Erin McNeill will walk Challenge Scotland for The Fire Fighters Charity.
via Erin McNeill will walk Challenge Scotland for The Fire Fighters Charity.
Edinburgh goes Dutch for cycling lessons!
Edinburgh must look to the Netherlands for inspiration in meeting its goal of boosting cycling rates, city council cycling leader Councillor Jim Orr told delegates at the annual Cycling Scotland Conference today.
The event at the COSLA Conference Centre in Haymarket was hosted by the Embassy of the Kingdom of the Netherlands in collaboration with Cycling Scotland, Royal HaskoningDHV, Cycle Nation, Sustrans and the Dutch Cycling Embassy.
Cllr Orr, who is Vice Convener of the City of Edinburgh Council’s Transport and Environment Committee, delivered the opening address to delegates.
He said: “The catchphrase for this year’s conference is “Love cycling, go Dutch” and, like me, I’m sure all those from Scotland are looking forward to learning how our Dutch colleagues have succeeded in building high cycling levels in that country and working out how we can follow suit here.”
Cllr Orr outlined Edinburgh’s ambition of having 15% of all journeys to work being made by bicycle by 2020 – up from the current level of around six per cent, and he acknowledged the positive publicity for cycling generated by Edinburgh Olympian Sir Chris Hoy and Tour de France victor Bradley Wiggins.
He went on to say that Edinburgh’s budget commitment for cycling is currently five per cent of the transport budget, but added that there is still plenty of work to be done if Edinburgh is to emulate the Dutch model.
“Transport culture is still dominated by the private car and the local bus company, and the majority of people don’t yet feel it’s safe to cycle on our streets. I’ve only been involved in cycling policy for six months and I know how complicated it can be. But personally I am an optimist and confident about our chances of meeting our targets for 15% of journeys to work by bike in eight years’ time.”
Who cares? North Edinburgh Arts to host carers event
The Edinburgh Carers Team is hosting a series of events for carers across the city to review the service – and one of the ‘Carers Supporting Carers’ events will be held at North Edinburgh Arts next week.
The City of Edinburgh Council and Edinburgh Community Health Partnership is reviewing the joint strategic action plan on support for carers, and they want to know what carers think:
‘Towards 2012′ was the joint strategic action plan for Edinburgh from 2007 – 2012. Has it made a difference to the lives of carers?
What should the priorities for carer support be for the next five years?
These events are one way to feed in your views, and are also part of a project to develop ways for carers to get more involved in planning the types of carer support that will be provided in the future. Come along to find out more.
The events offer the opportunity to:
- Meet others who are carers for a relative or friend
- Come for tea, cake and complementary therapies
- Share your ideas and thoughts about services for carers
- Hear ways for carers to shape services
- Find out what support there is for carers in Edinburgh.
The local event takes place at North Edinburgh Arts Centre
on Friday 23 November from 2 – 4pm.
To book your place or to find out more contact:
Nina Anker Petersen, Outside the Box, Unit 23, 150 Brand St, Glasgow G51 1DH
Tel: 0141 419 0451 Email: nina@otbds.org
flyer for carers events november 2012
Community councillors needed
The decision to postpone community council elections this year is causing problems for some local community councils. Drylaw Telford and West Granton West Pilton Community Councils are just two who are looking to co-opt new blood to fill gaps until new community councils are formed at elections next year.
Alex Dale, chair of Drylaw Telford CC, said: “Our particular problem is that we only had one member who lives in the Telford area, and she no longer attends our monthly meetings. Telford has it’s own problems – inconsiderate parking is a big issue there – and it would be good if our community council had some ‘local knowledge’ of what’s going on there, from someone who actually lives in Telford. Our community council has some vacancies so we’re looking to co-opt a member from Telford to fill a gap that really needs to be filled before next year’s elections – Telford is not being adequately represented on our community council and we want to put that right as soon as we can”.
If you are interested in becoming a member of Drylaw Telford Community Council – the group meets on the last Wednesday of the month in Drylaw Neighbourhood Centre – or you’d like to find out more, email chairman Alex Dale at alex.dale@blueyonder.co.uk
West Granton West Pilton Community Council has also found it difficult to retain active members, and they’re on the lookout for new volunteers too. A spokesperson said: “There was some initial enthusiasm when our community council was first established but interested waned very quickly and we’ve had problems almost ever since. We recently had leaflets printed and delivered across the area to encourage residents to get involved but the response has been disappointing. We’ll plod on, but we could really use enthusiastic new members – realistically, we’re not expecting a mad rush, though. Community councils have not caught the imagination here.”
If you’re interested in getting involved in West Pilton West Granton Community Council call West Pilton Neighbourhood Centre on 551 3194 or the Prentice Centre on 552 0485, leave your details and the community council will contact you.
Edinburgh’s community council elections should have been taking place around now but the city council decided to delay the elections until October 2013.
What can be done to make community councils more relevant?
Do you attend your local community council meeting – are they just talking shops or do they get things done in your area?
Let us know!
Shipshape initiative targets litter in Leith
A community project to improve the appearance of Leith’s streets got underway today. Shipshape Leith is a three-week initiative organised by the City of Edinburgh Council and Lothian and Borders Police following consultation with local residents and businesses.
The initiative will see graffiti, stickers, posters and cable ties being removed from bins, lamp posts, street signs, bus stops, post boxes and telephone boxes. Streets being targeted are Leith Walk, Easter Road, Bonnington Road, Broughton Street, Duke Street, Newhaven Place to Salamander Street, North Junction Street, Great Junction Street and Constitution Street.
Local residents can play their part too – as part of the initiative a Volunteer Day has been organised for this Friday (16 November) in Constitution Street which will involve residents and representatives from the business community joining council staff and police in a clean up.
Councillor Lesley Hinds, Environment Convener, said: “The community spirit on display in Leith shows what can be achieved when everyone comes together with a common goal. At the end of the day the winners from this initiative are going to be those people who live and work in the area. No one likes seeing their streets looking untidy so I am sure the work planned over the coming weeks will have a positive impact. It is something everyone can take immense satisfaction and pride from. One of our key partnership commitments of the Capital Coalition is to maintain and improve the quality of life in Edinburgh and Shipshape Leith is a fine example of this in action.”
Sergeant Gordon Duff, from Lothian and Borders Police, said: “This initiative is a fantastic example of just some of the joint working that is being undertaken around the Kirkgate and Great Junction Street areas of Leith. Lothian and Borders Police is committed to identifying young people who are carrying out antisocial behaviour in the area, working with partners to address their behaviour and use solutions such as diversionary activities to ensure a long-term and sustainable change.”
Anyone wanting to take part in the Shipshape Leith Volunteer Day in Constitution Street should meet at the Kirkgate Victoria Monument at 9.30am on Friday 16 November.
People taking part in the three-week initiative include Council staff from various departments, the Leith Police Safer Neighbourhood Team and Community Payback offenders.
Trust Naomi – Job Ambassador!
The Prince’s Trust Scotland has appointed three young unemployed people from Edinburgh as Job Ambassadors in an effort to help other young people move into jobs and training. Naomi Johnstone, 26, from Leith, Heather Johnstone, 24, from Sighthill and Michelle Smith, 20, of Burdiehouse, join four other young people in the role.
The Trust’s Job Ambassador initiative will offer young people who have previously participated in Prince’s Trust programmes and who have been a Prince’s Trust Young Ambassador full-time employment for one year, allowing them to hone their skills and to reach out and support other young people.
The Job Ambassadors will be based within Prince’s Trust centres in Glasgow, Edinburgh, Dundee and North Lanarkshire, with a view to increasing their reach in the months ahead.
They will give inspirational talks based on their own experiences and provide one-to-one support and guidance, helping others to re-engage and prepare for work and training.
Naomi said: “Being a Job Ambassador means the world to me. It’s been so hard to get a job within the youth work sector and this is a brilliant opportunity. The Prince’s Trust is putting a lot of faith in us and I can’t wait to start getting out and meeting young people and helping them to start moving forward.”
Heather Gray, Director of The Prince’s Trust Scotland, said: “We know that long-term unemployment can be demoralising – crushing self-esteem and derailing ambition. The young people we are employing will have lived through this and will be able to draw on their own experiences to support other young people facing similar situations. Peer to peer support is hugely beneficial in inspiring young people to engage and achieve positive outcomes and our Job Ambassadors will offer crucial advice and guidance to help others find a job. This kind of investment in Scotland’s young people is vital if we are to ensure our young talent has the opportunity to achieve and sustain a positive future.”
Jim Sweeney, Chief Executive of YouthLink Scotland, added: “This is an excellent initiative to help tackle long-term youth unemployment in Scotland. I recently attended an event where I met some of the new Job Ambassadors, their personal stories are an inspiration to us all and they will be excellent role models for others to follow.”
A second group of Job Ambassadors will be recruited early next year as The Trust aims to introduce the initiative into new areas across Scotland.
Richard Cornish, Work Services Director for Jobcentre Plus in Scotland, said: “I welcome this initiative and we will continue to workin partnership with the Prince’s Trust to help tackle youth unemployment in Scotland. We know it’s a huge challenge, and that’s why Jobcentre Plus is committed to helping young peopledevelop the skills and experience they need to get a job through the £1 billion Youth Contract.”
Happy birthday, Rowanfield
A very happy birthday to Rowanfield Special School, which has now been part of the Drylaw community for ten years!
The school celebrated their special birthday with an extra-special party on Friday – and the children were all involved in planning the programme IN JUST A WEEK!
They did a great job – there was a piper, a video booth, a memories tree, food and refreshments (thanks to Miss Thomson, P6/7!), and videos of past events at Rowanfield.
Then there was an opportunity to sing the Rowanfield School song, a presentation to Mr Glover who’s been a volunteer at the school since it opened and three P7 pupils devised, wrote and recorded a Rowanfield Rap – all in under an hour!
You can’t really have a birthday party without a birthday cake, and Rowanfield pupils starred again – Cameron baked a lovely cake and Darren decorated it with the party’s Angry Birds theme!
Head Teacher Leanne Sharpe told guests: “I think our children have done remarkably well in organising our party – every one of them has helped in some way and they have all worked really hard to make the party a success, so it’s great to see everyone enjoying themselves”.
Senior pupils Dale and Liam helped the Head Teacher cut the birthday cake.
They came, they saw, they planted!
They came from schools, from projects, from churches and from nice warm houses – they came from all over Muirhouse on a mission: to plant thousands of bulbs on Muirhouse Avenue.
The gardeners braved chilly winds and showers over Friday and Saturday to plant their bulbs. The fruits of their labours won’t be seen until springtime – but it’s sure to be worth the wait!
Remembrance reflections
I started crawling back towards our lines, and I had never seen so many dead men clumped together. That was all I could see and I thought to myself, ‘All the world’s dead – they’re all dead – they’re all dead’. That’s all I could think as I crawled along. Everywhere I passed, to my left and my right were dead men laying on the ground.
Pte Charles Taylor, 13 Battalion, Yorks and Lancs
One summer evening after the Battle of the Somme had started the guns were rumbling and there was a terrible nose of battle in our ears. Yet where we lay, just thirty metres from the trenches, there were mountains and peace, and hardly any shooting. We could see the French soldiers, and one night a Frenchman started to sing – he was a wonderful tenor. None of us dared to shoot and suddenly we were all looking out from the tranches and applauding, and the Frenchman said ‘Merci‘!
It was peace in the middle of war, and the strange thing was that – just a few kilometres northwards – the terrible battle of the Somme was going on.
Captain Herbert Sulzbach, German Artillery
We were still fighting hard and losing men – we knew nothing of the proposed Armistice, we didn’t know until a quarter to ten on that day. As we advanced on the village of Guiry a runner came up and told us that the Armistice would be signed at 11 o’ clock that day, the 11th of November. That was the first we knew of it.
We were lined up on a railway bank nearby, the same railway bank that the Manchesters had lined up on in 1914. They had fought at the Battle of Mons in August that year. Some of us went down to a wood in a little valley and found the skeletons of some of the Manchesters still lying there. Lying there with their boots on, very still, no helmets, no rusty rifles or equipment, just their boots.
Marine Hubert Trotman, Royal Marine Light Infantry
It wasn’t like London, where they all got drunk of course. No, it wasn’t like that, it was all very quiet. You were so dazed that you just didn’t realise that you could stand up straight and not be shot.
Corporal Reginald Leonard Haine, 1 Honourable Artillery Company
The Armistice came, the day we had dreamed of. The guns stopped, the fighting stopped. Four years of noise and bangs ended in silence. The killings had stopped.
We were stunned. I had been out since 1914, I should have been happy. I was sad. I thought of the slaughter, the hardships, the waste and the friends I had lost.
Sgt Major Richard Tobin, Hood Battalion, Royal Naval Division
The facts of The Matter
The Matter is a new way for young people to tell their councils and governments what they think about issues that concern them, and a group of local teenagers unveiled the first edition of their new publication and presented their findings at West Pilton Neighbourhood Centre last month.
Commissioned by the Total Craigroyston initiative, six young people from North Edinburgh Young People’s Forum spent six manic weeks researching, consulting, interviewing, writing and producing their very own newspaper – The Matter – to articulate younger people’s views on how their voices can be heard in the Forth community planning process. The teenagers did receive some assistance – The Matter was supported by design agency Snook in partnership with Young Scot and Firstport.
We promised last month that the young journalists would produce their own article about the project for NEN – and here it is:
Matters2us article
Matters2us is our group name for the newspaper that expresses young people’s voices. We as young people got the privilege of becoming the first ever pilot group to have produced a paper with the team called: The Matter. Our deadline was 6 weeks, so you can imagine how strenuous the whole process was!
We were given a client, an editor and a designer to help us produce the paper and went out to explore the Forth Neighbourhood Community and ask a question. That question that was given to us by the client – Tim from Total Craigroyston/Edinburgh City Council – the question was ‘How can young people’s voices be heard successfully in the Forth Neighbourhood Community Planning Process?’
We consulted with roughly 200 young people around the area and out all of the ideas into the paper. With the ideas the young people gave, we produced 3 big ideas and on our launch night we explored these ideas in greater detail with the audience. The launch night was about highlighting the achievement of us making a newspaper and getting it known to the local community more, whilst also letting the public know about our process of the paper.
In the audience were members of the general public from the community, Edinburgh City Council workers, Councillors, young scot, snook and young people. The outcome was fantastic: people want to support us in finding funding to do a second print and praised us on the work we had done.
We as a group extremely enjoyed this experience and hope to do it again sometime in the future!
North Edinburgh Young People’s Forum
NEYPF@hotmail.co.uk