West Pilton Neighbourhood Centre is closed Monday – Wednesday this week but is open on Thursday (27th) and Friday (28th December) from 9am – 4.30pm.
The Centre will also be closed Monday – Wednesday next week. opening again on Thursday (3rd)and Friday (4th) from 9am – 4.30pm.
Normal opening times will resume on Monday 7 January.
West Pilton will resound to the sound of jingle bells this Saturday when ‘Christmas Round the Corner’ comes to West Pilton Neighbourhood Centre.
The free event promises fun for all the family, with loads of free activities (including Santa’s Grotto) and live music too from 11am – 3pm.
A free Christmas event? Surely even Scrooge would raise a smile! See below for more details
West Pilton Neighbourhood Centre hosted three days of events this month for age 50+ which involved an activity morning, an information event and a social afternoon.
Activities included gentle exercise, Indian dance, indoor bowling, table tennis and silk flower making.
Information sessions offered: benefits advice from Granton Information Centre, Personal Safety from Community Police, health checks (Edinburgh Leisure), general advice (Age Scotland), Cooking on a budget (Barri Grubb) and energy savings advice.
Then ending the week the social offered an afternoon of dancing, bingo and a sing along with a museums outreach worker showing items worn to social events in the 50’s.
Local people were invited to enjoy all of the above with transport and lunch provided each day, funded through a grant received by the PCA.
West Pilton Neighbourhood Centre
The spotlight falls on the seniors next month when West Pilton will be celebrating older people with a series of social and information events for the over fifties at West Pilton Neighbourhood Centre.
Tuesday 6 November 10.30am – 12.30pm: Fun and Fitness
Come along for some fun and fitness, followed by a light lunch provided by the Centre.
Thursday 8 November 1 – 3pm: Information Sessions
Get up to date information on energy efficiency
Have a basic health check
Find out about benefits you may be entitled to (with Granton Information Centre)
Meet your local Councillors
Learn about personal safety from community police officers
And enjoy a buffet lunch courtesy of the Centre!
Friday 9 November 12 – 4pm: Afternoon Social
Join in with dancing and singing to 50’s, 60’s and 70’s music
Play a game of Bingo or just enjoy the company and entertainment
A buffet lunch will be provided by the Centre.
For further information telephone 551 3194.
Well, The Matter is a new way for young people to tell their councils and governments what they think about issues that concern them and a group of local teenagers unveiled the first edition of a new publication and presented their findings at West Pilton Neighbourhood Centre last night.
Commissioned by the Total Craigroyston initiative, six young people from North Edinburgh Young People’s Forum spent six manic weeks researching, consulting, interviewing, writing and producing their very own newspaper – The Matter – to articulate younger people’s views on how their voices can be heard in the Forth community planning process.
And what were their findings? Well, you’ll have to wait for those – the young people have clearly developed a taste for journalism so they are going to write an article about The Matter themselves for the NEN. Watch this space!
The Matter is supported by design agency Snook in partnership with Young Scot and Firstport, who support new and emerging social entrepreneurs in Scotland.
The current reform of welfare and benefit payments is the biggest to be undertaken for over sixty years. Whether you agree with the reforms or not, the changes will affect hundreds of thousands of people across the country. How will you be affected? Find out at a briefing and information session later this month.
Forth Neighbourhood Partnership’s Health Action Group is hosting a briefing on the Welfare Reform Act on
Wednesday 17 October from 10 – 11.30am in West Pilton Neighbourhood Centre.
Granton Information Centre’s Roddy Samson (pictured below) will be leading the session – which is aimed at local community, voluntary and statutory organisations – and there will be ample opportunity for questions and discussions.
Roddy Samson said: “The Welfare Reform Act 2012 introduces the greatest changes to welfare benefits in sixty years. These changes will have far reaching impacts for benefit claimants and their families, particularly for vulnerable people and the services which support them. The impact of these changes will affect those in receipt of Incapacity Benefit, Employment Support Allowance, Disability Living Allowance, Housing Benefit, Working Tax Credits and Job Seekers Allowance. This event will give you the opportunity to learn about the latest details of the Government’s welfare reform programme and help you to understand the new system and prepare for the changes ahead – where possible.”
To find out more or to book your place at the West Pilton briefing, contact Forth Neighbourhood Partnership’s partnership development officer Jim Pattison on 529 5082 or email jim.pattison@edinburgh.gov.uk
Tenants & Residents in Pilton (TRIP) meet next week on Wednesday 29 August at 7pm in West Pilton Neighbourhood Centre.
The Agenda so far:
– Stair cleaning complaints
– Neighbourhood partnership
– Edinburgh Tenants Federation fuel poverty meeting
– Muirhouse tenants group update
– Fortnightly bin collections
Open to all West Pilton and West Granton residents.
For further information see TRIP’s blog at http://piltonresidents.org.uk/
Manager Christine Mackay gives an update on the Total Craigroyston initiative:
I hope you have all had a good summer in spite of the dreary weather.
Many thanks to all of you who contributed to our consultation events. In total, 215 local residents and front line staff, from 37 different teams and organisations were involved in nine events.
We had expected to be ready to share the outcome with you earlier in August but in the end, processing all the information we received took longer than we thought. However, we now have a draft ‘Road Map’, which will set the direction for the Total Craigroyston Initiative. The information and insights that we gathered have been grouped into themes and we have identified a range of short and long term actions that we would like to achieve over the life of the initiative.
What is obvious is that there is a real strength within the community and a desire to build on the good work that is already going on. Of course, some challenges were identified and we hope that we can make progress on these in order to achieve the kinds of changes that people would like to see.
We have organised a range of meetings to present the findings of the research back to people who were involved and other stakeholders.
The meetings will take place on the following dates:
Tuesday 4 September at 2pm in West Pilton Neighbourhood Centre
Wednesday 5 September at 7pm in Craigroyston Community High School
Thursday 6 September at 10am in North Edinburgh Arts Centre.
Everyone is welcome but please book a place by contacting Julie Innes by telephone on 469 3162 or by email on julie.innes@edinburgh.gov.uk. Childcare can be arranged for those who need it. Please let Julie know when you book a place.
The draft Road Map will be available on Monday 20 August from the Total Craigroyston Blog at totalcraigroyston.wordpress.com and if you have any comments or observations please let us know.
As well as the meetings above, there will be a short presentation to the Forth Neighbourhood Partnership on Tuesday 21 Aug at 7pm, which is open to everyone.
Established in 1958, Pilton Central Association (PCA) is North Edinburgh’s oldest community-managed organisation and the group is looking for community support at their forthcoming AGM. PCA was set up to maximise community influence, address poverty and bring real economic and community benefits to the area, and those aims remain the driving force behind the organisation today.
Based at West Pilton Neighbourhood Centre (which it manages), PCA supports community involvement and participation within North Edinburgh and works closely with other agencies and stakeholders to help tackle poverty and to improve the appeal and wealth of the local area. Through innovative initiatives and creative approaches, PCA aims to work together with others to ensure that the community is at the heart of local decision-making.
West Pilton Neighbourhood Centre (pictured above) is North Edinburgh’s longest established community centre and the building in West Pilton Grove remains the hub for community learning and activity in the area. The Centre’s varied programme of activities is tailored to meet the needs of the whole local community – young and old, educational and recreational. Earlier this year the Neighbourhood Centre became the home of North Edinburgh’s newest food co-op, the Fabby Food Store.
Pilton Central Association also provides the building and supports the Thrift Shop on 26 Ferry Road Drive. The Thrift Shop sells second-hand clothes and household goods, providing an invaluable service for local families. Run by friendly volunteers, donations of clothes, household goods and children’s toys are always wecome – and the Thrift Shop would also welcome new volunteers to join their happy band, so get in touch if you would like to volunteer for this community resource!
The PCA also supported the local Community Employability service by providing a home for the project at 28 Ferry Road Drive, just next door to the Thrift Shop. Community Employability, (formerly Working Links), a local one stop shop committed to helping North Edinburgh residents into education, training and employment, closed earlier this year after failing to secure a new contract. PCA is hoping that the building will now be used by other community organisations.
PCA’s Betty McVay, who received an MBE for services to the Pilton community in 2000, said: “The PCA does have a remarkable history and we are very proud of what the organisation has achieved. What is more important, however, is the future and for communities to flourish we need active organisations and active, committed local people to make that happen. Many of the challenges facing our area today are just the same as those the community faced all those years ago – and when there are improvements, we’ve got to be vigilant to make sure things aren’t allowed to slide back. The PCA, like all community organisations, needs committed activists to make sure that the community’s voice is heard – that’s one thing that’s never changed over the years and it’s as important now as it ever was. There’s still work to be done.”
PCA’s AGM will be held in West Pilton Neighbourhood Centre on Thursday 30 August at 6.30pm. All welcome
For further information telephone 551 3194
It wasn’t a scorcher, but at least it stayed dry and that meant the Fabby Food shop’s Fun Family Barbecue could go ahead in the fresh air at West Pilton Neighbourhood Centre.
It’s just a pity a photograph can’t capture an aroma …!
