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Non-sport lets for community access to city council secondary schools transferring to Edinburgh Leisure

Non-Sport Lets for Community Access to City of Edinburgh Council Secondary Schools Transferring to Edinburgh Leisure

The management of community access to secondary schools for non-sport lets is being transferred from the City of Edinburgh Council to Edinburgh Leisure.

A phased transfer, with nine schools initially identified, will mean that organisations and individuals looking to book and hire classroom space during community time for classes and workshops, will now book through Edinburgh Leisure, rather than the City of Edinburgh Council.

Core community times are Monday to Friday, 18:00 – 21:45hrs and Saturday, 09:30 – 15:15hrs whilst during school holiday periods around the opening times.

The schools available to book through Edinburgh Leisure are:

Balerno High School.
Broughton High School.
Craigroyston High School.
Forrester High School / St Augustine’s R.C. High School.
Gracemount High School.
Leith Academy.
James Gillespie’s High School.
Portobello High School.

Since 2017, Edinburgh Leisure has managed community access to secondary school sports facilities and through this period have developed a robust booking process and operational infrastructure that has seen usage and net income grow each year.

The investment made by the Council in its school estate over the last 15 years has resulted in fantastic facilities and the ambition for the transfer is to improve access arrangements and increase use from all sections of the community by utilising Edinburgh Leisure’s experience and expertise in this field.

Jimmy Livingstone, Schools Manager at Edinburgh Leisure said: “We have been working closely with the City of Edinburgh Council and with our expertise in the field of facility management and community access to the schools, we are the logical partner to manage the non-sport lets in secondary schools, to support the Council in improving access, increasing usage and maximising revenue.”

Cllr Joan Griffiths, Education, Children and Families Convener, for the City of Edinburgh Council, said: “Having Edinburgh Leisure manage the non-sport lets in our secondary schools is a really positive move given their experience and expertise in managing community access across the city.

“It will further develop our partnership and improve access to the fantastic facilities we have available in our secondary school estate.”

All current lets at the above schools have been advised of the new booking arrangements. The booking process for schools not transferring to Edinburgh Leisure in phase one will remain the same.

The booking system will go live from 13th November 2023 for bookings starting from January 2024.

Any organisations wishing to book rooms in community time from January 2024, should email exlets@edinburghleisure.co.uk.

For further information, visit: https://www.edinburghleisure.co.uk/classroom-hire

Hotel bookings surge brings back optimism at Surgeons Quarter

A CHARITABLE hotel and events business tied to the Royal College of Surgeons of Edinburgh (RCSEd) is rebounding, with strong occupancy at its hotel and forward projections well above expectations.

Surgeons Quarter, which operates the city’s largest independent hotel, Ten Hill Place, will host more than 2000 guests in May, including a range of surgical students sitting vital in-person exams.

It meant that throughout the month, occupancy exceeded 40%, which was 10% above the base level for the city according to data from Smith Travel Research [STR], the world leaders in data intelligence for the sector.

Data from STR also highlights that upcoming bookings at the 129-room Old Town hotel is more than 7% above the average of its 10 closest competitors, as it looks to recapture market share as the sector emerges from lockdown.

Scott Mitchell, Managing Director at Surgeons Quarter, said: “We’re confident that we can emerge from the past 15 months in a very strong position. The number of bookings is very heartening and a good 25% above what we were anticipating given all the uncertainty.

“We’re already expecting close to 50% occupancy for June. While we’d expect more than 75% in a normal year, we appreciate that everything has changed – and we’re delighted to be operating at this level. It’s a credit to our team.

“Guests are responding very positively to the expertise of our team, many of whom served NHS workers throughout much of the first lockdown gaining extensive experience of operating in the current climate.”

At the outset of the pandemic Surgeons Quarter hosted more than 500 clinical and frontline workers, providing 2137 free room nights to staff working at nearby hospitals.

As well as the award-winning hotel, Surgeons Quarter typically operates one of the city’s busiest events and conference programmes, making use of the RCSEd’s impressive collection of buildings while they are not in medical use.

It is now advancing “blended” technologies, hosting the UK hub of the Royal Australasian College of Surgeons annual scientific conference – featuring a mix of in-person and live streamed features and Q&As with Professor Jason Leitch and RCSEd President, Professor Michael Griffin.

It also opened a new outdoor venue, Drinks and Dining Al Fresco, with a vast clear roofed marquee enabling guests to enjoy food and drinks in a safe and socially distanced environment.

All profits support the charitable aims of the College which are education, assessment and advancement in surgical standards worldwide.

Edinburgh sees biggest taxi surge in UK since lockdown eased

Ride-hailing app, FREE NOW, has reached a post-Covid record level of bookings since indoor hospitality reopened on Monday 17th May.

With its data showing an 38% increase in demand week-on-week in the UK, the company is now recruiting 10,000 more drivers as national restrictions ease further and social mobility grows to meet the growing demand that is set to sky-rocket once the UK fully reopens.

Since England moved from stage 2 to 3 in the lockdown roadmap last week, taxi journey numbers on the FREE NOW app are approaching pre-pandemic levels, with daily volumes fluctuating around 90% of values from early March 2020, before the first lockdown.

Demonstrating a level of increased confidence amongst Brits, there has been a 150% increase in rides compared to the earlier stage of the lockdown in April. On May 17th, bookings during ‘Beer O’Clock’ – between 5 and 6pm – skyrocketed 107% week-on-week, as people could go to an indoor restaurant or a pub after work for the first time since early November.

Perhaps unsurprisingly, the most popular day for travelling last week was Friday largely thanks to a huge growth in the evening as people were hitting the pubs and restaurants. Friday and Saturday night between 11pm – Midnight became the busiest ride-hailing time slot of the week for the first time this year.

On a regional level, in London, it seems that the West End is alive again, with Tottenham Court Road experiencing a whopping 188% rise in rides week-on-week, and Leicester Square 184%, the two largest increases in requests in the capital.

Among other cities, Edinburgh registered the highest overall weekly growth (108%) with Leith Walk (up by 400%) and Royal Mile (up by 330%) being among the hottest spots.

In Reading, bookings to and from Reading Uni tripled, similarly to Hove Lawns in Brighton and Hove.

Mariusz Zabrocki, General Manager at FREE NOW, comments: “It’s great to see the UK come alive again as the restrictions continue to ease, following what has been an extremely tough year for all, including the travel and transport industry.

“With many people having lost their jobs during the pandemic, we’re pleased to be recruiting such a large number of drivers across the UK; it’s essential that we can keep up with the growing demand so people can move freely with ease.

“Unlike some of our ride-hailing competitors, we focus on putting driver wellbeing first, and we look forward to welcoming more drivers to the FREE NOW family.”