Sadly, despite the best efforts of all involved, Blackhall Playgroup had to close its doors for good on the 25th June 2026.
Blackhall Playgroup has made a significant contribution to the children and families of Blackhall & surrounding areas for over 40 years and the committee would like to thank all the employees, volunteers and committee members past and present for their commitment and dedication over the years.
As a result of this closure, we are holding a closing down sale. There will be a wide range of high quality equipment, toys, puzzles, games and books for early years and beyond.
CLOSING DOWN SALE
Blackhall St. Columba’s Church, Upstairs hall
Friday 14th August 12-4pm
AND
Saturday 15th August 10am-2pm
Cash only
If bringing a car then free parking available on the surrounding side streets (not on Queensferry Road) but please be considerate of our neighbours’ driveways
As part of the Royal Literary Fund’s Reading Round programme, taking place in 12 libraries across Scotland to mark National Book Club Day, we’re delighted to welcome award-winning writer, journalist and critic Chitra Ramaswamy to Stockbridge Library.
Friday, 11 September
12:30–2:30pm
Stockbridge Library
Chitra is the acclaimed author of “Homelands”, a moving account of her friendship with German Jewish refugee Henry Wuga. The book won the Saltire Non-Fiction Book of the Year Award and was named one of The Guardian’s best memoirs and biographies of 2022.
Her first book, “Expecting: The Inner Life of Pregnancy”, won the Saltire First Book of the Year Award, was shortlisted for the Polari Prize, and was reissued in 2024.
She has also contributed to numerous essay collections, judged literary prizes, and recently published “Rich Things” for the Alasdair Gray Archive.
Alongside her books, Chitra writes as a restaurant critic for The Times Scotland and occasionally The Observer, and as a TV critic for The Guardian.
Reading Round offers a welcoming and inclusive way to experience literature together. The session will begin with a short introduction before Chitra shares a carefully selected prose extract, reading it aloud to the group.
Participants are then invited to discuss what they noticed, what moved or surprised them, what resonated, and what questions the text raised.
After a short refreshment break, Chitra will read a selected poem twice, followed by another relaxed group discussion.
There are no right or wrong answers, no homework, and no expectation to speak if you don’t want to. Whether you’re an avid reader or simply curious, all you need is an interest in reading and a willingness to explore literature in a friendly, supportive environment.
We hope you’ll join us for this unique opportunity to read, reflect and connect through the shared enjoyment of literature.
First year students at Portobello High had an extra surprise waiting for their very first day at high school yesterday – solar eclipse glasses!
Students were able to watch the solar eclipse safely last night thanks to the Royal Astronomer of Scotland.
Over 300 pupils have been given solar eclipse glasses so they can watch the most significant solar eclipse since 1999. Around 90 per cent of the sun will be blocked by the moon today, Wednesday 12 August 2026, from around 6pm.
Watching the rare phenomenon that creates a few moments of darkness requires special glasses so permanent damage isn’t caused to the eyes. The eye wear has been proving very difficult to source and any shops with stock selling out instantly.
The Royal Astronomer of Scotland, Professor Catherine Heymans, has been working alongside Portobello High School students in a space programme with the physics department and has provided 300 of the glasses for the entire S1 class.
Convenor for Education, Children and Families. James Dalgleish, said: “This is a fantastic gift for our first year students at Portobello High School.
“An eclipse is such a rare event with the last being in 1999 and the next in the UK to be in 2090. It is fantastic for our young people to be able to watch the solar eclipse safely.
“Seeing a solar eclipse is a life event and could well inspire a whole new generation of astronomers for Edinburgh.”
Local Lib Dem councillors report: We’ve been alerted to major works to resurface the Crewe Toll roundabout and upgrade the pedestrian crossings.
The project will start on Monday 17th August and last for approximately 12 weeks.
The works will be completed via overnight shifts (between 7.30pm and 6.30am) but will require temporary closures of Crewe Road South, Crewe Road North, or the Ferry Road West approach.
Only one of these approaches will be closed at any one time.
Phase 1 will start with the closure of Crewe Road South at its junction with the Crewe Toll Roundabout. During these temporary road closures, traffic on the remaining four approaches will be managed via temporary traffic lights.
A signed diversion route will be in place for each of the closed approaches.
SCIAF has launched an emergency appeal to help those affected by the 7.4 magnitude earthquake in Colombia.
The earthquake struck in the remote Chocó region of Colombia, where SCIAF has active projects.
The tragedy has killed at least 224 people, with more than 2,600 injured. It’s also thought that around 1,100 homes have been destroyed and 8,000 damaged by the quake, with health centres, education institutes and community centres also affected.
These figures are likely to increase as information comes in from the most remote areas where communication has broken down, especially with thousands still missing.
Geraldine Hill is SCIAF’s Programme Officer for Colombia and lived in the Latin American country for two years. SCIAF has been working in Colombia since the 1980s.
Geraldine said: “It’s heart-breaking to see communities in Chocó bear the brunt of this latest earthquake. These communities are already very poor and live surrounded by violence, the earthquake is just the latest challenge to confront them. Once again SCIAF’s local partners are responding as soon as the crisis happens.
“SCIAF sets aside emergency funds in our focus countries to speed up locally-led response. We have immediately released £10,000 from these funds for partners, and we are liaising closely with them to determine how best to help.
“Through our partners in Chocó, we can immediately reach out to those most in need. Our local Caritas partners are already there, working tirelessly to provide emergency relief where it’s needed the most. Please support this response through SCIAF’s appeal.”
To donate to SCIAF’s Colombia Earthquake appeal please visit:
For those following the progress of #PE1979, the new Scottish Parliament Petitions’ Committee have just informed petitioners that our petition (and the other 7 legacy petitions) was privately discussed at their meeting on Thursday 25th June (writes ALISON DICKIE).
There, committee members agreed to write to the Scottish Government about all legacy petitions.
In February, PE1979 received the previous committee’s cross-party support when they continued our petition into the 7th parliamentary session to be ‘rigorously pursued’ by the new committee.
Since May’s election, we have continued to build on that support, and initiated meetings with individual and supportive MSPs before the summer recess.
For nearly four years, petitioners have been calling for independent investigation of allegations relating to the mishandling of child abuse concerns by public bodies and an independent national whistleblowing office for education and children’s services.
Behind the petition’s calls are families, former and current staff and others who have had their health, career and lives negatively impacted for raising child abuse concerns. Importantly, it includes CSA & CSE survivors who have been further traumatised by the mishandling of their disclosures.
The allegations raised are diverse but include cases relating to serious and organised child abuse, with links across them. Given this, petitioners continue to highlight the vital need for robust and independent investigation and an INWO to amplify the voice of whistleblowers and survivors and limit the marking of one’s own homework that thrives at public body, multi-agency and even national strategic group levels.
Ultimately, we highlight how determining the child safeguarding truth directly relates to the level of confidence we can have in current child safeguarding – the systems and personnel in place – and particularly where the alleged predators still work with children and young people.
It is our hope that the new Minister for Children, Young People and The Promise, members of the Petitions Committee and MSPs across all parties will show an understanding of these serious matters and more urgently help to deliver the petition’s calls to better keep children safe.
We await the SG response and the committee’s deliberations with interest.
Read more about it via the online briefings below.
EdFest has opened a box office on the Mound, beside the Assembly Hall.
Above the cabin, a 4x2m screen displays a constantly-updating feed of ticket offers from across EdFest’s seven venues, pulled live from Edfest.com/offers , where participating companies can claim their show and run their own marketing offers. The box office also serves normal sales for the Assembly Hall. Edinburgh,
With Fringe well under way after a bumper first weekend, Edfest.com the shared ticketing, marketing and discovery platform uniting Assembly, C ARTS, Gilded Balloon, Just the Tonic, Pleasance, Underbelly and ZOO — has taken its offers on to the street.
A new box office on the Mound, next to the Assembly Hall, is now selling tickets in person for Assembly Hall shows, while a 4x2m screen mounted above the counter runs a live rota of daily offers from companies across all seven EdFest venues.
The screen draws directly from edfest.com/offers, the same feed available to audiences online, so any deal a company sets up, a percentage off, a fixed ticket price, or a 2-for-1, appears on the Mound within minutes.
Companies playing in any of the seven EdFest venues can claim their show on edfest.com, set their own offers, and add further content such as media reviews, giving them a direct, self-managed route to passing Fringe footfall as well as to edfest.com‘s online audience.
The launch comes as ticket sales across edfest.com and Love the Fringe run 50% ahead of the same point last year. For the seven EdFest venues, which together account for around 70% of all Fringe ticket sales, shows can be added to a single basket and bought in one transaction directly on edfest.com, at 0% box office commission, with booking fees capped at £5 per transaction.
Beyond the Fringe, edfest.com also brings together listings for Edinburgh’s other festivals year- round, including the Edinburgh International Festival, the International Book Festival, the Film Festival and the Royal Edinburgh Military Tattoo, with booking handled directly through each festival’s own site.
The Mound box office sits alongside Love the Fringe, EdFest’s audience membership programme, now in its third year and grown from 500+ members in 2024 to 1,000+ in 2025.
Membership, from £30, gives access to free tickets, venue and bar discounts, and curated daily review digests across the festival.
William Burdett-Coutts, said: “This is a great step forward for the Fringe. Our drive is to try and reduce costs for performers and find ways of making the festival more efficient.
“With Edfest we have already reduced box office commission for companies to zero provided they put 4% of their tickets into Love the Fringe.
“A win win for the audience and shows alike. Which is why a physical, live-updating box office on the Mound matters during peak Fringe footfall, and how it gives companies a direct way to reach passing audiences.
!Audiences can also save up to £1.50 on booking fees probably making this the cheapest box office service in the city.”
EdFest and Love the Fringe are live now at edfest.com.
Dogs may mistake the sudden darkness for an early bedtime, with some pets becoming unsettled, expecting food or attempting to follow their usual evening routine.
Dog owners are being warned that their pets could display unusual behaviour during tomorrow’s solar eclipse, as the sky suddenly darkens across the UK.
TONIGHT, Wednesday 12 August, the Moon will obscure around 90% to 96% of the Sun across the UK and Ireland, making it the most significant eclipse visible from Britain since 1999.
The partial eclipse is expected to begin shortly after 6pm, peak at approximately 7.10pm and finish shortly after 8pm, although exact timings and coverage will vary by location.
While the event poses no inherent danger to dogs, the unexpected change in daylight and temperature could temporarily disrupt the environmental cues they use to understand their daily routine.
Darren Beale, CEO of fresh dog food brand Years, said: “Dogs will not understand that an eclipse is taking place. Instead, they may interpret the sudden drop in light and temperature as an early sunset.
“Some dogs might become quieter, head towards their bed or start expecting their evening meal or walk earlier than usual. More sensitive dogs could appear unsettled, follow their owner around, pace or become unusually alert.
“However, most dogs are unlikely to become seriously distressed. Because tomorrow’s eclipse takes place during the early evening, when many dogs are already beginning to settle down, its effect may be less noticeable than an eclipse happening in the middle of the day.”
The signs your dog may be unsettled by the eclipse
Owners may notice their dog:
Heading to its bed earlier than usual
Waiting near its food bowl or the door
Following family members around the home
Pacing, whining or appearing restless
Becoming quieter or sleepier
Barking at changes outside
Seeking reassurance or somewhere to hide
Darren added: “The eclipse itself may not be the biggest source of anxiety. Unusual crowds, noise and excitement outside could be more unsettling, particularly for nervous dogs or those sensitive to changes in their surroundings.
“The best thing owners can do is keep the evening as normal as possible. Feed and walk your dog at its usual time, behave calmly and make sure it has access to a quiet, familiar place.”
Should dogs wear eclipse glasses?
Owners do not need to purchase eclipse glasses for their pets or attempt to make dogs wear human eye protection.
Dogs do not generally have a reason to stare directly at the Sun. However, owners should never encourage a dog to look towards it for photographs or direct its attention towards the sky.
Darren said: “Trying to put eclipse glasses on a dog could cause more stress than the eclipse itself. Keep your pet comfortable, avoid encouraging it to look upwards and supervise it if you are attending a busy viewing event.
“If your dog is already nervous around crowds or unfamiliar noise, it may be happier staying safely indoors while the eclipse takes place.”
How to keep your dog calm during the eclipse
Years recommends that owners:
Keep meals, walks and bedtime at their normal times.
Close curtains if the changing light appears to unsettle the dog.
Provide access to its usual bed or quiet space.
Avoid taking nervous dogs to crowded eclipse-viewing locations.
Use familiar activities, such as a food puzzle or gentle indoor play.
Remain calm and avoid making the event feel alarming.
Contact a vet if the dog displays severe or persistent signs of distress.
Applications are now open for grants of between £3,000 and £15,000 to community-based organisations in Scotland delivering activities and support that help people affected by dementia stay connected, supported and involved in their communities.
Funding for community groups supporting people living with dementia and unpaid carers.
Age Scotland, supported by funding from the Scottish Government, is offering grants of between £3,000 – £15,000 to community-based organisations across Scotland that support people living with dementia and unpaid carers. This funding is for activities and programmes taking place 1 April 2027 – 31 March 2028.
The Encouraging and Supporting Grassroots Activity (ESGA) Fund helps local groups deliver activities that reduce isolation, improve wellbeing and strengthen community support for people affected by dementia.
Since the fund launched, more than £1.2 million has been awarded to grassroots organisations across Scotland.
Applications for the 2027 funding round are now open.
CLOSING DOWN SALE 
Blackhall St. Columba’s Church, Upstairs hall
Friday 14th August 12-4pm
Cash only
If bringing a car then free parking available on the surrounding side streets (not on Queensferry Road) but please be considerate of our neighbours’ driveways 
MAJOR WORKS TO CREWE TOLL ROUNDABOUT 
