Remember there’s free training available for community councillors too:
Free courses for community councillors from the Improvement Service and The Open University in Scotland are available in digital skills, business skills, finance and fundraising, and community and society.
Sign up online and complete them in your own time:
After a year and a half of virtual events, we’re heading back out on the road!
We’ll be holding a number of small events around Scotland, bringing people together outdoors for a natter about all things community, a cuppa, and maybe even some cake!
These gatherings will be small, safe, community focused events that help us get together again to simply chat, catch up, share stories and hear from others.
Whether you’ve been part of our network for ages, attended a Community Camp (at the Eden Project or online) or are just interested in meeting other people and groups that share an interest in making positive change in their local neighbourhood, you’re most welcome to join us.
All events are free, but spaces are limited so registration is essential.
Follow the Eventbrite link for more detailed information on each location and to book your place:
During the winter of 2020/21, Carnegie UK ran a series of online conversations under the banner Rethinking Scotland. We asked for people’s views on what needs to happen and who needs to act to put some of Scotland’s big ideas into practice.
The key shift they identified was in the need for greater democratic wellbeing, by opening up policy making to more diverse voices, and moving from consulting to sharing power with citizens and communities.
We are publishing this to coincide with the 10th anniversary of the Christie Commission in order to support the shared agenda of improving public services for our citizens and communities.
As always, we are happy to discuss the issues and insights or receive any feedback on this paper.
Sistema Scotland has announced that a new Big Noise programme will begin in Wester Hailes, Edinburgh in spring 2022. The project will work in partnership with City of Edinburgh Council and with Clovenstone, Canal View and Sighthill Primary and Nursery Schools.
Big Noise Wester Hailes will work initially with all children in Primary 1 and 2. Over the course of its first year, the programme will expand to reach all nursery to Primary 3 age children, approximately 400 participants in total across the community.
Big Noise will grow year on year, retaining the involvement of the children as they age, and introducing the next generations of nursery and Primary 1 children. It will ultimately work with babies through to school-leavers in Wester Hailes, as well as offering opportunities to stay involved in the programme as adults.
Big Noise is a high-quality music education and social change programme, where the symphony orchestra becomes a community which supports children and young people to gain vital life skills such as confidence, resilience, creativity and aspiration.
Through music and nurturing relationships, from infancy to adulthood, Big Noise supports participants’ wellbeing and helps them reach their full potential.
The programme also aims to strengthen the amazing communities where it is based; developing relationships with participants and their families based on mutual respect, trust and a commitment to work together and tackle inequalities for the long term.
While there are currently four Big Noise programmes, operating in Raploch (Stirling), Govanhill (Glasgow), Torry (Aberdeen) and Douglas (Dundee), this will be the first Big Noise programme to be based in Scotland’s capital city.
Independent evaluation of the Big Noise model by the Glasgow Centre for Population Health has shown that taking part in Big Noise helps children to improve their concentration and language skills, enhance their problem solving and decision making, increase their self-esteem and develop strong friendships and support networks.
Benny Higgins, Chairman of Sistema Scotland, said: “Sistema Scotland believes that all children and young people have great skills, talents and potential. We also know that many of Scotland’s communities face long-standing inequalities and challenges that make it extremely difficult for children to achieve their hopes, ambitions and dreams.
“The impact of Covid-19 has greatly exacerbated these inequalities. Now more than ever, we must think and act creatively to ensure Scotland’s children are given the opportunities and support that they deserve.
“Our charity is committed to ensuring that more children and communities across Scotland are able to take part in Big Noise and I am delighted that Wester Hailes will be the home of the next Big Noise programme.”
Councillor Ian Perry, Education, Children and Families Convener for City of Edinburgh Council, said: “I am extremely pleased to welcome Sistema Scotland to Edinburgh.
“I very much look forward to seeing the Big Noise programme in action, working with and supporting children, young people and families within the Wester Hailes community.”
Nicole Killean OBE, Chief Executive of Sistema Scotland,said: “We are greatly looking forward to starting a new Big Noise programme in Wester Hailes which will work in partnership with children, young people, families, schools and the community for many years to come.
” We also hope to work alongside local charities and community groups to bring additional support and value to Wester Hailes.”
Sam Laidlaw, mother of three from Wester Hailes, said: “Big Noise coming to Wester Hailes is such a great opportunity. Taking part in Big Noise will help the children grow their confidence.
“I’m excited to see the joy in the children’s faces as they explore music and movement. They will also come away from the programme with the ability to play a musical instrument by the time they leave high school which is great.
“I think Big Noise will help bring the community together and bring people together from different areas of Wester Hailes. I think it will bring a sense of pride to the community.”
Nicola Benedetti CBE, internationally-renowned violinist and official Big Sister to the participants of Big Noise, said: “Sistema Scotland’s consistent dedication to quality and expansion is an inspiration to all of us and I am so excited that they are finally in Edinburgh with this new Big Noise programme at Wester Hailes.”
The Walled Garden is reopening to the public this weekend!
The garden is coming into bloom and bursting into life and we would like to welcome the public back to this little haven. We will be opening our doors to the public on Saturdays and Sundays, 2 to 4PM, from 8th May.
Our enthusiastic team of volunteers and trustees have been hard at work preparing the garden for the coming year and we are investigating ways to restore our valued, historic structures. We have plenty of ideas for the garden, so many thanks to our supporters and funding bodies. When visiting the garden, we will have our donations box at the entrance, please feel free to support us if you wish so.
We are putting in place a one-way system and will have sanitising gel available to make our walled garden a safe, green, space to come and enjoy the open air.
Volunteers and staff will be on hand to answer questions and tell you about the exciting past, present and future of one of Edinburgh’s oldest walled market gardens.
Development Officer Appointment
The Friends have appointed their first Development Officer!
Georgia Forsyth Sijpestijn has worked and volunteered in north Edinburgh for almost a decade and is excited to have started last month. With a background in community gardening, organic farming and communications, we welcome her to the new role.
She will be on hand to answer any questions, manage social media and communications. You can find her most days in our Bothy, so please do come say hello!
AGM Date Set
We are holding our AGM online, open to all members for voting on 26th May at 5:30PM.
More details will follow but please get in touch if you would like to become a member of the charity or renew your membership and have your say in what goes on.
We are always growing and exploring new ideas, so please email us at grantongarden@gmail.com to request a membership form and sign up for free
Opening Hours for Visitors
2 – 4pm Saturday and Sunday.
Our Volunteer Hours
Please contact us through our Facebook, email or Volunteer Edinburgh to sign up.
11am – 1pm: Monday, Wednesday, Friday and Saturday.
The Scottish Parliament debated the report of Scotland’s first Citizens’ Assembly on Thursday 18 February.
MSPs welcomed the Assembly’s shared vision and 60 recommendations for the country’s future, ahead of an action plan on the Assembly’s findings to be published by the next Scottish Government and a further debate to be held by the new Parliament following the election in May.
Parties were urged to take forward the Assembly’s work through manifesto pledges.
The Assembly’s report was published last month. The vision and recommendations were agreed by an overwhelming consensus of members, and cover a wide range of areas including future citizens’ assemblies, incomes and poverty, tax and the economy, health and wellbeing, support for young people, sustainability and further powers for the Scottish Parliament.
Following the report’s publication, Assembly members met virtually to discuss their vision and recommendations with ministers from the Scottish Government, including the Cabinet Secretary for the Constitution, Europe and External Affairs Michael Russell and a number of other ministers.
Last week, the Scottish Parliament and the Scottish Futures Forum held an event convened by the Presiding Officer which brought together members of the Assembly, a political panel and a number of MSPs to discuss and consider the vision and recommendations of the Assembly ahead of the Parliamentary debate on Thursday.
The report of the Citizens’ Assembly of Scotland can be read online at citizensassembly.scot
To accompany the report, a short film on the Vision and Recommendations agreed by the Citizens’ Assembly of Scotland, and featuring the voices of members is here:
All of the materials including evidence from previous weekends, an interim report and range of supporting papers covering previous work and articles and videos about the impact of COVID-19, together with recordings of plenary sessions, are available on the Assembly website
Scotland has another Citizens’ Assembly underway. Scotland’s Climate Assembly is tackling the question: “How should Scotland change to tackle the climate emergency in an effective and fair way?” and will continue its work over the next few months.
A Scottish Parliament Committee has criticised the implementation of the 2015 Community Empowerment (Scotland) Act saying that not enough has been done to empower people from deprived backgrounds to take action in their communities.
The report by the Local Government and Communities Committee reflected on the impact of two key areas of the act aimed at empowering communities: participation and asset transfer requests. They concluded there is clearly work to be done in raising awareness of both, particularly in disadvantaged areas.
The Committee say a lack of resources and support at grassroots level is hindering progress in empowering communities, with the Scottish Household Survey revealing only 18% of Scots feel they can influence decisions affecting their local area.
They say more must be done to identify how to overcome barriers to engagement and have called on the Scottish Government to work with public bodies and COSLA to help communities use their rights to challenge and influence decisions and services.
With only just over 60 participation requests made since 2017, the Committee says it doubts whether, as suggested by one local authority, that indicates high levels of satisfaction with local services and that local communities feel more empowered.
They say that institutional views amongst councils that participation requests denote “failure” are holding back progress and need to change, and have recommended that the Scottish Government introduces an appeals mechanism to improve the process.
The Committee welcome the generally positive view stakeholders have of asset transfer requests. But they express concern with evidence that these requests can run into a wall, when the asset belongs to, or is operated by, an Arms-Length External Organisation (ALEO).
The report asks for clarity from councils and ALEOs to agree who owns which assets, and to make this information accessible to help improve the process.
Speaking as the report was published, Local Government and Communities Committee Convener James Dornan MSP said:“Our extensive engagement work has made it clear to us that community wellbeing is synonymous with community empowerment. Engaged and empowered communities are essential if people are to feel they have a real say in how their community operates.
“We’ve heard a number of really inspiring stories showing community empowerment driving positive change but it’s clear more must be done to ensure communities across Scotland, and particularly those from disadvantaged areas, can be a part of this.
“The Committee is concerned by evidence we have received of bodies coming across as indifferent or even hostile to the rights communities have to influence decisions.
“Knowledge is power and there is no doubt more must be done to raise awareness of participation requests and asset transfer requests which can give communities the tools to feel empowered.”
He added: “We appreciate that councils have faced unprecedented challenges this year as a result of the pandemic, but we are disappointed that local government did not play a bigger role in our inquiry.
“We are also very concerned by the low level of compliance from local authorities and public bodies with the formal reporting requirements outlined in the 2015 Act and this must be rectified so we can monitor the levels of community engagement.”
When Scotland first went into lockdown in March 2020, a wave of uncertainty and fear was felt throughout society as people were told to stay at home, to save lives.
But as schools, shops and offices closed, communities did not.
Local people and grassroots groups were quick to come up with innovative ways to help during the crisis. Social action accelerated and became a central feature of Scotland’s response to the lockdown and ongoing challenges of coronavirus.
In July 2020 Social Action Inquiry partners commissioned The Collective to lead on a short-term piece of research to capture the stories and lessons learned from communities coming together to help.
From food drop offs to phone calls to isolated neighbours, volunteering and wellbeing support, the research brings to life the ways people developed creative approaches to make a difference.
The final research report Together We Help is now available and shines a light on the power of communities to mobilise and initiate social action in response to the issues that matter to them.
Eighteen community researchers gathered insights from 367 people involved in social action in their local areas, asking what inspired them to be involved and what lessons can be learned to build a fairer Scotland.
The research suggested that the stigma associated with accessing support such as food banks in times of need may have reduced as demand for these vital services increased dramatically throughout lockdown in 2020.
Community researchers also found that offering support and participating in local responses to the coronavirus crisis was both a ‘blessing and a curse’ as while it helped people to feel more connected to their community it also increased awareness and feelings of frustration at the growing levels of inequality on their doorstep.
This independent inquiry will look at how communities take action and will try to contribute to a Scotland where social action is valued and is able to make change happen in communities.
