Planning for national summit
Cycle paths
Tai Chi
National Trust for Scotland looking for a new boss
At The Queen’s Hall tonight
Children and young people from all over Scotland are to meet in Edinburgh today to plan an unprecedented national summit.
Around 90 young people and 50 adults who work in education, youth work and the third sector are meeting to begin making arrangements for the Children and Young People’s Summit announced by Education Secretary Michael Russell in September.
The summit will gather a range of voices committed to making Scotland a better place for our children and young people, to inform and improve the important policy decisions that affect them.
Eleven to eighteen-year-olds from every local authority in Scotland have been invited to take part in the planning process – together with staff from third sector groups and charities specialising in young people’s services – with the intention of holding the summit in the New Year.
Today’s event in Edinburgh is the beginning of a process that will see conversations with children and young people take place around the country. The young people in attendance will co-produce plans for the summit programme and subsequent conversations.
Children and Young People Minister Aileen Campbell said:
“To make Scotland the best place to grow up we need to listen to the experiences and opinions of our young people. Today, children and young people are meeting in Edinburgh to make that happen.
“Starting today, the process of planning Scotland’s Children and Young People’s Summit is bringing together kids from all over the country with adults who support them.
“Together, they will decide how best to involve Scots of all ages who are interested in improving services for children and young people.
“We’ve seen very clearly this year that – contrary to myth – our young people are extremely keen to help shape our future as a society. This is the beginning of a major effort to make sure they can do just that.”
Schools Minister Dr Alasdair Allan said:
“This is the start of a very exciting process. Thousands of professionals work hard and thousands more people are volunteers who are committed to making Scotland a better place for our children and young people.
“We want this summit to bring an added voice to this conversation – that of our children and young people themselves.
“They will help plan the summit and it is for them to decide where, when and how it will happen. They will be closely involved in developing the approach and the content of the summit, which will inform future policy and drive improvement in services for children and young people.
“Scotland’s young people are bright, hard-working and committed to their communities. I can think of few people better placed to help make Scotland the best place to grow up.”
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Cyclists and pedestrians in North Edinburgh use the off road pathways to get about without going too near a main road too often. Some have now suggested that perhaps the paths there should be marked out in the same way as Middle Meadow Walk, where cyclists are encouraged to keep to one side and pedestrians another. What do you think? Would it make walking there less of a challenge? You can add your comments below this article or add them to the conversation here on the Innertube Map site.
This week Dr Bike will be at Fiveways Junction from 3pm to 6pm to help you check over your bike and make sure it is roadworthy.
More information here.
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You can now try Tai Chi Thursdays 12—12:40pm at the East Neighbourhood Centre, 77 Niddrie Mains Road. Tai Chi is a slow and gentle form of exercise with lots of health benefits. Why not take 40 minutes out of your day to try out one of the free classes, run through by the Health and Wellbeing team at the Thistle Foundation.
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Scotland’s largest conservation charity, the National Trust for Scotland, is to seek a successor to take over from its Chairman, Sir Kenneth Calman, when he completes his term of office in a year’s time.
Sir Kenneth said:
“I took on the role of Chairman in 2010 at a time of significant change. Over the past four years much has been accomplished thanks to the input of Trustees, volunteers and staff, as well as local communities. There is still much to do.
“The Board has agreed a timetable for the creation of a new five-year strategy for the Trust to be put before our members in 2016 and implemented from 2017. It is clear that leadership of the new strategy should therefore be from someone who can follow that process through and, for that reason, I am sure that next year is the right time for the Trust to appoint a new Chairman.
“In the meantime there is still much work to do and I look forward to continuing to be part of such a great organisation. It has been an enormous privilege being part of the National Trust for Scotland and I will continue to enjoy it.”
The Trust’s Nominations Committee has now begun the task of seeking Sir Kenneth’s successor beginning with adverts placed in a national newspaper last weekend.
The person being sought will be expected to represent Trust externally and to promote its interests to the outside world. He or she will also convene the charity’s Board of Trustees, which is ultimately responsible for the strategic leadership and management of the Trust.
The National Trust for Scotland’s Chief Executive, Kate Mavor said:
“Sir Ken will be hard act to follow – there is no doubt about it. This is why we are allowing such a long lead-in time to appoint his successor. The Board want to be confident they appoint the right person to take on the role, secure in the knowledge that Sir Ken’s wise guidance and counsel will continue during this period.
The Trust’s Secretary, Stephen Small added:
“We have a fairly exacting specification and the Chair must demonstrate outstanding leadership skills and diplomacy and have the ability to guide the Trust through a continued period of change and renewal.”
Potential candidates are being invited to visit Saxton Bampfylde’s website at www.saxbam.com/jobs for further information.
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Tonight the Emerson Quartet are playing at the Queen’s Hall at 7.45. Ticket details here.
The Queen’s Hall says about them: “The Emerson Quartet, perhaps the most famous name among today’s string quartets, opens the New Town Concert Society 50th anniversary season with a magisterial review of four centuries of music for the medium from four of the greatest masters of their age. This concert will give Scottish audiences their first opportunity to hear the quartet playing with its eminent new cellist Paul Watkins – the first personnel change in almost 40 years.”
Founding Editor of The Edinburgh Reporter.
Edinburgh-born multimedia journalist and iPhoneographer.
