The Granton Improvement Society has a vision to regenerate the area, aiming to provide employment, training, education and leisure activities. They are holding their AGM on 30th April when they will be electing Trustees and sharing the latest information. Why not go along?
6pm Wednesday 30th April
Royston Wardieburn Community Centre
Pilton Drive North
contact: info@grantonimprovementsociety.org
A 38-year-old man has been charged with firearms offences following a police operation in Stockbridge.
Two controlled explosions were carried out on Wednesday night and a further one on Thursday morning. Officers searched a property in Jamaica Mews in The New Town area and recovered a number of items.
Residents were evacuated as a precaution while the search was taking place, but police said there was never any danger to the public.
The Spartans Community Football Academy made an ”eggstra’ special effort to ensure that no local kids go without an egg this Easter – and the result of their community appeal was more than 300 Easter eggs!
The Academy distributed the donated Easter Eggs to a number of community groups and organisations across North Edinburgh yesterday, and they would like to thank everyone who supported the appeal.
Cracking result!
(NOTE TO SELF: make that the last of the Easter yolks jokes)
PEOPLE across Scotland are being offered a final reminder to plan ahead as part of this year’s Be Ready for Easter campaign.
With coughs and colds still common during Easter, NHS Scotland wants Scots to take a few simple steps to look after their health this month.
By knowing when their GP surgery is open, re-stocking their medicine cabinet and making sure they order any repeat prescriptions they need for themselves and those they look after ahead of Easter, people can ensure they make the most of the holiday weekend.
NHS 24 Medical Director Professor George Crooks, said: “With many GP surgeries across Scotland closed for up to four days over the Easter holiday weekend, it’s vital to plan ahead and ensure you and your family stay well this spring.
“We are advising people to keep remedies for common ailments available, to make sure they have enough medication to see them through the holidays and to know when they can get an appointment at their GP surgery.”
The four key steps that Be Ready for Easter recommends this spring are:
Restock your medicine cabinet if needed
Common ailments such as colds can often be effectively treated at home with readily available medicine such as pain relief, cough mixture and cold remedies. Parents are also reminded to restock their medicine cabinet with child-friendly remedies.
Use your local pharmacy
Your pharmacist can offer advice or help if you need over-the-counter remedies or have run out of any prescribed medication. First aid treatments for minor accidents such as plasters and antiseptic creams can also be obtained from the pharmacy.
Make sure you have enough repeat prescription
If you or someone you care for requires medicines regularly, make sure you order and collect repeat prescriptions in good time to ensure you have enough medicine to last over the holiday period.
Know when your GP surgery will be open
Your local doctor’s surgery may be closed for four days during the Easter weekend, from 18th April to 21st April.
General advice and information on how to stay healthy this Easter can be found at www.nhsinform.co.uk or contact NHS inform on 0800 22 44 88.
Brighter outlook for job seekers as unemployment falls again
There have been more indications that economic recovery is gathering pace with the publication of the latest figures by the Office of National Statistics yesterday.
Unemployment has dropped below 7% for the first time since the recession and employment has seen the biggest annual jump in a generation, the latest figures show.
Unemployment fell by 77,000 in the last 3 months, taking the unemployment rate to 6.9% for the first time since 2009.
In the largest annual rise in nearly 25 years, the number of people of people in a job rose by 691,000 – more than double the population of Newcastle – bringing the record number of people in work to 30.39 million.
Wages also rose on the year by 1.7%, against yesterday’s announcement that March’s inflation had dropped to 1.6%, and job vacancies rose again, up 108,000 over the past year bringing the number of vacancies in the UK economy to 611,000.
Minister for Employment Esther McVey said: “More young people are in work, more women are in work, wages are going up, and more and more businesses are hiring – and it’s a credit to them that Britain is working again.
“But there is still more to do – which is why I’d go even further and call on more employers to work with us to tap into the talent pool the UK offers.”
In Scotland, employment levels are at their highest since records began with 2,575,000 people over 16 now employed. The employment level is now 13,000 above its pre-recession peak of 2,562,000 in 2008.
National Statistics also published yesterday by the Scottish Government showed Gross Domestic Product (GDP) grew by 0.2 per cent over the fourth quarter of 2013 and increased by 1.6 per cent during 2013, the fastest annual growth since 2007.
The highest employment level record has been met by an increase in employment of 68,000 over the year, driven by an increase of 46,000 in the female employment level. The female rate of employment in Scotland is now 1.8 percentage points above the UK.
Scotland has again outperformed the UK across all headline labour market indicators, with a lower unemployment rate, higher employment rate and lower economic inactivity rate: details not missed by First Minister Alex Salmond.
Although the Scottish unemployment rate increased by 0.1 percentage points over the quarter, over the year it fell by 0.8 percentage points and now stands at 6.5 per cent compared to 6.9 per cent in the UK as a whole.
For the 17th consecutive month the claimant count decreased in Scotland with the number of people claiming Jobseekers Allowance falling by 2,400 over the month to March.
Welcoming the latest labour market figures, First Minister Alex Salmond said: “Today’s historic jobs figures show the Scottish Government’s policy of investing in infrastructure to boost the economy is making significant progress with employment levels at a record high. To put it in perspective, there are 285,000 more people in employment today than there were when the Scottish Parliament was established in 1999.
“Scotland is outperforming the UK across employment, unemployment and inactivity rates which goes to show even with the limited powers over the economy at our disposal we are improving our country’s economic health.
“Everyone aged between 16 and 19 is guaranteed an offer of a place in training or education through Opportunities for All and just this week we revealed we will create thousands of additional Modern Apprenticeship places, bringing our total target for MA’s to 30,000 every year by 2020 – double the level we inherited in 2007.
“This commitment to equipping our young people with the skills that they need will be further strengthened with the appointment of Angela Constance as Cabinet Secretary for Training, Youth and Female Employment.”
Craigroyston Community High School’s new term kicks off on 22 April and with activities ranging from learning to play the pennywhistle to pottery or genealogy there’s something for everyone!
See below for further information – it’s never too late to learn new skills!
mmmm
The long-running saga of the Groathill Road North roundabout is over. Contractors MW Groundworks laid the last turf and put the finishing touches to the roundabout earlier this week.
“It’s good news”, said Alex Dale, chair of Drylaw Telford Community Council. “We were delighted when the city council agreed to ‘re-adopt’ the roundabout and it’s good to see the work now completed. I think the landscaping team have done a fine job and the roundabout’s looking really great.”
Community councillors spent have spent many hours discussing the controversial roundabout upgrade over the last two years, so Alex is pleased that there’s a happy ending at last.
“It will be a relief to drop the roundabout from community council agendas – it’s been a regular discussion item for such a long time and it will be good to cross it off the list and move on to new issues.”
Inverleith House is hosting an Open Weekend on Saturday 10 and Sunday 11 May from 10am to 5pm.
Events include talks by exhibition staff, performance, live music and special offers on limited edition exhibition catalogues and posters.
Events are free but booking is essential, so to reserve your place email
ihouse@rbge.ac.uk
The Royal Botanic Garden Edinburgh (RBGE) will mark the centenary of the start of the First World War by creating a poppy field at the centre of its Edinburgh site. The display will commemorate the employees who went to war, many of whom lost their lives, and will also remember others who were, or still are, affected by war.
RBGE’s Regius Keeper Simon Milne MBE said: “Plant symbolism is
an important part of cultures across the globe, particularly through representing emotions and spirituality. It is therefore fitting that at the Royal Botanic Garden Edinburgh, the heart of Scotland’s plant heritage, we mark the anniversary of the start of World War One with a poppy field. I hope that the flowers will encourage people to reflect on the 16 million people who lost their lives and the impact that the war had on the lives of everyone.”
The poppy field, located on the Garden’s prominently-positioned Glasshouse Lawn, will be sown in May using the common poppy Papaver rhoeas, an iconic symbol of remembrance and used to commemorate the Great War since 1921. This large, four-petalled, scarlet flower can lie dormant for many years before germination which is often triggered when the soil is disturbed.
During the First World War, battlefields that were blasted and bombed created ideal conditions for it to flourish. The sight of poppies, appearing to heal the torn earth, inspired Canadian Lieutenant Colonel John McCrae to write the memorable war poem ‘In Flanders Fields’.
RBGE’s horticultural team is planning for swathes of poppies to emerge in late July to mark the centenary.
David Knott, Curator of the Living Collection, explained: “We did trials with the poppy in our nursery last year in order to try and get the timing of flowering just right to coincide with the start of the commemorations.
Once the poppies are planted, we are pretty much in the hands of the weather as to the result but we all hoping our efforts will make a fitting and timely tribute.”
At the time of the Great War, the Garden had 110 staff and of the 88 men, 73 joined the forces and 20 lost their lives in action.
Police are seeking help to find a group of young men following a racist attack on a driver in Trinity on Friday. The assault, which happened at 5.10pm in Cargil Terrace, left the 38-year-old victim with a serious facial injury.
The victim, who is originally from Zimbabwe, was first abused by the group, who were in another vehicle, and then attacked. The men are all described as being white, late teens to mid 20s and wearing jeans and casual clothing.
Police said the man had been driving his car on Granton Road when the men began shouting racist remarks from the other vehicle.
Both vehicles then travelled in the same direction into Cargil Terrace, where the altercation ended with the victim being assaulted in the street.
Det Sgt Mike Leask said: “The victim was first subjected to verbal abuse before being attacked and sustaining serious facial injuries.
“I would like to thank the witnesses that have assisted police with our inquiries and would urge any additional members of the public who witnessed the assault to contact police immediately and help us trace those responsible. In addition, anyone with any further information relevant to this investigation is also asked to get in touch.”
