WEST Pilton & West Granton Community Council meets tonight at 7pm in West Pilton Neighbourhood Centre.
Among the items on the agenda is the future of The Prentice Centre, West Granton Community Trust’s building in Granton Mains, which will close at the end of September.
All welcome.
AGENDA
Welcome & introductions
Nomination and election of new community councillors (3 vacancies)
WEST Pilton & West Granton Community Council is to reconvene on Tuesday night.
Top of the agenda will be the future of West Granton Community Trust’s building in Granton Mains. The organisation confirmed that The Prentice Centre will close at the end of September.
Former Community council chair Willie Black said: “The imminent closure of The Prentice Centre is a huge blow to the local community and we must do everything we can to ensure that this facility remains an asset for local groups and organisations to use.
“There are a number of possibilities and we would like to talk about these at next week’s meeting.”
First challenge for the local community council is to strengthen it’s current membership.
“We have three vacancies and we would like to fill these as soon as we can. We saw with the success of this summer’s Community Festival just what can be achieved when the community works together and we’d welcome enthusiastic new members to help make next year’s Festival an even bigger success.
“The meeting will also offer an opportunity to meet the councillors elected in May’s council elections so we are hoping for a good turnout. There is plenty to talk about.”
West Pilton and West Granton Community Council meets on Tuesday 9th August at 7pm in West Pilton Neighbourhood Centre.
West Granton Community Trust is to close The Prentice Centre, it has been confirmed. The management committee made the heartbreaking decision at a board meeting on Monday evening, citing impossible economic challenges.
The popular community centre in Granton Mains will cease programme activities from this Friday and the building will close in three months. Three members of staff are affected.
The Prentice Centre was one of three new community centres built across North Edinburgh in the late 1990s thanks to European Poverty and Urban Aid funding through local agency The Pilton Partnership.
The others were Drylaw Neighbourhood Centre and Muirhouse Millennium Centre, and the new centres could offer new facilities and local programmes to complement those being provided by Craigroyston Community Centre (now closed), West Pilton Neighbourhood Centre and Royston Wardieburn Community Centre.
The Prentice Centre, which was named after longstanding local activist Walter Prentice, housed the local Community Education team and has been the base for a wide range of local groups with activities for local residents of all ages since it opened. Thousands of local folk have attended activities there.
External organisations have also used facilities at the Prentice Centre. Granton Information Centre currently has a satellite office there and the building was also home for North West Carers, among others. Dads Rock held Saturday sessions there and Tragic Carpet Theatre Company has also been running an over-50s drama group at the Centre.
Like other community organisations across the city, The Prentice Centre has found it difficult to attract sufficient external funding to compensate for shrinking council grants over recent years.
Finance, in particular or the lack of it, has always been a concern. I lost count of the number of AGMs I attended where former manager Elizabeth Campbell would catalogue the financial challenges. It was a running joke – we had a wee laugh about it every year. It doesn’t seem quite so funny now.
But this was the case year after year, and despite everything, the Centre worked minor miracles and managed to put on a pretty decent programme.
The Prentice Centre last fought a spirited – and ultimately successful – campaign back in 2016 to fight closure following savage funding cuts by the city council. Once again the Centre survived to fight again another day … then there was Covid.
The Covid pandemic hit the Centre particularly hard over the last two years, forcing shutdowns which meant that no income could be generated.
Costs have been cut to the bone, and staff have gone above and beyond to continue to provide a service, but now the soaring price of overheads – over which the Prentice Centre has no control – have finally made the Centre’s future untenable.
Dedicated staff Moira, Mary and Stuart are understandably devastated, but not surprised, by the news. Mary has been with The Prentice Centre for more than 24 years and Stuart has been there since it opened in 1997.
There’s no doubt that the centre’s closure will be a huge blow to the local area and it’s particularly cruel given that facilities are now slowly beginning to open up again after pandemic lockdowns.
A community event at Royston Wardieburn Community Centre last week saw large numbers of activists getting together once again after two years of virtual shutdown. The recovery has come just too late for the Prentice Centre, however.
Council leader Labour’s Cammy Day is a Forth councillor and he held surgeries in The Prentice Centre. In a statement, his office responded: “Cammy has met with the board and asked officers to engage with them to see if there is any support or advice we can provide.”
Manager Moira Fanning explained: “All avenues for accessing alternative funding have been explored, but there is just no money out there. We deeply regret that we will no longer be able to serve the West Granton community. We thank all our members for their support over the years”.
Thank you, too, Moira, Mary and Stuart. You really couldn’t have done any more.
Changeworks is delivering a series of food waste engagement activities in Edinburgh on behalf of the city council. The aim of these activities is to engage Edinburgh residents in food waste recycling and increase food waste recycling participation across Edinburgh.
The project includes a city wide social media campaign and two locality projects in Carrick Knowe and Balgreen.
Staff and volunteers from Changeworks, will engage with residents in these areas by providing advice, guidance and practical tools to support food waste recycling. The team will also measure kerbside food waste recycling participation rates to measure success.
If you would like find out more about this project please email us.
The gala has been a feature of the historic mining village for over 85 years and organisers kept the tradition alive during lockdowns by crowning the Gala Queen in a private family ceremony at Duntarvie Castle.
The events take place from Sunday 19 to Saturday 25 June, with the highlight being on the final day featuring the crowning of the 2022 Gala Queen followed by a parade around Winchburgh with over 250 children, the community growers, Winchburgh Wombles, the football club, bands and many more.
The event has been supported by Winchburgh Developments Ltd. Penny Lochhead, Community Engagement Manager, said: “We are delighted to be the main supporters for this year’s Winchburgh Children’s Gala.
“It has been great to support and take part in the return of this event and it is exciting to have the community come together for a week of celebrations, as it continues to expand and grow.”
Yvonne Ledgerwood, Winchburgh Children’s Gala Volunteer Committee Member, said:“We are delighted to be able to bring back the Winchburgh Children’s Gala to the village.
“It has been fantastic to see the local community and businesses come together in preparation for the gala and we are looking forward to a week of celebrations to mark this occasion.
“We would like to thank Winchburgh Developments Ltd for their continued support and for helping us make this year’s gala a celebration to remember.”
Thank you to all those who came to on meeting on Tuesday 14th. There was a good turnout and more importantly a lot of lively discussion on what the Association should be doing.
We briefly outlined the various things we already do and then discussed how to approach them to make them better and involve more people. We all agreed that rather than talks this coming season we should have meetings that concentrate on the different activities and explore what is happening and what we should do in each area.
We added the problem of the Cramond Inn to that list as everyone thought we should find ways to add to the pressure from CBCC to change ownership and reopen it as a community place. The History Section will continue to arrange talks as before so there will still be times to hear experts talk on their subjects!
Apart from the Cramond Inn we will have meetings on the Woodlands; the Walled Garden, the airport and noise amongst others.
We will also look at holding events such as the 4th of June or others and that may include a Christmas pantomime!!
It will be different and will be exciting with new people involved, and there is room for many more so get in touch if you would like to be involved – either through our Facebook page or via the e-mail – info@cramondassociation.org.uk
The Management Committee and staff of Corstorphine Community CCC are delighted to confirm that as from Monday 20th June, their new base will be at Westfield House, 5 Kirk Loan, Corstorphine, opposite the Astoria Hall.
We are continuing to pursue the option of a Community Asset Transfer in order than we can occupy the premises on a permanent basis.
We are in the midst of organising the new building and it is planned that activities / groups will recommence from 4th July with the shop operating from the ground floor of the building.
Contact details remain the same for the new location:
DRYLAW/Telford Community Council is to introduced fortnightly litter picks across the area following the success of a recent cleanup on the cycle path near the Red Bridge.
The first one takes place this Sunday – location and meeting time will be confirmed when the community council meets at Drylaw Neighbourhood Centre tonight.
To get involved, to suggest clean-up hot spots or for further information check out Drylaw Telford Community Council on Facebook or email CC secretary Pam Higgins at pamhigginsdtcc@gmail.com
SUPPORT THE CAMPAIGN TO SAVE DRYLAW NEIGHBOURHOOD CENTRE
