governance and strategy, and for making sure that the organisation is administered effectively. You’ll work closely with the other Trustees and our CEO, Biddy Kelly, to ensure that Fresh Start is able to continue our essential work as successfully as possible.
Interested? Visit the link below to learn more and download the info pack for the position. Applications close on 20th of March, 2026 – we look forward to hearing from you!
Have a look at our updated programme, we’ve got a new group and some changes to a few of our usual ones so make sure you’re aware, we don’t want you to miss out
Primary School children to learn vital water safety skills
Primary children will have the chance to learn to swim as the Scottish Government capitalises on the forthcoming ‘spectacular summer of sport’.
The rollout of the National Primary School Swimming Framework, a universal offer to primary aged children, is part of a package of measures to get people more active, inspired by the Glasgow 2026 Commonwealth Games and the Scotland men’s team playing in the FIFA World Cup finals.
An additional £40 million for sport has been allocated in the 2026-27 Budget, with £2 million for the swimming initiative in its first year, with plans to expand the offer in future years.
Watching pupils from Pirniehill Primary School learning the basics at a pool in Edinburgh, Sport Minister Maree Todd said: “We believe that every child, regardless of their background, should be given the opportunity to learn to swim – a core skill that can save lives.
“There is no better time to offer them that chance than now. We are preparing for a spectacular summer of sport which will see Scotland welcome some of the world’s best swimmers to Glasgow and having elite sportsmen and women competing live on our doorstep is an experience which can only serve to inspire.
“This investment is part of an additional £40 million of funding for sport – enabling more people to get active and enjoy the wide-ranging physical and mental health benefits that will last long after this year’s World Cup and Commonwealth Games have come to a close.”
Swimmer Duncan Scott, who has won eight Olympic medals and 13 Commonwealth medals across three Games, said: “I am delighted to see this Scottish Government commitment and investment in school swimming to keep children safer and more confident in, on and around water.
“As an island nation with so much access to water it’s critical that primary school children have access to basic swimming and water-safety skills.”
Scottish Swimming Chief Executive John Lunn said: “It’s fantastic to see this commitment to school swimming after a long-fought campaign to ensure children have access to basic swimming and water safety skills.
“This is an investment in the future – a future where children are equipped with critical life skills to keep them safer in, on and around water.”
The Scottish Government has allocated an additional £40 million in the 2026-27 Budget for sport.
For the next 7 weeks we are trialling a warm safe space for our Chat & Chill Cafe. Our first one is this Thursday 12 February midday to 2pm.
Whether you have children attending PYCP or not, EVERYONE in our community is welcome to join us.
Pop in, chill out and enjoy a warm space filled with good vibes and good company.
We will be serving up free homemade soup, tasty sandwiches and some extra treats to brighten your day.
Each session comes with giveaway goodies and a lively round of prize bingo (no cost to you).
We will also have our Pop up shop of affordable clothing if you want to browse and pick up some bargains (cash and card payments taken for this). Any money raised goes staight back in to the running of the clubs and groups.
If you think you can make it for our first Chat & Chill then it would be great if you can give us a quick message or send an email to info@pycp.co.uk
Thanks
PY Team
PS> If you can’t make this week, then plenty of other dates in the flyer!
STEPPING Stones North Edinburgh are pleased to share that we are partnering with PAIRS (Perinatal and Infant Relationship Service) NHS to deliver our third run of the Circle of Security Parenting (COSP) programme, starting in February after building on positive feedback and outcomes from previous groups.
Our Family Wellbeing Practitioner, Anna, will be teaming up with clinicians from PAIRS NHS to co-facilitate the group. This partnership brings together Stepping Stones’ relationship-based, community-focused approach with PAIRS’ specialist expertise in perinatal and infant mental health.
Circle of Security Parenting is an evidence-based programme that helps parents and carers understand their child’s emotional needs and behaviours. It focuses on learning about attachment in a way that is supportive and respectful, without blame or judgment.
The group offers a safe and welcoming space where parents can reflect on their experiences, learn alongside others, and develop confidence in building strong, secure relationships with their children.
We are now accepting referrals for parents and carers who may benefit from this kind of support.
Referrals are welcome from professionals, and parents can also get in touch directly to find out more.
ONE YEAR EXTENSION TO INVESTING IN COMMUNITIES FUND
The Scottih Government has confirmed that Investing in Communities funding will be continued for a further year.
The announcement comes as a huge relief to community projects facing massive cuts to their funding, with services being slashed and some organisations facing closure.
Scottish Greens raised concerns over the uncertainty faced by many of Edinburgh’s third sector projects at a council meeting last month.
A looming catastrophe has been averted with the announcement of one year’s transition funding while a replacement to the Investing in Communities Fund is developed.
Edinburgh Northern and Leith MP Tracy Gilbert took up the case of local community organisations and yesterday received welcome confirmation that fears have been allayed – at least for now.
She said: “Following budget cuts, I raised concerns with the Scottish Government about the future of the Investing in Communities Fund. Ministers have now confirmed a one-year transition extension for existing projects ending in March.
“This will help in the short term, but it falls short of the long-term certainty our community organisations need. I’ll keep pushing for sustained funding and stability for the services people rely on.”
Local MSP Ben Macpherson has also been on the case. He said: “This morning I visited Dr Bell’s Family Centre to discuss a situation that was of real concern.
“Using my decade of experience – including how to get things done for local organisations – I’d written to The Scottish Government about it on Monday and followed this up today, working actively as their/your local constituency MSP … I was therefore very pleased that shortly after the matter had been resolved.
“I know it’s been a worrying time for the centre and am relieved that immediate worries have been lifted. My team and I will keep working with the centre to explore more funding streams, and support the impactful work they do in our communities.”
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Edinburgh projects who received Investing in Communities funding (2023- 26) are:
About Youth, Calder Youth Action Project (part of Wester Hailes Together), City of Edinburgh, £105,822
Community Renewal Trust, Our Neighbourhood: A new hyperlocal Community Wealth Building partnership, City of Edinburgh, £300,732
Dr. Bell’s Family Centre, Start Well, Live Well: Wellbeing Support for Families in Leith, City of Edinburgh, £348,067
Edinburgh Food Social Cic, Changing Craigmillar Food Culture, City of Edinburgh, £325,847
Fresh Start, Fresh Connections, City of Edinburgh, £280,201
North Edinburgh Arts, North Edinburgh Arts Link Up, City of Edinburgh, £331,400
Space @ The Broomhouse Hub, Together We Can, City of Edinburgh, £350,000
The Venchie Children And Young People’s Project, Family Support Service, City of Edinburgh, £208,732
Transition Edinburgh South (Scotland) Ltd, Investing in Gracemount, City of Edinburgh, £302,196
Whale, The Arts Agency, Creativity, Place and Enterprise in Wester Hailes (part of Wester Hailes Together), City of Edinburgh, £332,494.
NEN PUBLISHED OUR FIRST BLOG POST ON THIS DAY IN 2011
The very first NEN blog post was published on this day in 2011. The post read:
Hello, and welcome to the brand new NEN blog.
For those of you not already familiar with the newspaper, we are a local community paper serving the North Edinburgh community. We’ve been here for over thirty years.
This blog, along with our new Facebook page and Twitter stream, represents our first foray into the world of social media. We really want to encourage more participation, more questions and ideas from the North Edinburgh community – both online and offline – and hope that these new tools will help us to do that.
We already have a good website, where you can always find the latest edition of the printed newspaper. The blog won’t be replacing that, but will instead be there to show people the latest news about the area, and also to help us cover the current funding crisis we are facing as an organisation.
Above all, we want to include your input on the blog – be it ideas for stories, comments, pictures and events. So get in touch!
The NEN’s website was sadly deleted when funding ceased but our social media presence continues on both Twitter and Facebook and the blog is still going strong with 10 – 12 posts daily.
2025 was the NEN blog’s busiest ever year with 36,000 visitors. As I write this we’ve published more than 38,000 posts – all of these remain accessible online – and we’re currently on a run of publishing on 2749 consecutive days.
When the NEN office in Crewe Road North closed much of the NEN archive material was lost, but thankfully some of our picture library was salvaged and can now be found at granton:hub (Madelvic House), where the volunteer archive team has also collated all remaining hard copies of the North Edinburgh News newspaper.
Hopefully, between the physical archive and the NEN blog, you can find all you need to know about our community’s rich history – and we’re adding to that history every day!
Want to use your skills, insight and experience to support those moving on from homelessness in Edinburgh?
