Tag: Drylaw Neighbourhood Centre

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
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EWE’ve got to be joking! Drylaw bench is MOOving out!

Drylaw’s lonesome stone bench is moo-ving on to pastures new. The striking stone bench – which features the heads of a sheep and a bull (or maybe a ram and a cow!) to signify the area’s past use as farmland – will make the short journey east from Drylaw Field to a new home at Drylaw Neighbourhood Centre after repeated attacks by vandals. 

The stone bench was the centrepiece of an upgrade to Drylaw Field six years ago – the bench was unveiled by then Lord Provost George Grubb in September 2007 (pictured below).

BenchProvostAlmost since it’s introduction, however, the sculpture has been the targeted by vandals. It’s been spray-painted, graffiti has been scrawled on it, attempts have been made to set it on fire and it’s been physically attacked with rocks and boulders – it now looks like it has gone ten rounds with Mike Tyson and it’s a sorry sight (below).

Given the punishment the animal seat has taken over the years, Drylaw Telford Community Council has reluctantly decided to find a safer new home for the beast.

“It’s sad that we’re having to do this, but the bench was being slowly but surely destroyed and the community council agreed that this was the only course of action we could take”, said Alex Dale, chair of Drylaw Telford Community Council. “I spoke to Roy Douglas, manager at Drylaw Neighbourhood Centre and they are happy to take the bench there. The bench won’t be as visible as it was in Drylaw Park, but local residents will still be able to see it when they visit the Centre and at least it will be safer there – the Neighbourhood Centre has CCTV and other security measures so we hope there may be a good few years left yet in the Drylaw bench.”

Staff at the city council’s North Local Office will supervise the move later this month. It’s not known at this stage whether officers from the Scottish SPCA will also be in attendance.

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Addiction issues? Think SMART

North Edinburgh Drug Advice Centre (NEDAC) is to launch a new service at Drylaw Neighbourhood Centre next month. The SMART Recovery programme offers support to people who feel they may be drinking too much and individuals whose compulsive or addictive behaviour is causing problems.

Sessions will be held in Drylaw Neighbourhood Centre every Friday from 10 – 11.30am, with the first one taking place on Friday 28 June. For further information call Kennedy at NEDAC on 332 2314.

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Minister pledges support for community growing schemes

Scotland’s growing Grow Your Own movement was given extra support by Rural Affairs Secretary Richard Lochhead during a visit to Drylaw Neighbourhood Centre this morning. The minister was impressed by the Centre’s Drylaw and Telford Community Gardens project, and after meeting some enthusiastic volunteers Mr Lochhead endorsed the workings of the Grow Your Own Working Group.

Made possible through Climate Challenge Funding, Drylaw’s community gardens project has now been running for three years and – like the healthiest of plants – has continued to thrive. From small beginnings the project has flourished and now encompasses two orchards and vegetable and flower beds at Drylaw Neighbourhood Centre, along with a number of patches of once unused and unwanted across the area which have been transformed. And it’s not only flowers and vegetables that have flourished – the number of volunteers involved in the gardening project has grown too, and the group has supported te development of gardening projects at nearby Ferryhill and Rowanfield schools.

Richard Lochhead met Centre staff and volunteers to talk about the project before going on to plant some tatties with Brendan and Brandon, two green-fingered helpers from Rowanfield School. He also met members of the Centre’s enthusiastic gardening group who proudly displayed their recenty-created willow tunnel.

The Minister said: ”  There are so many benefits to projects like this one, and I am really very encouraged and impressed by what I’ve seen in Drylaw today. It’s been great to see the contribution of the staff and the enthusiasm of the volunteers and it would be great to see these ideas replicated all over Scotland. I’ve also learned some posh new recipe ideas from some of the young volunteers, so well done to everyone involved!”

garen4Mr Lochhead’s support for community initiatives like Drylaw Community Gardens follows the launch of a consultation on simplifying and overhauling Scotland’s allotment rules, and there are three meetings taking place for people to air their views – in Inverness, Glasgow and Edinburgh. Twenty seven recommendations were made in a report from the Grow Your Own Working Group (GYOWG) that covered six key themes: planning, legal, skills, community land, guidance and funding. The GYOWG has been working collaboratively with the Scottish Government and other partners to deliver these recommendations.

Mr Lochhead said: “More and more people are looking to get their hands dirty by getting back to nature and growing their own food. Growing your own food allows people to eat the fruits of their own labour and understand where their food comes from – a topic which is high on the agenda at the moment. The work of the Grow Your Own Working Group is making it easier for people to do this by pulling people together to develop best practice and practical advice, and encouraging more people and groups to get involved.”

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David Jamieson, Chair of the Grow Your Own Working Group, said: “The wonderful garden in Drylaw is an excellent example of a community making the most of their local space to get active and grow food. We are delighted that Mr Lochhead is able to see for himself the fruits of their labour, and really pleased that the Scottish Government is doing so much to encourage communities across Scotland to do likewise.”

Cammy Day is vice-convener of the city council’s Health and Wellbeing Committee as well as being a member of Drylaw’s management committee. He said: “The health benefits associated with community growing include providing exercise in the open air – exercise which we can take at our own pace and therefore suitable for all ages; it helps to relieve stress and is of proven benefit to mental health and wellbeing. Locally produced food also contributes to healthy eating and helps to combat the risks of obesity and sedentary lifestyles. It also helps to reduce our carbon footprint, so contributes in a small way to the battle against climate change.”

He added: “The Community garden project has been a great success and it’s been a real community initiative that’s gone from strength to strength. I’d like to thank Roy (Douglas) and the staff and management committee at Drylaw Neighbourhood Centre, particularly Elizabeth (Graham) and her team of volunteers for all the hard work and effort they have put in.”

Jason Rust, also a city councillor, is legal adviser to Scottish Land & Estates. He added: “We are keen to see partnership working with public, private and community landowners making further land available for allotment sites and community growing spaces, and for awareness of the range of advantages to be increased. Drylaw is a great example of what can be achieved.”    

The Edinburgh allotment consultation meeting will be held on 

Thursday 16 May from 2 – 4pm in Saughton House, Broomhouse Drive, EH11 3XD.

For more information about growing your community, contact the Federation of City Farms and Community Gardens on 0131 623 7058, email scotland@farmgarden.org.uk or visit the website www.farmgarden.org.uk

You can also visit Drylaw & Telford Community Gardens on Facebook

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Drylaw youths get to work on Granton tunnel art project

On Sunday afternoon a group from Fet Lor Youth Centre, who have been involved in the designing of the art project at the Granton tunnel, got a chance to expand their painting skills with a hands-on session.

Nine of the young people aged between 15-19 turned up and got a chance to make their mark on the project. The young people have been working with artist Chris Young from MS Creative to agree a design for the tunnel and over the past three weeks Chris has been working hard (in all weathers) to get the project completed.


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A spokesperson from Drylaw Neighbourhood Centre, who are managing the project on behalf of the Edinburgh & Lothians Greenspace Trust said “It was a great opportunity for the young people who have been involved in the designing of this project to get the chance to come to the tunnel and experience this first hand. The young people have really enjoyed being involved in the project and having the chance to learn new skills has been excellent.

If you would like the chance to get involved or have any further questions please contact Drylaw Neighbourhood Centre on 0131 315 4989

Full agenda for community council meeting

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Drylaw Telford Community Council members will have plenty to discuss at next week’s regular monthly meeting. The possible introduction of new priority parking regulations in Maidencraig and Telford, the 21st Century Homes planning application for the vacant site off Ferry Road, the community council’s website and The Thomas Tierney Award recipient for 2013 – carried over from last month – are all on the agenda for discussion. There may also be time to discuss this year’s community council elections and there’s likely to be an update on the De Vere planning application for Helix House at Crewe Toll.

The meeting wll be held on Wednesday 27 March at 7pm in Drylaw Neighbourhood Centre, and, as always, members of the public are most welcome to attend. Hope to see you there!

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Benefits advice for carers

Are you a carer living in North West Edinburgh? Do you know all the benefits you, or the person you care for, may be entitled to claim – or do you find the whole benefits maze too complicated and confusing? Well, help is at hand!

North West Carers Centre will be holding free advice surgeries at their base in Drylaw Neighbourhood Centre on the second Tuesday of every month – next one is 12 March.

So if you’d like advice on what you, or the person you support, can claim or some help with completing forms call the Carers Centre on 315 3130 to make an appointment.