Tag: Scran Academy

Free Community Meals resume with a Burns Night Special!

ATTEND our annual programme of Community Meals for families in North Edinburgh. Kicking off next week with a #BurnsNight special with our pals at Granton Community Garden.

We bring communities together, filling bellies & minds of young people & provide 100s of meals! It’s what we do!

Citizen Winter Warmer Weekend

The Edinburgh International Book Festival has teamed up with The Brunton Theatre and North Edinburgh Arts to host a weekend of inspiring creative activities and conversations.  

The second Citizen Winter Warmer presents two days of heart-warming, interactive and fun events celebrating local community voices and creating opportunities for new stories to be heard.  

Featuring fun-filled afternoons of art and stories for families and an evenings of celebration featuring local residents side-by-side with professional writers, the Citizen Winter Warmer will take place on Friday 19 and Saturday 20 November 2021 and is part of Book Week Scotland.  

The Edinburgh International Book Festival’s Citizen project is supported by the players of People’s Postcode Lottery and through the PLACE programme. 

Noëlle Cobden, Communities Programme Director at the Edinburgh International Book Festival, said “We’re delighted to be working with our partners North Edinburgh Arts and The Brunton on our Citizen Winter Warmer.

“Through our year-round Communities Programme, the Book Festival provides a platform for local people to share their stories, helping to bring us together in challenging times.

“The Winter Warmer all is about celebrating community and connection, spreading a little bit of light in the darkest point of the year, and we hope that everyone, whether or not they’ve been to a Book Festival event before, feels welcome to join us either in Musselburgh or North Edinburgh.” 

The Citizen Winter Warmer is all about sharing stories from local communities and, prior to the event itself, writer Luke Winter is joined by Citizen Writer in Residence Eleanor Thom as they park the Story Wagon outside each venue (Tuesday 16 November at The Brunton, Musselburgh and Wednesday 17 November at North Edinburgh Arts, 10.00am to 2.00pm each day).  

Local residents are encouraged to drop in, have a chat and tell their stories to Luke and Eleanor. 

The Winter Warmer kicks off on Friday 19 November at The Brunton in Musselburgh, moving to North Edinburgh Arts in Muirhouse on Saturday 20 November.  

The Great Big Story Show presents two afternoons of family entertainment, with the fun-loving duo Macastory bringing their hilarious songs and stories to the stage.   

Writer Luke Winter creates a fresh story live on stage from audience suggestions and much-loved children’s authors Maisie Chan and Elle McNicoll read from their brand-new book The Very Merry Murder Club – packed with Christmassy crimes, festive foul play and murderously magnificent mysteries – perfect for inquisitive kids!  

In Musselburgh on Friday author Christopher Lloyd also joins to explain how to stand up for the environment with his beautifully illustrated nature book It’s Up to Us, while at North Edinburgh Arts on Saturday illustrator Eilidh Muldoon creates a beautifully illustrated map of North Edinburgh featuring all the audiences’ favourite places. 

Audiences can tuck into two evenings of terrific tales and delicious food as the Book Festival’s Citizen participants share stories of life in Musselburgh and Muirhouse, and writers explore what community means today in the popular Stories and Scran event.  

The evening offers a sumptuous three course meal provided by the Scran Academy, a social enterprise catering company supporting vulnerable young people, and brilliant new writing inspired by the surrounding areas from local people who have taken part in Citizen’s creative conversations and workshops.    

In Musselburgh the writers from the community will be joined on stage by the award-winning author of Scabby Queen, Kirstin Innes, and poets JL Williams and Andrés Ordorica, who share their own powerful writing and discuss their views on community, identity and home.  

At North Edinburgh Arts the evening is hosted by Scran Academy founder, social entrepreneur, youth leader and campaigner John Loughton. The local community writers are joined by the award-winning poet, playwright and author of Luckenbooth Jenni Fagan, as well as poets Courtney Stoddart and Ryan Hay, who share new work and reflect on what community, identity and home mean today. 

In 2019, local photographers Karmen Bermudez and David Coxon took to the streets around North Edinburgh Arts to shoot the urban landscape, capturing incredible images which inspired short written responses from visitors to that year’s Edinburgh International Book Festival.  

As part of the Citizen Winter Warmer celebration in north Edinburgh, a free exhibition titled Who Lives in a Place Like This? showcases these photos and the writing inspired by them, returning to the community that birthed them along with words and images created by young people from The Alternative School at Spartans Community Football Club which offer a vital snapshot of their lives and a sense of their world and their community.  

Michael Stitt, Chair of Brunton Theatre Trust, said “The Brunton is dedicated to bringing the very best theatre, music, dance, comedy, children’s theatre, film and live screenings to East Lothian for the enjoyment and enrichment of as many people of all ages, as possible.

“Situated within the heart of the vibrant and creative community of Musselburgh, the breadth of our programming is ambitious and takes account of the interests of all communities we serve. We also have an exciting creative participation programme.

“We are delighted to be working in collaboration with our partners Edinburgh International Book Festival to deliver the Citizen Winter Warmer programme that supports creative activities with local communities.” 

The Citizen Winter Warmer is part of Edinburgh International Book Festival’s Citizen project– an ongoing programme of events, festivals and residences taking place around Edinburgh and the Lothians throughout the year, supported by players of People’s Postcode Lottery and through the PLACE programme. 

Laura Chow, Head of Charities at People’s Postcode Lottery said: “I’m delighted that players are supporting the Citizen programme, helping bring communities together and hearing their stories.  The Winter Warmer is an opportunity for us all to learn more about this city and its residents.” 

As part of the Winter Warmer, featured children’s authors Christopher Lloyd, Maisie Chan and Elle McNicoll will be visiting local schools. Children will get to explore their fascinating stories through a mix of interactive activities, readings and Q&A sessions led by the authors themselves. 

Tickets to all events at The Brunton, Musselburgh are available through http://thebrunton.co.uk  or on 0131 653 5245 (Monday to Saturday, 10am to 4pm).  

Tickets to all events at North Edinburgh Arts are available through  http://northedinburgharts.co.uk or on 0131 315 2151 (Monday to Friday, 10am to 4pm). 

Full details of the Citizen Winter Warmer Programme can be found at https://ontheroad.edbookfest.co.uk/.   

Free community meal in Granton Community Garden on Wednesday

SCRAN VAN in the GARDEN

Wednesday 20th October 4 – 5.30pm

Come and join Granton Community Gardeners for a hot takeaway meal – you can either take it home, or sit and eat at tables in the garden.

FOOD IS ALL FREE and served until it runs out.

The Community Meal is run in partnership with Scran Academy and Pilton Community Health Project.

Engaging Citizens: Edinburgh International Book Festival

With prison visits, cinema screenings, walking tours and communal meals, the Edinburgh International Book Festival engaged a wide audience in different communities this year. 

Citizen, the Book Festival’s ongoing programme of long-term partnerships with organisations and residents across the city and Musselburgh, presented a series of events and activities reflecting on Edinburgh, its residents and their sense of place and home, while StoryNation reached out to those further afield who were unable to visit the Book Festival in person. 

 Citizen is supported by the players of People’s Postcode Lottery through their Postcode Culture Fund and through the PLACE programme. 

Noëlle Cobden, Communities Programme Director at the Edinburgh International Book Festival, said “This August, through our Citizen programme, we celebrated a diverse range of voices, bringing local people from across the city to the Book Festival, in many cases for the first time. Whether eating together, taking part in events or joining the audience, a sense of community flourished that hasn’t been possible over the last 18months.  

“For those who weren’t able to visit our new site at Edinburgh College of Art, as part of our Story Nation, we took authors and streamed events to them. Our prison sessions were extremely popular and have already begun to yield positive results with attendees reading more widely and developing their own writing following our visits.

“Our work in communities in Edinburgh and beyond will continue over the coming year with projects in schools, community venues, hospitals, prisons and care homes, as well as online.” 

In partnership with Scran Academy, a social enterprise catering organisation working with vulnerable young people, Stories & Scran brought together 40 participants in the Citizen Collective, the North Edinburgh/Musselburgh Citizen Writers, pupils from the Alternative School @ Spartans and local people from Tollcross for a community meal at the Book Festival’s new home at Edinburgh College of Art followed by performances of their words and music created in writing workshops held online throughout the Covid pandemic.  

The work of other Citizen participants, including The Warblers, the Citizen Collective and the Citizen Saheliya Group, was also featured in R Words, a Scotland-wide game of poetry consequences. 

As part of StoryNation, Pat Nevin, Chris Brookmyre and Andrew O’Hagan participated in workshops and readings in HMP Edinburgh, Perth and Kilmarnock.  

Stellar Quines theatre company along with actors Genna Allan and Chloe Wyper from the Citizens Theatre’s WAC Ensemble – Scotland’s first professionally supported theatre company for performers and theatremakers with care experience – worked closely with novelist Jenni Fagan to create a masterful adaption of Jessie Kesson’s radio play You’ve Never Slept in Mine.  

This was performed twice in HMP Edinburgh following its premiere at the Book Festival.  The Book Festival donated three copies of the books from the authors who visited to each Prison Library, and HMP Edinburgh advises that there was immediately a waiting list to read Pat Nevin’s The Accidental Footballer. 

Andrew O’Hagan also visited the new Streetreads Library in Edinburgh to read from Mayflies.  Streetreads is a charity that takes books and stories to people affected by homelessness and the new library received 15 copies of Mayflies donated by the Book Festival. 

StoryNation also worked with The Birks Cinema, a community owned social enterprise in Aberfeldy – a rural area that suffers from a lack of reliable broadband – to screen a series of live conversations direct from the Book Festival.  

Perthshire audiences enjoyed events with Salman Rushdie and Pat Nevin, the launch of the Golden Treasury of Scottish Verse with the new Scottish Makar Kathleen Jamie who was joined by poets Don Paterson and Peter Mackay, the Summer Crime Wave event featuring Val McDermid, Ambrose Parry, Doug Johnston and Mary Paulson-Ellis and finally a conversation with Ian Rankin as he launched The Dark Remains, his completion of the late William Mcllvanney’s final manuscript.  

The Book Festival’s Citizen City Tour, developed by with photographer Alicia Bruce and Citizen Writer in Residence Eleanor Thom in collaboration with residents of Tollcross, is free, self-guided audio tour which encourages participants to explore the gap between Edinburgh’s postcard exterior and its inner heart.  

300 maps with QR codes were picked up from the Book Festival and to date some of the stories have already been listened to over 45 times. 

Edinburgh International Book Festival’s Citizen programme returns with the Citizen Winter Warmer – a weekend of events and activities at North Edinburgh Arts and Brunton Theatre Musselburgh from 18 to 20 November 2021.  

The programme will be announced in late October, and full details can be found at https://ontheroad.edbookfest.co.uk/ 

Awards coming thick and fast for North Edinburgh’s Scran Academy


Scran Academy’s work with young people has been recognised in two separate Industry Awards.

On Thursday 09 September 2021, John Loughton [founder] and the North Edinburgh charity won the Apprenticeships and Skills category at the 2021 Public Sector Catering Awards, that celebrate those working within public sector catering.  

Scran are also a finalist in the Charity of the Year category of the Scottish Council for Voluntary Organisations’ (SCVO) Scottish Charity Awards 2021, celebrating the best of Scotland’s voluntary sector and voted for by industry professionals and the public. The winner will be announced at an online ceremony, hosted by Sally Magnusson tomorrow (Friday 1 October). 

The Apprenticeships and Skills Award, sponsored by Brakes, recognised that Scran Academy’s catering operations are an integral part of Scran Academy and are essential to delivering confidence-building experiences for young people.

These include the Scran Café which is located in the NHS Comely Bank Centre and currently creates a welcoming haven for frontline NHS workers and clinical trainees.  

The charity also runs its Scran Van, which delivers free community meals, feeds youth groups and supports families across the city.  These provide our young people with opportunities to learn, gain new skills, work as a team and solve problems in real-life situations. 

Scran Academy was up against stiff competition from across the whole of the UK, including Hospitals, Universities, large catering companies and industry bodies. However, thanks to its team of volunteers, staff and young people, Scran’s unique model of bespoke educational support and training won the day.

Scran pipped, amongst others, University College Birmingham, Compass Group UK and Ireland and The National Association of Care Catering to take the award.

For the Charity of the Year Award, SCVO has recognised Scran for ‘coordinating a coalition of charities that produced, packaged and delivered nearly 150,000 meals during the first Covid-19 lockdown, supporting over 1,000 people per week at its height’.

None of this would have be possible without the 220 local people who gave tens-of-thousands of hours back to their communities. In 2020 SCRAN also delivered its most successful Christmas Hamper campaign, selling 222 in total.

The organisation also merged with Prep Table Scotland, opened the Scran Café in partnership with NHS Lothian and launched the Scran Van food truck to tackle holiday hunger across Edinburgh.

Scran Academy founder John Loughton, and Catering Manager, Will Bain, attended the Public Sector Catering Awards ceremony in London. 

Scran Academy Catering Manager, Will Bain, said: “It blew me away to be up against catering managers with hundreds, sometimes thousands of employees, and for them to give us recognition for the work we do at Scran.”

Founder of Scran Academy, John Loughton BEM, said: “This nomination is a real vote of confidence in our community work and a recognition in the power of food to change lives.

“Will Bain and his team-work magic at Scran, to ensure food is positive for all people, not just those that can afford it. At Scran we do hand-ups, not just hand-outs and young people go on to change their own lives once they realise people believe in them.”

Scran Academy’s focus is to help young people from across North Edinburgh to overcome learning and life barriers and lead more meaningful lives.

The community-based school Scran runs – the Scran Academy – uses food to support learners disengaged from mainstream school to access qualifications and work.

Despite being less than four years old, the charity has grown and last year scaled its impact to provide meals for thousands of people throughout the pandemic across the city.  

Citizen: A hearty helping of Stories and Scran at the Book Festival

I was delighted to be part of Edinburgh International Book Festival’s ‘Stories and Scran’ event on Tuesday evening.

The event was a celebration of the book festival’s Citizen programme.

Over the last 12 months, Citizen Writer in Residence Eleanor Thom and poet Leyla Josephine have been working with local groups to discuss and respond creatively to themes such as home, identity and belonging.

The evening – a lively mix of live readings, stories and short films – showcased impressive work by participants from Spartans Alternative School, the Citizen Collective (some brilliant young writers aged 16-18) (above), the Citizen adult writing group, the Saheliya Champions and more. And all in front of a live audience, too!

The event was preceded by a delicious community meal prepared and served up by by a team from North Edinburgh’s very own Scran Academy. 

Congratulations to the organisers – coronavirus restrictions must have made this a very difficult event to plan and stage, but it really couldn’t have gone better.

Stories and Scran was live streamed and you can view it here:

 https://www.edbookfest.co.uk/the-festival/whats-on/stories-scran-1/player

Scran Academy shortlisted for industry award

Scran Academy is celebrating after being shortlisted for a leading UK industry Award. This week, Scran was announced as a Finalist in the Apprenticeship and Skills category of the Public Sector Catering Awards and the recognition will see the youth-led organisation appear at the Ceremony in London later this year.

Scran Academy’s initial focus was to use the innovative food social enterprise to help young people from North Edinburgh to overcome their learning and life barriers and lead more meaningful lives.

Scran’s community-based school uses food to support learners disengaged from mainstream school to access qualifications and work. Despite being less than four years old, they have grown and scaled their impact to support thousands of people throughout the pandemic and city wide.

This includes the creation of the youth-led Scran Café based at the Comely Bank NHS Centre, which creates a welcoming, relaxing and safe haven for as many as 100 frontline NHS workers and clinical trainees on a daily basis.

Last year Scran also launched the Scran Van, a food truck that provides free healthy food to children and families across the city to combat hunger and increase positive youth activities.

All of these food initiatives puts employability skills, job opportunities and personal development for youth at the heart of what they do.

This award nomination comes as this ground-breaking social venture seeks to empower hundreds more young people with the skills and confidence to lead in the hospitality industry.

At the same time the programme will take a significant bite out of the poverty-related barriers, life challenges and injustices the young people face on a daily basis – being care-experienced, disengaged from mainstream school, at risk of homelessness, unemployed or suffering from poor mental health.

Nominee and Founder of Scran Academy and social entrepreneur, John Loughton BEM, said: “This nomination is a real vote of confidence in our community work and a recognition in the power of food to change lives.

“Will Bain and his team work magic at Scran to ensure food is positive for all people, not just those that can afford it. At Scran we do hand-ups, not just hand-outs and young people go on to change their own lives once they realise people believe in them.

“Scran’s story shows is that if we support local community organisations that are run with passion and authenticity, we can develop creative solutions to social inequality. It also shows that unlike the stereotypes so often in the media, young people make a real and positive contribution to society and your postcode does not have to be your destiny.”

Scran Café: Youth powered café launched by Scran Academy

Scran Academy, a leading social enterprise in Edinburgh, is delighted to announce the launch of the new Scran Café, a professional café within NHS Lothian’s Comely Bank Centre, planned, launched and run by inspiring young people aged between 13 and 21 from across Edinburgh.

The café’s initial focus will be to create a welcoming, relaxing and safe haven for as many as 100 frontline NHS workers and clinical trainees on a daily basis, offering freshly made meals, drinks and other refreshments. 

With an innovative social business model involving a voluntary, private and public sector collaboration, this unique partnership between Scran Academy and NHS Lothian will see more than 100 young people, too often judged and failed by both their city and country, access dedicated employment experience and skills support over the coming three years.

Through the charity’s existing community-based Academy School and Scransitions, a new 16+ employability programme, this ground-breaking social venture will empower these young people with the skills and confidence to lead in the hospitality industry. 

At the same time the programme will take a significant bite out of the poverty-related barriers, life challenges and injustices they face on a daily basis – being care-experienced, disengaged from mainstream school, at risk of homelessness, unemployed or suffering from poor mental health.

Scransitions is supported by The National Lottery Fund’s Young Start Project, the Edinburgh Thrive initiative and Walter Scott Giving Group, who have all generously enabled the £300,000 project to run for three years.

The Café will open to the public later in the year as restrictions are eased.  There are already strong signs that the café will become an essential resource to the wider community, instrumental in joining up other Scran programmes and initiatives.

Through the charity’s partnerships and intergenerational work including projects involving low-income family, elderly and homeless organisations, there are hundreds of individuals keen to access the cafe and get involved.

The cafe will also provide a free community library, with support from Edinburgh International Book Festival and other bookstores.

Founder of Scran Academy and social entrepreneur, John Loughton BEM (above), himself a young person who grew up struggling in North Edinburgh, said: “At Scran we do hand-ups, not just hand-outs.

“We must all respond and adapt to what is an oncoming crisis for today’s generation that has resulted from education systems failures, a bleak employment context and the rising grip of poverty and mental health. It’s brutal for young people and our work has never been more needed.

“What Scran’s story shows is that if we support local community organisations that are run with passion and authenticity, we can develop creative solutions to social inequality. It also shows that unlike the stereotypes so often in the media, young people make a real and positive contribution to society and your post code does not have to be your destiny. 

“I also want to take this opportunity to thank all our funders, schools and volunteers whose contribution to the operation of Scran has made a huge difference to the young people of Edinburgh.”