Tag: North Edinburgh Arts Centre

Total Craigroyston – update

Manager Christine Mackay gives an update on the Total Craigroyston initiative:

Consultation meeting at West Pilton Neighbourhood Centre

I hope you have all had a good summer in spite of the dreary weather.

Many thanks to all of you who contributed to our consultation events. In total, 215 local residents and front line staff, from 37 different teams and organisations were involved in nine events.

We had expected to be ready to share the outcome with you earlier in August but in the end, processing all the information we received took longer than we thought. However, we now have a draft ‘Road Map’, which will set the direction for the Total Craigroyston Initiative. The information and insights that we gathered have been grouped into themes and we have identified a range of short and long term actions that we would like to achieve over the life of the initiative.

What is obvious is that there is a real strength within the community and a desire to build on the good work that is already going on. Of course, some challenges were identified and we hope that we can make progress on these in order to achieve the kinds of changes that people would like to see.

We have organised a range of meetings to present the findings of the research back to people who were involved and other stakeholders.

The meetings will take place on the following dates:

Tuesday 4 September at 2pm in West Pilton Neighbourhood Centre

Wednesday  5 September at 7pm in Craigroyston Community High School

Thursday 6 September at 10am in North Edinburgh Arts Centre.

Everyone is welcome but please book a place by contacting Julie Innes by telephone on 469 3162 or by email on julie.innes@edinburgh.gov.uk. Childcare can be arranged for those who need it. Please let Julie know when you book a place.

The draft Road Map will be available on Monday 20 August from the Total Craigroyston Blog at totalcraigroyston.wordpress.com and if you have any comments or observations please let us know.

As well as the meetings above, there will be a short presentation to the Forth Neighbourhood Partnership on Tuesday 21 Aug at 7pm, which is open to everyone.

Two Play Out days were organised by Total Craigroyston

Welcome to Muirhouse

A young Spanish Telford College student spent eight months taking photographs in Muirhouse while working on a documentary portfolio for his HND in photography. The result was some superb images, excellent exam results – and friendships that could last a lifetime.

Borja Prada Garcia first became interested in Muirhouse when he passed through on the bus on the way to college. “It was an interesting place, photogenic,” he said. “At first sight it seemed like it had been painted on a grey canvas, but later as I visited day after day I found a broader palette of colours behind it’s doors. Muirhouse is actually a colourful place, because of it’s people”.

Borja may have seemed like an unusual figure, a stranger always armed with a camera but as the days and weeks passed he got to know local residents. “Some people were wary and suspicious when I approached them, one or two were threatening, but most people were friendly and helpful. They were inquisitive and interested when I explained what I was trying to do,” he said. “I found that there are lots of misconceptions about Muirhouse; it may seem like a cold place but the people were warm – their smiles can light misty days.”

One family in particular welcomed Borja into their home. “The Sargents were so good to me”, he said. “They were like a family for me here in Muirhouse – they let me share their lives and I visited them every week.”

Over days, weeks and months Borja built up his portfolio, photographing buildings, people and situations on film and then developing prints. It was a long, laborious and expensive process – Borja reckons he shot between forty and fifty rolls of film – but the effort proved worth it: Borja gained 98% for his Graded Unit 2!

Borja self-published ‘Welcome to Muirhouse’, a 60-page book of Muirhouse prints, and now hopes to exhibit his work both at local venues and at galleries further afield. North Edinburgh Arts Centre will perhaps be the first of many when it stages an exhibition of Borja’s work in October.

Borja’s tutor Susan Richards said: “Each year we have three or four projects worth taking further, but every so often a student submits work that is extra special and Borja’s portfolio falls into that category. It is a really impressive body of work and I know how long and how hard Borja worked to achieve it. That dedication and the images he’s produced certainly deserve a wider audience and I’m delighted that more people will be now be able to appreciate it”.

Borja makes a living by working in a restaurant, but the young Spaniard won’t be saying ‘adios’ to Muirhouse any time soon. “The project is ongoing and I intend to shoot in Muirhouse for several years. I thank all the people of Muirhouse who helped me during the project, especially Jim, Jennifer and the Sargents. It is still a very close relationship – they are my friends and we will stay in touch with each other.”

 If a picture paints a thousand words: some of Borja’s images of Muirhouse …

Use your loaf!

Use Your Loaf is a new and exciting initiative coordinated by Pilton Community Health Project (PCHP) in partnership with CLD Forth Team and North Edinburgh Arts.

‘This is an exciting new development for Pilton Community Health Project. The idea came out of our community research which identified the barriers to healthy eating. The research showed that local people want to develop skills in all forms of eating healthy, cooking and bread making”, said  Lisa Arnott, coordinator of the Community Healthy Lifestyles Project at PCHP. “As a result of the PCHP research we have seen the development of the Yummy Cookbook, the Yummy Food Festival and now the ‘Use Your Loaf’ project. This new project will teach local people how to make some fantastic bread and encourage people to eat more healthily.”

Sammy Dick, one of the women involved in planning the Yummy Food Festival, said: “The Yummy Food Festival 2012 was really exciting and there was such positive a response that we are planning to repeat it 2013. The Use Your Loaf  project is a great idea and we will be learning how to make a simple loaf and planning for the next  food festival.’

Use Your Loaf  will be held at North Edinburgh Arts Centre, starting on Tuesday 28 August, 10am-12.30  and runs for ten weeks.  There are also limited childcare places available.

So if you KNEAD to book a place on ‘Use Your Loaf’, contact Lisa Arnott at Pilton Community Health Project on 0131 551 1671!

Family Fun Event next Thursday

Save the Children are running a free community event at North Edinburgh Arts Centre on Thursday 9 August from 1 – 5pm For further information please contact Fiona Morrison at Save the Children; contact details:
M:  07764560939
T: 0141 763  2872 

Poverty? We’re not having it!

Maybe it was the lure of Euro 2012 football on TV, or maybe it was the draw of the Olympic torch up at Edinburgh Castle, but whatever the reason there was a disappointing attendance at North Edinburgh Fights Back’s public meeting held in North Edinburgh Arts Centre last week.

Despite the draw of advertised speakers from the Poverty Alliance and Shelter Scotland, only a dozen people came to hear NEFB plans to fight back against poverty and social injustice.

The sparse attendance did provide NEFB members an opportunity to rehearse speeches before next week’s Full Council meeting, however. North Edinburgh Fights Back plans to present individual Community Charters to all 58 councillors during a delegation to the 28 June meeting, urging councillors of all parties to commit to a series of anti-poverty measures.

A group spokesperson said: ‘We would like more people to have been at the public meeting but it is always difficult to get people out to attend meetings. However we are sure that many more members of the community will be supporting us when we present the charter at the council meeting, and we would urge local people to join us to let the councillors know ‘Poverty – we’re not having it’!”

The Full Council meeting on Thursday 28 June is open to the public and begins at 10am.

You can find out more about North Edinburgh Fights Back by visiting their website at  www.northedinburghfightsback.org.uk

 

We’re not having it! Campaign groups organise public meeting

 

North Edinburgh Fights Back and Muirhouse Womens Group are holding a public meeting in North Edinburgh Arts Centre on Wednesday (13 June) to organise a joint campaign against cuts to local services – an opportunity to ‘hear the case against poverty and join the fightback’.

Speakers confirmed include representatives from Shelter Scotland and the Poverty Alliance.

The meeting starts at 6.30pm – all welcome.

For further information visit www.northedinburghfightsback.org.uk

See poster for details:

poverty-not-having-it-2

A Ragged Trousered Appreciation

A Timely Reminder

On Saturday 21 April at North Edinburgh Arts Centre the audience was treated to a brilliant performance by two magnificent actors playing all the characters in Robert Tressell’s classic story ‘The Ragged Trousered Philanthropists’.

The subject, of grinding exploitation of workers employed by a building and decorating firm, was played with emotion, seriousness and a good deal of humour. The confusion and self-interest of some of the characters has its modern counterparts, but so does the message of what must still be done.

The actors, Rodney Matthew and Neil Gore, will be giving performances of the play at the Edinburgh Fringe at Venue 2 this August. It deserves to – and should – play to packed houses.

A Delahoy 

Granton Youth Centre stages drama at North Edinburgh Arts

Just Like Everybody else – A6 Flyer

‘You look after your pals and they look after you – if you don’t who else will?’

Granton Youth Centre are staging ‘Just Like Everybody Else’ tomorrow at 2pm and again at 7pm in North Edinburgh Arts Centre.

The young participants performed an excerpt of their drama at a recent Forth Neighbourhood Partnership meeting and it’s well worth seeing. Produced by GRIP, the project is supported by Cashback for Communities and tickets are £3/£2 (concessions) for the evening performance, with some free tickets available for the afternoon event. Contact Jane at Granton Youth Centre for more information, jane@grantonyouth.com or telephone 467 5854.

 

North Edinburgh’s story goes world-wide

North Edinburgh Social History Group’s research archive is now available on-line. The group amassed a wealth of material whilst undertaking research for their ‘Never Give Up’ book, published last year, and the documents and photographs can now be found on-line following a collaborative project with lifelong learning agency Scran.

Scran, part of the Royal Commission on the Ancient and Historical Monuments of Scotland, enables online access to resources from museums, galleries, archives and the media, supporting learning and teaching at all ages.

Scran’s Helen Foster worked with the local Social History Group to make their extensive resources available to a wider audience, and the online exhibition was launched last Saturday at North Edinburgh Arts Centre.

Social History Group member Roberta Blaikie explained: ‘It took us two years to produce ‘Never Give Up’ – the book, DVD and photo exhibition – and we realised it was important that all this research was saved for future generations and made available for others to access easily. We are all rubbish with computers, but thankfully we met up with Helen at Scran. We did a lot of talking, Helen listened and did all the hard work and now we’ve been able to get everything digitized!”

Brian Robertson, another enthusiastic group member, added: ‘We’re delighted that this material is now available on-line. Some of the pictures in the book are quite small and we had to leave some things out because of the limited space available, so it’s great that all the information we gathered over such a long time is now available on the internet for everyone interested in our area’s history’.

The collection was launched before Saturday’s performances of ‘The Ragged Trousered Philanthropists’ and was accompanied by a new protest song penned and performed by group member Ian Moore.

Access to Scran’s archive is available through Edinburgh City Libraries – go to http://yourlibrary.edinburgh.gov.uk/capital-collections. You’ll find North Edinburgh Social History Group’s archives under Local and Family History.