Great night for a great cause

Charity catwalk event raises over £3400

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Broughton High School student KATHERINE WRIGHT volunteers at the Cancer Research UK charity shop in Stockbridge. The charity stages an annual  fundraising fashion show – here’s Katherine’s take on this year’s event:

crCancer Research UK held its fifth annual ‘Charity Chic’ fashion show and pop up shop on Friday 10 October. The event was organised by the local Stockbridge shop where I currently volunteer, a worthwhile and rewarding experience. It was held in the City Art Centre and aimed to both raise money for the charity and bring together customers and friends of the shop. The money raised – a whopping £3413 – will go towards funding ground-breaking research, clinical trials and clinical research nurses, all of which are vital to the fight against cancer.

On arrival, ticket holders received special goody bags filled with treats generously provided by the companies ‘Glow’ and ‘Ilumi’, who sponsored the event. Volunteers at the reception area donned orange tutus and red wigs, and their enthusiasm immediately set the tone for a fun-filled night ahead.

cr2The ‘Commonwealth Catwalk’ was the theme of the evening, showcasing a great variety of clothing and accessories donated to the shop and celebrating the fashion of Commonwealth countries. The audience clapped along while a young woman walked the catwalk in a black sparkly dress, playing the popular hits ‘We will Rock You’ and ‘Five Hundred Miles’ on her set of bagpipes.

The models, all volunteers and friends of the shop, wore a variety of different outfits and confidently strutted their stuff along the catwalk. Elegant dresses, jewelled clutch bags and colourful fascinators were all on display, and the audience enthusiastically clapped and cheered the models on. Eighty-one year-old Betty (below), a cancer survivor herself, was the oldest person to walk the catwalk and described it as “great fun, and a good way to meet some nice people.”

cr5After the fashion show, a selection of pop up stalls gave people the opportunity to buy some of the garments they’d seen on show; as well as a huge variety of other clothes, bags, shoes and accessories. Home-made cupcakes and an assortment of sweet treats were also on sale, and a raffle with generous prizes including a meal at Nandos and a Kenwood ice cream maker proved very popular.

cr3Elaine Lennon (pictured above, left), the organiser of the event and assistant manager at the Stockbridge shop commented: “It’s not just about making money. There’s a real community feel.” Indeed, the open plan room allowed people to mingle and chat, sharing laughs and asking for advice on clothes to buy. Many commented on how well organised the event was, which would not have been possible without the tireless work of an ‘amazing group of volunteers.’

One of the ‘browsers’ was Jill Macgregor, the founder of Glow, a fitness and nutrition company that runs exercise classes across the country. Glow sponsored the event – t’s well known that leading a healthy lifestyle can greatly reduce the risk of cancer, and Jill is passionate about helping people to do this. Jill has also experienced cancer – she was diagnosed last November and finished her treatment in June. Arms laden with shopping bags and champagne glass in hand, she summed up the evening: “It’s been absolutely fantastic. A great night for a great cause.”

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Pictures by GAV YOUNG

Hat’s the way to support older people!

The Big Knit 2014: It’s the final countdown!

Big KnitThere are just three weeks remaining to help Age Scotland create as many little woolly hats as possible for Age UK and innocent’s Big Knit 2014 and to help older people stay warm and well in the winter.

For over a decade, budding milliners across the UK have been supporting Age Scotland and innocent’s Big Knit by knitting funky little hats as part of Age Scotland’s Spread the Warmth campaign. With over a decade of support from knitters up and down the country, The Big Knit has raised vital funds to support local and national winter projects to help older people keep warm in winter.

Knitters in Scotland are being called upon to create little hats to adorn innocent smoothie bottles, which will be sold in stores nationwide from February 2015. For each be-hatted smoothie sold, innocent will donate 25p to help Age Scotland fund national and local winter projects. Age Scotland is calling on local knitters to get as many hats as possible to them by 6th November 2014

Last year alone, more than a million hats were lovingly created by knitters up and down the UK, with designs including a giant squid, fruit, soldiers, peas in a pod, cupcakes and an ice cream cone topped with a classic flake.

Alisdair Caulfield, Fundraising Manager at Age Scotland said: “There’s just four weeks left to send us your hats for Age UK and innocent’s The Big Knit and we’re calling on all local knitters to get crafting! We’re extremely grateful for all the hats we’ve received already, which will raise money to help older people in local communities across Scotland.”

Jamie Sterry, innocent drinks, said: “Thanks to everyone who has got involved in The Big Knit so far but with just one month to go, we’re calling on all knitters and those wanting to give it a try to join in too! Each little hat that adorns an innocent smoothie bottle will raise money for Age UK to help older people stay warm in winter, so your support will make a difference.”

Knitters can contact Age Scotland to get a free hat pattern. For those who don’t fancy making a hat themselves, a £3 donation can be made to Age Scotland by texting ’KNIT14’ £3 to 70070.

For more information on The Big Knit contact Age Scotland on 0845 833 0200 or log onto www.agescotland.org.uk. Please send completed hats to Age Scotland at The Big Knit, Causewayside House, 160 Causewayside, Edinburgh, EH9 1PR

AgeScotland

Drop In: new fun activities start this weekend

DROP IN to Royston Wardieburn for fun on Saturday morning!

RWCC (2)The Drop In is a new citywide fun-packed activity for families with a child or young person (0 – 18 y o) with a disability and their siblings. It’s taking place in four community centres across the city every Saturday for two hours – and the local venue is Royston Wardieburn on Pilton Drive North.

Parents and carers will have the opportunity to meet other parents/carers and sit and chat over a cup of coffee while their children take part in activities run by experienced youth workers from FABB Scotland and the city council.

Activities will include sports, art, computer games, soft play, bouncy castles and much more.

Royston Wardieburn’s Drop In starts this Saturday from 10am – midday. There’s no need to book, just come along with the family and DROP IN!

Call the Centre on 552 5700 for more information.

 

Government lowers Help to Buy ceiling

Funding will target lower income families and first time buyers

sold (3)Housing Minister Margaret Burgess has announced changes to Help to Buy (Scotland) which will support more people to get onto or move up the property ladder. As of Wednesday (October 22 2014), the shared equity scheme will apply to homes worth up to £250,000, rather than the current maximum of £400,000.

This change will ensure that more people can benefit from available funding and help to target funding at lower income families and first time buyers.

With 85% of all Help to Buy (Scotland) sales to date already at or below this new threshold – and an estimated 94% of sales having been to first time buyers – most new build houses will not be affected by the changes.

Since Help to Buy (Scotland) was launched in September 2013, more than 3,000 homes have been purchased with an additional 1,500 expected to be completed by the end of this financial year.

Mrs Burgess said: “The Help to Buy (Scotland) scheme has opened up the housing market to thousands of house buyers. By targeting the scheme at properties at or below a value of £250,000, the scheme will support first time buyers and people who otherwise wouldn’t be able to afford to buy a new build home.

“The changes will also see the benefits of Help to Buy extended for as long as possible and build on the widely welcomed arrangements for the Land and Buildings Transaction Tax announced by the Finance Secretary last week.

“We will continue to monitor this successful scheme and will look at ways of making sure everyone in Scotland has access to good quality, affordable homes.”

Demand for the scheme has been high with Ministers allocating £275 million to the scheme to date, which is £55 million more than the industry’s original £220 million request. £100 million of that funding has been allocated to the 2015-16 budget.

Mrs Burgess added: “Housing continues to be a priority for this Government and we are investing over £390 million next year to deliver 6,000 affordable homes, of which 4,000 will be for social rent. Our 2015-16 budget makes clear that by investing in housing we are boosting the economy, improving the energy efficiency of housing stock and reducing fuel poverty.

“By replacing the stamp duty with the Land and Buildings Transaction Tax, the tax paid will be more proportionate to the house price, which means that the tax is fairer and will be based more closely on the buyer’s ability to pay.

“This new approach will benefit the majority of Scots, with nobody paying tax on the first £135,000 of a house purchase and 90 per cent of homebuyers either paying less or the same amount as they would under current arrangements. It will be a major boost to first time buyers and improve the affordability of starter homes.”

Partnership Centre plans forge ahead

Plans for the new £12 million health and social care hub in Muirhouse have taken another major step forward
health centre
The planning application for the North West Edinburgh Partnership Centre has been approved by the planning committee at the City of Edinburgh Council.
The new centre, a joint development between NHS Lothian and the City of Edinburgh Council, will bring increased health and social care services to the local community, including new GP accommodation and additional physiotherapy, podiatry, dentistry and child health services.
Peter Gabbitas, Joint Director, Edinburgh Health and Social Care Partnership said: “The North West Edinburgh Partnership Centre is another good example of the benefits of bringing health and social care services together on one site and in doing so putting people’s health and welfare at the forefront of our services.”
Cllr Ricky Henderson, Health, Social Care and Housing Convener, said: “We are committed to providing high quality health and social care within communities, and working in partnership with organisations such as NHS Lothian on projects like the North West Edinburgh Partnership Centre is a great way to ensure this happens.”
Hub South East Scotland Ltd is delivering the project and has appointed GRAHAM construction to build the new centre.
Paul McGirk, Chief Executive of Hub South East Scotland, said: “This is an exciting step in the development of the North West Edinburgh Partnership Centre and we look forward to continuing our successful partnership with both NHS Lothian and the City of Edinburgh Council to make these plans a reality. We’ve been involved in this project from the beginning, so it’s exciting to reach this major milestone and we look forward to continuing our successful partnerships and making these plans a reality.”
Ground works will start this month to prepare the site for construction of the new Centre which is anticipated to begin next year.
The works will involve digging up and working on pipes and cabling within certain areas of the site. The works will not impact on surrounding properties and while there will be activity on parts of the site over the coming months, none of these works relate to the actual construction of the facility.
These works will also involve the creation of a new entrance to the shopping centre service yard from Pennywell Gardens, demolition of two buildings (Pennywell Dentist and Pennywell House), closing Muirhouse Crescent and diverting existing utilities (gas, electricity, water, telecoms) within the site.
The project team is now working towards aiming to finalise contracts in January 2015. Work is then scheduled to start on the new Centre in early 2015 and it will open in autumn 2016.

Suffer the little children: one in five Edinburgh children lives in poverty

‘We can and must do better for our children’

ChildPovertyEdinburgh is one of the UK’s most prosperous cities – but more than ONE IN FIVE children in the capital (21%) are living in poverty, according to the latest research.

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The Campaign to End Child Poverty (CECP) has today published new figures that provide a child poverty map of the whole of the UK. The figures are broken down by parliamentary constituency, local authority and ward (see report, above). The research was conducted for CECP by the Centre for Research in Social Policy (CRSP) at Loughborough University.

The figures reveal the wide disparity in poverty rates across the UK, between regions and striking variations even within regions. London scores badly – containing ten of the top 20 constituencies with the highest child poverty rates in the UK and 14 of the 20 highest-rate local authorities. However there is variation even within regions: in London, Bethnal Green and Bow has a child poverty rate of 49% compared to just 15% in Richmond upon Thames.

In Scotland, Glasgow has the highest rate of child poverty, with the problem affecting a third of all youngsters in the city. Across Scotland some 220,000 children are living in poverty — a fifth of all youngsters — and campaigners are convinced this total will rise.

CECP is demanding urgent political action at all levels and urges the Westminster government to rethink its tax and benefit policies, claiming these could leave as many as 100,000 more children in poverty by 2020.

They also want local and national housing policies to focus on keeping rent bills down in both the social housing sector and the private rental market.

Chair of End Child Poverty David Holmes said: “These figures reveal just how widely and deeply child poverty reaches into our communities, even those areas generally regarded as well off. Far too many children whose parents are struggling to make a living are suffering as a result and missing out on the essentials of a decent childhood that all young people should be entitled to. We can and must do better for our children.

“Poverty ruins childhoods and reduces life chances. Failing to invest properly in children is a false economy: already child poverty costs the country £29bn each year and in the long run taxpayers will foot an even higher bill for correcting the damage.

“We are calling on politicians of all parties to urgently set out a clear roadmap towards ending child poverty which includes the additional actions needed and the measures by which progress will be tracked.”

CECP Scotland spokesman Neil Mathers said: “It’s important we look behind these figures at what is driving this level of poverty in our country.

“Politicians of all parties, at Westminster and Holyrood, need to act to tackle the root causes of poverty, including low pay and soaring housing and childcare costs. There is nothing inevitable about this poverty. We must build on the good work that is happening in Scotland to support families.”

He went on: “We know there is ambition in Scotland to do more. We now need to act so that all our children have a fair start. We can and must do better for our children.”

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POVERTY AND INEQUALITY IN EDINBURGH

The city’s strategic community planning body The Edinburgh Partnership has created poverty and inequality profiles of each of the city’s twelve Neighbourhood Partnerships.

To see the profiles for Forth and Inverleith Neighbourhood Partnerships click on the link(s) below:

Forth NP

Inverleith NP

 

Your new NEN’s out!

The latest edition of North Edinburgh News is out now!

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Your Autumn paper is now being distributed and copies will soon be available in libraries and community centres across Forth and Inverleith.

If you just can’t wait to see a print copy, click on the link below:

NENOctober2014

Have you missed your NEN newspaper? Do you like the latest edition? What would you like to see in the NEN? Let us know: post a comment or email northedinnews@gmail.com

Happy reading!

Film: Volunteering Changes Lives

We are delighted to share “Volunteering Changes Lives” – a short film celebrating 30 years’ work by Volunteer Centre Edinbugrh’s (VCE’s) Health & Wellbeing Team. 

http://www.volunteeredinburgh.org.uk/volunteer/Blog_Article_Depository/New_Film

It is an inspiring and powerful account of how volunteering has assisted a number of people to overcome the barriers & discrimination which accompany mental illness and disability. All are volunteers with local charities, supporting the delivery of services – being a helper rather than always being helped.

I am sure that a number of people featured in the film may be familiar to you!

Nick Woodhead, Health and Wellbeing Development Officer 

VOLUNTEER CENTRE EDINBURGH

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Westminster WILL deliver, says Carmichael

 

 

Scotland OfficeThe UK Government will deliver on its pledge to bring significant new powers to the Scottish Parliament as part of further devolution within the UK, Scottish Secretary Alistair Carmichael said yesterday.

It coincided with the publication of a UK Government Command Paper, a summary of the proposals set out by the 3 main Westminster political parties that have been put forward for further devolution.

Speaking ahead of giving a statement in the House of Commons, Mr Carmichael said: “The referendum result made clear the majority of people in Scotland want to see a strong devolved Parliament as part of the UK.

“We pledged further devolution and we will deliver on that promise. Today’s Command Paper sets out the detail of the political positions from the parties. The Smith Commission must now be left to carry out its work before Heads of Agreement are published at the end of November.

“This is the first time all of Scotland’s main political parties will be involved in a process exploring areas of further devolution. I welcome that as an important recognition we must work together to deliver the new powers people want to see for Scotland”.

The independent Smith Commission is convening cross-party talks to reach agreement on the proposals. Its terms of reference make clear the recommendations will deliver more financial, welfare and taxation powers to strengthen the Scottish Parliament within the UK.

The move comes just days after the Scottish Government’s budget used the powers devolved by the Scotland Act 2012 to set Scottish stamp duty and landfill tax rates, as well as extend government borrowing.

More information about the Smith Commission

ScottishParliamentHolyrood

Have your say on further financial devolution

The options for the further devolution of financial powers to Scotland are to be examined by the Scottish Parliament’s Finance Committee in a new inquiry launched last week – and the public are being asked to give their views.

Following the referendum, and the establishment of the Smith Commission, the Committee’s inquiry will look at what general principles should apply to the devolution of further financial powers and what those powers should be. The inquiry will also consider the impact of any further financial powers on the block grant.

During the course of the inquiry, the Committee will take evidence from a range of witnesses and is also asking people to submit their views on the options for financial devolution in Scotland.

Committee Convener, Kenneth Gibson MSP said: “Following the referendum, there is a debate about the further devolution of powers to Scotland. The Smith Commission is currently considering what further powers should be devolved to Scotland and key amongst these will be financial powers. It is only right that we contribute to this debate.

“Our inquiry will explore what powers should be devolved and the implications for Scotland’s funding. We want to hear a range of views about what this would mean for Scotland.”

The Committee is asking for views on a range of issues including:

• What general principles should apply to the devolution of further financial powers to the Scottish parliament?
• What further financial powers should be devolved to the Scottish Parliament and why?
• What further financial powers should not be devolved to the Scottish Parliament and why?
• To what extent could the Scottish Government be constrained in how it uses new tax powers given the interaction with fiscal decisions at a UK level?
• What are the implications of further fiscal devolution for the block grant?
• What are the implications of further financial powers for the role of Revenue Scotland?

The closing date for responses is Friday 14 November 2014.

All responses should be sent electronically to: finance@scottish.parliament.uk

More information on the Committee’s inquiry can be found on the Committee’s webpage:
http://www.scottish.parliament.uk/parliamentarybusiness/CurrentCommittees/29822.aspx