Tag: Augustine United Church

Photography competition celebrates World Heritage Day

Photography enthusiasts are being encouraged to enter a competition running until October celebrating three decades of Edinburgh’s World Heritage Site.

The Old and New Towns of Edinburgh were first inscribed on the UNESCO World Heritage List in 1995 making this World Heritage Day (Saturday, 18 April) so special as the competition is part of the Site’s 30th birthday celebrations.

This makes this weekend the perfect time to explore the Old and New Towns to capture images of one of the most extraordinary urban landscapes in the world.

The winner of the competition, which is run by Edinburgh World Heritage, Historic Environment Scotland, and the Council, will receive a year’s membership to Historic Scotland.

Entries will be grouped into twelve categories, each celebrating a particular value of Scotland’s capital city. The winning photograph in each category will become part of a year-long calendar, which will be sold on Historic Scotland sites and at Edinburgh World Heritage events to raise money for the Trust.

The over-all winner will take pride of place on the front cover of the calendar and will receive a one-year membership for Historic Scotland, who run top-rated visitor attractions all over the country.

The entries will be judged by Tom Duffin, a professional photographer who specialises in showcasing Edinburgh’s heritage; Neil Hanna, a multi-award-winning photographer with over 35 years of experience; and Jane Bradley, celebrated Arts and Culture Correspondent at the Scotsman.

This year’s World Heritage Day celebrations also include the following event:

DID JOHN BAYNE TAKE A SECRET TO HIS GRAVE?

TODAY (Saturday 18 April) as part of the Legacies in Stone project, Edinburgh World Heritage, the Friends of Greyfriars Kirkyard, and the Council (funded by the National Lottery Heritage Fund) aim to lift the lid on a secret centuries in the making: does a broken gravestone in John Bayne’s mausoleum hide a forgotten burial vault?

By repairing a simple flat grave slab, the aim is to unlock the mystery of this unique tomb in Scotland’s most famous kirkyard.

How to join:

Cllr Joan Griffiths Planning Convener said: “This year World Heritage Day is so special as there is much to celebrate. The 30th birthday is a significant achievement and milestone to reach as looking after the Site with our partners takes a lot of care and has many challenges. Edinburgh is a living, breathing city and it needs to be well managed to balance the needs of our residents, businesses and visitors.

“This World Heritage Day is a great time to enter our photography competition as it’s a lovely time of year to capture the changing light, sunsets and skylines this part of our stunning capital city is so famous for.

“The beautiful spring flowers appearing in the many gardens and open spaces are also there for us all to enjoy. If you’re interested in photography, why not explore the area this weekend to capture what inspires you most about the Old and New Towns.

“You could combine your visit to find out if John Bayne took a secret to his grave by attending the event in Greyfriars Kirkyard – or if history is more your interest – just attend the event instead.”

George Findlater, Head of Community and Economic Development at Historic Environment Scotland, said: “After thirty years of being a World Heritage Site, Edinburgh continues to inspire admiration from visitors and locals alike.

“We are excited to offer a year’s membership to Historic Scotland as a prize in the photography competition, and World Heritage Day is a terrific opportunity to bring out your camera and capture what makes Edinburgh so unique across the competition categories.”

Douglas Brotherston, Chairman of Edinburgh World Heritage, said: “Thirty years as a World Heritage Site is quite a wonderful achievement and we are delighted at Edinburgh World Heritage, together with our partners at HES and the City of Edinburgh Council to mark the occasion by holding this photography competition.

“The unique appeal of Edinburgh’s streets and landscapes, skylines and special heritage is so varied, it lives up to its reputation as one of the most beautiful cities in the world. We hope that we will get many entries from locals and visitors alike who can capture the glorious views of our spectacular city.”

The twelve categories for which applicants can submit their photographs are:

  1. Medieval Old Town
  2. Neo-classical New Town
  3. Gardens and open spaces
  4. Urban planning/street layout
  5. Topography and skyline
  6. Public and commercial monuments
  7. Conservation
  8. Layering of heritage
  9. Architectural detail
  10. Graveyards
  11. Juxtaposition
  12.  The Living City

Scotland’s Food Debate: Feed into the Conversation

WEDNESDAY 8th APRIL from 6.30 – 8.30pm

AUGUSTINE UNITED CHURCH and ONLINE

Too many families in Scotland face hunger due to a lack of income.

Join us & the Scottish Food Coalition on 8 April for Scotland’s National Food Debate. Hear how political parties will act to ensure everyone has dignified access to food.

#SP26

We invite you to take part in Scotland’s flagship ‘National Food Debate’ ahead of the 2026 Scottish Elections.

With the publication of Scotland’s first National Good Food Nation Plan, continued pressure on household budgets, significant public health challenges and a farming sector under severe strain, food policy has become a defining issue for this election.

This pre-election hustings will see party representatives answer questions from a live audience from Augustine United Church in central Edinburgh and will be broadcast online to members of the public across Scotland. The session will be a mixture of pre-selected questions and questions from the audience on the night.

The debate, chaired by Vicky Allan, Environment Correspondent for The Herald,  will reach a highly engaged audience of voters, civil society leaders and food-system stakeholders in Scotland, with significant online reach beyond the room.

Who we are:

The Scottish Food Coalition is a diverse alliance of 70+ organisations working for a just transition to a fair, healthy, sustainable food system.

Our members come from across the food system including those concerned with poverty, health, biodiversity, climate change and animal welfare, as well as trade unions, food producers and retailers, international development organisations and faith groups.

Established in 2015, we were instrumental in securing Scotland’s Good Food Nation Act and offer support and expertise to Scottish Government, local authorities and health boards during the journey to achieve our Good Food Nation ambitions.

http://bit.ly/49E4CWI

General Election hustings looks to put mental health top of the agenda

Three mental health charities will host a General Election hustings event in Edinburgh for a lively discussion on mental health policies with the five main Scottish political parties.

Change Mental Health, Penumbra Mental Health and Health in Mind have all joined forces to organise the hustings event, taking place at the Augustine United Church in Edinburgh on Tuesday 18th June.

Despite mental health being devolved to the Scottish Parliament, all three charities are emphasising that political parties must prioritise and improve mental health.

Nick Ward, CEO of Change Mental Health, said: “We are in the middle of a mental health crisis. Mental health services aren’t getting the funding they need and people aren’t getting the support that they need, when they need it most.

“It’s time for politicians to tell us what they are going to do about this. We need the mental health of our communities to be at the top of the agenda for this election and we need to make sure that the voices of people affected by mental health are heard so that we can build a future where no one faces mental illness alone.”

Mike Burns, Chief Executive of Penumbra Mental Health, said: ““Each of the main political parties will have a chance to outline how they will challenge the inequalities which impact our mental health.

“People in the audience will rightly be looking to candidates for a commitment to creating a society that supports good mental health for everyone.”

Wendy Bates, Chief Executive of Health in Mind, said: ““Over recent years, our mental health has been affected by events locally, nationally, across the UK and globally.

“People accessing our services tell us that they continue to feel the impacts of the Covid pandemic, conflict across the world, the cost of living crisis and the climate crisis. With over one in four of us now dealing with mental health issues, and support services stretched increasingly thin, we need mental health to be at the top of the agenda for our next government.  

“Although health is a devolved matter in Scotland, decisions made in Westminster will have knock-on effects for us here.

“We are delighted to be hosting this hustings together with Change Mental Health and Penumbra Mental Health to open up this vital conversation ahead of next month’s election, hear more about candidates’ commitments, and create space for them to share how they plan to improve our nation’s mental health – which will impact us all both directly and indirectly.”

A recent survey from Change Mental Health’s sister charity, Rethink Mental Illness, found that 4 in 10 people say mental health will be important in shaping their decision on which party to vote for at the General Election on 4th July 2024.

The hustings event on mental health will be an opportunity for people to have their voice heard on improving and prioritising mental health and wellbeing across the country.

Representatives will be available from the SNP, Labour, Conservatives, Liberal Democrats and the Greens.

Spokes public meeting: Thursday 29th February

“Edinburgh’s Future Streets policy, and the place of cycling”

Speakers

  • Cllr Scott Arthur  Edinburgh City Transport Convener – the Council’s ‘Future Streets’ plans, the place of cycling and when/how will the policies lead to action
  • Laura Laker  Cycling, transport and environment journalist – to critique the proposals. Laura researches and writes on cycling issues extensively, including in national/international media such as The Guardian and Bloomberg; and in specifically cycling publications such as Cycling Industry News and Road.CC
  • … followed by our one-hour panel QA, chaired by Ewen Maclean, organiser of Blackford Safe Routes – your chance to interrogate and challenge the speakers.

Arrangements

  • Where Augustine United Church 41 George IV Bridge, Edinburgh EH1 1EL
  • Date Thursday 29 Feb, 2024
  • Time Starts 7.30, Ends 9.30. Doors open 6.45 for coffee, stalls and chat
  • Queries & Questions Queries, or questions for the speakers, can be emailed to spokes@spokes.org.uk, up to a day in advance. However, questions in person from audience members are likely to have greatest priority on the night
  • Online We hope to live broadcast on our youtube channel – details nearer the time on Spokes website. We also intend to make the recording available later.

Links

“A City where you Don’t Need a Car”

Spokes public meeting, Wednesday 24 May

Speakers

  • Cllr Scott Arthur, Edinburgh City Transport Convener – the Council’s plans
  • Phil Noble, Strategy Manager for Active Travel and Streetspace – more detail on the policy delivery documents, including ATA, the Active Travel Action Plan
  • Adrian Davis, Professor of Transport & Health at Napier Transport Research Unit – he will critique the policies – are they sufficiently ambitious? will they work?
  • … followed by our one-hour panel QA, chaired by Dr Caroline Brown, Spokes member, Transform Scotland policy adviser, transport academic – your chance to interrogate and challenge the speakers

Arrangements

  • Where Augustine United Church 41 George IV Bridge, Edinburgh EH1 1EL
  • Date Wednesday 24 May
  • Time Starts 7.30, Ends 9.30. Doors open 6.45 for coffee, stalls and chat
  • Queries & Questions Queries, or questions for the speakers, can be emailed to spokes@spokes.org.uk. However, questions in person from audience members are likely to have greatest priority on the night
  • Online We hope to live broadcast on our youtube channel – details nearer the time on Spokes website. We also intend to make the recording available a few days later.

Background

Edinburgh City Council is consulting on a new Active Travel Action Plan (ATAP) and a series of other Mobility Plan ‘delivery documents’ all aimed to support Edinburgh NetZero 2030, and a 30% reduction in car-km by 2030.

Our public meeting will hear from the Council, followed by an expert critique, and then there’s a full hour panel discussion – your opportunity to challenge the speakers.

Do the delivery plans live up to the Council’s ambition to cut car-km 30% by 2030, alongside greatly increased travel by foot, bike and public transport? Will they enable more people to live car-free? Will they lead to speedy implementation? Our meeting is your opportunity to find out!

The ambition “to create a city where you don’t need to own a car to get around,” mentioned in several of the documents (e.g. Parking Action Plan, p8) is very welcome, for reasons of climate, public health, congestion and equalities. Such an ambition is also essential if the Council is to achieve its ultra-tough target to reduce car-km 30% by 2030.

A top cycling takeaway from the draft ATAP is the new focus on main road segregated routes. It says [chap 5],

“The (off road) traffic-free routes will continue to play a vital role, and we will seek to improve their comfort,safety and security. However, we now plan to develop a joined-up network of routes that feel safe to everyone at all times of day. This network will need to use segregated cycle tracks on main roads, as well as unsegregated on-street routes that have low volumes of motor traffic.”

The three highlighted phrases above [our emphases] neatly summarise important major developments, which we strongly welcome, in the Council’s approach to cycling policy, and we urge determined implementation.–

** Spokes: spokes.org.uk; twitter.com/SpokesLothian