Did you know that Edinburgh is the loneliest city in the UK for older people?
@Vintage Vibes Edinburgh is a charity project that matches you with a wonderful older person who is local to you and has a shared interest, to create a fantastic friendship that meets once a week. It’s flexible, fun and fulfilling.
“You couldn’t have picked a better person, she is a great friend.” – Doreen
Interested? Email hello@vintagevibes.org.uk or go to vintagevibes.org.uk and sign up online
Pilton Community Health Project’s women’s Garden Cooking Club will be back tomorrow in #GrantonCommunityGarden at 12pm where we’ll #harvest #cook then serve up our famous and delicious #soup with crusty bread!
A brand new campaign from the Soil Association aims to tackle food insecurity and loneliness, starting this World Food Day on 16th October.
Anyone can take part in Cook and Share Month and hundreds of events are expected to take place across the UK. From Edinburgh to Inverclyde, people will be cooking and, you guessed it, sharing food in their local communities between 16th October and 16th November 2021.
Preparing and eating food is a great way to bring down barriers, so the organisers are encouraging people from all walks of life to take part.
Community groups, schools, children’s centres, faith groups and more will be getting busy in the kitchen and making food to share with each other, and with their local area, both remotely and in person where it’s safe to do so.
Need funding? Grants of £150 are available to help people get their cooking events off the ground, provided by Food for Life Get Togethers (FFLGT), a Soil Association programme funded by the National Lottery.
More details are below.
So why should we share our food?
Research has revealed that the more often people eat with others the more likely they are to feel happy and satisfied with their lives. Yet this year we have seen loneliness rise, exacerbating social problems that were already there.
The Office of National Statistics has published a report saying that loneliness in adults has increased during the pandemic by almost a third. From October 2020 to February 2021, results from the Opinions and Lifestyle Survey (OPN) showed that 7.2% of the adult population (about 3.7 million adults) felt lonely ‘often’ or ‘always’. This is an increase of 1.1 million people since the first UK lockdown in 2020.
Many people have become more isolated as a result of social distancing measures, which can have negative effects on mental and physical wellbeing. Holding a Food for Life ‘Get Together’ is a tried and tested way for people to connect with others in their local communities, through good food, safely.
In a recent survey of Get Together organisers, nearly 90% either agreed or strongly agreed that their activities created new friendships or developed friendships. More than 90% of Get Together organisers also agreed or strongly agreed that these activities supported people’s health and wellbeing.
Helen Browning, CEO of the Soil Association says: “The month is about using the power of great food to bring us together. At the Soil Association, we know that food has got to be good for us, and good for nature and the climate too.
“It has never been more important to create meaningful connections. We have seen over the past year that feeling connected to others is absolutely essential to good health and wellbeing. Food is one of our best ways to unite across barriers – whether that’s the garden fence, cultural or generational divides.”
Dale Cranshaw, Head of Food for Life Get Togethers adds: “Half of the UK population feel that Britain is more divided than ever before. To build stronger communities that can stand up to some of the urgent health, climate and nature crises of our time we need to get together.
“Cooking and sharing food is one of the best tools you have to bring people from different backgrounds or generations together. If you want to bring your community together you can do something about it this month by cooking, and sharing food that’s good for people and planet with your community.”
How can people take part?
Anyone can sign up for free on the website.
There are a range of resources available, helping organisers to cook easy, healthy recipes from scratch. Choose your favourite, from an Eritrean Daal to a simple, home-made bread roll.
The charity are also providing grants of £150 to help people get their cooking events off the ground.
An important part of Cook and Share month is helping people to cook from scratch, which has health benefits and often has a lower carbon footprint than alternative ultra-processed foods.
For more information, read the Soil Association Report on Ultra-processed Foods.
After a year of isolation and worry, it is more important than ever that we connect with the people around us. Whether you’re dishing up daal, sharing a sarnie or passing round the pasta, food is a great way to break down barriers and bring people together.
A community social group for people in Edinburgh, set up and run entirely by local volunteers, is looking to grow its membership.
The Out and About in Edinburgh Group was set up by Royal Voluntary Service, the national volunteering charity, with support from players of People’s Postcode Lottery. The group meets twice a month at Café Connect at the Eric Liddell Centre (Morningside Road, EH10 4DP) before heading off to visit a wide variety of local places of interest by bus. Continue reading Edinburgh community group welcomes new members
Mondays, 2pm
Saturday 21st September 1 – 4pm
Leith Community Croft, John’s Place
All Welcome
AMAZING HARMONIES
Mondays 6 – 7pm
West Pilton Neighbourhood Centre
3D model of Great Polish Map of Scotland unveiled
The newly restored Great Polish Map of Scotland and a 3D model of the monument have been unveiled. The 3D model, which has been created by Historic Environment Scotland (HES), highlights the cultural links between Scotland and Poland and will be presented as a Scottish contribution to the Polish independence centenary celebrations in November this year.
During a visit to the map’s site at the Barony Castle Hotel in Eddleston, Culture Secretary Fiona Hyslop said: “The Great Polish Map of Scotland is a fine example of Scotland’s ties and friendship with Poland. I congratulate the individuals and volunteers involved in its restoration for their incredible work.
“This restored version of the map and its digital model further strengthen the long-standing cultural connections between our nations and highlight our shared history and heritage.
“As we prepare to celebrate the centenary of Poland regaining its independence, we hope the 3D model will contribute to raising awareness of the strong bonds between Scotland and Poland.”
Ireneusz Truszkowski, Consul General of the Republic of Poland in Edinburgh, said: “We are delighted to be able to officially unveil the restored Great Polish Map of Scotland in the same year in which Poland is celebrating its 100th anniversary of regaining independence. The map has a great potential and I hope it will be used also for educational purposes that will benefit current and future generations of Scots and Poles, increasing the understanding of our common history.”
Alex Paterson, Chief Executive of HES, added: “We are very pleased to have collaborated with partners to digitally document the Great Polish Map of Scotland, particularly as we celebrate the European Year of Cultural Heritage. The 3D model of this unique site showcases our cutting-edge digital documentation work, and how this technology can be used to bring history to life.”
The Carnegie UK Trust has launched a new report, which explores how we can encourage kinder communities. The report, The Place of Kindness, finds that it can be hard to talk about kindness and that there are many things that get in the way of acting in a friendly, generous and considerate way. It identifies that, along with creating spaces and places to act in kindness, the simple fact of talking about it has a powerful effect on our behaviour. Continue reading Now’s the time to talk about Kindness
‘I saw a sight I shall remember to my dying day’
You will hardly credit what I am going to tell you: but thousands of our men will be writing home today telling the same strange and wonderful story. Listen.
Last night as I sat in my little dugout, writing, my chum came bursting in upon me with: ‘Bob! Hark at ‘em!’ And I listened. From the German trenches came the sound of music and singing. My chum continued: ‘They’ve got Christmas trees all along the top of their trenches! Never saw such a sight!’
I got up to investigate. Climbing the parapet, I saw a sight which I shall remember to my dying day. Right along the whole of the line were hung paper lanterns and illuminations of every description, many of them in such positions as to suggest that they were hung upon Christmas trees.
And as I stood in wonder a rousing song came over to us; at first the words were indistinguishable , then, as the song was repeated again and again, we realized that we were listening to ‘The Watch on the Rhine.’ Our boys answered with a cheer, while a neighbouring regiment sang lustily the National Anthem.
Some were for shooting the lights away, but almost at the first shot there came a shout in really good English, ‘Stop shooting!’ Then began a series of answering shouts from trench to trench. It was incredible. ‘Hallo! Hallo! You English we wish to speak.’ And everyone began to speak at once. Some were rational, others the reverse of complimentary. Eventually some sort of order obtained, and lo! A party of our men got out from the trenches and invited the Germans to meet them halfway and talk.
And there in the searchlight they stood, Englishman and German, chatting and smoking cigarettes together midway between the lines. A rousing cheer went up from friend and foe alike. The group was too far away from me to hear what was being said, but presently we heard a cheery ‘Good Night. A Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year to you all’, with which the parties returned to their respective trenches.
After this we remained the whole night through, singing with the enemy song for song.
Sergeant A Lovell, 3 Rifle Brigade
Christmas Day 1914
![Christmas-truce2[1]](https://i0.wp.com/nen.press/wp-content/uploads/2014/12/Christmas-truce21.jpg?ssl=1)
