Tag: Lord Provost

Rotary Club tees off support for new Fresh Start service

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Previously homeless households in Edinburgh will be able to access a new food pack service later this year thanks to the generosity of the Rotary Club of Edinburgh. A donation of £28,840 will enable Edinburgh’s re-homelessness charity Fresh Start to produce the packs for the next three years, helping an estimated 2,500 households as they move into a new tenancy after a period of homelessness.

The money was raised at a special Golf Day at Muirfield, organised as part of the Rotarian’s centenary year celebrations.

The contents of the food packs are still to be finalised, but will contain store cupboard essentials to make sure people can make a basic meal when they first move into their new home.

The new packs will be given out to homeless households referred to the Fresh Start project and will be part of its wider Starter Pack service, which already sees it providing recently resettled families and individuals with much needed items, like bedding, small electrical items and kitchen items.

Edinburgh’s Lord Provost, Rt Hon Cllr Donald Wilson, called in at Fresh Start’s Pilton offices recently to inspect the packs and hear more about the new service. He also presented Fresh Start’s Managing Director Keith Robertson with the money raised from the Golf Day, enabling the charity to start work on getting the new service up and running.

The Lord Provost said: “Rotary International is admired the world over for its selfless support of individuals, families and communities and the Rotary Club of Edinburgh has been at the forefront of this for the past 100 years. Fresh Start is the latest in a very long line of wonderful and worthwhile causes they have chosen to help and my congratulations go to those who have put in so much time and effort towards raising this fantastic sum of money. I have no doubt that it will be put to good use, allowing the charity to continue their valuable work in helping people who have been homeless to get established in their new home.”

President of the Rotary Club of Edinburgh Bob Hislop added: “The amount raised is a significant sum in these challenging economic times and is not only a considerable achievement but a worthy legacy for the Rotary Club of Edinburgh’s Centenary Year. Edinburgh is a beautiful city but behind it hides poverty and it was for this reason we decided to choose Fresh Start as our Centenary Charity. We are delighted the Golf Day was such a success and that we are able to tee off a service that will help many families put a hot meal on the table.”

Fresh Start exists to help people make a home for themselves. Managing Director Keith Robertson said: “We are delighted to be chosen as the Rotary Club of Edinburgh’s Centenary charity and even more so that the money has allowed us to put in place plans for a new service. Very often people move into not a new home but an empty shell. We already provide a range of Starter Packs to help people have essential goods like bedding and crockery when they first move into a new house. Our new Food Pack service will help them to have a hot meal too – for some it might be the only thing they have to eat.”

The new service will operate from new premises and will be part of a larger food venture – details of which will be revealed soon.

 

Stockbridge steps into Fairtrade Fortnight

Stockbridge Primary School pupils ‘took a step in 2013’ with Lord Provost Donald Wilson and Scotmid’s Malcolm Brown to mark the start of Fairtrade Fortnight yesterday.

Running from Monday 25 February until Sunday 10 March, the campaign will see a series of themed events taking place across the city, including food and drink tastings, talks, presentations, fairs, fetes and the presentation of the Lord Provost’s Fair Trade Awards 2013.

Fairtrade Fortnight brings together consumers, retailers, licensees, businesses, producers and campaigners nationwide to promote awareness and sales of Fairtrade products and to campaign on issues of trade justice.

The theme this year is ‘Take a Step in 2013’, encouraging shoppers to go further by supporting Fairtrade farmers and workers by purchasing products with the FAIRTRADE Mark or encourage their local shop, school, church or even MP to do the same.

Lord Provost Donald Wilson said: “The packed programme of events planned for the next two weeks is testament to how far Fairtrade Fortnight in Edinburgh has come since we were awarded Fairtrade status in 2004. Through this campaign and the Lord Provost’s Fairtrade Awards we are aiming to encourage more and more people to become ethical shoppers while also recognising the fantastic contribution that individuals and businesses are making to fair trade throughout Edinburgh.”

Scotmid Co-operative hosted the launch in their Raeburn Place store and will be promoting Fairtrade with local schools and supporting a range of community events over the coming fortnight.

Malcolm Brown, Head of Corporate Communications for Scotmid Co-operative said: “Fairtrade Fortnight is all about raising awareness of the difference we can make to millions of people in developing countries by simply supporting Fairtrade. Scotmid is proud to have been a champion of Fairtrade for many years. This fortnight we’ll be giving talks at local schools, holding Fairtrade events in our stores and supporting many other initiatives to educate people of all ages about why Fairtrade is so important.”

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Broughton High School to mark Holocaust Memorial Day

Edinburgh’s Lord Provost Councillor Donald Wilson will mark international Holocaust Memorial Day this evening (Thursday) at a special commemorative event held at Broughton High School, organised in partnership with the Edinburgh Inter-Faith Association.

A number of guest speakers will be attending for a special night of music, dance and poetry that will be held to commemorate the impact of the atrocities committed not only during the Holocaust but since.

The award winning musician and Rwandan genocide survivor, Jean Paul Samputu, who runs the Samputu Forgiveness Campaign, will be performing some of his songs as well as relaying his life changing experiences that occurred in his home nation.

Other speakers will include Edinburgh resident and Holocaust survivor,  Marianne Lazlo, who will be accompanied by other members of Edinburgh’s Jewish community, as well as Sello Hatang from the Nelson Mandela foundation. Pupils of all ages from Broughton High School will be performing readings, dance pieces, music recitals and short dramatic sketches throughout the night.

Lord Provost Donald Wilson said: “It’s vital that we never forget the horrors experienced by so many people both during the Holocaust and in subsequent genocides. I very much hope that we can all continue to work together to eradicate persecution from our society. This event is a special way to mark Holocaust Memorial Day and having the chance to hear from people with first hand experience of such atrocities will be undoubtedly a very moving and humbling experience.”

Broughton High School head teacher, John Wilson, said; “It is a privilege for Broughton High School to host this event and to be working in partnership with City of Edinburgh Council and Edinburgh Inter-Faith Association. This is a real opportunity for us as a school to underline our commitment to addressing prejudice and discrimination at all levels. Senior pupils at Broughton High School and the Inter Faith organisation have planned what will be a remarkable and memorable event held within our community.”

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Holocaust Memorial Day on Sunday 27 January is run by the Holocaust Memorial Day Trust – a charity which works to raise awareness of the Holocaust and subsequent genocides to provide an opportunity to learn the lesson and apply them to the present day to create a safer, better future. 

The Edinburgh Inter-Faith Association was officially formed in 1989 to promote and facilitate positive engagement between the faith communities of our religiously and culturally diverse city. The EIFA is now considered one of the most experienced and developed Inter-Faith bodies in the U.K.