The 2015 Leith Trust Conference gets underway today at Leith Academy. Focusing on culture, heritage, the environment, community and the identity of Leith – the Conference aims to encourage and help develop a vision for Leith that will define its future success and bring its communities closer together. The event will be opened by a series of welcomes from pupils of Leith Academy, the Lord Provost and Charles Hammond, the CEO of Forth Ports.
The Lord Provost, Donald Wilson, said: “I am very much looking forward to supporting and speaking once again at the conference this weekend. Leith really is one of those unique areas in Edinburgh that defines itself through its vibrant festivals, independent shops and restaurants, warm community and a rich cultural heritage. I have worked closely with the Trust in my time in office on the decentralisation of civic life and the promotion of the proud history of Leith and how it goes forward into the future. The work of the Trust continues to promote Leith and I look forward to the discussion on the future vision for Leith.”
Sir Andrew Cubie CBE, Chair of the Leith Trust, said: “Our conference gathers many together around the theme of bringing Leith closer together. It is encouraging that we in the Leith Trust are again able to provide a forum for the City, Forth Ports and many other Leith organisations to come together to participate in discussion and workshops about the shaping an even more buoyant future for Leith. Our outcomes will be to scope a range of needs for Leith upon which there is broad agreement, assigning to organisations present the responsibility of carrying forward the task of delivering change
“Our purposes are much broader than commemoration of valour and values, although they remain close to our hearts. Thus our taking an active part in the honouring of those many from Leith, who perished 100 years ago this year in the Gretna rail disaster, was an important part of the last year for us. In addition we seek both to celebrate and promote creativity, educational opportunities, environmental challenges, economic development opportunities and heritage advantages.”
The Leith Trust grew from a collaboration to create the Merchant Marine Memorial in front of the Malmaison Hotel. A number of the organisations that came together as part of the project to deliver the Memorial have since remained in collaboration to form the Leith Trust.
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