The NEN – North Edinburgh News

Friends and colleagues past and present got together at Muirhouse Millennium Centre earlier this week to say a belated ‘thank you’ to Ken Smith, manager of the Pilton Retreat at Ratho.

Ken’s been retired for a wee while now, but given all that’s been going on at Ratho there hasn’t been the time to say a proper goodbye to the man who has been at the helm of the Retreat for more than 25 years.

Pilton Retreat provides a self-contained play environment in a rural location, primarily for groups & schools involved with children and families from North Edinburgh. A little piece of countryside on the outskirts of the city, the retreat has welcomed tens of thousands of local children for nearly fifty years.

Remarkably over those fifty years the charity has only had five different chairpersons and Tracey Berry, the latest incumbent, welcomed guests to the Millennium Centre gathering on Monday.

Another former Chair, Scott Marshall, first became involved with the Pilton Retreat in 1984 and interviewed Ken for the manager post in 1992. He told guests: “Ken is a real grafter who can turn his hand to anything. He worked so effectively alongside Davie. We often used to say that, had the council been managing a project that operated sen days a week for eleven months of the year, they would have needed at least six staff: we had Ken and Davie!

“The committee were relieved of much of the pressure and stress of operating the Retreat thanks to Ken’s dedication.”

Scott went on: “Since Ken’s retirement the current Board members have a real appreciation of just how much Ken did to keep the project operating despite all the many challenges we have faced over the past twenty-five years.

“I sometimes thought that if Ken had continued in his political life (he was a former district councillor) he would have made an excellent MSP, but he chose to serve a project that supported children and young people. Ken, we are grateful for your service and commitment over all these years.”

Former Forthview teacher Irvine Wright is a current member of the Pilton Retreat Board. Children have been busy drawing pictures and writing messages to wish Ken well, and Irvine read a few of these out to highlight ‘Super Ken’s’ qualities:

• The Superman of Ratho
• Encouraging
• Never Give Up
• Persevere
• Resourceful
• Considerate
• Admirable
• Helpful

“All across North Edinburgh everyone will recognise something like this picture, these qualities. Ken has shown all of these qualities over the years. Helpful and resourceful, Ken has been so obliging, well beyond the call of duty.

“It’s easy to be all these things when things are going well, a whole lot harder when things aren’t going quite so well. Thank you, Ken – and thank you for still being available to pick up the phone to give advice when we try to deal with emergencies!”