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Five things you need to know today

July 14, 2016 6:00 am

New development at Meadowbank
Southside Social celebrate prestigious award
Sick Kids Friends Foundation comforting the bereaved
St Mary’s Music School bring music to Edinburgh this summer
At the Edinburgh International Book Festival this summer

Residential property expert, MNM Developments Scot Ltd, has announced the construction of a new build property scheme in Edinburgh’s Meadowbank, with support from a £7.7m funding package from Bank of Scotland.

The £11m project will meet the increased demand identified by MNM for larger, more modern investment properties in Edinburgh’s city centre, and from second time buyers looking for more space.

The venture, scheduled for completion in early 2017, will create 50 new job opportunities for the area, with the company opting to use local subcontractors exclusively and bring its engineering function in house.

To support with the build, the business has also invested in a suite of new equipment, including a crane, funded by an £120,000 asset finance facility from Bank of Scotland.

The 51 modern apartments on Marionville Road will be ideally situated near local amenities and public transport links. Each property will have a steel frame, solid concrete floor and triple glazed windows.

In addition to the main complex, MNM will also install a basement car park directly underneath the building to provide residents with secure parking in the city centre.

The announcement comes on the back of a recent win at the Scottish Home Awards, where the family business took home Apartment Development of the Year 2016 for its latest project at Harbour Green, Portobello.

Marc Teague, director at MNM Developments said: “It been an exciting year for us so far and we’re looking forward to providing a great selection of modern, high quality homes so close to the city centre. Meadowbank is a fantastic place for families and those looking to invest in property and we hope that the project will help support the area’s bright economic outlook.”

Graham Dunlop, relationship director at Bank of Scotland added: “This is the fourth project we have supported Marc and his team with and we’re confident it will be another major success.

“Residential property is an important sector for Bank of Scotland and we’re committed to providing tailored support to meet the individual growth strategies of our customers in the industry.”

EDINBURGH pub Southside Social is celebrating after being shortlisted for a prestigious award at The Scottish Bar and Pub Awards.

The venue is in the final four for a Diageo Social Responsibility and Community Award at Scotland’s longest running bar and pub awards which take place on August 16 at Glasgow’s Hilton Hotel.

The social enterprise business on Buccleuch street aims to help Scotland’s young people into sustainable work – and provide a drinking venue for customers.
The bar also donates its profits to charity.

The pub’s director Chris Thewlis who has a background in the security business, said: “I’m very excited we’ve reached the shortlist. We are a social enterprise and we turn our profits into training young people from harder to reach backgrounds and find them job opportunities. They come to us and gain the skills, qualifications and work experience they need and we try to get them a job. We have an extremely high employability rate so it works.”

The bar is celebrating its first birthday in August and Chris and his partners have bought another venue in Edinburgh too.

He said: “We keep prices keen and if you want to use the venue for a community group we never charge. We try to be a place for people to use and our supply chain is ethical and, wherever possible, through other social enterprise companies. We use Changeworks waste management and Breadshare bakery with helps people with mental health issues. We also stock Heroes vodka which gives back to Help For Heroes charity.”

Judges from DRAM Magazine, who host the awards, and Diageo are looking for a responsible pub or bar that has developed good relationships with local police, community safety partnerships, community groups, and licensing forums to help minimise alcohol-related crime, as well as those who go the extra mile to offer a community service.

An Edinburgh based charity that supports the Royal Hospital for Sick Children is funding a heart-warming initiative to provide bereaved families with special memory boxes for their little loved ones.

The Sick Kids Friends Foundation provides the necessary support which enables families to receive the touching memory boxes as a source of comfort during an extremely difficult time in their lives.

The boxes are made up of a selection of keepsake items including memory books to hold precious hand and foot prints, paintings and written reflections of the time the family had with their child, a butterfly tea light candle, a special box for a lock of hair and little teddy bears that can be given to parents and siblings.

Katrina Marshall, Clinical Nurse Specialist at the Royal Hospital for Sick Children, said that this initiative is to help families whose child is approaching end of life and families who have been bereaved.

Katrina said: “The memory boxes have helped us to support many families during a very emotional time. The boxes enable them to collate memories in a special place that they will be able to look back on in years to come.

“Our aim is to bring families some source of comfort in what must be the most difficult of time. After receiving thank you cards and verbal feedback from families, it’s overwhelming to see the positive impact they are having”.

“We’re so thankful that the Sick Kids Friends Foundation continues fund these memory boxes for families at what has to be one of the most difficult and traumatic of times.”

The boxes have recently been redesigned to ensure they are of the best quality for each and every family and the keepsakes items in them provide comfort to families.

Roslyn Neely, CEO of the Sick Kids Friends Foundation, said: “This is a really touching initiative and we’re very pleased to provide this valuable support to families. We can’t even begin to imagine what these families are going through and want to ensure that we can continue to help them in any way possible.

“We exist to ensure children and young people’s lives are less interrupted by illness and that they have a more positive hospital experience. We provide enhanced facilities and cutting edge equipment and it is the generosity of those who get involved with initiatives like this one which allows us to continue to do this.”

There are musical treats on offer during this summer with home-grown talent from the pupils of St Mary’s Music School, Scotland’s only specialist independent music school.

Eleven year old Taylor Torkington, a chorister with the Choir of St Mary’s Cathedral, Edinburgh and a pupil at St Mary’s Music School, will be playing the famous young orphan Oliver during a four-performance run at the Edinburgh Playhouse on Thursday 21 July, Friday 22 July and Saturday 23 July (matinee and evening performances).

There are three concerts in August performed by a number of musicians educated at St Mary’s Music School – Findlay Spence (Cello), Sophie Williams (violin), Hugh Mackay (cello), Anna Michels (piano) and Emilia De Geer (piano) – who will be providing a programme of chamber music by Ravel, Faure and Smetana.

On 17 August there will be a “Pianos at One” lunchtime concert at the Brunton Theatre, Ladywell Way, Musselburgh EH21 6AA at 1 pm performed by Findlay Spence (Cello) and Richard Beauchamp (piano). Richard Beauchamp teaches piano at St Mary’s Music School.

Sophie Williams (violin), Hugh Mackay (cello), Anna Michels (piano) and Emilia De Geer (piano) will give a third concert on 23 August in St Mary’s Cathedral, Palmerston Place, Edinburgh EH12 5AW at 8.30 pm as part of the Cathedral’s Chamber Music series in the Fringe.

The same quartet will perform a “Pianos at One” lunchtime concert at the Brunton Theatre, Ladywell Way, Musselburgh EH21 6AA on 24 August at 1 pm.

Throughout August there is a wide programme of Cathedral Choral Services with the Choir of St Mary’s Cathedral which features the choristers who are educated at St Mary’s Music School. The Cathedral is located at Palmerston Place EH12 5AW.

Sunday, August 7 2016

10.30 am Cathedral Eucharist

Schubert in G

Mozart Laudate Dominum

3.30 pm Choral Evensong

Pachelbel Magnificat * Holst Nunc Dimittis * Purcell They that go down to the sea in ships

Sunday, August 14 2016

10.30 am Cathedral Eucharist

Victoria Missa O quam gloriosum

Byrd Sing Joyfully

3.30 pm Choral Evensong

Stainer in B flat

Mendelssohn Hear my prayer

Sunday, August 21 2016

10.30 am Cathedral Eucharist

Kodaly Missa Brevis

Glinka The Cherubic Hymm

3.30 pm Choral Evensong

Howells Collegium Regale

Tippett Five Spirituals

Weekdays August 8-12, 15, 16 and 18

5.30 pm Choral Evensong at St Mary’s Cathedral

17 August at 3.30 pm there will be a Choral Evensong at St Mary’s Cathedral which will be broadcast live by BBC. Doors close at 3.15 pm.

On 19 August, A Stravinsky Celebration by the Choir of St Mary’s Cathedral will take place at the Cathedral, Palmerston Place, Edinburgh EH12 5AW at 8.30 pm which will launch the choir’s new Stravinsky CD including music by Gesualdo, Bach, Stravinsky and Gabriel Jackson.

Dr Kenneth Taylor, Headteacher of St Mary’s Music School, commented:

“St Mary’s Music School chorister pupils sing with the Choir of St Mary’s Cathedral and many of our pupils play in national ensembles such as the National Youth Orchestra of Great Britain, National Children’s Orchestra, National Youth Orchestras of Scotland, the National Children’s Orchestra of Scotland, the National Jazz Orchestra of Scotland and the National Youth Choirs of Scotland. We wish all our pupils the best for their summer concerts.”

The Book Festival is not just about the newest novels and innovative non-fiction works, each August they also invite some of the world’s leading poets and spoken word performers to showcase their work – and this year is no exception. The Book Festival announced:

“Newly-appointed Scottish Makar Jackie Kay is one of our 2016 Festival Guest Selectors, known best for trying to reach diverse audiences with accessible verse.

“She talks with First Minister Nicola Sturgeon about poetry as something to be enjoyed in everyday life; with Sam Ruddock from Writers’ Centre Norwich about a film and poetry project reflecting on the impact of war; and with emerging poetry star Zaffar Kunial about being a British writer of mixed heritage. She also takes to the stage with Poet Laureate Carol Ann Duffy to share a dialogue in poetry.

“We also welcome former Scottish Makar Liz Lochhead with her major new poetry collection, Fugitive Colours; Hollie McNish who has gained legions of fans with Nobody Told Me, her verse book about parenthood; and we are delighted to be opening this year’s Festival with two of the most powerful young voices in British poetry – Sarah Howe and William Letford.

“The multi award-winning poet Don Paterson joins us with his collection of 40 Sonnets. Ambitious and accessible, this collection is further proof of Paterson’s poetic genius. You can explore Paterson’s sonnets in depth, along with sonnets written by a range of classical and contemporary poets in a reading workshop led by Open Book on Thursday 25 August. Our friends at the Scottish Poetry Library also host a series of Nothing But the Poem reading workshops, exploring all kinds of poems, from the work of George Mackay Brown to poetry in translation, for which no previous knowledge of the poems is necessary.

“Spoken word is everywhere at the moment, and this summer we are joined by some of the biggest names in spoken word performance right now. Luke Wright brings his award-winning show What I Learned from Johnny Bevan to Charlotte Square Gardens for one night only. He tackles British politics head on, challenging the rise of New Labour and David Cameron, in this humorous hurricane of a performance. Meanwhile, producer of BBC R4’s Short Cuts, Eleanor McDowall chairs a discussion about spoken word in the digital world with some leading names in the field including podcaster Ross Sutherland and actor Mike Livesley.”

Book your tickets here.

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