Plus, spend £15 at the snacks counter and receive a FREE scratchcard with a guaranteed reward on National Cinema Weekend
Cineworld is celebrating National Cinema Weekend on Saturday 5 and Sunday 6 September, giving film fans the chance to experience the biggest movies on the biggest screens for just £4. For the first time ever, Cars and Obsession are both playing in 4DX for only £4!
All weekend long, guests can watch any film, at any time, in any format for just £4 at Cineworld cinemas nationwide. That includes premium experiences 4DX, ScreenX and Superscreen, as well as recliner seating. IMAX tickets will be available for just £6 – only £2 more.
And there’s more. This National Cinema Weekend, guests who spend £15 or more at the snacks counter will receive a FREE scratchcard with a guaranteed reward, only at Cineworld. Every card is a winner, giving moviegoers another reason to make a weekend of it. We are also running a Merchandise sale, with merch pieces from favourite films at £1, with the option to buy 3 for £2.50!
The National Cinema Weekend line-up includes some of the year’s biggest releases, including Spider-Man: Brand New Day, The Odyssey, Insidious: Out of the Further, The Dog Stars, Rise of the Footsoldier: Retribution and The Death of Robin Hood. Families can also enjoy Minions & Monsters, Toy Story 5, PAW Patrol: The Dino Movie, Moana (Live Action) and more – all for just £4.
Film fans can experience The Odyssey the way it was meant to be seen – in IMAX at Cineworld. With IMAX available across 25 Cineworld locations nationwide, audiences can see the epic on the biggest possible canvas for just £6, including at Cineworld Leicester Square’s IMAX with Laser – the only IMAX in London’s West End.
And Spider-Man: Brand New Day is swinging back into 4DX for National Cinema Weekend. Following its record-breaking release, which became the biggest film ever in 4DX, fans have another chance to experience every swing, hit and turn with 4DX’s moving seats and environmental effects – this time for just £4.
Also included in the £4 ticket: ScreenX extends the action across three walls for an immersive 270-degree viewing experience, while Superscreen pairs a huge screen with powerful Dolby Atmos sound.
This coming weekend the perfect chance to catch the films you missed the first time around, or experience your favourite releases of the summer all over again – for just £4.
National Cinema Weekend takes place at Cineworld cinemas nationwide on Saturday 5 and Sunday 6 September 2026. Tickets are £4 for all films and formats, with IMAX available for £6.
Edinburgh Multicultural Festival is BACK at Lauriston Castle on 20 September featuring Dance, Music, Storytelling, Circus and Crafts from around the globe and celebrating cultural diversity nestled in our city. And you are invited!
Register to attend at the festival Eventbrite page and start counting down the days with us!
POLICE have released CCTV images of a woman they wish to speak to as part of an ongoing investigation into a serious assault which occurred within The Pitt, West Shore Road, at around 1am on Saturday, 27 June, 2026.
The female pictured is between 25-35 years old, white, with long blonde hair, tattooed arms and legs. She was wearing a white vest top, dark coloured shorts, white trainers and white socks pulled up.
Detective Constable Lindsay Johnston said: “Anyone with information is asked to contact Police Scotland via 101, quoting incident number 2259 of 26 June, 2026. Alternatively, you can contact Crimestoppers on 0800 555 111 where anonymity can be maintained.”
Patients will receive better care, with shorter waits, as a result of the most significant structural reform of our NHS in the devolution era, First Minister John Swinney announced yesterday, as he unveiled a major modernisation programme of Scotland’s public services.
Setting out his Programme for Government, the First Minister pledged that all the actions of his government would be focused on delivering lasting improvements to people’s lives as he presented a package of measures to help with the cost-of-living crisis.
The First Minister said the Scottish Government would also continue to drive improvements in the priority areas of eradicating child poverty, growing the economy, investing in public services and tackling the climate emergency as he outlined work to reduce NHS waiting times and action to tackle violence against women and girls.
Key announcements include:
Replacing the current 14 territorial health boards with two strategic health boards which – alongside other measures – will free up more time and capacity for treatment
Delivering a national breakfast club for all primary schools from August 2027 and, by 2031, providing childcare support 52 weeks a year for children from nine months old to the end of primary school
Tackling poverty by increasing the Scottish Child Payment to £40 per week for eligible babies under 1 during 2027-28
Investing £205 million in winter heating payments for pensioners, families with disabled children and struggling households
Recognising that hostility to women and girls is a serious societal problem by defining misogyny as a distinct form of prejudice and abuse
Expanding the £2 bus fare cap beyond the Highlands and Islands to the Strathclyde Partnership for Transport area from Monday 7 September followed by a national roll-out by the end of this Parliament
Improving public services by removing unnecessary duplication and overlap, getting resources more directly to the frontline services
Over the next three months, with partners, reach a clear shared direction on substantial reform tolocal governance, including social care
Bringing the national environment public bodies into a single overarching body to make environmental interventions more impactful
Supporting better jobs and higher incomes by making Scotland a better place to invest and do business
First Minister John Swinney said: “This ambitious Programme for Government has radical and widespread public service reform at its heart to deliver real, lasting improvements to people’s lives.
“By rewiring a system of services designed for the last century, we will simplify and reshape organisations on which everyone relies and ensure every pound of investment achieves maximum impact.
“As we do so, we will build on the most generous cost of living package anywhere in the UK while continuing to tackle inequality, poverty and division.
“This is a Programme for Government to deliver a fairer, healthier and more prosperous nation.”
The First Minister also stated that Scotland would only reach its full potential by becoming an independent nation.
“We will give the leadership for Scotland to decide her own future and advance our belief that Scotland will be better off with Independence.”
The First Minister also confirmed Scottish Government plans to introduce nine Bills over the course of 2026-27:
Budget Bill
Buildings (Heating and Energy Performance) and Heat Networks (Scotland) Bill
Council Tax (Scotland) Bill
Damages (Scotland) Bill
Food Prices (Scotland) Bill
Football Banning Orders (Scotland) Bill
Legal Aid (Scotland) Bill
Misogyny (Criminal Law) (Scotland Bill
Public Service Renewal (Scotland) Bill
REACTION:
Peter Kelly of Scotland’s Poverty Alliance commented: “It was good to hear a promise to eradicate child poverty – and we welcome the further development of the Whole Family Wellbeing approach.
“However, we know that secure, adequate incomes are the bedrock of efforts to eradicate poverty. That means progressively increasing the Scottish Child Payment to £55 a week by the end of this Parliament.
Without that scale of change, it’s hard to see how the First Minister will keep that promise to Scotland’s children.”
COSLA President, Councillor Shona Morrison, has responded to Scottish Government’s Programme for Government announcement:“Today’s Programme for Government is a significant statement of the Scottish Government’s priorities, and we will take time to consider its detail carefully.
“There are important implications for local government and council services, particularly the proposed NHS reforms and what they will mean for the future delivery of social care.
“Over the coming days, COSLA will engage closely with our member councils and with Scottish Ministers to ensure these proposals are focused on what is best for communities across Scotland and respect the democratic legitimacy of local government.
“Public services work best when decisions are taken as close to communities as possible. We look forward to meaningful engagement with the Scottish Government and believe that the dialogue on the future of local governance must be carried forward with councils and COSLA as the collective voice of local government.”
Jonathan Carr-West, Chief Executive, Local Government Information Unit (LGIU),said: “While we welcome the focus on reforming the public sector to make it work better for citizens, LGIU is concerned that two concurrent, three-month consultations on the restructuring of local government and the reform of social care mean the views and expertise of the local government sector will not be adequately represented.
“Local government reorganisation is a serious undertaking. And it will be impossible to achieve without an agenda to save local government finances, which is conspicuously absent from this Programme.
“The Scottish Government should enter this endeavour with the expectation that it will be hard, and that making a success of it will be impossible without buy-in from across the sector and clear aims about what the desired outcomes are.
“The same is true with social care. The last major social care reform attempt was the introduction of the National Care Service, the structural part of which failed in part because of limited engagement with local government.
“We appreciate the Government’s newfound urgency to tackle both the social care crisis and empower the regional and local tiers of government, but it is hard to see how a three-month sprint to round off decades-old debates will ensure that all relevant voices are heard.”
In response to the Programme for Government, Mary Glasgow, Chief Executive of Children First said: “We are delighted that our calls for whole family support, investment in a national Bairns Hoose programme, a public health approach to online harm and a greater emphasis on prevention have been included in today’s Programme for Government.
“Prevention is rightly at the heart of the Scottish Government’s ambitions, but it’s been the goal for more than 15 years. The gap between policy intent and the reality of children’s lives has never been wider. The First Minister will understand why people are impatient for change.
“It is disappointing that the specific, funded commitments needed to put Scotland back on track to meet its child poverty targets have not been included. We do not need further reviews or consultations – the next budget must deliver the action and investment children and families need.
“Children First share the Scottish Government’s aim for every child to live free from poverty, safe from harm and for children’s rights to be protected at every stage.
“We look forward to working alongside the Scottish Government and hope that local government, partners and communities will make the same commitment, because it will take everybody to close the gap between what Scotland says and what Scotland does.”
Billy Alexander, Associate Director for the Stroke Association in Scotland, said:“We welcome today’s commitment from First Minister, to ensure every stroke patient in Scotland who needs a thrombectomy gets one – regardless of the time or day. Whilst long overdue, this way could herald a genuine turning point for stroke care in Scotland.
“Thrombectomy is a lifechanging treatment that can mean the difference between someone returning to an independent life or living with significant long-term disability. Yet, all too often, the time or place someone has their stroke can determine whether they receive it.
“The test now will be implementation. We need a clear, sustainable, robustly funded, and time-bound plan that delivers equitable access to thrombectomy around the clock and across the country.
“That same level of ambition is also needed to drive wider improvements across stroke care, from the point of emergency and treatment through to rehabilitation and long-term recovery. Only then will every stroke survivor in Scotland be properly supported to live well after stroke.”
Debbie Horne, Scotland Policy and Public Affairs Manager of older people’s charity Independent Age, said: “We welcome the Scottish Government’s commitment to tackling the cost of living crisis.
“At Independent Age, we hear every day from older people being squeezed by rising costs. Action is urgently required to support the 130,000 pensioners currently in poverty in Scotland.
“We know that too often the social security system fails to reach the older people who need it most, with hundreds of millions of pounds going unpaid every year. Commitments today to maximise the take-up of social security payments hold real potential to boost incomes for older people in financial hardship and we look forward to working with the Scottish Government to progress this welcome and vital work.
“Today’s announcement that the Heat in Buildings Bill will be introduced and the commitment to ongoing winter heating support for pensioners is also very important. Our research has shown that almost 4 in 5 older people on a low income have cut back on heating, so it’s clear that measures to improve the energy efficiency of homes and support older people with energy costs is urgently needed.
“Despite these positive steps, to meaningfully tackle the range of issues facing the one in eight older people in Scotland who live in poverty, we need sustained strategic action to boost incomes and reduce costs through a national pensioner poverty strategy. In a wealthy and fair society, both the Scottish and UK Governments must do more to make sure every older person can live well.”
The British Dental Association Scotland has expressed its profound scepticism that plans for wholesale reform of Scotland’s health boards represents a silver bullet and has called for forensic scrutiny from MSPs.
Today First Minister John Swinney told the Scottish Parliament that “to ensure more joined-up delivery, to improve access to care and to reduce inequality for some patients” the fourteen current health boards would be reduced to two. While the professional body is wholly supportive of these objectives, following publication of the Programme for Government it is unclear how any of them will be achieved via these proposals.
The BDA will be addressing the Health, Care and Sport Committee this week, stressing the risk of unintended consequences.
BDA Scotland Director Charlotte Waite said:“It is a truth universally acknowledged that top-down reorganisations of the NHS rarely deliver the goods for taxpayers, patients, or practitioners.
“These plans need to be subjected to forensic scrutiny. They only thing we can be sure of at this stage is unintended consequences.”
Responding to the Programme for Government, Anna Fowlie, Scottish Council for Voluntary Organisations’ (SCVO) Chief Executive, said: ”I’m pleased to see that the Programme for Government recognises the essential role the voluntary sector plays in addressing some of Scotland’s biggest challenges, from child poverty and gender-based violence to community cohesion and public service reform.
“We welcome the Scottish Government’s commitment to a Third Sector Partnership, founded on trust, collaboration and mutual respect. We look forward to working with the Scottish Government to deliver the kind of partnership with government that voluntary organisations have long called for, one that brings meaningful change.
“We also welcome commitments to multi-year funding in a number of areas, and the first public recognition that the voluntary sector, alongside communities, must play a significant part in shaping public service reform. I look forward to seeing these commitments delivering significant progress in delivering Fair Funding across government portfolios and public bodies.
“Finally, I welcome the First Minister’s commitment to strengthen community cohesion and counter those who seek to divide Scotland. Voluntary organisations across Scotland are on the frontline of supporting people targeted by bigotry, racism and hatred, while bringing communities together in the face of division.
“Their work demonstrates the very best of Scotland: compassion, solidarity and a determination to ensure everyone belongs. Achieving that ambition will require sustained recognition, support and investment from the Scottish Government.”
A group of 20 women took on a 12-hour continuous football match on Sunday to raise money for St Columba’s Hospice Care.
Two teams played 7-a-side football from 8am until 8pm at South Queensferry Hub in an endurance challenge.
The women hoped to raise at least £2,000 for St Columba’s, who also kindly provided playing strips for the day, but organiser Amie Johnston has been in touch to report that the group has raised £3500, ‘playing all day in the rain!’
Views sought on food price controls on everyday items
Households struggling with food costs could benefit from price controls on essential items under proposals published for consultation.
Fulfilling one of the commitments made for the Scottish Government’s first 100 days, views are being sought on the proposals and accompanying draft Bill. These are intended to ease cost of living pressures, particularly for lower income households who spend a greater share of their budget on food.
The consultation seeks views on the proposals and how the mechanism would work in practice, including the retailers and foods that could be included in the scheme.
Minister for Business Tom Arthur said: “Helping people with the cost of living is a top priority of this government. Our aim is to make essential food items more affordable for households struggling to pay for their weekly shop, particularly those on lower incomes.
“The consultation covers the wide range of factors we need to consider to implement a food price cap. I am committed to taking action to address food affordability that works with retailers and protects farmers and food producers.
“I have spent the last three months engaging with bodies with an interest in this and encourage everyone to have their say.”
Last week, an article in the media and subsequent posts on social media channels, inaccurately reported details about how we prioritise and allocate council housing.
It is important that we address misinformation and set out the facts.
Status of those applying for council housing
We cannot house asylum seekers. This is a matter managed by the Home Office, not the Council.
People who have been assessed and granted ‘Leave to Remain’ status by the Home Office have legal rights to services including access to housing and other public services. They are afforded the same process, support and respect as every other applicant.
It is entirely false to say people in this position have been prioritised for housing.
We provide advice and assistance to any individual or household who declares themself homeless and this can, but does not always, include the provision of accommodation.
How we prioritise council housing
To address the housing emergency in Edinburgh and to reduce the number of people staying in unsuitable temporary accommodation, we temporarily paused the letting of council homes and accelerated our work to bring empty council housing back into use.
This has allowed us to prioritise temporary housing for people assessed as legally homeless and to reduce the number of people staying in unsuitable accommodation in accordance with Scottish and UK housing legislation. This does not mean that people in this position have a permanent council house.
By-elections in Southside/Newington (Ward 15) and Portobello/Craigmillar (Ward 17) take place this Thursday (3 September).
We’re urging residents in these wards to remember their polling cards and to cast their votes.
Residents in these wards who are aged 16 or over and have registered to vote can participate in Thursday’s by-elections.
One new councillor will be elected for each ward. The current electorate for Ward 15 is 24,666 and for Ward 17 it’s 28,062.
Returning Officer for Edinburgh, Paul Lawrence said:“With these by-elections fast approaching, I encourage residents in these wards to take this opportunity to have their say on Thursday. Please remember your polling cards and check your polling place. These new councillors will represent your communities on issues affecting your local area and Edinburgh as a whole.
“Our elections pages provide useful information on how the Single Transferable Vote system works – you can rank candidates in order of preference, choosing as many or few as you’d like.
“If you’re voting by post, please return your completed ballot as soon as possible to make sure your vote is counted.
Please check your polling place as this may have changed since the last time you voted. If you bring your polling card to vote this will help us and speed up the process, but this isn’t mandatory.
Further information on voting in Ward 15 and Ward 17, including accessibility information and spoken ballot papers are also on the Council’s website.
Polling places will be open from 7am to 10pm on Thursday 3 September.
Polling Places (Ward 15):
Nelson Hall Community Centre (New for 2026)
Blackford and Grange Parish Church Centre
St. Catherine’s Argyle Church
Newington Trinity Church
Reid Memorial Church Hall
75th Braid Scouts’ Millar Hall
Cameron House Community Education Centre
Polling Places (Ward 17):
Portobello Library (New for 2026)
Branch Out Together
St Mark’s Episcopal Church (New for 2026)
Bingham Community Centre
St Martins Parish Church
Craigmillar Library
Hays Business Centre
Newcraighall Leith Victoria FC
The by-elections will use the Single Transferable Vote (STV) system, where voters rank candidates in order of preference, rather than using a single cross. Voters can rank as many or as few candidates as they like.
The electronic count will take place at Waverley Court, starting at the close of poll at 10pm on September 3.
Dear friends and members of the Cramond Association,
Our September litter pick will be this Sunday, 6th September at Cramond Beach carpark (accessed from Cramond Glebe Road).
We’ll meet at the notice boards in the carpark for a 10am start, and will be finished at 11am. The carpark always benefits from a clear-up, and depending on attendance, we can spread out to the promenade and adjacent field.
All equipment is provided, although our gloves are size large so your own may be more comfortable. If you have a Hi Viz, please bring it along.
We are delighted to announce that Nadia, a qualified nutrionalist, will be here on Friday 11th September running an efficient, Healthy and Sustainable Cooking Class.
