An inspirational mother who has campaigned for tighter security around knife sales following the death of her son has been recognised for her tireless work at Harbour Homes’ north Edinburgh Community Awards.
Lisa Petrie was named Community Champion at Harbour’s annual north Edinburgh Community Awards, held on Wednesday 30 September.
Tenants and local community members nominated neighbours, volunteers and community groups they felt deserved a big thank you. The categories were Good Neighbour, Community Champion, Community Group and Special Recognition.
Lisa began campaigning for tighter restrictions on the sale of knives following the death of her 22-year-old son, John McNab, in Leith in September 2025. She is campaigning for all knives to be placed in locked cabinets to crack down on shoplifting and ensure knife sales are carefully monitored.
Her campaigning work caught the attention of the media and people across north Edinburgh, who nominated her for the Community Champion Award.
She has also been distributing bleed kits across Edinburgh. Her work was recently recognised in the Scottish Parliament, where First Minister John Swinney committed to making the kits available at community hubs across Scotland.
On receiving her award, Lisa said: “I’m absolutely delighted. I didn’t expect it. I’m overwhelmed. “I started this to raise awareness and to save someone else from going through that, kids and adults. So I’m absolutely blown away by this.”
Lisa is now hoping to get into schools across Edinburgh to tell her story.
She said: “I think kids relate more to a realistic story than something from a textbook, so if I need to go around every school in Edinburgh to tell my story and John’s story, then I will.
“We’re looking at changing the law and we’ll keep pushing for bleed kits.”
In the Good Neighbour category, winner Joan Robertson, described by her neighbours as a “lifesaver in many ways”, was recognised for her kindness. Joan often goes above and beyond to look after her neighbours by taking in parcels, looking after pets and keeping contact details in case anything happens.
She was also nominated for Community Champion for her work in the wider Leith community, including at the Leith Polisbox.
On winning Good Neighbour, Joan said: “I’m absolutely gobsmacked.
“You just get on and do it. Do as you would be done by.”
The Community Group award was shared by the Girls Wellbeing Groups run by YMCA Edinburgh and the Pilmeny Development Project.
Girls attend the group for many reasons, including anxiety, stress, low confidence and friendship difficulties. The groups provide a safe space to develop confidence, friendships, self-care and life skills.
On receiving the award, Dawn Munro from YMCA Edinburgh, who runs the groups, said: “I think the girls will all be really chuffed with it.
“It’s really important to empower young girls with life skills. Our group is all about improving physical, emotional, mental and social wellbeing. The world isn’t in a great place for young girls and women. But because our group starts at age eight, we can then transition the girls throughout the key stages of life.”
Nicola Hutchinson, from the Pilmeny Development Project, said: “We’ve worked hard to get the group to where it is and it’s nice to have some recognition in the community because it’s been going for over five years.”
Dawn and Nicola were joined by Robyn, who started out as an attendee at the Girls Wellbeing Group and now works with the group as a young volunteer.
The last award of the evening went to a group of Harbour tenants called the Leith Legends. The group set off on a 3,070-mile journey from Easter Road Stadium in January this year. Their challenge was to ‘March to the Match’ virtually by walking the distance from Edinburgh to Boston at locations around the city.
They finished in time for Scotland’s first World Cup game, then walked enough steps to get home again.
Heather Kiteley, chief executive of Harbour Homes, said: “The north Edinburgh Community Awards were a chance to bring people together for an evening of food, music, bingo and celebration.
“It was inspiring to see the incredible connections across the Leith and north Edinburgh communities and the strength of community spirit in the room.
“Every nominee and winner should be proud of the difference they make, and I am immensely grateful for the positive impact they have on the lives of our tenants and the wider community.”
