- £eith Decides
- #ByronEdinburgh Competition
- New Gym for Blackhall Primary School
- Instameet at the Royal Scottish Academy
- South Suburban Railway
Today there is a community based get together to decide what to do with a load of cash. There are 30 organisations vying for funding for their projects. The trouble is that they would collectively like to have £33,724.18 and there is only £22,092 on the table.
The money is half of the Community Grants Fund available from Leith Neighbourhood Partnership and this process is called Participatory Budgeting.
If you live in Leith then you have a vote. You may cast your vote from 12.30pm at Leith Community Centre. But be prepared as there will be representatives from all of the organisations ready to give you the lowdown on their projects.
After this there will be information about all the projects in MacDonald Road Library and Leith Library until 5pm on Tuesday 16 February. There is also information on Facebook here.
The Minister for Local Government and Community Empowerment, Marco Biagi MSP will join the community voters in Leith later today.
He said: “In these times of unprecedented political engagement in Scotland, there are many people who want to participate, but don’t get involved in traditional consultations. Events like Leith Decides remove barriers that can often come between people and being involved by linking their views directly and visibly with what actually happens – in this case, how money is given out. It’s participation, not just consultation.
“I hope the Leith community will come out in force to have their say on allocating these funds. Whether it’s to youth projects, community gardens or training courses, it’ll be the priorities of the community.
“The Scottish Government recognises that giving communities the power and confidence to shape their own futures, means that inequalities can be addressed by the people on the ground who best know the solutions.”
You could win £30 to spend at the newest restaurant in town Byron Edinburgh if you just keep your eyes open this weekend.
They have hidden some of their miniature cows around the city centre all within walking distance of their new place on North Bridge.
When you find one take it to the restaurant and they will give you £30 of Byron Bills to spend on burgers!
The clues as to where you might find the cows will be on Twitter and Instagram over the weekend both today and tomorrow. You are invited to share a photo on Twitter with the hashtag #ByronEdinburgh.
We met Tom Byng from Byron earlier in the week:
The Edinburgh Reporter News from Phyllis Stephen on Vimeo.
A new gym was officially opened at Blackhall Primary School earlier this week. The Education Minister Dr Alasdair Allan was there to do the necessary along with Paralympic silver medallist Sam Ingram and Headteacher Arran Finlay.
The new gym cost the council £1 million and was completed in December 2015.
Councillor Paul Godzik Convener for Education, Children and Families said : “I’m sure staff and parents at Blackhall Primary School are thrilled to see the new gym up and running and being used by so many pupils.”
This morning will start at 9:00am for The Edinburgh Reporter who is attending her first Instameet!
Now all you Instagrammers out there will know exactly what this is. But in case you don’t watch out for new photos (probably quite a few!) this morning on our Instagram account.
The Edinburgh Reporter is joining other Instagrammers at the Royal Scottish Academy for the hour before it opens to the public to take photos of the building and then post them here.
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Earlier in the week Jim Eadie SNP MSP for Edinburgh Southern secured a parliamentary debate on the reintroduction of the South Suburban Railway.
The railway line is already in existence but is only used for freight traffic. The motion before Parliament was to reinstate it for passenger use, although since it was just a members’ debate, its purpose was just to highlight the matter.
Jim Eadie mentioned the fact that the Edinburgh and South East Scotland City Deal which is currently working towards an autumn sign off mentions the fact that existing transport infrastructure needs to be upgraded. He also proposed that reinstatement of the line would bring economic and social benefits to Edinburgh.
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And just a reminder that you can go racing tomorrow!
Musselburgh Racecourse getting ready for racing from Phyllis Stephen on Vimeo.
Founding Editor of The Edinburgh Reporter.
Edinburgh-born multimedia journalist and iPhoneographer.
