The NEN – North Edinburgh News – Page 3796 – The community media resource for north Edinburgh

Football tournament kicks off World Suicide Prevention Week

THE recent suicide of the much-loved actor Robin Williams highlighted how suicide can affect anyone. Sport can have a positive impact on mental health and wellbeing, so a five-a-side football tournament will kick off World Suicide Prevention Week in Edinburgh next Saturday (6 September).

The Choose Life Challenge Cup will run from 9.30am until 12.30pm at Gracemount Leisure Centre on 2 Gracemount Drive with sixteen teams from Edinburgh, Midlothian, West Lothian and Dundee taking part. Among this particpants are two ladies teams from Edinburgh who will be copeting in the tournament for the first time.

Justice Secretary Kenny MacAskill will be there to present the trophy and other prizes.

Event organiser John Murphy, a project worker with Scottish charity Health in Mind, believes the Choose Life Challenge Cup is a fantastic event as it offers a comfortable space for guys to get together, reduces isolation and promotes a sense of belonging.

John said: “So many young men find it hard to talk about their feelings and in 2013, there were 795 suicides recorded in Scotland, with the rate for men more than three times that of women.”

John said the event provides a great opportunity for people to find out about the issues and the services available locally. “If there’s someone you know who you think might be considering suicide; ask them and be willing to listen and encourage them to get help – you could help save their life. Alternatively if you are feeling suicidal, don’t hide it; find someone you trust and talk to them.”

The Choose Life Campaign is part of the national strategy and action plan to prevent suicide in Scotland.

The partners supporting the Choose Life Challenge Cup – Lothian Five-a-Side Football Tournament are NHS Lothian, East Lothian Council, The City of Edinburgh Council, Midlothian and West Lothian Councils.

MP attends Food Project’s Open Day

Mark Lazarowicz MP visited Edinburgh Food Project yesterday to meet staff at its new warehouse operation and learn more about how it is helping people who are struggling to put food on the table.

Edinburgh Food Project runs two of Edinburgh’s five Trussell Trust foodbanks covering the North West and Central areas of the city.

The local MP said: “I was extremely impressed by the hard work of all the staff at Edinburgh Food Project who are providing a vital service to people in the community in food poverty.

“People come to their two food banks for a range of reasons, some because of delays in benefit claims or sanctions but there are people as well who are in work but are still struggling to meet ever increasing basic bills.

“The Government refuses to see this for the tragedy it is and whilst I can’t praise the staff highly enough I also hope to see the day when people aren’t forced to turn to food banks.”

Since opening in November 2012 Edinburgh Food Project has fed over 5,500 people in crisis with food packs covering at least three days – the equivalent of 50,000 meals.

As part of the open day they held a ‘Tinned Sponge Pudding Pyramid’ which was built with donations.

For more information about Edinburgh foodbanks go to

http://edinburghnw.foodbank.org.uk

Pupils all aboard for writing competition

An annual creative writing competition with an environmental theme for primary school children has been launched in Edinburgh by local author John Fardell.

‘Scotland’s Seas’ is the theme of this year’s ‘Green Pencil Award’, which is run by The City of Edinburgh Council for P4 – P7 pupils.

They are being encouraged to write creatively about how the sea impacts on local communities, the creatures that live in them, seascapes, what the seas are used for and how we can look after them in Scotland.

Primary 7 pupils from St Margaret’s RC Primary School in South Queensferry helped launch the event at Queensferry Library where they took part in a special writing workshop to pick up tips from John Fardell, who writes and illustrates children’s books.

The competition is open to all P4-7 pupils in Edinburgh and entries can be submitted through schools or public libraries until October 10. The 20 finalists and overall winner will be chosen on October 30 with a prize giving ceremony at the Central Library on November 27.

To help support the Green Pencil Award, a series of Live Literature events involving schools will be held in libraries across the capital during September, with support from the Scottish Book Trust.

Councillor Richard Lewis, Culture and Sport Convener for The City of Edinburgh Council said: ‘I’m sure this year’s theme of Scotland’s Seas will inspire our young people to show their creative writing skills and how much they care about the environment.

“The importance of writing to children’s education cannot be underestimated, and the Green Pencil Award complements the work going on in our schools and libraries to encourage this. It’s a very popular competition and I’m really looking forward to seeing another excellent range of entries from children throughout the city.”

John Fardell said: “I’m delighted to be involved with the South Queensferry Library launch event of this year’s Green Pencil Award. I’ll be encouraging the pupils to have fun tapping into what they personally find exciting as they develop their own pieces of writing, and I’m sure this year’s Green Pencil theme of Scotland’s Seas will be a great catalyst for everyone’s imaginations.

“I’ve spent quite a bit of time throughout my life on, in and occasionally under Scotland’s seas, and that’s certainly been a source of inspiration for much of my own writing and illustration work.”

The competition, run by Edinburgh City Libraries and Eco-Schools in Edinburgh seeks to: promote literacy and creative writing; demonstrate care and understanding of environmental issues; encourage learning; link to Curriculum for Excellence aspirations and strengthen partnership working between libraries, schools and other partners.

Prizes have been donated by a range of sponsors, including the Scottish Book Trust, Scottish Natural Heritage, the Scottish Seabird Centre and the Royal Scottish Zoological Society.

The creative writing can be either poetry or prose but must only take up one side of A4. For further information visit

www.edinburgh.gov.uk/greenpencilaward

City’s social enterprises making a splash!

ONE of Edinburgh’s best-known social enterprises, Re-union Canal Boats, played host to the new Monster branding ‘Buy the Good Stuff’ to encourage Edinburgh citizens to buy more from local social enterprise businesses.

‘Buy the Good Stuff’ is a call to action to the general public to consider how they shop around the city and can really make a difference by purchasing from social enterprises. Over 150 social enterprises are trading in Edinburgh, from cafes and retail, to creative industries and leisure generating income and reinvesting their profits into the community for social or environmental benefits.

Edinburgh is the first place in Scotland to run such a marketing campaign which goes citywide this September. Adverts for ‘Buy the Good Stuff’ will be appearing all over town including on the side of five Lothian Buses.

Linsay Chalmers, network coordinator, Edinburgh Social Enterprise Network commented: “We want to let people know that you can buy fantastic products and services from social enterprises and do your bit to make the world a better place at the same time. Social enterprises get excellent ratings from customers and, as our strapline says, they plough monster profits back into the community too.”

Pat Bowie, manager of Re-union Ltd, added: “We’re really pleased to be involved in the launch of Scotland’s first social enterprise brand. ‘Buy the Good Stuff’ will make it easier for people to find social enterprises and is something that all Edinburgh social enterprises can get behind.”

Councillor Frank Ross, Edinburgh’s Economy Convener, said: “Social enterprise is a key and influential part of our city economy and has the potential for significant growth. We have many highly successful businesses running throughout the city and we want to encourage consumers to consider their purchasing options. We recognise through this new campaign, that we can really build on the fact that these businesses offer a very attractive competitive product or service with community at their heart.”

Lorna Baird, social enterprise adviser with Business Gateway, said: “Here at Business Gateway we support a wide range of businesses including those that generate profit for social good – better known as social enterprises. We are delighted to be supporting the ‘Buy the Good Stuff’ campaign as it will not only put social enterprises on the map but also help raise awareness of the incredible work they do in Edinburgh and beyond.”

Find out more about Buy the Good Stuff at www.buythegoodstuff.co.uk and @SocEntEdinburgh

Campaigners cross over road traffic issues

Groups unite to demand improved cycling and pedestrian crossings over Queensferry and Hillhouse Roads

Community Councils and Parent Council reps have joined forces to campaign for local road safety improvements. Craigleith Blackhall and Drumbrae Community Councils, Blackhall Primary and Royal High School Parent Councils are calling for action to make routes to schools safer and improved crossings on Queensferry and Hillhouse Roads.

Residents have reported particular problems when trying to cross those two busy roads: from having to walk too far to find a crossing, to avoiding dangerous speeding traffic or finding somewhere suitable for a bike to cross.

These and other related traffic issues are frequently raised at both Community Council and Parent Council meetings, so the community representatives have united to address residents’ concerns – they’re currently working together to look at specific problem areas and identify what practical improvements can be made.

Mary Duff is one resident who has expressed concerns over traffic and would like to see improvements to road safety. “”As a parent of a new S1 student who would like to cycle to the Royal High School, can I ask that a new, safe cycle crossing is created in Blackhall to link the residential area to the cycle paths?” she said.

“My son currently has to cross four lanes of traffic to get to the cycle path. Hence he doesn’t take his bike as I feel it is unsafe. The only other option he has is to cycle down the pavement along Hillhouse Road, cross at a busy junction with lots of parked cars (at the Blackhall dip) and cross at the pedestrian crossing … avoiding pedestrians some of the time!”

Craigleith and Blackhall community councillor Neil Watt has also had a nasty incident on busy local roads. He said: “I had a really scary experience crossing the road to Davidson’s Mains Park with my son Owen on the back of the bike – we nearly got hit by a transit turning right jumping the lights.

“I just can’t believe how dangerous and unpleasant it is to cross Hillhouse/Queensferry Road whether you’re on a bike or on foot, and the traffic’s only getting worse. I have a new job in the city centre and want to commute on the bike more, but it’s really tricky hooking up with the cycle network when you live in Blackhall or Clermiston.”

The campaigners aim to ensure their communities benefit from the safest routes to school, that it’s easy and pleasant to walk and cycle to get around, public amenities and businesses are well connected and that residents are helped to do what we they can to reduce pollution.

A spokesperson for the group said: “At the moment, we’re focussing on finding a suitable spot for a new cycle-friendly pedestrian crossing between the Blackhall dip and St Columba’s Church, and seeing what improvements we can make to the existing crossings at Blackhall Library, Craigcrook Road/Quality Street and Clermiston Road North/Queensferry Road. Beyond that, who knows!

“The next step is to ask the City of Edinburgh Council to look into the issues and work with us to improve these sub-standard cycling and walking links. If you want to help please come to one of our meetings or drop us an email via our websites to let us know what you think.”

You can let the group know your views by attending your local community council meeting (Craigleith Blackhall meets on Monday 15 September at 7.30 pm in Stewart’s Melville College on Queensferry Road, while Drumbrae also meets next on Monday 15 September at 7.30pm – in the Rannoch Centre.

If you can’t make a 15 September meeting, email your views to Craigleith Blackhall Community Councillor Neil Watt at wattmail@hotmail.co.uk

Task Force to tackle delayed discharge

Task force set up but Lothian figures more than double

The NHS and Scotland’s councils are to work together to tackle the growing numbers of delayed discharges but opposition politicians argue that more urgency is needed to address the issue. NHS Lothian is one of four health board to miss discharge targets.

While delayed discharge has fallen by a third since 2006, the latest statistics show this continues to be challenging, with a significant number of people delayed due to a lack of availability of care in the community.

Health Secretary Alex Neil wrote to local authority and health board partnerships earlier this week, urging them to use the £5 million funding recently announced by the Scottish Government to address the reasons for the delays.

Mr Neil said: “We have come a considerable way in tackling this problem, with comparable figures for 2006 showing three times as many people were delayed for over four weeks.

“However, it’s disappointing that some patients are still delayed for lengthy periods in our hospitals. Remaining in hospital, when clinically ready to leave, is frustrating for individuals and can pose challenges in ensuring effective patient flow through the hospital.

“Integration of health and social care will be key to driving down delays, and we are working with COSLA to deliver integration for the benefit of people across Scotland. We recently announced an additional £5 million to be targeted at the areas with the greatest challenges. This money will be used by seven NHS and local authority partnerships to reduce delays and release hospital capacity.

“Legislation to implement health and social care comes into full force in April next year, but we need not wait to make progress. COSLA and I are agreed that we need immediate improvements and NHS Boards and local authorities recognise the need to work together now to make sure people do not have wait in hospital any longer than is necessary.”

Cllr Peter Johnston, COSLA’s Health and Well-being Spokesperson, added: “I’ve just visited a District General Hospital in my own Health Board area and know from that just how hard nurses, clinicians, social workers and managers are working to facilitate the transfer of people waiting for discharge back to their own homes or into a care home. This is a priority of the first order – we know that for older people in particular, a delay of longer than 72 hours can have an impact on their health and well-being.

“We in COSLA are determined to make further progress on discharge arrangements. We are fully committed to the work of the task force, and believe that innovation in discharge protocols and in commissioning practice will deliver some of the progress needed. This will all take place within emerging health and social care partnerships and we hope to get to a position in time where service redesign can build community capacity to ensure that people are only admitted to hospital because they really need to be there and are then discharged speedily back to their own homes.”

Lothian Green MSP Alison Johnstone believes the government must step up its response to the problem of delayed discharges in the region’s hospitals.

New figures show the number of patients having to wait longer than four weeks to be discharged from hospitals in Lothian has more than doubled in a year. In July this year there were 83 such patients, compared to 39 in April and 37 in July last year.

Alison Johnstone initially raised the issue of delayed discharges with Health Secretary Alex Neil in parliament back in May.

Commenting on the latest figures, she said: “While I appreciate we won’t see a solution overnight it’s a real concern that these figures aren’t improving. I have raised the issue with the health secretary and I’m aware of some distressing and frustrating situations in Lothian region affecting elderly people and their families.

“The Scottish Government and local authorities must step up their action to ensure patients who are ready to be looked after out of hospital aren’t left waiting. We must ensure adequate care home places and care-at-home packages so that people are treated with respect and that our health service resources are being used to best effect.”

Living in Harmony group to decide next steps

North Edinburgh’s Living in Harmony Group is holding a food, music and action planning event at Royston Wardieburn Community Centre tomorrow (Friday) from 5 – 8.30pm.

The Living in Harmony project aims to work with local people to increase understanding and friendship between different ethnic and cultural groups. The group, which is supported by Pilton Community Health Project, also works to reduce barriers to accessing services which people from Black and Minority Ethnic backgrounds have said they sometimes experience.

They do this by supporting activities that bring the community together around food, music, treasure hunts, board games… you name it!

LIH also work strategically with partners in the area to make the most of existing resources.

The project is guided by a forum of local people and organisations which meets regularly – why not find out more at Friday’s event? All welcome!

Seagrove Centre Open Day

At North Edinburgh Dementia Care’s Seagrove Centre we provide fun and stimulating activities for our members and a wee break for their carers.

We aim to help people stay as well as they can for as long as they can which may help avoid the need for them to move into a care home.

We are having an open day to raise an awareness of the centre and to demonstrate the work we that we do with local people with dementia.

I would like to invite you along on Monday 8 September from 2 – 3pm to meet the staff and some of our members to have a chat and enjoy a tea/coffee and biscuits.

Janette McIntosh

Manager

NEDC Info

For further information visit www.nedc.org.uk

Read all about it: Edinburgh trio shortlisted for children’s book awards

Scottish Book Trust is delighted to announce today that Edinburgh-based authors Alexander McCall Smith, Gill Arbuthnot and William Sutcliffe have been shortlisted for this year’s Scottish Children’s Book Awards, celebrating the most popular children’s and young adult books by Scottish authors or illustrators.

Run by Scottish Book Trust with support from Creative Scotland, these are Scotland’s largest book awards, split into three age categories, with a total prize fund of £12,000.

Shortlisted authors and illustrators receive £500 per book, and the three winning books receive £3,000 each. Over the next five months, children across Scotland will be reading the three shortlisted books in their age category and voting for their favourite. The three winning books will be announced at a special award ceremony on 4 March 2015.

Internationally renowned best-selling novelist Alexander McCall Smith (pictured above) is shortlisted in the Younger Readers (8-11 yrs) category for Precious and the Mystery of the Missing Lion. Published by Birlinn, this is a delightful tale exploring how the young Precious Ramotswe became the loveable private investigator of the No. 1 Ladies’ Detective Agency series.

McCall Smith, one of the world’s most popular authors, lives in the Merchiston area of Edinburgh. After the success of No. 1 Ladies’ Detective Agency he wrote four more series including 44 Scotland Street novels and his most recent Corduroy Mansions series.

In total he has published 74 stories as well as a number of academic texts. Over 40 million copies of his books have been sold and he continues to produce an average of 4 – 5 books every year. He has received numerous awards for his writing, including the British Book Awards Author of the Year Award in 2004 and CBE for services to literature in 2007.

Commenting on his nomination, Alexander McCall Smith said: “I am delighted that this book has been shortlisted for this award. I very much admire what Scottish Book Trust does to promote reading among children – that is where a lifetime’s involvement with books can start.”

Gill Arbuthnot (above) is shortlisted in the Older Readers (12-16 yrs) category for her novel Dark Spell. Published by Kelpies and set in St Andrews, the book follows the adventures of teen witch Callie as she tries to come to terms with her powers and battles an unknown force.

Edinburgh born and bred, Gill Arbuthnot attended James Gillespie’s High School before leaving the city for St Andrews University. Here she studied Zoology and then completed teacher training. Despite having a career in science Arbuthnott never gave up her intention of writing, and when she witnessed the millennium clock in the museum of Scotland she was inspired to write The Chaos Clock for children. Now with a large back catalogue of published work including, Beneath, The Keepers Daughter and most recently Winterbringers, she lives in Edinburgh again, working as a writer and teacher.

Commenting on her nomination, Gill said: “I am thrilled to be shortlisted for the Scottish Children’s Book Awards. It’s a particular pleasure to be in the running for an award which is going to be decided by the children and young people at whom the books are aimed, and a great honour to have made it onto the shortlist, especially looking at the range of tremendous books which have won in previous years.”

William Sutcliffe is shortlisted in the Older Readers (12-16 yrs) for his novel The Wall. Published by Bloomsbury, it powerfully depicts the realities of life on the West Bank through the emotive coming-of-age story of thirteen-year-old Joshua.

London-born William Sutcliffe attended private boy’s school Haberdashers’ Aske’s in Hertfordshire. After leaving school he went on to study at Emmanuel College, Cambridge where he met his wife, novelist Maggie O’Farrell. He currently lives in Edinburgh.

William has published five novels prior to The Wall, including Are You Experienced?, New Boy, The Love Hexagon, Bad Influence and Whatever Makes You Happy. The Wall is his first children’s novel and has already received high acclaim, being longlisted for the Guardian Fiction Prize and shortlisted for the Carnegie Medal. William’s work has been translated into 20 different languages.

Commenting on his nomination, William said: “I am delighted to be shortlisted for the Scottish Children’s Book Awards. It is an exciting prospect to know that my book will be read widely in schools across Scotland, and discussed, and voted on. It is vital that children read, and talk to each other about what they read. It’s fantastic to have your work embraced into that process.”

THE SCOTTISH CHILDREN’S BOOK AWARDS SHORTLIST:

Bookbug Readers (3-7 years)

Princess Penelope and the Runaway Kitten by Alison Murray (Nosy Crow)
Robot Rumpus by Sean Taylor, illustrated by Ross Collins (Andersen Press)
Lost for Words by Natalie Russell (Macmillan)

Younger Readers (8-11 years)

Precious and the Mystery of the Missing Lion by Alexander McCall Smith (Birlinn)
Attack of the Giant Robot Chickens by Alex McCall (Kelpies)
Pyrate’s Boy by E.B. Colin (Kelpies)

Older Readers (12-16 years)

Dark Spell by Gill Arbuthnott (Kelpies)
The Wall by William Sutcliffe (Bloomsbury)
Mosi’s War by Cathy MacPhail (Bloomsbury)

Jasmine Fassl, Head of Schools at Scottish Book Trust said: “The Scottish Children’s Book Awards are much more than a celebration of Scottish literature – they are about expanding children’s horizons far beyond their physical boundaries and barriers.

“By simply reading just one of the shortlisted novels in their category, a 5 year old can imagine what it’s like to have rampaging robots as babysitters, a 10 year old can hop aboard a pirate ship, and a 15 year old can be transported into the mind of a teenager in a war zone.

“We hope that children, teachers, parents and librarians across Scotland will take this journey with us and get lost in these nine wonderful stories.”

Jenny Niven, Portfolio Manager for Literature at Creative Scotland, commented: “Literacy, and access to books for Scotland’s children and families is absolutely critical for our capacity to learn, to develop and to imagine. The work of Scottish Book Trust is fundamental in this.

“The next step beyond access is to provide the means for children and young people to develop an independent love of books and reading, and the Scottish Children’s Book Awards play an enormous role in making this possible.

“By voting for their own reading choices they are taking steps in their journeys as independent readers – steps which will have an impact on their education, their wellbeing and their imaginations far into the future. Creative Scotland is delighted to support this work, and is encouraged to see such a strong shortlist of Scottish books for our voters to choose from.”

The Scottish Children’s Book Awards also encourage budding authors or journalists to put pen to paper: the popular Book Review Competition offers pupils the chance to win book tokens for themselves and an author visit for their school.

Budding film makers can enter the book trailer competition to entice their peers to read the books too and win book tokens for their school. Scottish Book Trust provides extensive learning resources for teachers on how to create book trailers.

The Bookbug Primary 1 Family Pack is part of Bookbug, Scotland’s national book gifting programme, funded by the Scottish Government and run by Scottish Book Trust.

CALL Scotland has again worked with Scottish Book Trust and the authors and publishers to create accessible digital versions of the nine shortlisted books for children and young people with physical, visual and reading or dyslexic difficulties, who can’t read the paper books. The accessible digital versions of the shortlisted books are available free of charge from CALL Scotland. You can request books by going to http://www.callscotland.org.uk/Home/.

Pictures: Rob McDougall

Vote for FetLor – North Edinburgh’s Real Heroes!

FetLor Youth Club has been shortlisted for the ‘Best Community Project’ award as part of STV’s Scotland’s Real Heroes series.

If you missed the show last Friday you can see the 3 minute clip feature FetLor Youth Club here:

http://shows.stv.tv/real-heroes/nominees/285317-fet-lor/

A public vote will decide the winner of each category – you can vote for FetLor Youth Club by texting HERO 9 to 87654 or by entering on the STV website http://shows.stv.tv/real-heroes/voting/

FeLor’s Lindsay Coulton said: “We are so thrilled to be nominated for this national award and to win would recognition of all the hard work put in by staff and volunteers – and of course the fantastic kids who come to FetLor!”

The vote closes at 12 noon this Friday (29 August).

Every vote counts – help a North Edinburgh charity become a national winner!