The NEN – North Edinburgh News – Page 3418 – The community media resource for north Edinburgh

Celebrate Africa at Craigroyston

We are pleased to invite you to the CELEBRATING AFRICA event on Saturday 21 June at Craigroyston Community High School on Pennywell Road.

The event aims to provide a unique opportunity showcasing African heritage and culture by the African community groups who live/ work across Edinburgh & the Lothians. Themes for the event are participation, heritage, culture and sports.

There will be live African music, dance, cultural performances, stalls, workshops and children activities at the event. Popular traditional food will be cooked on site and served by members of the African community groups.

As Scotland hosts the Glasgow 2014, we are proud to welcome participating African nations and celebrate their heritage. The event is supported by the Big Lottery – Celebrate fund. Please find about stall booking & for interested community groups and volunteers who wish to participate at http://elrecafricacelebration.wordpress.com/ .

This is a free event but places are limited. If you wish to attend the event please register online at:

http://celebratingafrica2014.eventbrite.co.uk

For more information about the event please contact Mizan Rahman e-mail: mrahman@elrec.org.uk or call 0131 556 0441.

We very much look forward to welcoming you at this celebration.

Mona Adhikari

Manager, Edinburgh & Lothians Regional Equality Council

Tel: 0131 556 0441 | Fax: 0131 556 8577 | email: MAdhikari@elrec.org.uk | www.elrec.org.uk

Royston Wardieburn going the right way

Things are going the right way at Royston Wardieburn, Friday’s packed annual general meeting was told. Local politicians Mark Lazarowicz and Malcolm Chisholm were among the attendees who heard that the Centre continues to develop and is now home to more groups than ever before.

Centre Chairperson Anna Hutchison told the meeting: “There have been so many positive developments at our Centre over the last year it’s hard to know where to start! The management committee has worked very hard with Centre staff to make sure we could provide groups and activities for the whole community and we really feel like we are getting there – there’s a lot to be positive about.”

Community Learning and Development Worker Lydia Markham said that Royston Wardieburn was now beginning to progress after a difficult start.

“It often takes time for a new Centre to bed in (the new Royston Wardieburn Community Centre opened in 2012) but I think it’s fair to say that we are definitely moving in the right direction. Partnerships have been key over the last year, and with so many groups and organisations based here we’re absolutely delighted to see the Centre buzzing and really fulfilling it’s potential.”

One of those successful partnerships is with Stepping Stones North Edinburgh, who have a base within the Centre. Project Manager Marilyn Keilloh said: “I know that working closely with the Centre has produced some enormous benefits for us, and hopefully there have been some positives for the Centre as well. We wish you well for the future and because of the calibre of staff, volunteers and committee members I am sure you will go from strength to strength”.

Among the successful new groups is the Little Tigers, which was developed by a group of young parents. Founder members Nicola and Susan told the meeting that since it’s launch the group – which is run by local volunteer parents – has blossomed: between 50 – 100 adults and children attend every session!

Over seventy children attend a weekly Kabo class at Royston Wardieburn, so it was fitting that a Kabo demonstration brought the meeting to an energetic close. For those who don’t know (me included!) Kabo is a boxing and dance class which improves coordination and fitness – and judging by the enthusiastic kids who took part in the demonstration it really works!

There’s so much going on at Royston Wardieburn, for the young and for the young at heart – call into the Centre on Pilton Drive North, telephone 552 5700 or check out the website to find something that’s right for you at www.joinedinedinburgh.org/organisation/8/

JUNE HIGHLIGHTS at ROYSTON WARBIEBURN

Don’t miss:

Fund Raising Event for the kid’s Summer Programme on Saturday 14 June 10am -12pm. Tables for hire £5.

The Referendum Debate on Thursday 29 June @ 6.30pm.

All welcome!

Letters: Word Play

Dear Editor

Most people now believe – with justification – that privatisation is a backward step, where provision of services in most cases comes second to making profits, yet the government and some local authorities are still selling off services.

They are aware that the word ‘privatisation’ is a ‘no-no’ so the term now used is ‘out-sourcing’: the outcome and results are exactly the same.

Another word being used to confuse people, in relation to protecting land from developers, is ‘safeguarding’; it should mean exactly that but to the confusers it means reserving the land for future development.

Confused? Taken in? That’s the whole point!

Very many examples of word play can be found; they can and do have serious consequences.

A. Delahoy

Silverknowes Gardens

Communities: find time for a Big Lunch!

People across Edinburgh sat down with neighbours and residents in their communities for the sixth annual Big Lunch yesterday. They joined an estimated 4 million people across the whole of the UK as The Big Lunch seems set to establish itself in the nation’s annual calendar on the first Sunday every June.

The Big Lunch, which is funded by the Big Lottery Fund and led by the Eden Project, encourages people across the UK to have lunch with their neighbours once a year, for a few hours of community, friendship and fun. The simple act of chatting to neighbours can make a real difference in communities and can help tackle isolation, say organisers behind the initiative.

One of the Edinburgh Big Lunches took place on Summerside Place where around fifty neighbours got together over a bite to eat at their first ever Big Lunch street party.

Lou Kiddier, one of the organisers said: “Our street was really excited in the build-up to today, being our first ever Big Lunch. We took over Summerside Place for the day and enjoyed a day filled with fun, food and blether with everyone – it was a great chance to catch up with neighbours that we don’t always have time to in our busy day-to-day lives.

“I would definitely recommend others getting involved next year – whether your Big Lunch is for 5 or 5,000 it is the perfect excuse to get together with the local community. We can’t wait for next year and make it a regular event for our street!”

Other lunches taking place across the city included a street party in Gorgie and the second Big Lunch at the Oxgangs Neighbourhood Centre.

Robert Scott, manager at the Centre and one of the organisers of their Big Lunch said: “We started holding Big Lunches last year as a way to get to know our neighbours better and welcome people into the Centre.

“It was another fantastic day for the community and for the Centre this year and it was great to see everyone just coming together and getting to know each other or catching up with old friends. Gathering people together can have so many benefits, from chatting to neighbours people have not met before to helping people come out of their comfort zones and try something new, especially for those who may be living on their own, or who are socially isolated.”

Emily Watts, Communications Manager at The Big Lunch in Scotland, said: “Year after year, I never fail to be impressed by the sheer number of people who get involved and take the time to hold a Big Lunch in their community.

“The Big Lunch is always a great success and the perfect excuse for people to get together. While on the surface, it’s a day of laughter, friendship and fun, if you look deeper than that, these get-togethers are having an enormously positive impact on communities. Big things come from Big Lunches and what they each have in common is they all start in the same way – with small talk.

“After six years, it’s amazing to see so many people taking our simple idea and really making it work wonders for their communities. We’ve heard so many inspiring stories already and know they’ll be plenty more to come. Roll on The Big Lunch 2015…”

Inspired by this Sunday’s Big Lunch celebrations? There’s still chance to take part as you can organise a Big Lunch on a date to suit your community. Free packs including posters, invitations, an inspiration booklet and other resources to help organise your Big Lunch are available from www.thebiglunch.com until the end of June 2014.

Tree-mendous Circle send-off for Mae and Bob

Two local workers retired last week after thirty years service with the West Pilton-based charity Circle. The popular pair won’t be forgotten, however – Mae and Bob have had trees named after them at Circle’s head office!

Mae Duncan and Bob Griffiths have supported children and young people in the North Edinburgh area for over 30 years and were joined by colleagues, friends and family at a retirement party organised by Circle in West Pilton Neighbourhood Centre.

Mae, 65, was brought up in West Pilton and now lives in Salvesen, while Bob has lived in the area for 40 years and still lives in Greater Pilton.

Mae attended Pennywell Primary School and then Ainslie Park High School, where she took a course in Commercial Studies. She later studied Child Care at Stevenson College and the Greater Pilton Child Care Centre.

Bob went to Craigentinny Primary School and later to Norton Park Secondary School, which he left at the age of 15 with no qualifications. Like Mae, he studied Child Care at the Greater Pilton Child Care Centre.

The pair ran two projects at Circle. The first was the Inter School Social Education Project (ISSEP), where 5th and 6th year students from Edinburgh secondary schools mentored primary-aged children from North Edinburgh.

The second was the Under Fives, where Mae and Bob worked with children in the Pilton area for 2 – 5 mornings per week and helped parents to understand the importance of boundaries and play in their child’s development.

Reflecting on her time at Circle, Mae said: “I have always thoroughly enjoyed my time with Circle and will always be grateful for the help and support I received whilst doing my child care training.”

Their work at Circle has made a huge impact on the local community, as they have supported many children and parents over the past 30 years. Liz Dahl, Circle’s Chief Executive (pictured above), praised their contribution:

“I would like to take this opportunity to wish Mae and Bob well in their retirement and thank them for the over 60 years of combined service they have given to the organisation. They will be hugely missed by everyone at Circle and especially by the generation of families they have worked with over the years.”

When asked about their favourite memory from their time at Circle, both Bob and Mae said that they have far too many good memories to simply choose one!

Mae and Bob are now looking forward to pursuing their hobbies during their retirement. Mae will read, do crafts and spend more time with her family, while Bob is interested in computers and other gadgets, and will have more time to “potter about with them.” Both may also go on to try new things.

Bob and Mae planted young trees named in their honour at Circle’s HQ in West Pilton Park before they left, and hopefully the wee trees – like their ‘more mature’ namesakes – will be branching out sometime soon!

Best wishes, Mae and Bob – and to little Bob and Mae too!

Granton Improvement Society – the walled garden

6 years ago the GIS project began to save the Walled Garden and keep it as a community resource.

The Walled Garden was discovered derelict by AiA Art in Architecture and with the help of CLU Community Land Use devised the original Granton sur Mer proposal which included its restoration.

Granton Improvement Society is now the custodian of the project with the continued mission to save the Walled Garden and keep it as a community resource. We found it derelict and have involved the community in this desire to save the Garden throughout the 6 years.

Our vision is for green space, parkland, places for children to run, not just blocks and blocks of housing with no other amenities. We know it will be a success. Who would have thought that in the industrial zone of Falkirk, for instance, there would now be a great park, The Helix, with accompanying Kelpies with tens of thousands of locals and people from far and wide flocking to take their leisure there and to be inspired by art and landscaped open spaces?

Granton Improvement Society has been pursuing a project to develop a garden festival in the Walled Garden, artisans’ village and heated swimming pool for both sport and leisure on the adjacent land. At the original public meetings of the project one of the clear intentions was to save the Walled Garden with no possibility of housing on the site and this remains true today.

The Granton Improvement Society is moving steadily to buying the site from EDI.

This wonderful community owned project will create badly needed community income and jobs for our community.

We have asked for others to give us a clear run at creating the project. We have the plans, the funding, expertise and backing and have been working extremely hard, lobbying, arguing and generally spreading the word as community activists and supporters of the project to be in a position to buy the land and begin the project in the very near future which would take the Walled Garden into community ownership for the first time in its history.

Members of the GIS are as committed and dedicated as anyone to the idea of community gardens on every available and suitable space and have been involved from the beginning in identifying and creating these gardens in our community and winning support from politicians to back and support the expansion of community gardens with proper funding. We are asking everyone especially those who have signed the petition to take a further step and join the Granton Improvement Society.

The Project is a Community Trust with a membership and Trustees. Please join us info@grantonimprovementsociety.org and grantonimprovementsociety.wordpress,org

Barbara Robertson, secretary, on behalf of the Trustees-Granton Improvement Society

More support for new home buyers

Scottish Government increases ‘Help to Buy’ funding

An extra £40 million will be invested in a scheme that helps people get on the housing ladder for the first time or move to a new property, Deputy First Minister Nicola Sturgeon confirmed yesterday.

The Scottish Government’s Help to Buy (Scotland) initiative has allowed more than 1,100 people to buy a new home since its launch in September 2013.

This latest financial boost brings the overall investment to £275 million – investment that has brought much needed financial support to the Scottish construction sector.

The scheme helps people to buy a new-build house from a participating home builder without having to fund all of the purchase price. The buyer is required to contribute a five per cent deposit, with the Scottish Government taking an equity stake of up to 20 per cent of the value of the property.

The buyer then receives the outstanding sum through a repayment mortgage from a participating lender, repaying the Scottish Government’s equity stake when they can financially afford to do so.

So far 156 house-builders have signed up for the initiative, with six mortgage lenders offering mortgages to buyers wanting to benefit from it.

Ms Sturgeon said: “This additional £40 million funding will allow more people in Scotland to buy their first home and continue to make it easier for ‘second-steppers’ and others to move to a new property.

“Since it launched in September last year, our Help to Buy scheme has already helped over 1000 households into home ownership and this additional funding will benefit even more families.

“It is also bringing much needed economic growth to Scotland by supporting our housing industry and creating employment opportunities. This is alongside our continued commitment to investing in affordable housing for communities across Scotland.”

New Homes for Scotland Chair Sandy Adam said: “A significant proportion of new homes are now sold through Help to Buy, delivering on the Scottish Government’s key objectives of providing more homes, creating more jobs and stimulating the economy.

“Additional investment, such as that announced today, and longer term support assisting developers with investment planning will help the industry to, quite literally, build on the scheme’s initial success and step up production to the levels required to meet housing need across all tenures.

“But this welcome boost for Help to Buy (Scotland) is valuable in another way. Many people in Scotland want to own their own home. Raising aspiration and confidence in this way can only be achieved through initiatives such as this.”

Sainsbury’s: search is on for local charity

Sainsbury’s Blackhall are calling on customers to cast their votes and help a registered local charity receive a year’s worth of fundraising and awareness support. From Wednesday 28 May, customers will be able to vote for their favourite local charity either in store or by visiting www.sainsburys.co.uk/localcharity.

The retailer’s Local Charity scheme is now in its sixth year and gives customers the chance to vote for their favourite local charity to be considered to receive a year’s worth of support from their nearby Sainsbury’s store.

This year’s voting ends on Sunday 8 June. After voting closes, a shortlist of nominations will be drawn up and the stores’ colleagues will then invite the three charities that they feel best fit the needs of the community into store to talk about how Sainsbury’s can support them. The chosen charity will be selected based on the reasons given and the store will announce their chosen charity in July.

Local charities that have benefitted from the scheme in previous years at Sainsbury’s Blackhall include The Guide Dogs for the Blind which was Blackhall store’s Local Charity partner between July 2011 and May 2012 and still collect for them. Over £20,000 was raised from the partnership, which helped towards sponsoring 4 guide dog puppies. Meanwhile, the store’s Local Charity partner last year was Maggie’s Centre and the partnership helped to raise over £8,000 and raise awareness of the centre.

Sainsbury’s Blackhall Store Manager George Paton said: “We’re looking forward to supporting a local charity which touches many of our customer and colleagues’ hearts. The scheme gives us the chance to make a real difference to important causes in the community and we hope our customers get behind this year’s voting stage and nominate their favourite local charity from 28 May”.

How do you like your news?

How do you get your information? How do you find out what’s happening in your local area? TV, radio, newspapers, social media, newsletters, posters, emails, leaflets … there are so many different ways to be kept informed, but what works best for you?

Forth and Inverleith Neighbourhood Partnerships are supporting an initiative to improve local communications, and they need your help to get things right!

How do you currently access information and how would you prefer to receive communications? Please complete the attached online survey at:

https://www.surveymonkey.com/s/NorthComms

It should only take a few minutes to complete or, if you prefer, this can also be done using the printable version (attached below).

If friends or colleagues don’t go online – and many people still don’t have access to a computer – please let them know about the survey; why not print off a copy for them?

But do it soon – the survey closes in two weeks on 31 May!

Printed Communications Questionnaire May 2014

Fabulous farce in Goldenacre next week

The sensational St Serfs players are back next week!

Visit wwww.stserfsplayers.org.uk for more info