Thanks to funding from the City of Edinburgh Council, Edinburgh Leisure were able to bring back a summer of fun safely to their venues across this city and supported 126 children and families living on low incomes to get active and enjoy their summer.
The Scottish Government released funding to local authorities across Scotland to help address the negative impact that the Covid-19 pandemic has had on the health and wellbeing of children and young people in Scotland.
The priority for this funding was to provide opportunities that allowed children and young people to socialise and reconnect with peers, get active and most importantly have fun, during the summer.
Edinburgh Leisure offered parents or guardians, living on a low income and wanted their child to have the opportunity to take part in fun, engaging and exciting sports this summer to apply for funded places.
Spaces were available on Edinburgh Leisure’s swimming, gymnastics, dance, and tennis programmes, with no cost to the family applying. The coaching programmes took place in a variety of venues across the city, at various dates, with some one-day sessions and some full-week activity programmes.
Edinburgh Leisure also offered 320 spaces for families to attend their AquaDash Extreme and Clip n Climb sessions.
Families who were eligible for the programme included children who receive school uniform and meal grants, care experienced children, young carers, children whose families are in receipt of Universal Credit and children supported by a child’s plan.
Tommy George, Community Development Manager at Edinburgh Leisure, said: “For many families, finances are really tight and getting involved in activities during the holidays can be prohibitive due to cost.
“Thanks to funding from the City of Edinburgh Council, however, we were able to support families living on low incomes to ‘Get Into Summer’ by getting active, learn key skills, build confidence and esteem, as well as having fun, in a safe environment.”
Edinburgh Leisure also provided a free football programme for young people from S1 to S6 to take part in and a weekly free ‘Sport on the Beach’ session at Portobello for primary school-aged children.
Edinburgh Leisure’s three soft play centres, Clambers at the Royal Commonwealth Pool, Scrambles at the EICA and Tumbles at Portobello will finally be reopening their doors to customers today, Monday, 19 July 2021.
Bookings for members went live at 9pm on Tuesday, 13 July and for non-members on Wednesday, 14 July.
Claire Rusack, Leisure Manager at the Royal Commonwealth Pool and Clambers said: “It’s been such a long time coming after an extended lock-down, which meant that we weren’t able to open as originally planned on 7th June, but we’re delighted that we can finally welcome back our youngest of customers and their parents and carers to let off some steam.
“So, for anyone with little ones who need to burn off some energy, make sure you’re not disappointed by pre-booking in advance for any sessions you want to attend via the Edinburgh Leisure app or website. And if you think you might be a regular customer, you might want to consider buying one of our soft-play memberships.”
Due to COVID-19 restrictions Edinburgh Leisure has had to adapt their offering with pre-booking done via the Edinburgh Leisure app or website only for all visits, either 8 days in advance for members or 7 days for non-members. No parties or special events can be booked at this stage.
All three venues will follow the same daily opening times from 9.30am-5pm, Monday to Sunday, with five pre-bookable slots of 60-minutes each to accommodate deep cleaning between each. At the start of each month, the frames will be treated with a 30-day virus protection.
Adults will book a table for a maximum of six people, which will include adults, children, and babies.
Adults can remove face coverings while seated at the table but will be required to wear them at all other times, especially when moving around the space. A café service will be available throughout all sessions. However, we are running a restricted menu at this time.
To adhere to Government guidelines, there will be no adults or staff allowed in the frames.
However, adults can enter the frame to support a child with additional support needs. All adults entering the frame or walking around the soft play area must wear a face covering. Space in baby areas where adults are present, will be limited, due to physical distancing.
Currently, frame capacity has been reduced to 40% of normal operating capacity, and ball pools and modular items have been removed.
The cost of a 60-minute session is: free for 0-6 months; £4.40 for 6 months – 2 years; and £6.80 for children 3 years and over.
And for regular soft-play attendees, there is an option to buy a membership, offering great value.
A monthly membership costs £16.70 for one child; £28.00 for two children; £33.80 for three children; and £39.50 for four children, which can be used at any of the three Edinburgh Leisure soft play centres across the city.
The Edinburgh Leisure app can be downloaded from the Google and App stores.
Environmental charity joins local communities to urge everyone to take better care of the sand and sea
This week, members of Keep Porty Tidy, who are committed to improving Portobello beach, carried out a litter survey to kick off this summer’s My Beach, Your Beach campaign from environmental charity, Keep Scotland Beautiful.
Over 110 items of litter were recorded on 100m of the beach and prom at Portobello, capturing a snapshot of the local beach litter problem prior to the official bathing season start date of 1 June.
Litter is a key indicator for the My Beach, Your Beach campaign, which encourages beach users to take better care of the sand and sea, supporting efforts to improve bathing water quality, and in turn benefitting the local environment, community, and businesses.
The successful campaign, now in its fourth year, aims to raise awareness of the actions people can take to protect the beach and bathing water – including binning litter or taking it home, ensuring dog poo is picked up and removed, and not feeding the gulls.
Last summer 90% of people visiting Portobello beach said they’d be willing to pick up litter when visiting the beach in order to leave it cleaner than they found it.
This year, during the Year of Coasts and Waters, the campaign focuses on seven of Scotland’s well-loved beaches that have faced challenges with bathing water quality, as measured by SEPA.
Although last year’s campaign focused mainly on local beach users, this year the campaign will reach out to visitors as well, as lockdown restrictions ease.
In addition to old campaign favourites like the doggy ambassador competition and #LuckyToLiveHere image gallery, this year’s activities will include litter surveys for people to get involved with, business support packs, a Young Reporters for the Environment competition and educational resources that celebrate the beach.
Georgina Massouraki, Campaigns Officer with Keep Scotland Beautiful said, “Natural spaces like beaches are now more precious than ever, as so many of us have discovered over a year of lockdowns.
“We are encouraging and supporting people to take a more active role in protecting these shared spaces and asking them to consider leaving the beach cleaner, rather than dirtier, than they found it.
“Plan ahead to leave no trace, simply taking an extra bag for your waste can help, and if everyone also picked up a few pieces of litter along the way it would make a massive difference.”
Greta Elliott, Volunteer Manager at Keep Porty Tidy said, “We have benefitted from being part of the campaign since it began four years ago, seeing levels of litter drop between the first two years of campaign activity.
“The beach was very much a local haven during lockdown for many of the community, and we work hard to care for it and keep it nice for everyone. But there is still a lot of room for improvement, and together with local businesses, the council and the community we are looking forward to welcoming back visitors and supporting them to do the right thing and enjoy, but also respect us and our beach.
Cllr Lesley Macinnes, Environment Convener, said: “We’re proud of Edinburgh’s beautiful beaches and so we’re supporting this campaign to spread the word – please don’t pollute the sand and sea and help us to keep Porty beach clean.
“Our cleansing teams have worked hard throughout the pandemic to keep Porty and the rest of Edinburgh clean and tidy and we’ve been providing information to make sure people who are #LuckyToLiveHere or visit the beach have a positive experience.
“We’re preparing for a busy summer and would ask everyone visiting the beach to respect our local communities and environment by using the bins provided or by taking your litter home with you.”
The campaign, funded by the Scottish Government and supported by SEPA is being led by Keep Scotland Beautiful to sit alongside its Upstream Battle and Clean Up Scotland campaigns and annual Beach Awards.
Ruth Stidson, Senior Scientist at the Scottish Environment Protection Agency (SEPA) said, “Scotland is proud of its stunning coastlines and beautiful beaches. SEPA monitors the water quality across Scotland’s 85 designated bathing waters and supports the MBYB campaign in encouraging people visiting beaches to protect the beach and bathing water.
“Waste from animals or litter isn’t just unsightly but can have a negative impact on the water quality so we encourage the public to follow the advice to take litter home, to clean up after their dogs and to avoid feeding the gulls, ensuring a good beach experience for everyone who visits.”
Following an increase in antisocial behaviour in Portobello recently, local officers will be carrying out focused patrols this weekend.
Local community Sergeant Suzie Sandbach of Craigmillar Police Station said: “Officers responded to a number of incidents of anti-social behaviour involving groups of youths in Portobello last weekend.
“Dealing with disorder and antisocial behaviour is a policing priority in Edinburgh and I’d like to reassure residents, visitors and business owners in Portobello that there will be an increased police presence over the coming weekends to disrupt anyone intent on causing trouble.
“Our open spaces and beaches can now be enjoyed by the wider community and beyond, but sadly this can be ruined by the reckless behaviour of a small minority which is often fuelled by alcohol, and will not be tolerated.
“Local officers will continue to remain visible in the area, on mobile, foot or cycle patrol and I ask that if you see any criminality in the area help us hold offenders to account by calling 101, or 999 in an emergency.”
Councillors yesterday gave the green light for £450K funding to install temporary public toilets in busy parks and other ‘hotspot’ areas in Edinburgh like the Meadows and Portobello.
Environment Convener Lesley Macinnes, said:“As the weather gets warmer and we ease out of lockdown our beautiful parks, beaches and other open spaces are going to be busier than ever.
“I’m really pleased Council agreed this funding today allowing us to respond so quickly to provide these much needed facilities over the summer months. We’ll publicise the list of temporary public toilets as soon as we have it.”
Council Leaders are calling on Edinburgh citizens to enjoy the springtime festivities safely, considerately and locally while Covid restrictions are still in place.
Weather forecasters are predicting long spells of sunshine and mild temperatures this weekend, meaning thousands of people are expected to flock to enjoy the bank holiday weekend in the many parks and beauty spots around the Capital.
From today [Friday 2 April], Scotland’s ‘Stay at Home’ advice changes to ‘Stay Local’, as part of the national roadmap out of lockdown.
This means people can leave their homes for purposes other than work, exercise or to buy food, but there is still a restriction on travelling outwith your local authority area, unless it’s essential.
Recent media reports and social media coverage have highlighted significant amounts of litter left behind in parks such as the Meadows, where there have also been incidents involving illegal gatherings and antisocial behaviour such as public urination and toileting.
Council waste and cleansing workers will be targeting resources in the Meadows and other popular destinations over the Easter break, with extra collections of large litter bins in targeted areas.
The Council continues to work very closely with Police Scotland to address antisocial behaviour. Following recent incidents of antisocial behaviour and breaches of Covid restrictions in the Meadows, including on the evening of Tuesday 30 March when a large gathering was dispersed by Police Scotland, visible police patrols will continue in the area throughout the Easter period.
Council Leader Adam McVey said: “I want to pay tribute to everyone in the city who’s worked so hard and sacrificed so much to keep themselves, their loved ones and our whole community safe through this dreadful pandemic.
“As things start to ease up, it’ll be wonderful to begin enjoying some of the things we’ve all missed so much, but we have to take things slow and steady, or we risk setting ourselves back again.
“This Easter weekend is a great opportunity to meet up safely with friends and family, in line with the guidance. I know the vast majority of citizens will enjoy our fabulous open spaces responsibly, leaving the areas as they’d expect to find them.
“Sadly, some people don’t always behave quite so considerately, so our sincere plea to everyone is to respect and care for our parks, beaches and greenspaces while you’re visiting them. If there’s no bin or the bin’s full awaiting one of our regular patrols to empty it, please take your litter home with you. The Council teams are working hard to keep our green spaces clean but please remember your rubbish is your responsibility.
“Remember the need to Stay Local, too – we can’t run the risk right now of the virus travelling between local authority areas. It will be safe again to travel within Scotland before too long if we all stick together and help keep the case rates down. If we stick at it and do our bit now, it won’t be long before we all reap the benefits.”
Council Depute Leader Cammy Day said:Edinburgh is an amazingly beautiful city and we’re so lucky to have so much access to nature and green spaces. So it’s really disheartening to see images of parks and beaches disfigured by litter and dog fouling – there’s absolutely no excuse for it.
“We’re urging everyone who’s planning a visit to a beauty spot this Easter weekend – or anytime, for that matter – to remember that these fantastic spaces are for every single one of us to enjoy.
“Please clean up after yourselves (and your dogs!) for the next person or family who comes along. We want to see the same community-mindedness and respect for each other’s wellbeing that shone out in Edinburgh’s response to the pandemic replicated in the way people treat our shared spaces.”
Chief Superintendent Sean Scott, Divisional Commander for Edinburgh, said: “The coronavirus regulations have had a significant impact on our lives and I would like to thank the vast majority of people who are sticking to the rules and doing the right thing to avoid the spread of the virus as we move through the easing of restrictions.
“People should not travel outwith their local authority area except for essential purposes. While Easter weekend is traditionally a time for visiting friends and family, I would urge people to stay local and follow the regulations on gatherings.
“If you are visiting beauty spots within your local area, do so safely and respectfully – leaving no trace of your visit. Please also park responsibly to allow emergency access.
“Our approach throughout the pandemic has been to engage with the public, explain the legislation and encourage compliance, but we will not hesitate to use our enforcement powers as a last resort.”
As well as the Stay Local change from 2 April, other adjustments to the national Covid restrictions will see garden centres, hairdressers, car dealerships, click and collect retail services and homeware stores, among others, able to reopen from 5 April.
Social media messaging on litter, dog fouling and public urination will be ramped up on the Council’s social media channels throughout the Easter period, along with reminders on the changes to national guidance so people understand which measures have been relaxed or amended.
Police in Edinburgh are delighted to report that 71 year old Lorna Ferguson, reported missing earlier from Pilrig Street, Edinburgh has been TRACED SAFE AND WELL In the East Lothian area.
Police are releasing a further image of 71-year-old woman, Lorna Ferguson, missing from Bathgate this morning. The image shows Lorna near Pilrig Street.
Officers are also checking a reported sighting of Lorna in Portobello Road this afternoon.
Lorna Ferguson was last seen exiting out of Pilrig Park, Edinburgh, around 11am this morning, Saturday 30 January, 2021.
She is white, around 4 ft. 10 inches in height, with a medium build, and short silver hair. She was wearing beige coloured trousers, walking boots and a green Rab puffer jacket. She was walking her dog, a brown coloured cockapoo, with a luminous yellow, extendable lead.
Lorna has dementia and her family is extremely concerned. She has never gone missing before and they just want to know she is safe and well.
Extensive enquiries are under way to locate Lorna, but efforts so face have provide unsuccessful. Officers are checking CCTV footage for any additional information which could assist in the inquiry.
Anyone who has seen or has any knowledge as to Lorna’s whereabouts is asked to call Police Scotland via 101, quoting incident number 1733.
The next steps will be taken toward introducing new Controlled Parking Zones (CPZs) to help alleviate parking pressures around Edinburgh, if approved by councillors this week.
On Thursday (28 January), Transport and Environment Committee will consider the results of an informal consultation on proposals for new controls in Leith, Gorgie and Shandon, as well as details on the operation of measures. Designs for parking controls have been amended following consultation and, if approved, we’ll commence the legal processes for introducing them.
This is the first of four phases of implementation of parking controls around the city, developed as part of the Strategic Parking Review, which was originally approved in 2018. The review has taken a holistic approach to parking pressures across Edinburgh, assessing the city on a street by street basis.
This has led to the identification of areas where parking controls may be required to resolve challenges facing residents, in particular from non-residential parking.
The report also updates on timescales for phase two (Roseburn, Corstorphine, Willowbrae and Saughton), phase three (Southside and Fettes) and phase four (Newhaven, Trinity, South Morningside, Portobello, Stenhouse and Saughton), which have been impacted by COVID-19.
Transport Convener Councillor Lesley Macinnes said: “This review responds to the concerns of residents across the city, many of whom have told us that they want to see controls introduced to help limit the impact of non-residential parking.
Thanks to an in-depth, citywide analysis we have been able to identify the areas most in need of restrictions. Of course, the way we travel has changed immeasurably over the last year, but the introduction of new CPZs will be extremely beneficial to managing parking pressures when we eventually return to some sense of normality.
Not only do these controls help residents to park near their homes, but they can encourage those travelling into and around the city to consider alternative, sustainable modes of transport.”
The city council began the Strategic Parking Review in 2018 in response to comments from residents, community councils and ward councillors across the city, which demonstrated increasing support for new parking controls to limit non-residential parking.
An in-depth review split the city into five areas, further subdivided into 124 investigation areas, helping to generate heat maps for each location showing relative parking pressures by street. As a result, a series of new parking controls were approved in 2019, to be implemented in four phases.
On Thursday, committee members will also be asked to agree proposals to commence the legal process for introducing limited parking controls in Sighthill Industrial Estate to help manage parking demand there, as well as restrictions on the availability of permits for new or redeveloped properties.
The report details an approach to consultation for future phases in light of COVID restrictions, with virtual drop-in sessions, detailed plans online and opportunities to feed back on proposals via websites, interactive plans and questionnaires.
Consultation on phase two of the Strategic Parking Review is expected to begin in February.
Last weekend saw an increase in people gathering at parks and open spaces in the city, particularly at Portobello Beach and the Meadows.
We fully recognise the impact the restrictions are having on people’s lives, but it is clear that significant sacrifices are vital to help suppress the spread of coronavirus.
The Chief Constable has made it clear that our approach throughout the pandemic has not changed and officers will continue to support people to follow the regulations and encourage them to take personal responsibility.
We will have increased patrols in our communities to explain the regulations and to encourage people to do the right thing.
Where officers encounter wilful breaches they will act decisively to enforce the law.
For the latest guidelines from the Scottish Government, visit its website here: http://ow.ly/VCDa50D8jZb
Edinburgh Leisure, the city’s largest sports and leisure operator, has announced it will be reopening the rest of its well-loved Victorian pools. Warrender, Portobello, Dalry and Glenogle Swim Centres will reopen on Monday, 26 October.
June Peebles, CEO of Edinburgh Leisure said: “We’re delighted that we can finally reopen the rest of our beloved Victorian pools, which we know our customers and communities are so fond of. They’re unique buildings that we are justly proud to be the caretakers of.
“As you can imagine, bringing Edinburgh Leisure’s diverse range of venues and services ‘back to life’ in a COVID-19 environment is a big and complex task.
And the additional restrictions that the First Minister announced last week, which meant the stopping of group fitness classes and a number of group activities for adults (although working out individually in the gym and swimming can still happen), has posed further challenges. These restrictions will hopefully have been lifted by the time our third round of venues reopen on Monday, 26th October.”
To allow our venues to re-open, Edinburgh Leisure needs to comply with the Scottish Government and sportscotland’s extensive guidance – which ensures venues are safe for customers and employees.
Initially it will be the Victorian pools (lane swimming, club swimming and Family Swim sessions), the fitness classes at three of the four venues and the gyms at Portobello and Glenogle that will be reopening.
Unfortunately, the gyms at Warrender and Dalry will remain closed, due to no ventilation systems installed and not complying with the new minimum requirements (as detailed by the Scottish Government).
Other services that will continue to remain closed are the Turkish Baths, steam room, rest area and Aerotone – the forerunner to the modern jacuzzi – at Portobello Swim Centre; the fitness class programme, free weights room (although this will be housed in the fitness studio) and sauna and steam room at Glenogle; and the sauna at Dalry.
June Peebles explained: “As a charity and operating as a not-for-profit organisation, we need to balance the books and weigh up the viability of reopening various services in a COVID-19 compliant way. Our number one goal is to provide our customers with a clean, safe, and enjoyable Edinburgh Leisure experience.”
The reopening of these four Victorian pools follows on from the reopening of seven other Edinburgh Leisure venues, which opened on 14 September and 21 September. These include Ainslie Park Leisure Centre, Craiglockhart Leisure and Tennis Centre, Drumbrae Leisure Centre, The Royal Commonwealth Pool, Leith Victoria Swim Centre, Gracemount Leisure Centre, and the EICA: Ratho.
Edinburgh Leisure’s six golf courses have been open since 4 June, and there has been a big upturn in demand for tee times. The outdoor tennis courts at the Meadows have also been open since the end of May.
The Edinburgh Leisure experience will be different from before but customers will still receive the warm, Edinburgh Leisure welcome.
The main changes that customers will see are:
All activities must be pre booked via the Edinburgh Leisure app or website.
They will be operating in a cashless environment, accepting contactless payments.
Safety guidance will be on display throughout the venues.
Additional sanitisation stations have been installed throughout the venues for use before and after each visit.
All activities are timetabled with staggered session start times to reduce congestion.
It will be necessary for customers to wear face coverings in communal areas, (unless exempt) but not for their activities.
Edinburgh Leisure, like every leisure trust in Scotland, is facing huge financial challenges. They continue to lobby the Government for financial support for the sector to ensure the sector survives and can continue to contribute to the country’s health and wellbeing.
Edinburgh Leisure is joining an industry wide initiative led by ukactive. The #FitTogether campaign aims to ensure a united front on behalf of the wider sector, which utilises key statistics that evidence the extremely low rates of COVID-19 transmission across the sector and demonstrates the vital role of the sector in the nation’s health and wellbeing.
The purpose of the campaign is to message that the sector is safe and essential and to influence customers and policy makers accordingly.
June Peebles, CEO of Edinburgh Leisure said: “Edinburgh Leisure is committed to ‘building back better’ to a sustainable Edinburgh Leisure and to continue making a positive impact to the citizens of Edinburgh’s health and wellbeing – as we have done for the last 22 years.
“Never before has health and wellbeing been so important. And Edinburgh Leisure remain committed to supporting the people of Edinburgh to be active and enjoy good health.”
Edinburgh Leisure is a charity dedicated to creating opportunities for everyone to lead more active, healthy lives. They do this by running over 30+ sports and leisure facilities across the city and deliver their Active Communities programme, which helps improve the lives of people affected by health conditions, poverty, inequalities, and disabilities.
A report will be published by the City of Edinburgh Council today outlining plans for councillors to consider reopening more public toilets.
The Policy and Sustainability Committee will consider the report next Thursday (6 August) following a city-wide review and a proposal to reopen public toilets in ‘hot spot’ areas near busy parks and beaches, which was approved by the Committee earlier this month.
With warm weather forecast from today and lockdown restrictions having eased considerably in recent weeks, people are reminded to use the nearest open public toilet if they are caught short in areas such as the Meadows and Portobello Beach as these have become increasingly popular.
The council’s street cleansing teams are also working extremely hard to keep the city clean and tidy under pressure and we need everyone to help us keep Edinburgh beautiful by binning their litter or taking it home with them to put in their own bin.
Adam McVey, Council Leader, said: It’s fantastic that people will have the chance to enjoy some lovely weather in our beautiful parks and beaches in the coming days as restrictions have eased considerably but if you are, please remember to follow Scottish Government social distancing guidance.
“People should also remember to plan ahead and take any rubbish home with you or use bins provided. Please also be respectful if caught short and use a public toilet or your own at home if no other facilities are open nearby.
“It’s really important that we protect public health at the moment and we will open more public toilets when we can. I would ask everyone in the meantime to plan ahead to minimise use of public toilets where they are open and keep our parks and beaches clean and tidy for everyone to enjoy.”
Depute Leader, Cammy Day, said: “It’s great that we have so many beautiful spaces across the city where people can enjoy the sunshine but we need your help to keep them clean and tidy.
To try to stop people from littering in the city we’ve teamed up with Keep Scotland Beautiful and Zero Waste Scotland this summer as more and more people are now enjoying our parks, beaches and other open spaces.
“We’re supporting Keep Scotland Beautiful, who have wrapped our bins at Portobello with anti-littering and dog fouling messages to help to keep the water clean and we’re putting Zero Waste Scotland anti-littering messaging on some of our bins in other hot spot areas. We’ve also put around 40 extra bins out at the Meadows/Bruntsfield links and Newhaven.
