Friends of Dalry Cemetery
Jakob Assarsson runs the Friends of Dalry Cemetery group.
He is being pursued in a civil action in Edinburgh Sheriff Court by Philippa Berry who lives in the Cemetery lodge. She has installed an alarm at her house which warns every time someone enters the cemetery by the main gates on Dalry Road.
The Friends group was set up during lockdown to carry out litter picking and gardening in the cemetery. All Friends groups in the city are governed by rules laid down by the The City of Edinburgh Council.
Ms Berry now wants to prevent Mr Assarsson from using the entrance next to her house.
He has set up a Go Fund Me to raise money to pay for defending the legal action which will be heard in what is called a Proof before Answer at Edinburgh Sheriff Court from today.
Edinburgh Poppy Day Concert
The Edinburgh Poppy Day Concert will take place in St Andrew Square on 31 October from 10.30am to 3.30pm. Among those taking part will be the George Heriot’s School Pipe Band, the Edinburgh and Rosyth Military Wives Choir, The Band of the Royal Regiment of Scotland, Royal Marines Band, Alan Brydon, and Richard Kerr.
Budget cuts threatened
The Edinburgh Integration Joint Board (EIJB) is planning to make cuts of £4.5 million to 60+ third sector organisations in Edinburgh on 90 days’ notice, but it appears that it will be in for some level of opposition. And most of that is coming from councillors.
The EIJB is an organisation which is quite separate from the council although it exists to run the social care part of the council’s responsibility – and it is a kind of partnership with NHS Lothian.
SNP Cllr Vicky Nicolson said: “These cuts threaten the work of 64 organisations across our community. This programme has an essential role in sustaining preventative services and supporting vulnerable communities.
“To address the urgent risk of closure facing many valuable third sector organisations, I will request that the Edinburgh Integration Joint Board (EIJB) defer the report and first consult with a council committee to gather input. At that stage we will recommend that the council consider using reserves to cover the in year funding ensuring these essential organisations can continue their work.”
Cllr Cammy Day, the Council Leader, said: “After over a decade of SNP cuts and under funding Edinburgh’s Health and Social Care, proposals to cut the third/voluntary sector are here. Edinburgh Labour will propose a way forward to engage the sector, work with them and city partners and stop the in year cuts wherever we can.”
The savings or cuts of £4.5 million have to be set in the context of the EIJB having an almost £1 billion budget. So the savings are minute, although the effects would be huge. The EIJB also recommend that a Public Social Partnership is set up instead to set up “a new working relationship with third sector providers based on improved partnership working and longer-term sustainability”.
The kind of bodies which might be affected by the savage cuts include small organisations running lunch clubs for older people, or transporting older or disabled people around the city.
The EIJB report was dumped on the internet on Friday afternoon at 4pm announcing the proposals.
You can read it here – but be warned it runs to around 300 pages.
St Mark’s Portobello
Fundraisers at St Mark’s Episcopal Church in Portobello which will celebrate its 200th anniversary next year, have raised £600,000 to repair their building. They have said that they are short of £50,000 and are looking for some small donations to help them “get over the line” so that they can preserve the building for the future.
The church say that they have to repair the fabric of the historic building to make it fit for purpose, providing space for community and congregational life. The church is entirely self-supporting and the trustees are responsible for keeping the building in good shape. You can read about the five stages of the refurbishment here which was launched in 2019.
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Open in new tab Edinburgh Diwali
The tenth Edinburgh Diwali will take place on Sunday beginning with a parade from St Andrew Square and finishing with fireworks under Edinburgh Castle after an afternoon of entertainment.
BONUS ITEM
There are two community drop in events today for locals to hear more about Leith Connections… read more below
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Edinburgh-born multimedia journalist and iPhoneographer.
