Dear all,
Forum discussion
Thank you to everyone who participated in the last forum meeting. There was a good discussion and lots of good ideas to follow up on, including how we can make North Edinburgh an area of excellence in terms of diversity in employment. I’m attaching the minutes (below). The next forum meeting will be on Thursday 12th October from 10 – 12 noon.
Race report
I’m also including a summary of a recent report produced by the Equality and Human Rights Commission which Douglas Samuel shared. This highlights further the worrying inequalities present in many walks of life, employment being one of them.
A new report published by the Equality and Human Rights Commission on race equality, has found that in Scotland, if you are born into an ethnic minority household today, you are nearly four times more likely to be in a household that is overcrowded and up to twice as likely to be living in poverty and experiencing unemployment.
The report is the biggest ever analysis of existing evidence into race equality in Scotland and focuses on poverty, education, employment, and housing.
Findings include:
Download the full report here.
Kind regards
Hannah Kitchen
Development Worker, Living in Harmony,
Pilton Community Health Project
0131 551 1671
Like us on Facebook for regular updates www.facebook.com/PiltonCommunityHealthProject
An overwhelming number of Scots – 96% – think that local people should be involved in making decisions about the design and delivery of their public services. The 2015 Scottish Social Attitudes (SSA) survey, published yesterday, also shows that 35% of people had either volunteered at, or help set up, a local community organisation, and well over half (61%) think improvements can be made. Continue reading Constance: ‘Huge appetite for community involvement’
Making a song and dance at community event!
Around fifty local people took part in the latest ‘Getting Together, Making a Difference’ event at Royston Wardieburn Community Centre last week. Taking place on ‘Living Life’ Day, the gathering offered an opportunity for people from diverse backgrounds to get to know their neighbours better, make new friends, learn new skills and create new artworks.
Workshop sessions followed introductions and the official opening of the Getting Together, Making a Difference’ photography exhibition.
The event proved to be a great success and a lot of fun: creating new friendships, developing relationships, fostering greater understanding and producing some impressive artwork, a poem and a brand new song, too!
The poem:
And the song? Well, It goes something like this … :
PICTURES: Lynn McCabe
Community Event, Thursday 25 August 10am – 2pm
Royston Wardieburn Community Centre
The latest Getting Together, Making a Difference event takes place at Royston Wardieburn Community Centre tomorrow.
We are kicking off at 10.00 am with coffee and scones in the cafe and an opportunity to look at our new exhibition which includes photographs from previous getting together making a difference events, last year’s Burns Celidh, the Spring Chickens and this year’s adult summer programme.
We will then have a number of activities taking place in different parts of the building. People can chose to take part in either music, poetry or arts workshops. Each activity will start at 10.30 and will run until approximately 12.20. A free lunch will be served in the cafe from 12.30 – 1.15 and this will be followed by entertainment. We are aiming to finish by 2.00 p.m.
A crèche has been organised to allow parents with pre-school children to take part. If people require a creche place, they should call the centre tomorrow if possible to book a place as the crèche is likely to be busy (tel 552 5700).
The event is open to everyone – the more the merrier!
Getting together poster aug 2016
Continue reading Getting Together, Making A Difference at Royston Wardieburn
Dear All,
I hope you are well.
I’m writing to give you some information about upcoming events in the area, and to outline a plan for the next forum meeting on Thursday 18th August, 10-12 at Pilton Community Health Project.
Forum meeting
As the last meeting was very busy, it would be good for everyone to have a chance to update each other and to plan for the coming year. I suggest we talk about:
– Inequalities in employment – what can we do to respond in North Edinburgh?
– Community integration activities – updates and plans for the coming year
– Living in Harmony – topics for upcoming forum meetings; training sessions we could organise in the future
– Hate crime reporting – how do we increase understanding of hate crime and enable people to report a crime? Plans for Third Party Reporting training.
Please RSVP and feel free to suggest other items for the agenda by replying to this email.
Diversity in Public Life event, 11th August
Celebrating Diversity in Community Councils. Date & time: Thursday, 11 August 2016, 6.00pm – 8.30pm Venue: Royston Wardieburn Community Centre, 11 Pilton Drive North, Edinburgh EH5 1NF.
The key aim of the event is to increase the representation of BME communities in community councils. It is hosted jointly by ELREC- Diversity in Public Life project and the Granton & District Community Council. See below.
Kind regards
Hannah Kitchen
Development Worker, Living in Harmony,
Pilton Community Health Project, 73 Boswall Parkway
Edinburgh, EH5 2PW
0131 551 1671
Like us on Facebook for regular updates www.facebook.com/PiltonCommunityHealthProject
The next Forth Neighbourhood Partnership Public Meeting is on Wednesday 31 August 2016 at 7pm in The Church Hall, Granton Baptist Church, 99 Crewe Road North. See below for further details.
Forth Neighbourhood Partnership
Public Meeting
At 7pm on Wednesday 31st August 2016
Granton Baptist Church, 99 Crewe Road North
Come along and hear about:
There will also be a short period during the meeting for Neighbourhood Partnership business.
An agenda and papers will be available nearer to the meeting. For further information contact Jim Pattison, 529 5082 – jim.pattison@edinburgh.gov.uk
ELREC (Edinburgh & Lothian Regional Equality Council) and Granton & District Community Council have organised an event to encourage more BME residents to get involved in neighbourhood activities through Community Councils …
You are invited to an event:
Celebrating Diversity in Community Councils
Thursday, 11 August, 6 – 8.30pm
Royston Wardieburn Community Centre, 11 Pilton Drive North
The key aim of the event is to increase the representation of BME communities in community councils and hosted jointly by ELREC- Diversity in Public Life project and the Granton & District Community Council.
Edinburgh & Lothians Regional Equality Council (ELREC) has been working on Diversity in Public Life project since last year, aiming to increase the participation of the BME community in public life and in the democratic process. The project works with the diverse communities and it is funded by the Scottish Government. Under this project, a special scheme, Public Life Champion (PLC) has been launched to provide advice, training and mentoring to BME individuals who live/work across Edinburgh and the Lothians.
Community council triennial elections will take place in Sept-Oct 2016. In the wake of oncoming election, the event will provide useful information (i.e.: nomination/registration process) and practical advice for those who are interested to stand as a community councillor. This event will also help establish a link between community councillors and the prospective BME candidates.
If you are interested to represent the views of your local community to the local authority and other public bodies, then joining the community council would be an ideal vehicle as well as an entry point to get into public life.
See details about: what is community council ?
The event is open to BME residents lived across Edinburgh & Lothians and community council members. Tea/Coffee and refreshments will be provided. Booking is required to give us an estimate for the catering service. Please let us know if you have any special requirements. Please circulate among your contacts/networks who might be interested on this.
To book your place online, please click here.
For more information, please contact us by email:publiclife@elrec.org.uk or Tel: 0131 556 0441
Communities to have their say in the design of their area
Communities across Scotland will have the chance to map out the future of their towns with design experts. The Scottish Government is launching two funds to allow people to have a direct role in making their towns and villages better places to live.
Funding of £300,000 is available across two grant schemes – the Design Charrettes programme and the Activating Ideas Fund.
Charrettes bring together the public, stakeholders and designers over a number of days to draw up viable proposals, while the Activating Ideas fund will support participation and empowerment initiatives in disadvantaged areas.
Minister for Local Government Kevin Stewart said: “The quality of our places has an important influence on our lives. This Government is committed to empowering communities and involving them in the planning process.
“We have already seen really good examples of this in the few years since the charrettes programme has been running. In Maybole the Community Association and Community Council sourced additional funding to modernise and improve access to the Town Hall gardens. And in Girvan there is a successful plan for a new swimming facility which is due to open in 2017 following the closure of the local pool.
“Local communities have a wealth of knowledge about their local area. Bringing communities together with design expertise will enable ideas and proposals to be developed to deliver positive change. This initiative provides a way of enabling people across Scotland to have their say on the long- term future of their community.”
The Women’s Fund for Scotland (WFS) has re-opened for grant applications with a deadline of 28 September. The WFS are keen to identify community groups located in North Edinburgh that empower women and girls to reach their full potential. The Women’s Fund for Scotland are on a mission to make a difference not just individuals, but their family and needs of the community. Continue reading Women’s Fund welcomes grant applications
