Morningside – The NEN – North Edinburgh News

Local artist puts Edinburgh care home in the frame

Bespoke artwork celebrates life and surroundings at Morningside residency

AN EDINBURGH care home has been captured in a striking new piece of artwork created to give residents and visitors a unique view of the place they call home.

Cluny Lodge Care Home, owned by Elder Homes Ltd, commissioned local artist Clare Bevis to create the bespoke piece for its reception area.

The artwork depicts the Morningside home and its surroundings, bringing together architectural details from across the large building which cannot easily be seen from a single viewpoint.

Clare, who had previously created artwork for Elder Homes Director Stephen Dodds, spent time walking around Cluny Lodge before starting the piece to identify the details and features which were important to capture.

Clare said: “Cluny Lodge was a perfect subject for my art style. I wanted to keep the quintessential feel of the home and its surroundings through the use of soft pastel colours.

“You can see that the piece moves from day to night, which was a little detail I included to show life around the clock at the home.”

The artwork, which took around eight hours to complete, is Clare’s largest piece to date and combines a range of different materials and techniques.

Fine liner and super-fine pens were used for the main drawing, alongside digital techniques and giclée ink to introduce additional colour and detail.

Now installed in the reception area, the finished work gives residents, families and visitors a complete view of the home as they arrive at the main entrance.

Clare added: “It’s such a big building and hard to see from one viewpoint, so I think the artwork gives guests and residents a full picture of where they are as they come through the main door.

“To see the final piece in the home brings a smile to my face. I’m so happy I was asked to create this for the residents to admire as they pass through reception.

“I spoke to a few residents who told me they once loved to draw and paint and were enjoying viewing my piece when it was installed. It was lovely to hear that it had already got people talking.”

Stephen Dodds, Director of Elder Homes, said: “We wanted to create something that reflected the character of Cluny Lodge and would become a real feature for residents, families and visitors to enjoy.

“Clare has captured the home in a way that simply isn’t possible from any single viewpoint, while including the details that make it so recognisable to the people who know it best.

“Creating an engaging environment is an important part of life at Cluny Lodge, so it has been great to see residents stopping to look at the artwork, talk about it and, in some cases, share their own memories of drawing and painting.”

The commission is part of a wider focus on creating a stimulating and engaging environment for residents at Cluny Lodge, with activities and experiences tailored around individual interests and needs.

Cluny Lodge recently retained the highest possible rating for supporting people’s wellbeing following an unannounced inspection by the Care Inspectorate.

The home was awarded a score of 6 – Excellent for “How well do we support people’s wellbeing?”, alongside scores of 5 – Very Good for leadership, setting, quality assurance and the quality of its facilities.

The home follows a holistic approach to residents’ health and wellbeing, with its team including in-house physiotherapists, social and leisure staff and nutritional support workers alongside its wider care team.

Residents have access to a wide range of activities, outings, concert and events aimed at providing social, mental and physical stimulation.

Founded by Loren and Julie Hufstetler in 1984, the family-owned Elder Homes has spent over 40 years providing individualised support and compassionate service to seniors requiring assistance with daily living.

To find out more about Elder Homes, please visit:

https://www.carehomeedinburgh.co.uk/

Calendar Girls at Church Hill Theatre

With less than 5 weeks to go until opening night….have you got your tickets yet?!

Join us for CALENDAR GIRLS – a heartwarming, hilarious, and uplifting story you won’t want to miss. Expect laughter, friendship, and a few cheeky surprises along the way….!

‘CALENDAR GIRLS’

Church Hill Theatre, Edinburgh

27th ‐ 30th May 2026

7.30pm (Wed-Fri) / 2.30pm (Sat)

www.ticketsource.co.uk/ept

Shadow Economy Secretary thanks the people who make our places

Daniel Johnson visited local businesses in his constituency as part of Scotland Loves Local Week 2025, urging people to choose local

Labour’s Shadow Cabinet Secretary for Economy, Business and Fair Work Daniel Johnson MSP showed his support for the Scotland Loves Local campaign as he visited local businesses in his Edinburgh Southern constituency.

People make Places is the theme of activity across the country during the week, encouraging everyone to get behind those who make local businesses so special – helping to protect the jobs of friends, relatives and neighbours.

Speaking during his visit, Mr Johnson said: “As a former retailer, I know first-hand how much local independent businesses contribute to high street communities in Scotland.

“Morningside High Street, in the heart of Edinburgh Southern, is a fantastic example of this – a community minded high street with a varied and diverse array of shops and places to eat and drink.

“There is much to celebrate but our high streets also face challenges. That is why in 2021, I introduced the Protection of Workers (Scotland) Act which has been used thousands of times to protect shopworkers from violence, threats and abuse at work.

“Whilst the Act has been successful, much more needs to be done across the board to help our high streets thrive.”

He was joined on the visit by Chief Officer of Scotland’s Towns Partnership Kimberley Guthrie and Scotland Loves Local Programme Coordinator Nicola Hutchinson.

Kimberley Guthrie said: “Scotland Loves Local Week is a celebration of local excellence and celebrating the people who make places.

“It has been fantastic to see such a tremendous amount of support from across the political spectrum for this year’s celebrations, helping to showcase the great spirit of entrepreneurialism, innovation and community we have in Scotland.

The simple act of thinking local first has a profound effect and can have a transformational impact on local economies, laying the foundations to make our places stronger and more sustainable for the future”.

Scotland Loves Local Week is spearheaded by Scotland’s Towns Partnership (STP) as part of its drive for people to build stronger, more sustainable futures for their community by supporting the businesses in their area, potentially injecting millions of pounds more into regional economies.

It has calculated that almost £26.8m more could be driven directly into the city of Edinburgh economy if every person spent just £1-a-week more with local businesses.

Digging in to develop a community garden in Morningside

People carrying out unpaid work as part of a community sentence have been helping to develop an NHS community garden in Morningside.

The City of Edinburgh Council’s justice services have teamed up with the Cyrenians charity so that people carrying out a community payback order (CPO) can learn how to care for the garden.

Councillor Tim Pogson, Chair of Edinburgh’s Community Safety and Justice Partnership, said: “We have been exploring innovative ways to support those who have committed offences to repay the community for their crimes while at the same time, giving participants the opportunity to learn valuable skills and work as part of a team.

“Through joining forces with the Scottish charity Cyrenians we’ve been able to support the environment through the development of a community garden project offering placements to people completing unpaid work as part of a CPO.”

Cyrenians delivers the project in a supportive environment, delivering learning, while providing help to those on the project to access additional supports they may need to be reintegrated into their community and become contributing members of society.

The project has proved to be a great success with participants saying how working in the garden had improved their mental health and led to a renewed appreciation of the outdoors. Many have enjoyed contributing to a wider project team while being supported by Cyrenians through a low point in their lives to move on from their crime to a more positive space and a crime-free life.

A supervised team of people work together on the garden woodland and orchard, including landscaping, planting, pruning and composting. Participants learn how to grow vegetables, herbs and flowers and develop skills in making garden furniture.

Hannah Macrae, Community Gardens Service Manager at Cyrenians, said: “We have loved working in partnership with community justice services, to offer placements to people completing a community payback order.

“Our community gardens provide a lot of solace to people and we are very grateful to those who have come on placement for all their efforts to maintain and improve this special space. Many of the people who come really enjoy the time working in the garden and we hope that they take away a new set of skills and a sense of pride in what they have achieved.”

A number of areas across Edinburgh have been transformed by people carrying out a CPO and previous projects have included fencing and decking work at Dr Neil’s Garden in Duddingston and supporting garden maintenance at Inverleith Park.

More than 11.6 million hours of unpaid work have been completed across Scotland since CPOs were introduced in 2010 – with around 1.4 million hours recorded benefiting communities for the reporting year 2023-24. There were 15,086 CPOs imposed by the courts – a three per cent increase on the previous year.

There are various projects highlighted in the new annual CPO report 2023-24 by Community Justice Scotland. It shows that the number of CPOs imposed has increased and how people have been held to account and supported to reconnect and contribute to their communities.

Catherine Dyer, chair of the board of Community Justice Scotland, said: “Community payback orders allow people to repay locally for the harm they’ve caused and access support to services, such as addiction counselling, to tackle the behaviour which led to their offending.

“The increase in the number of CPOs imposed by courts shows the confidence of Sheriffs in community-based sentences which can help reduce the risk of reoffending compared to short-term imprisonment.

“Unpaid work has transformed areas across the country, making a meaningful impact on communities such as improving school playgrounds, painting and gardening for local organisations as well as helping individuals who need work done.”

Edinburgh is seeking the public’s views on unpaid work and suggestions for new projects. You can complete the short survey online here at the City of Edinburgh Council’s website (until 8 September 2025).

Medical professionals unite to enhance community eye and hearing care in Edinburgh

MEDICAL professionals from across Edinburgh were recently invited to a city-centre opticians and audiology practice to discuss how to alleviate pressure on eye and hearing care services in the capital.

GPs and pharmacists were invited to Specsavers in Morningside to consider how community-based optometrists and audiologists could support medical practices in managing certain eye and ear conditions, such as glaucoma and hearing loss.

The event included discussions on best practices, protocols for managing a range of ailments like red eyes and allowed local clinicians to share their preferred methods of communication with each other and the Specsavers team.

Attendees also gained an insight into a range of other specialist services offered at the clinic, including foreign body removal; independent prescribing optometry services; the NHS community glaucoma scheme; paediatric eye examinations; myopia management; ear wax removal and hearing tests.

It’s hoped the event will help to increase accessible care for patients in the area while supporting local GPs and other medical practices in managing certain eye and ear conditions.

Michael O’Kane, clinical director at Specsavers Morningside, says: ‘We were thrilled to host medical colleagues from across the city for an evening of learning and collaboration.

‘Not only were we able to showcase some of the state-of-the-art equipment we have in store, such as our Optical Coherence Tomography (OCT) technology for early detection of conditions such as glaucoma, but we also had the chance to demonstrate our first-class audiology services too.

‘With the current demands on NHS and other clinical services, it was great to build on the relationships we have with other medical professionals in the community and demonstrate our commitment to providing high quality, accessible care for people in the community.

‘Events like these allow us to foster even stronger bonds with other local healthcare providers as we work towards a seamless care experience for patients across Edinburgh.’

Specsavers Morningside is located opposite Morningside Medical Practice at 85 Morningside Road in Edinburgh and is open seven days a week.

To book an eye or hearing appointment, call 0131 446 9960 or 0131 672 9218, or visit: www.specsavers.com/stores/morningside

Specsavers is celebrating 40 years of care this year and is now the largest privately-owned eye care and audiology company in the world with more than 2,500 businesses in 11 countries.

The company is committed to changing lives through better sight and hearing by making expert care accessible and affordable for everyone, and also offers a Home Visits service for those unable to travel to one of its 1,000 locally owned stores.

To learn more, visit: www.specsavers.co.uk

Twelve year old boy charged after threatening Morningside shop staff

Following an attempt shoplifting incident in Morningside yesterday (Thursday 25 April) police officers traced a 12-year-old boy who has now been charged with making threats of violence towards staff.

Community Sergeant Jen Macgregor said: ‘Behaving and acting in a threatening and abusive way will not be tolerated by our communities.

“Our officers continue to deal with any reports robustly and work tirelessly with families, schools and partners to deter such incidents.

“Please check in with your kids when they’re out and about to ensure they are safe and not involved in anti-social-behaviour or criminality.’

#KeepingPeopleSafe

Nine teenagers charged with 77 antisocial behaviour offences

Following a number of recent anti-social-behaviour incidents in the Morningside and Bruntsfield areas, 9 people between the ages of 13-14 years have been identified and charged with 77 offences relating to ASB offences.

Community Inspector Scott Casey of St. Leonard’s Police Station said “ASB is a blight on our communities and I recognise the fear it causes.

“It will not be tolerated in south-east of Edinburgh and my team and I are committed to tackling it and bringing those responsible to justice.

“I would encourage members of the public who are experiencing such issues to get in touch with my team via 101 or you can contact Crimestoppers 0800 555 111.”

Fashion legend Jeff Banks makes surprise visit to Edinburgh to open new community opticians

LEGENDARY fashion mogul, Jeff Banks made a surprise appearance in Edinburgh at the weekend (Saturday 16 March) as he officially opened a brand-new, £750,000 opticians and audiologists in the capital.

The designer was invited to cut the ribbon at the recently relocated Specsavers Morningside store at 85 Morningside Road, alongside retail director Joe Alubaid, clinical director Michael O’Kane and audiology partner Jonathan Bell.

As well as running a week-long competition and giveaway on local radio station Forth One to celebrate the occasion, one lucky customer was also surprised with a Jeff Banks designer bundle in-store on the day.

It comes as Specsavers marks 15 years of helping people in Morningside with their eye and hearing care needs.

Joe Alubaid, retail director of Specsavers Morningside, says: ‘We were thrilled to welcome Jeff to officially open our new home at 85 Morningside Road, just as we pass our milestone 15-year anniversary.

‘This was a truly monumental moment for our team and our fantastic customers, and we can’t wait to share our new space with them for years to come.’

The store is a significant step-up from its previous home at 302 Morningside Road, with the number of testing rooms increased to seven in response to increased customer demand.

Positioned across two floors, the new offering includes a dedicated audiology room and a brand-new contact lens space.

State-of-the-art equipment has been installed throughout, including two Optical Coherence Tomography (OCT) machines, as well as bigger, more spacious waiting areas and a reception to welcome customers ahead of their appointments.

Michael O’Kane, clinical director at Specsavers in Morningside, says: ‘Everything we have introduced in the new store has been in response to the needs of our growing customer base and the local community.

‘There is an ageing, yet independent and healthy population, in the south of Edinburgh, however age-related conditions such as glaucoma, macular degeneration, and hearing loss are all becoming more common.

‘What’s more, myopia (short sightedness) is also becoming more prevalent in children within the UK. That is why we have designed our new store specifically to address these emerging needs of our local community.

‘Timely diagnosis and treatment are essential, and so our increased testing capacity and state-of-the-art diagnostic machines will allow our expert team to quickly identify any problems that may be detected.

‘‘So many of our customers also come to us because of our extensive contact lens offering, including myopia control lens options at Specsavers’s prices.

‘Our new store will allow us to expand our contact lens support with the introduction of two new dedicated contact lens teaching areas, while we also have plans to introduce a dedicated contact lens optician into our practice alongside our experienced optometrists to provide our customers with even more support.’

Specsavers Morningside, located at 85 Morningside Road, is open from 9am – 6:30pm Monday to Thursday, 9am – 6pm Friday and Saturday and 10am – 6pm every Sunday.

To book an appointment, call the store directly on 0131 446 9960 for eye health specialists or 0131 672 9218 for hearing specialist, or visit:

www.specsavers.co.uk/stores/morningside.

Specsavers is celebrating 40 years of care this year and is now the largest privately-owned eye care and audiology company in the world with more than 2,500 businesses in 11 countries.

To learn more, visit: www.specsavers.co.uk

Eric Liddell Community awarded £109,000 Lottery funding to combat loneliness and isolation

The Scottish charity, The Eric Liddell Community, has been awarded a generous grant of £109,000 from the National Lottery Community Fund to create a new programme of activity designed to support local people experiencing loneliness and isolation.

This award from The National Lottery Community Fund will be given to the charity over three years and is forecast to benefit 600 people.

Funding 18 volunteers and supporting the addition of a new role of Community Engagement Worker, the team will support local people to live fuller and less isolated lives. They will do this by making positive changes to their daily routine through participation in a variety of activities and outings such as weekly Wellbeing Lunches and the “Community Living Room” development, which are key parts of the Eric Liddell Open Community Programme.

Founded in 1980 in memory of Eric Liddell – the 1924 Olympic 400m gold medallist, Scottish Rugby international and committed missionary – The Eric Liddell Community exists to create a place where no one feels lonely or isolated.

John MacMillan, CEO of The Eric Liddell Community, said: “We are absolutely delighted and humbled to receive this generous grant from The National Lottery Community Fund.

“This funding will allow us to expand our reach and build an entirely new programme over the next 3 years, enabling us to continue the legacy of Eric Liddell, the celebrated Scottish Olympic athlete, who dedicated his life to serving others.

“No one deserves to feel lonely or isolated; we’re committed to ensuring this isn’t the case in our communities and we’re excited about the opportunities this grant presents for us to make a much-needed difference.”

The cash gift also signifies the fund’s powerful vote of confidence in The Eric Liddell Community’s mission to combat loneliness in communities across Scotland.

The National Lottery Community Fund, Scotland Chair, Kate Still said: “National Lottery funding can make amazing things happen in local communities across the country.

“This project delivered by Eric Liddell Community, is a great example of community activity in action, showing just what can be achieved not only during the Festive season, but all year round, when people come together for a common cause or to help others.

“National Lottery players can be proud to know that the money they raise is helping to support this vital work which is making a real difference to so many.”

For more information about The Eric Liddell Community and its initiatives, please visit ericliddell.org.

Witness appeal following Bruntsfield incident

Detectives are appealing for information following a disturbance on Alvanley Terrace in Bruntsfield.

Around 5.20pm on Saturday, 2 December, 2023 police were called to reports of an assault where a woman was threatened and pushed into her vehicle by a man.

The car, a black coloured Hyundai ix35, was parked on Alvanley Terrace, adjacent to Bruntsfield Links.

The man was startled by a witness and was seen to leave in the direction of Bruntsfield Place, where it is believed he got into a silver Peugeot and left in the direction of Morningside.

The man is described as white, late 30s, of average build, with dark brown hair which is long on the top and short at the back and sides. He has a sleeve tattoo and was wearing a light grey hooded top, blue jeans and white trainers.

Detective Inspector Mhairi Cooper, from Edinburgh Division CID, said: “Although the woman wasn’t physically injured, she has been left shaken by the incident.

“Whilst there is no risk to the wider public, we are appealing for anyone who may have witnessed the incident, or observed the suspect in the surrounding areas before or after the incident mentioned, to please get in touch.

“We would also urge any motorists with dash-cams who were nearby to check their footage in case they have captured anything which could be of significance to our enquiries.”

Anyone with information is asked to contact Police Scotland via 101, quoting incident number 2768 of 2 December. Alternatively you can call Crimestoppers anonymously on 0800 555 111.