Tag: community activism

Happy birthday Betty – at last!

Careful with that knife, Betty!
Careful with that knife, Betty!

Betty McVay’s belated eightieth birthday celebration finally took place at West Pilton Neighbourhood Centre last Friday, and the party proved to be well worth the wait.

Most readers will know that Betty has not been well, and she was forced to put her original party plans on hold when she was taken into hospital last month. However regular readers will also know that Betty is a wee battler and there was no way that the milestone party was not going to happen as soon as she was well enough again!

it was almost a ‘This Is Your Life’ event as friends and colleagues from across the years joined Betty and her family at West Pilton – as someone remarked, there were hundreds of years of community activism together in the Neighbourhood Centre that night and it was a great opportunity to share stories and memories.

In a year that’s seen old Greater Pilton lose activists and community characters like Billy Anderson, Brian Robertson, Stevey Hay and Gwen Chrystal, Betty’s party gave the community something to smile about – even if the raffle prizes were among the worst in history!

Belated happy birthday then, Betty – and keep battling!

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partygoers
partygoers

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party1

Ian Moore sings!
Ian Moore sings!

Gwen Chrystal

Sad to report the death of North Edinburgh activist Gwen Chrystal, who died on Wednesday after a short illness.

Gwen, who was from Royston Wardieburn, was an active campaigner on a host of community issues over the years in Greater Pilton; from the Western General Action Group – which fought to retain A&E, Maternity and Paediatric services at the local hospital – to the current North Edinburgh Fights Back activities Gwen could always be counted on to rally to the cause.

A popular figure and a warm and friendly face, Gwen will be missed by her friends and colleagues in the North Edinburgh community and our condolences go out to her family.

We’ll post funeral details when we have them.

GwenChrystal

 

Brian Robertson

I’m sad to have to report the death of North Edinburgh activist Brian Robertson, who passed away yesterday.

Former ice cream man Brian Robertson was a doting father, a big Hearts fan and an Elvis fanatic who cared deeply about the North Edinburgh community and social justice. He was a committed community activist for many years, always willing to get involved in campaigns and battles – Brian didn’t believe in too many meetings and ‘talking shops’, although over the years he must have attended more than most.

A founding member of Greater Pilton’s Community Alliance, Brian was at his best when he was doing things, not just talking about doing things: he was never afraid to speak out, whether as a school board Chair opposed to closures and PPP or about the inherent unfairness of fuel poverty or the Fairer Scotland Fund. If there was a community campaign you could be sure that Brian would be there at the front.

Most recently, despite poor health, Brian was proud to be an active and enthusiastic member of the North Edinburgh Social History Group (pictured below, centre). He absolutely believed that the area’s proud story of protest and activism had to be told to a wide audience, particularly to encourage a new generation of younger activists to take up the fight. Among other achievements the group produced the excellent ‘Never Give Up’ book – and those three words sum up wee Brian’s attitude to community activism to a tee.

Deepest condolences to Brian’s girls, wider family and friends, and we’ll give details of Brian’s funeral when we have them.

nevergiveup11[1]

Painting Protest

protest

To celebrate the launch of the BBC’s ‘Your Paintings’ website, which aims to give the general public access to all of the Nation’s oil paintings in thousands of museums and other public institutions, Screen Education Edinburgh (formerly Pilton Video) was commissioned to make a trilogy of ten-minute films for the BBC Learning website. SEE worked with local community activists, sheep farmers and artists who use paintings from the website to tell their stories.

“Painting Protest” is an exploration by North Edinburgh community activists of the sometimes hidden history of social activism in Scotland, looking at paintings from the 17th century to the present day and includes archive footage of the group’s campaigns. You can watch the film by clicking on the link below:

http://vimeo.com/63170317