- Arctic Convoy veterans
- Edinburgh Rugby hold public exhibition at Myreside today
- Edinburgh International Book Festival
- ‘Combatathon’ at Leith Victoria Swim Centre
- Consultation on Open Spaces
We met the lovely Jack Lawrie from Leith yesterday aboard Britannia. Jack is one of the 214 Scottish Arctic Convoy veterans, and last night he was invited by the Russian Consulate to a party on board Britannia. Find out more here.
Edinburgh Rugby is holding a public exhibition today from 4pm until around 7pm at Myreside Pavilion for anyone who is interested in seeing the current status of their plans to move their matches there from Murrayfield.
All interested parties are welcome to attend, as it is an informal event and you will have an opportunity to speak with the people at Edinburgh Rugby.
Our photographer John Preece spent many a day in August at the press tent in Charlotte Square taking photos of the great and the good in the book world. Today we feature Jackie Kay who is the Scottish Makar, but there are many others for you to see in our Culture section here! Relive some of your book festival moments!
Edinburgh International Book Festival closed yesterday afternoon after entertaining over 3,400 primary school children from across Scotland who came to enjoy talks, workshops and discussions on the final day of the Festival. Over the preceding 18 days, Charlotte Square Gardens welcomed over 800 writers, illustrators, poets, politicians and philosophers from 55 countries in a packed programme of passionate ideas, engaged debates and pure entertainment.
Audiences enjoyed events with the Scottish Makar who was in conversation with First Minister Nicola Sturgeon, children’s author Judith Kerr who discussed her life in literature, American feminist icon Erica Jong, Iranian Nobel Peace Prize Laureate Shirin Ebadi, Great British Bake Off Host Sue Perkins, Human Rights lawyer Philippe Sands and Egyptian novelist Alaa al Aswany amongst many others.
Nick Barley, Director of the Edinburgh International Book Festival, said “We have enjoyed an unbelievably brilliant festival with astonishing vitality and joy expressed by authors and audiences alike. Our enthusiastic audiences engaged with authors from every genre, welcomed exclusive previews of upcoming new books from Jonathan Safran Foer, Alan Cumming, Mark Thompson and Ray Mears, as well as enjoying first sightings of new writing from Philippa Gregory, James Kelman and Eimear McBride. We’ve explored stories of migration, seeking refuge and resettlement, we’ve looked at Europe, the UK and Scotland in light of the recent Brexit vote, and heard from some literary legends.
“The whole story is too big and too extraordinary to be expressed in numbers alone. Going into the 70th anniversary of Edinburgh as a Festival city I truly believe we have never been healthier and stronger than we are now.”
Edinburgh Leisure’s Leith Victoria Swim Centre is holding their first charity ‘Combatathon’ on Saturday 10 September from 1.30pm-3.30pm to raise money for Macmillan Cancer Support.
The event, which is open to members and non-members, will be a two hour Les Mills Body Combat class using music from across 20 releases.
Edinburgh Leisure members taking part will be given the opportunity to trial a MYZONE belt during the class, with prizes being awarded to customers who can achieve more ‘Effort Points’ than the instructors taking the class.
‘MYZONE’ uses new technology and is a motivational belt which straps to the chest during exercise and tracks physical activity in real time and online.
The device measures the customer’s ‘My Zone Effort Points’ (MEPs), a unique way of measuring activity and the results of exercise. It calculates calories burned, duration and time of activity, as well as factors including weight, muscle mass, body fat and heart rate.
Nicola Duffy, General Manager at Edinburgh Leisure’s Leith Victoria said: “Edinburgh Leisure already has a really strong association with Macmillan Cancer Support through the ‘Move More’ programme, which is held at five of our centres helping people affected by cancer to take part in physical activity, either when undergoing or following treatment.
“With one in three people affected by cancer, this is a great way to get physically active, set yourself a challenge and raise money for a great cause.”
The event costs £5 to take part, with all proceeds going to Macmillan Cancer Support. To book in for the event contact: Edinburgh Leisure’s Leith Victoria Swim Centre on 0131 555 4728
For further information, visit: www.edinburghleisure.co.uk
Edinburgh residents are invited to comment on the city’s draft Open Space Strategy, which sets out Edinburgh’s open space needs in the period up to 2021.
Since 2010, 15 of the city’s largest parks have been substantially improved and 22 play areas upgraded, thereby increasing access to good quality green space and play opportunities across the city; allotment provision has increased and community gardens have flourished. New residential green spaces have also been created as new homes have been built.
Key challenges ahead include securing new parks and active travel links as the City expands and creating spaces that encourage people of all ages to spend more time outdoors. The draft Strategy also supports turning under-used green spaces into community gardens and wildlife areas and enhancing the city’s historic cemeteries and burial grounds.
The consultation, which runs from 29 August until 21 October, seeks feedback on these long-term proposals through an online survey on the Council’s Consultation Hub.
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Founding Editor of The Edinburgh Reporter.
Edinburgh-born multimedia journalist and iPhoneographer.
