Good Friday event at Starbank Park

Are you looking for something to entertain your kids or grandkids this Easter? Perhaps involving a bit of fresh air and exercise? Better still, while you relax and let them get on with it? Maybe some tea/coffee?

The Friends of Starbank Park are organising an Easter Egg Trail on Good Friday. It will last one hour from 10:30 to 11:30.

There will be a mixture of eggs to find and some of the eggs have a special prize attached!

To be eligible, children should be aged between three and eight years old.

And to follow? Well, there’ll be some sunflower seed planting – which means you can bring the children back at regular intervals to see how their own particular sunflower is growing!

Bill Rodger, Trinity CC

Habitats for Happy Ageing

Is there such a thing as a habitat for happy ageing? How does where we live affect our mood? Why is it so important to get outdoors in later life?

Come along to our FREE event on the UN International Day of Happiness to hear from experts in happiness and place, take a mood test, browse photos of people’s
‘happy places’ and see how Edinburgh has changed over time.

Friday 20 March 2.30 – 4pm

Reid Concert Hall, Bristo Square

To book your FREE place:

Phone 0131 651 5834 or email OPENspace@ed.ac.uk

#happyplacesUN

Habitats for Happy Ageing 20 March 2015

May date set for Spartans’ sports day

Hundreds of local primary school children will be taking part in a major sports event being organised by Spartans Community Football Academy Event at Ainslie Park in May.

SCFA Youth and Community Worker Jamie Tomkinson said: “The Spartans Community Football Academy Sports Day will be held on the 20th of May. Eight local primary schools are involved – we reckon that will be around 350 P7s over the course of the day!”

Twelve different sporting activities will be delivered by local agencies on the day: Kabo boxing, Edinburgh Judo, Edinburgh Leisure, Fet-Lor, Granton Youth Centre and MY Adventure will all be supporting the programme – and Keith Cook, who is a five-time Commonwealth Games medallist, will share his fencing skills. NEN, North Edinburgh’s community newspaper, has been invited to cover the event.

“Lorna Cruikshank, one of our young volunteers, will deliver a hockey station and we have a local samba band coming along to create an atmosphere and do a show for the opening ceremony!” Jamie added. “Many organisations have come on board to support the day – Ainslie Park Leisure Centre are letting us use one lane of their pool for the triathlon and Nike, who were a major part of last year’s success, will be volunteering throughout the event.

“There’s a lot of organising to be done and we are putting the finishing touches to the programme but the Sports Day is going to be a lot of fun – we’re all really looking forward to it and I’m sure the P7s are too!”

Get involved in GYC’s Big Obstacle

I am getting in touch to tell you about ‘The Big Obstacle’, an event being organised by three young people from Granton Youth Centre.

‘The Big Obstacle’ is a 5k fun run with obstacles. It will be held on Sunday 29 March 10am-1.30pm at Cramond Promenade.

This event is being planned and organised by 3 young people from North Edinburgh, who have worked hard to secure funding from Starbucks for their event.

The aim of the fun run is to give local youth organisations a platform to fundraise, raise the profile of the great youth work that goes on in North Edinburgh and also to encourage local young people to participate in physical activity.

There will be two races on the day, one for 11-17 year olds and one for 18+. We will also have a fun day event at the same time, where we would like youth organisations to have a stall to promote their work.

We are looking for young people and adults to enter our fun run and organisations entering the run will get a free stall at the fun day.

All participants signed up to the run will have the opportunity to take part in a 4 week running club in preparation for the event. Places are limited and will be on a first come basis.

If you would like to find out more about the event and how you can get involved please get in touch at thebigobstacle@grantonyouth.com.

I will look forward to hearing from you!

Kerry Shand
Youth Volunteer Coordinator
Granton Youth Centre
3-11 West Granton Road
Edinburgh
EH5 1HG
0131 467 5854

Dig out those platform soles for the ultimate 70s Disco!

We are ‘Flare Events’: students attending Edinburgh College studying for an HND in Events Management. As part of our course we will be running a fundraising charity event on Saturday 14 March from 8pm to 11pm and held at The Cav, Edinburgh.

We will be hosting a themed 70’s Disco called ‘Flare – the Ultimate 70’s Disco’ which we hope will be very successful on the night. Our chosen charity is Radio Forth’s ‘Cash for Kids’ which is, I’m sure you will agree, a very worthy cause supporting disadvantaged children in Edinburgh, the Lothian’s and Fife.

Tickets available through Flare Events:

by e-mail:events.flare@gmail.com

or via our Facebook page/FlareEventsEdinburgh

Calling ladies in Leith …

INTERNATIONAL WOMEN’S DAY EVENT

Monday 9 March

South Leith Parish Church Hall

10.30am – 4.30pm

Tickets from £3

A programme of dance, song and comedy

Two exhibitions and Alternative Health Fair

Scarecrows for my Valentine?

LOVE IS STRONGER THAN HATE!

Komic Brew is proud to announce the publication of Scarecrows – a full colour fantasy picture book for the whole family, written and illustrated by renowned Bosnian author Berin Tuzlic.

To mark this occasion a launch event will take place, in the presence of the author, tomorrow (Saturday 14 February) at 2pm in the Scottish Storytelling Centre, (http://www.tracscotland.org/scottish-storytelling-centre), featuring readings, projection of animation films and exhibition. Entry is free.

Scarecrows is set in a desolate dystopian future where the media(s) control the world and tells of a friendless little girl who meets a boy trapped in a TV set. She wants to release the boy and play with him, but the media scarecrows attack from everywhere. Will the girl be able to fight off the scarecrows and release the trapped boy?

“You could say that the story of Scarecrows is a variation on “The Ugly Duckling” by Andersen with a Tim Burton aesthetic”, says the author. Questions initiated by this short story include: are we slowly losing our humanity? Who are the real monsters? Can love overcome the fear and hatred that seems to permeate society?

“We immediately fell in love with the book,” said Adam Armit, the publishing director of Komic Brew. “Fans of Tim Burton’s universe will appreciate the visual treatment, rich in colour and expressionist atmosphere, while lovers of the written word will enjoy the originality of this unusual story.” This is a book that holds a mature, thought provoking story. The poetic approach to the narration, together with the naiveté and the fantastical futuristic set result in a strange multi-layered hybrid that will appeal to the whole family.

A successful Kickstarter crowd-funding campaign in December 2014 helped finance this beautiful book. Scarecrows will be available in both printed and digital formats from tomorrow.

This enterprise signifies a great deal to Komic Brew and will cement what is hoped will be a long-term relationship both on a business and cultural level.

What the press has said:

“I read a lot of books. A lot. But this one is one of the best e-books I got to review in the last period. Illustrations: Great, Great, Great!!! And Again! Great!” – Land of Children’s Books (http://landofchildrensbooks.blogspot.fr/2014/12/scarecrows-illustrated-fantasy-book-for.html)

“Scarecrows’ 72-pages of full colour splendor will not leave you indifferent. ” – Artist Opus Magazine (http://artistsopus.com/featured/scarecrows-a-full-colour-fantasy-book/)

“I loved the message of Scarecrows, but there was much more to this simple book than that. This was about knowing there is someone out there who will love you and be your friend, no matter how alone you feel. ” – Lisa Kay Tate, Minion Feeding 101.

“My first thought was Scarecrows was really cute, but it was also kind of sad, the way the little girl didn’t have any friends. I loved the artwork. ” – Molly Kay Tate (age 12), Minion Feeding 101 (http://minionfeeding101.com/2014/11/komic-brews-scarecrows/)

About the creator

In a prolific professional career spanning two decades, Berin Tuzlic has produced and directed many animation films, comic books, music videos and commercials. He is president of the ASIFA BiH – the Bosnian branch of the International Association of Animation Films and also founder of PIXEL – Association for Art & Visual Communication. His films have been screened in all major festivals in the world, and he regularly participates in group and solo exhibitions.

“There is a multitude of media everywhere in today’s world. They are in our homes, on the streets, in our cars, even in our pockets, on our mobile phones. As medias fight each other for exclusive, sometimes shocking materials, the boundaries of good taste are erased and everything is submitted to the law of quantity: getting more viewers in any possible way.

Humanity is slowly becoming immune to feelings: we are getting used to seeing terrible things happening in the world, that we barely react any more to poverty, war and injustice. These are some of the deeper issues that are just under the surface of Scarecrows.” – says Berin.

About Komic Brew

The Edinburgh based publishing company, Komic Brew is a bit of a strange creative formula, consisting of one part Scot + one part Macedonian. It was co-founded by Adam Armit and Goce Cvetanovski and has a focus on graphic novels, comic books, and comic strips in the fantasy, SF and horror genres. Planned secondary activities include the publication of board and card games.

There are a number of comic series and graphic novels in different phases of production. There are also plans to publish four series that have not been previously available in English before.

To find out more and see some of the planned projects and current artwork, please visit the Komic Brew website at www.komicbrew.com

Burns ceilidh: celebrating community at Royston Wardieburn

That Man to Man, the world o’er,

Shall brothers (and sisters!) be for a’ that

A Burns Night is about many things. Good food, shared with friends, family or neighbours – and sometimes all three! Burns is about love, about comradeship and about community but if there’s just one word that captures the spirit of Scotland’s national Bard it’s ‘celebration’ – and all those elements were there in abundance at Royston Wardieburn Community Centre last night.

Yes, last night’s Community Celeidh celebrated the memory of Burns but it was more than that – it was a vibrant, living tribute to all the good things Burns work extolls: a warm, friendly gathering of friends and neighbours of all ages, interests and ethnicities joining together to have fun in each others’ company.

Organised by Royston Wardieburn Community Centre, Granton Community Gardeners and Pilton Community Health Project’s Living in Harmony group the evening built on last year’s event and proved to be a huge success.

Around 150 people – aged from three months up to … well, a good bit older! – enjoyed a traditional Burns Supper and were entertained by the excellent Homecoming String Band and a succession of local performers, all made poosible and supported by a team of enthusiastic volunteers who were always on hand to make sure the evening went smoothly.

Congratulations to the organisers, the band, the excellent team of volunteers and the local performers who entertained us so regally on the night: the poets, the musicians, the singers and the wee dancer – you were all brilliant!

And thanks, too, the the local community who came along to support the event and whose enthusiasm made the evening such a success.

Rabbie would be proud of you all – here’s to next year!

Visit our Facebook page for more ceilidh pictures

Pie pie baby, baby good pie!

Upper crust Roller Les is back on the gravy train!

Bay City Rollers front man Les McKeown has confirmed that he will crown the the new World Scotch Pie Champion when the world championships are held in Cumbernauld next week.

Les McKeown, the voice of Edinburgh’s 70’s super group – singing hits such as Bye Bye Baby, Shang A Lang and Give A Little Love – said: “We love a great pie and always stock up when we are on home ground. Touring non-stop around the world means we need to keep our strength up, so we always say ‘aye to a pie’! Being a judge again this year was a huge honour and I am looking forward to congratulating all the winners.”

The competition is supported by Scottish Bakers and the Scottish Federation of Meat Traders. Both trade associations actively support and promote bakers and butchers in Scotland by encouraging and sharing best practice.

Alan Clarke, chief executive of Scottish Bakers, is delighted with the support that the Bay City Rollers star is giving to the competition. He said: “They are an iconic Scottish band and the Scotch Pie is an iconic Scottish product.”

In addition to Scotch pies, bakers and butchers are invited to enter their best sausage rolls, bridies, specialty savouries, Scottish football pie and apple pies.

The competition gives butchers and bakers across Scotland the opportunity to become recognised as producing the highest quality products around the globe with awards given to those producing the best products in each category. The winner of the Scotch Pie category will be declared as the WORLD CHAMPION.

The competition, which has run for 15 years, aims to highlight that bakers and butchers create high quality artisan pastry products. Recognising the ‘great and the good’ in this way rewards excellence and raises the bar in the industry.