Young people – Page 65 – The NEN

Broughton's Good Samaritans!

You never have to look too hard to find articles critical of young people, so it’s always nice to be able to tell the other side of the story. Step forward Comely Bank woman Helen MacDonald.

Helen, who is 76, was clearing up following a family birthday party at LifeCare House. Whilst leaning over to dump bags of rubbish in a big bin in Comely Bank Street she took a dizzy turn and fell. Disorientated, Helen was confused and unable to get back to her feet.

“To be honest I wasn’t sure what I was going to do”, she said. “It all happened very quickly and it was a bit of a blur. One second I was putting bags of rubbish in a bin and the next I was on the ground. I felt a bit daft!”

Help was at hand, however. Three S2 Broughton High School pupils were on lunch break when they witnessed the accident, and in the finest tradition of the Three Musketeers Justin Youngs, Mason Harrison and Reece Head leapt to the aid of a damsel in distress.

The boys quickly got Helen back on her feet again, and, having been reassured that Helen was none the worse for her mishap, the students headed back to Broughton.

That may have been the end of the story, but for Helen’s daughter – another Helen. When she heard her mum’s story she felt that the schoolboys deserved some recognition for their prompt actions so she embarked on some detective work. Young Helen – it had been her birthday party, incidentally – contacted the Head Teacher at Broughton and the three students were soon traced.

Last week Helen – who has made a full recovery – was reunited with Justin, Mason and Reece at the Inverleith Community Conference at Broughton High School. The boys remained modest about their actions, but Helen gave the lads small gifts to show her appreciation and said: “I am really happy to have the chance to say a proper ‘thank you’ to the boys. I really don’t know how long I would have been there if they hadn’t come to help me. You do hear lots of awful things about young people but these boys are a real credit to their families and their school.”

Broughton’s Good Samaritans!

You never have to look too hard to find articles critical of young people, so it’s always nice to be able to tell the other side of the story. Step forward Comely Bank woman Helen MacDonald.

The boys quickly got Helen back on her feet again, and, having been reassured that Helen was none the worse for her mishap, the students headed back to Broughton.

PYCP AGM this Friday

A quick reminder that Pilton Youth & Childrens Project (PYCP) annual general meeting is on Friday (7 November) at 2pm in The Greenhouse. Details below:

AGM PYCP 2014

West Pilton: tackling the scourge of antisocial behaviour

Brandin, a member of North Edinburgh Young People’s Forum, is concerned about the ongoing antisocial behavior in the area:

A gang of local youths have committed many crimes in North Edinburgh recently: they are an extreme danger to the public and themselves. The groups has at least twenty members and is based in Pilton.

The crimes they commit are inexcusable and disruptive to the community: their crimes include breach of the peace, vandalism and theft. Recently an attack on an innocent Chinese man has created massive fear in the North Edinburgh community.

A local shop in West Pilton is a meeting point for the gang. The shop owner does not want to be held responsible for them being outside his shop as the gang threaten anything that attempts to stop what they are doing.

Local people are keen for the police to start doing something about the gang but they are sometimes hindered by the law – police are not allowed to give chase to the troublesome youths as they tear up local green spaces and the streets due to the risk to the health and wellbeing to the riders, so the gang is able to run free, behaving like lunatics.

The police have caught many of the youths and many have dozens of charges on their criminal record. Many have been given ASBOs, but they just turn up again and never serve any jail time – which many locals think is appalling.

I spoke to an young lady who said that the group are a ‘joke’. She said the police are not doing enough as the group are extreme vandals who are are a big threat to the community. She added: “The young people have taken over the community and are committing needless crimes. The police have said that they don’t have the resources but it is not difficult to ask other police stations for the things they need. They have to do more – and fast – before things escalate.”

Local people are not happy with what the gang are doing and many feel the police are not doing enough to stop the gang. At a public meeting in West Pilton recently the public made their views clear to councillors and police representatives.

The community is now waiting for explanations – and hopes that something is done to tackle the problem in the near future.

Brandin, North Edinburgh Young Peoples Forum

Josh and Nikki of the NEYPF took these photographs in and around West Pilton Park last week:

However local police insist problems in West Pilton are being addressed. In a statement on Facebook last Friday, Edinburgh Police Division said:

‘In North Edinburgh we are continuing to tackle antisocial behaviour and disorder in the area. Additional officers have been brought in from other parts of the East Command area to assist local officers particularly in the Forth Ward. In the last two weeks alone:

– 45 people have been arrested or reported for a variety of offences including possession of drugs, offensive weapons, antisocial behaviour, hate crime and housebreaking.

– 14 people have been arrested on warrants issued by the Court.

– 8 stolen vehicles have been recovered in the area and returned to their rightful owners.

– Over 120 persons have been stopped and searched with 12 being found in possession of suspected controlled drugs.

– Road checks have resulted in 4 uninsured vehicles being seized and taken off the street and the drivers reported.

Local Area Commander Chief Inspector Sara Buchanan added: “Police Scotland are committed to tackling these issues in conjunction with our partners in both the short and long term in order to keep people safe and support the local community”.

Youth Parliament Chair encourages candidates to stand for election

‘grasp this opportunity to ensure young people are continually at the forefront of shaping our society’ – Louise Cameron, Chair SYP

The Scottish Youth Parliament elections will be held in March next year and the call is now open for young people all over the country to register their interest and stand as candidates to represent young people in their area.

The Scottish Youth Parliament is the democratically elected voice of Scotland’s young people and campaigns on a wide range of issues, and represents young people all over Scotland. It gives young people a national platform to voice their issues, turn them into positive actions, and influence Scotland’s decision makers.

To register interest to represent a local constituency, young people aged 14-25 should complete a Candidate Expression of Interest Form by Friday 31 October. Further information is available atwww.syp.org.uk/elections.

Louise Cameron, Chair of the Scottish Youth Parliament, said: “During what is such an exciting time to be involved in the heart of Scottish politics, I am delighted to announce that the call for candidates is now open for the SYP Elections 2015.

“The Scottish Youth Parliament is an entirely youth-led organisation, and Members of the Scottish Youth Parliament represent the views of young people across Scotland and strive to make a real difference by campaigning on the issues that matter the most to young people.

“Being a Member of the Scottish Youth Parliament is a truly life changing experience. I would like to encourage young people from all over the country to consider standing as a candidate and to grasp this opportunity to ensure young people are continually at the forefront of shaping our society.”

Current Members of the Scottish Youth Parliament (MSYPs) have produced a promotional video to encourage others to get involved in this opportunity to stand as a candidate and potentially become an MSYP.

The SYP Elections promotional video can be viewed at:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HdPFjHPgD6Q&list=UU3lS9jY21U4jVSnhYkAK3kw

NE Young People’s Forum: last chance for feedback!

Hi Again,

We at North Edinburgh Young People’s Forum are carrying out a review of our group/project/service.

However there is only this week left to get your feedback in to us and help us better the Youth Forum … the deadline for feedback sheets (see below) is THIS FRIDAY (24th October 2014).

NEYPF Organisations Questionaire (2)

So let’s take 5 mins to have a coffee or tea and complete our mini questionnaire (we promise it only takes 5mins) and we really need and value your feedback!

We would also like to take this opportunity to say thank you to everyone for their help and support, and an extra thanks to everyone who completes our mini question as part of the review and sends it back over.

Thanks

Kind Regards

North Edinburgh Young People’s Forum

Reply to: neypf@hotmail.co.uk

Scoop! Roving reporters session with NEYPF

We held a training day with North Edinburgh Young People’s Forum (NEYPF) at PCA’s Ferry Road Drive office on Monday.

Four local young people took part in a range of activities over the course of the day – analysing news, preparing for and conducting interviews, some photography and selecting images to accompany stories, research and then writing their own articles. We covered quite a lot during the session, and if the young folk weren’t exhausted by the end of the day I certainly was!

The results of their hard work will be seen here soon, and NEYFP will also be producing an article for a Youth NEN section of our next newspaper. Well done, guys!

Desperately seeking Coalhouse!

A-Team need a Coalhouse, can you help?

A-Team Productions, a not-for-profit youth musical theatre organisation based in North Edinburgh, are desperately seeking a young man to play the lead character Coalhouse in their 2015 run of ‘Ragtime the musical’.

A-Team’s chairman Sean Quinn explained: “We are looking out for a black male between the ages 16-22 who has a background in singing and acting. This is a key role and we are looking to cast as soon as possible. Rehearsals take place on Wednesday and Sunday evenings in Leith, the production itself runs from the 18-21 February at The Pleasance Theatre.

“It is important that we find Coalhouse soon, this is an incredible part to play in a wonderful show. We already have a terrific cast but we need the final piece to complete our puzzle. Time is on our side however we are having trouble finding anyone who fits this character profile. Please spread the word, this is a huge opportunity to work with a amateur production with a professional approach”.

Interested? For more details contact ateamproductionschair@live.co.uk

Please have a look around our website www.a-teamproductions.org and our
Facebook page www.facebook.com/ateamproductionsedinburgh

Be honest: what do you think of our young people?

Hi All,

We at North Edinburgh Young People’s Forum are carrying out a review of our group/projects/service.

The reason for our review is so that ourselves and others can see what we have achieved and what we haven’t managed to achieve, whilst also paving the way forward. Therefore, we are asking for 5 minutes of your organisations time to complete a short questionnaire (attached below) and then all you have to do is send it back to us.

NEYPF Organisations Questionaire

Please be honest, your feedback is important to us.

We would also like to take this opportunity to say thank you to everyone for their help and support, and an extra thanks to everyone who completes our mini questionnaire as part of the review and send it back over!

You can email it to neypf@hotmail.co.uk

Thanks

Kind Regards

North Edinburgh Young People’s Forum

News from Blackhall Athletic

The club currently has five teams (4 boys and 1 girls ), we are in the process of starting up another boys team and girls team and in January another boys team will be launched. That will give us 105 boys and girls having the opportunity to take part in active sport.

As well as the sporting element, there are other benefits too. All of our boys and girls will, through training and playing, undertake over 180 hours of physical activity which is a health benefit.

And then there’s teamwork. Our players come from all over the area; they go to different schools and come from different backgrounds but they are all the same when they put on the club strip. This teaches them that they must all work together to achieve success and the young people learn the life skills they will need as they grow into adulthood.

Recently the Inverleith Partnership awarded a grant of £1164 to equip some of our teams and we have just heard that Scotmid have awarded the club a grant of £450 which will be used to equip a new girls under 13 team .

The club would not exist without this financial support and the dedication of the 25 adult members of the club who carry out a variety of tasks such as coaches, first aiders, admin duties and committee members .

John Adams, Blackhall Athletic