From Holyrood to the Heart
Last month we told you about a ministerial visit by Baron Cameron of Lochiel. Only a few weeks after that visit, we hosted another, this time from MSP Mairi Gougeon. Ms Gougeon, who is Holyrood’s Cabinet Minister for Rural Affairs, Land Reform and Islands, was visiting us in part to find out how smoothly or otherwise the process of acquiring the Heart for the community had been and also to announce that there would be a review into the Community Right To Buy process which will begin this summer.
During her visit she spoke to several of the Heart partners, including Chair of HEC (History of Education Centre), Alice Bacciarelli and potter Borja Moronta.
“It was wonderful to meet so many of the team and visitors at Heart of Newhaven and hear how they are offering a hub for the community,” said Ms Gougeon. “To see how much they have achieved is remarkable, especially when so much of it had to be done in the face of all the additional difficulties caused by the pandemic.
“Their dedication to offering space to artists and looking at so many different ways to bring people together is really impressive and I look forward to hearing about their future plans.”
Staffing changes
We have recently welcomed a new caretaking team of three to the Heart; Mike, Johnrobert and Emmanuel. They can be found beavering busily round and about the buildings at all hours.
Please make them welcome.
By having three members in the team, we hope to be able to eventually enable full access to the site as well as ensure added security.
Thanks to further funding, from Age Scotland and the Heritage Lottery Fund, we have also been able to appoint two new project staff, both of whom started in March.
A new Dementia Meeting Centre Manager, Jan Bee Brown, started working three days per week from March 6. Jan is a well known local story teller and was with us at the start of our Heart journey and so we are pleased to welcome her back after three years working in Shetland. She has plenty of relevant experience resulting from her role as a part-time Dementia Advisor with Alzheimer Scotland.
Alongside this new team, we are happy to announce that our staff members Roger Walpole and Kim Thomson have been confirmed in their positions as Centre Manager and Centre Administrator respectively following the initial transition period of the Heart. We hope they will both be with us for some time to come.
Meeting Centre activities
The Meeting Centre at Heart of Newhaven is excited to be partnering with Healing Arts Scotland to take part in their ITAC Healing Arts Week Relay. Meeting Centre Artist in Residence, Willy Gilder, will be hosting three playful creative workshops together with Fenella Kerr and Jan Brown on: Wednesday 10th, 17th & 24th April at Heart of Newhaven 1.30pm – 3.30 pm.
Come along and get creative with like minds, all materials will be provided plus tea and cake to help get the creative juices flowing.
Session 1. Wednesday 10th April – ‘Mapping the Mind’ with Fenella Kerr
Session 2. Wednesday 17th April – ‘Creating with Clay’ with Jan Brown
Session 3. Wednesday 21st April – ‘Drawn to the Dance’ with Jan Brown
All sessions are free and dementia inclusive. If you would more information contact Jan Brown at jan.brown@heartofnewhaven.co.uk
Our response will be part of Scottish Ballet’s partnership with Healing Arts Week in partnership with The Edinburgh International Festival this summer.
Our ‘Schooldays’ Heritage Lottery Fund coordinator, Simone Kenyon also started two days per week from the end of March.
Simone will be leading the community team’s latest project, which will bring together pupils from the local schools in the area, together with older residents and Heart partners, to share memories of their schooldays and leave a lasting legacy for generations to come. More details in the weeks to come.
Gardening group update
Funding has arrived in our bank account for the Community Garden project which began in March and Hayley, our sessional worker, is organising a number of intergenerational sessions on Monday afternoons and Thursday mornings. Do come and admire the continuing developments in the garden.
These include: new high, easily accessed planters and new compost bins, all kindly built by Leith Mens Shed; a beautifully woven willow screen to hide the road, created and donated by Judy Gray, seen at work in the photo; a “dead hedge”, also part of the screening process; lots of seedlings sprouting and potatoes chitting by the Anchor Building windows.
With the Lottery funding we have bought lots of new tools for volunteers and visiting groups to use, and other immediate plans include raising the height of the existing beds, surrounding them with wood chip paths, siting and filling the high planters and acquiring more shrubs and climbers to grow along the north fence.
New volunteers, experienced gardeners or those keen to learn, are always very welcome at Hayley’s sessions. Ask for details in The Heart or contact her directly to learn more: bloomyogaedinburgh@gmail.com.
Our Christmas Tree project has really taken off and we now have an army of knitters handing in squares as well as those people who have joined our knit and natter sessions.
Primary school children, church groups, line dancers, knitting circles, knitters from London, Inverness, Sleaford and Lancashire are just some of the knitters who are contributing to our growing bundles of squares.
We are approaching our first 1,000 and 150 decorations but we need many more and it will be you, who by knitting and spreading the word, will keep the momentum going.
Knit and natter groups meet in the Heart on Tuesdays at 7.15 till 8.30 and on Wednesday and Saturday mornings from 10 till 12.
Happy knitting!
13th April – Scran and a Song
As well as our Open For Coffee morning on Saturday 13th April, the Scran Van will be rolling up to provide some free lunches from 12.30. There will be a limited number, so get there early.
The food will be accompanied by performances from the Mens’ Shed and there will also be bicycle maintenance from Euan from EZ Bike Tours.
Bring your bike along for a wee tune up and advice. More details online or on our social media.
Remember to check our website and social media regularly.
For example have you seen the latest addition to the Culture & Heritage blog page? It features an interview with Cassandra Baron, one of the Heart’s resident creative Partners. (We featured Borja Moronta a few months ago: all you need to do is scroll down till you find it.)
All our Partners produce a lot of wonderful work and we don’t have space to feature them all in our regular newsletters, but we hope to include more about them on the website. So remember, check it out regularly.
Congratulations
Talking of Partners, we’d like to congratulate Neil Smith our Partner and resident composer, who had a piece of his work premiered recently in the Reid Concert Hall. We didn’t know about it in time for the March newsletter’ belated congratulations, Neil.
He shared a stage with three other premiered pieces of music, with his contribution – Regular Music, a piece for piano and nine-piece ensemble. He’s pictured with the ensemble along with conductor Oliver Cope.
Ssh!
Finally, don’t tell anyone, but the Heart has been chosen as the setting for some scenes in a new film currently under production. We are thrilled to be part of something so exciting but we can’t tell you too many details yet.
All we can say is that someone famous will be on set! You’ll have to watch this space. Meanwhile, we have to apologise in advance to anyone using the building on Monday 15th April when filming will be happening on the ground floor of the Victoria Building and in the playground.
There will also be preparatory work and then reinstating afterwards so be prepared!
