Paul Wheelhouse the Minister for Community Safety and Legal Affairs paid a fairly low key visit to North Edinburgh this morning when he met with representatives from local groups to find out for himself what is happening there and how the Scottish Government might help.
The Minister spent two hours with local groups and visited Link Up’s Open Café where he met some locals struggling with addiction problems. A local young mother helped to establish the café with support from Link Up. Since 2013 it has offered a place to socialise over a cup of tea and a bacon roll. It was not initially set up to support those in recovery but it certainly now provides an important centre for those who need some peer support.
Also included in the tour was the Muirhouse Community Shop and the North Edinburgh Arts Centre where he had a look at the work being done in the garden there.
Robert Pearson Chair of TRIM said: “It was great to have Paul visit our community. I was able to talk to him and explain how TRIM came about, help him understand the vital role that Muirhouse Link Up played in the infancy of our group. He was very interested in how TRIM has become so successful and he repeated several times during our chat that it was all down to our sense of community.”
Others who met the Minister this morning included representatives from Inspiring Scotland. Celia Tenants who is the CEO was there along with Andrew McGowan and Helen Chambers who spoke very passionately about Muirhouse Link Up and explained how that organisation has achieved so much in this community.
Finally he met with Christine Mackay of Total Craigroyston who explained about the new Community Leadership College which is a natural evolution from several other projects in the area. The college aims to engage and build the capacity of around 40 people in the area over the next two years so that they can better influence what goes on there.
The Minister is photographed second from the right with Christine Mckay Total Craigroyston, Mark, Sean, Robert Pearson Chair of Tenants and Residents in Muirhouse (TRIM) and Joanne Stewart from Link Up.
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It would have been nice to see him along at Muirhouse Community Centre too – lots of ‘community’ happenings there and it seems like any time any people come along to see whats happening in Muirhouse they are automatically taken to the arts centre and Muirhouse Community Centre is overlooked – I just wonder why the only community centre in Muirhouse is ignored time and time again on any ‘official’ visits either high or low key.
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