Pilton Youth and Children’s Project (PYCP) has received £2,000 from the STV Children’s Appeal to boost financial support for the local project. Continue reading PYCP receives £2000 from STV Children’s Appeal
Tag: PYCP
Closed schools: Wednesday latest – we’re halfway there
Exciting adventures for Rowanfield
Half of displaced pupils now have temporary new homes
The majority of the pupils affected by school closures have now been allocated new school places by the city council. Arrangements made today now mean that over 4,400 pupils have alternative education provision in place.
Among these are Rowanfield Special School pupils, who will move from Drylaw and will be based at Pilton Youth & Children’s Project tomorrow and Friday.
Plans have also been put in place for Rowanfield pupils to have a full day of outings tomorrow thanks to offers from various Edinburgh organisations. They will be visiting Edinburgh Castle and Dynamic Earth in addition to a trip to the National Museum of Edinburgh (above).
Craig Fletcher, Senior Learning Manager at Historic Environment Scotland, who run Edinburgh Castle, said: “We were recently approached by Rowanfield to ask if we could accommodate a visit to the Castle for their pupils. We normally require 10 days notice but due to the exceptional circumstances our bookings team were able to accommodate them at short notice. We are happy to welcome them and hope they have an enjoyable time exploring this iconic place.”
Details for where Rowanfield will be next week and what they’ll be doing will be confirmed as soon as possible!
Other arrangements conformed include: S1, S2 and S3 pupils from Drummond Community High School will join their senior pupils back at the school tomorrow (14 April). This means all Drummond pupils are now back in their school.
S3 pupils at both Firrhill High and Royal High Schools will return to their schools tomorrow (14 April) and join senior year pupils.
Craigour Park Primary pupils will be going to various other primary schools from Friday (15 April).
All Craigroyston Primary pupils will now be going to Craigroyston High School on Friday.
Braidburn pupils will be relocating to several locations from Friday (15 April). Staff will be contacting parents directly to update them on the arrangements for their own individual child. Transport arrangements are being put in place that will allow children to be taken directly from their homes to their host schools.
Further information on nursery pupils from Craigroyston Primary will be put on the Council website and the Council is hoping to have arrangements for nursery pupils at Castleview Primary in place from Tuesday.
In the past three days the Council has now put in place alternative arrangements for the majority of pupils, with all the arrangements for the schools having been communicated to parents directly and are available on the Council website.
Work is ongoing to identify alternative arrangements for the remaining pupils. The Council anticipates all affected primary and special school pupils will be allocated new school places by Tuesday (19 April) next week as Monday is a Spring Bank Holiday.
Positive discussions have been taking place with the Scottish Qualifications Authority who have agreed that verification and examining visits for all subjects that were due to take place this week will be rescheduled with individual schools.
SQA continues to work with the five schools to provide advice and support, if they require any additional resources. All pupils taking exams will be in their schools with their teachers by tomorrow.
Council Leader Andrew Burns said: “Having rightly prioritised arrangements for those children taking examinations in the coming weeks, the two special schools were next to be addressed and I’m pleased that these are now in place. I want to pay credit to the Chief Executive and his team for their work since Friday on what has been a huge logistical challenge for the Council.
“We have now put in place alternative education arrangements for the majority of pupils, and work continues to identify alternative options for other primary and S1 to S3 pupils. We will communicate to parents as soon as we have further information.
“I fully recognise the significant inconvenience to parents caused by these closures and I want to thank them for their patience as we continue to work through this issue. I’m sure they understand the steps we have taken to ensure the safety of their children.
“The SQA have been very supportive to our situation and I must thank them for the steps they have taken regarding verification and examining visits and help with additional resources.
“I also want to pay tribute again to the response from the organisations, both public and private sector, who have come forward with offers of help and accommodation – most recently Historic Environment Scotland who have today agreed to give a tour of Edinburgh Castle for the children of Rowanfield Special School.”
The programme of structural surveys arranged by the Edinburgh Schools Partnership is continuing this week.
The Council will update parents directly, via text message, the Council website(www.edinburgh.gov.uk/
Local youth project going global!
PYCP AGM tmz!
Pilton Youth & Children’s Project
Annual General Meeting
The Greenhouse, West Pilton Rise
Friday 26 February: Lunch from 1pm, AGM 2pm
Show support for Charlie Bear
Hi
My name’s Jaymee Gorrie and I am currently fundraising for The Charlie Bear Fund – a group of friends and family raising funds for The Ronald McDonald House Charities and The British Heart Foundation on behalf of a 6 week old little boy named Charlie Campbell.
Charlie has recently undergone major heart surgery after being diagnosed with a rare condition called Di George syndrome which was a shock to everyone involved as this condition is normally recognisable at birth however until 4 weeks ago he was a happy healthy baby.
Charlie is now in the children’s hospital in Glasgow battling for his life whilst his big sister Kendal Leigh and the rest of the family are in Edinburgh. His parents Nicole and Ben, as you can imagine, are not only distraught about being given this news but now are finding it very hard to cope with being away from home
However due to the fabulous Ronald McDonald House, they have been given a home from home and are able to stay with their sick child day and night and spend every minute possible with him hence why they are desperate to give something back.
We are desperately seeking help from lovely people like yourselves in the hope that you may be able to provide us with some support and raise awareness of our cause while we start this rollercoaster of a campaign.
At the moment we are finding it very difficult to find businesses willing to offer donations and were hoping with your help we can change that. We would be so grateful for any help and support you may be able to offer, thank you in advance.
Jaymee and the charlie bear team.
https://m.facebook.com/
Charlie Bear’s Halloween Disco – 24 October 4-6PM
at Royston Wardieburn Community Centre
The Charlie Bear Funday – 7 November 12-4 at PYCP
Support the Cash for Kids sleepover
Set your alarm clock: PYCP Friday 31 July!
Tonight hundreds of local children living in poverty will be going to sleep on the floor without even a mattress, or squeezing in with siblings and parents. £100 would buy them each a bed.
You can help! Come and take part in Forth 1’s Cash for Kids ‘Sleepover’ event on Friday 31 July at Pilton Youth & Children’s Project in West Pilton.
All you have to do is raise £100 in sponsorship and stay overnight to experience the challenges these children go through on a nightly basis.
Among those who have registered to take part are TRIM’s Robert Pearson and Karma Lennon, who are now looking for sponsors.
Robert Pearson said: “I am in a privileged position were I can help others in our community, over the years I have been involved in TRIM I have visited families who had no beds at all and Mum, dad and the children were sleeping on sheets in one bedroom to keep warm. Thanks to the support of our community I was able to get them beds, sheets and duvets.
“It’s a hard thing to ask for help from people, But residents have grown to trust TRIM and I am confident that people will turn to us for help.Taking part in this sleep over is my way of helping a great appeal, and it’s fantastic to think that our own community will benefit.”
Karma added: “It is sad that in this day and age there are still kids in our area who don’t have the basics they need like a bed. Not getting a good nights sleep can cause numerous problems for kids and affect their lives now and in the future.
“If all it takes is sleeping on a hard surface for one night to help even just one child then I am more than happy to do that. Please sponsor Robert and I – even if it’s just £1.”
To sponsor Robert and Karma, visit
http://muirhouseresidents.co.
Or why not get involved yourself? You can download a fundraising pack containing sponsorship forms here!
To register, or for more information, go to: http://www.forth1.com/charity/bed/sleepover/
Sainsburys Blackhall charity partner: the voting’s open!
Sainsburys Blackhall have just come to the end of their yearlong “Local Charity of the Year Partnership” with Muirhouse Youth Development Group.
Colleagues and customers at our Blackhall store helped to fundraise £7,050 for this good cause and would like to wish MYDG very good luck for the future.
Pictured above: Murray Dunnett, Dean Shanks, Amy Patterson and Chris Thomson. Murray and Amy have also been working with MYDG and MYadventure on the Bothy at Towford.
It is now time for Sainsburys Blackhall to decide on their next Local charity Partner of the year, and voting is now open for colleagues and customers to decide who they would like to help this year.
The three shortlisted nominations are:
Stroke Association Scotland
Pilton Youth and Children’s Project (PYCP)
Meningitis Research Foundation
Customers can vote in store at the customer service desk or on line at www.sainsburyslocalcharity.co.uk until 28 June.
Gail, Sainsbury’s
PY’s ‘Giggers’ vote to focus on animals – and unicorn protection!
To coincide with the Scottish Independence Referendum in September, Pilton Youth & Children Project’s ‘Get Involved Group’ (GIG) undertook a ‘Democracy Project’ over several months.
The young people explored all the arguments about both sides of the independence debate and also found out about the roots of British democracy -did you know that only very rich people and only men used to get the vote?
The project ended with two performances of a play staged by the young people.
There were sketches about the working class people and suffragettes who fought and died for their right to vote and a sketch about a fictitious family in Pilton, whose kids eventually persuaded their parents to miss ‘Storage wars’ to go and cast their vote!
The young people performed brilliantly and all their weeks of hard work were well worth it as the audience gave them a standing ovation. Well done to the ‘Giggers’!
Following on from the GIG project about democracy, the young people in the ‘Get Involved Group’ went through a democratic process of identifying what the GIG should focus on next.
After much discussion, they unanimously voted for the next topic to be ‘Animal Welfare’ as this is something they care deeply about.
They are in the process of developing a ‘Dog Dirt Free’ zone around the PYCP building, as many children play there, but unfortunately people are letting their dogs foul there and not cleaning it up.
The group recently had a visit from Rachel Bliss from The Dogs Trust who spoke about the many aspects of Dog Welfare and Dog Safety. Rachel has agreed to come back to PYCP to do two more sessions for young people during the Easter holidays.
A couple of youngsters are very keen to look at protection of unicorns, and this is something that the workers are trying to figure out how best to tackle this subject-without shattering their illusions about unicorns being real!
Photos: (1) Suffragettes scene from GIG play, and (2) GIG trip to Cosmos to celebrate their West End Theatre run!
Pilton Youth & Childrens Project (PYCP)
#StrongerNorth: Working together for the community
FACENorth is working for the community … in all weathers!
Over the last three months FACENorth (Focussing on Alternatives to Crime Edinburgh North), in partnership with POP (Preventative Opportunities Programme) have been working with a core group of eight to ten young people running a series of work parties at Towford Outdoor Centre, the bothy owned and managed by Muirhouse Youth Development Group and MYAdventure. As well as working at Towford the group has painted the café in PYCP and bag-packed at Sainsbury’s in Craigleith to raise money for MYDG.
This group of young people has been helping get Towford ready for use by the wider community whilst gaining real work experience, working as part of a team, following instructions, preparing and cooking their own meals, preparing a dinner table, washing up after themselves, showing respect for themselves, their environment and for others, planning and implementing ideas, conservation training, learning about their own and a new environment and most importantly putting something back into their own Community.
When we started, there was no heating or hot water in the bothy, few lights downstairs and very basic cooking facilities, so with some nights dropping to below freezing the warmth of sleeping bags at night with a meal and hot drink were very welcome!
So far the group has removed an unsafe, old mouldy shed which had stood unused for a number of years and turned the space left into to a temporary car parking space. They have also planted trees, removed old wood from around the site, cleared work areas, helped to create a temporary road surface at the entrance to the Centre, dug out trenches to create a drainage system to stop the access road from flooding, removed root systems around the trenches and carried out general labouring work.
With the Centre being surrounded by over 17 acres of ground including hills, forest and a large pond, the group intends to return to dig more trenches and create a proper road drainage system using underground pipes etc., create a new access road to the centre with an asphalt/concrete surface, clear an old deforested area to help create a football pitch/camp area, assist in the planning and creation of a bike and walking track, clear and drain the pond area and re-route part of a river to run through the pond to allow this to be used for fishing, canoeing and wildlife area!
Once plans are finalised for the remembrance area for Mikaeel Kular the group is keen to contribute to getting this ready so that whole community of North Edinburgh has somewhere to spend some quiet reflection time.
At Pilton Youth and Children’s Project the group has painted the café area (above), creating a brighter more user friendly area for centre users to enjoy and the group will shortly be taking part in a conservation project based on the local cycle paths.
Too grand! STV Appeal support for PYCP
Pilton Youth and Children’s Project (PYCP) has received £2000 from the STV Appeal 2014. The funding is welcome news for the local project and will support PY’s clubs and groups throughout the year.
The STV Appeal team’s Natalie Wright called in at The Greenhouse last week to present the cheque and met children from PY’s P5 – P7 Club.
PYCP provides a wide range of services and activities – from open clubs and groups to community and school-based individual support in North Edinburgh. Each provision is designed to meet the needs of a particular age and peer group, and activities are tailored to meet these needs in consultation with the children and young people involved.
PYCP carry out open access youth work plus promotion of good health and well being. The project offers targeted and referred support work to children and young people in need. There is also a Preventative Opportunities Programme which supports young people by engaging their whole family in activities, outings and workshops together.
The STV Appeal is committed to making a difference in the lives of children and young people living in poverty in Scotland. Across the country, 220,000 children live in poverty and figures from the Campaign to End Child Poverty show that in Edinburgh it’s actually 21.1% of children. Pilton Youth and Children’s Project is one of the projects the STV Appeal is supporting in Edinburgh.
Since launch in 2011, the STV Appeal has raised over £8.2 million with 297 big and small grants distributed to projects across all 32 local authority areas in Scotland, providing much needed support to over 37,000 children. The money raised is distributed to provide practical help like food and warm clothes; create opportunities for training and employability; and enable social and emotional support for those who need it most.
PYCP youth and children’s worker Mark Hunter said: “As someone who has been part of PYCP for the past ten years, I have witnessed firsthand the positive impact that the project has made in the lives of so many young people, their families and the community around them.
“I think PYCP is unique in the way that it is there for children when they start their school career aged five and continues to be there for them until they are 18 and beyond. It is really important that we can provide opportunities for all children and young people in Pilton to have fun with their friends and take part in organised activities, all free of charge.
“Because of that we are ideally placed to offer additional support to those who want it and support all young people to reach their potential. Being part of PYCP has been immensely rewarding for me and I’m excited to see how the next ten years pans out too.”
Rob Woodward, STV CEO and trustee of the STV Appeal, said: “The money donated to the STV Appeal remains in Scotland and will help bring about a positive change to the lives of vulnerable children and young people on our doorstep. With the help of the extraordinary fundraising efforts taking place in communities across the country we have raised an incredible £2.6m in 2014 allowing us to make grants to 297 projects. We are extremely grateful to everyone who supported this year’s Appeal.”
Sir Tom Hunter, trustee of the STV Appeal, said: “Yet again the people of Scotland have cast their vote – end child poverty. Through the STV Appeal we are attempting to deliver sustainable solutions to do just that. It is simply unacceptable in modern Scotland to still have young people debilitated by poverty, through this project and many more the people of Scotland are doing their level best to combat poverty.”
Sir Ian Wood, trustee of the STV Appeal, said: “The generosity of the people in Scotland who provide such great support to the STV Appeal is incredibly encouraging and heart-warming. However, it is deeply concerning that there continues to be a significant requirement across Scotland for financial support for child poverty.
“Developing Scotland’s Young Workforce, a commission I chaired recently, has the overarching aim to enable Scotland’s young people to move into sustainable employment upon leaving education. But how can they achieve positive destinations if they have a less than adequate start in life?
“I sincerely believe that the grants donated by the STV Appeal can have a significant impact on the lives of Scotland’s young people and make a real contribution to eradicating child poverty in Scotland.”
The STV Appeal 2015 is now well underway with an exciting line-up of fundraising activities planned. Watch this space!