Edinburgh – fit for walking?
Tweet your Street
Oxgangs Food Festival
Jobs at Pilton Community Health Project
Cycling for Royal Blind
Today members of the public will be asked to audit key Edinburgh streets to help make them “fit for walking”. The call comes from Living Streets Edinburgh, a grass roots campaign group, set up to press for a better deal for pedestrians in Scotland’s capital.
At a joint public event with the Cockburn Association “Edinburgh – fit for walking?” members and supporters of the group will be calling on the public to help them audit a number of city centre streets so that safety and environmental improvements can be identified.
Commenting on the Launch of Living Streets Edinburgh, the group’s Convener David Spaven said: “Edinburgh is in many ways a great city to walk in, but sadly pedestrians have languished at the bottom of transport priorities for far too long. Motor traffic continues to dominate the vast majority of the capital’s streets.”
“Many areas of the city centre aren’t up to scratch and we want members of the public to helps us identify improvements. Later this summer we will be going out armed with clip boards and cameras to audit what’s good and bad for pedestrians in key streets. We’ll use that evidence to press the City of Edinburgh Council for investment to tackle poor pavement maintenance, commercial clutter and the barriers to pedestrians caused by thoughtless siting of waste bins.”
“Attitudes in the City of Edinburgh Council are changing for the better, and Living Streets Edinburgh local group is being formally launched to reinforce the message that a high-quality public realm that is fit for walking has enormous economic, environmental and social benefits. We want to make the case for more investment in walking infrastructure so that the large numbers of people who walk in the capital are given the priority they deserve.”
Key Note Speaker at the event, Marion Williams Director of the Cockburn Association (Edinburgh’s Civic Trust) said:
“The Cockburn Association are pleased to be working with Living Streets Edinburgh on improving the urban realm with specific focus on the experience of pedestrians. We have a walkable city that should be safe and inviting for folk to enjoy. I look forward to communities joining with us to make improvements and make a difference.”
‘Edinburgh – Fit for Walking’ tonight at the Friends Meeting House, Victoria Terrace, Edinburgh. Doors open 17.45 for 18.00pm start
https://www.dropbox.com/s/snd24ntu59xs9lb/LivingStreets_invite5.jpg?dl=0
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School pupils from all corners of the Capital have created a mini-map of Edinburgh with a series of tweets about the city’s streets.
The ‘Tweet Your Street’ project, being announced later today at Edinburgh’s Central Library, includes the launch of an online map where children have started ‘pinning’ poetic tweets about where they live. A selection of tweets will also be on public display within the children’s area of the city centre library.
The map is a result of a series of poetry workshops with P3-S1 pupils from across the Capital and the Edinburgh Makar Christine De Luca.
From the apple trees in Hope Terrace and the cobbles of St Vincent Street, to the cats that stroll along Easter Drylaw Place and the excitement of hearing the jingle of an ice cream van, the map of tweets reveals the essence of living in Edinburgh as a child.
Councillor Richard Lewis, Culture and Sport Convener, said: “These snippets of poetry provide a sweet and honest view of Edinburgh’s communities in the eyes of its youngest residents. In Edinburgh we have a long and proud interest in literature and poetry and it is great to see our pupils’ own writing talent thanks to this project.
“The memories of the street you grow up on stay with you. ‘Tweet Your Street’ captures these memories in a way that will hopefully spark other pupils and residents to view their own communities in a new light and maybe even tweet about it. The Edinburgh Makar Christine De Luca and these pupils have produced a brand new way of mapping Edinburgh and getting students interested in poetry.”
Christine De Luca became the Scottish Capital’s poet in residence, the Edinburgh Makar, and promotes Scottish writing and the Capital’s status as a UNESCO City of Literature locally and around the world. She was appointed as the city’s version of ‘Poet Laureate’ in 2014, and initiated ‘Tweet Your Street’.
Edinburgh Makar Christine De Luca said: “This has been a fun project to do. I’ve really enjoyed working with a group of committed, enthusiastic teachers. Writing a very short poem which captures something about your street isn’t easy; but reading the children’s poems proves it’s possible. Do read them and pass on the link to family and friends. The Central Library has been a great partner.”
All tweets available to view from 11:30am this morning online at the Edinburgh Makar website. They will include:
“Walking past running cats
Lovely gardens outside flats
Everyone is full of grace
On Easter Drylaw Place”
(Age 12, Forthview Primary School)
“In Craigour Loan
The people mingle
To the ice cream van’s jingle
They chat, giggle and play
Every sunny day”
(Age 8 Craigour Park Primary)
“My street is unique
Old – an antique –
It’s Newhouses Road
If you drive in
You have to drive back
You see
It’s a
Cul-de-sac”
(Age 9, St. George’s School for Girls)
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Pilton Community Health Project have two jobs available:
Conference organiser
We are looking for a suitably qualified and experienced worker to work with us to plan and deliver a one day community equalities and diversity conference to take place late summer/early autumn (by end October). The conference style event will encourage local residents and organisations to come together to support better inclusion in the area and could result in an area wide action plan for equalities and diversity.
We are offering a total of 100 hours to be worked over the period June to October 2015. The hours are flexible and should be agreed with your line manager. The hourly rate is £12.76, and you will be paid monthly through payroll (less any deductions for tax and national insurance). You will also receive holiday pay at the end of the project.
For more information and how to apply, click here
Chat café organiser
We are looking for a suitably qualified and experienced worker to work with us to plan, publicise, deliver and evaluate chat café sessions in north Edinburgh as part of our Living in Harmony work. The chat café is a space where ALL residents can come to share food and talk to each other. English speakers meet people from other ethnic backgrounds and find out more about them – frequently overcoming negative stereotypes in the process. People from the BME community have a chance to practice their English conversation, find out more about what is going on in the area AND overcome their own stereotypes.
We are offering a total of 180 hours to be worked over the period June to end March 2015. The hours are flexible and should be agreed with your line manager. The hourly rate is £12.76, and you will be paid monthly through payroll (less any deductions for tax and national insurance). You will also receive holiday pay at the end of the project.
For more information and how to apply, click here
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Biking enthusiast, James Gregson, is to cycle the full length of Great Britain in just five days to raise funds for Royal Blind.
Starting just yesterday, James will average around 178 miles a day in order to complete the 890 mile trip by his deadline of Friday 5 June. A typical cycling time is ten to fourteen days, so James’ five day endeavour is a bold and inspiring challenge.
Frances Chisholm, Fundraising & Marketing Assistant at Royal Blind, said:
“It is fantastic that James has chosen Royal Blind to raise funds for. As Scotland’s largest visual impairment organisation, we provide care, education and employment for blind and partially sighted children and adults across the UK.
“The donations we receive allow us to continue the work we do so we are extremely grateful to James for his sense of adventure and support. We will highlight his progress on Facebook and if people would like to support James they can donate to his JustGiving page. We wish him all the best.”
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Edinburgh-born multimedia journalist and iPhoneographer.
