Strachan House care home in Blackhall is full of fluffy mischief on the run up Easter period!
Residents at Strachan House were pleasantly surprised to see 5 duck eggs arrive on the 4th April just in time to see them hatch for Easter. Children and relatives all throughout the day watched with the residents together as they witnessed the tiny lives come into the world.
Mandy Head of Activities said: “Sharing moments like these together on an intergenerational level is so touching.
“Making and sharing memories young and old is something we cherish here at Strachan House”
General Manager Gordon Philp said: “Our residents have really enjoyed their unusual visitors at Strachan House. We knew that having the hatchlings here would be a bit of fun for all our residents, especially as some find it difficult to go on many outings in our minibus.
“We are always looking for new activities for the residents and over the Easter period we have seen the enjoyment and the therapeutic influence that the ducks have had on our residents. We can’t wait to see them grow.”
Resident Alex Laird was very excited and touched by watching the ducklings hatch: “As a child I used to love all the animals on the nearby farm.
“Easter has been so very enjoyable so far and it has been wonderful to be part of something special watching new little lives come into the world at Easter.”
Strachan House care home is run by Barchester Healthcare, one of the UK’s largest care providers, which is committed to delivering personalised care across its care home’s and hospitals.
Strachan House provides residential care, nursing care and dementia care for 83 residents from respite care to long term stays.
Celebrate Easter with Edinburgh Science Festival this weekend! Visit the Festival’s premier family extravaganza at City Arts Centre – featuring five floors of hand-on science workshops and activities for children between 3 and 12.
Families can explore the chemistry behind producing your own slime in Splat-tastic, delve into the world of motion in Speedy Sails, uncover the mysteries of dinosaurs which roamed the Earth millions of years ago in Dig Up a Dinosaur or perform a surgery using real-life equipment in E.R. Surgery.
PICTURES: Dorothy (4), James (1.5) and Kofi (1.5 ) getting eggsperimental with Imagination Playground, one of the City Art Centre activities.
Staff and residents at Barchester’s Strachan House care home in Blackhall got creative celebrating the birthday of one of the greatest post-impressionist artists of all time, Vincent Van Gogh, on 30 March.
Van Gogh was born in 1853 Groot-Zundert in the Netherlands and he created some of the most famous paintings in the world.
A prolific artist, Van Gogh’s work was notable for its beauty, emotion and colour. His paintings have been hugely influential since his death, however during his lifetime Van Gogh struggled with poor mental health, he was virtually unknown and remained poor. He completed more than 2,100 works consisting of 860 oil paintings and more than 1,300 watercolours, drawings and sketches.
Staff and residents spent the afternoon learning about Van Gogh’s life and his distinct style of painting, then tried their hand at recreating his famous sunflowers in a vase painting. Strachan House thought this was an important piece as Van Gogh himself called the piece “GRATITUDE”
Jimmy a resident at the local care home said “what an amazing day learning some facts I never knew about the artist. The art session in the afternoon was a time for me to be able to be expressive through attempting to recreate the famous sunflower picture”
General Manager, Gordon Philp said: “We have had a fascinating day finding out all about Van Gogh, he was such a talent and created some absolutely beautiful paintings.
“Many of our residents love to paint and they really enjoyed discussing their favourites amongst his works and trying to recreate his techniques.”
Marion Cooper, a resident, said: “We have had such a lovely day recreating one of his works. You don’t know how relaxing it is and I never thought I was much of an artist until today”
Our varied life enrichment programme keeps residents active, and provides a daily choice of engaging physical, mental and spiritual activities tailored to residents’ interests and abilities.
Strachan House is run by Barchester Healthcare, one of the UK’s largest care providers, which is committed to delivering high-quality care across its care homes and hospitals. Strachan House provides nursing care, residential care, respite care.
Edinburgh’s Easter event of the year starts early at family run, for family fun Conifox Adventure Park with an eggs-traordinary lineup of activities guaranteed to put the fun into the Spring festival.
From the 1st April meet the mischievous Easter Bunny, journey to Hoppity Hollow and visit the magical maze, hop to it in the Bouncy Burrow’s 14 inflatables or take part in the Easter-lympics. There’s a cracking programme for everyone, including a session for families with children with Additional Support Needs.
The entertainment at the park, at Kirkliston on the outskirts of Edinburgh, runs until 10th April with morning and afternoon sessions for the whole family – toddlers to adults. All tickets include access to the Adventure Park during the chosen session.
Attractions include:
The Magic Shed leading to Hoppity Hollow, home of the Easter Bunny. During an immersive adventure in the magical maze, seek out the portraits of famous rabbits all lost by the Easter Bunny. But beware of the Big Bad Wolf and give him the slip to find safety in the Spring Garden. Instead of a chocolate egg, there’s a cuddly rabbit soft toy for every child who completes the trail.
The Bouncy Burrow – challenge the grown-ups on the exciting bungee run or fly down the helter-skelter for some hare-raising family fun on a total of 14 inflatables.
The Baxter Bunny challenge – he’s been in training for the Easter-lympics and is taking on families in an Easter contest, so get on your marks!
Egg Foot Golf – the mischievous Easter Bunny has replaced all our footballs with eggs! Try to throw or kick them into the holes, but don’t expect this to be an easy task…
DJ Claire Kinnaird from Edge Radio keeping the music pumping and getting everyone involved in the festival fun.
Sessions for children with Additional Support Needs on Tuesday, 4th April between 1.30 and 5pm. There will be limited numbers, more muted music and additional staff to ensure an eggs-tra special experience for everyone.
Have fun in the Adventure Park during your session but make sure to look out for their special golden egg for a chance to win a large Cadbury’s Easter Egg
Jonathan Brown, Conifox Events Manager, says: “We’re all looking forward to some fantastic family fun with all our favourite Easter characters. Spring is in the air and this is a wonderful chance to make some special memories with friends and loved ones.
“We’re confident it will be Edinburgh’s best Easter event and can promise lots of eggs-hilarating activities – all puns intended!”
To find out more and to book tickets, visit Conifox Adventure Park at:
We have news of several events and a couple of requests.
Vote for us, join us in a community consultation and hear what is happening at the Heart.
First of all, please vote for us.
Edinburgh Community Climate Fund – Vote for the Heart
HONC has applied for funding from Edinburgh Community Climate Fund. Over 50 projects have been submitted and those with the most votes will be awarded grants until the fund of £100,000 is exhausted.
Voting is open to all Edinburgh residents over the age of eight, until 12th March.
The Heart’s proposal is the development of a teaching kitchen which will complement the partnership work we are already doing with Homestart in the development of a community garden within the curtilage of The Heart, and with Mwamba in our ‘pots of herbs’ project.
Other organisations and groups keen to work with us in developing and using the facility include Edinburgh Community Food, Leith Pantry and the Ukrainian community. We also have close links to Friends of Victoria Park and Victoria Allotments who would provide a seasonal input of fruit and vegetables to the kitchen for community use.
Please vote for the Heart.
Vote below or head to Leith Library (or any other Edinburgh Library) and they are ready to help.
Are you interested in local history and heritage? If so, we would encourage you to join Museums & Galleries Edinburgh (MGE) for a discussion of how they can best support heritage within the Newhaven community. The views of individuals and groups, old friends and new perspectives will all be welcomed. The event will be led by Diana Morton, Outreach and Access Manager at MGE.
The last community consultation took place in 2010 and in the intervening years, the Wee Museum at Victoria Primary School formed a focus for MGE’s support of local heritage. However the school community has moved to its new premises, some pillars of the community have passed away, new communities have moved to the area and new groups have been formed.
The consultation is to develop a coherent way forward for MGE to find a solution that meets the needs of the different communities and organisations in the area.
Please come along to find out more or contact Diana Morton, Outreach & Access Manager at diana.morton@edinburgh.gov.uk
The event will take place on 23 March, 6 -7.30pm at the new Victoria Primary School 1 Windrush Drive, Edinburgh EH6 4TN
New event at the Heart
Newhaven resident Gino’s bee journey began in 2014 when he took a beginner beekeeping course and got his first colony of honey bees to care for. He now holds a Beemaster qualification in practical beekeeping, is actively involved with the Scottish Beekeeping Community, keeps bees in Edinburgh, East & West Lothian, and is the recipient of several honey awards.
His three-part Thursday evening course will be a summary of all the important things you need to know about bees, beekeeping, products of the hive, plants, the environment etc…
It is aimed at people with no knowledge or experience, ideal for gardeners or people looking to learn something new or get into beekeeping. Gino’s very keen to persuade people away from thinking of honey as a cheap sweetener and to realise the rare and unique product that it is that captures the landscape in a jar.
We organised an evening event on February 23rd to welcome people into The Heart and give them the opportunity to connect with each other, to meet the people (artists and organisations) who are based in the building and to try their hand at creative activities. Teas and coffees were on offer and Mwamba provided ethnically diverse hot food which proved very popular.
The evening included a performance by the local Community Choir, taster sessions of Tai Chi and Qi Gong, felting and notebook making, visits to the pottery and violin workshops, as well as the Victorian Schoolroom and Victorian Homelife display. There was even a chance of a free massage and advice from Age Scotland and Ace-It.
Over 100 people attended, not counting the many volunteers helping in various ways, meaning that the demonstrators and tenants found themselves very busy all evening. Visitors loved the “friendly community feel” as well as “visiting each organisation and making connections.”
Here are just a few of the feedback comments we received:
“Watching book binding, seeing the Victorian school and meeting the Heart of Newhaven team!”
“Loved to see the print studio and the pottery.”
“The variety of events available.”
“Ceramics – so lovely and interesting! Ink on Mesh, violin repair specialist, felting, Victorian school. Was really great seeing all. Amazing evening!”
“We loved everything from the Victorian Schoolroom, to the Art, the lovely spaces and friendly members. Food was great.”
“EVERYTHING, BRAVO! Wonderful combination of art, craft, music, history and community initiatives. Also a very welcoming space.”
HONC’s Board is looking for a volunteer with secretarial skills to take on minute-taking for board meetings, etc.
There are also still opportunities to volunteer in various capacities, as well as a couple of places on the Board to fill, in particular for those with legal, financial, marketing or HR experience.
Finally, welcome to the Leith Folk Club, (LFC) which held the first of its revitalised events at the Heart last month.
To kick things off in their new guise and in a new venue, they held a fundraiser in the old gym hall with music and merry-making for what turned out to be a packed audience.
A spokesperson for LFC said “The money raised will enable us to recover from the last three years and will be used to get us back to doing what we do best – presenting regular gigs featuring the best Scottish and international folk and world music in the Heart of Newhaven, just down the road from our previous venue.
“None of the musicians got paid for their services and the venue was staffed by LFC committee and HoN volunteers. The night was an unqualified success and a collaborative effort, with the door-take shared equally between both organisations.”
To keep up to date with all that is happening go to Heart of Newhaven and hopefully we will see you at the Heart soon.
On Saturday 18th Feb we are gonna be EVEN MORE Family Fun than usual!
We will have BOOKBUG, with a visit from the Bug of the Book themselves, a SLIME WORKSHOP, you can make your own BADGE, there will be LIVE MUSIC, a CRAFT event, INFO POINTS from several local organizations, plus TEA & BISCUITS!!!
Whether you’re looking for the perfect gift for that someone special, or you’re planning the ultimate date night, St James Quarter is your go to destination.
From heavenly scents at H Beauty, champagne truffles from Hotel Chocolat, jewellery to treasure at Beaverbrooks, premium beauty at Rituals and Aesop, luxury leather goods at Coach and Kate Spade, stylish homewares at John Lewis and new season fashions at Boss and Zara – there’s plenty of gift ideas that are sure to put you in your Valentine’s good books!
If it’s a memorable date night you’re after, you’ll be spoilt for choice with an array of enticing eating and drinking destinations. There are creative cocktails in The Alchemist, authentic Mediterranean sharing platters at The Real Greek and mouth-watering burgers at Gordon Ramsay’s Street Burger.
For the early birds out there, EL&N are pulling out all the stops, providing the ideal date day with Insta-worthy shimmering mocktails and ruby pink hot chocolates, perfect for Cupid himself, alongside delicious cakes coated in lashings of heavenly buttered cream.
Guests looking to celebrate in style can visit Everyman Cinema to enjoy a first-class movie going experience and cosy up on a comfortable love seat. Those wanting to indulge in a little luxury can visit acclaimed restaurant Duck & Waffle to enjoy a specially curated Valentine’s Day set menu with champagne on arrival, snacks for the table, a choice of specially created dishes and delightful pink truffles to finish.
As part of St James Quarter’s Valentine’s celebrations, from Thursday, 9th February, guests are invited to visit the ‘Crazy in Love’ booth on Level 2, outside John Lewis, to record a video reciting the craziest thing they did for love to be in with a chance of winning an incredible date night experience at St James Quarter; to be enjoyed with your Valentine, Galentine, best buddy or favourite family member – the choice is yours!
On 11th and 14th February, St James Quarter will be sharing its own tokens of affection with guests by giving away a limited number of beautiful fresh red roses to celebrate Valentine’s Day. Those who are lucky enough to get their hands on one of these beautiful blooms will also be in with a chance to win a £50 gift card through an exclusive prize draw, redeemable at The Quarter.
Are you #CrazyInLove #LoveAroundTheQuarter
Nick Peel, Managing Director at St James Quarter, said: “Love is truly around The Quarter this Spring. Whether you’re looking to treat yourself or your significant other this Valentine’s Day, St James Quarter is the go to destination for that perfect gift or date night with a difference.
“We are looking forward to hearing all the crazy in love stories and are inviting guests to vote for the winner via our YouTube channel.”
Valentine’s day activities and retailer events will be taking place at St James Quarter from 9th – 14th February.
Come join us for wassailing at Granton Castle Walled Garden on the 19th February from 2 – 4pm. There will be activities, songs and refreshments all inspired by the wonderful apple trees.
Wassailing is an anglo-saxon tradition where the fruit trees are blessed with offerings of song, food and drink to encourage them to provide a bountiful harvest.
We will gather together and give the trees of our orchard a much needed cheer and scare away all of the bad spirits! Bring along some friends and family, and perhaps make yourself a lovely apple themed crown to wear.
Cash donations are appreciated but not required, if you have any questions please ask!
Blackhall Library Easter School Holiday Programme
