Community Renewal – ready and able to help

With the closure of the popular Community Employability Office on Ferry Road Drive, it is good to know that there is still a locally based support service ready and able to help residents of North Edinburgh find and make the most of available job, training, education or volunteering opportunities and to assist with a range of health and welfare issues (writes Ann Confrey). 

Since 2003 Community Renewal, a not for profit organisation, has been working to transform communities by engaging and supporting people to get involved in community activity and to improve health, learning and employment.

In 2008 Community Renewal extended it’s reach to include Edinburgh, opening offices to embark on area focused projects initially in Muirhouse and latterly Craigmillar.

Community Renewal staff work with unemployed people including those who may have significant barriers to accessing opportunities, with their overall aim to break through these barriers to reduce unemployment and health inequalities.

Through an open ended listening process people are supported to identify where they would like to make a change in their own lives and in their community and encouraged to take positive steps towards this.

James Riordan, Team Leader at the Muirhouse project explains how the team work: “At each Community Renewal Centre the door is always open and people can drop in for a chat and cup of tea. The biggest barrier people face to improving their lives can be lack of confidence so it is important to create an environment that is friendly and safe.

“We take a people first approach to help deal with a range of issues and, most importantly, to gain the trust of the people we come into contact with. Once we have gained the trust of an individual we learn about the real or perceived barriers that they need support to overcome. We build on the initial trust step by step until we are able to discuss and develop a personal plan that focuses on improving the individuals’ personal health and economic activity.

“We also look to tackle some of the environmental and social problems that contribute to stress, ill-health and low morale in the neighbourhood. This is part of Community Renewal’s holistic approach to breaking the cycle of decline”.

The UK and Scottish Governments have produced numerous programmes and spent many billions of pounds aimed at local regeneration, encouraging people into work and improving health. There is recognition that to be sustainable, neighbourhood regeneration cannot just be about bricks and mortar but must address employment and social issues in tandem. Otherwise the cycle of decline is not broken.

Despite this, figures collated in 2010 show that Scotland has more people in receipt of out-of-work-benefits than the average for Great Britain and that two-fifths of all working-age claimants of out-of-work disability benefits are under the age of 45.

In Scotland alone there are around 20,000 young people aged 16-19 not in work, education or training. In some housing estates and inner city areas only 1 in every 2 adults is economically active.

Figures from ONS population survey Oct 2010 – Sept 2011 show that in the Edinburgh North and Leith Parliamentary Constituency alone there are 12,800 economically inactive people. 9,460 are of working age and claiming benefits of some kind and of these 4,700 people over the age of 16 are registered unemployed.

Yet the same source (2008 figures) cites that there were 96,200 jobs on offer in the area. 66,000 of these were full time positions offering an attractive average pay of  £512.00 per week.

http://www.nomisweb.co.uk/reports/lmp/wpca/1929380436/report.aspx#tabwab

What is clear is that many residents of North Edinburgh and Leith are not easily accessing suitable jobs when they become available.

This is where Community Renewal can make a difference. They understand that people who are unemployed and particularly those who may find themselves long term economically inactive or who have a range of health or family difficulties do not always find it easy to motivate themselves to make positive changes in their lives.

The team take steps to understand what is really holding people back and what their real motivators for personal change are before encouraging and supporting them to take positive steps forward.

‘Partnership’ is today’s buzz-word in service delivery. But Community Renewal believes that the real challenge is in making this work at the grass roots level.

“All too often people find themselves referred from one agency to another completing endless forms and providing the same information over and over again until they end up confused, demoralised and eventually become lost in the system.

“Community Renewal aims to widen the range of services working effectively together for the benefit of the individual and the community as a whole. From housing departments, schools and colleges to NHS initiatives – we try to provide a simple and seamless process with one point of contact.

“We take the time to learn about the needs of the person and support them through the various services that can help – even bringing the service to them if necessary” adds James.

Next time you are in the area, don’t pass by, call in for a cup of tea and a friendly chat – it could mark the start of a whole new you!!

Success

The results speak for themselves, with over 3000 people involved with the projects finding jobs, over 1000 moving into training, education or volunteering and around another 1000 others taking active measures to improve their health and wellbeing.

Contact Community Renewal:

From pilot schemes supported by Glasgow City Council and European funding Community Renewal now has 50 staff plus a host of volunteers making a difference in communities across Scotland.

See how your local team can help you make a difference at:

Edinburgh – Muirhouse

(North Hub), Unit 13, 11 Pennywell Court

Muirhouse Shopping Centre, Edinburgh EH4 4TZ

Telephone 0131 332 8773

muirhouse@communityrenewal.org.uk

http://www.communityrenewal.org.uk

 

Ann Confrey 

 

New era for Edinburgh as Labour and SNP join forces

Labour and the SNP have vowed to work together to take Edinburgh forward following the local council elections on 3 May. The two parties finished first and second in the city council elections and, with a strong mandate from the electorate, they’ve jointly signed up to a ‘Contract with the Capital’.

No one political party could win an overall majority following the 3 May vote and negotiations with other parties were always going to be necessary to form a new administration. The election result – Labour 20, SNP 18, Conservative 11, Green 6 and Lib-Dems just 3 – left Labour, as the largest group, a number of options.

The resulting coalition with the SNP was a surprise for many; apart from the obvious party political differences at a national level – unionism or independence – there are some potentially fiery personality clashes too; some senior Labour figures have never forgiven former ‘comrade’ Steve Cardownie for defecting to the SNP back in 2006.

However it seems that there are now more issues that unite rather than divide the two groups, and group leaders Andrew Burns and Steve Cardownie have agreed to work together for the good of the city through a ‘contract with the capital’ which will ‘build a more co-operative and prosperous Edinburgh that benefits every individual and community’.

The agreement includes more than 50 pledges that the administration will be judged on, with a review going to Council each year detailing what progress has been made on meeting those aims.

Labour group leader Councillor Andrew Burns said: “Edinburgh is internationally recognised as a fantastic city. It is successful, prosperous and a great place to live and work. Yet our city has major challenges and we need to acknowledge that we have some work to do to rebuild trust between the residents of Edinburgh and their elected representatives. Tackling these requires strong leadership, which we will provide, as well as the political stability created by having a 38-strong coalition between the Council’s two largest parties.”

Councillor Steve Cardownie, leader of the SNP group, added: “This new contract with the capital marks a fresh start with a Council willing to listen to local people and work together with local communities, businesses and the voluntary sector. Together, we will move Edinburgh forward for the benefit of the city and its people, with decision-making that shows we are listening to public opinion.”

The agreement sets out six key priorities:

  • ensuring every child in Edinburgh has the      best start in life
  • reducing poverty, inequality and deprivation
  • providing for Edinburgh ‘s prosperity
  • strengthening and supporting our communities      and keeping them safe
  • ensuring Edinburgh, and its residents, are well cared-for; and
  • maintaining and improving the quality of life in Edinburgh.

Council Chief Executive Sue Bruce said: “The agreement lays out the goals that officers will be charged with delivering on behalf of the whole Council. It is a challenging set of objectives, as it rightly should be for a capital city. I’m very much looking forward to working with councillors, the senior management team, partner organisations and all of our committed staff on achieving them.”

The new administration has one distinct advantage over the outgoing one – experience. When the last administration came to power only Cllr Cardownie has any experience of running departments – while there were many Lib Dems councillors with years of experience, none had experience of power or responsibility, and there was a whole raft of councillors with no experience of local government at all. Almost from day one, the administration found itself on the back foot with a botched school closures programme and throughout it’s time in power it was beset with problems – in particular the tram fiasco, undoubtedly the biggest factor in the Lib-Dems dramatic demise on 3 May.

The new administration contains a good mix of politicians with strong experience of running departments, councillors with some experience under their belts and a fresh new intake – hopefully with fresh new ideas. There’s no doubt they’ll all have learned from the mistakes of the last administration – and that’s got to be good for Edinburgh.

Senior civic and committee positions will formally agreed at the first meeting of the new Council on Thursday (17 May).

Spartans Breastfeeding Cafe is open

Local mum Becky Smith cut a cake to officially open the new Spartans Breastfeeding Café earlier today.  Becky and her two-year old son James were joined by Spartans’ development manager Dougie Samuel and a happy team of NHS Lothian professionals to mark the occasion.

The Spartans breast-feeding café is a friendly, informal setting where mums who are breastfeeding – or pregnant women – can drop in for a chat about breastfeeding with local health visitors and midwives.  And as well as being a great place for advice, support, encouragement and information, it’s also a great place to meet other mums who are breastfeeding – and tea and coffee is free!

Any breastfeeding, even for a short time, is beneficial for you and your baby. Having good information about breastfeeding, plus support and advice, will help you – and your baby – get off to a good start and will help you to keep going.  

Welcoming the new café, NHS Lothian’s Katy Ruggeri, clinical manager for Midwifery Services, said: “It seems such a long time ago that we first talked about the need for a local breastfeeding support group, how we could set one up and how to move things on. I’m delighted that, with the tremendous support of Spartans, we have been able to secure this venue. It’s really great to see the community working hand in hand with NHS Lothian and it’s a credit to everyone who has been involved. I hope the project grows and grows and I’m really looking forward to coming back to see how the project is developing.”

 Spartans’ Dougie Samuel said: “Since we’ve been established here we’ve always tried to ensure that Spartans would be at the heart of the community so we are delighted to welcome the breastfeeding café to Spartans. This initiative follows on from the Spartans Smilers project we undertook with Cathy (Wood, North West Local Health Partnership public health practitioner) and her NHS Lothian colleagues and we hope it will be just as successful.”

Mum Becky Smith added: “I think this is a great idea and the area definitely needs something like this. It’s good to have this advice available locally without having to go to a clinic or surgery and it will be a good place to meet other local mums as well.”

Spartans Breastfeeding Café takes place every Monday from 12.15 to 1.45pm at Spartans Community Football Academy off Pilton Drive. For further information, contact your local midwife or health visitor or just drop in to Spartans Breastfeeding Café.

Sun comes out for Victoria’s fun day

 

Scotland rugby legend Gavin Hastings joined in the fun and games when he formally opened  Royal Victoria Hospital’s Open Day yesterday – and after days of miserable weather the sun was a very welcome visitor too!

The Open Day was a final opportunity to have a look round the old hospital on Craigleith Road – services are transferred to a new state-of-the-art Royal Victoria Building at the nearby Western General Hospital next month.

There was a fascinating photo and exhibits display inside the hospital while out in the grounds there was a magician, disco, football, stalls, bouncy castle, face painting and even some birds of prey.

If you missed yesterday’s event, don’t despair – there will be another one at the new Royal Victoria Building at the Western in a fortnight’s time! It’s a chance to see the magnificent new facilities there – can’t promise any sunshine, though!

D-Day for local football clubs

Today is D-Day for two local football clubs, Spartans can win the East of Scotland Football Association Premier League if they can get get a victory when they visit Stirling University later today. However, Stirling Uni are also chasing the Premier Title and they need to take six points from their remaining two games. Its a different story for Leith Athletic who play in the same league but find themselves in a dog-fight at the bottom of the table and they visit Lothian Thistle at Saughton Enclosure today and Leith need a point from todays game to ensure they will be  playing in the Premier League next week.

Check back on the NEN Blog later today to find out how both our local teams got on, we wish them both well.

WIG to tackle housing issues at public meeting

Women’s International Group (WIG) is holding a public meeting to discuss housing issues next Thursday evening (17 May) at 6.15pm in Royston Wardieburn Community Centre. All welcome. 
A spokesperson for WIG said: “A number of housing officials, local councillors and reps from the Tenants Federation will be in attendance to respond to questions/issues from the floor.  One of the aims of the meeting is to raise awareness about some of the changes which are going to affect  local people currently claiming benefits (e.g. the bedroom tax/under occupancy penalty which will result in any working household with an extra bedroom losing part of their housing benefit; and the benefit cap  which will be deducted via people’s housing benefit and universal credit. These are important issues and we hope to see a lot of people attend the meeting”.
The Women’s International Group (WIG) was established at a succesful event organised to celebrate International Women’s Day in March (pictured below).

Grassroots Gala gathers pace

There’s a lot to be done, but organisers of this summer’s Community Fun Day at West Pilton Park remain on-course to make it a day to remember.

Group member Sean Gardiner told NEN:  “We have now submitted all our applications for funding, the park and the neighbourhood centre and we are still recruiting volunteers. We’re also looking for traders to book stalls and we ask anyone who wishes to contact us to use wpmcgala@gmail.com. We are also still looking for any pictures taken by the public of  previous gala days.”

You can keep up to date with the group’s activities through their website at www.westpiltonandmuirhousegala.co.uk

Food for Thought …

Pilton Community Health Project’s ANITA AGGARWAL tells us about North Edinburgh’s new food forum … and rhubarb!

‘Food for thought’ – Pilton’s community food forum 

It’s a winner of a name and an idea that is starting to bear fruit. The newly established community food forum is now called ‘food for thought’.  John Muir, who works at West Pilton Neighbourhood Centre, won the competition to name the group and a shiny new recipe book.  We had plenty of other good entries, we thought this one summed up our ideas best.

Lots of people have told us they are interested in food and either want the chance to get involved with food projects or are already involved.  The food forum aims to link up work which is already going on and work together to make more ‘foody’ things happen in the area.

At the next meeting we will be planning food events in the summer.  Come along if you are interested in getting involved.  It will take place on Thursday 24 May at 10am at Pilton Community Health Project.  Call Anita on 0131 551 1671 for more information or to book a crèche space.

Watch out for more information from the food for thought forum. 

Food things for you to get involved with:

Mondays for 6 weeks from 1 May 7 – 9pm Mexican Cooking course Craigroyston High School  538 7285

Every Tuesday, 10 -12     Barri Grubb’s cooking club Pilton Community Health Project  551 1671

Every Tuesday, 10.30      Granton Community Gardeners  Meet at Salvation Army.  gardengranton@gmail.com

Every Tuesday, 10 – 12    Food co-op West Pilton Neighbourhood Centre  551 3194

Everyday:

Food blog Drylaw cooking group http://drylawcookinggroup.wordpress.com/

Community Cafes – North Edinburgh Arts, Royston Wardieburn and Muirhouse Millennium Centre.

Rhubarb Recipe

We have still got a way to go before there are lots of good fruit and vegetables growing in Scotland, but I have a friend who lives in Granton who is eating rhubarb from his garden already, so here is a lovely rhubarb recipe from the Love food, hate waste Scotland website http://scotland.lovefoodhatewaste.com

Rhubarb, Apple and Orange Compote

Serve this compote for a delicious breakfast with yoghurt and a bowl of muesli. This recipe also works well with pears instead of apples. Recipe author: Caroline Marson, Banbury.

Serves: 4

Ingredients:

  • 250g rhubarb, sliced
  • 1-2 apples peeled , cored and bruises cut away, cut into cubes
  • 50ml orange juice
  • 25g caster sugar
  • Yoghurt

Method:

  1. Combine the rhubarb, apples, orange juice and sugar in a pan. Bring to the boil over a medium heat. Reduce heat, and simmer for 3 minutes or until fruit is tender.
  2. Remove from heat and cool. Serve spooned over muesli with fruit juice and yogurt.

Gardening tips – Rhubarb grows like a weed in Scotland; you don’t even need to look after it and it is happy in a shady corner.

Healthy fact – It’s a great source of fibre, but don’t eat too much as it acts as a laxative!

Strange but true Rhubarb is the only vegetable used as a fruit.