Tag: charity

Call for North Edinburgh to nominate ‘older people’s champions’

hnadsNorth Edinburgh residents are invited to nominate their local champions for older people for the Age Scotland Awards 2013.  The Charity is looking for individuals, groups, partnerships and services that are inspirational in making a difference to older people.  

The Awards will be presented at the Scottish Parliament on 1 October, the UN International Day of Older Persons – with 30 August the closing date for nominations.

Nominations are invited in five categories: campaigning and influencing, partnership working, services for older people, volunteer of the year and Age Scotland member group of the year. These are sponsored respectively by McCarthy and Stone, Raeside and Chisholm, Specsavers at Home, David Urquhart Travel and Solicitors for Older People Scotland.  Details on how to nominate are available online atwww.agescotland.org.uk/awards  or by calling 0845 833 9334 to request a postal entry form.

Brian Sloan, Age Scotland Chief Executive, said: “Through the Awards we aim tochallenge popular myths about later life and our ageing population, demonstrate the vibrancy of older people’s voluntary action, and inspire others to follow the example of Scotland’s best services for, and by, older people.  So if you know of, or are, an individual, group or service in north Edinburgh worthy of wider recognition, whether in the public, private or voluntary sector, a nomination from you will be warmly welcomed.”AgeScotland

 

 

Dream big, dream fierce

Spartans volunteers head out to Tanzania

A team of Spartans Community Football Academy volunteers head out to Africa on the journey of a lifetime next week. Three staff and a senior volunteer will join nine young people to spend two weeks working with a support project in Tanzania.

Spartans Charity Dinner“Our patron Gordon Strachan hosted a very successful charity dinner last year (pictured above), which raised an incredible amount of money. That has enabled us to do a lot of things here at the Academy, including our extension, but it has also given us the opportunity to send a small group from Spartans to help in a project in Tanzania”, explained Kenny Cameron, who is Community Programme Manager at Spartans Community Football Academy.

“We have links with a very successful Edinburgh-based charity called YES (Youth Empowerment through Sport) Tanzania. Their aims and objectives are very similar to our own, and in the past we have sent footballs, strips and boots over there. But now, thanks to the support of some very generous supporters – and the brilliant fundraising efforts of the Spartan Army volunteers themselves – we can take a small group over there to help out.

“The guys will have a very full programme over the two weeks – delivering Young Leader training and a coaching education programme, visiting schools and an orphanage. They will also spend some time in a shanty town and will see first hand the grinding poverty of daily life in what is one of the poorest nations on earth. As you can imagine the facilities are not great in Arusha, where the pilot project is based, so in time we also hope to build a football pitch and fund their development worker post for a year – we can make a real difference.”

Although the Spartans team have a very busy schedule they won’t be working non-stop and they have a real treat to look forward to.

“We have built in an overnight safari as part of the trip. It’s our way of saying thanks to these young people – who all live locally – who have given up a lot of hours of their own time over two and three years to volunteer here with us. It will be an amazing experience, the adventure of a lifetime”, Kenny went on.

“Our motto this year is ‘Dream Big, Dream Fierce’ and the Tanzanian experience kind  of sums that up – who would have thought that a wee group of young folk from North Edinburgh could travel halfway across the world and make a difference to peoples’ lives there? The message we are trying to convey to everyone who comes into contact with the Community Football Academy is: Believe – anything can be achieved.

“Tanzania will be an experience our volunteers will never forget, and the hope is that they will pass on what they learned there and share their experiences when they get back to North Edinburgh, inspiring the next generation of Spartan Army volunteers”.

If you’d like to support the Spartans Tanzania initiative visit

https://www.justgiving.com/SpartansTanzania-Appeal

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Arise, Sir Baldrick!

images[3]At last, a ‘cunning plan’ has come together – and in British honours system hierarchy Baldrick now outranks his master Blackadder! Blackadder actor Tony Robinson has been knighted while his co-star Rowan Atkinson receives a CBE in the Queen’s Birthday Honours.

Among the other well-known names to receive honours are Adele, Rob Brydon, TUC General Secretary Brendan Barber, Clare Balding, golfer Paul Lawrie and former Lib Dem leader Sir Menzies Campbell, but the majority of recipients are unsung heroes – of the 1,180 people who appear on the Birthday Honours list, almost three-quarters are people who are actively engaged in charitable or voluntary work within their local communities.

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MoonWalk’s Psychedelic Extravaganza this Saturday

The streets of Edinburgh will be transported back to the Swinging Sixties this Saturday night!  After months of training, thousands of women and men wearing brightly decorated psychedelic bras will Power Walk through the streets of the capital at midnight …

Organised by grant-making breast cancer charity Walk the Walk, The MoonWalk has raised in excess of £15.5 million since 2006, with most of the money being granted in Scotland, to help improve the lives of people with cancer.

This year’s theme is “Psychedelic Extravaganza”, where anything groovy goes, as long as it’s bright and bold – a Magical Mystery Tour from the Swinging Sixties, full of Flower Power!

The walkers will start their amazing challenges from Walk the Walk’s huge Pink Tent at its new venue of Leith Links. Uniting against breast cancer, many iconic buildings across the city will be lit pink on the night, giving the walkers a huge collective hug. Amongst others, Edinburgh Castle, The Royal Yacht Britannia and Lloyds on The Mound will all be basking in a pink glow!

The charity’s fantastic walkers will be taking on two new Power Walking challenges this year. Anyone aged ten and over can do the quarter marathon New Moon (6.55 miles). For those seeking an extreme challenge, Walk the Walk has introduced the double marathon Over the Moon (52.4 miles). The famous Half Moon (13.1 miles) and Full Moon (26.2 miles) challenges are both still available.

STV Entertainment correspondent Laura Boyd will be taking on the Full Moon – Laura was diagnosed with leukaemia in 2009  and uses Maggie’s Cancer Care Centre at Gartnavel Hospital in Glasgow, which is funded by Walk the Walk. Also walking are singer/songwriter Carrie Mac, as well as the editor of Good Housekeeping Magazine Lindsay Nicholson, on the second leg of her 3 Land Challenge, which also includes MoonWalks in London and Iceland.

Five MSP’s have signed up for The New Moon – Jackie Baillie (Dumbarton), Sarah Boyack (Lothian), Siobhan McMahon (Central Scotland), Mary Scanlon (Highlands and Islands) and Drew Smith (Glasgow).

Entries for all the walking challenges are now closed, but Walk the Walk still wants more volunteers to sign up – a thousand are needed to help the event run smoothly.

There’s a variety of roles available, including route marshall, cycle marshall, water crew, clean and recycle team, and directional team (helping direct walkers, and other jobs on The MoonWalk City site).

To sign up as a volunteer for The MoonWalk Edinburgh Scotland please click here

Women city councillors unite to walk the Moonwalk

Lesley Hinds Ward 5 Inverleith Ward

This Saturday I will be participating in the MoonWalk. There is a cross party group of women Councillors walking as a team and we have created an online Fundraising Page for The MoonWalk Edinburgh Scotland 2013.

To show your support for this effort and raise funding for breast cancer in Scotland, please donate at

http://www.walkthewalkfundraising.org/strident

This Team Web Page will be active until 29 Oct 13.

Thank you for uniting against breast cancer

With good wishes and good health,

Lesley Hinds

Volunteer a night’s sleep to support MoonWalk Edinburgh

Donate a night’s sleep – and help The MoonWalkers Walk the Walk!

Have you always wanted to be part of The MoonWalk Edinburgh, but thought that taking on a Power Walking challenge was a few steps too far? Donating a night’s sleep by volunteering during the event could be just the answer!

The MoonWalk Edinburgh Scotland 2013 takes place at Leith Links on 8 June, organised by grant-making breast cancer charity Walk the Walk. Thousands of women and men Power Walk through the city at Midnight, wearing brightly decorated bras, raising money and awareness for breast cancer.

Walk the Walk needs a thousand volunteers – these amazing people literally make the event happen. Without them, thousands of MoonWalkers couldn’t take on their Power Walking challenges, and raise millions of pounds for vital breast cancer causes.
There is a wide variety of roles to suit everyone. Marshalls guide and direct walkers around the route, encouraging and cheering them on as they complete their challenge, as well as manning water stops. Keen cyclists, with their own bike, can join the cycle support team.

On The MoonWalk City site, volunteers help sell a fabulous selection of bra pins, gorgeous pink balloons and colourful Walk the Walk tattoos to walkers, raising even more money.   Do you have a professional massage qualification? If so, you can join the charity’s team of masseuses, giving walkers a much needed confidence boost just before The MoonWalk. Whilst many people are needed overnight, the 6am shift is ideal for early birds. As hundreds of dedicated volunteers near the end of a long but rewarding night, a fresh team of enthusiastic workers takes over!

Nina Barough CBE, Founder and Chief Executive of Walk The Walk said:  “Every year I am so touched by the enormous generosity of all those people who Volunteer for The MoonWalk, they are so committed to supporting our Walkers and helping to make the night  a success. Without them, the event could not take place. These are the people who will still be smiling and cheering in the small hours, and will be on the Finish Line until the last person makes it home! It really is a night when everybody can help make a difference, and the Walk the Walk Volunteers are second to none. It’s probably the most dynamic and awe-inspiring night you can experience”.

To sign up as a volunteer for The MoonWalk Edinburgh Scotland, and for more information, go to

www.walkthewalk.org/volunteer

Entries for The New Moon, a 6.55 miles quarter marathon, are open until Wednesday (29 May).

College photography students snap up funds for charity

Edinburgh College photography students are hoping to raise funds for two charities as part of their end of year exhibition. 

The students are showcasing their latest artwork in Woodland Creatures off Leith Walk, with iconic real life photos of the city and its people as their main inspiration. All of the original photographs have been specially hand-printed and toned in the darkrooms in the College’s own studios.

The Street Photography exhibition runs until 30 May and visitors will have the chance to buy the work with 50 per cent of the proceeds donated to Cclasp and Macmillan Cancer Support charities. Over £100 has been raised for the charities so far.Edinburgh College - Street Photography

Photography: Derek Anderson (photographer), HNC Photography student, Edinburgh College

Where’s the burdz? Volunteer opportunity!

RSPBlogoI am writing from RSPB Scotland, a UK conservation charity. We have a new volunteer opportunity that I thought members of the community might be interested in.

We would like to recruit some volunteers who are interested in helping us campaign for wildlife conservation. We will support them to write to, visit and lobby their local decision makers on our behalf as we prepare to launch a marine conservation campaign to protect seabirds at sea. We hope it will be a great opportunity for volunteers to meet people and gain new skills.

I attach the role description of the opportunity as well as the date of our welcome event. Although I realise that many of your members will already be involved in similar projects, if any of them would like to volunteer or attend the welcome event to find out more they can email champions.scotland@rspb.org.uk.

Please get in touch if you have any questions

Best wishes

Philippa Faulkner (Campaigns Co-ordinator Scotland)

RSPB Scotland

2 Lochside View

Edinburgh Park

Edinburgh EH12 9DH

Tel: 0131 317 4198

Mob:07568100922

Follow us on Twitter @RSPB Scotland

www.rspb.org.uk

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Still time to register for St Columba’s Water of Leith Walk

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Water of Leith Walk

While the countdown is on for the St Columba’s Hospice Water of Leith Walk on 12 May, there’s still time to register – registration is open until 10 May, so why not sign up to walk one of the most beautiful routes in Edinburgh to help build a new St Columba’s Hospice?

Sunday 12 May 2013
Start times between 9.30am and 11am

Walk the Big Yin
Balerno – Leith Links (12.25 miles)

Walk the Wee Yin
Murrayfield – Leith Links (5 miles)

We hope you will join us!

Taking a stroll along the Water of Leith is one of the must do things for any visitor to Edinburgh, yet how many of us have ever walked the whole 12.25 miles of it? Here’s your chance to do just that, and help build a new home for St Columba’s Hospice.

The St Columba’s Hospice Water of Leith Walk will be held on Sunday 12 May. Walkers of all ages are welcome, and participants can walk on their own, or enter as a family or a team with up to six members.

Starting in Balerno, the full 12.25 mile walk (the ‘Big Yin’) will follow the river as it winds its way through Colinton Village and Dell, the Union Canal, Saughton Winter Gardens, Murrayfield Stadium, the Scottish Gallery of Modern Art, Dean Village, Stockbridge, the Royal Botanic Garden and finally, to our new finishing point at Leith Links.

For those that would find a shorter stroll more appealing, there is also the gentler ‘Wee Yin’ – a five mile route from Murrayfield to Leith.

Along the way you’ll get the chance to see stunning natural landscapes, remnants of Edinburgh’s industrial history, and a wide diversity of plants and animals, from orchids to otters.

This will be an unforgettable experience and help build a new home for St Columba’s Hospice.

To register please contact Sìne on 0131 551 7707 or sward@stcolumbashospice.org.uk or download the flyer/entry form on the right and email it to us.

You can also register on the day, the details are as follows:

The ‘Big Yin’

Registration location – Balerno Community Centre
Registration time – 9.30am – 10.30am
Official start time – 10.00am
End point – Leith Links

The ‘Wee Yin’

Registration location – Murrayfield Coach Park
Registration time – 10.30am – 11.30am
Offical start time – 11.00am
End point – Leith Links

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