Play Park opens today – 20mph zone – The Big Sleepout – Leith FM rebranded – Festival booking opens tomorrow!
Saughton Play Park will be officially opened this lunchtime – with a story!
Local environmental charity, the Edinburgh & Lothians Greenspace Trust (ELGT), is delighted to announce the official opening of the new and improved Saughton Play Park, on Friday 23rd March at 12.30pm. The celebrations will include a ribbon cutting ceremony, followed by Spring stories with a local storyteller in the Winter Gardens.
The event will celebrate environmental improvement work carried out in the park by the Edinburgh & Lothians Greenspace Trust, funded by the City of Edinburgh Council’s Parks and Greenspace department, WREN and Biffaward.
Local storyteller, Ron Fairweather of Macastory, will lead a storytelling event, where local children will join in the interactive session and learn about the changing seasons and the joys of Spring.
Saughton Park is a popular greenspace with extensive playing fields, a beautiful ornamental walled garden, winter gardens and the recently installed skate park. The formerly run down play area has been transformed into a stimulating play space, designed by the Council’s Parks & Greenspace, to complement the Park’s other features and specifically to accommodate younger park users, so that Saughton Park has something for everyone, keeping all ages entertained!
The play area was designed after consultation with the local community, including local primary schools, a residents’ association, the Community Council and Neighbourhood Partnership. The exciting new play area includes an improved “sand works” play area for very young children, an adventure trail, a cableway, a climbing whirl netted roundabout, new swings and a basket swing.
Charlie Cumming, Projects Manager at the Edinburgh & Lothians Greenspace Trust said, “Opportunities for outdoor play are incredibly important in encouraging children to spend time being active outdoors, with the resulting positive impact on health and wellbeing through increased activity levels. We believe that the improved play area will be well used by the local population, as well as by visitors to the area and is a welcome addition to the park’s facilities.”
Councillor Robert Aldridge, Environment Convener, said, “I’m delighted to see this project come to fruition and it shows what can be achieved when the Council works in partnership with the community, the voluntary sector and external funders to produce a fantastic new play area. I’m sure local children and young people will be thrilled with it.”
ELGT works to enhance greenspaces and green networks across Edinburgh & the Lothians, making practical environmental improvements and getting local residents involved and active. Quality local greenspaces are fantastic, free resources for play, education, exercise and enjoyment and have a positive impact on health and wellbeing, for people of all ages and from all backgrounds.
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Children from Sciennes and James Gillespie’s Primary Schools will be road-testing the new 20mph pilot zone which comes into force today.
Here is the map of the 20mph consultation area. According to the council leaflet issued in conjunction with the pilot schemes road incidents would be halved by the adoption and adherence to the 20mph speed limit.
20mph Zone Consultation Map
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The Big Sleepout takes place tonight at The City Chambers on the High Street. More details of how to take part in the info sheet below. Spend a night under the stars to help the homeless. Hope it’s a fine night if you’re taking part. Do let us know if you are!
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Edinburgh’s community radio station, Leith FM, is set to relaunch as 98.8 Castle FM on Friday 23 March 2012 in a move to bring the station to a wider capital audience.
The station, which celebrates its fifth anniversary in April, has also just completed a £10,000 project to create state-of-the-art studios at its Leith premises.
To mark the much anticipated relaunch, Scottish entrepreneur Sir Tom Farmer will be ‘on the decks’ to bring the rebranded station to the airwaves.
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If you want to get along to any of the Festival performances that we previewed for you last week then you can get your tickets from tomorrow morning.
