Please join us at our AGM tomorrow (Tuesday, 23rd August) at 12pm.
Are you interested in becoming more active in your local community and shaping the future of your Neighbourhood Centre? We are looking for local people to join our Management Committee as a Charity Trustee.
In order to be elected on to our Management Committee you must be a member of the Drylaw Telford Community Association – membership is free.
Membership forms will be available at the AGM or drop in to the centre prior to the meeting.
First of all, we hope you enjoyed the Picnic in the Park on Sunday 19th June in collaboration with the Friends of Victoria Park and the Victoria Park Allotment Holders. There seemed to be hundreds of people there, all having a great time. We hope you caught up with some old friends and made some new ones.
Next in the calendar will be our second Annual General Meeting. This will be held on Saturday 2nd July and members will be receiving their own invitation to attend in person this year, now that Covid restrictions have been relaxed. There will be more details in the members’ invitations.
If you think you are already a member, but have not received the AGM invitation by email in the last few days, please do get in touch with us to check your membership status by emailing admin@heartofnewhaven.co.uk .
Just a reminder that receiving this newsletter does not necessarily mean that you are a member. You might just have signed up to receive the newsletter but not joined as a member.
Check out our website for membership conditions, which are purely geographical. If you live in our area of benefit (there’s a map on the website) then you can become a full member with voting rights.
If you live outside the area then you can still become an associate member but will not be able to vote at the AGM.
Joining is free. If you haven’t joined and wish to, then you can find the form under JOIN on the website.
The Trustees look forward to meeting members in person, many of them for the first time, and discussing our exciting plans for the future.
We would also like to use this newsletter to introduce you to a new member of our team. Bryan McCarthy joins us as our new Volunteer Coordinator.
One of our trustees, Christine McDerment has been on the other end of the volunteering email address up until now, but Bryan has stepped up and answered the call for some help.
Bryan is originally from Cork, Ireland, but moved to Edinburgh five years ago and has been living in Leith while working in criminal justice with Edinburgh City Council. “I have always enjoyed volunteering in my spare time and am excited to put my energy into coordinating the volunteering activities of Heart of Newhaven,” he says.
Now, a reminder: we are looking for volunteers to get involved in reminiscence training.
Sharing family stories is therapeutic and instructive, not to mention enjoyable. If you’re interested in helping to record people’s stories and memories, to then share with the community, then please get in touch. We have secured funding for this, so the training would be free for the participants.
Contact: judy.crabb@heartofnewhaven.co.uk
or Christine.mcderment@heartofnewhaven.co.uk
Remember to check the website regularly for blogs.
The month of May saw a visit to the Scottish Fisheries Museum in Anstruther, with whom we hope to collaborate on exhibitions and events in the future. As well as their regular collection they also offer temporary exhibitions and the current one runs until 19th June.
You can find the blogs, including Culture & Heritage and View From The Chair, under BLOGS on the website.
We have our AGM/Graduation at Fetlor Youth Club today and it would be great if some of our local partner were able to attend to help us celebrate what the young people have achieved and some of the plans for the future.
On Friday morning, 5 stencilled messages, revealing that ‘Tesco meat = deforestation’ appeared outside the supermarket’s branches in Broughton Road, Earl Grey Street, Fountainbridge, Great Junction Street and Duke Street as part of an escalating nationwide protest before the supermarket chain’s Annual General Meeting.
Delegates arriving for Tesco’s Annual General Meeting were greeted by activists holding giant letters spelling out the words ‘FOREST CRIME’ 10 metres wide at Tesco’s Welwyn Garden City headquarters on Friday morning.
Thousands of personal, passionate and urgent pleas from Tesco customers for the supermarket to end its part in deforestation of the Amazon rainforest and other areas of Brazil were handwritten on the 1.5 metre high letters.
Two activists also read messages through loud hailers outside the meeting. In total 10,000 messages – many threatening a boycott of the supermarket if action wasn’t taken – were received by Greenpeace and delivered to Tesco as part of the peaceful direct action. A further 250,000 people have signed a petition calling on Tesco to drop forest destroyers.
Throughout May and June, Greenpeace volunteers also left stencilled messages outside more than 270 stores. More stores will be targeted with a series of peaceful direct actions over the coming months calling out Tesco’s role in deforestation and fires across Brazil to cut through the supermarket’s greenwash.
Ellie said: ‘“When you buy a chicken from Tesco Duke Street in Leith, it won’t mention the forest crime that took place to produce it. Tesco’s chicken supplier is owned by a company notorious for destroying the Amazon rainforest.
“And Tesco’s chicken is reared on soya that’s driving deforestation and fires across Brazil.
“Indigenous peoples are facing an assault on their rights as forests like the Amazon are being slashed and deliberately burned for industrial meat production. It’s killing wildlife, the risk of future pandemics is increasing and it’s playing havoc with the climate.
“10,000 shoppers have sent personal pleas for Tesco to drop forest destroyers from its supply chain – many threatening a boycott if it doesn’t. Tesco can’t afford to ignore them and we won’t stop campaigning until Tesco stops greenwashing and takes action.”
Despite Tesco claiming to have met its deforestation targets, its meat is not deforestation-free. It buys British chicken and pork from suppliers owned by notorious rainforest-destroyer, JBS.
JBS recently admitted it would accept deforestation in its supply chain for another 14 years. And Tesco continues to sell more soya-fed, factory-farmed meat than any other UK supermarket.
It has already failed to keep its promise of zero-deforestation by 2020 and its plans to buy soya ‘only from deforestation-free areas’ by 2025 are meaningless given the complete collapse in 2019 of talks involving traders like Cargill to agree protection for whole areas from soya.
Ellie continued: “Are we really willing to let Tesco get away with such blatant greenwash when doing a weekly shop? Join us to take part in the protest from home by calling Tesco’s head office to demand it stops greenwashing and drops forest destroyers from its supply chain.“
People who would like to take action at their local Tesco store can also apply for a free action pack at act.gp/tesco-pack to receive a whole host of resources to help them get Tesco’s attention.
North Edinburgh Arts Board and Director have been working in partnership with Council officers to develop the Planning application for the MacMillan Hub submitted last week.
NEA are continuing to work on the costs and timetable for the MacMillan Hub, focusing on the extension and refurbishment of our building as an integral part of the Hub. Our Fundraiser, Roger Horam at Red Lynx, and Board continue to apply for funding and have had positive meetings with a range of statutory and third sector funders.
On 3 June 2021 the Council agreed to put forward NEA for consideration as part of the Scottish Government Regeneration Capital Grant Fund. On 10 June 2021 the Council agreed to put NEA, as a key part of the MacMillan Hub, forward for the UK Levelling Up Fund.
This fund needs support from our local MP, and we thank Christine Jardine MP for her support. We would be grateful, too, for your support of NEA’s ambitious plan, and welcome any input you may be able to make, on behalf of our community, to decision makers at both the Scottish and Westminster Governments who will be assessing our applications for funding.
If you have any questions or want more information please get in touch with us by emailing our Director Kate Wimpress at director@northedinburgharts.co.uk
I also would like to invite you to our forthcoming General Meeting on 21 July 2021 at 6.30pm, most likely to be held via Zoom, and would be pleased to speak with you then if you are able to attend.
Yours sincerely
Lesley Hinds
Chair, North Edinburgh Arts on behalf of the North Edinburgh Arts’ Board of Trustees
We will be holding our AGM via Zoom on Wednesday 26th May from5:30 – 6.30pm.
It is open to everyone who would like an update on the progress of the charity.
If you would like to attend, please email grantongarden@gmail.com and we will send you the Zoom link the day before.
If you would like to have a say in what goes on and be able to vote, we would ask you to become a member, which is free and can be done by filling out the attached form (below) and returning it to us via email, post or in-person.
Fresh Start Annual General Meeting 8th December 2.15pm, via Zoom
We will be hosting the Annual General Meeting of Fresh Start (Scotland) Ltd this year via Zoom web link on Tuesday, 8th December at 2.15pm. Unfortunately, due to the pandemic and current restrictions in place, we are unable to hold the meeting face to face and instead, ask that you join us virtually.
The formal business of the AGM consists of a presentation from the Convenor, Lindsay Wallace, on the activities of Fresh Start over the past year, together with a presentation of the Report and Accounts for 2019/20.
This will be followed by a short presentation from Biddy Kelly, Managing Director, and video showing what has taken place over the past year. The event will be finished by 3pm.
We would kindly ask that any questions are submitted prior to the event if possible but may be asked on the day either via the chat function on Zoom or afterwards via email.
To join us via Zoom, please click on the link below:
Select ‘Join a Meeting’ and enter this code: 862 2570 1177
When prompted, enter this password: 594344
It is a great opportunity to catch up on all the latest from Fresh Start and see some friendly faces and would love to you join in.
If you would like to view the Company’s accounts prior to the meeting, please click here or email us to be sent a copy.
If you can attend, please let us know, by telephoning admin on 0131 476 7741 or by replying to this email by Friday 4th December. If we do not hear from you, we will assume that you cannot attend.
We are holding a series of ‘Round table’ events in partnership with Third Sector Strategy Group (TSSG) and would like to invite you to attend and contribute to what we believe will be informative and actionable sessions.
Our first event will take place onWednesday 14th October (10.00am – 11.30am)
‘People’s Story’
Using information from the Poverty Commission, Food Fund Work and the Mind the Craic report as a basis for the discussions, we will discuss and highlight the experience of inequality and the urgent need first, coming up with some ideas about how these could be addressed.
