Two years to the day Prime Minister Boris Johnson announced the UK’s first lockdown, Drylaw Telford Community Council meets in person again tonight.
February’s community council trialled face-to-face meetings and, with restrictions being lifted, it was agreed that Drylaw Telford will continue to meet in public.
Tonight’s meeting, at Drylaw Neighbourhood Centre, starts at 7pm.
While much has changed in the last two years – whoever heard of Zoom pre-Covid? – some issues remain the same:
Looking to try something new?
Fancy getting out of the house for a bit?
Browse our programme, and give something new a go!
Our weekly drop-in community gardening sessions, on Thursdays from 1 – 3pm, are open to everyone.
The community garden is inside the allotment, go through the gate from the back of Toby Carvery car park, past the containers, and its the gate on your right.
Last week we prepped beds, planted strawberries, beans and peas. More bed prep and making paths and areas for fruit bushes for this week.
Dress for the weather, wellies for the mud are best”
Statement from the CCC Management Committee (25/2/22):
We can now confirm that as of 23rd June 2022, CCC will be vacating their current premises at 191 St John’s Road after being served formal notice by the site’s owners. This is in line with neighbouring units.
We are currently in the process of assessing alternative sites for the continuation of activities currently undertaken by the various groups who use the Hub and are consulting with the group leaders.
In respect of the charity shop, this will continue to operate as usual up until the end of the lease and in the meantime we are also looking at alternatives as to where the shop may be based in the future. We are also communicating with the shop supervisors.
We will continue to update the local community, our members, volunteers and staff as we make progress to identify and hopefully secure other premises.
If anyone has any ideas or suggestions for alternative premises for the shop or activities please let us know via admin@ccchub.online’
Holyrood’s Presiding Officer has launched an audit that will review the representation and participation of women in the Scottish Parliament.
Based on work developed by both the Inter-Parliamentary Union and the Commonwealth Parliamentary Association, all of Holyrood’s parties will be represented on a board that will oversee this work, consider the audit’s findings and make recommendations for change.
Presiding Officer, Alison Johnstone MSP, said: “Last May’s election returned our most representative and diverse Parliament to date. We know, though, from viewing the Parliament’s make up from 1999 until now, that this welcome progress can’t be taken for granted.
“This is an important opportunity to have a broad look at how the Parliament takes account of barriers to equal representation in its work.”
Working with Holyrood’s political parties, parliamentary staff, pre-eminent academics and Engender, the audit will cover a wide range of issues. These will include the number and position of women parliamentarians, participation and intervention levels in Chamber business and the impact of parliamentary procedures and policies.
Fiona Mackay, Professor of Politics at the University of Edinburgh and one of the academic advisers to the board, said: “When the Scottish Parliament was created in 1999, it was internationally praised for its world-leading levels of women’s representation, and its attention to equal opportunities and participation.
“Now is a good time to take stock. This audit, based on a well-tested comparative framework, will let us know how well Scotland has done over the long haul. And, crucially, what work still needs to be done to make it an inclusive parliament for the 21st Century.”
Eilidh Dickson, Policy and Parliamentary Manager, Engender, said: “Women are underrepresented in almost all areas of our democracy, resulting in policy decisions which not only ignore women, but actively deepen inequality.
“By examining the make-up of committees, gathering data on who is being invited to give evidence, and understanding where gender mainstreaming is being ignored, we can work towards a Scottish Parliament which can act as an exemplar for women’s equality. We are delighted to be involved in the project.”
Work on the audit will begin immediately with a report detailing recommendations for improvement due by the end of 2022.
Audit Board Membership
Presiding Officer, Alison Johnstone MSP
Alex Cole Hamilton MSP, Scottish Liberal Democrats
Eilidh Dickson, Policy and Parliamentary Manager, Engender
Fiona Mackay, Professor of Politics, University of Edinburgh
Jeremy Balfour MSP, Scottish Conservative Party
Karen Adam MSP, Scottish National Party
Maggie Chapman MSP, Scottish Green Party
Dr Meryl Kenny, Senior Lecturer in Gender & Politics, University of Edinburgh
Monica Lennon MSP, Scottish Labour Party
Sarah Childs, Professor of Politics & Gender at Royal Holloway
Susan Duffy, Head of Engagement & Communications, Scottish Parliament
Tracey White, Group Head of Legislation & Parliamentary Business, Scottish Parliament
Academic Advisory Group to the Board –
Sarah Childs is currently Professor of Politics & Gender at Royal Holloway, University of London, and will move to the University of Edinburgh in May 2022. Her research centres on the theory and practice of women’s representation, gender and political parties, parliaments and institutional change.
An eminent author, her latest book is Feminist Democratic Representation. She also authored The Good Parliament Report in 2016, advised the Commons Reference Group on Representation and Inclusion that met between 2016-18 and worked on the pilot (2018) which instigated permanent change to Standing Orders to allow proxy voting for babyleave (2020).
Dr.Meryl Kenny is Senior Lecturer in Gender and Politics at the University of Edinburgh and Co-Director of the Centre on Constitutional Change (2021-22). She has published widely in the areas of gender and political institutions, political representation and recruitment, and Scottish politics.
Meryl convenes the University of Edinburgh’s Gender Politics Research Group (which hosts the genderpol blog); sits on the steering group of the University’s genderED initiative; and is a member of the steering group of the cross-party Women5050 campaign for legal gender quotas in Scotland.
Fiona Mackay is a Professor of Politics at the University of Edinburgh, and currently Dean and Head of the School of Social and Political Science. Mackay is founding director of genderED, the University of Edinburgh’s interdisciplinary hub for gender and sexuality studies. She researches gender, politics and policy at Scottish, UK and international levels. She is a Fellow of the Royal Society of Edinburgh.
Engender is a feminist policy and advocacy organisation, working to increase women’s social, political and economic equality, enable women’s rights, and make visible the impact of sexism on women and wider society.
More information at engender.scot
Community wellbeing in Almond & Western
The Scottish Youth Parliament (SYP) represents Scotland’s young people.
Democratically elected members listen to and recognise the issues that are most important to young people, ensuring that their voices are heard by decision-makers. All young people aged between 14 and 25 years old can stand for election to the SYP.
Following on from last year’s successful SYP elections in Edinburgh, one seat remains unfilled in Northern and Leith. SYP rules state that the vacancy should be filled.
Where a seat is vacant, it can be filled through existing youth structures.
We are therefore asking young people involved in pupil/student councils or other youth structures such as participation groups in youth work agencies if they are interested in becoming a Member of the Scottish Youth Parliament for Northern and Leith.
Interested young people must live, study (i.e. go to school or college) or work in the constituency.
More information on becoming an MSYP is available at https://syp.org.uk/get-involved/have-your-voice-heard/
Any interested young people can contact Andy Welsh (andrew.welsh@ea.edin.sch.uk) if they are interested by Friday 11 February.
Full training and support is provided.
The next meeting of the EDINBURGH ASSOCIATION of COMMUNITY COUNCILS will be an Extraordinary General Meeting (EGM) on Thursday 20 January at 7pm to update the EACC Constitution.
Other items include on the agenda include best practice for community council treasurers and police reports at CC meetings.
WEST PILTON PARK MASTERPLAN DEVELOPMENT MEETING
MONDAY 13th DECEMBER at 1pm
in WEST PILTON NEIGHBOURHOOD CENTRE
There’s a distictly Drylaw flavour to next week’s Inverleith Neighbourhood Network meeting.
Drylaw Neighbourhood Centre will be giving a presentation to the meeting in a ‘Getting To Know You’ session and Easter Drylaw Park has also been tabled as an agenda item.
The meeting, which will take place online using TEAMS, will be held on Monday 6th December from 6 – 7.30pm.
AGENDA
For further information contact North West Lifelong Learning Development Officer, Elaine Lennon: email Elaine.Lennon@edinburgh.gov.uk
