Enjoy tasty food and brilliant performances from local people. Returning for its fifth year, Stories and Scran celebrates dynamic, thought-provoking work created by our Citizen participants.
Expect diverse and creative talent from Project Esperanza’s Women’s Group, WHALE Arts, the Book Festival’s own Adults Writing Group, and Citizen Collective.
And Scran Academy are back to serve up delicious, sweet treats you can enjoy during the event.
Stories and Scran runs from 8 – 9.15pm at the Book Festival’s new home at Edinburgh Futures Institute on Lauriston Place.
City Council supports Community Cinema Hubs Project
granton:hub is leased to announce details of the Local Cinema film programme taking place across community hubs in Edinburgh.
The Local Cinema film programme has been funded by the City of Edinburgh Council via the Creative Community Hubs Network, which brings together eight building-based hubs who are engaging with their local communities in creative ways across Edinburgh.
This is the first shared creative programme produced by the hubs network to date, in a pilot project entitled the Community Cinema Hubs Project that is hoped will be extended more widely across Edinburgh into the future.
The North Edinburgh Create Community Wealth team would like to invite you to our End of Project Celebration Event at West Pilton Neighbourhood Centre, which has been the home of the project for the last two years.
There will be taster sessions, workshops, short film screenings and possibly a mini market where you can see the fantastic work and hear the stories of the talented Create Community Wealth participants. This is a drop in event from 5 – 8pm, and everyone’s welcome to come along.
Join us for ’Rooted in Community: Artistic Expressions from North Edinburgh and Wester Hailes’, an exhibition showcasing the work of local artists as part of Create Community Wealth – a collaborative community wealth building project, delivered in partnership between WHALE Arts, North Edinburgh Arts, SCOREscotland and Passion4Fusion.
The project aims to support local people living in North Edinburgh and Wester Hailes to explore their creative and enterprising ideas, to tackle social exclusion and improve wellbeing and local economic prospects through creativity.
The exhibition, ‘Rooted in Community’, is a celebration of community and diversity, highlighting the unique experiences and diverse cultures of people living in North Edinburgh and Wester Hailes.
Through their work, the artists explore themes such as community, identity, grief and mental health, inviting us to reflect on our own experiences and engage with the world around us.
From colourful paintings to representative photography, sculpture, portraits and pencil drawings, we invite you to take a journey through the works on display, each one telling a different story about life in North Edinburgh and Wester Hailes.
Through their art, these talented individuals demonstrate the power of community and the importance of self-expression.
For many of the artists featured, this is their first exhibition, and the Create Community Wealth team are delighted to support them in showcasing their work publicly.
The exhibition is a testament to the importance and power of community, providing a platform for emerging artists to showcase their talent and connect with a wider audience.
As we come together to celebrate the creativity and diversity of our community, we hope that this exhibition will inspire us to continue to support and uplift one another, as we work towards building a more inclusive and equitable society.
A community garden in Granton, the arts agency in Wester Hailes and a village shop in West Linton are all set to benefit from the Scottish Land Fund
Granton Community Gardeners has received £89,902 to acquire land in Granton where GCG will continue to host various community activities related to the growing and sharing of food to around 700 visitors per month.
Across the city WHALE Arts Agency in Edinburgh has been given £157,483 to bring their entire project into community ownership by buying the land that the current WHALE building sits on.
Community ownership of the land will secure the future of this well-used amenity from which WHALE Arts have delivered services and activities to the community for 30 years.
And West Linton Enterprise Group has received £97,600 to purchase a building in West Linton, Scottish Borders. The group currently uses this asset and will continue to use the building as a volunteer-run community thrift shop and local art gallery called The Knot.
The projects are amongst 16 across the country that have received grants totalling £1,972,701 from the Scottish Land Fund.
Tom Kirby, Development Manager, Granton Community Gardeners, said: “We’re excited to be able to move forward with ownership of our Community Garden, which has been created through the hard work, skills, and dedication of our local community.
“This is now secured for the long term, opening up more possibilities to improve it, and for more people of all ages to enjoy the space; and to grow, cook, share and eat more food together.”
Dr Andrew McNiven, Chair, WHALE Arts Board, said: “WHALE Arts is delighted to have been granted this funding which will support us in our Community Asset Transfer. T
“his ensures community ownership of the WHALE Arts site for the people of Wester Hailes. We’re grateful for the support of the Scottish Land Fund in this important step for WHALE and the community of Wester Hailes.”
And Allison Glasse, Co-Chair, West Linton Enterprise Group, said: “We are so pleased to have been awarded this grant, which will enable us to take our small retail outlet into community ownership.
“We are excited by the future possibilities of making The Knot into a real local asset, run by community, for the community and raising money for local organisations and projects.”
Cara Gillespie, Scottish Land Fund Committee Chair said: “Every one of these grants allows for the provision of assets and services that individual groups have identified as being essential to their areas.
“This localised approach helps to strengthen both urban and rural communities.”
Sandra Holmes, Head of Community assets at HIE, added: “The successful projects announced today across Scotland are all great examples of people taking control of local resources for the long-term benefit of their communities.
“For example, the Coigach Community Development Company, through the purchase of the land at the former hydroponicum site, will now be in a position to build much-needed affordable community housing. The new homes are vitally important to create a sustainable future for the area.
“All these projects announced today will help retain the population, attract visitors and create jobs. Ownership will give the community groups greater control over important assets that will reap rewards for people now and for generations to come. We wish all the successful groups the very best in their new ventures.”
Other groups receiving funding are:
Alyth Development Trust
Award – £76,774
Alyth Development Trust will purchase the Milhaugh site in Alyth, Perth and Kinross. The group intends to develop the site in order to provide a broad range of outdoor community activities.
Coigach Community Development Company
Award – £304,700
Coigach Community Development Company will purchase the former Hydroponicum site in Achiltibuie, Highland. They will develop affordable housing and an amenity space on the site, to strengthen the community’s long-term viability.
Concrete Garden
Award – £140,287
Concrete Garden, Glasgow, will acquire two sites, one currently used by the group and another vacant site nearby. Concrete Garden will continue to deliver community growing and creative play activities for the community and expand their outdoor services onto a new site.
Dunoon Community Shed
Award – £153,000
Dunoon Community Shed will acquire the former ceramics factory in Dunoon. DCS will continue to offer multiple activities to the local community to build skills, reduce isolation and provide a community gathering space.
The Heart of Argyll Wildlife Organisation
Award – £136,192
Heart of Argyll Wildlife Organisation will purchase Argyll Beaver Centre at Knapdale, Argyll. They will continue to provide educational and volunteering opportunities from the centre, alongside their conservation work.
Inspire Inverary
Award – £121,374
Inspire Inverary will acquire and restore Inverary Pier in Argyll. This will provide safe access for leisure, water sports and fishing activities, increased use by yachts and cruisers and offer opportunities for investment in moorings, pontoons and slipways.
Nether Lochaber Community Association
Award – £45,186
Nether Lochaber Community Association, Highlands, will take ownership of the Inchree Barn. The group plans to repair the building to address isolation in the community by providing a community hub for people and groups to meet.
Netherthird Initiative for Community Empowerment
Award £111,268
Netherthird Initiative for Community Empowerment will purchase Netherthird Community Centre in Netherthird, East Ayrshire, and continue to offer various community and wellbeing services from the building, including a community cafe.
Staffin Community Trust
Award – £116,064
Staffin Community Trust will purchase a slipway protected by a breakwater, plus onshore hard standing, a derelict boathouse and a parcel of land in Staffin, Skye. The Trust will continue to redevelop and improve the local harbour to serve a range of different users and meet the demand for onshore facilities.
Scenic Sandbank
Award – £119,890
Scenic Sandbank will acquire land in Sandbank, near Dunoon, Argyll, for the purpose of creating a community garden to develop the group’s horticultural activities and to provide an attractive green space for residents of Sandbank and the wider area.
Dornie and District Community Trust
Award – £66,316
Dornie and District Community Trust will acquire the former Dornie Store building in Dornie, Highlands. The group will renovate the building and reopen the shop and post office, establish a cafe and offer the flat above as an affordable rental opportunity.
Take A Bow Development Trust
Award – £65,650
Take A Bow Development Trust will purchase the Take A Bow Community Centre in New Farm Loch, East Ayrshire. TABDT will continue to run the site as a community centre offering a range of community-focused events and classes.
Tiree Community Development Trust
Award – £73,415
Tiree Community Development Trust will acquire land in Crossapol, Tiree and construct four light commercial business units, which will be leased to local businesses at affordable rates.
Give a man a chicken and he’ll eat for a day, give a chicken a gun and he’ll be the most ‘impeckable’ gunslinger this side of Texas.
Touring Scotland, Spring 2023.
Adrenalism Theatre are clucking proud to present the first full tour of their chicken western The Good, The Bad and The Poultry.
Taking in venues across Scotland from 18 March – 7 May, this non-verbal exploration of fear sees two cowboy chickens, a turkey and ‘Hennio Morricone’ (the live poultry band) explore being brave in the face of danger.
The Good, The Bad and The Poultry is a free, outdoor performance for cowboys of all ages. “The Good” and “The Bad” chicken, along with the dim-witted turkey, find themselves in a typical Western Showdown, over the highly coveted big golden egg. Tensions rise, with all the tropes of your favourite western from a fast-paced chase to a tense standoff, and a musical shootout with everyone’s weapon of choice – handbells. Will our poultry find a way to coop-erate?
Once the precious big golden egg is laid in the perfect place, the peaceful coop suddenly becomes a saloon with a musical barman, seed shots and classic Wild-West interior.
This epic western will roll into town in Giffnock, Fife, Dunoon, Irvine, Arran, Aberdeen, Wick, Edinburgh, Cumbrae, Mull, Hawick, Duns and St Andrews.
Wrap around activities for families will see little cowboys making their own wanted poster, going on egg hunts and more – a whole day of eggcellent fun for all!
The Good, The Bad and the Poultry is an outdoor, walkabout performance suitable for all ages. A fun, silly show featuring audience participation for all of the family.
Adrenalism is a recipient of the Creative Scotland Open Project Fund.
Create Community Wealth is looking for two (2) Lead Creative people to join the project!
Create Community Wealth is an exciting long-term collaborative project that aims to develop micro-enterprises across the communities in Wester Hailes and Muirhouse.
Inspired by the grassroots movement of the Granby Four Streets in Liverpool and other Community Wealth Building initiatives around the world, this project aims to tackle social exclusion and improve wellbeing and local economic prospects through creativity.
Wester Hailes will feature in a new exhibition called ‘What if…?/Scotland’ opening in V&A Dundee on 22 May which will explore the relationship communities have with their built environment.
The project, commissioned by the Scotland + Venice partnership, is the creation of Edinburgh-based 7N architects together with Architecture and Design Scotland, Scotland’s design agency, and a number of local partners. Initially started in 2019 it paired five local people from Wester Hailes with five architects and designers to discuss how they would improve the spaces where they live and what their hopes, wishes and aspirations for the future are.
The designer responded to the wishes of the people by proposing a way to make the hopes a reality – asking What if…?/. The process was filmed by film maker Basharat Khan.
The exhibition of the wishes, alongside the films, were initially prepared for the Scotland + Venice exhibition for the 17th International Architecture Exhibition – La Biennale di Venezia in 2020 – the world’s leading architecture exhibition.
However, with the 2020 exhibition postponed and uncertainty around travel in 2021 due to the on-going Covid-19 pandemic, the organisers were able to adapt the exhibition to premiere at V&A Dundee.
Connecting Wester Hailes
In Wester Hailes one of the key topics was around connections; connecting communities within the area and providing spaces for human connections.
Emily Stevenson and Eoghan Howard discussed with Katie Hay from 7N how a footbridge across the Union Canal would provide a connection to green spaces which would enhance the lives of locals.
Several groups discussed the derelict garage as a potential location for a community meeting place and how it was once an important part of the community and had the potential to be so again.
Leah Black from WHALE Arts, who hosted the workshops, said: ““It feels like a lifetime ago that Eoghan and I introduced a small group of local residents from Wester Hailes – Eunice, Emily, Bahiya, Ili, Chuks and Louize to the architects working on What If…? Scotland.
“We were delighted at WHALE Arts to play a part in making these introductions, however the success of this project was contingent on the generosity, open-mindedness and creativity of the group of local people who are passionate about improvements to the local area.
“The project was timely for us as we were working with Wester Hailes Community Trust, Ian Gilzean and partners on the beginnings of a Local Place Plan for Wester Hailes.
“This work on the LPP has continued to develop throughout 2020 and 2021 and we are thrilled at the notion of being able to incorporate some of these inspiring ideas into the long-term regeneration of Wester Hailes.”
Wester Hailes is one of five communities taking part in the project alongside Elgin, Annan, Paisley and Lerwick. Dundee will be added in time for the opening at the V&A.
As well as themes individual to the local communities there were many overarching themes of regeneration of lost and iconic buildings, the issues of closed shops in High Streets, community spirit, pride in local areas and how to create a meeting space that’s accessible to everyone.
In addition to the five films there will be an interactive installation called the Cloud of Dreams, where anyone attending the exhibition can submit their wish for their place.
Ewan Anderson of 7N Architects said: “When we first met with these communities in late 2019, who could have foreseen how much our lives would change?
“It’s interesting that even prior to a year in lockdown, community and spaces to gather and meet were of common importance throughout Scotland.
“I’m delighted we have found a home for the exhibition as it is important that these stories are told. And how fitting that this exhibition examining our places and how design affects them will be presented at Scotland’s first Design Museum V&A Dundee.”
Exhibition dates: Sat 22 May – Sun 21 Nov 2021 – Free museum entry.
