Tag: poem

Home, sweet home? North Edinburgh’s housing emergency

LOCAL PARENTS LAUNCH DAMNING REPORT ON HOUSING CRISIS

North Edinburgh Parents Action Group has launched an exhibition and publication highlighting the horrific housing conditions local people are being forced to live in. 

The group also screened a new film about the lived experience of a local woman’s heart-breaking attempts to secure a decent home for her children.   

North Edinburgh Parents Group hope that the event held at Royston Wardieburn Community Centre yesterday will draw attention to the significant impact that  poor housing  is having on  local families’ physical and mental health and will send a clear message to politicians at all levels of government that urgent action is required to tackle North Edinburgh’s housing crisis. 

Guests were welcomed by Royston Wardieburn Community Centre chairperson Billy Fitzpatrick and the event was launched by Forth SNP councillor Stuart Dobbin, who has been taking a particular interest and holding surgeries on the issue:

“Living in a home safe from Damp and Mould should be a basic right that all Council and Private tenants should enjoy.

“This important event was made all the more powerful and moving by hearing the testimony of women who, with their families, have to live with Damp and Mould and the exhibition showing pictures from inside their homes.

“Dampness creates a risk to our physical health and our mental health.  It impacts on the future life chances of our children.  And if not addressed, it places additional burdens on our doctors and the wider NHS services.

“This is the issue that I am most passionate about addressing as a Councillor.  By my estimate about one quarter of all Council dampness cases in Edinburgh are in North Edinburgh. 

“I have been raising cases and campaigning within the Council for faster action to be taken to eradicate damp from tenants homes, and as a result, the Council has now set up a dedicated, skilled team to do just that. Early days and a lot to do.

“I want to hear from residents who have damp and mould, or are having difficulty getting the problems addressed. 

“I will be at Pilton Community Health Project tomorrow morning (Friday) from 09.15-11.00 if anyone needs to discuss this or any other matter that I can help with.  Or you can email me – cllr.stuart.dobbin@edinburgh.gov.uk”

Few who attended the event could fail to have been moved by the heart-rending stories of local woman struggling to be heard. The women, for many of whom English is not their first language, bravely shared their dreadful experiences to a packed room.

As one said after the event: “Speaking to a big crowd made me very nervous and I wasn’t sure that I would be able to do it.

“But we all did do it – we had to do it. We want people to hear how we are living.”

A spokesperson for the group said: “We understand that there are no simple solutions or easy fixes to Edinburgh’s  current housing emergency.

“However, Edinburgh is one of the richest cities in the country and it is time that all levels of government – Edinburgh Council, the Scottish Government and the UK government –  come together and prioritise spending on improving  housing conditions in this city. 

“We are serious about our demands and we are prepared to do whatever it takes to secure a decent place to live.  We hope that we do not have to resort to a class action which is the route that over 50 tenants from various local authorities have taken in order to secure a warm, safe home.   

“However, nothing is off the table. Enough is enough!”

Sara, who spoke at the event, said: “We welcomed the opportunity to tell our stories and have our voices heard. 

“We’re fed up of nobody listening to us and being blamed for causing the problem.  It’s not our fault. It’s well documented that people have been having problems with dampness and mould down here for decades and its time that  something was done about it for once and for all”. 

Susan, another member of the group, added: “We are really disappointed that the ‘high heid yins’ didn’t come to our event to hear our stories and see for themselves the conditions that people are  having to  put up with. 

“We will be making sure that they all get a copy of our report and we will be expecting to hear from them soon about how they are going to respond to our demands. They need to understand that  we’re not going away.” 

Dr Olivia Swann, Clinical Lecturer in Paediatric Infectious Disease at Edinburgh University, also spoke at the event. 

Thanking the women for their moving testimonies, Olivia’s presentation explained how homes are much more than just physical structures and made clear that “strong scientific evidence has shown that poor housing can affect someone’s physical and mental health throughout their life”. 

North-Edinburgh-Housing-Presentation-010524Download

Sara says this is an extremely worrying fact for those of us with young children who have been living in mouldy homes for most of their young lives.

Dawn Anderson, Director of Pilton Community Health Project (PCHP), who attended the event along with members of her Board, including former Leith MP/MSP and Holyrood Health Secretary Malcolm Chisholm, said: “We are very concerned about the problems the parents group has raised. 

“PCHP has been supporting people to get help for some time. One parent has been working with Media Education on a new film featuring the nine year battle of Anita, a local women, desperately trying to escape her damp house”.  

Dawn explained how it was fitting that the parents action group had called their exhibition ‘Home Sweet Home’: “It’s 40 years since PCHP was established in North Edinburgh and dampness and ill-health was one of the first issues the campaigners worked on.  Meetings with local parents led to a womens’ group forming. 

“They produced a slide show called “Home Sweet Home” and  presented it to health professionals in the area.  This resulted in The Scottish Executive backing a research project conducted by the University of Edinburgh  who established a direct link between dampness and ill-health all those years ago.

“There have been countless studies on this issue over the years  which have drawn the same conclusions. Sadly, we can see from Anita’s film and from the parents stories and photographs, little has changed and family’s in the area are still faced with health threatening living conditions.”

The Group is already planning a follow-up event to build on the momentum created by yesterday’s launch.

HOME

A poem by members of North Edinburgh Parents Action Group

The perfect home is

dry and warm

and doesn’t have mould or furniture on clothes.

It doesn’t

smell of dampness or chemicals or bleach

and there’s even

a drying area to dry your wet stuff.

It’s comfortable and safe and

doesn’t make you ill.

It isn’t overcrowded and

there’s plenty of room

for the kids to study and play

or just be alone.

In the perfect home

we’ve all got a bedroom

and there’s even a separate living room.

The perfect home doesn’t need lots of repairs

everything has been fixed and

is shiny and new.

But the best thing about it

and this we agree

our home is permanent

and is perfect for you and me.

The report:

Housing-Report-FINAL-AW-1-2Download

Lionel the Lurcher longs to meet “his only luve”

A poetic soul named Lionel Longlegs, who resides at Dogs Trust West Calder Rehoming Centre, has had a poem penned in his honour in the hope it might lead to him meeting “his only luve”. 

As we approach the celebration of Scotland’s national bard, Robert Burns, who famously wrote about two dogs in ‘The Twa Dogs’ and ‘luve’ in ’A Red, Red, Rose’, it’s the perfect time to share Lionel’s story. 

Three-year-old Lionel is described by Dogs Trust staff as having a heart as expansive as the Scottish Highlands. One of his Canine Carers Jill McLees, who is an aspiring Poet, put pen to paper about the special Lurcher:   

“My name is Lionel Longlegs and if only I was a man,

I’d be able to read Rabbie Burns without needing a helping hand.

I really am a wonderful boy, I’ve got so much love in my heart,

I’m looking for my special person, from whom I’ll never part”. 

Kim McNeill, Assistant Manager Administration at Dogs Trust West Calder Rehoming Centre said: “Lionel is a very loving and loyal dog who has a big heart. He thrives in the company of his favourite humans and once you meet him, you can’t help but fall in love with him.   

“With Burns Night approaching, we knew we had to tell the world about him in the hope his forever family might spot him.  In his poetry Rabbie Burns writes about being deeply in love with his wife and we know the feeling having lost our hearts to Lionel. He is a tender-hearted, playful boy who adores the great outdoors, snuggles with human friends, and revels in the simple joys of life. 

“We hope anyone looking for a canine companion who will be on their side, and by their side through thick and thin will consider Lionel as he has so much love to give.” 

Read more about Lionel Longlegs here:  

www.dogstrust.org.uk/westcalder 

where you will see he is described as an ‘underdog’. This is the term given to any dog who has spent more than six months in Dogs Trust Care. 

New Sassoon poem ‘returns home’ to Edinburgh Napier’s War Poets Collection

‘Glory of Women’ was written at Craiglockhart and first published in 1917

An original manuscript of a poem by Siegfried Sassoon has ‘returned home’ to Edinburgh Napier’s Craiglockhart campus more than 100 years after it was written in the same location.

Glory of Women was written by Siegfried Sassoon, and this manuscript copy was given to fellow patient and poet Wilfred Owen when both were residing at Craiglockhart War Hospital in 1917.

The hospital – which is now home to Edinburgh Napier University’s Business School – was previously a hydrotherapy centre in the late 19th and early 20th century before being requisitioned as a hospital for WWI officers affected by what was then known as shell shock.

The manuscript has been donated to the University’s War Poets Collection by Scottish playwright and poet Stewart Conn. He was, from 2002 to 2005, Edinburgh’s inaugural makar (poet laureate).

The poem was acquired by Conn after another eminent playwright Stephen MacDonald named him as his literary executor for documents and manuscripts relating primarily to his stage plays Not About Heroes and In the Summer of 1918 – both of whichwere directed by Conn when he was BBC Scotland’s head of radio drama.

Prior, the manuscript was given to Conn in 1984 by painter and art critic Cordelia Oliver, who in turn had received it from her close friend Audrey Lintott – wife of Henry John Lintott, whose painting Avatar was the finest picture in the Edinburgh Gallery according to Wilfred Owen – when she passed away in 1983.

A large part of the current War Poets Collection was previously acquired directly from Stephen MacDonald who – via bequest in 2009 – kindly left Edinburgh Napier his research collection on Owen and Sassoon.

It is therefore fitting that Glory of Women has found its way back to Craiglockhart, completing a journey that has taken it to all corners of the country throughout the last 100+ years.

Stewart Conn said: “Stephen (MacDonald) subsequently left to me as his literary executor his documents and manuscripts, relating primarily to the stage plays Not About Heroes and In the Summer of 1918.

“The bulk of these were, with a selection of theatre posters, duly lodged in the National Library of Scotland as a donation to their Scottish Theatre Archive. The poem MS, of no dramatic importance, I retained as a memento of him.

“Sensing that purpose was now served, I hope it will be seen as a fitting addition to Edinburgh Napier’s War Poets Collection where it can remain on public display rather than gather dust in a vault; and like to think of this as enabling its proper ‘ homecoming’.”

Laura Cooijmans-Keizer, Edinburgh Napier’s Special Collectors Curator, said: “Glory of Women is a poignant poem that demonstrates the conflicting pressures faced by men fighting in the trenches.

“The idealised expectations of glory and heroism that women at home – both in Britain and Germany – projected onto soldiers was often in direct competition with the stark, and often decidedly unheroic realities of war.

“The kind donation of this important manuscript poem by Siegfried Sassoon will offer a unique opportunity for it to be studied, appreciated, and debated at the place where it was first composed.”

Professor Andrea Nolan, Principal and Vice Chancellor of Edinburgh Napier University, said: “Edinburgh Napier University extends its heartfelt gratitude to Stewart Conn, whose generous donation has made it possible for the manuscript to return to its original place of creation.

“Within the context of the wider War Poets Collection exhibition, this important poem will have the potential to inspire countless future generations of students, authors, readers, and scholars.”

Edinburgh Napier’s War Poets Collection comprises more than 800 items, including many unique items that the University is proud to own, such as signed first edition books, volumes of poetry by Sassoon and Owen and three original issues of The Hydra, the hospital’s magazine.

The permanent exhibition within Craiglockhart Campus allows visitors to view the War Poets Collection and gain an insight into the personal and social experiences of war through the words, memories, voices and objects that the officers, medical staff and relatives left behind.

More details on the collection can be found here.

Helping Hands: Ruth writes poem in recognition of colleagues for International Nurses Day

An NHS Greater Glasgow and Clyde critical care worker has written a poem to recognise the hard work and dedication of colleagues as part of International Nurses Day 2021.
 
Senior Charge Nurse, Ruth Wilson, tells the tale of a nurse’s role through ‘Helping Hands’ which outlines the huge remit and responsibility of nurses in providing day-to-day care. Ruth, 55 from Ayrshire who has worked as a nurse for more than 36 years, sees first-hand how colleagues look after patients on a day-to-day basis. 

Read ‘Helping Hands’ below:
 

Helping Hands

At the start of the day, hands are washed before countless nursing tasks
Protecting ourselves with hand hygiene and professionally fitted masks
 
These hands will wash patients, write careplans, and administer medication
They will clean surfaces and equipment with total dedication
 
These hands will give out meals, make beds, and answer numerous telephone calls
They will guide and support mobilising patients in order to prevent falls
 
These hands will pour cups of tea, tie up linen, and empty patient bedpans
They will secure pumps and equipment to gleaming drip stands
 
These hands will feed and clothe, perform oral hygiene and comb hair
They will fill out fluid balance charts and give regular catheter care
 
These hands will take notes on ward rounds, and order things on “Trak”
They will dispense analgesia, offer a massage or give a soothing ice pack
 
These hands will organise flowers, open cards and tidy the place
They will dress wounds, cut nails, moisturise patient’s bodies and their face
 
These hands will soothe fevered brows through the comfort of touch
They will wipe away tears when it all gets too much
 
These hands will perform CPR and airway skills and really without much thought
Will automatically pilot to the resuscitation skills they were taught
 
They will support relatives with bad news, and patients will be allowed to cry
They will perform last offices when their patients die
 
They will sign discharge letters when people are getting home
They will clean all the surfaces shinier than chrome
 
These hands are priceless hands, helping hands, the hands you hope are there
If you ever get sick yourself, you want hands that care.

RUTH WILSON

Covid nurse pens poignant poem

A Glasgow nurse has put pen to paper to capture the moment she helped a Covid-19 patient speak to their loved ones from their deathbed.

Sarah Pirie (30) from the south side of Glasgow has been a nurse for three years and is working on the frontline, treating Covid-19 patients at the Queen Elizabeth University Hospital.

Sarah said: “It’s the first time I have been so intimately part of a patient’s last words. It was beautiful and heart-warming but also overwhelming. I wrote the poem at the end of this difficult shift during which there had been many tears.

“In our teams we’re getting great support from each other in this very difficult time, but as well as being nurses, we are human beings and we have good days and bad. The poem was just my way of dealing with one of those difficult days.”

Sarah shared her poem with her mum and sister who then urged her to share it more widely.

Sarah then shared in to her Facebook and has been overwhelmed with the result.

She said: “I have been contacted by people as far away as the States and Singapore. I think it’s just struck a chord with people and maybe helped too.

“I hope families take comfort knowing that even if they can’t be there, we are trying to do everything possible to help them stay connected to their families.”

The poem comes at a poignant time, as Tuesday is the International Day of the Nurse, which marks the important role that nurses are playing to support patients at this particularly challenging time.

Tonight I held you,
As I fought back the tears.
And grieved for your family,
That have loved you for years.
 
You became unwell,
There was nothing to do,
We watched through the window,
And increased your O2.
 
I called your family,
To see if anyone could attend.
Your family needed to know,
That this was the end.
 
But this virus is terrifying,
And people are shielding,
How can they be there,
When Covid is so unyielding.
 
I held your hand,
I wiped your face,
My gloved hand on skin,
As your breathing slows pace.
 
You’d still smile behind your mask,
And I’d try smile back.
To comfort and reassure you,
Is now my one and only task.
 
Your family called,
To say their goodbyes,
We stood with the phone,
And listened to their cries.
 
With tears rolling down our faces,
Into the masks we all wear.
We really wanted to help them,
And show them we care.
 
We woke you up,
So you could hear their voice.
We described your actions.
We had no other choice.
 
Their words filled with sorrow,
Their hearts played bare.
They wanted the time,
To show you, they care.
 
You looked peaceful,
And smiled at their call,
I hope it brought you comfort,
Standing there took my all.
 
We deal with death,
But not like this,
No family allowed,
To give you one last kiss.
 
But the next family will need us,
We will need to do the same.
But I hope I gave you good care.
And I will always remember your name.

VE DAY 75: Time to Remember

As the nation falls silent, some time for reflection …

Scottish Secretary Alister Jack pays tribute to the country’s wartime generation:

Today, the nation will unite to mark 75 years since the end of the Second World War in Europe, and the thoughts of people across Scotland will be with our wartime generation.

Victory in Europe is one of the most significant moments in Britain’s long history, a crucial milestone on the road to peace.

By 8 May 1945, Britain had lived through six years of global conflict. We had seen terrible losses, and huge sacrifices made at home and abroad. So many lives lost, so much suffering, so many families torn apart.

But we also saw huge courage and unbelievable fortitude. People made enormous sacrifices – that to most of us today seem unimaginable – all to put King and country first.

Those years of courage, pain and loss secured the freedoms and way of life we enjoy today. We would be living very different lives if we had not liberated Europe from fascism.

It is only right that today we take time to honour those who served, including those who continued to fight in the Far East until the August of 1945. In due course we will mark VJ day, of course, and thank them again for their service.

We must also remember those – including so many from Scottish regiments – who continued to fight in the Far East until the August of 1945. In due course we will mark VJ day, and thank them again for their service.

Scottish regiments fought bravely throughout the conflict, including in the D-Day landings. We must also thank all those who fought on the home front.

Communities faced onslaughts by the Luftwaffe as they tried to destroy our shipbuilding and munitions capacity. Clydebank was almost destroyed, and thousands of its citizens killed. But the Scottish people refused to be bowed, instead strengthening their resolve to defeat the enemy and fight for our country’s freedom.

Hundreds of Scottish children were evacuated to live with families in the countryside. They were kept safe, and many made lifelong attachments to their foster families. But they dearly missed, and were dearly missed by, their own families.

We are, of course, in the middle of a current, unprecedented, battle to control coronavirus. NHS staff, care teams and a vast army of key workers and volunteers have gone above and beyond for the common good. , and I believe we now feel a greater empathy than ever with the generations who witnessed VE Day in May 1945.

Unfortunately, due to the current emergency, communities across the UK will no longer be able to mark this important anniversary in quite the same way as we initially planned.

I know the British people will mark this historic occasion in new ways, to show our deepest gratitude and respect for those that gave so much to bring peace, freedom and prosperity to Europe. So, throughout today, there will be a thoughtful programme of events in which people can safely become involved while staying at home.

The official commemorations will begin at 11am when his Royal Highness The Prince of Wales will lead the nation in a two minute silence.

We will remember the fallen, and give thanks for those who came home to friends and family. People can join this national moment of reflection in whatever way is right for them – that might be sitting quietly inside, standing at your window or stepping outside your front door.

At 3pm, extracts from Sir Winston Churchill’s victory speech will be broadcast across national television and radio, to recreate the moment the end of the war in Europe officially was announced on 8 May 1945.

The Prime Minister will read the recently discovered Edmund Blunden poem ‘VE Day’.

Later in the day, there will be a broadcast of The Prince of Wales reading extracts from King George VI’s diary, relating the experiences of his grandfather on VE Day in 1945, including the King’s relief that the war in Europe was over.

In an uplifting aerial display, the Royal Air Force will provide breath-taking flypasts across the UK’s capital cities – modern RAF Typhoon jets fly over Edinburgh. People are encouraged not to gather to watch the flypast but continue to follow public health guidelines and enjoy the coverage from home.

We are all encouraged to join in a nationwide rendition of Dame Vera Lynn’s ‘We’ll Meet Again’. Open your windows or front doors and sing along with your neighbours.

Then, as a fitting finale, Her Majesty The Queen will send a special message to the nation at 9pm, the exact moment her father, King George VI, gave a radio address in 1945.

We are living through difficult times just now, of course we are. But we will get through them. We will get though them together. Now, more than ever, we can all learn from the bravery, the resilience and the optimism of our wartime generation.

A poem for Mother’s Day

LUCOZADE

My mum is on a high bed next to sad chrysanthemums.
‘Don’t bring flowers, they only wilt and die.’
I am scared my mum is going to die
on the bed next to the sad chrysanthemums.

She nods off and her eyes go back in her head.
Next to her bed is a bottle of Lucozade.
‘Orange nostalgia, that’s what that is,’ she says.
‘Don’t bring Lucozade either,’ then fades.

‘The whole day was a blur, a swarm of eyes.
Those doctors with their white lies.
Did you think you could cheer me up with a Woman’s Own?
Don’t bring magazines, too much about size.’

My mum wakes up, groggy and low.
‘What I want to know,’ she says,’ is this:
where’s the big brandy, the generous gin, the Bloody Mary,
the biscuit tin, the chocolate gingers, the dirty big meringue?’

I am sixteen; I’ve never tasted a Bloody Mary.
‘Tell your father to bring a luxury,’ says she.
‘Grapes have no imagination, they’re just green.
Tell him: stop the neighbours coming.’

I clear her cupboard in Ward 10B, Stobhill Hospital.
I leave, bags full, Lucozade, grapes, oranges,
sad chrysanthemums under my arms,
weighted down. I turn round, wave with her flowers.

My mother, on her high hospital bed, waves back.
Her face is light and radiant, dandelion hours.
Her sheets billow and whirl. She is beautiful. 
Next to her the empty table is divine.

I carry the orange nostalgia home singing an old song.

Jackie Kay

Poem: On This Ground We Stand

On this ground we stand and stare

Feel earthy roots beneath our feet

Down, down, layers of sparks,

Timbers, songs, memories, lives lived

Turn your eyes to the sky

The wind blows and the clouds swirl

The seas and oceans call us

Tides glitter as the lighthouse beams

Light dark light dark light dark

See the bare hills and islands

From the sky our land is a small, precious thing

And us in it, a thing to treasure

Gica

Makin A Brew Craigroyston Parents Poetry Group