City makes a splash with affordable swimming

A £125,000 investment by the City of Edinburgh Council is to make swimming more accessible and more affordable for hundreds of young children and families across the Capital. A range of measures will be introduced over the next two years that will increase swimming provision and access to pools and schools for those who need it most – with free swimming for primary school children during the October school holidays!

The programme involves a ‘raft’ of measures including:

· free swimming during school holidays,

· top up swimming classes for P2-3 pupils,

· free family splash time sessions

· swimming classes for women and children from BME communities.

Councillor Richard Lewis, the city’s Culture and Sport Convener, said: “Swimming is a fantastic activity that is not only fun but keeps you fit and healthy too. The purpose behind providing a free programme of swimming is to open up our pool facilities to those that may never have tried swimming before or to encourage parents to take their children along for a fun family swim.

“We’ve worked closely with our partners in Edinburgh Leisure and sportscotland to produce a programme that specifically targets children and adults who need support the most and also benefits the most number of people for the money available. It builds on what was proposed by Splashback and, I believe, goes even further to ensure that children from all over the city have the opportunity both to learn to swim and enjoy it at the same time.”

Between Saturday 12 October and Monday 21 October, free swimming for primary school children will be available between 12-4pm in four city pools every day during the school holidays (with some exceptions – see Edinburgh Leisure website and Wester Hailes Education Centre websitefor details). The pools are Leith Victoria Swim Centre, Gracemount Leisure Centre, Dalry Swim Centre and Wester Hailes Education Centre.

These free swim session for juniors will be repeated during school holidays until April 2015 and will also include the pool at Ainslie Park Leisure Centre when it reopens after rfurbishment and upgrading later this month.

Further to this, from January, the Council will also provide additional swimming lessons for P2/3 pupils in eighteen schools designated as ‘positive action’ schools (where over 40% of pupils are entitled to free school meals). These will be run with Edinburgh Leisure who will provide additional teaching support to help these children develop early aquatic skills, knowledge of pool safety, and in many cases, introduce them to swimming for the first time.

Also early next year the Council will launch a ‘Family Splash Time’ programme which will provide parents and their children with eight weeks of fun, two-hour, swim sessions funded as part of this investment.

The Council also proposes to extend the successful ‘Female Only Swim’ sessions held at Leith Victoria to other parts of the Capital next year. These sessions are targeted specifically at the BME community where cultural and religious barriers may prevent women from participating in swimming.

The £125,000 funding for accessible and affordable swimming was agreed by the Capital Coalition earlier this year in recognition of Splashback’s commitment to increasing swimming opportunities for young people.

Graeme Gardiner, Director of Operations at Edinburgh Leisure said: ‘We are delighted to be supporting this swimming initiative. We passionately believe in the positive impact that sport and physical activity can have on individuals and communities and we want to inspire everyone in the city to be more active and healthy. This swimming initiative provides a great way of encouraging people to get active and try out swimming.”

Promenaders!

Artwork designed by Davidsons Mains pupils has been unveiled on the Silverknowes stretch of the Edinburgh Promenade. The plaques are an extension of the existing rubbings trail and aim to provide a fun activity for everyone using the walkway to enjoy.

The designs aim to draw people along the Promenade to collect rubbings of six themed bronze plaques based on the history and heritage of Silverknowes and Granton. It is proposed that the collection is extended to run along the full length of the Promenade in the future.

The plaques were designed by Fearne Halcrow, Ella McNeill and Alexander Priestley from Davidson’s Mains School and the latest designs show Lauriston Castle, an aerial view of Silverknowes and a depiction of Davidson’s Mains Railway. Award-winning local artist Kate Ive translated the original designs into bronze.

Cllr Frank Ross, Convener of the Economy Committee, said: “The Council is committed to delivering a high quality Promenade between Cramond and Joppa and I look forward to more stages being completed in the future.

“We have done a lot of work recently with the creative sector helping Edinburgh’s economy as well as other city projects. This is a great example involving an award winning local artist from the Edinburgh Sculpture Workshop.

“The Rubbings Trail is a fantastic addition to this stretch of the Promenade, which is now being heavily used by walkers, cyclists and visitors.”

The Edinburgh Promenade runs for 17km and stretches from Cramond in the west to Joppa in the East. As well as forming part of the Scottish Coast Path, it is also part of the North Sea Trail.

Adult Education programme launched

AEP flier 2013

The city council’s new Adult Education programme is now available, offering lots of opportunities to learn something new!

Day, evening and weekend courses start next month and from anthropology or arts and crafts to walks or even writing children’s stories there’s surely something there for you!

For further information on what’s available, call 556 7978, visit your local library or community centre or go to www.edinburgh.gov.uk/adultcourses

Travelling Gallery to visit Drylaw

The Travelling Gallery embark on its Scottish tour this Friday (23 August) with ‘THIS LAND’, a new autumn exhibition presenting a beautifully alternative view of the Scottish landscape – and it’s stopping off at Drylaw on it’s travels. You can catch the exhibition at the local centre next Thursday (29 August) afternoon from 2 – 5pm.

Inspired by the Year of Natural Scotland, the Travelling Gallery’s autumn exhibition presents an alternative view of the Scottish landscape, through works by artists with a diverse range of practices.

Exhibits will include paintings by Henry Coombes and a series of works exploring the history, geology and politics of the island of Rockall by Andy Holden. Hannah Imlach uses sculpture and photography to explore new environments and find connections between the landscape and the human body, while Michael Reisch and Iain Sarjeant both show photographs which focus on interaction between natural and man-made environments.

Visitors will also be able to enjoy a complementary programme of films, postcards, sketchbooks and other works to support the exhibition.

The Travelling Gallery is a custom-built, mobile, contemporary art space inside a big beautiful bus. Supported by Creative Scotland, the Esmée Fairbairn Foundation and the City of Edinburgh Council, the Travelling Gallery brings high quality contemporary art exhibitions and events to schools and communities throughout Scotland.

Edinburgh will be the first stop on the gallery’s Scottish-wide tour, stationed in a variety of locations around the Capital between 23 and 30 August.

Councillor Richard Lewis, the city’s Culture and Sport Convener, said: “Yet again the Travelling Gallery curators have devised a fascinating exhibition which I am sure will delight crowds across Scotland. As a Council we’re committed to making art and culture as accessible as possible to a variety of people, and what could be more accessible than a mobile gallery? I hope everyone takes the opportunity to pay the Travelling Gallery a visit when it comes to town.”

The Travelling Gallery will be open to the public at the following venues in Edinburgh, as part of Edinburgh Art Festival:

Friday 23 August City Art Centre, Market Street, 11am – 6pm

Saturday 24 August City Art Centre, Market Street, 11am – 6pm

Tuesday 27 August Hawes Promenade, South Queensferry 11am – 5pm

Wednesday 28 August Festival Square, Lothian Road, 11am – 5pm

Thursday 29 August

Drylaw Neighbourhood Centre, Groathill Road North 2 – 5pm

Friday 30 August High Street, Portobello 11am – 5pm

The Travelling Gallery will then tour to the following areas:

2 – 13 September – Highlands

16 – 20 September – Lewis and Harris

23 – 24 September – Uists

28 September – 3 October – Shetland

7 – 11 October – Perth & Kinross

21 – 25 October – Renfrewshire

28 October – 8 November – South Ayrshire

11 – 15 November – Midlothian

18 – 22 November – Renfrewshire

25 – 29 November – Edinburgh

3 – 7 December – Angus

10 December – West Lothian

See www.travellinggallery.com for all the details,

Follow the Gallery on Facebook or Twitter @ArtinaBus

Community Councils: get involved!

A drive is under way to encourage more people to join their local community council and help represent the views of residents in their area.

Elections for all of Edinburgh’s community councils are due to take place in September, but some have struggled in the past to attract new members and all are keen to have fresh input. A campaign is now underway to seek nominations to ensure that community councils can continue to thrive and play an important role in the health of the capital’s neighbourhoods.

Cllr Maureen Child (pictured above) , Convener of the Communities and Neighbourhoods committee, urged people to get involved: “It’s all about local residents working together to make a difference to where they live. In my experience, the best community councils involve folk of all ages and backgrounds, but they rely on people putting themselves forward. I completely understand it may be a little daunting for those who haven’t been involved in anything like this before, but help and advice is available.”

Jim Henry, the chair of Liberton & District Community Council, said: “Community councils act as a voice that gives residents an opportunity to use their local knowledge to influence the future of their area. We also get involved in a wide range of activities to improve our communities, including clean-ups and gala days. Without the work of community councils, the city and its neighbourhoods would be a poorer place.”

Community Councils receive a grant to cover running costs and training is available. They are represented on each of the 12 Neighbourhood Partnerships established across the city and work alongside elected members, representatives from NHS Lothian, Police Scotland, the voluntary sector and Scottish Fire and Rescue Service to improve the local area and allocate local grants.

Anyone aged 16 years or older and registered to vote can join. People can find their local community council using the Council’s interactive map.

More information and advice is available from:

Eileen Hewitt, Community Council Liaison Officer, on 0131 469 3838 or y email at community.councils@ednburgh.gov.uk
www.edinburgh.gov.uk/communitycouncils http://www.edinburghnp.org.uk/ (neighbourhood partnerships)

What’s your experience of Community Councils? Do they make a difference? Let us know!

Living in Harmony update

Pilton Community Health Project’s Anita Aggarwal gives an update on a key local initiative:

Since the closure of Community Organisation for Racial Equality (CORE), PCHP, Community Learning and Development (CLD) and Edinburgh Lothian Regional Equalities Council (ELREC) have been working together to try to minimise the impact of the loss of this important organisation.

The City of Edinburgh Council commissioned a report which examined the ongoing needs of BME communities in the area. This highlighted the difficulties people have integrating with the local population, as well as a host of other issues.

You’ll find that report here: Living in harmony 13

At this point it was felt important to involve other agencies and more local people in this process, and so we pulled together an action planning session on 31 May.

Over 30 people attended this event, representing a wide range of local people and organisations. At this event we identified actions to be taken and many committed to take these forward.

These actions are recorded in this document: action plan 31.5.13 final

If you weren’t able to be at the event and have ideas about how you or your organisations can contribute please add them in to the plan. This document is an aid to action, not a fixed strategy document to sit on a shelf and get dusty!

We agreed to come back to discuss next steps at another meeting, when we will look at what progress is being made and how we resource some of the ideas on the action plan.

The next meeting will take place at the

Spartans Community Football Academy on Friday 19 July from 10 – 12.

This meeting is open to anyone – please contact me on 0131 551 1671 if you need crèche.

Anita Aggarwal

Complaint over LACK of council cuts in ‘forgotten estate’

Muirhouse in June - a 'forgotten estate'? — Muirhouse in June – a ‘forgotten estate’?

Usually, community groups and voluntary organisations are up in arms over council cuts to services in their area. However one Muirhouse man is on the warpath over a lack of cuts!

TRIM (Tenants and Residents in Muirhouse) member Robert Pearson has written to the local council team to demand action over the state of local green spaces – weeds, long grass and the general state of the area.

He said: “Yet again I feel it necessary to email you regarding Muirhouse, I am absolutely fed up with the way Muirhouse is being left to rot by you, Edinburgh City Council. It was you who caused the area to fall apart in the first place and now you are leaving us in a mess.”

He goes on: “Back in March this year local children join the Centipede project and planted over 2000 bulbs which spelt Muirhouse Is Home (pictured below). It looked fantastic, the children loved it and it was never vandalised. Unfortunately we are not able to see it anymore as the grass and weeds have taking over the place. Walking around the estate the green areas are all overgrown and basically in a mess; why is this happening again? Does this happen elsewhere in the city? Or does it just happen in the forgotten estate?”

North Neighbourhood Team Business Manager Mandy Rudden said she has requested information from her Regeneration and Task Force colleagues and will update Robert when this has been received.

Local support for Leith Walk revamp

Local residents and organisations have given the thumbs-up to council plans to improve Leith Walk. Ambitious plans would see upgrades and improvements along the full 2.2km length of the famous Leith thoroughfare.

Following a comprehensive public consultation earlier this year, the Council announced it would be seeking additional funding from the Scottish Government in order to give Leith Walk the best possible revamp.

At a 6 June meeting in McDonald Road Library, an enhanced design – which would make the thoroughfare more cycle and pedestrian-friendly – was presented by the Leith Programme team to local residents, business leaders and community groups.

Features of the enhanced scheme include:

clear pedestrian priority over 1.8km, including safer crossing points;
significant sections of uninterrupted cycle space (both dedicated on and off road sections);
redesigned, simplified junctions;
largely segregated cycle provision from Pilrig Street uphill for around 1km to Picardy Place;
two-way segregated cycle provision from Annandale Street to the Omni centre;
replacement of London Rd roundabout with a signalled junction to significantly enhance conditions for both pedestrians and cyclists;
1.75m wide cycle lane provision on the road in both directions between Foot of the Walk and Dalmeny Street (into town) Pilrig Street (out of town);
Narrower road environment with frequent zebra crossings, with a design that supports slower vehicle speeds;
a simplified streetscape more conducive to community activity, trading and business; and
better connectivity for sustainable forms of travel between the waterfront and the city centre.

Given the scope of this new design and the need to obtain a Traffic Regulation Order to implement the changes, stakeholders were advised that opting for the enhanced design would affect the timescale.

For anyone wishing to view the designs in detail and speak to the project team about any aspect of the programme, a drop in session will be held at

McDonald Road Library on Tuesday 23 July, from 2 – 8pm.

Councillor Lesley Hinds, Transport and Environment Convener, said: “It was very useful for us to be able to present this potential enhanced design for Leith Walk to local stakeholders tonight. It prompted a lot of interesting debate and we are pleased that there was such overwhelming support for the plans from those present.”

Sustrans Scotland Director, John Lauder, said: “Sustrans Scotland wants to see Leith Walk reach its full potential as a busy, vibrant shopping and residential street. In order to achieve this aim, the City of Edinburgh Council, in partnership with ourselves, has put forward an ambitious proposal to Transport Scotland for the full 2.2km length of the street.

“Sustrans strongly backs the features of this ‘enhanced design’ for Leith Walk, including the addition of new crossing points, wider pavements and better cycle lane provision. We now call on the Scottish Government to carefully consider the Council’s ‘enhanced design’ proposal and fully back its implementation.”

Keith Hales, Vice Chairman of the Leith Business Association, who attended the meeting, said: “This is a massive improvement on what we thought the designs were going to be and we will be commending the designs to the membership.”

Charlotte Encombe, Chair of Greener Leith, said: “Greener Leith welcomes the improvements shown in these exciting new draft designs for Leith Walk, which will give pedestrians and cyclists a vastly improved public realm and help to revitalise the economy of the area. We are also delighted that officers and councillors have included local people’s priorities for the street and have made real changes to the design. We look forward to collaborating on the detail of the designs as the project moves forward.”

City primary schools on their marks for sports event

More than 1,000 primary school pupils will compete in one of the biggest ever school sports events in Edinburgh next week. The P6 pupils are taking part in the Games @ THE HUB event at Forrester High School Community Sports Hub next Wednesday (12 June).

Clyde, the Glasgow 2014 Commonwealth Games mascot, will also be making an appearance at the start of the event to welcome all the pupils.

This is the first event of its kind delivered by Active Schools and its purpose is to promote participation in sport in the build-up to Glasgow 2014. Pupils will compete in ten different sports: hockey, football, rugby, basketball, netball, gymnastics, cricket, volleyball, boccia and tennis.

As well as the pupils taking part over fifty volunteers from the Young Ambassador programme – which is delivered by sportscotland in partnership with the Youth Sport Trust – and school sports leaders from across the city will be lending a hand to ensure everything runs smoothly on the day.

Jodi McGinty, a platinum Young Ambassador and torch bearer at the Olympics, will be presenting the shields to the winning teams. Jodi is also on the Young People’s Sport Panel, which is led by sportscotland in partnership with Young Scot.

One of the events is the Paralympic Sport Boccia which 10 of the teams will be trying out. Boccia is related to bowls and was originally designed to be played by people with cerebral palsy but now includes athletes with other disabilities.

Primary schools will send teams of 10 P6 pupils, both boys and girls, to take part in a competitive session in the morning and then a participative event in the afternoon. These sessions will be run by Children & Families’ Sports Development Officers, National Governing Bodies and local community clubs.

Active Schools hope this will be the start of an annual event. Each year, primary schools across the city will be able to take part in the competitive session of each sport where the winner will be presented with a shield.

Councillor Cathy Fullerton, Vice Convener for Education (pictured above), said: “Glasgow 2014 presents us with a fantastic opportunity to promote a variety of sports across the Capital and this event is a great way of promoting this. I’m going along on the day to see everyone taking part and am delighted that so many primary school pupils are getting the opportunity to experience Games @ THE HUB.

“The facilities at Forrester/St Augustine’s are second to none and I know everyone will have a great time. Hopefully many of the children will be inspired to take up some of the sports outside of school and I want to thank everyone involved especially all the volunteers.”

Jacqueline Lynn, sportscotland’s Head of School and Community Sport, said: “The Games @ THE HUB event is sure to be an action-packed day of sport and physical activity and it will by wonderful to see so many pupils taking part.

“We are committed at sportscotland to increasing the opportunities for children and young people to participate in school sport, and significant progress is being made through our Active Schools Network and Community Sport Hub initiative. The Active Schools team in Edinburgh has done an excellent job in organising this event and we commend them for their efforts.”

Women city councillors unite to walk the Moonwalk

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