All of our grounds, shop, takeaway coffee Kiosk, and restaurant The Lookout will also be open so make some plans and let us welcome you back to Calton Hill. Opening hours are 10am-4pm Thurs-Sun throughout May, and 10am-5pm Tues-Sun from 1 June.
Collective’s events programme also resumes this month.
We’re really looking forward to fully opening our doors to visitors again.
Social distancing measures will be in place to keep you safe – if you have any concerns or questions about visiting Collective drop us a line at mail@collective-edinburgh.art
The UK’s leading garden centre retailer, Dobbies Garden Centres, demonstrates its support for the Royal Horticultural Society’s (RHS) National Gardening Week (26 April – 2 May) with the launch of new sustainable products in the Edinburgh store and the start of its #sustainabledobbies campaign.
Market leaders in the garden centre sector, Dobbies is committed to educating about the importance of soil health and delivering environmentally-friendly practices and products, and sustainable solutions.
Dobbies supports the RHS’s aim to enrich lives through plants and make the UK a greener place. This year, the RHS is encouraging everyone to get their ‘dose of Vitamin G’ by taking a few minutes each day to connect with nature. Dobbies will share dedicated National Gardening Week content focused on #sustainabledobbies which will build and develop throughout 2021 both online and instore.
A key part of Dobbies’ sustainability pledge is to reduce the use of peat, plastics and pesticides in its product range. The team are on track with the commitment made in 2020 to be 90% peat free in 2021 and 100% peat free in 2022. The retailer has also worked with nursery suppliers to produce a roadmap for an annual reduction in peat use.
Dobbies is launching a number of new sustainable products in the Edinburgh store and online. Landing in store this week are biochar products from Carbon Gold – Carbon Gold Biochar Fertiliser and Biochar Soil Improver – with Dobbies being the first leading garden centre to stock these products.
Carbon Gold’s biochar products are 100% peat and chemical-free, FSC Certified and Soil Association organic approved, and are used by professionals the world over, including conventional and organic crop growers, tree care specialists and even elite sports greenkeepers.
Biochar is so high in carbon that adding it to soil permanently sequesters CO2 from the atmosphere. In fact, biochar acts like natural magic in the garden, with significant and permanent benefits proven to boost the health and vitality of plants.
A garden centre first, in the next month Dobbies will launch compost bag recycling in store, in partnership with Evergreen. This will initially launch in 10 stores, with further roll out planned in 2021. New pot recycling stations will also be installed, building on the success of the pot return scheme, as well as a commitment to increasing recyclable plant pots and single use plastics.
As part of #sustaintabledobbies, there is additional focus on the safer range of pest control products, to reduce the impact on beneficial garden insects and wildlife. The retailer does not stock weedkillers that contain glyphosate or slug killers that contain metaldehyde, and rodenticides have been delisted.
Graeme Jenkins, CEO of Dobbies, said: “At Dobbies we pride ourselves on providing the best gardening products, services and advice, and it’s also our responsibility to care for our environment.
“Sustainable practices have been a core focus for some time and we are pleased to support National Gardening Week with #sustainabledobbies.
“It’s our duty to raise awareness and promote better sustainability practices among our suppliers, team members and customers, and we look forward to sharing news of new products and services in our Edinburgh store over the course of 2021.
“As well as reducing our use of peat, plastics and pesticides and providing our customers with recycling opportunities, we are also proud supporters of Terra Carta from HRH The Prince of Wales’ Sustainable Market Initiative – helping make the UK a greener place.”
Mike Hartshorn, MD of Carbon Gold, said: “After seeing a massive boom in retail sales last year, we’re absolutely thrilled to have our biochar products on shelves at Dobbies’ Edinburgh store in time for Spring 2021.
“Gardeners, home growers and allotmenteers have always wanted their plots of outdoor space to be healthy, vibrant and disease and pest free, but these days making sure they’re also environmentally friendly is rising up everyone’s lists of priorities.
“Our biochar products, which have always been the professionals’ best kept secret, are the perfect replacement for unsustainable peat-based products because they really work and they’re actually good for the environment. It is the gardening product of the future!”
For National Gardening Week, Dobbies has released a new podcast episode focused on sustainable gardening. Horticulture Director, Marcus Eyles, joins host Louise Midgely to discuss Dobbies’ sustainable aims and new product launches, as well as practical advice on how gardeners can care for the environment at home.
For keen gardeners in Edinburgh there are also two new FREE virtual events, which will support the #sustainabledobbies focus: https://www.dobbies.com/events
· 8 May – Time to Colour Your Garden
· 15 May – Roses – The UK’s Favourite Flower
Follow and support Dobbies sustainability campaign using the hashtag #sustainabledobbies
The discussion will focus on helping us see our true selves.
When you take away the body and the mind that comes with it, you are left with the soul which is pure energy. That energy glows like a shining light within ourselves.
During the ups and downs of living a life with constant distractions at our doorsteps, we disconnect ourselves from our true nature which is full of love, compassion, positivity, honesty, kindness, euphoria, and peace.
We need to take time out daily to connect to that self of ours where we can find ‘home’ and find the peace we all long for in our lives.
Join us by clicking on the link below on Wednesday 14th, April 2021, at 5.30pm:
Scottish Ensemble is putting wellness centre stage with brand new events aimed at enhancing wellbeing through both music, and techniques and tools aimed at helping people find calm.
At a time when so many are struggling in terms of their mental health – coping with working from home, home-schooling, loneliness and even bereavement – SE launch Breathe: Music and Your Mind with Maggie’s, three events inspired by their longstanding relationship with the charity.
Supporting and developing their brilliant work with people with cancer and their families by bringing live music into their centres, which they have been doing since 2016, SE are taking their music and mindfulness sessions online with three free, one-hour events on Sunday 28 March at 3pm and Tuesday 30 March at both 2pm and then again at 5.30pm.
The ensemble will continue to share its trademark music for strings alongside reflections from Maggie’s Lead Psychologist, Lesley Howells, on how we can all use music in our daily lives to help us feel better.
Listening to music is one of the easiest ways to enhance well-being and the ensemble are encouraging audiences from all over the world to join them in escaping the rigmarole of the daily grind and restrictions and to help restore focus in an undeniably tumultuous world.
Young people’s mental health is also at risk due to the pressures and anxieties stemming from the pandemic, so the ensemble has also programmed a Maggie’s event for schools on Monday 29 March at 12.30pm.
Like the events for adults yet tailored to the needs of school age children (years P6-S6) this event will address the types of stresses these young people might be encountering, while perhaps also introducing them to new music.
With the increase in pressure on everyone’s mental health, we could all do with taking some time out for ourselves and these special performances will help viewers find new ways to listen and give them a taste of how to channel music to sweep away daily pressures.
William Norris, Interim Chief Executive at Scottish Ensemble said:“These free events give people a much-needed opportunity to switch off, step back, and put their own wellbeing centre stage.
“Maggie’s Centres are at the forefront of the quest to improve mental wellbeing with music and conversation, and the way they resiliently continue to improve the lives of so many every single day is truly inspiring.
“We’re delighted to be working with them again to help bring the soothing and stress-relieving power of music to as many people as possible, and can’t wait to see what this partnership brings in the future.”
In addition to these events, Scottish Ensemble continue to promote innovation and collaboration with 2021 digital programme as they announce new film First Light with celebrated Guest Director Max Baillie.
Premiering online on Thursday 29 April at 7.30pm (and available to view online thereafter for ticket holders until midnight on Monday 7 August) First Light is a collaboration between SE and self-described cross-pollinator, soloist, chamber musician, improviser and member of Lodestar Trio and ZRI, Max Baillie.
First Light is an uplifting concert featuring works by Haydn, Vivaldi, Jessie Montgomery, Steve Martland and Max Baillie himself, performed by SE musicians Kate Suthers, Kana Kawashima, Tristan Gurney, Laura Ghiro and George Smith on violin, Jane Atkins and Andrew Berridge on viola, Alison Lawrance and Naomi Pavri on cello, Diane Clark on bass and Jan Waterfield on the harpsichord.
Bringing life and energy to audiences via their screens, First Light signals the transition from darkness to brighter times and Max will lead viewers on a journey through joyful, uplifting and optimistic music, bursting with luminosity.
From Jessie Montgomery’s explosive Starburst, through the tempestuousness of a new string ensemble arrangement of Haydn’s ‘Fifths string quartet to Vivaldi’s vivacious Concerto Grosso in G minor, the programme presents a visual and sonic dialogue between old and new, between the human and the natural, between darkness and light.
Working with Flux Video to create a striking film, Scottish Ensemble invite audiences old and new to join them online to re-energise. Created under Covid-secure conditions First Light was filmed in the Engine Works, Glasgow; a venue that brings the tradition of Glasgow’s proud industrial history and blends it with a modern, contemporary and visionary concept.
William Norris,Interim Chief Executive at Scottish Ensemble, said: “First Light symbolises the transition that we are all going through right now, both in terms of slowly coming out of restrictions and also the changing of the seasons.
“Max brings a unique creative flare to everything he does, and his music-making reflects our values around innovation, reaching new audiences and promoting cross pollination of sounds and styles; it has been a privilege to have worked with him.
“We really hope our audiences, both new and existing, enjoy tuning in.”
Max Baillie, First Light Guest Director, said:“It was an absolute pleasure working with Scottish Ensemble to create First Light, which to me symbolises positivity and hope as we look towards spring and the rest of 2021.
“We have all had to adapt over the past 12 months and to be able to work with such a forward thinking, adaptable and innovative organisation was a hugely refreshing and rewarding experience. I really hope that audiences the world over enjoy First Light as much as I enjoyed making it.”
we are hosting on Zoom the 2020 Cockburn Annual Lecture. Professor Cliff Hague, chairperson of the Cockburn Association, will give us a talk entitled “Whose Festival is it Anyway?” followed by an Q&A with the audience.
Focusing on what Edinburgh’s Festivals should look like in the future, Prof Hague will assess why the sheer scale of Edinburgh’s Festivals has become a source of controversy to many residents. He will also offer some suggestions how these events might become more citizen-friendly from 2021 onwards.
His talk will build on the “Our Unique City” manifesto produced by the Cockburn Association that outlines our vision for life in Edinburgh in a post-COVID era.
Tickets to the event are free to Cockburn Association members and by donation to non-members. Please book on our Eventbrite page here. Only ONE ticket per screen, per event is required to be booked.
If you enjoy our Cockburn Conversations and other events please do consider becoming a member of the Cockburn Association – The Edinburgh Civic Trust.
We are an independent conservation charity and we need your assistance to help us continue protecting Edinburgh’s wonderful civic amenities and unique built heritage.
Hundreds of participants from around the world have signed up for the Great Scottish October Challenge.
We would like to wish all our October Challengers best wishes as they set out on their chosen events over the next month. Here are just a few of our overseas October Challengers.
Ross from Australia, Clare from Canada, Louise from Denmark,Heinz from Switzerland, Petra from Germany, Tracy from New Zealand, Svein-Erik from Norway, Victor from Kenya, Valtine from Romania, Janice from USA, Emilie from France, Aline from Ireland.
To all those who have not joined it’s still not too late to take up the challenge:
Today, the nation will join together to celebrate the 75th anniversary of the end of the Second World War in Europe.
The special day will evoke memories of the jubilant scenes on the streets as Britons cast off the shackles of war – but the service and sacrifice of the WW2 generation will not be forgotten.
At 11am there will be a national two-minute silence, which will also honour those so devastatingly affected by the coronavirus crisis, and DBS staff are invited to participate from their homes. There is no right or wrong way to take part – some may wish to stand at their windows, step outside while remaining socially distanced, watch the broadcast on TV or simply sit in quiet reflection.
Whilst the UK is unable to celebrate this day as originally planned, it is important that we do everything we can to virtually mark the 75th Anniversary of VE Day on Friday 8 May.
You can tune into TV coverage on the day to pay tribute and respect to the Second World War Generation. There will be various dedicated shows across radio stations and TV channels.
Lord Provost Frank Ross writes about alternative ways to commemorate the 75th Anniversary of VE Day:
This Friday, 8th May, marks 75 years since the guns fell silent and the Second World War in Europe came to an end.
Our original plans were for the city to come together to mark this important anniversary with a series of events in the Capital. More than 100 Second World War veterans were due to take centre stage in West Princes Street Gardens as the whole country paused to remember the generation who sacrificed so much on a special bank holiday Friday.
Unfortunately, the ongoing Covid-19 pandemic has forced the cancellation of these events but I believe it remains important to remember the sacrifice, courage and determination shown during World War Two and do what we can to mark the important anniversary.
As we remember and pay tribute to the struggles the war time generation faced, we’re experiencing an uncertain and difficult time ourselves. As we honour VE Day we can look to that generation and learn from their resilience, determination and hope for better days to come.
While we can’t have street parties and celebrations in pubs, or services in churches, as with many other areas of our lives, we can join in virtually.
On Friday (8th May) from just before 11am there will be a virtual service of remembrance which will be broadcast live on the Legion Scotland Facebook page.
The service will be followed at midday by a virtual tribute concert, featuring performances from several of the groups who had been lined up for the Princes Street Gardens concert.
Poppyscotland have a range of online and virtual activities that you can get involved in including learning resources for young ones to a guide to hosting your own “virtual” VE Day party.
Whilst of course it is disappointing that the events have been cancelled, we are all playing our part by remaining indoors and I hope everyone takes a moment to remember those who fought for us. I will be joining the nations toast at 3pm and then we all have the chance to join a national singalong of Vera Lynn’s “We’ll Meet Again.” as part of the BBC 1 programming. Surely to be very emotional.
It’s been a tremendous effort to rearrange how we can celebrate the day and I want to thank Legion Scotland and Poppy Scotland.
We must all remember the struggles people went through during the second world war and let us use their resilience and determination as inspiration to carry everyone through the difficult period we’re facing during the pandemic.
As always, my thoughts and prayers are with everyone who has been touched by the Coronavirus. Let’s do what we can (safely) in these challenging times to mark this significant occasion.
National commemorative events – 8th May
11am Two-minute silence for a national moment of remembrance
2.45pm Commemorative programme on BBC One
3pm Nation’s Toast to the Heroes of WW2
8pm Commemorative programme on BBC One.
9pm Her Majesty The Queen will send a message to the nation on BBC One, at 9pm, the same time her father, King George VI, gave a radio address in 1945. Followed by a national singalong of Dame Vera Lynn’s ‘We’ll Meet Again’.
This first appeared in the Evening News on Wednesday.
