Royston Wardieburn Community Centre’s social history group launched their new publication, ‘Windows To Our Past’, at the Centre on Thursday.
Windows to our Past: A Collection of Stories from North Edinburgh remembers times long gone and also pays tribute to the local people – activists, volunteers, class mates and good friends – lost in recent years.
The group worked with creative writing tutor Jim Aitken to produce Windows To Our Past and members read a selection of their stories to an appreciative audience.
There were lots of laughs – the event opened with a comical This Is Our Lives sketch performed by the group – but there was time for reflection, too.
Some We Remember, a slide show created for the event, brought back a wealth of poignant memories of fondly-remembered activists no longer with us – men and women who each in their own way dedicated much of their lives to making the North Edinburgh community a better place to live.
The perennial challenge of fighting for adequate resources goes on, of course, and the latest round of funding cuts has seen North Edinburgh’s community centres and local projects fearing for their futures once again. In a discussion following the launch, however, it was clear that the appetite to campaign to challenge cuts to local resources remains as strong as ever.
The fight goes on – and, as a previous publication produced by activists urged: NEVER GIVE UP!
Our AGM is coming up: Wednesday 19th March 5.30-6.30 at Royston Wardieburn Community Centre. (room F40, upstairs -there’s an accessible lift).
You’re all invited! As well as some formal business like the presentation of accounts and trustee election, we’ll do a wee review of the past year, and a look ahead to the coming one.
We’ll provide some light refreshments, so if you’re planning to come it’s helpful if you can message us so we know numbers.
If you’re a member you should already have an invite, but please note we’ve had to change the venue as PCHP will now be closed that week for electrical works.
If you’re not a member but would like to sign up, all the relevant info is here:
North Edinburgh Parents Action Group held their 3rd meeting with senior housing staff at Royston Wardieburn Community Centre at the end of last month.
The meeting was well attended by local people affected by housing issues but unfortunately there were fewer senior staff in attendance than previous meetings which the group felt was disappointing.
The meeting focused on a number of key issues which have been raised by local people including :
overcrowding and a shortage of larger houses in North Edinburgh,
poor standards of repairs,
issues with Edindex,
lack of support to tenants allocated PSL (Private Sector Leasing) properties, and
inaccurate information contained in progress reports on individual cases.
Local people presented each of these issues to the Director of Housing and his staff and pointed out that most of these issues had already been brought to their attention at the previous two meetings and in their publication ‘SOS – North Edinburgh’s Housing Emergency’ which was published last May.
It was also pointed out that since then the group have raised other issues which are affecting tenants who have been housed in temporary accommodation and nothing has been done to address these issues.
Commitment from Director of Housing
The Director of Housing acknowledged people’s frustrations and reassured the meeting that his team were working on these issues and were developing new ways of working which he hoped would improve the service.
Furthermore, he agreed to take the following action in response to the latest information people had shared about their experiences :
To meet with the Chief Executive of PSL to highlight all the complaints people have raised and to clarify how the system works
To invite a senior member of the new build team to the next meeting to provide information on the numbers of houses available for social rent, particularly larger properties and new properties which can be adapted.
To provide a written response to all the issues raised in the group’s report
To organise regular drop-in sessions locally to enable tenants to access housing staff who are able to provide support and information on a variety of housing-related issues.
Enough is Enough
Although the group welcomed these commitments, there was also a feeling of disappointment and frustration at the lack of progress in tackling the area’s housing problems.
People also felt disheartened that after all these meetings senior housing managers were unable to provide answers to things they should really know about.
Susan Rowand, chairperson of the parents group, said: “We were shocked at the fact that people in this position didn’t seem up to speed or familiar with their own systems.
“We need to have confidence that those at the top understand what is going wrong and have a plan to put it right.”
No more false promises
The meeting was also attended by representatives from Low Income Families Together (LIFT) who reported that they were dealing with the same issues in Muirhouse on a daily basis.
Pauline Bowie, Manager of LIFT said: “As well as changes to the system, there needs to be a commitment by Council Officers, local Councils and MSPs to ensure that the changes are enforced. We don’t want any more false promises.
“Many of the properties people are stuck in are uninhabitable and would never make it onto the Edindex housing bidding service. These properties are offered as PSL to reduce the numbers of people in temporary accommodation and to reduce the level of support required by the CEC housing support services. This needs to change now.”
Our Thursday Tots is a popular group but it can be a struggle to get everything cleared up at the end.
If you can spare an hour to support our current volunteers at the end (or even 30mins from 12) then please get in touch
It would also be good to have a bank of volunteers so our 2 main volunteers could have some time off. Tots runs 10:30-12 on Thursdays during term time.
If you think you can help then get in touch via FB msg or comment
A few months ago, we were lucky enough to receive a Scotmid coop Community Grant to improve our Sensory room. We are pleased to announce that our Sensory Room is now complete and available to book!
Designed to support those with sensory processing disorders, this is a great place to relax and relieve stress in a safe space
We also have ear defenders available if required
Contact the centre for full details or to book your time slot:
Ceilidh tickets update: we will have some tickets available for sale on the door on Saturday from 4pm.
Please note, Royston Wardieburn Community Centre won’t be open on Friday due to the weather warning -so you won’t be able to get tickets from there then.
Forecast’s all fine for Saturday’s event though! Really looking foward to it!
