A green first for Telford

 

With a growing acceptance that green technology is the way forward – and every indication that the job market in renewable energy sector will grow over the coming years – Edinburgh’s Telford College produced another first with the launch of the country’s first dedicated renewable energy training centre last week.

Edinburgh’s Renewable Energy Innovation Centre (EREIC) will offer extensive training and skills development for workers employed in the renewable and construction industries. The centre will provide training in micro-renewable energy sources and complements the more traditional courses offered to students such as heritage, roofing and brickwork.

Telford’s head of employer services Myra Dickson explained: “The new centre will help to ensure that Scotland has workers skilled for modern and environmentally friendly projects, thereby meeting the needs of employers and industry, both now and in the future. It also allows Edinburgh’s Telford College to demonstrate its determination to evolve to ensure it is delivering courses that provide opportunities for our new and current generations of employees.”

College Principal Miles Dibsdall OBE added: “The renewable energy centre ideally illustrates the focus we have made to provide the best possible employment and training opportunities.”

Dads Rock

This week is the six month anniversary of Dads Rock playgroup, and we thought it was time to reflect on how far we have come, and how much support we have had from so many in such a short space of time.

Thanks to the support we have received, we have been more successful that we could have hoped.

David Marshall & Thomas Lynch, founders of Dads Rock are delighted with how their project has developed.

We have now had over 50 Dads come along to our group and with average weekly numbers of 18 Dads and kids it shows that there is a great need for our group in Edinburgh.  We have a real mix of Dads coming from all parts of Edinburgh, we have local Dads from across the street as well as Dads who have driven from outside the city, even as far as Galasheils.

We now have a core group who attend on a regular basis and some good relationships have been developed.  It is great to see Dads coming together talking about what it means to be a Dad and playing with their kids.

We have over 330 people/organisations following us on Twitter, and our Facebook page has reached over 930 people in one day.  Our Polish publicity has paid off with on average 50% of attendees being of Polish origin.  We have had interest from a variety of sources including other like minded groups local and national press, MSPs and our MP.

We are proud to have started in Sighthill in Edinburgh and are developing plans to expand the service to allow more areas to benefit from the Dads Rock Experience. Thanks again to all the Dads who’ve come along, the kids for the fun they’ve had.

For more information visit the Dads Rock Facebook page here: Dads Rock Facebook Page

David Marshall & Thomas Lynch (founders of Dads Rock)

Hibs legend takes up Civil role

Local football side Civil Service Strollers have appointed a new management team which includes Hibs legend Mickey Weir. The hot seat at Civil became vacant last month when Garry Aitchison resigned whilst the club were sitting in the top three of the East of Scotland Premier Division.

Hbs legend Mickey Weir takes up the Assistant Managers job at Civil Service Strollers.

Earlier this month Civil Service appointed Chick McAleavy as their new manager and he will be assisted by Weir.

Cardinal tells faithful: wear your cross with pride

Cardinal Keith O’Brien will call for Christians to identify with the cross and make it more prominent in their lives when he preaches his Easter Sunday Homily in St Mary’s Cathedral today.

The Cardinal, the leader of Scotland’s Catholics, will say that the cross should be an important part of people’s lives and that every Christian should “wear proudly a symbol of the cross of Christ on their garments each and every day of their lives”.

Speaking earlier, Cardinal O’Brien said: “Easter provides the ideal time to remind ourselves of the centrality of the cross in our Christian faith.”

Friends reunite for Craigroyston farewell

Craigroyston Primary School teacher Barbara Wilson retired last week after a teaching career in North Edinburgh that spanned 39 years! Barbara taught at Silverknowes for 29 years before moving on to the new Craigroyston when it opened in 2003.

Craigroyston Primary School held a special assembly to thank and say goodbye to the popular teacher before breaking up for the Easter holidays.

Barbara was joined on her special day by friend and former colleague Moira Moyes, who retired from Craigroyston just eight weeks ago.  Barbara and Moira became friends when they studied to become teachers, graduating in 1973. Barbara went on to teach at Silverknowes while Moira taught at nearby Muirhouse, but the friends were reunited when the schools merged to form the new Craigroyston in 2003.

Over all those years Barbara and Moira taught and nurtured hundreds of local schoolchildren, although Barbara did point out that Moira did take off a couple of years to have a family so she’s still basically a novice!

Barbara (left) and Moira are pictured with Craigroyston pupils who helped to make the assembly extra special.

Another chapter for literature course

 

You may remember we gave details of the ‘Introduction to Modern Scottish Literature’ course running at The Prentice Centre earlier this year? Well, the free course proved so popular that they’re running it again!

Supported by The Prentice Centre and WEA Scotland, the new course starts on Monday 30 April from 2.30 – 4.30pm and runs for eight to ten weeks. Activities include readings, visits and discussions and once again the course tutor is Derek Suttie.

Interested? To find out more or to book your place on the free course contact The Prentice Centre on 552 0485 or WEA on 225 2580.

Introduction to Modern Scottish Literature – so good they ran it twice!

 

 

Ian is Drylaw’s Citizen of the Year

Ian Moore has been chosen as Drylaw’s Citizen of the Year. Drylaw Telford Community Council members met earlier this week to decide the recipient of the annual Thomas Tierney Award for Good Citizenship, and Ian was the popular winner.

“There was a bit of a delay in making our choice for 2011 because of some other pressing local issues, but we got there in the end! Ian is a well-known figure in the area and we’re sure he will be a very popular choice”, said Mike Clark, Drylaw Telford CC chair.

Ian will receive his award at a reception in Drylaw Neighbourhood Centre on 25 April at 7:30pm. All welcome

 

Local parents plan grassroots gala

It may look quiet just now, but a group of local parents want to see West Pilton Park packed with families having fun this August as they plan a community gala. 

The group first met only last month but plans to resurrect the community fun day are already well advanced.

Sean Gardiner, a parent involved in the steering group, explained: “The idea really just came out of the blue. We were talking about how other areas – Davidsons Mains for example – have very successful fun days and galas and we thought: why don’t we have one? At first we were thinking about West Pilton alone but, when people talked about the great Muirhouse Festivals and more people came on board, we thought we would extend it to Muirhouse too. We’ve come up with lots of ideas for the day and we’ve been really pleased with the number of organisations, businesses and individuals who have signed up to be part of the day itself. The response has been brilliant”.

The group plans to combine the family fun element with information stalls too.

“There are an awful lot of organisations in the area doing great work, but some residents don’t even know they’re here. We’ll set up tents and stalls on gala day to give organisations the chance to publicize what they do, and we plan to introduce a ticketing system for the bouncy castles and things like that. If we set that up in the information area that would mean that families will get a see the information stalls before they go on to the fun activities for the kids. We think that combination of information and fun will work well – it should be a great day”.

West Pilton Neighbourhood Centre Community Learning and Development worker Alan Addison is supporting the group – not that they need much support!

“This is a really enthusiastic group and I think what they have in just a few short weeks is pretty incredible. They’re not setting up in competition with anyone else, this is just a grass-roots community idea that’s come from local parents who are now taking on the responsibility for organising the event themselves. It’s a lot of work but their commitment and energy is incredible”, he said.

The community fun day will take place on Sunday 26 August in West Pilton Park. We’ll keep you up to date as plans progress.