Spirit of solidarity is strong following Glasgow Girls screening

Pupils from Craigroyston and Broughton High Schools were in the audience at North Edinburgh Arts on Thursday night for the first public screening of The Glasgow Girls in North Edinburgh (writes Lynn McCabe).

The film tells the true story of seven pupils from Drumchapel High School who, with the support of their teacher, set up a campaign after the police removed their friend Agnesa and her family from their home in the middle of the night. One of those Drumchapel pupils, Roza Salih, joined the discussion at North Edinburgh Arts.

Still wearing their pyjamas, the family was driven in the back of a van to Yarl’s Wood Immigration Removal Centre where they were detained awaiting deportation. Agnesa and her family were Romas and had come to Scotland to escape persecution in their homeland.

After the screening, Roza (below, right) explained how she and her friends were shocked when they discovered what had happened to their friend and that dawn raids, detention and deportation were the norm for failed asylum seekers.

The schoolfriends responded by putting together a petition demanding the safe return of Agnesa and her family. When the petition failed they took their campaign to the wider community who took part in candlelit vigils and peaceful demonstrations. The local community also took part in a look-out system to alert families about the imminent arrival of removal vans.

Agnesa and her family were eventually released, but the victory was bitter sweet as the girls realised they were unable to save everyone.

Roza talked about the impact the campaign had on her life and the pride she had in the local community of Drumchapel for getting behind their campaign and challenging the inhumane treatment of asylum seekers.

Members of the audience talked about North Edinburgh’s proud history of fighting racism through campaigns such as Muirhouse Anti-Racism Campaign and North Edinburgh Welcomes Refugees. It was pointed out that North Edinburgh was rising to the occasion again by collecting clothes, toiletries, tents and sleeping bags to help children and adults stranded in terrible conditions in refugee camps throughout Europe. Members of the Womens International Group (WIG) were overwhelmed at the generosity of local people who have handed in warm clothes, jackets, shoes, sleeping bags and toiletries for children and adults stranded in refugee camps across Europe (above).

Anna Hutchison (above, left), a member of the Women’s International Group, reported that more than 60 women from North Edinburgh have met twice in the last few months to discuss issues around asylum, immigration and racism and are working on ideas for building a more caring and supportive community. Their plans include:

§ Learning about the causes of immigration and exploring what causes people to flee their countries

§ Challenging the myths about asylum seekers and refugees being promoted by certain politicians and sections of the media

§ Developing ways of reaching isolated people and making them feel welcome in this community

§ Celebrating different cultures and highlighting the benefits of diversity

§ Building links and trust between different groups

A meeting to take forward these ideas will be organised at the beginning of November. Anyone wishing to get involved in this group should contact:

Lynn McCabe at Royston Wardieburn Community Centre on 552 5700, email lynn.mccabe@ea.din.sch.uk

Julie Smith at North Edinburgh Timebank on north.timebank@volunteeredinburgh.org.uk.

More pictures:

Something inside so strong

Local women get together again to make a difference

Royston Wardieburn Community Centre-based Womens International Group (WIG) held a successful follow-up to their June ‘Getting Together, Making A Difference‘ event last month. Here’s the conference report:

Background

The first Getting Together Making a Difference event took place on 18 June 2015. A new exhibition created by the Women’s International Group was launched at the event. The exhibition celebrated the achievements of local women through the decades who individually and collectively have made a huge contribution to the community of North Edinburgh.

The event also included the screening of 2 short films on the theme of home created by a local women’s group from North Edinburgh and a group of women from Maryhill who were refugees and asylum seekers. Below is an extract of the comments made by participants during the discussion after the film:

Very strong films
All of us should work together to stop this kind of thing happening in this community (dawn raids, immigration vans driving around the area, people being sent back to dangerous situations)
We need to reach out to people and stand with them but there needs to be trust for this to happen
Together we have a big voice to change things
The film makes you realise how fortunate we are – many people have nothing – not even a home
It’s amazing to know that there are people out there who are prepared to help
it would be good to show publicly how much of what we hear is myths. There needs to be education for young and old about this.

The following decisions came out the meeting:

Organise a follow-up meeting
Screen the other Making it Home films
Screen the Glasgow Girls – shows people coming together to fight these issues
Challenge the myths
Publicise the Making it Home project

Aims of second Getting Together Making a Difference event

To raise awareness about the issues facing different groups within the community
To build links/solidarity between different groups
To develop ideas for tackling poverty and discrimination
To increase the involvement of different groups in all aspects of the community.

GETTING TOGETHER MAKING A DIFFERENCE

(SECOND EVENT)

Session 1: Home

Following the screening of the Making It Home films, participants were asked to pair up with another person to discuss what home meant to them. The following comments were made during the feedback session:

Home is:

Where you feel safe and secure
Where you can sleep safely and warm
Where your family is, whoever they are
Where you feel you belong
Where you have memories
Where you can be part of the community
Where you are valued and respected
A safe environment to bring up children
Where you can invite friends for gathering
My room
A place to sleep
Where’s there’s love
A bit of a hell hole
Where you learn things and hear different opinions
Where there’s fun and laughter
A place of protection where your needs are met.
Where you meet each other and are recognised by others
Where you don’t have to live in fear
Where you can be yourself without being judged
A place where people can learn from each other and politics doesn’t get in the way of relationships
A place where you share food and be with other people
Being part of a group / community.

It was pointed out by a number of participants that a lot of homes and communities aren’t safe and supportive and that this situation has a huge impact on people’s everyday lives.

We took time to reflect on the fact that ‘home’ is not a safe place for many people around the world at the moment. In Syria, for example, 11 million people have had to leave their homes and their communities over the last 4 years to escape war and persecution. Over 4 million of those displaced by the conflict have been forced to leave their homeland in search of a safer future in a different country. Sadly, many thousands of those seeking refuge have died on those treacherous journeys hundreds of miles from home.

Siobhan Glean, an inspirational black woman, who has made North Edinburgh her home, recited an extract from a powerful poem by Maya Angelou. The words were chosen because they resonate with the experience of refugees and asylum seekers facing hostility, racism and inhumane treatment in many parts of Europe today:

Still I Rise

You may write me down in history
With your bitter, twisted lies,
You may tread me in the very dirt
But still, like dust, I’ll rise.

Just like moons and like suns,
With the certainty of tides,
Just like hopes springing high,
Still I’ll rise.

Did you want to see me broken?
Bowed head and lowered eyes?
Shoulders falling down like teardrops.
Weakened by my soulful cries.

You may shoot me with your words,
You may cut me with your eyes,
You may kill me with your hatefulness,
But still, like air, I’ll rise.

Out of the huts of history’s shame
I rise
Up from a past that’s rooted in pain
I rise
I’m a black ocean, leaping and wide,

Welling and swelling I bear in the tide.

Leaving behind nights of terror and fear
I rise
Into a daybreak that’s wondrously clear
I rise
Bringing the gifts that my ancestors gave,
I am the dream and the hope of the slave.
I rise
I rise
I rise.

We were then led by the Timebank Temptations in a song which reflected support and compassion for our fellow humans caught up in the worst humanitarian crisis since the Second World War:

What is peace to you

We are calling compassion for all

Everybody has the right to a safe home.

Part 2: Getting Together. Making a Difference

We were inspired by a film made in 1993 by Muirhouse Anti-Racism Campaign. The film and the testimonies of those involved in the campaign highlighted the importance of showing solidarity with people who are being discriminated against and how much can be achieved when a few committed people join together.

We are reminded about the dangers of racism by the following quote by Willie Adams, one of the founder members of MARC:

“Most white people don’t understand that racism of this sort affects them as well. Quite apart from the fact that racism is wrong, they don’t see how easy it is for prejudice to divide the community. Racism is not a solution, it’s a way of distracting people’s attention from the real issues.”

Part 3: Where do we go from here?

Those present expressed their wish to build a stronger and more supportive community. The following suggestions were put forward with regard to how this might be achieved:

Action Points:

Challenge myths about immigration / refugees. Education is essential. We need to arm ourselves with the facts.

Use positive terminology/positive language when referring to people

Involve young people from various backgrounds in youth groups. There also needs to be more black and minority ethnic youth workers

Examine the causes of immigration what causes people to flee their countries

Come up with ways of reaching isolated people

Celebrate different cultures ie the international night being held in Granton Primary school

Build links and trust between different groups

Get involved in political campaigning

Establish a buddy system for people who are new to the area/ chum people to different activities

Establish a group to take these ideas forward.

Conclusion

It was agreed to organise a meeting in the next few weeks for people who are interested in forming a group to take forward these ideas.

Anna Hutchison who chaired the event then recited the following poem which she wrote in response to the plight of refugees around the world.

Hands Across the Water

Hands across the water

Hands beyond the seas

People living together

In perfect harmony

People helping others

Joining hands together

Sisters and brothers sharing, caring for you and me.

The event concluded on a high note with a song. The lyrics remind of us of our moral responsibility to stand up not only for our own rights but also for the rights of others.

‘Something Inside So Strong’ – Labi Siffre

The higher you build your barriers
The taller I become
The farther you take my rights away
The faster I will run
You can deny me
You can decide to turn your face away
No matter, cos there’s….

Something inside so strong
I know that I can make it
Tho’ you’re doing me wrong, so wrong
You thought that my pride was gone
Oh no, something inside so strong
Oh oh oh oh oh something inside so strong

The more you refuse to hear my voice
The louder I will sing
You hide behind walls of Jericho
Your lies will come tumbling
Deny my place in time
You squander wealth that’s mine
My light will shine so brightly
It will blind you
Cos there’s …

Something inside so strong
I know that I can make it
Tho’ you’re doing me wrong, so wrong
You thought that my pride was gone
Oh no, something inside so strong
Oh oh oh oh oh something inside so strong

Brothers and sisters
When they insist we’re just not good enough
When we know better
Just look ’em in the eyes and say
I’m gonna do it anyway
I’m gonna do it anyway

Something inside so strong
And I know that I can make it
Tho’ you’re doing me wrong, so wrong
You thought that my pride was gone
Oh no, something inside so strong
Oh oh oh oh oh something inside so strong

Brothers and sisters
When they insist we’re just good not enough
When we know better
Just look ’em in the eyes and say
I’m gonna do it anyway
I’m gonna do it anyway
I’m gonna do it anyway
I’m gonna do it anyway

Because there’s something inside so strong
And I know that I can make it
Tho’ you’re doing me, so wrong
You thought that my pride was gone
Oh no, something inside so strong
Oh oh oh oh oh something inside so strong

getting together 2 report

Getting Together, Making a Difference: focus on asylum seekers

Womens International Group (WIG) are holding the second in a series of ‘Getting Together, Making a Difference’ events next week.

CLD worker Lynn McCabe, who supports the WIG group, said: “The event is taking place next Thursday (24th September) from 10 – 12.30 in Royston Wardieburn Community Centre. This event will be addressing important issues such as home, immigration, asylum and human rights. The centre will be a drop-off point that day for anyone wishing to donate basic supplies to support Syrian refugees stranded in Calais.”

See poster (below) for further information or call Lynn on 552 5700

WIG event 24 September

Celebrating our own ‘phenomenal women!

Getting together, Making A Difference exhibition opens

North Edinburgh’s Womens International Group launched their eagerly-anticipated Gettting Together, Making A Difference exhibition with song, speeches, films, discusssion and even a little poetry at Royston Wardieburn Community Centre today.

The exhibition highlights the work carried out by local women activists over the years to improve conditions for the people living in ourNorh Edinburgh communities.

The event was all about the importance of solidarity and community spirit, mutual support and the need to keep up the fight to save local services. It’s an argument that was eloquently made in the past by activists like Jenny Marrow, Evelyn Preston, Maureen MacMillan Gwen Crystal and Sandra Purnell -strong voices sadly no longer with us.

You get the impression, though, that the fighting spirit still burns just as brightly in the hearts of our current activists – both the young and the vastly experienced, all of whom packed Royston Wardieburn today. I’m sure Jenny, Evelyn, Maureen – all of them – would have loved this celebration.

Me? I was just proud to be an honorary woman for the day!

More pictures on our Facebook page!

PHENOMENAL WOMAN

Pretty women wonder where my secret lies.
I’m not cute or built to suit a fashion model’s size
But when I start to tell them,
They think I’m telling lies.
I say,
It’s in the reach of my arms,
The span of my hips,
The stride of my step,
The curl of my lips.
I’m a woman
Phenomenally.
Phenomenal woman,
That’s me.

I walk into a room
Just as cool as you please,
And to a man,
The fellows stand or
Fall down on their knees.
Then they swarm around me,
A hive of honey bees.
I say,
It’s the fire in my eyes,
And the flash of my teeth,
The swing in my waist,
And the joy in my feet.
I’m a woman
Phenomenally.

Phenomenal woman,
That’s me.

Men themselves have wondered
What they see in me.
They try so much
But they can’t touch
My inner mystery.
When I try to show them,
They say they still can’t see.
I say,
It’s in the arch of my back,
The sun of my smile,
The ride of my breasts,
The grace of my style.
I’m a woman
Phenomenally.
Phenomenal woman,
That’s me.

Now you understand
Just why my head’s not bowed.
I don’t shout or jump about
Or have to talk real loud.
When you see me passing,
It ought to make you proud.
I say,
It’s in the click of my heels,
The bend of my hair,
the palm of my hand,
The need for my care.
’Cause I’m a woman
Phenomenally.
Phenomenal woman,
That’s me.

MORE PICTURES ON OUR FACEBOOK PAGE

Council agrees £22 million Budget ‘savings’

‘It’s a broken council which is failing it’s people and this budget must be rejected’ – Linda Garcia, WIG group

Councillors have set Edinburgh’s budget after a marathon meeting at the City Chambers yesterday. A raft of deputations from across the city urged the council to reject a budget package of cuts and service reorganisation aimed at saving £22 million this year, but councillors voted to approved the budget.

Leading the deputations was Royston Wardieburn Community Centre’s Women’s International Group (WIG). Royston Wardieburn was the city’s very first purpose-built community centre – it first opened in 1965. Two years ago – after years of hard work by the management committee – a brand new centre was opened, but members fear that all that good work could be undone by proposals to change the way community centres are operated.

WIG’s Anna Hutchison told councillors: “We are very concerned about these proposals. We have achieved a great deal in our Centre in recent years, but there is still a great deal of work to be done and we cannot build on our achievements when everything keep changing.

“Cutting CLD (community learning and development) staff and removing them from centres seems very short-sighted given that the Scottish Government is now requiring all councils to produce a CLD plan stating how they intend to build stronger, more influential and inclusive communities and improve life chances through learning and active citizenship.”

She warned that voluntary management committee members would ‘walk away’ if proposals to change the role of CLD staff in the running of community centres is implemented.

WIG’s Linda Garcia added: “We do not accept the proposed budget. We do not accept the way Edinburgh’s finances are being run. We do not accept that inequality, poverty and powerlessness are inevitable in our communities.

“We have been ‘trained’ to believe that no alternative (to cuts) is possible and that achieving a decent and fair society is just too damn complicated, so best not to try! We do not accept that this is the case. We want a council which puts citizens at it’s heart”.

“We believe that this budget is unacceptable to the citizens of Edinburgh. Unfortunately, despite a string of scandals, the Council seems unable to change. It is a broken Council which is failing it’s people and this budget must be rejected”.

“We demand that you join the campaign to secure additional funding from the Scottish and Westminster governments to safeguard our public services.

“We demand that you support Unite’s campaign to restructure the £1.2 billion debt owed by the Public Works Loan Board – paying £56 million in interest charges each year is completely unacceptable.

“We demand that the Scottish Parliament orders a Public Inquiry to examine the mismanagement of this Council, the numerous scandals and cover-ups by successive administrations.

She concluded: “We demand that you return power to the people.”

The group, joined by supporters in the public gallery, then serenaded councillors with a song! Based on the original Italian partisan song Bella Ciao, WIG’s words are:

The public sector is for the people

Oh bella ciao; bella ciao; bella ciao, ciao, ciao

The public sector is for the people

Not for sale to profiteers.

Oh we are singing for education

Oh bella ciao; bella ciao; bella ciao, ciao, ciao

We are singing for education

And an equal right to learn.

The rich get richer, the poor get poorer

Oh bella ciao; bella ciao; bella ciao, ciao, ciao

The rich get richer, the poor get poorer,

Unnecessary and unfair.

They cut the funding, they cut the workers

Oh bella ciao; bella ciao; bella ciao, ciao, ciao

They cut the funding, they cut the workers

Ain’t no ‘Big Society’.

Following that musical interlude, WIG were followed by a succession of deputations from across the city, each one urging the city to think again. EVOC, Edinburgh East Save Our Services, Edinburgh Tenants Federation, Edinburgh Trade Union Council, UNITE Edinburgh Not for Profit Branch, Edinburgh Anti-Cuts Alliance, Friends of the Meadows and Bruntsfield Links, UNISON and the EIS: each one advanced powerful arguments – but ultimately each one was unsuccessful as councillors voted to press ahead with the cuts.

Protecting frontline services in Edinburgh for young, old and vulnerable residents was a priority at the budget meeting, according to senior councillors. Investment in roads and pavements, investing in school infrastructure and working towards the redevelopment of Meadowbank Sports Centre and Stadium were other key priority areas.

Councillors say public opinion expressed during the recent budget consultation helped to influence key decisions as they attempted to balance the city’s books.

Cllr Alasdair Rankin, Convener of the Finance and Resources Committee, said: “Given the financial challenges all local authorities are facing over the next few years, we want to invest in the areas that are essential to Edinburgh and so it is important that the public continue to tell us what is important to them.

“This year we published the draft budget in October and 3,525 people gave us their views – five times the number of responses compared to last year. We also used a new online planner to give respondents the opportunity to express what they feel the Council’s priorities should be. The planner allowed us to show where we will incur costs in 2017/18, to demonstrate the impacts of increasing or decreasing spending in all of our services. This was extremely popular and 1,719 of those people took Edinburgh’s Budget Challenge.

Cllr Bill Cook, Vice-Convener of the Finance and Resources Committee, said: “We used the feedback received during the consultation process to help us make many key decisions such as maintaining funding for homelessness services, not increasing allotment charges and putting an extra £5m towards improving roads and pavements.”

The eight successive year’s Council Tax freeze maintains Edinburgh’s band D rate as the lowest of Scotland’s four major cities.

The council tax band levels for Edinburgh in 2015/16 will be:

A: £779.33
B: £909.22
C: £1,039.11
D: £1,169.00
E: £1,428.78
F: £1,688.56
G: £1,948.33
H: £2,338.00

The total revenue budget is £949m for 2015/16. Council Tax funds 25% of this with 75% coming from Government grants and business rates. The total capital budget (including the HRA) is £245m.

Key budget provisions:

Ensuring every child in Edinburgh has the best start in life

– Allocated an additional £5m of capital to support rising school rolls

– More than £4m invested in Early Years Change Fund for services for the very youngest children

Ensuring Edinburgh, and its residents, are well cared-for

– Maintaining funding for commissioned homelessness services

Providing for Edinburgh’s economic growth and prosperity

– Maintaining £1m to continue supporting the Edinburgh Guarantee, helping improve job opportunities for young people

– Support the Strategic Investment Fund with an additional £4.5m

Strengthening and supporting our communities and keeping them safe

– Continuing to invest in community policing

– Allocating an additional £100,000 to each neighbourhood to allow local people to have an even greater say in how their area can be improved

Investing in roads, pavements and cycling infrastructure

– An additional £5m investment in roads and pavements taking the total to £20m

– Commit 8% of the transport revenue and capital budgets for creation and maintenance of cycle infrastructure

Becoming more efficient

– Delivery of procurement transformational efficiencies

– Implementing the Better Outcomes Leaner Delivery (BOLD) programme

– Reducing the head count of the organisation by developing existing staff, revising roles and responsibilities and implementing structural change in the organisation through the ’Organise to deliver’ programme

– Maximising income

– Maximising savings through the rationalisation of the Council’s property estate

– Reducing carbon footprint and generating income through strategic energy projects

While the council argues that front line services are being protected, campaigners believe city councillors have let the capital down.

One Unite member who attended the lobby said: “This is a sad day for Edinburgh. You might have thought that a Labour-led council, supported by the SNP, would stand up for workers and communities – well, today’s vote shows you can think again. You can’t cut 1200 jobs without it having a huge effect on services and the people who will suffer most are the people in the poorest communities, the people who depend most on council services. People are angry – and rightly so, because these cuts will do real damage. Edinburgh is a rich city, yet our politicians vote through cuts on this scale? It’s shocking – they should be ashamed.”

A member of the Anti-Cuts Coalition added: “Deputation after deputation urged the council to reject this budget but it’s clear the councillors had already made their minds up. They blame Westminster, they blame Holyrood but at the end of the day our councillors have got to take a long, hard look at themselves.

“They have got to make a stand – if local councillors won’t support and fight for their communities, who will?

“Communities are being treated with contempt and remember – these cuts are just the start. We are facing another two years of austerity budgets, with more services slashed and hundreds of jobs lost – and when members of the public wake up to that it will be too late.”

Visit our Facebook page to see a webcast of the Budget meeting

http://l.facebook.com/l/PAQGWhuX2/www.edinburgh.public-i.tv/core/share/open/webcast/0/0/0/0//webcast/0/0/0

You’ll find pictures of the lobby there too

Council budget cuts: meeting at Royston Wardieburn next week

Womens International Group (WIG) are holding a follow up meeting from our 9 December one – the council budget Cuts will be announced soon.

The meeting will take place on:

Wednesday 14 January

at Royston Wardieburn Community Centre at 6-30pm.

We are hoping the local councillors will be in attendance to be able to answer questions regarding the cuts .

All welcome

Anna Hutchison (on behalf of WIG)

COUNCIL BUDGET NEWS:

It was announced this week that more than 1,200 council jobs could go over the next three years under proposals to plug the city’s £67m funding gap.

The council insists there will be no compulsory redundancies and said the planned ‘transformation of services’ was designed to make them more efficient and customer focused.

City council Finance Convener Cllr Alistair Rankin said: “Of course change on this scale brings challenges but we need to take decisive action now to meet our targets and create a stronger, leaner, more agile council to better serve the people of Edinburgh.”Among the proposals under consideration are offering more services online, having a neighbourhood approach for face-to-face services and cutting grants to the voluntary sector by as much as 10%.The latest restructuring proposals will be considered by the Finance and Resources committee on Thursday and consultation with staff and trade unions is also being planned.

See below for relevant Council reports:

Item_7.3___BOLD_business_cases___delivering_a_lean_and_agile_Council

Item_8.1___Organise_to_Deliver___Next_Steps

WIG call public meeting to debate council budget crisis

Local campaigners the Womens Internation Group (WIG) are to hold a public meeting to discuss the city council’s budget crisis. The event will take place in Royston Wardieburn Community Centre tomorrow (Tuesday 9 December) at 6.30pm. All welcome.

Council Cancels Christmas flyers 4

Full details of the event will follow when we have them, but here’s some background to where we are and why the local meeting has been called:

Last week public spending watchdog the Accounts Commission expressed concern over Edinburgh’s budget control – the city council must find savings of of £138m by 2017.

The Accounts Commission said Edinburgh needs to develop a comprehensive strategy for managing its staff – and on Friday it was revealed that city councillors are to discuss radical new proposals for service provision at Thursday’s full council meeting.

The council’s last major internal reorganisation in the 2000s saw the creation of ‘super departments’ – Education and Social Work were merged to become Children and Families, while roads and pavements, environmental services, housing, refuse collection and trading standards all became part of the remit of a huge new Services for Communities department.

As well as delivering a ‘joined-up’ approach, those new structures were introduced to devolve more power and decision-making to front-line staff to address new community planning arrangements.

Now, following a comprehensive review and facing severe budget pressure, Chief Executive Sue Bruce has produced a new blueprint to restructure the Council’s operations and it’s thought that hundreds of middle manager posts could be under threat as part of the proposed reorganisation.

Councillors will debate the proposals on Thursday before they go out to consultation with unions – the council currently operates a policy of no compulsory redundancies.

Council Leader Councillor Andrew Burns said: “It’s essential that we transform how we deliver council services to an ever growing number of residents, focusing more on their priorities while addressing the significant financial challenges we face.

“A further report from the Chief Executive makes the case for delivering services through four ‘localities’, or neighbourhoods, giving front-line staff the ability to make decisions more suited to the local community and their particular needs. It also outlines a proposal for creating a ‘Business and Customer Services’ corporate centre which would provide the necessary guidance and support.

“Councillors will be asked to select one from three models outlined in the report, following which consultation with staff, Trades Unions and relevant partners will begin.”

Councillor Burns also urged citizens to have their say on Edinburgh’s budget. He said: “Over the past two months, we’ve been inviting views on how we invest and save money. The consultation has attracted significant attention, with over 1,400 people completing our budget planner online, and a further 300 submitting comments by post and email. This is already more than four times the number of responses we received last year.

“Last week, attention turned to our Question Time event, giving members of the public the opportunity to quiz our panel of senior councillors on the budget proposals that mattered to them. It was a lively debate with the Chair, Evening News editor Frank O’Donnell, taking contributions from the floor and from those watching at home. Archive footage of the event is available to view on our website.

“Please take the time to have your say on the proposals, if you haven’t already. The consultation period runs until 19 December, and we will consider all feedback prior to setting the final 2015/16 Budget in February.”

Key_Facts_and_Figures_2014_2015

Royston ready for referendum debate with a difference

North Edinburgh’s Womens International Group (WIG) are holding a Referendum Debate with a difference in Royston Wardieburn Community Centre on Thursday evening – the party politicians won’t be doing the talking!

The WIG group hopes that by inviting ‘ordinary’ people to put the respective cases for independence and the Union the level of debate and discussion will be improved – more ‘light’ than ‘hot air’, if you like!

Pat Smith will advance the argument for a ‘YES’ vote, Heather Levy will put the case for Better Together and Craigroyston High School S4 pupil Nicky Saunders will provide a young person’s perspective on the referendum. James Foley and Bill Scott will be on hand to provide guidance and technical advice during the Question Time session and the event will be chaired by Harry Woodward. And participants will also have an opportunity to vote!

The Referendum Debate takes place at Royston Warduieburn Community Centre in Pilton Drive North tomorrow (Thursday 26 June) from 6.30 – 8.30pm.

Free creche and refreshments.

All welcome – and that includes politicians!

Referendum Debate leaflet wig thursday

WIG to host Women’s Health Day event

North Edinburgh Women’s International Group (WIG) invite you to our very first Women’s Health Day on Thursday (4 October) from 10am – 3pm in Royston Wardieburn Community Centre, Pilton Drive North.

Come along and try out gentle exercise, Zumba, relaxation techniques, pamper sessions and much more – and all activities are free!

The Centre cafe will be serving a cheap, healthy lunch between 12 noon – 1pm.

Give yourself a break for a couple of hours, try out something new, meet other local women and help us raise some money for Macmillan Cancer Trust (there will be a raffle, ‘nearly new’ table and a guess the weight of the cake competition).

For more information call Lynn or Lydia on 552 5700 or email Lynn at lynn.mccabe@ea.edin.sch.uk

Womens International Group

Royston Wardieburn women go global!

WIG (Women’s International Group) is a new group for local women interested in issues affecting women. The group was established in March this year after a successful event organised by local women to celebrate International Womens’ Day.

Since then the group has organised a number of local events including a hustings before the Council elections in May, a public meeting on housing issues and a film show. The group meets every second Thursday from 1.30 – 3pm in Royston Wardieburn Community Centre on Pilton Drive North.

First meeting this term will be on Thursday 6 September – new members welcome. For more information, contact CLD worker Lynn McCabe on 552 5700 or email Lynn at lynn.mccabe@ea.edin.sch.uk.