From arts clubs for kids to gardening groups for adults, there’s something for everyone at North Edinburgh Arts this autumn!
Tag: Children and Families
Something Fischy’s going on at North Edinburgh Arts!
Two things that help people of any age get through the ups and downs of life are friendship and music.
A pioneering two-year project, led by acclaimed Edinburgh charities Fischy Music and The Sunflower Garden, to build friendship groups and promote musical creativity for Edinburgh children with family issues, will culminate in a celebration concert at North Edinburgh Arts Centre on Friday (4 September) at 6.30pm.
Weekly after-school projects for four groups of 8-12 year olds have been run since October 2013. These groups have focused on song-writing, discussion and music games as a way of building confidence, making friends and expressing deep emotions about life circumstances that the children may struggle with.
These four moving, quirky and original songs have been recorded onto a special CD, and will be showcased by a professional live band along with selected favourites from Fischy Music – in front of an audience composed of the song-writing children, their families, staff from the two organisations and other invited guests.
“Excited when there’s presents, or going on holiday
Confused when I don’t understand the things that people say
Scared when it gets dark, or going somewhere new
In my house, there are feelings, lots of feelings
Lots of feelings all the time, is that the same for you?
(extract from ‘My House’ composed by project group 2, May 2014)
Stars head North for roller derby showdown
Saturday’s second and final Edinburgh Fringe roller derby game, hosted by Auld Reekie Roller Girls, will be a stellar all-Northern all star line-up (writes Lucy Glennie).
Fabulous skaters from teams across Scotland and northern England will pit their speed, stamina and agility against each other to determine the victor.
The two all-female teams will each field a jammer, who will strive to get past four opposing blockers to score points. The teams will aim to outwit, out sprint and hit their opponents out of play using only the power of their bodies and minds.
This Saturday’s game comes hot on the heels of Auld Reekie’s All Star Reserves’ incendiary head-to-head against Glasgow Roller Derby’s Maiden Grrders on 8 August. Active Edinburgh’s sponsorship of the first Fringe game really helped things go with a bang!
The next game will be a special evening event, building on the excitement of the last, with a stadium full of fans and a licensed bar. This is an inclusive, family-friendly event celebrating strength, teamwork and friendship for young and old, regular and brand new fans.
All welcome at Meadowbank Stadium, Edinburgh on Saturday 15 August, 7 – 9.30pm.
Fun on Friday in West Pilton
Free family fun at West Pilton Neighbourhood Centre
Friday 14 August 1 – 3pm
Thursday’s Sand Castle Day at North Edinburgh Arts
Thursday 13 August is Sand Castle Day!
Remember it’s Sand Castle Day at North Edinburgh Arts this Thursday. Come along between 10am – 12noon to show off your skills in the sandpit. They’re getting a whole load of new sand put in that morning: who’ll be the first one in?
Fun Day at Drylaw on 22 August
Drylaw Neighbourhood Centre’s ever-popular annual family Fun Day takes place on Saturday 22 August from 11am – 2pm.
There’s food, live music, bouncy castle, face painting, a race track and lots, lots, more …
Supermum Lisa’s special delivery
Lisa raises funds for Edinburgh’s Sick Kids
Lisa Quarrell, a mum-of-two, visited the Royal Hospital for Sick Children (RHSC) in Edinburgh this week to hand over a state-of-the-art piece of equipment to help reduce children’s fear of needles.
Lisa, who’s from East Kilbride, is a familiar face at the hospital after her brave son Cole was admitted to the Paediatric Neurology ward at just two years old to receive treatment for epilepsy. Now three, Cole was just three months old when he first started taking seizures.
Cole was admitted to the RHSC in Edinburgh to undergo a lesionectomy on his left temporal lobe. During this time, little Cole had bloods taken twice a day, every day. On top of epilepsy treatment and examinations, these examinations proved to be extremely stressful for baby Cole, mum Lisa and dad David.
Lisa said: “It was very difficult to find Cole’s veins as they would collapse a lot of the time. The trauma of this made Cole extremely needle phobic. Twice a day, we would have to hold him in place for up to 20 minutes, until we could find a vein and get the blood sample that the nurses required.
“It was heart-breaking for me to watch Cole experience this level of fear over the needles and I was desperate to do something to help the nurses and other patients have an easier time when it came to this essential treatment. When the Ward 7 nurses told me about the AccuVein device it seemed like the perfect solution and I knew I wanted to fundraise for this great piece of kit.”
The state-of-the-art AccuVein device, worth more than £3,500, shines a special light over a child’s body to reveal the veins located underneath the skin. This technique allows nurses to carry out any needle-based procedures more quickly and accurately than ever before, vastly improving what is a traumatic experience for so many children.
The Sick Kids Friends Foundation (SKFF), which exists to transform the experiences of children visiting hospital, has also invested almost £5,000 to fund this vein illumination device and other innovative equipment to help reduce children’s anxiety around needles across the hospital.
Lisa continued: “It’s amazing the difference one small instrument can make to a child’s experience in hospital and I’m so happy to see the first AccuVein device I fundraised for go to good use in Ward 7. I’m hoping to fund a further four devices in the next few months so that more children than ever before can benefit.”
Roslyn Neely, Chief Executive of the Sick Kids Friends Foundation, said: “At the SKFF we believe that nothing should get in the way of being a child, this includes small procedures like injections, blood samples and cannulation which can be extremely stressful for young children.
“We’re extremely grateful to Lisa and her entire family for their help in bringing this equipment to the ward floors – we’re already seeing the positive impact it is having for patients, families and the nursing staff across the hospital.”
Coorie Doon at North Edinburgh Arts
‘You could be my masterpiece’ – lyric from ‘Sam’s Song’
North Edinburgh Arts played host to a very special gathering earlier this week. Local women from Circle Scotland’s Haven Project – all of whom are pregnant or have recently become mums – have been working with professional musicians over the last eight weeks to produce songs for their children.
There can be few things in life more intimate than singing songs to and with your wee one, and if you wrote that song yourself: well … how wonderful is that! Tuesday was the first opportunity to hear the finished creations and what an inspiring occasion it was.
From June to August Enterprise Music Scotland’s Coorie Doon project engaged the young women to help establish a positive connection between mother and child. A composer, lyricist and musicians worked with participants – all of whom attend either The Haven’s Pregnancy Cafe or Bump to Buggy Group – to compose a song for their child which they themselves could sing to them.
Lead artist for the Coorie Doon project was composer, musician and music educator Rachel Drury, a talented freelance musician and researcher working predominantly in the field of music education and psychology.
Rachel was an inspired choice to lead the project -she is the creator and composer of Baby O and Sensory O, two internationally acclaimed operas for infants aged between 6 and 36 months. Rachel is also a lecturer at the Royal Conservatoire of Scotland and has given a variety of research lectures across the UK.
Over the course of the project Rachel worked with the participants in both group and individual settings to produce a bespoke piece of music, each one of which is based on the womens’ own experiences.
When the women were happy with their songs they spent a day in North Edinburgh Arts studios to record their tracks, and yesterday’s final session was an opportunity to join with friends and family to celebrate the achievements of the participants and to hear their uniquely personal songs in a live concert setting. And those songs were very special.
One participant was Caroline, who’s ‘Calvin’s Song’ made reference to AC/DC sleeping suits! Her baby is due next month – Caroline knows he’s a boy – and when young Calvin comes into the world he’s going to have his very own little hard rock soundtrack!
Caroline, who’s from West Pilton, said: “It really was a brilliant to be involved in this. None of us had ever done anything like this before, it was completely new experience for everyone. I hope Calvin will like his song – I think he will!”
Coorie Doon was delivered in collaboration with North Edinburgh Arts and Circle Scotland’s Haven Project .
Edinburgh gets playful!
Children set to invade Grassmarket for fun and games
The Grassmarket will be transformed into a giant children’s playground tomorrow (Wednesday) to promote play in the city.
The enclosed street in the Old Town will be transformed between 12.30pm and 4.30pm for Edinburgh’s Playday where there will be lots of family-friendly activities on offer including junk drumming, a mud kitchen, parachute games, magic potions, a giant sand pit, water play, and a cardboard city.
This will be the 15th year that the event has been held and every year gets bigger and more fun! Thousands of people, both young and old, have come along to join in activities on offer.
Playday is the national day for play, which is being celebrated next week. On Playday thousands of children and their families get out to play at hundreds of community events across the UK.
As well as a celebration of children’s right to play, Playday is a campaign that highlights the importance of play in children’s lives. It’s all about learning for life and showing that play is fun not just for the child but for adults as well.
Councillor Keith Robson, Play Champion for the City of Edinburgh Council, said: “Play is a massively important part of a child’s development and makes a tremendous contribution to happy and healthy childhoods. Children need freedom to play so they can practice skills, explore the world around them and develop understanding in their own way and in their own time. Real play comes from children’s need to express themselves, to explore, learn about and make sense of their world.
“Playing with your child is one of the most wonderful things about being a parent. It’s a vital part of the way babies and children grown and learn. The time you have fun together brings you closer, makes your child feel loved and secure, helps them develops elf-esteem and social skills.
“Our very popular Playday in the Grassmarket provides a fantastic opportunity to celebrate play and promote its many benefits as well as visiting one of the most picturesque areas of the city. I would recommend everyone comes along for what promises to be a fun-filled afternoon of play!”
Playday is part of the successful City of Edinburgh Council Play Strategy which states:
“Edinburgh aims to be a play friendly city where all children and young people can enjoy their childhood. They will have access to play opportunities in a range of different settings which offer variety, adventure and challenge. They will be able to play freely and safely and make choices about where, how and when they play.”
Other ongoing projects to promote play include the formation of the Edinburgh Play Forum – ‘Playful Edinburgh’, which is a partnership of voluntary groups and other organisations supporting play across the city. The forum were successful in gaining Inspiring Scotland Go2Play funding for Play Ranger projects which will run outdoor play sessions in eight sites across the city. The Edinburgh Play Ranger projects are organised by Smart Play Network, Canongate Youth Project, North Edinburgh Arts and Edinburgh Leisure. EPF members Dads Rock and The Yard will be adding to the exciting activities on offer at Playday.
Access to Edinburgh’s Playday is free but children should be accompanied by an adult.
For more information contact cf.play@edinburgh.gov.uk
The event has been organised by the City of Edinburgh Council, the Edinburgh Play Forum and many volunteers.
Thursday is Fun Day at Granton Youth Centre
Granton Youth Centre’s the place to be this Thursday as GYC are holding a fun day at West Granton Road from noon until 3pm.
Come along and join in games, bouncy castle, storytelling, face painting and a BBQ. Entry is free – all welcome!
For more info contact Granton Youth Centre on 467 5854