Wester Hailes – Page 2 – The NEN

Relief for community projects as continued funding confirmed

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.”

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.

Happy 15th Anniversary, NEN blog!

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!

£36 million to expand walk-in GP services

Investment will improve same-day access to urgent care

People will benefit from faster access to GP care as part of a £36 million investment announced in the Scottish Budget.

The funding will support the rollout of a new network of walk-in General Practice (GP) services, designed to make it easier for people to see GPs and other primary care clinicians quickly for urgent health concerns without needing an appointment.

Fifteen walk-in service centres will be established, with services focused on urgent, on-the-day primary care needs, similar to the care currently provided by GP out-of-hours services.

Services – which will be open 12pm-8pm, seven days per week – will allow people to attend without a prior appointment and will complement existing GP practices, NHS 24, community pharmacy, and hospitals.

Visiting the first future pilot site to be announced – Wester Hailes Healthy Living Centre – Cabinet Secretary for Health and Social Care Neil Gray said: “This £36 million investment will help more people get the right care, in the right place, at the right time. Walk-in services will make it easier to access urgent care on the day it’s needed, while easing pressure on GP practices and hospitals.

“Open seven days per week, between 12pm-8pm, our new walk-in centres will ensure people can get the care they need at a time that works for them – and will deliver over one million additional GP and nurse appointments.

“The funding for the walk-in services is just part of almost £22.5 billion allocated to health and social care, including a record £17.6 billion for NHS services and resources. Our continued investment in the NHS is allowing us to target areas which are experiencing long waits, reducing backlogs, and getting people the appointments and treatments they need as quickly as possible.

“I am determined to keep driving forward improvements so everyone can get the care they need, when they need it.”

Tracey McKigen, Director of Primary Care for NHS Lothian, said: “We are working closely with Wester Hailes Healthy Living Centre, the Edinburgh Health and Social Care partnership and the Scottish Government to shape proposals for piloting a new walk-in GP service.

“While plans are still being refined, we believe the new service will help improve access to primary care and complement existing local health services.”

TODAY: Holywood comes to Wester Hailes

MAKE A MOVIE DAY at WESTER HAILES LIBRARY

It’s Hollywood time here at Wester Hailes!

05/01/2026 @ 1 – 4 PM

We will script, film and edit our own film in just one day

There will be a role for everyone so no matter what you want to do whether that be a editor, director, script writer or producer we will have something for everyone

So if you are ready for a challenge, come to Wester Hailes library and make a film in just ONE DAY

No booking required, refreshments provided!

SWAP: Edinburgh launches innovative pilot to prevent homelessness

A new pilot aimed at preventing people from becoming homeless has officially been given the go-ahead in the Capital after the Council and partners were awarded funding from the Scottish Government.

The System Wide Approach to Prevention (SWAP) – ‘Ask and Act’ initiative will be piloted in Wester Hailes, providing earlier interventions and practical support to help people at risk of homelessness to remain in their homes.

The launch follows the recent passing of the Housing (Scotland) Act 2025 which places new legal duties on public bodies to ask about a person’s housing situation and take action to prevent homelessness before it happens.

Across Scotland, 15 projects are sharing £4 million through the Homelessness Prevention Pilot Fund, administered by Advice Direct Scotland on behalf of the Scottish Government, to develop and test prevention pilots.

A team will now be created in the Capital which will include public and third-sector partners. They will be trialling new models of working to provide co-ordinated and timely support for individuals and households at risk of homelessness.

The ‘Ask’ and ‘Act’ duties will be embedded in everyday services provided by partners in the Wester Hailes area.

The services working in partnership with the Council to deliver these duties are NHS Lothian, Police Scotland, Prospect Community Housing, Social Security Scotland, Scottish Prison Service and Crisis.

This approach will allow them to identify what people need help earlier, offer support directly, and request further help and support via a single point of contact within the Council’s prevention services.

Housing, Homelessness and Fair Work Convener, Tim Pogson said: “This is fantastic news, being awarded just over £600k from a £4 million fund for the whole of Scotland is a tremendous endorsement of our proposal, and I’m grateful to the team who brought it together and partners for agreeing to be part of this.

“It will also help us boost our efforts to tackle the housing emergency facing the city. It’s exciting that work is already under way, and I’m confident we’ll see positive results in the new year.

“Preventing homelessness and supporting tenants before they reach crisis point is essential to ensuring as many people as possible have a secure home.

“Last year alone, our homelessness prevention services helped 2,622 households as part of our Local Housing Strategy, the city’s overarching strategy for housing and homelessness.”

Màiri McAllan, the Housing Secretary, Scottish Government, said: “We are determined to end homelessness – and the best way to do this is to prevent homelessness in the first place.

“This investment in prevention pilots will help us test and scale up innovative approaches to help people stay in their homes.

Have you seen Ahmad?

Police are appealing for information to help trace a missing boy. Ahmad Bader, 15, was last seen in the Granton Medway area of the city on the morning of Monday, 27 October, 2025.

Ahmad is described as being around 5ft 11in tall, of medium build, with black hair and brown eyes.

When last seen he was wearing black jogging bottoms with white stripes and text, a black hoodie and puffer gilet, black trainers and carrying a black cross body bag.

Ahmad is believed to be in the Wester Hailes area of Edinburgh and has links throughout the west of Edinburgh area. He uses buses to travel around the city.

Sergeant James Palmer said: “It is out of character for Ahmad to be away from home for this long and as time passes concerns are growing.

“Our enquiries are ongoing and I am appealing for anyone who has seen Ahmed or who has any information on his whereabouts to contact us.”

Anyone with any information is asked to contact 101 quoting reference 2546 of Thursday, 6 November, 2025.

Scott Arthur MP cuts the ribbon at Wester Hailes Post Office

Dr Scott Arthur MP performs the official opening
Open at Plaza News, Unit 23-26 Upper Ground Floor Level, Westside Plaza, Edinburgh, EH14 2SW
Monday to Saturday: 9am – 5.30pm
51 hours of Post Office service per week
Branch now open on Saturday afternoons
Experienced postmasters

Dr Scott Arthur MP for Edinburgh South West “cut the ribbon” (17/10) to mark the official opening of Wester Hailes Post Office at its new location – Plaza News, Unit 23-26 Upper Ground Floor Level, Westside Plaza, Edinburgh, EH14 2SW.

Experienced postmasters are father and son, Mohammed and Aamir Arshad have run Plaza News, a hardware and convenience store, since 2016. Previously they ran Whitecraig Post Office and off-licence store in Musselburgh for six years.

Dr Scott Arthur MP said: “I want to thank Mohammed and Aamir Arshad for taking on Wester Hailes Post Office inside their well-established store, close to the previous branch, meaning customers are already familiar with the shopping centre, parking and bus routes.

”This Post Office fits in well with the store design. The layout is spacious and accessible, and with Mohammed and Aamir’s experience running a previous Post Office, they’ve hit the ground running.”

Wester Hailes Post Office had been directly managed by Post Office. As part of Post Office’s wider commitment to deliver a “New Deal for Postmasters” with increased remuneration, the Post Office is franchising all remaining 108 Directly Managed Branches which will create a long-term, sustainable future for post offices across the UK.

This branch in Wester Hailes is the first of the 108 to relocate. It remains within the same shopping centre. There is a car park at the shopping center with dedicated disabled parking bays on upper level where the new branch is located.

Wester Hailes Post Office has two open plan serving positions, neatly added to the line of retail counters. The store has wide aisles, designed to make it easier for people with mobility scooters, wheelchairs, walking frames, pushchairs or prams to manoeuvre.

Postmaster Aamir Arshad said: “Our existing customers were really pleased that we were taking on Wester Hailes Post Office under one roof. We have had lots of people saying that they are very grateful that the branch is here and we have also had thank you cards.

“People are happy with the spacious layout in the aisles, so there is room for someone in a wheelchair and a pushchair to pass side by side.

“We are also seeing lots of new customers who we had not seen before, who have also been impressed with our existing retail offer in our hardware and convenience store, so those sales have increased too.

“We are giving everyone a warm welcome. People are surprised to hear about my previous experience of running a branch. I was only young when I started with my Dad. Now my 20-year-old brother Adam, has just joined us too, so he is about my age when I started. He’s taken to it really well.

“Extra staff are also being Post Office trained ready for the really busy Christmas period.”

Opening hours are: Monday – Saturday: 9am – 5.30pm. This is an extra 5 hours and 30 minutes of Post Office service a week including Saturday afternoon and earlier opening on a Tuesday morning, making it more convenient for customers to visit.

The same range of Post Office services are available, including an internal ATM. Customers have the choice of Royal Mail, Parcelforce, DPD and Evri services to buy in branch, drop offs and collections. It’s very easy for people to do their personal and business banking, bill payment and a full range of currencies on demand.

There is passport check and send, vehicle tax ID verification services and Western Union international money transfers.

Wester Hailes Post Office opens at new location

SAME SHOPPING CENTRE, EXTENDED OPENING HOURS

Opens at Plaza News, Unit 23-26 Upper Ground Floor Level, Westside Plaza, Edinburgh, EH14 2SW
Monday to Saturday: 9am – 5.30pm
51 hours of Post Office service per week
Branch now open Saturday afternoons
Experienced father & son postmasters
One of UK’s first new-look Post Offices

Wester Hailes Post Office opened yesterday (7/10) at a new location – Plaza News, Unit 23-26 Upper Ground Floor Level, Westside Plaza, Edinburgh.

Wester Hailes Post Office, which had been directly managed by Post Office, has new franchise owners – father and son, Mohammed and Aamir Arshad.

The branch is still within Westside Plaza. It has however moved to Plaza News, a hardware and convenience store, based in this shopping centre since 2016.

Previously, Mohammed and Aamir ran Whitecraig Post Office and off-licence store in Musselburgh for six years.

Post Office Limited recently announced it is moving to a fully franchised network, as part of our wider commitment to deliver a “New Deal for Postmasters”.

Over 99% of the Post Office network is already successfully operated on a franchise basis by carefully selected retail partners. We are confident this would create a long-term, sustainable future for post offices in communities across the UK, including Wester Hailes.

Wester Hailes Post Office is one of the first branches in the country using new colours and format for a new look and feel for today’s modern world. There is more internal signage which informs customers of the three key services we perform: Banking, Mails and Travel.

Wester Hailes Post Office has two open plan serving positions at the retail counter. The same full range of services are still available, including an internal ATM.

The opening hours are Monday to Saturday: 9am – 5.30pm. This is an extra 5 hours and 30 minutes of Post Office service a week including Saturday afternoon and earlier opening on a Tuesday morning than previously offered for the convenience of customers.

The shopping centre car park has dedicated disabled parking bays on upper level where the new branch is located.

Have you seen Aisika?

14 YEAR OLD GIRL MISSING FROM WESTER HAILES

POLICE are appealing for information which could help trace a missing 14-year-old girl from Edinburgh.

Aisika Arnautu who is from the Wester Hailes area of the city, was reported missing on Saturday, 27 September.

Enquiries so far have established that she has been in Aberdeen from around Friday, 19 September and subsequently travelled to Glasgow city centre on Saturday, 27 September.

She may have been travelling using public transport and enquiries are ongoing to establish her exact movements.

Aisika is described as being white, 5ft 4in tall with long brown hair. It isn’t known what she would be wearing but she is thought to wear large hoop style earrings.

Chief Inspector Ran Macdonald said: “We are concerned for Aisika’s welfare and would urge anyone who may have information to come forward.

“She is thought to have travelled extensively in the past few weeks across Scotland so I would urge anyone who thinks they may have seen her or spoken to her to get in touch.

“If you can help, you can call 101 quoting reference 3254 of 27 September, 2025.”

Coming Soon: Local Resistance

Something exciting is coming! Keep your eyes peeled for more information!

FILM HUB SCOTLAND are proud to support LOCAL RESISTANCE, a programme of local film screenings curated by – and for – communities in Wester Hailes, Muirhouse, Craigmillar and Leith.

WHALE Arts‘s touring programme will celebrate local stories of self-organising and solidarity across Craigmillar Now North Edinburgh Arts The Crannie Duncan Place Leith WHALE Arts. And just look at these beautiful posters

Get tickets: whalearts.co.uk/local-cinema/

Read our interview with Local Resistance coordinator, Morvern Cunningham: http://filmhubscotland.com/…/the-local-cinema-network…/