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The tallest knitted Christmas tree in Scotland project has reached the halfway mark. The knitters are aiming for an ambitious height of between five and six metres for the tree, about the height of a giraffe, but are more than happy with progress so far.
The veritable army of knitters in Edinburgh and beyond has been busy knitting multi-toned green squares and colourful Christmas baubles and decorations for several months now, and are celebrating having reached the halfway stage. They now have 5,000 squares and need another 2,500 while the pile of decorations has reached the 1,000 mark, about half of what is needed.
The community project, based at the Heart of Newhaven Community (the old Victoria Primary School), has given people across Edinburgh a purpose for their knitting and is creating a real sense of community.
The squares are also coming from across the UK, sent by people who are happy to contribute to the imaginative project.
The tree is being supported by knitters in Edinburgh and the surrounding area as well as from as far afield as Liverpool, Southport, Luton, Norwich, Fife and Inverness.
Children at local primary schools have been learning to knit with the help of the Tree@ The Heart supporters and in return have been handing in their green squares. Local care homes have also been getting involved.
It is hoped the ambitious project will encourage donations which will go towards improved disabled access at the Heart while Homestart is the chosen local charity that will also benefit.
The Heart is now beginning to get ready for the official reveal on 30th November when the Tree will be the star of the show, but centred around the growing tree, there will also be a Christmas craft market and live music.
The team knows that there are many squares still out there but the Heart is open and ready to receive them all.
Apart from the current knit and natter sessions at the Heart (see the website Heart of Newhaven) there will now be new Friday afternoon sewing sessions to get the final branches ready.
They’ll be held on the following dates from 2 – 4pm: 5th July, 19th July and 2nd August.
The sewing sessions will concentrate on sewing the squares into leafy triangles ready to go on the Tree, while the trunk is being created by the craftsmen at the Men of Leith’s Men Shed, who are based at the Heart.
Everyone is invited to go along and join in at one of the knit and natter or sewing sessions. There’s always a warm welcome!
The Heart of Newhaven Community
‘Bringing People Together’
This election could be the most unequal in 60 years, with people on low incomes being shut out of our democracy.
The #VoteYourValues campaign gives our members access to tools that can help people in their communities get vote-ready.
In a democracy, everyone’s voice matters equally.
So it’s completely unjust that so many people on lower incomes get shut out from using their vote. This General Election looks set to be the most unequal for more than six decades, due to a ballooning turnout gap at elections and the growing role of money in British politics, according to a recent report from IPPR.
We can help change this.
In the run-up to July 4, we will be working with Citizens UK’s Voter Registration Champions scheme to raise awareness about how people can register to vote.
Poverty Alliance members can download PDF posters to put up in their centres, and an infographic that they can share on their social media networks.
The Scottish Hindu Foundation held its inaugural ‘Dharmocracy Works’ event on May 25, 2024, at The Fred Paton Centre in Glasgow. The event aimed to engage and inspire Scottish Hindu youth to understand and actively participate in the political system.
The well-attended event featured representatives from all the major political parties, including:
Youth Engagement and Insights
The program kicked off with introductions and an interactive session where questions by young members of the community were posed to the panel of politicians. young aspirant Shreya Deshpande [12] asked if they had always wanted to go into politics or had other career aspirations. The panellists shared how most grew into politics after time in either the private sector or through the ranks of their respective parties.
The second question posed concerned professional skills gained in their time in politics, the politicians uniformly agreed on – listening skills and problem-solving abilities.
The third question that was selected for the Panel requested insights for the next five years on the Scottish economy, expected to be a central issue following the recently called general election on July 4th 2024.
Alison Thewlis shared her vision on how future industries will be connected to the environment whilst Paul Sweeny offered an integrated example referencing the Beatles record label also being an investor in Medical Technology leading to breakthroughs in CT Scans.
Mr Bostani said Scotland’s inability to borrow means we can’t put money back into the economy as we should. Naveed Asghar raised his concern on rising taxes in Scotland and supporting the best of existing industries, health care etc and ensuring that higher professional earners are not de-incentivised from staying in Scotland due to punitive taxes.
This must be controlled to make Scotland more lucrative for people to move. Pam Gosal talked about how AI as an industry can fuel growth.
All the panellists concurred that Scotland had a pivotal role to play and the next generation is capable of thriving and succeeding.
Keynote Address:
Dhrishti Bhardwaj [17], the first elected Hindu MSYP (Member of the Scottish Youth Parliament) from Dumbarton and the Vale, shared her inspiring journey into politics.
Driven by a desire to explore her Hindu and Scottish roots and a passion for public service, she gained experience with more than ten organisations and charities, from food banks to youth groups and work experience with MSP Jackie Baillie.
Importance of Hindu Representation
Dhrishti emphasised the crucial need for Hindu representation to ensure their voices and needs are considered in politics.
She highlighted the difference Scottish Hindus could make by being involved and the pride they would feel through participation. She also highlighted that professional career and politics are not mutually exclusive and can be balanced efficiently.
As the only Hindu MYSP, she proved it is possible despite the underrepresentation of Hindus in the political system. Hindu youth can make strides over the coming generations and represent the best of both Scotland and the Hindu Community.
Closing Remarks: “Dharmocracy” Concept and Voter Registration Drive
Dr. Yatish Rangappa, the Scottish Hindu Foundation’s Public Relations Officer, explained the unique ‘Dharmocracy’ concept, a compound word combining ‘Dharma’ (righteousness, truth and Justice) and ‘Democracy.’
Dr Richa Sinha, Chairperson of the Scottish Hindu Foundation, shared insights on future Dharmocracy Works engagements planned across various cities due to significant community interest.
She also highlighted their “Register to Vote” campaign to ensure Hindus, including those new to Scotland from Commonwealth countries and a large number of Indian students coming to Scotland, are registered for the upcoming July 4th elections.
The event concluded with a networking session over chai and samosas, allowing youth to interact informally with various party leaders. Some youth were even roped in for campaigning!
*Scottish Hindu Foundation is the official representative body of Hindus with All Scottish Mandirs part of it.
Scottish Labour’s Spokesperson for Culture, Foysol Choudhury MSP, has today emphasised the need for Scotland to re-focus on engaging with community culture organisations.
Mr Choudhury was speaking following a meeting of the Scottish Parliament’s Cross-Party Group (CPG) on Culture and Communities which he convened on Wednesday 28th February.
The CPG saw presentations from groups Science Ceilidh, Art27 and Development Trusts Association Scotland and focused on the matter of Cultural Democracy in light of the ongoing Local Governance Review and Democracy Matters conversations.
Key themes which emerged from the presentations and subsequent Q & A were the needs to encourage communities to participate in their local culture and use it to address current topics by transmitting the community’s standpoint on local, domestic and international affairs.
Mr Choudhury says this is something he will continue to support community cultural groups in doing: “Culture is so important-it is the means by which we can understand our history, preserve our languages and traditions, and share our diversity with others in a vibrant multi-cultural society.
“That’s why it’s so important that communities are encouraged to engage in cultural endeavours-both to explore and transmit their own culture and to socially engage with a multitude of issues from their own cultural perspective.
“However, we must prioritise cultural democracy and make it easy for communities to engage with cultural exploration – this was made clear from the CPG meeting this week.
“I will continue to work hard as Convener of this CPG to reach out to grassroots cultural community groups and progress words into action, to ensure that the discussions we have at Holyrood can be translated into actual opportunities for communities.”
MSP Choudhury, who is also chairperson of community organisation ELREC, says he looks forward to hosting more CPG meetings soon and will invite the Minister for Culture to give all cultural community organisations an opportunity to have their voice heard by those in Holyrood.
Reflecting on 25 years of the Scottish Parliament as well as a focus on the future will be the central themes of plans announced today to mark the Parliament’s institutions’ quarter century.
The Scottish Parliament plans include a year-long programme of engagement designed to involve people throughout Scotland in a conversation that both reflects on devolution and considers how we can shape the Parliament in future.
A special event will take place on Saturday 29 June at the Scottish Parliament which people across Scotland will be invited to join. Further details will be announced in the coming weeks.
The Presiding Officer will also visit regions all over Scotland, meeting people from all walks of life to hear their views and ideas for the future. These activities, together with other events to be announced, will enable communities up and down the country to help shape the Parliament of the future.
The Presiding Officer, the Rt Hon Alison Johnstone MSP said: “This year we will reflect on the Parliament’s record and the significant political events during 25 years of devolution. While that reflection is welcome, I also want the Parliament’s focus to be firmly on the future.
“I want to use this milestone as an opportunity to engage people all over country about their aspirations for their Parliament.
“I want to continue to build on and strengthen that relationship between people and Parliament and modernise Holyrood to ensure it meets Scotland’s needs for the coming years.”
Further details for our 25th anniversary will be announced throughout the year.
A special 25th anniversary themed Festival of Politics will take place in the Scottish Parliament in August.
The 25th anniversary year will also explore several themes from the Citizen Participation and Public Petitions Committee’s report on public participation.
This work identified a gap in our activities around making the Parliament visible in and engaged with local communities.
The theme of this years #SpringCleanScotland is Nature, Communities, Health & Wellbeing and Marine Litter. 
You can help us #KeepScotlandBeautiful by organising or joining a litter pick or by completeing a litter survey. 
Find out more here 
https://www.keepscotlandbeautiful.org/springclean
The city council’s Future Libraries engagement stage survey was launched on Friday (January 26) by Culture and Communities Convener Val Walker.
Earlier this month, the Convener visited the site of the new Macmillan Hub, which will include a new Muirhouse Library. This is a good example of modern library service delivery.
With the old Muirhouse library having been demolished in 2021, the new community hub at Macmillan Square is being developed in partnership with North Edinburgh Arts and will incorporate a creative arts space, our Early Years facility, employability support, six flats for social rent, and of course a thriving community library.
Work is expected to be completed later this year. This is part of the wider Pennywell and Muirhouse regeneration project.
In December 2023, the city council’s Culture and Communities Committee agreed a proposal to develop a new strategy and vision for the library service over the next five years.
The new strategy will consider ways to modernise services to meet changing community need, encourage participation, and address budget pressures. Further information on the plans are available on our website.
Going forward, taking in the views of service users, colleagues, and stakeholders before developing the draft strategy is key. The launch of the engagement stage survey will identify what works well, where changes could improve the service, and how delivery supports vulnerable groups. This will run for twelve weeks until April 19, 2024.
To take part in the engagement stage survey please visit our website.
The council will then use this learning in our follow-up Consultation stage, where people will have the opportunity to make comments on the draft strategy and any proposals for service change.
This will run from June 2024-August/September 2024.
Culture and Communities Convener, Councillor Val Walker said: “It was fantastic to visit the site of the new Macmillan Hub and see firsthand the future direction of our libraries taking shape.
“I’d encourage everyone to take part and engage with our Future Libraries strategy. This is a really exciting opportunity to make your views heard on the services which matter to you and your communities.
“I’d like to thank Council colleagues for all their hard work going into the development of a new libraries strategy and I look forward to seeing its progress over the coming months.
“We’re committed to getting the basics right for the people of Edinburgh and our thriving libraries network is a key part of our priorities for the city.”
The City of Edinburgh Council is asking residents to give their feedback on a long-term plan for decarbonising heat in buildings and improving energy efficiency.
With six weeks to go until the consultation closes on 3 March, residents across the capital are being asked to share their views on the Edinburgh Local Heat and Energy Efficiency Strategy (LHEES) and Delivery Plan. Available to take part in online, the results will be used to build on the engagement and consultation carried out to date.
The Council has prepared the Edinburgh LHEES, along with a Delivery Plan, in response to the Local Heat and Energy Efficiency Strategies (Scotland) Order 2022. The policy requires all Scottish local authorities to publish a LHEES, and a Delivery Plan, by the end of 2023.
The Edinburgh LHEES sets out a strategic approach which aims to improve the energy efficiency and decarbonise the heat supply of buildings. It also plans to eliminate poor energy efficiency as a driver of fuel poverty.
Using an area-wide approach, the plan addresses all buildings in the Edinburgh area, not just the Council’s own building stock.
The Delivery Plan, which focuses on actions between 2024 and 2028, sets out short to medium term actions associated with the implementation of the strategy. It prioritises areas where actions may be easier, cheaper, or have a known outcome. For example, adding loft insultation means less heat escapes through the loft.
Councillor Cammy Day, Council Leader, said: “My thanks go to everyone who has taken the time to share their views with us so far. The unfortunate reality is that we are in a climate emergency.
“There is still time to avert disaster if we take bold and immediate action at the speed and scale necessary. That’s why we have set the ambitious but necessary target for Edinburgh to become a net zero city by 2030.
“Whilst we continue to lead the way in our efforts, we still have a long road ahead to reach our goal in addressing the climate and nature emergencies. As part of our work, I am pleased to welcome the Edinburgh Local Heat and Energy Efficiency Strategy and Delivery Plan which sets out how our buildings can move to net zero.
“The plan is relevant to all owners and occupiers of Edinburgh’s buildings, but it can only be delivered by the combined effort of all of us. I’m very keen to engage with our residents on this important plan and hope this consultation allows them the opportunity to have their voices heard.”
The consultation closes on Sunday 3 March. Find out more and share views here.
A Holyrood Committee which has been considering how the public engages with the Scottish Parliament has published a new report which makes a series of recommendations on removing barriers to participation, embedding deliberative democracy and establishing regular ‘Citizen’s Panels’ to support the scrutiny work of the Parliament.
The Citizen Participation and Public Petitions Committee (CPPPC) undertook a year-long inquiry into Public Participation, recognising that the views of some groups and marginalised communities across Scotland weren’t being heard enough in the Parliament.
The inquiry focussed on what more could be done to bring the Parliament closer to the people and how to improve wider public participation in parliamentary scrutiny.
To assist the inquiry, the Committee established its own “Citizens’ Panel” – a group of 19 people from across Scotland who were asked: “How can the Scottish Parliament ensure that diverse voices and communities from all parts of Scotland influence our work?”
The Panel met over two weekends in late 2022 and made 17 recommendations which were published in the Committee’s interim report.
Following this, the Committee concluded that the Parliament should use Citizens’ Panels more regularly to help committees with scrutiny work as they give the public a greater voice and can help achieve consensus on difficult issues.
The Committee has recommended that the Parliament should hold two further Citizens’ Panel pilots this session, one undertaking post-legislative scrutiny and the other looking at a live political issue.
Following these panels, the Committee will then review how well they worked before seeking to suggest a more permanent model that the Parliament can adopt after the 2026 election.
The Committee recommends that, each time a Panel is set up to help a committee with an inquiry as recommended, the subsequent report should be debated in the Parliament Chamber, with Panel members invited to watch from the public gallery.
As well as considering how future Citizens’ Panels might work, the Committee has considered other ways that people can find out what the Parliament is doing, and how to get involved. Some of the ideas it looked at came from the recommendations made by its own Citizens’ Panel.
The Committee agreed with the need to reduce the barriers to public participation with the Parliament and supported additional recommendations including:
Throughout the inquiry, the CPPPC examined various mechanisms for citizen engagement and looked at how “Citizens’ Assemblies” at varying levels of government were being implemented and operated in other European countries including Belgium, France and Ireland.
Committee members also considered suggestions for broader Parliamentary reform put forward by the Panel including changes to the Code of Conduct for MSPs, an evaluation of the Presiding Officer’s authority to ensure Ministers give adequate responses to questions, and the possibility of dedicating weekly parliamentary time for the public questioning of Ministers.
Commenting, Convener of the Citizen Participation and Public Petitions Committee, Jackson Carlaw MSP said: “Over the course of the past year, we’ve heard time and time again that the Parliament doesn’t hear enough from some groups and communities across Scotland. This report is therefore a significant milestone in our pursuit of a more inclusive parliamentary process.
“The recommendations, particularly the introduction of increasingly regular Citizens’ Panels and the embedding of deliberative democracy in the work of the Parliament, underscore our commitment to amplifying diverse voices.
“This report sets a strong foundation for a more participatory and collaborative democracy in Scotland, and we hope it will be welcomed by the Citizens’ Panel that was integral to its development, as well as Parliamentary colleagues from across the political spectrum.”
Citizens’ Panel member, Jaya Rao, from the North East said: “Participating in the Citizens’ Panel and visiting the Scottish Parliament was a truly enlightening experience.
“Interacting with diverse individuals and witnessing the democratic process first-hand has deepened my appreciation for our shared commitment to a better future for Scotland.”
Citizens’ Panel member, John Sultman, from Glasgow added: “This experience has shown me how much difference turning up and speaking up can make.”
Citizens’ Panel member Alan Currie, from Glasgow. said: “Our seventeen recommendations were taken seriously by MSPs and the Committee, due to the facilitators, experts and presentations, which enabled us to learn more about not just the Parliament, but the concept of deliberative democracy, improving parliaments ability to reach and engage the public.”
The full report and recommendations can be found on the Scottish Parliament website.
Alongside this the report is being published in a longer version and a summary version, in multiple languages, in BSL and Easy Read, reflecting the range of groups who engaged in the inquiry and demonstrating the importance of making the Parliament’s work accessible to all.
