The search is on for the tenth recipient of the Edinburgh Award and nominations are now open. Continue reading Edinburgh Award nominations are open
Tag: city council
See Sir Walter’s baffies!
A pair of slippers worn by Sir Walter Scott have been placed on display at Edinburgh’s Writers’ Museum. The renowned Scottish author, famous for penning Waverley and Rob Roy, was gifted the slippers in 1830 by friends who were ‘saddened’ by the state of the ones they found him wearing at his home in Abbotsford!
A letter from Scott’s friend, Lady Honoria Louisa Cadogan, reads: ‘The only thing we did not admire at Abbotsford was a (pair) of ugly, uncomfortable slippers we saw in (your) study so my daughters hope you will replace them by their’s.’
Councillor Richard Lewis, Culture Convener for the City of Edinburgh Council, said: “We recently refurbished the Writers’ Museum to include a new gallery dedicated to Sir Walter Scott and this loan adds enormously to the existing display of personal books and items belonging to the author.
“It is fantastic to have a local resident step forward with the offer of this loan and I hope it might encourage further donations to the city’s Museums so we can continue to add to the mix of items on display. I have no doubt they will generate much interest.”
The embroidered footwear will be on loan to the Museum for five years thanks to private collector Richard Wiseman. He purchased Scott’s size nine slippers from a collection previously owned by the author Sir Hugh Walpole, who is said to have been inspired by Scott’s writing style.
Richard Wiseman said: “We live in one of Walter Scott’s former Edinburgh homes and we came across these slippers online by chance. We love them, and we want to give other people the opportunity to see and enjoy them too. They are certainly well-worn so you never know, Scott might have sat at his writing desk in Abbotsford wearing these slippers to keep him comfortable as he wrote his later novels in the last two years of his life.”
Gillian Findlay, Curatorial and Engagement Manager for the Museum, added: “Scott’s slippers tell such a human story of the need for creature comforts and the compassion the author inspired in his friends, particularly at this vulnerable moment towards the end of his life. He was still mourning the loss of his wife and struggling to make ends meet since the banking crisis of 1825. He had received advances on books he hadn’t written yet but a kind friend took pity on him and had these slippers made as a gift.”
The City of Edinburgh Council managed museum is free to visit and allows visitors to discover the Capital’s rare collection of first edition books, personal belongings and portraits of great Scottish writers. In August, it was named a top visitor attraction when it was selected as a winner of TripExpert’s 2016 Experts’ Choice Award.
Next week: Robert Louis Stevenson’s Samoan flip-flops?!
Secondary schoolgirls inspired to get active
An innovative project to encourage girls at city high schools to become more active is being launched by the City of Edinburgh Council today.
The first ‘Girls Day Out’ conference has been organised by the Council’s Active Schools team and aims to inspire, encourage and support girls to become more active, raise the profile of successful girls and their achievements and educate girls on the power of sport.
The event, which has been organised in partnership with Youth Scotland and sportscotland, will involve more than 150 girls from S1 to S5 year groups across the city who will gather at Wester Hailes Education Centre, from 10am until 2pm.
It will be an interactive, fun packed day where the girls will hear from inspiring female role-models and learn about the power of sport. The day will be made up of a number of workshops including nutrition, a mental wellbeing and alternative physical activity sessions including jump rope, trampolining and PiYo (cross between Pilates and Yoga).
Partners Youth Scotland, who will support the delivery of some of the workshops on the day, have also funded for the girls who attend the conference to be put through the Dynamic Youth Awards which is a peer-assessed awards recognising the contributions and achievements of young people in the 10+ age group.
Councillor Cathy Fullerton, Vice Convener for Education, Children & Families at the City of Edinburgh Council, said: “Often girls give up sport when they start at high school so ‘Girls Day Out’ is a great way to encourage them to become more active and discover the different and fun ways to achieve this.
“I am sure that the great programme of activities at Wester Hailes today will show the girls the benefits of taking part in PE, sport and physical activity.”
Stewart Harris, Chief Executive, sportscotland, said: “Our aim with Active Girls is to work with our partners to increase participation in PE, sport and physical activity amongst girls and young women. ‘Girls Day Out’ is a terrific way for schools, clubs and hubs to showcase the opportunities available both locally and nationally.
“The Active Schools team here in Edinburgh has put together a very comprehensive and innovative programme to highlight the benefits of an active lifestyle in a fun and interactive way. I’m sure it will be a great success.”
City Council Question Time: Thursday 10 November
Question Time
7.15–8.30pm, Thursday 10 November 2016
City Chambers, High Street, Edinburgh
We would like to invite you to play your part in ‘Question Time’, an event designed to give members of the public the opportunity to quiz our panel of senior councillors on changes to council services.
The proceedings will be chaired by Euan McGrory, Deputy Editor of the Evening News, Scotsman and Scotland on Sunday, and broadcast live via the Council website.
If you would like to put a question to the panel, or just come along and be part of the audience, please complete this short online questionnaire by 7 November. Please note that places are limited. If you are not able to attend please pass the invitation on to a friend, family member or colleague.
This is a great opportunity to play your part in our public engagement to help us reshape council services. You can also get involved before 18 November 2016 by:
· going online to fill in our survey
· submitting your ideas to the dialogue page
Your feedback will help the Council to make its final budget decisions early next year.
Find out more at www.edinburgh.gov.uk/playyourpart
Edinburgh: the Cooperative Capital?
Invite: Edinburgh the Cooperative Capital – The Big Look Back + The Big Look Forward
Friday 11 November 0930 – 1400
City Chambers, High Street
Cllr Andrew Burns and Cllr Frank Ross invite you to this chance to hear about the big success story involving cooperatives and cooperative working in Edinburgh. The conference will provide an opportunity to learn and reflect on the growth in cooperatives and social enterprises, cooperative working in schools, cooperative procurement, cooperative service re design, cooperative social responsibility and cooperative community engagement. The conference will also look at what are the next steps for this work, linking cooperative working to the City Vision 2050 and community planning.
This conference is open to anybody or organisation who has been involved in this work over the last four years.
Agenda:
0930 – 1000 – arrival, refreshments, registration, stalls
1000 – 1050 – key note speakers: Cllr Andrew Burns – reflections of four years of cooperative capital / Ed Mayo – UK Co-ops
1050 – 1100 – Getting ready for participant engagement!
1100 – 1200 – 1st round of participant workshops
1200 – 1230 – Lunch
1230 – 1330 – 2nd round of participant workshops
1330 – 1400 – next steps – Cllr Frank Ross
https://youtu.be/-DwG1au1SFk
To attend please contact korstiaan.allan@edinburgh.gov.uk or Elizabeth.mcghee@edinburgh.gov.uk
PoLCATS volunteer for action at seniors event
Port of Leith Housing Association’s (PoLHA) PoLCATS (Port of Leith Community Action Team) lent a hand at the Older Adults event at Meadowbank Sports Centre this week. The event was hosted by Edinburgh Leisure’s Ageing Well project in partnership with the City of Edinburgh Council (CEC) and Pilmeny Development Project (PDP). Continue reading PoLCATS volunteer for action at seniors event
Council leader Andrew Burns urges citizens to have their say
What’s great about Edinburgh? What could be better? What should the city be like in the year 2050? These are the questions we’ve been asking as we develop a ‘2050 Edinburgh City Vision’. We have much to be proud of here in the Capital but we do need to start thinking seriously about what we want Edinburgh to look like in 10, 20, even 30 years’ time. It’s important to note that this will not be a Council vision; rather officers’ role will be to facilitate and support citywide collaboration and debate. Already, people from all corners and sectors of the city have been having their say. Our launch event at Cortex HQ, attended by more than 100 guests, has been reported widely in the media and continues to be hotly debated on social media. Indeed, #edinburgh2050 trended on Twitter, reaching more than a million people! If you haven’t already, please have your say by answering our three simple questions at Edinburgh.org/2050 and on social media @edinburgh using #Edinburgh2050. |
| Councillor Andrew Burns Leader of the City of Edinburgh Council |
Play your part in improving our services
Please help us to improve our services by playing your part in our public engagement, which runs until 18 November. You can do this by completing our survey and/or contributing your ideas via our dialogue page.
Thanks to your previous feedback, we have already agreed draft spending and saving plans for the next three years and this year’s engagement is focusing on three themes, namely: new ways of working, lean and agile services and working with partners.
Following the success of previous years, we are running another ‘Question Time’ event on 10 November in the City Chambers. This is designed to give you the opportunity to quiz our panel of senior councillors on the Council’s budget proposals for next year and beyond.
The proceedings will be chaired by Evening News, Scotsman and Scotland on Sunday Deputy Editor, Euan McGrory. It will also be broadcast live via the Council website. If you would like to put a question to the panel, or just come along and be part of the audience,please register online by 7 November.
Muirhouse Shopping Centre transformation moves to next stage
A proposal to redevelop Muirhouse Shopping Centre and surrounding area to create a new civic centre in Pennywell and Muirhouse will be considered by the Council next week as the latest stage of the ongoing regeneration of the wider area. Continue reading Muirhouse Shopping Centre transformation moves to next stage
It’s time for bed at Museum of Childhood
Scenes from some of the nation’s best-loved stories have been stitched together to create the ultimate bedtime story quilt at the Museum of Childhood. The centrepiece of ‘Bedtime Stories’, a free new exhibition at the City of Edinburgh Council’s Museum of Childhood, is a huge quilt showcasing artworks by more than sixty creative children and adults from across the UK.
Voluntary Sector: Have your say on key services
Each year the Council engages citizens on its spending and savings plans for the year ahead. A four year financial plan for Edinburgh has been set now. However, participants from previous consultations told the CEC that they would like to be involved in helping the Council to identify solutions and redesign services. Continue reading Voluntary Sector: Have your say on key services