Leith Business Association meeting – Edinburgh International Science Festival – Edinburgh Medal – Leithers win grant monies – Dame Ellen MacArthur in Edinburgh

The Leith Business Association meets tonight. This is what is on the agenda:-

 

Leith Business Association

Agenda For Meeting Of 6th Febuary 2013

McDonald Road Library Business Hub 5.45 to 7.30


1)  Welcome And Introductions.

2)  Apologies.

3)  Minutes of meeting January 2013

4)  Chairmans Report

5)  Vice Chair Report

6)  Treasurers Report

7)  Membership Secretary report

8)   Leith Walk – Re-Instatement and Improvements.  Project Leader.

9)   Marketing Leith – A Manifesto:  Project Leader.

10)  Leith Decides/Website:  Project Leader .

11)  Open for Business: Project Leader :- 

12)  Business Improvement Districts: Sarah Woodford.

12)  Shutter Art.  Project Leader: Keith Hales.

13)  Leith Business App: Tracy Griffen.

13)  AOCB

14)  Meeting Ends 7.30

 

Date of next Meeting  ?? March 2013

 

Please Note A social Gathering will be held at the Brass Monkey Immediately after the meeting.

 

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The programme for the Science Festival was launched last week. The Festival starts on 23 March and you can see the whole programme here….

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For the first time in its 25 year history, the prestigious Edinburgh Medal will be awarded jointly to an inspirational and world renowned scientist, Edinburgh’s own Professor Peter Higgs, and to the world-class organisation, CERN, in celebration of the spirit of collaboration in modern scientific endeavour.

 

In 2012 the world awoke to the news that CERN’s Large Hadron Collider had detected the existence of an elusive, sub atomic particle consistent with the long-sought Higgs boson.  Professor Peter Higgs, the Edinburgh scientist, was one of the first to suggest the existence of the particle that now bears his name.  Since it was first proposed in 1964, the search for confirmation of the particle has been the collaborative work of countless scientists and in acknowledgement of the fact that science is a collective endeavour and in celebration of the spirit of collaboration, the Edinburgh Medal is awarded to both Professor Higgs and CERN, the world class organisation who led the quest.

 

CERN, the European Organisation for Nuclear Research, was established in 1954 to organise and sponsor international co-operation in research, promoting contacts between scientists and interchange with other laboratories and institutes.  CERN’s main area of research is particle physics, the study of the fundamental constituents of matter and the forces acting between them.  The endeavour of science brings nations together in a common goal and many of CERN’s experiments are international collaborations.

 

Professor Peter Higgs is a theoretical physicist and emeritus Professor at Edinburgh University.  In 1964 Higgs predicted the existence of a force-carrying particle, part of an invisible energy field that filled the vacuum throughout the observable universe. Without the field, or something like it, we would not be here.   The search for the Higgs boson has become a major objective of experimental particle physics.

Professor Higgs and Professor Rolf-Dieter Heuer, Director General of CERN, will deliver the Edinburgh Medal Address on Sunday 24 March 2013 at 7.00pm in the Signet Library.  Tickets are £8 and available from the Science Festival Box Office on 0844 557 2686 or www.sciencefestival.co.uk.

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‘Glamping on a budget’: Leith project amongst winners in Money Skills challenge for young people

Mark Lazarowicz MP praises innovative community coop aiming to help young people experience the countryside

Mark Lazarowicz, MP for Edinburgh and Leith, praised the seven young people from Leith and North Edinburgh who have won a prestigious grant in a UK-wide competition to develop young people’s financial skills in a way that benefits the community.

 

Their project, ‘Glamping on a budget’ is a community coop that aims to help young people get out of the city and experience the countryside who may not otherwise have been able to afford to.

 

It won them a grant of £500 in the Money for Life challenge sponsored by Lloyds Banking Group which will enable them to get it off the ground and also takes them through to the next stage of the competition.

 

Mark said:-“The Money for Life skills challenge is an exciting way for young people to learn how to set up a business or community project, get funding to get it off the ground and know what it takes to run it effectively.

 

“’Glamping on a budget’ is a brilliant example of business working for the community and I have real admiration for the young people from Leith and North Edinburgh behind it.

 

“They are putting their business skills to use in giving people their own age on a tight budget the chance of a holiday and perhaps to experience the countryside for the first time.”

 

The young people are all from Leith and surrounding North Edinburgh areas, and they are signed up to activity agreements as part of the Post 16 Activity Hub based in Leith Community Centre. The Activity Agreements involve skills training, help with looking for a job or volunteering so as to support them in entering the workplace.

 

The young people behind ‘Glamping on a budget’ already look to have both business acumen and a real wish to make their community a better place.

 

The next stage of the competition is shortlisting for the National Final in Scotland and after that the Money for Life Challenge UK Grand Final on 23 May 2013 in London. The winners of that would receive £2,500 for the charity of their choice.

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Dame Ellen MacArthur was in Edinburgh last week and The Reporter was lucky enough to be invited to the Postcode Lottery Gala Dinner when she was speaking. We found her to be inspirational and so we share with you the video of her speech here.

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Founding Editor of The Edinburgh Reporter.
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