-Big Swap is a FREE GIVEAWAY of second hand clothes, shoes, books, toys and household items,
-we DO NOT ACCEPT ANY DONATIONS ON THE DAY,
-the event is ABSOLUTELY FREE and everyone is welcome to attend,
-bring your own bags on the day and be respectful of others as all our Big Swaps are really busy and we are trying to accommodate all our service users
The City of Edinburgh Music School is a national centre of excellence for musicians of any school age (4 – 18).
It is funded by the Scottish Government and does not charge any fees. The Music School is housed within two neighbouring state comprehensive schools – Flora Stevenson Primary and Broughton High School in the Comely Bank area of Edinburgh.
Entry is by audition and students have to be above average ability on an instrument/voice for their age, to be considered.
All instruments and differing styles of music are treated equally.
To find out more visit us at Broughton High School on Saturday 5th November 2022.
Staff, students and some of their parents will be on hand to show you around, answer questions and demonstrate how this unique form of education works.
No need to book – just drop in any time between 11.00 am and 2pm.
– Customers can get up to 50% off toys in selected stores –
– Saving as much as £50 on some of this year’s must-have brands –
– Toy sale available while stocks last –
Morrisons has launched a mega toy sale, to help customers get their hands on much-wanted gifts for kids and spread the cost this Christmas.
Customers can bag themselves up to 50% off must-have toys this year, including L.O.L Dolls, Peppa Pig, Super Mario Kart and Hotwheels. The toy sale is available now in 423 stores while stocks last.
Morrisons is offering Peppa Pig’s Wooden Playhouse for £52.50, 50% off the RRP, which is bound to be the perfect gift for her fans. The wooden house comes with Peppa and George wooden figures and each room is kitted out with fun features, furniture and accessories for kids to enjoy a special treat this Christmas.
For little beauty fanatics and young fashionistas, customers can get Shimmer ‘n Sparkle InstaGlam On The Glo Makeup Trolley for just £47.50 down from £95.00 RRP or Rainbow High Fashion Studio for 50% off at £30.00.
Customers can also bag a bargain on what experts predict to be the top selling brands this year including a Barbie Pet Supply Store or Radio Control Car (both £26.50, saving over a third) or Play-Doh Colourful Cafe Playset (£33, also saving over a third).
With only three months to go until the big day, Morrisons hopes this huge sale will help customers spread the cost of purchasing Christmas gifts this year.
David Catton, Toys Buyer at Morrisons, said: “We know that customers are under real financial pressure at the moment and want to help them when it comes to their Christmas shopping.
“We’re reducing the price of our toys now to help customers spread the cost of the festive season and tick off some important jobs.”
Morrisons toy deals are available in selected Morrisons stores now while stocks last.
Highlight deals in Morrisons Toy Sale:
Product Description
Normal Retail
Promo Retail
Saving
Offer
Peppa Pigs’s Wooden Playhouse
£105.00
£52.50
£52.00
50%
Shimmer ‘n Sparkle InstaGlam on the Glo Makeup Trolley
Criminal offence to supply fireworks and pyrotechnics to under 18s
New powers to enforce the safe use of fireworks are to come into force. Legislation making it a criminal offence for anyone to supply fireworks or other pyrotechnic articles to a child or person under 18 comes into effect on 10 October.
From the same date, attacks on emergency workers using fireworks or pyrotechnics will also become aggravating factors that can be taken into account when courts sentence offenders. The measures are set out in the Fireworks and Pyrotechnic Articles (Scotland) Act 2022 passed by the Scottish Parliament on 29 June.
The key powers are being brought into force in advance of Bonfire Night and build on steps taken last year restricting the times fireworks can be used, when they can be bought, and the quantity.
Work is progressing to enact other powers set out in the Act, including the introduction of a fireworks licensing system, with mandatory safety training, for people wishing to purchase and use fireworks, and introducing powers for local authorities to designate firework control zones.
Community Safety Minister Ash Regan said: “These important new powers have been delivered at pace and make it a criminal offence for anyone to supply fireworks or other pyrotechnic articles to a child or person under age 18.
“Fireworks in the wrong hands can cause serious, life-changing injuries or even prove lethal. Preventing their supply – in any way – to under 18s is a wholly welcome step which will bring greater public safety across Scotland.
“It’s also extremely important swift work has progressed which will see hard-working and brave 999 crews – who work tirelessly to keep us all safe – better protected.
“Any attack on fire, ambulance and police crews is utterly despicable so ensuring courts are required to take into consideration the use fireworks or pyrotechnics as a possible aggravating factor in any attack on 999 crews is a real deterrent to such vile behaviour.
“Work is now progressing to see other provisions set out in the ground-breaking legislation brought into force. These are essential steps which demonstrate our absolute commitment to improving the safety of communities across Scotland.”
Chief Inspector Nicola Robison from Police Scotland’s Partnerships, Preventions and Community Wellbeing Division, said: “Fireworks, when not used lawfully, present a significant risk to the public and so preventing such items from being purchased by, or for, anyone under the age of 18, is vitally important for keeping communities safe.
“Buying fireworks for underage youths can result in a £5,000 fine, six-months imprisonment, or both and our message is clear. Do not risk it. Help us prevent disorder, damage and violence over the Bonfire Night period.
“The new aggravator for attacks on emergency service workers is also a welcome legislative change and should give all frontline first responders additional reassurance that their safety and wellbeing is paramount as they go about their duties.”
The new under-18 proxy purchase and supply and emergency worker attack aggravator offences come into effect on 10 October 2022.
Edinburgh College has been named as a regional Planet Saver award winner in the British Chambers of Commerce Business Awards and will now compete for a national prize.
The College was entered into the UK-wide awards scheme having collected the Net Zero Champion accolade at the Edinburgh Chamber of Commerce Business Awards in February this year.
The awards programme is a showpiece event in the UK business calendar, recognising and promoting the best of British business through a series of regional heats, culminating in a campaign to showcase winning businesses on an international stage.
The College’s success comes in recognition of its renewed commitment to Sustainability and increasing engagement with its student body through a Go Green project led by Edinburgh College Students’ Association (ECSA) and the introduction of an annual Sustainable Education Week.
ECSA’s work involved creating Go Green Hubs on each campus, which feature Clothes Swap Shops and Community Fridges, and are aimed at reducing food and textiles waste, alleviating poverty and keeping the issue of Sustainability visible and at the forefront of students’ minds.
Sustainable Education Week sees classes across the curriculum focus their teaching on Sustainability, with students embarking on new projects or one-off activities which embed one or more of the UN Sustainable Development Goals into contextualised learning.
Edinburgh College Principal, Audrey Cumberford said: “We’re delighted to have been named as a regional winner by the British Chambers of Commerce.
“This award and progression into the next round of the programme is a wonderful recognition of the work of our College in engaging students to support, drive and lead our sustainability priorities, working towards achieving the goals set out in our Environmental Sustainability Strategy. I am extremely proud of what our staff and students involved have achieved and I believe they truly deserve this recognition.”
Al Wilson, ECSA Director, said: “Well done to the College and in particular our brilliant team members for this latest award recognition.
“Our Go Green project has delivered tangible outcomes in terms of reducing literally tonnes of food and textiles waste, as well as raising awareness of sustainability among the student body at Edinburgh College – something which is vital to help us tackle the climate emergency and make it real for our students as they become the workforce of tomorrow.”
A Holyrood Committee has called for the Scottish Government to demonstrate increased leadership and oversight in the delivery of the Community Empowerment Act (“The Act”), as a new report exposes significant unmet demand for allotments and growing spaces across Scotland.
Seven years after its introduction, the Local Government, Housing and Planning Committee has undertaken an inquiry into the Act, examining whether it has improved the availability of allotments and reduced the barriers to accessing them.
The report highlights the benefits that access to land for growing can have on people’s health, the environment, food security, and on communities.
Despite positive developments since the Act came into force, the Committee found that further action is now needed if the ambitions contained in it are to be met.
Evidence revealed that the COVID-19 pandemic had led to a further surge in demand and the emerging cost-of-living crisis is also expected to drive up the need for growing spaces even further.
The inquiry heard that demand for allotment space is even more acute in Scotland’s cities, with the number of people on waiting lists in Edinburgh almost doubling since 2019, rising from 3,000 to 5,600 and Aberdeen’s waiting list increasing over six-fold, from 150 to 1,000 people in 5 years.
With demand for allotments and growing space far outstripping supply, the Committee has warned that broader Scottish Government plans for developing community growing, food growth strategies and improving access to land are all being held back.
The Committee has made several recommendations in its report for the Scottish Government, as well as proposing actions for local government.
Recommendations to the Scottish Government include:
Increasing the leadership and oversight provided by the Scottish Government to improve access to allotments and growing spaces.
The creation of a national partnership forum which could foster cross-sectoral collaboration, mutual support and enable local authorities to share expertise and good practice.
Reflecting the importance of allotments and food growing in wider strategies such as the National Planning Framework, the forthcoming Biodiversity Strategy, and the implementation of the new Good Food Nation Bill.
Tackling the complexity of existing rights under the Act for ‘community asset transfers’ which were created to enable the transfer of property and land to community groups.
The importance of land for growing food being incorporated into planning frameworks.
Improved clarity about how the requirement for local authorities to publish Food Growing Strategies intersects with the new requirement to produce Good Food Nation strategies.
Commenting on the report, Committee Convener Ariane Burgess MSP said: “The Community Empowerment Act recognised in 2015 how important allotments are to communities and individuals. Whilst there have been many positive developments since then, there is still a significant and increasing demand which is not being met, and access to land remains a challenge.
“Scotland’s appetite for improved access to allotments and growing space is flourishing, in part due to the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic, but also due to the rising cost-of-living and levels of food insecurity facing people across the country.
“The benefits of allotments were made clear to the Committee by the many passionate individuals we met in our visits to sites and in the evidence we received.
“These benefits extend from improving health and well-being to tackling social isolation, intergenerational engagement, education opportunities, carbon reduction and improved biodiversity. Nurturing communities’ and individuals’ interests in getting involved should be a priority for the government.
“Our hope is that this report prepares the ground for real change and that the Scottish Government now demonstrate increased leadership and a renewed commitment to the Act to deliver on its own food growth and wellbeing ambitions.”
Families and friends have a crucial role to play in ensuring Scotland’s social security payments reach those who need them most.
On a visit to a Citizens Advice Bureau, as part of Challenge Poverty Week, Social Security Minister Ben Macpherson said talking about benefits would help drive take-up and reduce stigma about accessing benefits. The Scottish Government urges people to make sure they get the benefits they are entitled to.
These payments provide support to people on low incomes, people with disabilities, carers, and young people entering the workplace.
During the visit to the Citizens Advice Bureau in Muirhouse, Mr Macpherson met staff and volunteers who provide information and advice about available financial assistance and wider support.
Minister for Social Security Ben Macpherson said: “We are urging as many people as possible to talk to family, friends and other people they know to encourage them to apply for benefits they may be entitled to. We want people to get any support that they are eligible for.
“We know that word of mouth helps to raise awareness of Social Security Scotland’s payments, and those provided by the UK Government which may be needed to access Scottish benefits. We also want anyone who thinks they might be eligible for payments to check what’s available to them.
“While several of our payments are designed for people on low incomes there are also others which provide support to disabled people, young people starting their careers after a period of unemployment, and carers including young carers.
“Social security is a shared investment in people and supports building a fairer, more equal society. The current cost of living crisis shows that any of us could need this support at some point in our lives. That is why it is right that we invest in social security together.
“The Scottish Government is grateful for the impactful role that Citizens Advice advisers play in promoting and supporting access to social security.”
The Scottish Government’s new website provides information on the wide range of advice and financial support available.
Citizens Advice Edinburgh Chief Executive Benjamin Napier said: “The Citizens Advice network in Scotland encourages everyone to check that they are receiving the income they are entitled to.
“Every year, millions of pounds of welfare entitlement go unclaimed. At a time of increasing costs and pressures on household budgets, we strongly encourage people to get in touch with their local Citizens Advice Bureau or use our online tools like www.moneymap.scot to see if they could be receiving more money.
“Last year the CAB network across Scotland helped over 174,000 people and 2.4 million people checked our online advice pages.
“Advice from CABs is free, impartial and confidential. We never charge people for advice and are for everyone regardless of background or circumstance. Social Security Scotland have 12 new benefits and we want to make sure everyone knows their rights of access them.”
#ChallengePovertyWeek
GRANTON Information Centre remains committed to tackling the injustice of poverty in Edinburgh. We do this by:
* Ensure that our service users are getting all the financial assistance they are entitled to by carrying out ‘benefit checks’ and ‘income maximisation’ appointments
* Assisting our clients to make benefits claims and apply for grants on their behalf
* Assisting our service users to challenge decisions if their benefit has been stopped/ sanctioned/ reduced/ refused or overpaid
* Discuss various options with our clients who are struggling to cope with debt, including liaising with lenders and arranging bankruptcies
* Organising food and clothing bank referrals.
We are here to help! Contact us: appointments@gic.org.uk / 0131 551 2459 / 0131 552 0458
Scotland’s top site managers gathered to celebrate their achievements at NHBC’s Pride in the Job 2022 Awards which were held at The Hilton in Glasgow last week.
A series of regional events are taking place throughout the autumn, to announce the Seal of Excellence and Regional Award winners and celebrate the achievements of the Quality Award recipients.
Now in its 42nd year, judging for the Awards is rigorous, with each site manager assessed across six key areas: consistency, attention to detail, leadership, interpretation of drawings and specifications, technical expertise and health and safety.
The competition is split between three categories: small, medium and large house builders, plus a multi-storey category for site managers working on projects of five storeys or more for multiple occupancy.
This year’s Regional winners were:
Small Builder category – Duncan Moon of Guild Homes (Tayside) Ltd, for their work at Strathmore Fields at Forfar.
Medium Builder category – Stuart Gillespie of Mactaggart & Mickel Homes Ltd, for their work at Greenan Views at Doonfoot.
Large Builder category – Eddie McCann of Taylor Wimpey East Scotland, for their work at Calderwood in East Calder.
Multi-storey category – Cathal Lamph of CALA Homes East, for their work at Waterfront Plaza in Edinburgh.
As well as their category wins, Mr Moon, Mr Gillespie, Mr McCann and Mr Lamph were each awarded a Seal of Excellence. A further ten managers across the region were also awarded a Seal of Excellence at the ceremony having gained a Quality Award in the first round of the competition in June. They were:
Gavin Bianchi of Taylor Wimpey East Scotland
Jeff Calder of Barratt and David Wilson Homes North Scotland
George Carty of Bellway Homes Scotland West
Victoria Chalmers of Barratt and David Wilson Homes North Scotland
Iain MacLaren of Barratt and David Wilson Homes North Scotland
Ewan MacLean of Barratt and David Wilson Homes East Scotland
Jim Martin of Miller Homes Scotland East
David McClure of Taylor Wimpey West Scotland
Colin McNeish of Miller Homes Scotland West
Michael Roarty of Barratt and David Wilson Homes West Scotland
Over more than four decades, Pride in the Job has underpinned NHBC’s core purpose of raising standards in house building by championing high-quality homes and protecting homeowners. By recognising the very best site managers across the UK, showcasing best practice and rewarding excellence, the competition celebrates the vital role that site managers play in ensuring new homes are delivered on time, on safe sites and to exacting construction quality standards.
Commenting on the Awards, NHBC Chief Executive Steve Wood said:“For more than 40 years Pride in the Job has been an important part of our work to help drive construction quality. Winning site managers tell us that it inspires them to give a little extra and to strive harder for ever-higher standards of house building.
“At NHBC we believe that the calibre of the site manager and the way they inspire their site team has the greatest influence on the quality of the finished home. By promoting friendly rivalry, showcasing best practice and rewarding excellence, Pride in the Job supports the delivery of homes of the highest quality.
“Congratulations to all the 2022 Pride in the Job Seal of Excellence and Regional Award winners. They are an inspiration to us all and should be very proud of the quality of new homes they are creating.”
The Regional Award winners will now go forward to compete for the ultimate prize in house building, the Pride in the Job Supreme Awards which will be unveiled at a gala ceremony in London in January 2023.
