Honorary doctorate for Jonny Kinross

Edinburgh University recognition for Edinburgh’s social enterprise champion

Following in the footsteps of Archbishop Desmond Tutu, Neil Armstrong, Annie Lennox, Ian Rankin and Canadian PM Justin Trudeau and others, Leith resident Jonny Kinross has received an honorary doctorate from Edinburgh University for his charitable works. Jonny has devoted his working life to serving and supporting the most vulnerable in society and is currently CEO of the Grassmarket Community Project. Continue reading Honorary doctorate for Jonny Kinross

North Edinburgh Arts to open for CAN market event this morning

North Edinburgh Arts will be open for reduced hours today to enable the Community Action North event to go ahead in the morning (above) and have the cafe open for a while.

However Gentle Exercise, the Arts Strategy event in the afternoon and North Edinburgh Theatre group in the evening are POSTPONED.

Muirhouse Youth Development Group’s annual general meeting, also scheduled to take place at North Edinburgh Arts this afternoon, has been POSTPONED until further notice.

MYDG’s Summer Programme

Six weeks of summer fun with Muirhouse Youth Development Group

Week One

Week TwoWeek ThreeWeek FourWeek Five

Week Six

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Rollup, roll up … Circadius celebration

Wednesday 17 May at NORTH EDINBURGH ARTS from 6.30pm

Circadius – a night of entertainment!

Wednesday 17th May
Doors 6.30pm, films start at 7pm
Open to all ages.

Join Muirhouse Youth Development Group to celebrate their circus skills project. One night of circus entertainment, film screenings, face-painting and a circus buffet.

Circadius is an 18-month long adventure, exploring the history and magic of the circus in times gone by.

Circadius was created by young people from Muirhouse Youth Development Group, through a series of weekly skills workshops, focussed arts sessions, conversations with older people and visits to the National Library of Scotland.

Tickets are free but they are limited.
They can be collected from North Edinburgh Arts reception.

Book your tickets now!
0131 315 2151
admin@northedinburgharts.co.uk

The project was funded by the Heritage Lottery Fund, Young Roots programme and Cashback for Creativity.

Please note that the event is open to all ages and we will be directing children between 3-10 years to an art activity while the films are being shown.

And they’re off!

Fundraiser for youth group’s Leadership Academy

MYDG are hosting a race night on Friday 10^th June at Leith Dockers club 7pm start, in aid of our leadership academy. We are hoping to raise funds for their final year end trip as some of the group are moving on. Continue reading And they’re off!

MY Adventure leader James dies in holiday accident

MY Adventure director James Howell has died in an accident while on holiday.

Muirhouse Youth Development Group (MYDG’s) Board has issued the following statement:

Over the weekend James was involved in a tragic accident and passed away. At this time we don’t know the full details and we want to provide his family and the MYA team with some time to get their head round it. Normal service will resume at MYA and we will be in touch with the best point of contact for any questions in due course.

James came to MY Adventure two years ago with over 15 years of experience in outdoor education, adventure activities and expedition leadership. He worked extensively in the UK, Asia and Africa and was a passionate believer in the power of the outdoors to change lives for the better.

Our thoughts are with James’ family and colleagues at this terribly difficult time.

Join MYDG for AGM … and get your bike checked too!

Muirhouse Youth Development Group

would like to invite you to our AGM

Thursday 24 September

3.30 – 5pm

My Adventure HQ

23b West Harbour Road, EH5 1PN

MYDG***MY Adventure***Muirhouse Link Up

Refreshments included

Please RSVP by Friday 11 September

(by email to Dean@mydg.org.uk)

Dear All,

I look forward to seeing everyone at the AGM at the MY Adventure HQ on 24 September. It will be great to share the groups successes over the last year and celebrate our young people together.

Address is: 23b West Harbour Road, Edinburgh, EH5 1PN.

If anyone would like to bring their bike to be given a free health check on the day please bring it along. We have a mechanics workshop here and some of the MY Academy team will be there to do it.

See you all soon,

James Howell, Director

It’s MY boat, ma’am!

Duchess of Cornwall admires MYDG’s boat

The Duchess of Cornwall became one of the first people to see MYDG’s stunning new rowing boat when she visited Portobello’s Sailing and Kayaking Club on Tuesday. The boat is painted in MYDG’s own colours and HRH was very impressed – maybe it was the royal blue!

A small group of young people has been building the 22ft long traditional Scottish rowing boat with Muirhouse Youth Development Group since last Septmeber, spending two afternoons every week working with craftsman Nick Savage to build the boat from scratch. It’s been worth the hours of patience and effort – the end product is simply stunning.

The boat, which is a St Ayles skiff, left ‘dry dock’ in Craigroyston Community High School on Tuesday morning and made the journey – by land, on a trailer – to Portobello Promenade to be part of the sailing club’s event.

MYDG youth worker Ali Grant, explained: “The event is in fact to celebrate the achievements of Portobello Sailing and Kayaking Club (PSKC), of which I am a founding member. We have worked tirelessly for the last seven years to transform a piece of grassland into a thriving community hub. PSKC is entirely run by volunteers and supports several hundred adults and young people to gain access to the water through kayaking, sailing and rowing. It has regenerated the seafront and consequently, brought a community together. This is the reason for the royal visit.

“Having co-built two community boats already, it was always my wish for a group of young people to experience the thrill of taking a pile of flat wood and transforming this bit by bit, into a beautiful, curved boat and in turn, transforming their own lives.

“MYDG have always had an emphasis on outdoor activities and ‘journeys’ – whether that be geographical or personal journeys, so I saw an opportunity to blend my passion for boats and opportunities for young people with my day job as a Youth Worker. MYDG applied for funding to support a boat- building project and were fortunate enough to secure money from 3 sources, Awards for All, Creative Scotland and Edinburgh Airport Trust.

Ali went on: “Building a boat is an incredible test of patience and skill. The outcome of relentless and repetitive tasks only becomes apparent when you put the boat on the water and realise what you have achieved. It is a highly emotional moment and I expect all those involved to experience that emotion.

“We started the project in September, with three young people (CCHS pupils) and attendance has been phenomenal. Other young people have also given input to the project. As well as building the boat, young people have been getting out rowing and have taken part in various training courses. I am sure I speak for everyone in saying that the personal change in the young people concerned has been immense.

“The creation of a boat on the scale of the one we are building has also generated a great deal of excitement amongst other young people and members of the community and will be a tremendous resource for the area.

“Portobello Sailing and Kayaking Club have also received funding from Awards for All and Edinburgh Airport Trust and this is an opportunity to demonstrate the impact of that funding across communities. I also hope that boat building and rowing will begin to forge strong bonds between young people from Muirhouse, other parts of the city and indeed across Scotland. All these people were represented at Tuesday’s event.

“The boat is based on a traditional Scottish fishing boat. It is called a St Ayles skiff. It is 22 ft long and 6ft across. It will weigh approx 150kg when complete and will join a fleet of similar boats built in communities all across Scotland and indeed the world. The boat will be owned by the charity MYDG and will be rowed under the moniker, ‘North Edinburgh Rowing Club’. I cannot divulge the name of the boat yet – you will have to wait!”

“The boat was built in Craigroyston Community High School and we are indebted to Head Teacher Stephen Ross and this team for all their support in making this project happen.”

So congratulation to MYDG and in particular to boat builders Figo El Sherif and Fransisc Dorot and trainee rower Stanley McKay (above) -you really have created something to be proud of and we all look forward to seeing your craft on the water soon!

Sainsburys Blackhall charity partner: the voting’s open!

Sainsburys Blackhall have just come to the end of their yearlong “Local Charity of the Year Partnership” with Muirhouse Youth Development Group.

Colleagues and customers at our Blackhall store helped to fundraise £7,050 for this good cause and would like to wish MYDG very good luck for the future.

Pictured above: Murray Dunnett, Dean Shanks, Amy Patterson and Chris Thomson. Murray and Amy have also been working with MYDG and MYadventure on the Bothy at Towford.

It is now time for Sainsburys Blackhall to decide on their next Local charity Partner of the year, and voting is now open for colleagues and customers to decide who they would like to help this year.

The three shortlisted nominations are:

Stroke Association Scotland

Pilton Youth and Children’s Project (PYCP)

Meningitis Research Foundation

Customers can vote in store at the customer service desk or on line at www.sainsburyslocalcharity.co.uk until 28 June.

Gail, Sainsbury’s

#StrongerNorth: Working together for the community

FACENorth is working for the community … in all weathers!

Over the last three months FACENorth (Focussing on Alternatives to Crime Edinburgh North), in partnership with POP (Preventative Opportunities Programme) have been working with a core group of eight to ten young people running a series of work parties at Towford Outdoor Centre, the bothy owned and managed by Muirhouse Youth Development Group and MYAdventure. As well as working at Towford the group has painted the café in PYCP and bag-packed at Sainsbury’s in Craigleith to raise money for MYDG.

This group of young people has been helping get Towford ready for use by the wider community whilst gaining real work experience, working as part of a team, following instructions, preparing and cooking their own meals, preparing a dinner table, washing up after themselves, showing respect for themselves, their environment and for others, planning and implementing ideas, conservation training, learning about their own and a new environment and most importantly putting something back into their own Community.

When we started, there was no heating or hot water in the bothy, few lights downstairs and very basic cooking facilities, so with some nights dropping to below freezing the warmth of sleeping bags at night with a meal and hot drink were very welcome!

So far the group has removed an unsafe, old mouldy shed which had stood unused for a number of years and turned the space left into to a temporary car parking space. They have also planted trees, removed old wood from around the site, cleared work areas, helped to create a temporary road surface at the entrance to the Centre, dug out trenches to create a drainage system to stop the access road from flooding, removed root systems around the trenches and carried out general labouring work.

With the Centre being surrounded by over 17 acres of ground including hills, forest and a large pond, the group intends to return to dig more trenches and create a proper road drainage system using underground pipes etc., create a new access road to the centre with an asphalt/concrete surface, clear an old deforested area to help create a football pitch/camp area, assist in the planning and creation of a bike and walking track, clear and drain the pond area and re-route part of a river to run through the pond to allow this to be used for fishing, canoeing and wildlife area!

Once plans are finalised for the remembrance area for Mikaeel Kular the group is keen to contribute to getting this ready so that whole community of North Edinburgh has somewhere to spend some quiet reflection time.

At Pilton Youth and Children’s Project the group has painted the café area (above), creating a brighter more user friendly area for centre users to enjoy and the group will shortly be taking part in a conservation project based on the local cycle paths.