Tag: Community

Swinney scores with Social Growth Fund at Spartans

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John Swinney launches new £16 million fund at Spartans

Cabinet Secretary John Swinney and Social Investment Scotland (SIS) visited The Spartans Community Football Academy on Thursday to formally announce the launch of a new £16m Social Growth Fund.

The Social Growth Fund, run by Social Investment Scotland (SIS), brings together an investment of £8m from the Scottish Government and a further £8m from Big Society Capital, the independent financial institution set up to develop social investment in the UK.

SIS is using the fund to expand existing investment activity within Scotland’s third sector, and to launch a new risk capital product for the Scottish social investment marketplace. This will provide long-term finance from £10,000 to £1m with repayments tailored to each organisation’s needs.

Alastair Davis, chief executive of SIS, said the new fund will enable it to provide considerably more support to social enterprises and community businesses across Scotland.

He said: “This funding support will in turn help these local organisations improve the lives of people within their communities by making them much more self-sufficient and sustainable.”

John Swinney said Spartans, which currently receives SIS support, is a good example of how this kind of funding works to better communities.

The Cabinet Secretary said: “I am delighted that the new Social Growth Fund for Scotland is now open for applications. This is an exciting opportunity for third sector organisations in Scotland, allowing them to continue their vital work within our local communities.

“Today I have seen the great work that has been achieved by the Spartans Community Football Academy in the local area, with police and youth groups noting a huge reduction in call outs and antisocial behaviour. The facilities here at Spartans show what can be done with the type of funding the Social Growth Fund will provide.

“Through schemes such as this, social enterprises will be able to have a greater role going forward, bringing more benefits to the communities they serve.”

In tandem with this new funding, SIS has also launched a Great Social Enterprise Tour – visiting five cities in five days next week – to raise awareness of the Social Growth Fund amongst local social enterprises across Scotland. The events will provide social enterprises with a chance to speak directly to an investment manager about how social investment can support the sustainability of their business.

Monday 12 May – Glasgow: The Lighthouse, 10am till 12pm

Tuesday 13 May – Edinburgh: Out Of The Blue, 10.30am till 12.30pm

Wednesday 14 May – Inverness: The Spectrum Centre, 1 – 3pm

Thursday 15 May – Aberdeen: Transition Extreme, 12.30 – 2.30pm

Friday 16 May – Dundee: The Factory Skatepark – 12.30pm till 2.30pm.

Alastair Davis, Chief Executive of Social Investment Scotland, added: “The Social Growth Fund will enable us to provide considerably more support to social enterprises and community businesses across Scotland. This funding support will in turn help these local organisations improve the lives of people within their communities by making them much more self-sufficient and sustainable.

“However, we also recognise that applying for funding can be a daunting prospect for many organisations, as it frequently represents a change in the way they do business, moving from grant dependency to a mix of income streams. Our Great Social Enterprise Tour is aimed at addressing this uncertainty by providing social enterprises with the answers they need to start moving their organisations on to the next level to create longer lasting social impacts.”

Nick O’Donohoe, Chief Executive of Big Society Capital, added: “Social Investment Scotland is a leading example of how regional social finance managers can play an important role in helping charities and social enterprises to access social investment, through their deep knowledge of the needs and challenges of a local area. They have an exceptional track record of delivering social investment support to organisations in Scotland, and we are pleased to have been able to help them to continue doing this.”

Big Society Capital’s investment in Social Investment Scotland is the first of its kind in Scotland since its formation last year, and will increase Social Investment Scotland’s funds under management by a third. It is the largest investment in SIS for twelve years and the largest ever investment by an external organisation.

Organisations who are looking for investment should call a member of SIS’ investment team on 0131 558 7706 to discuss possible funding or support.

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Case Study: Spartans Community Football Academy

The Spartans Community Football Academy is a social enterprise and charity located at Ainslie Park in North Edinburgh which uses sport to deliver social change. Their local community includes some of the most deprived post codes in Scotland. With support from Social Investment Scotland, the Spartans have invested £4.5m in the last 5 years to build first class facilities and services which generate commercial income, the profits from which are re-invested to deliver their charitable objectives.

In the past 15 months, Spartans business has continued to grow, enabling them to increase their social impact. Some recent highlights are:

  • Delivery of 1000+ hours of youth work based provision in 2013, including the Friday FooTEA club, where young people can enjoy a ‘hot meal’, take part in various activities and develop/grow at their own pace (a model which has been rolled-out & replicated elsewhere across the country)
  • Delivery of 850+ physical activity and coaching sessions in local schools in 2013, helping them to meet their 2 hours of PE target per week
  • Creation of 4 x Homework Clubs – using a ‘Game of 2 Halves’ model – in local primary schools, helping local schools to increase academic attainment levels
  • Over 1200 sign-ups for our community coaching programmes in 2013, catering for recreational -> elite players
  • Over 100,000 users of our range of Academy facilities in 2013
  • Runner up in the Scottish Social Enterprise of the Year 2013 awards

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Spartans go the eggstra mile for local kids

Special delivery to The Haven Project
Special delivery to The Haven Project

The Spartans Community Football Academy made an ”eggstra’ special effort to ensure that no local kids go without an egg this Easter – and the result of their community appeal was more than 300 Easter eggs!

The Academy distributed the donated Easter Eggs to a number of  community groups and organisations across North Edinburgh yesterday, and they would like to thank everyone who supported the appeal.

Cracking result!

(NOTE TO SELF: make that the last of the Easter yolks jokes)

Our Vision: Church calls for community to be at heart of referendum debate

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The Church of Scotland has called for community and integrity to be at the heart of the debate the country’s future. The call is made in ‘Scotland’s Future: Our Vision’, a report based on the views of over 900 people who attended 32 community events run by the Kirk across Scotland as an alternative national debate on the referendum. 

While the 28-page report does not come down on either side of the yes/no debate, ‘Our Vision’ is an interesting insight into Scots’ views on the future of our country and is another welcome contribution towards wider debate. Among the conclusions:

• The referendum is about far more than the simple question “what is in it for me?” The idea that being £500 better off or worse off would affect how people vote was conspicuous by its absence in all 32 events. Instead, participants prioritised the building of local communities on the principles of fairness, justice and sharing of resources

• Dissatisfaction with the political system at all levels, not just Westminster or Holyrood also featured strongly. Participants wanted to see integrity, accountability and transparency, being able to hold politicians accountable between elections and for the party system to be less powerful

• Call for radical changes including far greater local decision-making and for politicians to see themselves as public servants in a more participative democracy

• A modern, successful economy needs limits placed on free market forces; business models should be more focused towards the employee and more value driven. There was a willingness to consider alternative and more progressive models of taxation to build a better society

• There was a strong expression of the need for prayer and for the Church to be involved in social action and in promoting Christian values such as love, hope, respect and forgiveness, as the fundamental building blocks to contributing towards the common good.

Sally Foster-Fulton, Convener of the Church of Scotland’s Church and Society said: “It is an inspiration to see that people in communities across Scotland are challenging the political status quo. The Church of Scotland is committed to finding ways to transform our political debate to ensure that wellbeing and values, such as justice, cohesion and sustainability become the measures for economic activity.”

Click on link (below) to read the report in full:

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MIKAEEL: BODY FOUND

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Woman – believed to be mother – detained

A body, believed to be that of three year old Mikaeel Kular, has been found in Fife. The news came just before midnight and police also confirmed that a woman – reported to be the boy’s mother – has been detained.

Late last night senior police officer Assistant Chief Constable Malcolm Graham, clearly distraught,  broke the news that everyone had dreaded – but had increasingly anticipated.

ACC Graham said: “The investigation into the disappearance of Mikaeel Kular has been wide-ranging and fast-moving.

“As a result of these inquiries I can confirm that we have recovered the body of a young boy in Fife shortly before midnight. We have informed the family and the investigation continues.

“A person has been detained in connection with the death.

“I would like to sincerely thank everyone who has shown such a fantastic response to the incident in terms of assisting the police with searches and in terms of our appeals for information and coming forward to assist with information.

“Without such vital assistance the police cannot do their job assisting those who live and work in our communities.

“As a result of this development clearly there will now be no requirement for any further help in relation to searches in the Drylaw area.”

For three days of his short life Mikaeel has been the most famous wee boy on the planet, and information about just how, when and why an innocent three year old lost his life will follow over the coming days.

For now, though, North Edinburgh will slowly get back to mundane, everyday life. Instead of joining mass searches, residents will be shopping, going to football games, cleaning windows and a hundred and one other humdrum activities. North Local Office and West Pilton Neighbourhood Centre will return to the normal routine.

But, with the eyes of the world on our neighbourhood, the North Edinburgh community can be very proud of it’s magnificent response to an appeal for help. It’s deeply sad that such an uplifting community effort was unable to help achieve the happy ending we’d all hoped so much to see.

And after Mikaeel, North Edinburgh will never be quite the same place again.

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Citadel Arts to stage free panto

Citadel Arts Group, a Leith-based theatre and living memory company, are to perform ‘McScrooge’, a free family panto, at the Kirkgate Community Centre later this month … 

We’re performing a pantomime, ‘McScrooge’on 20th December at 1.30pm in the Kirkgate Community Centre. It’s a free show for all the community and to mark the launch of a book of living memories, ‘You Never Forget the Stories’ – reminiscences of Leith and beyond’.

All the participants live locally or have strong Leith connections. The group includes a Newhaven celebrity, Ron Cattell, who directed the Gang Show and the ‘Children’s Hour’ shows in the Ross Bandstand for years. Some of his fascinating stories are in the book.

We’re also inviting members of the Leith Drama Team, our youth drama group, to the show to lead the shouts of ‘He’s behind you!’ – it’s a traditional panto lasting just half an hour.

It would be great to see you!

Liz Hare

www.citadelartsgroup.co.uk

McScrooge poster

Parents can go back to skool tomorrow

Edinburgh’s primary schools are opening their doors tomorrow (5 November) as part of a campaign to get parents to send their children to their local catchment school.  Primary Schools Open Day will allow parents with pre-school age children to have a look around and learn more about their local school.

A concerted campaign by the Council resulted in the lowest ever number of parents making out of catchment requests last year as more families sent their child to their local school, and parents should be aware as birth rates continue to rise there is less space in schools which means fewer placing requests will be granted.

Councillor Paul Godzik, Education Convener urged parents to choose their local school and support their local community. He said: “I’d encourage parents to go along and see their catchment school for themselves next week. Sending children to their local school can have many benefits for parents, children and the community where they live.

“A great example is Castleview Primary School which in a recent inspection by Education Scotland was rated as one of the best primary schools in the country.

“More and more families are realising the positive benefits catchment schools offer as shown by the record low number of placing requests last year. I think there is also a growing recognition that the days where you could choose which primary school you wanted your child to go to have gone.

“Next week’s open day is a fantastic opportunity to pop in and have a look around and see your local school in operation. Staff will be on hand to show-off some of the great work taking place as all of our schools offer a high quality education.”

Any parents with children under primary school age are welcome to attend and parents who may be thinking of moving into an area may also find it useful.

Further information on catchment schools and the Open Day, including times for the different schools, can be found on the Council’s website www.edinburgh.gov.uk/primaryschoolsopenday

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Wow! Lottery funding for local womens’ project

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The Big Lottery Fund Scotland announced its latest package of funding worth over £5.5 million to eleven projects across Scotland today – and Leith-based Women onto Work (WoW) was one of the biggest winners, receiving a grant of £600,000.

Big Lottery Fund Scotland Chair, Maureen McGinn, said: “I am delighted to announce this latest round of grants from our Investing in Communities portfolio. JMT Care Services’ In Touch project supports young people as they leave care and Midlothian Sure Start is helping fathers, who have complex issues, develop a relationship with their children. Women onto Work will provide skills and experience for women across Edinburgh to take that first step back into employment and I am delighted that our money will help to expand this service further. All three projects are focusing on the heart of the community, trying to ensure a good start for our children and young people. They are doing extremely valuable work helping people in need and building stronger, more connected communities. These are excellent examples of the type of project we wish to fund and it is good to know that today’s grants will enhance the services they provide.”

Based at Norton Park, Women Onto Work receives a grant of £600k to provide help to women across the capital who need a bit of extra support to help them get back into the workplace. Each woman who enters the “Ready For Work” programme will receive tailored training and be able to access one to one coaching support which will help to signpost them to further education, training, job clubs or volunteering opportunities.

WoW Business Development Manager, Alex Lambert, said: “Women Onto Work has been supporting women who face barriers move towards employment since 1989. We help them to develop new skills so they have the best possible chance of finding sustainable employment. We are absolutely thrilled about this funding which means that we are going to be able to offer this platinum, personalised service to nearly 350 new clients over the next three years. These new clients will be women who live with a mental or emotional health problem and those who are struggling single parents. Women who are currently socially and financially marginalised and simply cannot get the help they need to progress through existing services.

“As well as scaling up our work to meet unmet demand in Edinburgh, the Big Lottery Fund award means we’re now going to be able to offer our service to women in the Lothians and Scottish Borders. We can’t wait to share this news with all of our partners and, most importantly, with the many women who are waiting for this service.”

Today’s funding is part of a package of eleven Big Lottery Fund Scotland, Investing in Community grants totalling £5,618,181. To see today’s other successful projects visit  http://news.biglotteryfund.org.uk/newsroom-uk.

North Edinburgh’s bubbling over with Burns

There will be at least two local opportunities to celebrate the birth of the Bard next Friday (25th January).

The Prentice Centre in Granton Mains is the venue for an afternoon debate and discussion on Scotland’s future (something Burns himself cared passionately about) while in the evening at North Edinburgh Arts the Transition Group’s latest World Cafe event will have a definite tartan flavour with a menu packed with Scottish favourites.

See flyers below for more details:

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Grierson celebrate Jubilee in style

Grierson Square residents celebrated the Queens Diamond Jubilee in style on Tuesday and even had their own ‘Griersonham Palace’.

VIP’s for the day Ella Thzaker, Margaret Slimon & Jim Slimon. (Pic: Thomas Brown)

The event was organised by locals Janet Munro and Andrina Pickavance, the two local have organised street celebrations in the past and thought that it was important to mark the occasion with their own street party. They told us “We have been planning this event for a few months, we had various meetings with our neighbours to ensure everyone was involved. Its all about the kids and giving them something to enjoy, we have races, prizes and lots of exciting things for them to do.”

Pin the tail on the Corgi with Nicola Spinks, Lucy Pickavance & Mhairi Pickavance. (Pic: Thomas Brown)

They also had there own ‘pin the tail on the Corgi’ this was a favourite among many of the younger children who attended.

They also had VIP’s for the day who were three local residents who had stayed in the Square for a number of years.

Event organisers Janet Munro and Andrina Pickavance. (Pic: Thomas Brown)

All the local people who attended had a great day and it was great to see such a great community spirit.