World Cafe returns with a double helping!

The World Cafe is back! Black Community Development Project’s monthly dining event at North Edinburgh Arts was hugely popular, offering local people the opportunity to meet informally and taste foods from all over the globe. The Cafe was one of the victims of CORE’s recent closure, but the transition group subsequently established has decided to resurrect the global dining experience – and they’re kicking off with a double helping, with TWO World Cafes this month!

The Transition Group is keen to hear the views and gather the opinions of North Edinburgh’s BME residents and promise an afternoon of ‘workshops, food and entertainment’ for participants at the two World Cafe events.

The first World Cafe will tak place at North Edinburgh Arts Centre on Friday 16 November from 3 – 7pm, and this will be followed by a second World Cafe at a new venue on a new day – Saturday 24 November sees the first World Cafe at Royston Wardieburn Community Centre from 3 – 7pm!

Booking is essential, so to book or for further informaiton please contact:

Adil Ibrahim on 07533 790 126 or email adilabuelseed@hotmail.com or Deborah Clark at ELREC, dclark@elrec.org.uk

TG Event Flyer 6th Nov 2012-FINAL

Muirhouse free family film nights

North Edinburgh Arts has teamed up with Link Up and Muirhouse Library to produce a top billing of free family and adult cinema this month. The programme got under way last weekend but there’s lots more to come for all the family in November.

On Tuesdays and Wednesdays at 6pm this month, adults can enjoy:

Tuesday 13 Nov – Carlito’s Way

Wednesday 14 Nov – Departed

Tuesday 20 Nov – Bladerunner

Wednesday 21 Nov – Avatar.

The family cinema programme – screenings at 1pm:

Saturday 10 November – Muppets

Saturday 17 November – Brave

Saturday 24 November – Shrek

Free films for all the family! What are you waiting for?

For further information call North Edinburgh Arts on 315 2151 or visit www.northedinburgharts.co.uk

 

Warm welcome for Muirhouse photo exhibition

Borga Prada Garcia’s eagerly-awaited photographic exhibition opened at North Edinburgh Arts Centre on Tuesday. Friends, colleagues, local residents and at least one of Borja’s photographic subjects came out in strength to support the ‘Welcome to Muirhouse’ event.

Borga spent the best part of a year photographing people and buildings in Muirhouse and Pennywell while studying at Telford College, and the ‘Welcome to Muirhouse’ photo-essay for his Photography HND achieved top marks.

The project became a labour of love, and Borja’s affection for the people he met during his time in the area shines through the images on display at North Edinburgh Arts. It’s taken a lot of work over the last few months to get the exhibition open, but Borja is delighted that his work is on view in Muirhouse.

“I am so pleased that the exhibiiton is here in North Edinburgh Arts Centre. I wanted my pictures to go on display in Muirhouse before they go anywhere else and for local people to see them first – it was important to me”, he said.

Borja wanted to portray Muirhouse in a positive light, and his work achieves that. “I was aware of the very negative image of Muirhouse, but I found it a fascinating place with many warm and welcoming people who I now call friends. It’s too easy to just make assumptions about people and places: I hope I show the real Muirhouse – the place and the people who live here – in my images.”

Borja decided not to make a formal speech to open the exhibition. “I am still working on my English language and I would prefer the occasion to be informal and friendly. I thank everyone for coming, of course, but yes, I will let the photographs tell the story themselves.”

Welcome to Muirhouse can be seen at North Edinburgh Arts on Tuesday – Friday from 10am – 8pm and from 10am – 1pm on Saturday. Until 30 November.

Letter: Word of praise for recycling service

Dear Editor,

With all due respect to  Mr Pickering’s  laudable concern for the impact on working conditions of privatisation, may I venture a word of praise for  the recycling service implemented by the   Council, now augmented by the long overdue and very welcome provision of  food recycling?

Surely a very positive outcome of fortnightly collections could be a heightened effort on the part of all responsible citizens to reduce the bulk  of their refuse.  While I concede that it is comparatively easy for  me to reduce the bulk of my refuse given that  my family have grown up and left home , nevertheless I take pride in the fact that with determination and commitment to caring for our environment, I now  find it possible, given the comprehensive provision  of recycling services, to put out  my green bin – containing at most two black bags of refuse –  only once  every second month.

As citizens we  cannot with impunity continue piling mountain upon mountain of stinking refuse into landfill.  It distresses me to witness householders  loading  up their green bins with    recyclable material when the Council is providing such  detailed support in terms of recycling bins and literature, and when there are recycling points within walking distance of all able-bodied inhabitants of North Edinburgh.

Joyce Gunn Cairns, West Pilton

SAHELIYA – a friend indeed

BME womens group Saheliya celebrate their twentieth birthday later this month. Saheliya is a Sanskrit word meaning ‘women friends’, and the project has been a true friend to many hundreds of women since it was established in July 1992. 

Manager Alison Davis explains that, although some issues being encountered are changing, the need for the support service remains as great as it ever did:

“Since 1992 Saheliya has been providing support to BME women in Edinburgh who have mental well-being issues – mainly women who are not accessing mainstream services. During these twenty years the profile of our service users has changed: now our average service user has moderate to severe rather than mild to moderate mental well-being problems. Their problems relate mainly to experiences such as racism, Islamaphobia, honour violence, in-law abuse, forced marriage, female genital mutilation (FGM), trafficking, torture and other organised violence. Compared to only 1% five years ago, presently 38% of our service users are from refugee communities. For eighteen years, we had only one case of FGM; we now have FGM survivors on waiting lists for our services.

“We provide a wide range of learning activities to sustain recovery and to maximize social and economic integration; this includes accredited childcare training with the potential of work experience placements in our childcare service.

“Through our therapeutic and case work support and because of our organisational focus, we are able to identify changes in the local demographic profile and in needs for specialist services that are not easily identified by mainstream agencies or generally acknowledged by BME community organisations. Our organisational statistics and our specially devised database and monitoring and evaluation systems enable us to map mental health support needs, prevalence of harmful cultural practices, and effective support packages. Saheliya is an important resource for mainstream policy makers and service providers in planning responses to population changes and for service delivery.

“We believe that our wrap-around services, move-on opportunities, and collection of statistics makes us an important organisation for Edinburgh and for Scotland as a whole if we are to ensure inclusive services and achieve integration.”

The organisation is holding a

20th Anniversary Celebration Stakeholders Event

on Thursday 15 November from 9.30am to 1.30pm

an opportunity to meet staff, learn about Saheliya’s work and participate in workshops. 

For further information about the anniversary event, or about Saheliya’s range of services, telephone 556 9302 or email info@saheliya.co.uk

Working it Out with Tomorrow’s People

A free training programme in Muirhouse is looking for new participants.

If you are aged 16 – 24, unemployed, not in education or training and keen to learn new skills, meet new people and gain new experiences then please get in touch.

The Working It Out programme runs for 16 weeks and offers a range of activities and challenges that allow you to develop personal skills, volunteer in your own community, improve your job prospects and offer information and access to further education and training. Participants are supported throughout the programme and for up to 12 months after and all expenses are paid for the duration of the 16 week course.

Working it Out is run by Tomorrow’s People, based in North Edinburgh Arts Centre. If you are interested in making a positive change in your life, increasing your skills to help you get a job, or interested in getting back into education, then please contact Andrew or Heather on 07989669019 or e-mail aaldous@tomorrows-people.co.uk

Fireworks night passes off peacefully

Bonfire, Wester Drylaw Place

It’s the busiest time of year for the emergency services, but last night’s 5 November celebrations passed off relatively peacefully in Edinburgh and the Lothians.

Lothian and Borders Fire and Rescue Service received around 400 calls over 24 hours, a figure slightly down on previous years. Crews attended 140 bonfires across the force area and extinguished 78 of these.

Sadly, police had to come to the rescue of firefighters who came under attack while carrying out their duties at two separate incidents.

Bonfire, Muirhouse Green

 

 

Local author to launch debut crime novel

Local author Marianne Wheelaghan (pictured above) is launching her debut crime novel, Food of Ghosts, on Thursday. Marianne, who also runs a successful B&B, was a volunteer helper at a NENgage social media session in Stockbridge Library last month, and she’s delighted to share her latest news with NEN readers:
“I’m launching my debut crime novel, Food of Ghosts, on 8 November at Blackwell’s Bookshop, South Bridge (6.30pm). The event is FREE but ticketed, the tickets are available from the front desk. What will happen on the 8th: there will be a strong Pacific theme and I’ll say why I set my first thriller on a small coral atoll as far away as you can get from Scotland before coming back again!
“There will be bubbly and the opportunity to ask questions – as well as the chance to win a signed copy of the book. Food of Ghosts is my second novel, the first being the best-selling novel, The Blue Suitcase, which is based on my mother’s true-life story and tells the remarkable story of a teenage girl growing up in Nazi Germany.”
A tempting appetizer!