Telford is first Scottish College to gain International Charter

Edinburgh’s Telford College has been recognised for its student-centred approach to international recruitment with a highly prestigious Further Education award. Telford is the first college in Scotland to be awarded the International Charter from the Association of Colleges (AoC), after passing an in-depth assessment of its international activity with flying colours.

The AoC awards the International Charter to colleges which are meeting their commitment to high standards in four key areas covering international strategy, planning, support for learners and an ethical and inclusive approach.

Miles Dibsdall, OBE, Principal of Edinburgh Telford College, said: “We are proud to have been the first college in Scotland to be recognised with this widely – acclaimed honour by the Association of Colleges. Achieving the International Charter is real testament to the staff at the college as well as to the students who continue to excel in their studies. Our philosophy is carried by all at the College and I believe this has what has really set us apart.”

He continued: “We have always had international achievement as part of our business development strategy, and aim to help every student achieve the most out of their international experiences based on their individual abilities, personal learning goals and career plans. Edinburgh’s Telford College has repeatedly assured a high quality of experience, and ensures the global agenda benefits both staff and students as well as the local communities served by the college.”

Fifteen members of staff and thirty learners were interviewed by the AoC during their visit in which they found that the college had demonstrated ways of celebrating and valuing equality and diversity.

The AoC International Charter recognises colleges which have made a commitment to taking an ethical approach to all areas of their international activity.

In their evaluation, AoC stated:  “Edinburgh’s Telford College has demonstrated ways of celebrating and valuing equality and diversity brought to the College through its student-centred approach to international recruitment which is focussed on students’ abilities, personal learning goals and career plans. This is an ethos throughout the College and is supported by the students through the students’ union.”

Edinburgh’sTelford College currently has around 17,000 students and 600 members of staff.

Spartans Summer Programme

Spartans Community Football Academy’s summer programme is packed with fun things to do, whatever the weather! There’s lots of football of course, but there are trips, residentials, mountain biking, go karting and loads of other events planned too.

The programme starts next Monday (9 July) and runs throughout the summer holidays.

For further information contact Spartans Community Programme Manager Kenny Cameron on 552 7854, email kennycameron@spartanscfa.com or visit the website at www.spartanscfa.com

 

New protection for tenants’ deposits comes into force

Housing Minister Keith Brown today confirmed that a compulsory scheme to safeguard rent deposits for households in Scotland has come into force. Deposits amount to more than £75 million in the majority of the 273,000 households that make up the private rented sector in Scotland.

The tenancy deposit scheme will be free for landlords and letting agents to participate in, and ensure that landlords can legitimately access deposits where justified.

Tenants will no longer have to take legal action to seek recovery of a wrongly withheld deposit. This will mean that tenants will have access to a free and independent dispute resolution service, where agreement over the return of a deposit cannot be agreed by the tenant and landlord.

SafeDeposits Scotland, Letting Protection Service Scotland and Mydeposits Scotland will take deposits from landlords or their agents for safekeeping and provide information about the tenancy, the deposit and the scheme to the tenant.

Landlords can submit deposits to schemes from July 2 voluntarily, if they wish. However, by law, they will need to submit deposits to an approved scheme from between November 2012 to May 2013, depending on when the tenancy started.

Keith Brown said: “The Scottish Government has estimated that between 8,000 and 11,000 tenants annually have £3.6 million of their deposits wrongly withheld. These new regulations are historic because they offer, for the first time, a fair, cost effective approach that safeguards tenancy deposits. It is important to stress that the majority of landlords behave responsibly. This legislation is aimed at tackling those who continue to tarnish the image of the private rented sector.”

Graeme Brown, Director of Shelter Scotland, said: “Monday 2 July starts the clock ticking towards the point when all tenants’ deposits will be protected by law in Scotland.  Shelter Scotland has been campaigning for this scheme for eight years now and we are delighted to see it becoming law. But it will only work properly if tenants are diligent and know their rights and landlords and agents embrace the scheme fully. Then and only then, will the unfair withholding of millions of pounds from deposits by landlords and agents be a thing of the past, as will the hardship it causes to tenants. Our hope is that the tenancy deposit scheme achieves a transparent and fair system for all.”

Robin Parker, President of NUS Scotland, said: “This is a great day for tenants and good for landlords. We’ve worked for many years to get better protection for tenants in private flats and houses, including of course the tens of thousands of students who live in the private rented sector. Too often we’ve heard of deposits being withheld or deducted unfairly by a few unscrupulous landlords, and the tenancy deposit schemes launched today should go a long way to putting an end to this.”

Marieke Dwarshuis, Director at Consumer Focus Scotland said: “Getting a deposit back has often been an uphill struggle for many tenants in the private rented sector and we have championed the need for better protections for years. “The new safe house for deposits and the independent dispute resolution service are great news for tenants and will ensure there is a fair, clear and efficient system in place for everybody concerned. “The key to success now is to ensure tenants and landlords are informed about the scheme and everyone clearly understands what their rights and responsibilities are.”

North Edinburgh Community Festival

We are delighted to announce the  launch of our

North Edinburgh Community  Festival 2012

 which will take place on

Saturday  29 September from 12 – 4pm.

The location, as with our previous  festivals, is Forthquarter  Park , situated behind  Edinburgh ’s Telford College. Over 5,000 people have  attended in past years, drawn from the different communities of North Edinburgh . Our aim is to provide a fun, free, family  day out for everyone to enjoy.

The Gala has enabled a wide range of  our local and community groups to raise awareness of their work as  well as gain publicity, attract volunteers, distribute information and highlight  any particular issues that they are involved in. Our event is a fantastic  opportunity to bring your work to the attention of the local community.

From the success of our previous  Festivals we have found that the best way to showcase your work is to have an  activity people can participate in. This could be directly related to what you  do or could be a bit of fun… something to make, to see or taste!

There  is no fee for organisations wanting to be part of our day, and any money raised  by you on the day will be yours to keep.

We are also holding a Festival Car Boot Sale in the car park of Edinburgh ’s Telford College from 10am until noon on the day of  the Festival. Cars have to be registered before the event and are subject to an  entrance fee of £5 per vehicle.

If you would like to have a stall at the  festival or take part in the car boot sale please complete and return the  attached proforma by 31 July. For further information please contact:

Jim Pattison
Partnership Development  Officer, Forth Neighbourhood  Partnership
North Edinburgh Local Office, 8 West Pilton Gardens, EH4  4DP.

Local office for rent

Do you know of any group that would be interested in  leasing community offices in  Pilton?
The former Community Employabilty office on Ferry Road Drive is  fully equipped and has a good sized meeting space. Rent is negotiable.
If you are interested you can get further information and note interest  by contacting: Linda at West Pilton Neighbourhood Centre on 551  3194.

D Mains visit SELEX – but no sign of Luke Skywalker!

Pupils from Davidson’s Main’s Primary in Edinburgh visited SELEX Galileo,a Finmeccanica Company, to receive a presentation on key capability, followed by a tour of the facility. The visit came about as the result of an Engineering presentation delivered to the school by Principal Systems Engineer Brian Paterson, following a request received by his son asking whether engineers could visit the school to describe the profession to the children.

Some of the children displayed an exceptional level of understanding of the cutting edge technology built at the site, asking pertinent questions about the tracking and scanning abilities of Radars and Lasers.  Thanks to Brian Paterson, Joe Brogan, Brian Liston and Bill Sinclair for hosting the visit.

Best question of the day: ‘Do you make any light sabres like the ones in Star Wars?’

SELEX Galileo

Call in and meet your community cops

Community police officers will be holding a drop-in session at Royston Wardieburn Community Centre on Thursday (5 July) from 7 – 8pm.

PC Sarah Hall of Drylaw’s Safer Neighbourhood Team explained: “Myself and Constable Tony Lawrence are holding regular Police Drop-In sessions at the new Royston/Wardieburn Community Centre. We hope this will be a chance for residents to informally meet their local community Police Officers and raise any questions or concerns they may have.”

Dates set after next Thursday are Thursday 2 August, Thursday 30 August, Thursday 27 September, Thursday 25 October and Thursday 22 November. All  sessions are from 7 – 8pm.

 

Park life gets Inverleith Summer Programme under way

A whole host of agencies have got together to organise and support Inverleith’s Youth and Children’s Summer Park Events, and the programme kicks off at Ravleston Park on Monday (2 July) from 1 – 3pm with a portable football pitch, games, music, sports activities and more.

Further park events are planned at Ravelston again (Monday 16 July,1 -3pm), King George V (Monday 30 July 1- 4pm) and Inverleith Park (Friday 10 August 1- 4pm).

For more information contact Anne Brown at Inverleith CLD at Broughton High School, telephone 332 6316 or email anne.brown@ea.edin.sch.uk or check out the website www.joininedinburgh.org/holidayprogramme

And the agencies who have made the Summer Programme possible? In no particular order: Edinburgh Leisure, Glenogle Swim Centre, Fet Lor Youth Centre, Scotmid Co-operative, Inverleith Neighbourhood Partnership, CLD Inverleith, Library2go, Drylaw Neighbourhood Centre, sportscotland active schools Edinburgh & Lothian and Borders Police.