Heart of Newhaven Community (HoNC) continues to work towards acquisition of the Victoria Primary School site and despite the impact of Covid 19, our timetable for completion remains the same: as soon as the children move to their new school, we will move in, hopefully in the autumn of next year, 2021.
To acquire the building, which we have permission from City of Edinburgh Council to purchase, we need to find £700,000. To this end, an application to the Scottish Land Fund (SLF) has already been submitted.
With the current SLF funds geared towards applications with more immediate needs, particularly those who have Covid-related issues, we have decided to pause our application until the next round of grants which will bring it more in line with our expected purchase date.
This comes on the recommendation of the SLF itself, who consider our application a very strong one but have advised us that such a pause would make our case even stronger. They are continuing to support us and helping us fund our preparation.
So fear not if you see headlines about the next community projects to have gained SLF grants later this month and no mention of HoNC. We are confident we have a strong case, made even stronger by this hiatus. Our plans for purchase and our timetable remain the same.
To help our case, we need even more members of our SCIO to show support within the community. Numbers are increasing steadily but if you haven’t already applied to be a member, please do so as soon as you can. In this case, size really does matter! Membership is free and it gives you a say in what happens.
Equally, we need volunteers and not just for the long-term. At the heart of our project is the well-being of the community we serve. Covid 29 has not only put the brakes on the construction of the new school, it has affected so many in our community, in so many ways.
If you can sign up as a Newhaven Neighbour to help the isolated and vulnerable within our community, perhaps by collecting prescriptions, doing shopping, tidying a garden, delivering Christmas boxes, making an occasional phone call to check on the isolated, then we would welcome your help. Check our website for a form to fill in.
Become a Newhaven Neighbour. Get in touch. Add your name. The community will be the stronger for it.
Remember that you can still read our Chair Rodney’s regular 20:20 vision in his View from the Chair which you can find on the website.