Hibs’ striker Dominique Malonga wins fifth cap for Congo

Hibs’ striker Dom Malonga came on as a substitute for Congo during his country’s 1-1 draw against Kenya at Stade Marien Ngouabi in Owando.

In the 2017 Africa Cup of Nations Group E Qualifier, Congo went a goal down to Kenya, managed by ex-Hibs boss Bobby Williamson, before equalising via the penalty spot.

Paris-born Malonga, 26, won his fifth cap after electing to play for his parents’ home country in 2014, after coming off the bench in the 63rd minute to replace Fabrice Ondama.

As a result, Malonga is scheduled to join up with the rest of Hibernian’s first team squad at the end of June – Head Coach Alan Stubbs has granted him a few extra days after his international call-up.

Malonga who contributed 16 goals during his debut season at Easter Road, is likely to be a key player as Hibernian challenge for promotion from the Championship.

Open day at Easter Road this Sunday

The Hibernian Historical Trust will host the fourth annual Leith Festival Open Day this Sunday

Supporters and other visitors will enjoy an access all areas self-guided tour from midday-4pm, covering the full stadium including the home dressing room, tunnel and dugout areas.

Volunteers and club staff will be on hand throughout the stadium to answer questions and provide further information.

A ‘Hands Off Hibs’ display will be on show to commemorate the event’s 25th anniversary plus a collection of donated football kit will also be on display, with supporters encouraged to donate their unwanted tops, shorts and boots to the Club throughout this week for redistribution to charitable causes.

Supporters will also be able to get their hands on the new 2015/16 Hibernian Home Strip, which goes on sale on Friday 19 June.

Chief Executive Leeann Dempster said: “Hibernian Football Club is excited to be part of the Leith Festival and to open our doors for everyone to come and have a look around.

“We have a big role to play in Leith and the wider Edinburgh community, and are trying to do more through the club and the Hibernian Community Foundation to positively impact on the lives of others.

“The Open Day is a chance for supporters, and for others who may not be football fans, to come and visit our home. We had over 2,000 through the doors last year, and look forward to welcoming more this year.”

Tom Wright, Club Historian and curator at the Hibernian Historical Trust, said: “The Hibernian Historical Trust is delighted to once again be holding an Open Day as part of the Leith Festival.

“The Festival is a highlight of the calendar and an important event for the Leith area, and we’re happy to work with the football club and the Hibernian Community Foundation to host an exciting event at Easter Road.”

Wester Hailes pupils to attend Waterloo commemoration at St Paul’s

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Students from Wester Hailes Education Centre will attend a commemorative service in St Paul’s Cathedral this Friday, 18 June 2015, to mark the 200th anniversary of the Battle of Waterloo.

Wester Hailes Education Centre has been selected by Waterloo 200 to be one of 200 schools from across the country to carry out a commemorative study to coincide with the bicentary.

Pupils have been asked to investigate a local soldier, Private William Napier, born in Dalkeith who fought at The Battle of Waterloo.

Stuart Sinclair curriculum leader of Social Subjects, said: “We’re always looking for ways to bring history to life for our students. Being able to track down local soldiers who fought makes this a very engaging and innovative way to learn.

“Its an honour to represent our community and school at St Paul’s and we are thrilled to have been invited.”

Sixth year student Reece Paterson added: “We discovered William Napier’s army discharge papers in which he was described as 5 feet 7 inches tall, brown hair, brown eyes, dark complexion. He was born in Dalkeith and by trade a Labourer. During the battle of Waterloo, his Regiment, 2nd Battalion 73rd Regiment of Foot, suffered very heavy casualties and Private Napier was wounded in the right arm and right thigh. He survived the battle of Waterloo and went on to see further army service in both Ceylon and in the East Indies.

Dan Snow, TV Presenter and leading historian, said: “This project was created to raise awareness of The Battle of Waterloo, an historic and pivotal moment in world history.”

“We felt working with schools across the country would be a great way to create awareness of The Battle and highlight its significance.

Monday in Edinburgh – What’s On Today

Morefun Book Festival: a four-day celebration of books for children in the Moredun/Gilmerton area. An exciting line-up of authors and storytellers includes Janis Mackay, Sarah Forbes, Annemarie Allan and Simon Radcliffe. There will be the opportunity to create your own book, collage, poetry or comic, plus a chance to bring favourite characters to life with animation screenings in collaboration with Edinburgh College of Art. Today until Thursday 18th June, Moredun Library, 92 Moredun Park Road; contact the library for the full programme.

Blackwell’s Edinburgh Adult Book Group: join the group for lively, friendly book chatter about a wide range of books. Currently reading William Boyd’s The Blue Afternoon. (The book for July will be John Steinbeck’s East of Eden). 6-8pm, Blackwell’s, South Bridge. To join please just email your details to events.edinburgh@blackwell.co.uk.

Picturehouses Culture Shock: bringing you the best in cult and genre films. Today’s film is Ghostbusters (12A): when nightmarish apparitions run amok in the Big Apple, the Ghostbusters charge up their proton packs and send them back where they came from. Starring Sigourney Weaver and Rick Moranis. 9pm, Cameo, Home Street. Tickets may be booked in person, by calling the Box Office on 0871 902 5723 or online here.

Books Always Everywhere: A workshop for 3 and 4 year olds. Join author Jane Blatt to play with books, make books, and act out a story about books! 1.30-2.30pm, Central Children’s Library, George IV Bridge. Free but booking is required and may be made via eventbrite here: please make sure that you book a place for yourself as well as one for your child. This event forms part of Edinburgh City Libraries’ 125th Anniversary celebrations.

The Servery: coffees, teas, cakes, snacks, soups and a warm welcome at this new cafe opening today 10am-4pm, The Salvation Army, 429 Gorgie Road.

Filmhouse Restored Classics: Cry of the City (12A). A vivid depiction of life in New York’s Little Italy, Robert Siodmak’s fast-paced crime thriller anticipates the films of Martin Scorsese. ‘The movie fields a glorious gallery of shady figures, from a lawyer oozing corruption to a memorably sadistic masseuse’. 3.30pm and 6.15pm, Filmhouse, Lothian Road. Tickets may be purchased in person, by calling the Box Office on 0131 228 2688 or online here: prices vary. Also at 6.15pm on Tuesday 16th June and at 3.30pm and 8.40pm on Wednesday 17th June 2015.

Record Breakers Summer Reading Challenge Scotland: join award-winning author and illustrator Catherine Rayner at the launch of this year’s challenge, running in libraries all over Scotland throughout the summer. Hear some of Catherine’s stories and get signed up! . This session will focus on stories for children aged 5-8 years, and will be broadcast live online. 3.45pm, Morningside Library, 184 Morningside Road. Free but please book your place by contacting the library in advance.

Edinburgh Festival of Cycling continues today! Rides, films, talks, drama, books, photos, workshops and lots more. Today’s events include a Bamboo Bicycle Building Workshop, a Guided Cycle Tour to the Bridges, Monday Mechanics workshop and a Spokes Public Meeting on Bike/Rail. For more information please see the festival’s website here or its Facebook page here, or pick up a programme from many venues across the city and beyond, including libraries, leisure centres and many shops. Ends 21st June 2015.

Leith Festival 2015: Citadel Arts Presents Witch Academy. Come to a new family show set in the heart of enchanted Leith! Colourful characters, magical spells – and at the end of the day, even witches have to get along. A play for children by children. Citadel Arts Youth Drama Team is a dynamic youth theatre with talented children from six local primary schools. Witch Academy was written by Laure C Paterson and is directed by Andrea McKenzie. 6pm, Leith Dockers Club, 17 Academy Street. Tickets cost £6/£3. For more information please email lizhare@blueyonder.co.uk or call 0131 337 8570 or 07770 623 924.

For Crying Out Loud: special screenings for parents and carers and their babies under the age of one year, accompanied by a maximum of two adults. Babychanging, bottle-warming and buggy parking facilities are available. Today’s film is Cry of the City (12A) (see ‘Filmhouse Restored Classics’ listing above for details), 11am, Filmhouse, Lothian Road. Tickets for these screenings cost £4.50/£3.50 per adult (babies admitted free).

Edinburgh College of Art Animation Degree Show: the films at this year’s show from ECA’s award-winning animation department touch on subjects from chewing gum and walking sticks to memories, family bonds, songs, grandfathers and ghosts. There are also films made in a day and films made in 48 hours. 8.30pm, Filmhouse, Lothian Road. Tickets may be purchased in person, by calling the Box Office on 0131 228 2688 or online here: prices vary.

Language Cafe: 7-10pm tonight and every Monday, Victoria, 265 Leith Walk.

Grassmarket Community Project Free Cinema: Pride (15). Realising that they share common foes in Margaret Thatcher, the police and the Tory press, London-based gay activists decide to work to help Welsh miners during their lengthy strike in the summer of 1984. Based on a true story, Pride is an inspiring, entertaining and moving film. 7pm, Grassmarket Community Project, 86 Candlemaker Row. All welcome. Admission is free, but donations from those who are able to make them are much appreciated by the Project, which is a social enterprise taking an innovative approach to creating community and providing sanctuary and support to participants, many of whom are amongst the most vulnerable of our citizens.

Five things you need to know today

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Custom House Leith

Renewable World

Learn to draw with the Edinburgh Sketcher

Figgate Friends

Green MSP wins amendment to new bill

An open day was held yesterday at the latest acquisition by the council with the Common Good Fund. Custom House on Commercial Street has been bought as a community asset and so the council wanted to consult with the public on their thoughts for the future.

Tonight’s Antiques Roadshow from Scottish National Gallery of Modern Art,

Tonight’s Antiques Roadshow is back at the Scottish National Gallery of Modern Art, where discoveries include a stunning piece of Swedish glass, an invitation to Sir Walter Scott’s funeral, a stuffed toy called Little Jack Rabbit and one of the rarest money boxes ever found on the Antiques Roadshow.

Glass specialist Andy McConnell is very excited to see the best piece of Swedish glass that he thinks has ever appeared on the show, while Fiona Bruce receives a crash course in the art of playing the bagpipes from a young boy.

Other eye-catching finds include a watch from a prestigious Edwardian motor race, an invitation to Sir Walter Scott’s funeral and a traditional paisley shawl.

Ceramics specialist Lars Tharp reveals the secrets of an unusual ceramic jug and gives a colourful demonstration of its use, while the golden age of Edinburgh trade is celebrated with a rare chain of office steeped in history.

And Little Jack Rabbit, a character made famous in American children’s stories, also makes a special guest appearance, much to the delight of Hilary Kay.

The programme can be viewed on BBC1 at 8pm or on Catch Up.

Custom House community consultation

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The City of Edinburgh Council in partnership with Scottish Historic Buildings Trust opened up the doors of Custom House Leith today to find out what the public think about the use of the building in the long term.

Hundreds of people wandered around the building on Commercial Street offering their ideas as to future uses for it. Many said they had no wish for it to be converted into flats, and the overwhelming desire recorded on Post-its seems to be for an arts centre.

The Lord Provost, the Rt Hon Donald Wilson was there to cut the ribbon to officially open the building which the council recently acquired with its Common Good Fund.

The Scottish Historic Buildings Trust (SHBT) is leasing the building and Out of the Blue arts organisations are Custom House tenants. SHBT is a charity which regenerates significant historic buildings for others to use. And Customs House is indeed an important building.

SONY DSC — L-R John Campbell QC Chair of SHBT, Cllr Richard Lewis, Cllr Adam McVey, Cllr Gordon Munro. Front row – Cllr Chas Booth, Lord Provost Donald Wilson, Cllr Lesley Hinds.

Councillor Richard Lewis, Culture and Sport Convener, said: “This Open Day is the first chance local residents and businesses have had to catch a glimpse inside one of Leith’s most historic and iconic buildings.

“For the first time in decades, the building opened to the public and visitors were able to meet members of SHBT who will be looking after the building. The long-term plan for Custom House will be for the place to become a hub for the Leith community and I urge you to give them your ideas about what you’d like to see happen to the venue.

“Now that the keys have been handed over, the Trust will be able to start carrying out initial works to the interior and exterior of the building. With arts organisation Out of the Blue as tenants and the Council as landlord, arts and heritage will remain at the core of the building’s use. Built in 1812 by Robert Reid, it was in this building that taxes and levies were collected as goods from across the world passed through the port. Most British customs houses were relatively modest, but Leith’s is one of just a handful that stand out from the rest.

Deidre Brock MP and Councillor for Leith Walk addresses the audience ahead of the ribbon cutting.

What’s On in Edinburgh this week?

It may not be August quite yet, but we already have FIVE festivals featured this week! So whether it’s books, films, bikes or Leith that you feel like celebrating, now’s your chance. It’s Fathers’ Day on Sunday too; instead of landing your Dad with another pair of socks, why not treat him to a day at the National Museum, a ride on the Bo’ness & Kennel Railway or some jazz at the Old Chain Pier? At least you won’t have to take any of those back to the shop on Monday.

We do our very best to make sure listings are accurate, but please check details with the organisers before setting out.

MONDAY 15TH JUNE 2015

The Servery: coffees, teas, cakes, snacks, soups and a warm welcome at this new cafe opening today 10am-4pm, The Salvation Army, 429 Gorgie Road.

Language Cafe: 7-10pm tonight and every Monday, Victoria, 265 Leith Walk.

TUESDAY 16TH JUNE 2015

Leith Festival 2015: Speed Crafting. For one night only…come and see what the Scottish Women’s Institute gets up to – five crafts, five tables, twenty minutes each and a whistle! Crafty experts and crafty virgins all equally welcome! 7-9.30pm (please arrive in time to start promptly at 7.30), MacDonald Sporrans, 170b Great Junction Street. All welcome – you don’t have to be a member to come along, and men are welcome at this event too – but you must be over 18. Materials, equipment and a welcome drink are all provided free (thanks to HLF funding) but booking is essential as there are just 60 places and last year this event was full. Contact LeithWRI@gmail.com for more information and to book – please note that joining the event on Facebook is not enough to secure your place, (although it’s still a good idea to do so so that you get any updates).

Lunchtime Concert: Charles Whitehead. Classical piano pieces. 12.15pm, St Giles’ Cathedral, High Street. Free.

The Idea of the University in the 21st Century: A Pop-Up Forum. This event will bring together a group of panelists in an informal format to develop new ideas between themselves and the audience, inspired by the work of Visiting Research Fellow Willem Halffman, who will participate in the debate along with Hazel Hall, Director of the Centre for Social Informatics (Edinburgh Napier), Alison Elliot, psychologist, Co-director of the Centre for Theology and Public Issues (University of Edinburgh) and first female Moderator of the Church of Scotland, and Igor Stiks, writer and Leverhulme Early Career fellow (Edinburgh College of Art). The panel will consider the challenges facing universities across the world, and whether Newman’s classical idea of the university as an intellectual community that exists for its own sake can still apply in the 21st century. An abstract from Willem Halffman’s article on The Academic Manifesto: From an Occupied to a Public University is available online here and it is hoped that the audience will be inspired to have a look at Willem’s interesting ideas. The event will be moderated by Jo Shaw, Director of the Institute for Advanced Studies in the Humanities. 5.15-7.30pm, Institute for Advanced Studies in the Humanities, University of Edinburgh, 2 Hope Square (off Meadow Lane). Free but please register via eventbrite here.

Edinburgh Festival of Cycling continues today! Rides, films, talks, drama, books, photos, workshops and lots more. Today’s events include guided cycle rides, a workshop on keeping yourself fit to ride, a bike maintenance session and the Brompton Fold-Fest – how fast can you fold a Brompton bike? There are prizes! For more information please see the festival’s website here or its Facebook page here, or pick up a programme from many venues across the city and beyond, including libraries, leisure centres and many shops. Ends 21st June 2015.

E-Book Surgery: find out about borrowing eBooks, e-magazines and audiobooks. 10.30am-12.30pm (drop-in), Newington Library, Fountainhall Road. Also at same times on 23rd and 30th June 2015.

An Evening with Keith Partridge: Keith Partridge has recorded in some of the most beautiful and hostile environments in the world and is probably the world’s most experienced expedition cameraman. Tonight he discusses his new book The Adventure Game, the story of his life told through several expeditions, ranging from the deep caves of Papua New Guinea to the summit of Mount Everest. 6pm, Waterstones West End, 128 Princes Street. Free but ticketed: tickets are available from the store – call 0131 226 2666 for further details.

Aly Sidgwick: Lullaby Girl. The author launches her debut novel, accompanied by music from Scottish folk band Cherrygrove. A mysterious girl is found washed up on the banks of a remote loch and taken to a psychiatric home in the Highlands. Mute and covered in bruises, she has no memory of who she is or how she got there. The only clue to her identity is the Danish lullaby she sings… 6.30pm, Looking Glass Books, Simpson Loan, Quartermile. To reserve your free place please call 0131 625 4500 or book via eventbrite here.

Leith Folk Club: Black Feathers. ‘Sublime vocals and arrangements of music drawn from folk, roots and Americana. The Black Feathers are going to be enormous – and you can hear them first here’. With supports Eileen Penman and Susan McLure. 7.30pm, Victoria Park House Hotel, 221 Ferry Road. Tickets cost £7 and may be purchased online here or by texting the club’s reservation line on 07502 024 852.

Zine Workshop with Glasgow Women’s Library. Zines are small self-made publications and can be about anything – come along and explore fanzines from the library’s collection, learn how they are made and even make your own. 1-3pm, George Washington Browne Room, Central Library, George IV Bridge. Free but booking is required via eventbrite here. This event forms part of In Their Own Write – Women and Words, a festival of talks, exhibitions and workshops organised by Glasgow Women’s Library, Edinburgh City Libraries and the Bonnie Fechters women’s group.

St Andrew’s & St George’s West Summer Lecture Series: Building Stronger Communities. The Rev Peter Macdonald will talk on Building Christian Community in Scotland. In this series three noted speakers explore the issues from interfaith, academic, economic and practical perspectives: Peter Macdonald is the leader of the Iona Community, having been a member of the community for more than half of his life. Community has informed his faith, challenged his lifestyle and influenced his ministry. He was formerly the minister at St George’s West Church. 7.30-9.30pm, St Andrew’s & St George’s West Church, 13 George Street. All welcome: free admission.

Town of Runners Film Screening: Edinburgh University’s Global Development Academy and Running Across Borders in association with IAFF Athletics for a Better World invite you to an evening screening of this award-winning documentary, followed by a chance to meet legendary Ethiopian coach Sentayehu Eshetu. In a country long associated with poverty, famine and war, word-record-beating athletes are a source of pride; Bekoji’s athletes have won 16 Olympic medals in 20 years – Kenenisa Bekele, Tariku Belele, Tiki Gelana, Tirunesh Dibaba, Genzebe Dibaba and Derata Tulu all hail from this remote town 8,500 feet up in the Southern Highlands, and all started to run under Sentayehu Eshetu’s guidance. Jerry Rothwell’s documentary follows the fortunes of young athletes raised in Bekoji who hope to emulate their local heroes and compete on the world’s stage. 6.30-8.30pm, 50 George Square, University of Edinburgh. Free but registration is required via eventbrite here, and there will be a collection at the event for Bekoji Athletics Project.

Happy Child, Happy Home: a talk by international Waldorf-Steiner author and teacher Lou Harvey-Zahra, who will introduce Conscious Parenting as a way of helping any home become more harmonious, and Creative Discipline; tools to transform behaviours in a positive manner and create more relaxed and connected parent and child relationships. 8-9.30pm, Edinburgh Steiner School, 60 Spylaw Road.

Pub Quiz: 7.30pm, Old Chain Pier, Trinity Crescent, Newhaven.

Kitten on the Keys: weekly open mic night. 8pm, Boda Bar, 229 Leith Walk.

WEDNESDAY 17TH JUNE 2015

Donald Gorrie Schools Debating Competition: for the third annual competition the motion is ‘This house believes that we can create and sustain communities across the nation of Scotland in the 21st century’. 6.30-9.30pm, St Andrew’s & St George’s West Church, 13 George Street. All welcome: free admission – come along and encourage the teams, all from local schools! Last year’s winners were Craigmount High Seniors and Royal High Juniors.

Edinburgh International Film Festival starts today! The opening film is Robert Carlyle’s directorial debut The Legend of Barney Thomson, starring Carlyle himself as a downtrodden Glaswegian barber whose life is turned upside down when he accidentally turns killer, and Emma Thompson as his hilariously fierce mother Cemolina, plus Ray Winstone, Martin Compston and Tom Courtenay. ‘A deliriously dark comedy to be cherished’. 9pm, Festival Theatre, Nicolson Street. Tickets cost £15/£10 and are available in person from the Filmhouse, Lothian Road, Cineworld, Fountain Park, Odeon, Lothian Road and the Festival Theatre itself, by calling 0131 623 8030 or online here.

Read, Relax, Recharge: Wendy Kirk, Glasgow Women’s Library librarian, invites you to bring along your lunch and relax while you listen to a story being read, then join in some lively discussion. An informal and welcoming session for women of all ages, from all walks of life. 12.30-2.30pm, Boardroom, Central Library, George IV Bridge. Free but booking is required via eventbrite here. This event forms part of In Their Own Write – Women and Words, a festival of talks, exhibitions and workshops organised by Glasgow Women’s Library, Edinburgh City Libraries and the Bonnie Fechters women’s group.

Chatterbooks: a fun reading group for children aged 8-12 years. If you like books, come along and meet new friends, chat about books and join in games and competitions. 3.45-4.45pm, Fountainbridge Library, 137 Dundee Street. Free. For more information please ask in the library, call 0131 529 5617 or email Mohammed.boussabou@edinburgh.gov.uk.

Edinburgh Festival of Cycling continues today! Rides, films, talks, drama, books, photos, workshops and lots more. Today’s events include the Spokes’ Bike Breakfast and talks by Shannon Gilpin, activist and National Geographic Adventurer of the Year, and Christine Thomson, the Papercut Artist (see separate listing). For more information please see the festival’s website here or its Facebook page here, or pick up a programme from many venues across the city and beyond, including libraries, leisure centres and many shops. Ends 21st June 2015.

Visually Impaired Tour and Workshop – REFLECTIONS: a series of changing displays of Contemporary Art. A free descriptive tour and practical workshop for the visually impaired. 10am-3.30pm, Scottish National Gallery of Modern Art ONE, Belford Road (the workshop will end at Modern Art TWO). Booking is required and may be made by calling the Information Desk on 0131 624 6560.

Common Weal Edinburgh North & Leith Book Group: discussing Naomi Klein’s most recent book on capitalism and climate change This Changes Everything. 7.30pm, Pear Tree House, West Nicolson Street. All welcome.

Lunchtime Concert: Will Pickvance – Piano Speak. 12.15pm, St Giles’ Cathedral, High Street. Free.

Get Organised: Music with Edinburgh Connections. John Kitchen plays music by the blind organist Alfred Hollins, two preludes by Kenneth Leighton, Cecilia McDowall’s new piece Celebration and A Scottish Tuba Tune by Donald Sprink. 1.10-1.50pm, Usher Hall, Lothian Road. Tickets cost £4 on the door and may also be booked in advance here (transaction fee applies).

The Artist’s Route: Glasgow to Edinburgh via Buckingham Palace – and various stops in between. Born in Glasgow, Christine Thomson DA – the Papercut Artist – has had a passion for drawing all her life, from her first poetry illustration in Primary 5 to a pen and ink of her Raleigh bicycle as a GSA portfolio piece, to designing the Commonwealth Games papercut and an invitation to the Queen’s Baton Relay launch. The commemorative papercut for the Edinburgh Festival of Cycling is her latest piece. 2-3pm, Central Library, George IV Bridge. Free but booking is required via eventbrite here. This event forms part of Edinburgh Festival of Cycling 2015.

Getting Started at the National Library: learn how to get a library card, find your way around the library and request materials from the collections – the workshop includes a tour of the reading rooms lasting approximately 90 minutes. 10.30am, National Library of Scotland, George IV Bridge. Free but booking is required and may be made online here or by calling 0131 623 3734. If you wish to apply for a library card on the day please bring proof of identity with you (details on NLS website here). For more information about this workshop please email enquiries@nls.uk.

Ewan Morrison: How I Accidentally Invented the Selfie 25 Years Ago. Award-winning author, screenwriter and director Ewan Morrison’s Screen Play: A self-portrait has been recently acquired for the Scottish National Portrait Gallery collection. In this talk Morrison will give a brief history of postmodern art, considering how his own artwork fits into it – and how it really doesn’t. 12.45-1.30pm, Hawthornden Lecture Theatre, Scottish National Gallery, The Mound. Free and unticketed.

Picturehouses E4 Slackers’ Club: a monthly free screening for students. This month’s film is Entourage: The Movie, ‘a high octane, Hollywood-set comedy’. 9pm, Cameo, Home Street. Tickets may be obtained by calling the Box Office on 0871 902 5723. To join the Slackers’ Club take your NUS or student photo ID card to the cinema; membership is free and existing Student Picturehouse Members have automatic membership of the club.

Stockbridge and Inverleith Community Council: 7pm, Stockbridge Church, Saxe Coburg Street. All welcome. For more information please see the Community Council’s website or contact stockbridgeandinverleithcc@gmail.com

Bi and Beyond Edinburgh: a fortnightly social gathering for people who identify as bisexual and non-monosexual. With organised social activities and refreshments provided, whatever your label or lack of label, we welcome you. 7-9pm, LGBT Health & Wellbeing, 9 Howe Street. For more information please contact biandbeyondedinburgh@gmail.com.

How the Scots Conquered Waterloo: join Owen Dudley Edwards as he discusses his latest book, in which he recollects the battle through the paintings, literature and letters of soldiers and Scottish artists who were there. 6pm, National Library of Scotland, George IV Bridge. Free but booking is required and may be made online here or by calling 0131 623 3734.

Leith Festival 2015: CultFusion #1. Poets Nancy Somerville, Jo McFarlane, Angus Reid and Rex Sweeny join forces with singer-songwriter Kriss Robb for a spirited evening of widely contrasting poetry and music. 8pm, Constitution Bar, Constitution Street. £3 on the door. For further information please contact julianjmcenroe@yahoo.co.uk.

THURSDAY 18TH JUNE 2015

Leith Festival 2015: Trainspotting Tour. Great as an introduction to the book and film – and equally great if you’re a hard-core fan, as guide Tim Bell gives lots of insights you’ve probably never thought of before – whilst not missing any of the laughs. For adults only. 7pm, Port O’Leith Bar, 58 Constitution Street (starts here and ends at the Foot of the Walk 183 Constitution Street). £4/£3 per person – no advance booking, just turn up: for information please email mail@leithwalks.co.uk. Also at same time on Friday 19th June and Saturday 20th June 2015.

Onwards! LGBT Age Capacity Building Project: for LGBT community members and professionals working in older people’s services. 2.30-5pm, LGBT Health & Wellbeing, 9 Howe Street. Booking is essential and may be made by calling 0131 652 3284 or emailing katherine@lgbthealth.org.uk.

Help Contribute to Recovery in South West Edinburgh – Volunteers Needed! Community Health & Advice Initiative – Edinburgh Alcohol and Drug Partnership invites people who are in recovery, and interested in being part of a team to develop and shape recovery in this area, to an informal get together (with lunch provided). 10.30am, Wester Hailes Healthy Living Centre, 30 Harvesters Way. For further information and to book your place, please call Susan Butters at CHAI on 0131 453 9406.

Spells, Spaceships and Seashells: readings by Oxpens Creative Writing Group. 2-3pm, Oxgangs Library, 343 Oxgangs Road North. New members of the group are welcomed – please contact Morag at Pentland Community Centre on 0131 445 2875 or morag.grant@ea.edin.sch.uk.

Easel Sketching in the Gallery – June: led by artist Damian Callan. A different subject every month, sometimes with a model. 2-4pm, Scottish National Portrait Gallery (please ask at the information desk for exact location), 1 Queen Street. Free; no booking required; all materials supplied. Also at same times on Friday 19th June 2015.

An Evening of Classical Music with Charles Whitehead: the New Zealander concert pianist plays Prokofiev Piano Sonata Op 8 No 84, Ravel Gaspard de la Nuit and Scriabin Deux poemes Op 32. 7pm, St Andrew’s & St George’s West Church, 13 George Street. All welcome: free admission.

Inspired Flash Fiction: a guided visit to the City Art Gallery followed by an art-inspired flash fiction writing workshop at the Central Library. Please note that this event involves about 20 minutes of walking, some of it uphill. 2pm, City Art Gallery, 2 Market Street. Free but booking is required via eventbrite here. This event forms part of In Their Own Write – Women and Words, a festival of talks, exhibitions and workshops organised by Glasgow Women’s Library, Edinburgh City Libraries and the Bonnie Fechters women’s group.

The Luvvies Present Love Match: ‘playing gay in the straight world’. Richard Hall’s play looks at what happens when a mainstream actor takes on his first gay role and considers the pressures of pretending (or not). ‘A comedy of manners for the gay world, going from love-all to match-point in two sets’. Plus two shorts by David Dalzell, Moved to Touch and Train to New Zealand, plays that represent a larger work-in-progress exploring LGBT people’s need to feel connected, or realising disconnection. For ages 15+. 7.30pm, Red Lecture Theatre, Summerhall, 1 Summerhall. Tickets cost £9/£6 and may be purchased from the Box Office in person, by calling 0131 560 1581 or online here. Also at same time on Friday 19th and Saturday 20th June 2015. The Luvvies exist to promote dramatic theatre that expresses aspects of the lives and experiences of the LGBT community, and to increase confidence and self-esteem. For more information email info@theluvvies.org.

Simon Armitage – The Great War: An Elegy. The award-winning poet, playwright, novelist, lyricist and broadcaster discusses the challenges of writing poetry for his BBC commission The Great War: An Elegy and shows film extracts. 6-7.30pm, Hawthornden Lecture Theatre, Scottish National Gallery, The Mound. Tickets cost £5/£4 and may be purchased in person from the gallery’s Information Desk or by calling 0131 624 6560 between 9.30am and 4.30pm.

(Image (c) Paul Wolfgang Webster)

Word Power Books Presents Barry Phillips and Grant Hill. Barry Phillips is a third generation Dundee supporter; his debut novel The Tartan Special One has gained thousands of fans worldwide with its surreal charm and violent hilarity – ‘Scottish football gets torn apart and stitched back together with due care and debauchery’. Grant Hill founded the now infamous Teckle Collective; his debut Clubbed to Death ‘weaves its way through the unforgiving nature of the music industry via the empty dancefloors of a club for the lost’. ‘A very funny, no-holds-barred, romp into the Dundonian badlands’ (Neil Forsyth). Both authors will read from their books. 6.30pm, Word Power Books, West Nicolson Street. Free: all welcome – donations also welcome!

LGBT Learning Disabilities Social Circle: a monthly group for LGBT people who also identify as having a learning disability or difficulty. This session’s theme will be EDG (Edinburgh Development Group) and Self Directed Support. 2-4pm, Lifecare Centre, Cheyne Street, Stockbridge. For more information and to join the group, please contact George Burrows on 0131 652 3281 or email george@lgbthealth.org.uk.

Leith Festival 2015: Trinity House – Maritime Leith. Visit Trinity House and take a self-led tour of Leith’s maritime history, using the latest technologies to uncover the local stories behind the collections. Meet the conservators to learn about the work they carry out on the vast painting collections, and watch digital recordings of Leithers talking about their memories. Today there will be object handling sessions (11am-2pm) and tours of Trinity House led by Junior Guides Tours (11am-1.30pm), Trinity House, 99 Kirkgate. Free. For more information please contact adam.gorysz@scotland.gsi.gov.uk or call 0131 554 3289.

Italian Cinema: Una Piccola Impresa Merionale (15). A group of family outcasts ends up in a remote lighthouse – ‘after a period of chaos, this small world gradually discovers that unity makes strength’. Directed by Rocco Papeleo. In Italian with English subtitles. 6pm, Italian Cultural Institute in Edinburgh, 82 Nicolson Street. Free: please reserve your place by calling the Institute on 0131 668 2232 or online here.

Edinburgh Festival of Cycling continues today! Rides, films, talks, drama, books, photos, workshops and lots more. Today’s events include The Brotique Pop-Up Fixie Shop, the King of Kaimes Hill Climb & Barbecue and a talk by Fraser Cartmell, Multiple Ironman and Ironman 70.3 Champion. For more information please see the festival’s website here or its Facebook page here, or pick up a programme from many venues across the city and beyond, including libraries, leisure centres and many shops. Ends 21st June 2015.

Nothing Ever Happens Here: James Blackshaw and Yusuf Azak. ‘Blackshaw sings in a gentle but assured voice, while his words combine his personal experiences, neuroses and fantasy through many layers of abstraction, poeticism and dark humour’. James’ new album Summoning Suns draws inspiration from 60’s and 70’s singer-songwriters, baroque/orchestral pop and folk music. Yusuf Azak is an Aberdonian living in Glasgow: his album Peace in the Underworld is out on Gerry Loves Records. Over-18s only. 8pm, The Dissection Room, Summerhall, 1 Summerhall. Tickets cost £10/£8 and may be purchased from the Box Office in person, by calling 0131 560 1581 or online here.

Leith Festival 2015: Leith Community Concert Band: the annual Festival concert. 7.30pm, St Margaret’s Episcopal Church, Easter Road. Entry by donation. For more information please contact leithcommunityconcertband@gmail.com.

Old Royal High School Preservation Trust: a community drop-in session to view plans for the proposed transfer of St Mary’s Music School to the old Royal High School. 5-8pm (drop-in), Canongate Kirk, 153 Canongate. All welcome.

Arthur and Merlin in Scottish History. Following a discovery on the shelves of the National Library, Adam Ardrey wrote Finding Merlin and Finding Arthur. These evidence-based, time-lined, supernatural-free books show how Scotland is linked to these world legends – now, for the first time, the wonderful legends of Arthur and Merlin are firmly fixed in Scottish history and geography. 2pm, National Library of Scotland, George IV Bridge. Free but booking is required and may be made online here or by calling 0131 623 3734.

Hot Tin Roof Trio: Andy McKay-Challen, Gavin Jack and Kenny Miller bring their blues to the OCP. 9pm, Old Chain Pier, Trinity Crescent, Newhaven. Free.

Picturehouses Slow West Satellite Q & A/Preview Night: live via satellite from the Jameson Film Club, join director John Maclean, Oscar-winning producer Iain Canning and host Edith Bowman for a special preview screening, preceded by an acoustic set from Jim Dixon and Vincent Neff of Django Django. In Maclean’s first feature, shot in New Zealand, naive teenager Jay Cavendish searches for his estranged sweetheart – who has a price on her head. Rescued from a vicious bandit and henceforth accompanied by a roughneck drifter with his own agenda, Jay eventually learns what it is to be a man in an unyielding world. A complementary glass of Jameson’s will be served. 8.40pm, Cameo, Home Street. Tickets may be purchased by calling the Box Office on 0871 902 5723 or online here; prices vary.

FRIDAY 19TH JUNE 2015

Leith Festival 2015: Teddy Bears’ Picnic! A fun morning of crafts, songs, toys, a Bible story and a picnic; for all pre-school children – don’t forget your Teddy Bear! 10-11am, YMCA/Acorn Centre, 1 Junction Place. Free. For more information please call Katherine Sced on 07512 786 731 or email info@gracechurchleith.org.

Aileen Paterson: the author of the Maisie the Cat books talks about the process of becoming a children’s writer/illustrator. 2-3pm, Boardroom, Central Library, George IV Bridge. Free but booking is required via eventbrite here. This event forms part of In Their Own Write – Women and Words, a festival of talks, exhibitions and workshops organised by Glasgow Women’s Library, Edinburgh City Libraries and the Bonnie Fechters women’s group. Aileen will follow this event with a story session for children in the Children’s Library from 3-4pm – please contact the library for more information.

Lunchtime Concert: First Presbyterian Church of Granville, Ohio – Chancel Choir and Festivo Bells. 12.15pm, St Giles’ Cathedral, High Street. Free.

Edinburgh Festival of Cycling continues today! Rides, films, talks, drama, books, photos, workshops and lots more. Today’s events include a special bike films night at Balerno Village Screen, a talk by Thompson Crowley, author of At Home in the Bushes (see separate listings), a day of cycling diversity with Crags All Ability Bikes – a chance to try out range of machines and find the right bike for you – including adapted machines from Get Cycling CiC (York) and some recumbent trikes from Laid Back Bikes, and The Edinburgh Night Ride – a new mystery route through East Lothian. For more information please see the festival’s website here or its Facebook page here, or pick up a programme from many venues across the city and beyond, including libraries, leisure centres and many shops. Ends 21st June 2015.

LA Young Designs Fathers’ Day Gift Stall at Leith Walk Police Box: personalised gifts – funky T-shirts, wall art and eco bags. 10am-2pm, Leith Walk Police Box, Croall Place.

Edinburgh College of Art Undergraduate Open Day: come and see the college, find out about its programmes, meet academics and students and see some of the students’ work from the recent Degree Show. You will also be able to attend other talks – on topics such as accommodation (there will also be a chance to see some), student finance and study abroad, as part of the wider University of Edinburgh Open Day. 9.30am-5pm, Edinburgh College of Art, Lauriston Place. Booking is essential; to reserve your place via eventbrite click here, and to find out more about the day’s options, click here.

At Home in the Bushes: a twenty-minute talk from the author Thompson Crowley, who will discuss the joys of cycling, the rush of the road, the wonder and awe of the scenery, and how cycling and wild camping can save the world. 2-2.30pm, Central Library, George IV Bridge. Free but booking is required via eventbrite here. This event forms part of Edinburgh Cycling Festival 2015.

University of Edinburgh Open Day: find out about student life in Edinburgh from the students and staff themselves, explore the campus, learn more about the range of courses available, and ask questions about accommodation, admissions and job prospects. There will be a programme of talks throughout the day, and the opportunity to chat to departmental staff. 9.30am-5pm, University of Edinburgh. Booking is essential; to reserve your place via eventbrite click here, and to find out more about the timetable for the day click here. There will be a pre-Open Day online chat session for you to ask questions about the day’s programme and activities, and any queries about travelling to the university, on Tuesday 16th June from 3-7pm; to join in go to the University of Edinburgh Admissions Facebook page here. Further Open Days will be held on 7th and 26th September 2015.

Edinburgh Acting School Presents Shakespeare’s Best Bits: Such Stuff As Dreams Are Made On. A group of actors audition for the ultimate Shakespearean play, which is a mixture of Shakespeare’s best bits. Watch as they tackle some of the most famous moments under the scrutiny of a director who has had enough of seeing Shakespeare done badly. A treat for all – with or without any knowledge of Shakespeare! Suitable for ages 12+. 7.30pm, Netherbow Theatre, Scottish Storytelling Centre, 43 High Street. Tickets cost £10/£8 and may be purchased in person, by calling the Box Office on 0131 556 9579 or online here (transaction fee applies to phone and online bookings). Also at same time on Saturday 13th June 2015.

La Bataille de Waterloo: Clement Auguste Andrieux

Images of Waterloo: from Battle to Bicentenary, 18th June 1815 – 18th June 2015. Freelance art historian Dr Patricia Andrew examines the colourful artistic creations inspired by the Battle of Waterloo, from the date of the battle itself right up to the present day. The centenary commemorations of 1915 are also included; they were held during the First World War, when political alliances had changed completely. 12.45-1.30pm, Hawthornden Lecture Theatre, Scottish National Gallery, The Mound. Free and unticketed.

Radical Politics and Citizenship in Europe: from the Balkans to Scotland. A book launch and round table discussion with speakers Penny Travlou (Edinburgh College of Art), Srecko Horvat (Croatian philosopher and writer) and Igor Stiks (Edinburgh College of Art). The background for the discussion will be three books, Welcome to the Desert of Post-Socialism, a volume on socialist heritage and post-socialist reality, edited by Igor Stiks and Srecko Horvat, Nations and Citizens in Yugoslavia and the Post-Yugoslav States, an examination of geneology of citizenship in the Balkans by Igor Stiks and What Does Europe Want? by Srecko Horvat and Slavoj Zizek. 6pm, Word Power Books, West Nicolson Street. Free: all welcome – donations also welcome!

Balerno Village Screen: Rising From the Ashes. An award-winning and critically acclaimed feature-length documentary about two worlds colliding, when cycling legend Jock Boyer moves to Rwanda to help a group of struggling genocide survivors pursue their dream of forming a national team. The screening will be preceded by Danny MacAskill’s short The Ridge. This event forms part of the Edinburgh Cycling Festival 2015; a complimentary cold beer will be served by the bike caddy team from Heverlee Witter. 7.30pm (doors open 7pm), St Joseph’s Hall, 2 Main Street, Balerno. Free; all welcome – but please reserve your place via eventbrite here to enable the organisers to manage numbers (and please also remember to cancel your booking if you can no longer attend). Balerno Village Screen is a community cinema funded by donations.

Spoken and Sung – a night of music and poetry with Liz Lochhead, Christine de Luca, Ron Butlin and the Rudsambee Company of Singers, in aid of the Scottish Poetry Library . Refreshments on sale during the interval. 7.45pm, St Mark’s Unitarian Church, Castle Terrace. Tickets cost £10/£8 and may be purchased via eventbrite here.

The Portobello Comedy Night: Bruce Morton, Daisy Earl, Christopher MacArthur-Boyd, MC Stephen David, and a ‘very special’ guest. 8.30pm, Dalriada, 77 Promenade, Portobello. Tickets cost £10 (transaction fee applies) and are available from Brown Paper Tickets here.

Soulacoaster Live. A night of live music with Edinburgh’s 12-piece soul band; a set packed with hits made famous by legends such as The Blues Brothers, Aretha Franklin, Stevie Wonder and The Commitments. For over 18s only. 7pm (doors open – on stage 8pm), The Voodoo Rooms, West Register Street. £7 on the door.

Edinburgh International Film Festival continues today! For details of all films and other events see the programme here or pick up a paper copy at EIFF venues and many other locations throughout the city. Tickets are available in person from the Filmhouse, Lothian Road, Cineworld, Fountain Park, Odeon, Lothian Road and the Festival Theatre, by calling 0131 623 8030 or online here. Today’s highlights include The Taking of Pelham One Two Three (1974), a special retrospective screening of Joseph Sargent’s cult classic in which an armed gang hijacks a subway train, forcing a downbeat transit cop (Walter Matthau) into a battle of wits with the wily gang leader (Robert Shaw), and Big Gold Dream: Scottish Post-Punk and Infiltrating the Mainstream, the story of record label Fast Product, started in the late 70’s in Bob Last and Hilary Morrison’s Edinburgh flat, that led to a music scene that reverberated throughout the UK and beyond.

A Traditional Swedish Midsummer: the newest member of the Boda family offers you frog dancing, food, live music and Akvavit to celebrate the summer solstice – and yes, it’s dog-friendly! 6pm, Akva, 129 Fountainbridge (at the canal basin).

Rally & Broad: literary cabaret duo Jenny Lindsay and Rachel McCrum bring you the best in spoken word, live literature, new music and ‘other spiced treats’ in their last Edinburgh show of the season, with Ross Sutherland, Hannah Silver, Dan Willson (Withered Hand), Ryan Van Winkle and Caro Bridges. 7pm, The Bongo Club, 66 Cowgate. £5 on the door (sta).

Sofi’s Midsummer Fruit Weekend: cider tasting, music, games, head garlands and exclusive fruity cocktails. 6pm today and onwards through the weekend, Sofi’s Bar, Henderson Street.

Nitekirk: a creative, drop-in experience of church. Reflection, gentle music, places of activity (Scripture, prayers, poems, pictures, art supplies). Come and go as you please, join in quiet conversation and songs or just sit in silence and enjoy the space. The theme tonight is Joy. 8-11pm, St Columba’s-by-the-Castle, 14 Johnston Terrace. ‘A place of welcome, a space for stillness, a pause on your journey, an open door’. For more information please email nitekeirkedinburgh@yahoo.co.uk.

Bardic Journey to Skye: here’s your first chance to get away this weekend – though you’ll have to be organised; it’s not a day trip! Seanachaidh of Glendale, George Macpherson, harpist Heather Yule and Donald Smith of The Scottish Storytelling Centre will lead this story trail, following Gaelic poetry and culture and the lives of the great Gaelic poets through the Highlands by the Trossachs, Inveroran, Glencoe and Keppoch all the way to Glendale and North West Skye. Arriving on Friday evening, the group will join a programme of talks, walks and a ceilidh, returning to Edinburgh on Sunday evening via Skye’s special places. Departs Edinburgh 10am today. The total price for the whole weekend is £195, which includes all travel, accommodation and two evening meals. More information can be found on the Storytelling Centre’s website here, and booking may also be made online or by calling the centre Box Office on 0131 556 9579.

Solas Festival: your second opportunity for a ‘trip out’ is a little bit nearer to home, but no less alternative. Solas is not your average festival: as well as headline acts like The Vaselines, The Raghu Dixit Project, Honeyblood and the let’s-hope-not-appropriately-named Harry Bird and the Rubber Wellies, there’s political and cultural debate with top people like Liz Lochhead, Tom Devine, Denise Mina, Janice Galloway and Gerry Hassan, art from Georgia Yates, Art Against Sectarianism and Joanna Monks, step dancing from Nic Gareiss, films, workshops and a children’s programme that includes circus skills, storytelling and a chance to build dens with Instinctively Wild. Solas aims to create a generous, hospitable place where the arts can be performed and enjoyed by all, whilst making space for challenging debate with activists, writers and thinkers from across the political, cultural and religious spectrum. For more information (including accommodation options) and to book tickets, see the festival’s website here. Solas takes place at The Bield at Blackruthven, Tibbermore, Perthshire; the festival continues until Sunday 21st June 2015.

SATURDAY 20TH JUNE 2015

PRIDE Edinburgh! The 2015 Pride march starts from the Scottish Parliament at 12 noon – prior to this there will be a special Pride Breakfast at Serenity Cafe, just a few minutes walk away; music, delicious food, feel-good community vibes, face-painting, and live entertainment from Courtney Lynn, Charly Houston, Katherine McMahon, Jo McFarlane, Jules & Pawel and Karen Flynn. This is also the chance to meet up with friends before the march and to make sure that everyone feels welcome and included. 9.30am-12 noon, Serenity Cafe, The Tun, 8 Jackson’s Entry. £5 (£2.50 unwaged): please book in advance to help the organisers plan the catering – click here or go to the LGBT Health & Wellbeing website. For more information please contact Jules Stapleton Barnes on 0131 523 1104 or email jules@lgbthealth.org.uk.

West Lothian Cats Protection League Rehoming Family Day: come and meet the cats and kittens! Stalls, tombola, Cat Cafe. If you’re not able to rehome one of the many cats in CPL’s care, you might want to find out more about short-term fostering (they are currently desperate for fosterers), or volunteering in another capacity such as fundraising or home checking – or you could just go along to see the cats, have fun and support the branch in its excellent work. 1-3pm, Newyearfield Farm Community Centre, Hawk Brae, Livingston, EH54 6AB. All welcome!

Edinburgh Power of Food Festival: a celebration of fabulous community garden initiatives across Edinburgh. Community gardens come in many shapes and sizes, but all have the common goal of bringing people together to grow food. Gardens from Wester Hailes to Portobello, Drylaw to Leith and the City Centre to Craigmillar will all be open, with lots of activities including theatre performances, a cycle ride, children’s workshops, Q & A sessions, cooking demonstrations, garden tours, music, the chance to visit an Iron Age roundhouse and a yurt, insect safari, planting workshops, bouncy castle, facepainting, storytelling, foraging and a printmaking session – for full details and a downloadable map see the festival’s website here. Events continue on Sunday 21st June.

French Family Saturdays: Voyage, voyage! Introduce your children to a popular piece of French culture at these all-in-French Saturday sessions. If you could choose only one thing, what would you put into your suitcase before going on holiday? Today the children will each choose their item to put into the bag – then the story can begin. ‘A great introduction to narration in French’. For children aged 3-10 years. 12 noon-2pm, Institut francais d’Ecosse, 13 Randolph Crescent. £5 (members £3) per child: advance booking is recommended – please email info@ifecosse.org.uk.

Tiger Tales: stories and crafts for children aged 4-8 years. 3-4pm, Fountainbridge Library, 137 Dundee Street. Free.

Morningside Farmers’ Market: fresh, local, seasonal goods direct from the producers, plus preserves, crafts, and refreshments on sale throughout the market and at The Merlin. 9.30am-3.30pm, The Merlin (rear car park), 168 Morningside Road.

Edinburgh Festival of Cycling continues today! Rides, films, talks, drama, books, photos, workshops and lots more. Today’s big event is Pentlands Pursuit – MTB Treasure Hunt; Scottish Mountain Bike Orienteering brings you an event for solo riders, pairs and families – ‘a challenge of strategy, fitness, navigation and luck’. For more information please see the festival’s website here or its Facebook page here, or pick up a programme from many venues across the city and beyond, including libraries, leisure centres and many shops. Ends 21st June 2015.

St Bride’s Family Cinema: see your favourite films for free! Juice and choc ices are available for 50p each during the interval. Today’s film is Peter Pan (U) (1953). 10.30am-12.30pm (includes interval), St Bride’s Centre, Orwell Terrace, Dalry. Please note that all children under the age of 16 must be accompanied by an adult.

Lunchtime Concert: Faith Builders Chorale. From the Faith Builders Training Institute, Pennsylvania. 12.15pm, St Giles’ Cathedral, High Street. Free.

Leith Festival 2015: Trinity House – Maritime Leith. Visit Trinity House and take a self-led tour of Leith’s maritime history, using the latest technologies to uncover the local stories behind the collections. Meet the conservators to learn about the work they carry out on the vast painting collections, and watch digital recordings of Leithers talking about their memories. 10am-4pm, Trinity House, 99 Kirkgate. Free. On Thursday 18th June there will be object handling sessions (11am-2pm) and tours of Trinity House led by Junior Guides Tours (11am-1.30pm). For more information please contact adam.gorysz@scotland.gsi.gov.uk or call 0131 554 3289.

Krazy Kat Theatre Company Presents Mattress! Mattress! The Story of the Princess and the Pea. Set in an ‘awfy drafty’ castle in the remote Highlands, this classic tale is retold by two bemused actors, some tartan ‘troos’ and an extravaganza of exquisite puppet figures. This fast and funny family show features sign language, ‘dancing aboot’ and big laughs. Suitable for deaf and hearing children aged 3-8 years. 11am or 2pm, Netherbow Theatre, Scottish Storytelling Centre, 43 High Street. Tickets cost £8/£6 and may be purchased in person, by calling the Box Office on 0131 556 9579 or online here (transaction fee applies to phone and online bookings).

Balerno Village Screen: Percy Jackson and the Olympians – The Lightning Thief (PG). A teenager discovers he is the descendant of a Greek god and sets out on an adventure to settle an ongoing battle. 2.30pm (doors open 2pm), St Joseph’s Hall, 2 Main Street, Balerno. Free; all welcome – but please reserve your place via eventbrite here to enable the organisers to manage numbers (and please also remember to cancel your booking if you can no longer attend). Balerno Village Screen is a community cinema funded by donations.

Dad’s Day: join storytellers and musicians for a positive celebration of fatherhood on the day before Fathers’ Day. A great opportunity for dads to enjoy time with their children, tell stories and listen to tales that promote the importance and joys of active fatherhood. 11am-2pm, Storytelling Court, Scottish Storytelling Centre, 43 High Street. Free and unticketed.

Edinburgh International Film Festival continues today! For details of all films and other events see the programme here or pick up a paper copy at EIFF venues and many other locations throughout the city. Tickets are available in person from the Filmhouse, Lothian Road, Cineworld, Fountain Park, Odeon, Lothian Road and the Festival Theatre, by calling 0131 623 8030 or online here. Today’s highlights include Amy, Asif Kapadia’s ‘absorbing, moving, insightful and powerful’ documentary charting the amazing highs and terrible lows in the life of Amy Winehouse, and Paper Planes; 12-year old Dylan is aiming for a place in the world junior paper plane championship. He may not have the latest phone, and he may have some problems at home, but when a teacher shows him how to make the perfect paper plane, his imagination and enthusiasm know no limits. On his journey from his home in rural Australia to the bright lights of Tokyo, he makes new friends and learns how he can make his family heal. Paper Planes is shown as part of the Filmfest Junior strand and is suitable for everyone aged 6 or over.

Ahoy Me Hearties! Use a secret pirate map to navigate the grounds of Lauriston and find ‘treasure’ to help transform yourself in to a pirate! Make your own crazy cutlass and pirate hat – and even your own parrot! With Mike Durnan. 11am-3pm, Lauriston Castle, 2a Cramond Road South. Tickets cost £4 and must be purchased in advance from the Usher Hall Box Office, Lothian Road, in person, by calling 0131 228 1155 or online here. Please note: these are family workshops intended for parents and children to enjoy together. Children must be accompanied by a minimum of one paying adult and not be booked into workshops alone.

Bruntsfield Children’s Bookjam: a day of free children’s events to celebrate Independent Booksellers’ Week at various venues around The Edinburgh Bookshop. Authors, storytelling, singlaong, crafting and a Mad Hatters’ Tea Party! 10.30am onwards – please contact The Edinburgh Bookshop, 219 Bruntsfield Place (0131 447 1917) for more information, or see the shop’s Facebook page here.

Photosynthesis: Shedding New Light On Plants. The first exhibition in Scotland by artists from the Dutch art collective Tropism, featuring photographs of plants taken with unusual, often scientific, visualisation techniques – a surprising and spectacularly different view of plants. Botanical installations located around the Garden will fuse art, poetry and science and combine audio, video and classic museum displays. The Tropists are a group of artists who work with phenomena occurring at the edge of perception; events which are hardly noticed but which lead to a reaction similar to the manner in which a plant responds to light. 10am-6pm, John Hope Gateway, Royal Botanic Garden, Inverleith Row. Ends 27th September 2015. Free.

Unluck: Matthew de Kersaint Giraudeau launches a podcast about chance, probability and luck. Through interviews, music and discussion he explores the contemporary meanings of luck and chance – as faith, myth, folklore, language and neuropsychological activity. 4pm, Rhubaba, 25 Arthur Street. After the launch the podcast will be available to download from the Rhubaba website.

Golden Hare Books and Bloomsbury Present Rebecca Dinerstein: The Sunlit Night. Golden Hare Books launches this year’s Independent Booksellers’ Week with the Scottish launch of ‘one of the most exciting debut novels of 2015’, the story of two people who have come to the Lofoten Islands, 95 miles north of the Arctic Circle, to learn to be alone, but who form a bond that fortifies them against the turmoil of their distant homes. Rebecca will read from her work and discuss it with Peggy Hughes. 7pm, Golden Hare Books, 68 St Stephen Street, Stockbridge. Tickets cost £3 (redeemable against the price of a signed copy of the book on the night) and may be purchased via the shop’s website here.

Balerno Village Screen: The Theory of Everything (12A). The award-winning biopic of Stephen Hawking, starring Eddie Redmayne and Felicity Jones. 7pm, St Joseph’s Hall, 2 Main Street, Balerno. Free; all welcome – but please reserve your place via eventbrite here to enable the organisers to manage numbers (and please also remember to cancel your booking if you can no longer attend). Balerno Village Screen is a community cinema funded by donations.

Scots Music Group Ceilidh with The Occasionals. 7.30pm (dancing from 8pm) – 12 midnight, St Bride’s Centre, Orwell Terrace, Dalry. Tickets cost £8/£6 in advance, £10/£8 on the door (sta) and are available from the Scots Music Group on 0131 555 7668, the St Bride’s Box Office on 0131 346 1405 or online here. Please note that as there is a licensed bar, only alcohol from that bar may be consumed on the premises: water will be freely available.

The Domestics: eclectic alt. country music from the East Lothian band, with special guests Edinburgh a cappella folk trio The Silver Darlings. 9pm-12 midnight, Dalriada, 77 Promenade, Portobello.

Edinburgh Society of Musicians: Salvatore Tomasino (clarinet) and Elaine Gould (piano) play Poulenc, Debussy and Brahms. 7.30pm (prompt), Edinburgh Society of Musicians, 3 Belford Road. Free admission; non-members welcome. The Edinburgh Society of Musicians was formed in 1887 to promote practical music-making in Edinburgh.

Mairi Orr: the Scottish singer-songwriter performs her debut album Jenny Does Burn ahead of its release on 29th June. ‘Untapped stories and contemporary themes, interweaving fact with fiction, often drawing on her West Highland connections…a refreshing and accessible perspective on this culturally celebrated area….(she) demonstrates the vibrant connection between Scottish and American folk traditions’. Over 18s only. 7.30pm, The Voodoo Rooms, West Register Street. Tickets cost £8 in advance (transaction fee applies) and may be purchased online here, otherwise £10 on the door (sta).

SUNDAY 21ST JUNE 2015

Dads Rock Fathers’ Day Family Takeover! Bring the whole family for an afternoon of time travel, with lots of free activities from the past, present – and future! Music, dance, science, storytelling, sketching, crafts, costumed characters and more. Dads Rock, The Edinburgh Sketcher, Macastory, the Scottish Book Trust and Whale Arts are just some of the organisations who will be at the museum to entertain you – for full programme see the NMS website. Please note that some of the activities have limited places, for which you should sign up in the Grand Gallery on the day. 10am-5pm, National Museum of Scotland, Chambers Street. Free.

The Great Scottish Walk and Run Festival: run, walk or toddle and raise money for charity (or just do it for fun!) in your choice of six different events, from 20k walks to 1 mile strolls and a special toddle for children under the age of 6. Entertainment; refreshments for sale. First event starts 9.30am, Holyrood Park, Queen’s Drive. For more information and to register see website here.

In the Car by Roy Lichtenstein 1963, copyright The Estate of Roy Lichtenstein/DACS 2004

Hearing Impaired Tour – Artist Rooms: Roy Lichtenstein. A free tour of the exhibition with portable loops, led by Tessa Asquith-Lamb. 11am-12 noon, Scottish National Gallery of Modern Art ONE, Belford Road. Booking is required and may be made by calling the Information Desk on 0131 624 6560.

Leith Festival 2015: Hibs Historical Tours. Open gallery displays and tours of the West Stand including dressing rooms, press room, Boardroom, Directors’ Room and pitchside.Visitors will also be able to access the South Stand where the Hibernian Community Foundation has its base, East Stand concourse, Memorial Wall and the club shop in the Famous Five Stand. 12-4pm, Hibernian Football Club, Albion Place. Free. Please note that all children under 12 years must be accompanied by an adult.

Edinburgh International Film Festival continues today! For details of all films and other events see the programme here or pick up a paper copy at EIFF venues and many other locations throughout the city. Tickets are available in person from the Filmhouse, Lothian Road, Cineworld, Fountain Park, Odeon, Lothian Road and the Festival Theatre, by calling 0131 623 8030 or online here. Today’s highlights include In Person: Ewan McGregor – a rare on stage interview with the Creiff boy (and global superstar), Inside Out, the latest animation from Pixar, and The Night Stalker (1972), John Llewellyn Moxey’s cult classic – a stylish, atmospheric horror in which a down-at-heel journalist doggedly tracks a vampire through the neon-lit streets of late-night Los Angeles.

Fathers’ Day at Bo’ness and Kinneil Railway: steam trains, vintage carriages, classic cars and a special afternoon tea aboard the train. A special timetable and standard fares will apply. Please note that the afternoon tea must be pre-booked. Bo’ness & Kinneil Railway, Bo’ness Station, Union Street, EH51 9AQ.

Edinburgh Festival of Cycling concludes today! The final events are Women, Read & Ride on Tour – a literary tour of Edinburgh by bike with readings, conversation and cake, Learn, then Ride – a workshop for female novice or non-cyclists to build confidence and skill levels (bikes provided if required) and two Audax Rides – the Honest Toun Dander (100km) and the Honest Toun Dawdle (50km). For more information please see the festival’s website here or its Facebook page here, or pick up a programme from many venues across the city and beyond, including libraries, leisure centres and many shops.

Bags of Art – June: cool and creative fun with artists Tessa Asquith-Lamb and Louise Fraser. For ages 4-12 years. 2-4pm (drop-in), Scottish National Gallery of Modern Art ONE, Belford Road. Free: no booking required. Supported by the Friends of NGS.

Behind the Frame…. Members of the acclaimed Lyceum Youth Theatre invite audiences to join them in a site-specific performance that will explore spaces within the Portrait Gallery, where they will share creative responses to the works on show. The performances will consist of self-guided ‘happenings’ around the building. 2-4pm, Scottish National Portrait Gallery, 1 Queen Street. Free: no booking required.

Botanics Midsummer Cake Fest: the traditional late opening for the summer solstice. 50 teams of amateur and professional bakers will each have produced a cake version of Edinburgh landmarks. Today they will be put together to create a cake map of the city – which will then be eaten (at approx 5pm)! Come along to view the cake map as it takes shape, and help create additional items – buses, trams, cars, boats and more – for the map at free drop-in workshops. Live entertainment throughout the day and into the evening, plus lots of tasty treats from some of Scotland’s leading food and drink producers. 10am-10.30pm, Royal Botanic Garden, Inverleith Row (see Cakefest’s own website here for full programme). Free, no booking required. Supported by EventScotland as part of Scotland’s Year of Food & Drink.

Picturehouses Vintage Sundays: classic films back on the big screen. Today’s film is The Long Good Friday (18): a prosperous gangster is about to close a lucrative deal when bombs start showing up in very inconvenient places. Starring Bob Hoskins and Helen Mirren, who won an Academy Award for her role as gangster’s moll Victoria. 1pm, Cameo, Home Street. Tickets may be booked in person, by calling the Box Office on 0871 902 5723 or online here.

Scotland’s Open Gardens: 61 Fountainhall Road. A large walled town garden in which trees and shrubs form an architectural backdrop to a wide variety of flowering plants. Three ponds, with and without fish, have attracted a lively population of frogs. Refreshments available. 2-5pm, 61 Fountainhall Road, EH9 2LH. £4 per person, of which 40% goes to Froglife and the net remainder to SG beneficiaries.

Leith Festival 2015: Kailyard in Concert. Celebrate the longest night of the year with a great selection of music from the past 60 years – from Abba to Ash and many more! 7.30pm, Queen Charlotte Rooms, 56a Queen Charlotte Street, Leith. Tickets cost £5 and are available from South Leith Church Halls, Henderson Street or by emailing Marion Stout at developing@dial.pipex.com.

Scotland’s Open Gardens: Merchiston Cottage. Small walled, urban, wildlife friendly and organic bee-keeper’s garden. This eco-friendly tapestry of wildlife habitats encourages birds, insects and frogs as pest control. Talk on beekeeping by Brian Poole, plant stall by Binny Plants, refreshments available. 2-5pm, 16 Colinton Road, EH10 5EL. £4 per person, of which 40% goes to Alyn Children’s Hospital and the net remainder to SG beneficiaries.

Leith Festival Tattoo 2015. The closing event of this year’s festival is an evening full of dance and music, with Siamsoir Irish dancers, Mary Phelan Dance Academy, The Polish Scottish Heritage Group, Ernie Reynolds singing Italian arias, plus the traditional Pipes and Drums. Organiser: Bob Lawson, compere: Tim Bell. 7pm, Tower Street. Free.

Father’s Day Special: Jazz with George Howden and friends. 4-7pm, Old Chain Pier, Trinity Crescent, Newhaven.

Sofi’s Nocturnes: a special open mic session to mark the end of Sofi’s Midsummer Fruit Festival, featuring an appearance by recently formed 20-piece Edinburgh choral group Castle Chorus. 8pm, Sofi’s Bar, Henderson Street.

St Giles’ At Six: St Mary’s Music School String Quintet plays Schubert String Quintet in C D956. 6pm, St Giles’ Cathedral, High Street. Free, retiring collection.

Hibs ask fans to donate football gear for local charities initiative

Supporters are awaiting the launch of the new Hibernian 2015-16 Home Kit, which is available to buy on Friday 19 June at 10am.

While many youngsters will be proudly wearing the new kit, some are not so lucky. The club comes into contact with lots of people from disadvantaged backgrounds through ticket initiatives such as Kicks for Kids and Leith Links or the range of Hibernian Community Foundation programmes, and they want to help them as well as leaving them with the best possible impression of Hibs.

In response supporters with unwanted, old or unused football kit have been asked to donate their items to the club for redistribution to benefit local charities and partners of the club.

Supporters are invited to donate any strips, shorts, scarfs, football boots and trainers in reasonable condition. Adult sizes are also welcomed.

Collections can be made at the following locations:

Monday-Friday: West Stand Reception (9am-5.30pm)

Saturday: Hibernian Ticket Office (10am-3pm)

Sunday: Famous Five Concourse (12pm-4pm, see below)

All items donated by supporters will be placed on display within the Famous Five concourse during the Leith Festival Open Day tour at Easter Road on Sunday 21 June (12pm-4pm), and supporters attending the open day are invited to leave donations in the Famous Five Stand as that point of the tour. If fans are not attending the open day tour but still wish to donate next Sunday donations can be left at the West Stand Reception.

Supporters have shown their generous community spirit on a number of occasions over the past year, from the two successful foodbank collections to the play-off ticket donations. The club hope that supporters can back this year’s kit collection in a similar manner and help kids from disadvantaged backgrounds.

For more information please e-mail Colin on cmillar@hibernianfc.co.uk.

Pensioner robbed in own house in Buchanan Street

Police are investigating following an assault and robbery at an address in Buchanan Street which took place yesterday around 9.20am when a male forced his way into the home of an 80-year-old man. The suspect then assaulted the pensioner and stole a sum of cash from his person before leaving with the cash.

Police and emergency services were alerted immediately. The Scottish Ambulance Service attended and treated the victim for a minor injury.

Police are now appealing for any information regarding this incident. The suspect is described as a white male in his 30’s. He is around 5ft 6” in height with a medium build and short brown hair.

Detective Inspector John Kavanagh said: “This was a distressing incident for the victim. We are eager to trace this suspect as a matter of urgency. Anyone who saw a male matching the suspect description in the Buchanan Street area yesterday, or has any other relevant information, is asked to contact police immediately.”

Those with information can contact Police Scotland on 101 or anonymously through Crimestoppers on 0800 555 111.

Wester Hailes Fun Run 2015

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The Wester Hailes Fun Run took place earlier on a cold overcast morning which did not deter the many participants who lined up at the start.

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The Edinburgh Reporter NEWS Wester Hailes Fun Run from Phyllis Stephen on Vimeo.

The Lord Provost the Rt Hon Donald Wilson took part and told us that he had bettered his own personal best with a 5k finish just under 30 minutes.

Two Edinburgh mums in the semi finals of business competition

Only a day or two left to support the Scottish mumpreneurs Amy Livingstone and Julie Wilson.

They are founders of Cheeky Chompers and inventors of the award-winning Neckerchew and Comfortchew, who have made it through to the semi finals of Virgin Media Business’ entrepreneur competition ‘#VOOM:Pitch to Rich 2015’.

Cheeky Chompers is the only Scottish business and the youngest business in the GROW category, which is for existing businesses that are ready to go big-time. Cheeky Chompers is also now one of only 10 businesses left in its category of the competition, whittled down from over 2500 pitches overall which were originally submitted.

VOOM: Pitch to Rich 2015 is a nationwide competition run by Virgin Media Business to find the country’s most exciting and innovative businesses. The winner of each category gets £250,000 marketing support and a whole host of Virgin Media Business prizes. The two runners-up receive £100,000 marketing support.

People have until 16 June to vote for their favourite pitch from the list of semi-finalists. The entrepreneurial pair are urging supporters to vote for Cheeky Chompers on the Virgin banner on www.cheekychompers.com.

Julie said: “It would mean the world to us to get to the final and win this game-changing prize. When we appeared on Dragons Den two years ago they didn’t believe our financial projections were viable but we have now way exceeded the figures that the Dragons didn’t think we had a hope of meeting.

“As a small company it’s hard to devote the marketing spend required to keep growing awareness of a brand in a constantly renewing market. Winning Pitch to Rich would enable us to raise the profile of Cheeky Chompers and grow the business significantly. We’re proud to manufacture in Scotland and as our business grows we will be able to take on more staff. When we started out there were just two of us – we have created 20 jobs in Scotland in the last two years.

“We have also adapted our products due to the demand from parents, as well as carers of children and adults with special needs. The initial response has been overwhelming which is so rewarding. We know our products work, but in order for more babies, children and adults to benefit from them we need to increase awareness of our brand nationally and internationally. Winning this pitch would make all the difference”.

Amy and Julie invented the innovative Neckerchew, a unique combination of a dribble bib and chewy teether, after meeting at an antenatal class and identifying a gap in the market for an attached teething product from their own experiences either losing or having to pick up and re-sanitise teethers for their own children.

This simple idea has impressed parents and retailers alike – the Neckerchew is currently distributed in 30 countries worldwide, and has just hit the 250,000 unit sales milestone this month, thanks to listings in over 100 retailers across the UK, including John Lewis, Jojo Maman Bébé and Mothercare. Cheeky Chompers also has a successful collaboration with British fashion brand Joules.

The company launched their second product, the Comfortchew, an attachable teething comforter with textures and patterns to stimulate babies and soothe tender gums last year. Both Chewy products have just won gold Awards in the prestigious NAPPA (National Parenting products association) and the Moms choice awards in the USA.

The top three companies in the GROW category voted by the public, will pitch their business ideas, at the live finale on 26 June, to Sir Richard Branson, Virgin Media Business Managing Director Peter Kelly and their panel of judges: Jon Oringer, Jo Malone, Justine Roberts and David Gandy. The winners will each win a slice of the £450,000 prize fund up for grabs.

Peter Kelly, Managing Director of Virgin Media Business, said: “We are celebrating the creativity, ingenuity and acumen that exists in the UK and encouraging more budding entrepreneurs to confront their fears and go for it! We are backing today’s entrepreneurs so they can be a part of tomorrow’s success.”

Paris Kiss: the story of Rodin, Camille Claudel and Jessie Lipscombe

What do people usually do on their honeymoons? Before you answer, let me tell you what journalist Maggie Ritchie did; she found the inspiration for her first novel – and no, it wasn’t 50 Shades of anything. Paris Kiss tells the story of Camille Claudel and Jessie Lipscombe, two young sculptors in Bohemian Paris in the 1880s, and of Camille’s affair with their tutor, Auguste Rodin. At the Central Library recently Maggie’s discussed her debut with husband Mike, also a former journalist; unsurprisingly, Mike began by asking Maggie that question on everybody’s lips – just how had she been able to concentrate on the book during what was supposed to be the most romantic trip of her life?

Maggie had never been to Paris until she went with Mike; bowled over by it all – the people, the style, the ‘insouciance’ – she particularly enjoyed visiting the Musee Rodin. There she was drawn to a room of Camille Claudel’s work, and soon hooked by the story of this gifted, wild woman; who was Camille Claudel? And why had so few people heard of her – and even fewer heard of Jessie Lipscomb – whilst their teacher had achieved international fame?

Jessie Lipscomb was a respectable girl from Peterborough who persuaded her father to let her go to Paris to study sculpture as Rodin’s pupil. This fact alone told Maggie that Jessie was unusual; in England at that time women had only just been allowed to go to art school, and working from a nude model of either sex was unthinkable. So Paris Kiss takes up the story as Jessie meets Camille, also Rodin’s protege and also the child of a ‘respectable’ home – but Camille has no use for convention, she wants to try everything Parisian life can offer. The pair set up a studio together and Jessie’s eyes are opened to the unconventional demi-monde of exotic characters like Rosa Bonheur and Toulouse-Lautrec;

‘All at once I was fed up with being trussed up like a butcher’s goose. Nobody knew me here and I could do exactly as I pleased…’

She certainly isn’t in Peterborough any more. Soon Jessie is enmeshed, a pivotal part in the risky and complicated relationship between Rodin and Camille, loving Paris, loving her friends, but increasingly oppressed by their demands and by her own affairs of the heart (she has a fiance back at home, a new admirer in Paris, and a dilemma that still resonates for many women today).

Once Maggie decided to investigate Jessie’s story, she was delighted to find that there were strong links between Rodin and Scotland – indeed to her own home city of Glasgow. The Burrell Collection, Kelvingrove Gallery and Hunterian Museum all have Rodins, brought to the city by Alex Reid, a dealer who supplied art to wealthy sugar and tobacco merchants at the end of the 19th century. At that time Rodin was ignored in London and Europe, but Glaswegians liked him so much that the university even gave him an honorary degree.

Rodin - The Age of Bronze: Burrell Collection — Rodin – The Age of Bronze: Burrell Collection

The facts of the story are certain, but how, asked Mike, did Maggie research the characters? Whilst there are many biographical works on Rodin, who is described as ‘charming but exacting’, and some material about Camille (Bruno Nuytten’s film Camille Claudel and the publication of several books about her in the 1980’s revived interest in her work), there is almost nothing about Jessie; she had suffered the fate of so many female artists and been forgotten. A PhD student’s thesis provided some hard facts, but little about the woman; Maggie had to flesh her out and imagine her life as a single woman in man’s world.

Maggie wrote the book from Jessie’s viewpoint rather than Camille’s to give a different slant on the story and let readers see Paris through the eyes of a newcomer; it was also easier for her to enter the mind of a middle-class Englishwoman, although in retrospect she feels it might have been easier to write in the third person. Maggie not only researched the characters on paper; a friend happened to be a marble sculptor, so she was able to visit him and try sculpting for herself. The studio was cold and dusty, the marble felt as though it would break in her hands; Camille and Jessie had worked in these conditions in full Victorian dress, eventually sculpting the hands, feet and clothes for Rodin’s famous work The Burghers of Calais.

Although she stayed close to the facts in Paris Kiss, Maggie did introduce one fictional character; Georges Duchamp, Jessie’s love interest, never existed – but he does add a lot of fun to the story, and also has a place in the tying up of loose ends many years later. The hardest struggle for Maggie was to stick to the cruel truth and not give Camille the happy ending that she would have preferred. After leaving Rodin, Camille alleged that he had taken the credit for much of her work; although this was common practice in ateliers at the time, this and the ruinous fall-out from their relationship led to periods of bizarre behaviour and mental illness. In 1913, immediately after her father’s death, her family had had her committed to a psychiatric hospital; despite repeated requests from doctors who said she should not be there, her brother Paul always refused to remove her. Jessie had returned to England, marrying her fiance in 1887; like many women, she was forced to make the choice between family and career, and largely gave up her work to care for her four sons, although she continued to sculpt when she could in a studio in her garden;

Jessie visited Camille in the Montdevergues Asylum but was never able to persuade Paul to have her released. Camille died there in 1943; her remains were buried in a communal grave. Despite his many affairs, Rodin married his partner of fifty-three years, Rose Beuret, in January 1917, just two weeks before her death. Rodin himself died later that year.

‘When Camille was making works of genius, I was totting up grocery bills, soothing fractious babies….I remembered the sharp tang of lemon cologne, the golden sunlight of a Paris afternoon. And I wept for us all, for Camille, for Georges, for myself’.

Paris Kiss is published by Saraband. Maggie Ritchie won the Curtis Brown Prize in 2012 and Paris Kiss was longlisted for the 2014 Mslexia First Novel Competition. In her next book Maggie is moving away from Europe to tell the story of an Englishwoman whose affair with an artist in 1970’s South Africa has cataclysmic results; she is already planning the third, which will see a return to the 19th century and female artists, this time in Scotland and China.

This was the first in a new series on debut writers at the Central Library; look out for more – or subscribe to Edinburgh Libraries’ monthly list and find out about all of their excellent events.

Drink Less, Live More programme – book now for Edinburgh

Drink Less. Live More – The Drink Less Mind Programme Hits Scotland

Leading clinical hypnotherapist Georgia Foster launches revolutionary Drink Less Mind programme in Scotland. Reduce the amount of alcohol you drink; become happier, healthier and more in control of your life.

Georgia Foster, the leading Australian clinical hypnotherapist and alcohol control specialist, who is based in London, is introducing her unique and proven Drink Less Mind (DLM) programme to Scotland with a special one day seminar in Edinburgh on Saturday 20 June 2015.

Both the DLM 21 day on-line programme and the one day seminar with Georgia are for people who recognise that their drinking behaviour is starting to impact their health and lives but don’t know how to cut back. These are hard working, responsible people who have got stuck in a rut of regularly drinking too much, the most common reasons of which being social shyness, financial stresses, loneliness, boredom, insomnia and general fears about life.

The DLM programme is a 21-day instantly accessible, fully downloadable, audio experience that teaches alcohol hypnosis techniques based on over 20 years of alcohol reduction expertise. Using the power of Georgia’s Inner Dialogue psychology theory to help understand the different types of drinking personalities, dramatic results occur. DLM trains the mind and body to shift its unhelpful drinking habits to drink from a calm logical space. This means the drive to drink is not so intense or demanding and the domino effect is drinking less, more easily and confidently. Added to this self-esteem of participants dramatically improves, along with healthier coping strategies.

The seminar in Edinburgh is a great way to meet Georgia and learn directly from her in one day how to drink less. However participants can chose to download and take the programme in their own time too.

The Edinburgh Reporter spoke to Georgia about the programme:

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The Edinburgh Reporter in conversation with Georgia Foster from Phyllis Stephen on Vimeo.

Georgia Foster said: “In nearly every instance, alcoholics must stop drinking completely, but excessive and binge drinkers require a different form of ‘treatment’. This is the DLM programme, focused on self-awareness, breaking bad habits, and learning how to socialise without using alcohol as an emotional crutch. It is the thinking before the drinking that I deal with, freeing yourself from your mind’s mistaken equation that alcohol equals reward for a tough day, consolation for a mistake made, or facilitator of confidence.”

The DLM focuses on the benefits of drinking less rather than quitting altogether. It allows participants to address their unhealthy relationship with alcohol, to regain control and, in many cases, to enjoy drinking again. DLM develops new approaches to stress and social situations; ones revolved around enjoyment, not regret, and ones that are less damaging to health. It also helps participants with key areas that improve self-esteem – lose weight, sleep better, save money, improve their emotional state, make better decisions and improve family life.

Georgia Foster – http://www.georgiafoster.com/

The Drink Less Mind – http://www.georgiafoster.com/Drink-Less-Mind.php

Twitter – https://twitter.com/Georgia_Foster

Facebook – https://www.facebook.com/georgiafoster

The Drink Less Mind 1 day Seminar – http://www.georgiafoster.com/Edinburgh-Drink-Less-Mind.php

Edinburgh, Saturday 20 June 2015 – 10:00 to 15:45

This event will be centrally located. Full details provided at time of booking

Early Bird Special: Full Day just £147 (This would normally cost £810.00 in the clinic. You save £663.00)

Sunday in Edinburgh – What’s On Today

Image: James Lindsey – Ecology of Commanster

Bee Scene in Edinburgh: if you get a buzz out of bumblebees, join this volunteer survey along the Union Canal and learn more about these fascinating creatures and the vital role they play in the environment. Using resources provided by the Bumblebee Conservation Trust, surveys are carried out monthly between March and October. No experience necessary. 1-3.30pm, Water of Leith Conservation Trust, 24 Lanark Road. For more information please contact the organiser, Alan Forrester, on 07768 951740.

Portrait Detectives – June: collect your kit, follow clues and solve a mystery from history! 2-4pm, Scottish National Portrait Gallery, 1 Queen Street. Free and unticketed. Supported by the Friends of NGS.

Edinburgh Festival of Cycling continues today! Rides, films, talks, drama, books, photos, workshops and lots more. Today’s events include MY Adventure (family guided cycle ride), a Laid Back Sunday Tour/Try Out (with the chance to try a variety of recumbent bikes, trikes, tandems and loadbikes/bakfiets), and an Edinburgh Belles on Bikes/Edinburgh Bicycle Co-Operative ride. For more information please see the festival’s website here or its Facebook page here, or pick up a programme from many venues across the city and beyond, including libraries, leisure centres and many shops. Ends 21st June 2015.

Pentland Hills Regional Park Service: Get Hooked! A fun-filled day for children, learning about what’s involved in fishing and how they can play their part. Learn how to tie a fly and cast a rod – and enjoy the freshly caught fished cooked on the barbeque. For children aged 5+. 10.30am-3pm, Harlaw House Visitor Centre, Harlaw Reservoir. Free. For more information please contact the Pentland Hills Regional Park HQ, Hermitage of Braid, 69a Braid Road on 0131 529 2401 or email pentlandhills@edinburgh.gov.uk.

Leith Festival 2015 Sunday Service: a service for the whole community of Leith – all very welcome. 11am, Pilrig St Paul’s Parish Church, 1b Pilrig Street.

Leith Custom House Open Day. Scottish Historic Buildings Preservation Trust (SHBT) is leasing the Custom House for an initial five-year period, during which time it will carry out a feasibility study (which will include a consultation process) into the use of the buildings as a cultural/heritage hub for Leith. SHBT is keen to give the public an opportunity to visit the building and to begin to bring the building back to life – all are very welcome to come along today. Any local Leith organisation that would like to take a table and promote its activities should also get in touch by contacting info@shbt.org.uk. 10am-4pm, Leith Custom House, Commercial Street.

Enchanting Mythical Creatures: let your imagination run riot and create some amazing mythical creatures-on-a-stick out of felt, then embellish them with magical things. With Margaret Findlay. 11am-3pm, Lauriston Castle, 2a Cramond Road South. Tickets cost £6 and must be purchased in advance from the Usher Hall Box Office, Lothian Road, in person, by calling 0131 228 1155 or online here. Please note: these are family workshops intended for parents and children to enjoy together. Children must be accompanied by a minimum of one paying adult and must not be booked into workshops alone.

Leith Festival 2015: Citadel Arts Presents Witch Academy. Come to a new family show set in the heart of enchanted Leith! Colourful characters, magical spells – and at the end of the day, even witches have to get along. A play for children by children. Citadel Arts Youth Drama Team is a dynamic youth theatre with talented children from six local primary schools. Witch Academy was written by Laure C Paterson and is directed by Andrea McKenzie. 3pm, Leith Dockers Club, 17 Academy Street. Tickets cost £6/£3. For more information please email lizhare@blueyonder.co.uk or call 0131 337 8570 or 07770 623 924. Also at 6pm on Monday 15th June 2015.

Filmhouse Junior: screenings for a younger audience. Today’s film is A Letter to Momo/Momo e no tegami (PG), an animated fantasy in which an 11-year old girl moves to a tiny island in the Seto Inland Sea. She continues to cling to the memory of her late father, who left her an unfinished letter, and finds herself unable to adjust to her new life – until one day she is visited by three bizarre creatures. 11am, Filmhouse, Lothian Road. Tickets cost £4 per person, big or small, and may be purchased in person, by calling the Box Office on 0131 228 2688 or online here.

Picturehouses Vintage Sundays: classic films back on the big screen. Today’s film is Playtime (U): 1pm, Cameo, Home Street. Tickets may be booked in person, by calling the Box Office on 0871 902 5723 or online here.

Filmhouse: The Who. (1) Showing at 6.15pm – Tommy (15): Ken Russell’s ‘wonderfully excessive’ version of The Who’s rock opera; (2) Showing at 8.45pm – Quadrophenia (15): in 1964 London Jimmy and his pals are Mods, dividing their time between dancing and brawling with Rockers. ‘…one of the best films about youth ever made, beautifully illustrating the frustrations of being young and bright but still having no future’. Filmhouse, Lothian Road. Tickets may be purchased in person, by calling the Box Office on 0131 228 2688 or online: prices vary.

Filmhouse Quiz: the ‘phenomenally successful, rather tricky, but fun’ monthly quiz. Free to enter; teams of up to 8 welcome. 9pm, Filmhouse, Lothian Road.

50th Anniversary SCIAF Mass: Archbishop Leo Cushley will be the celebrant at this special event to mark 50 years of the Scottish Catholic International Aid Fund, which has touched the lives of millions of people around the world. The mass will be followed by a reception in St Mary’s Church Hall, where you can also see the SCIAF exhibition of stories and photos from the charity’s life-saving work. 3pm, St Mary’s RC Cathedral, York Place. All are welcome but please RSVP to Andrew Forsyth on 0141 354 5555 or email aforsyth@sciaf.org.uk.

Amy Hawthorn: the West Lothian funk/soul/jazz singer-songwriter makes her first, much anticipated, appearance at the OCP. 8pm, Old Chain Pier, Trinity Crescent, Newhaven.

St Giles’ At Six: Capital Concert Band – From Stage and Screen. A medley of numbers from West Side Story, Pirates of the Caribbean, Band of Brothers, Les Miserables and Frozen. 6pm, St Giles’ Cathedral, High Street. Free: retiring collection.

Five things you need to know today

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Donaldson’s College

At the Morningside Gallery

Tonight at the Stand

Friends of the Meadows

Tomorrow at Edinburgh Festival of Cycling

From the council’s planning lists it looks promising at last for Donaldsons College. CALA Evans who now own only part of the site have applied for a variety of permissions which will allow development to proceed. The way that this will happen is that the site owner will partner up with heritage building refurbishment specialists City & Country who will take over the Playfair buildings turning these into 63 homes and CALA Evans will develop the 72 new build properties in a crescent to the north of the site. The South lawn will be retained as an open grassed area.

The latest is this:

“Proposal to temporarily remove a portion of stonework + railings at the east gate off West Coates to allow adequate site access to Donaldsons College. Boundary stonework to be separated at mortar joints + railings removed in their entirety. All relocated elements will be stored safely, preserved for reinstatement upon completion of buildings works at the college. Adequate protection hoarding is to be installed around remaining stonework to protect at high + low levels.”

So watch this space…

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Georgina McMaster graduated from Edinburgh College of Art in 2002, with a BA (Hons) in Visual Communication specialising in Drawing and Painting. Since then she has received a number of awards, including the Royal Glasgow Institute’s David Cargill Award (2008). She has also been elected as a member of the Glasgow Art Club.Predominantly a painter of animals, Georgina says that ‘capturing the character and soul of the animal in their eyes and the softness of the fur on the beast, is what I endeavour to create in my work’.

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Tonight at The Stand on York Place there is a free show by Stu and Gary who will be running a free improv show. Did we tell you it was free?

More details here.

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Friends of the Meadows and Bruntsfield Links (FOMBL) will have their AGM soon. At present they have been very vocal about damage to the Meadows from Fringe shows and also from those having a BBQ in the summer sunshine. Is this something that has caused you any concerns? If so then they will be happy to see you.

Summer meeting and AGM, 26th June 2015

The Summer meeting of FoMBL will be the Annual General Meeting. It will be held on Friday 26th June. at the Croquet Club (corner of Leven Terrace and Glengyle Terrace) at 7.30 pm. If you are interested in croquet there is an opportunity to have a go at 6.30 pm, and refreshments precede the main meeting at 7.30. The talk this time will be by Fernando, who runs the police box cafe at the top of Middle Meadow Walk: he has some interesting plans for a makeover of that area. This will be followed by the usual AGM business.

More information and the papers for the AGM here.

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Tomorrow night as part of the Edinburgh Festival of Cycling there will be a discussion at the Augustine Church on George IV Bridge at 7.30pm.

“Want to know what is going to happen when the Dutch operator Abellio takes over Scottish rail networks? Come and hear about their plans for accommodating bikes on trains, bike parking at stations and other key ways in which cycling can be integrated. Presentations also by Transform Scotland, Borders Rail Campaign, and others. Join us for a lively evening of presentations, discussion, refreshments and a Spokes stall.

“18.45 doors open for chat, tea/coffee and Spokes stall.”

Meanwhile The Edinburgh Evening News are reporting that Abellio are going to start a Bike Hire scheme on Monday at Haymarket Station. Would that make a difference to your commute?

If you are reading this article on paper and would like to visit the website then scan the QR code above with a smartphone or tablet and you will be taken straight there.

Art exhibition supports youth homelessness project

JON SAVAGE PHOTOGRAPHY 07762 580971 www.jonsavagephotography.com JP PRESS LICENCE 3RD MAY 2015 Artists David Forster and Clare Robertson launch The Rock Trust homelessness charity postcard art exhibition and auction at The Summerhall this morning.

Charity exhibition and auction raises funds to support youth homelessness

The Rock Trust is holding its fifth postcard art exhibition and auction until 2 July at Summerhall to raise money and awareness for youth homelessness in Edinburgh and the Lothians’.

The fundraising event has received over 170 mini masterpieces, donated by renowned local, national and international artists, including Kate Downie, Al Heighton, Tony Husband, Mary Archibald, Alasdair Gray, David Forster, Fee Dickson, Steven Mangan and Raymond Osborn.

This year the artwork will be displayed at one of Edinburgh’s top arts centres, Summerhall, for one month only. During the exhibition, The Rock Trust invites individuals to browse and bid for their favourite pieces by filling out a bidding slip at the venue or online.

Katriona Harding, The Rock Trust’s fundraising and events coordinator, said: “We are really excited about this year’s Postcard Art Exhibition and Auction. The quality of donations we have received, from so many prominent artists, and the buzz around the event, makes me confident that we can reach our £20,000 target.

“This year we’re highlighting the high value pieces with a gold star, which will be of huge interest to collectors and art lovers.

“This is one of The Rock Trust’s biggest fundraising events of the year and every penny goes towards helping some of the most vulnerable and disadvantaged young people in our community. We are especially grateful to Summerhall for donating the exhibition space for the duration of the event.”

Once the exhibition is closed on the 2 July, the Postcard Art will be sold to the highest bidder and all the proceeds will go to Edinburgh and the Lothians’ most vulnerable 16-25 year olds.

2015 Just Festival: 15 Years of Light

There is, says Fiona Stewart, ‘something provocative about telling the truth’.

Foolproof Creative Arts, of which Fiona is Creative Director, is one of this year’s Just Festival Partners, and although she is talking primarily about Foolproof’s own community-building work, she could as well be alluding to the festival itself. This year it offers its most ambitious programme yet of drama, music, dance, talks, workshops, debates, films, family events and exhibitions – events that not only entertain, but also challenge us to look at the lives of others, from travelling people in Scotland to refugees in Syria; from human trafficking to sectarianism; from African drumming to Spanish flamenco; from ways of life to ways of death.

St John’s Church has been home to the festival for many years, and on Wednesday it hosted an inspiring preview of what we can look forward to in a few weeks’ time. Compere for the evening Susan Morrison has been described as a ‘comedy volcano’; in August her Stand-Up Sundays will provide ‘a romp through the seedy, silly and salacious side of Edinburgh’s history’ – but Susan can also do serious – ‘this isn’t a festival that ducks issues’. Introducing fabulous music from Dean Owens and Simply Soweto Encha, amazing acrobatic drama from Voice Box Theatre and some highly unusual burlesque from Monica Salvi, Susan also spoke about the festival’s wider aims of creating a multi-national, multi-belief community, and eventually a more united world. The Just Festival, she says, fills a gap, ‘it’s more than all the other festivals’. Wednesday night’s speakers explained what this meant.

Kenny McAskill MSP (‘if you thought you were getting Danny, my apologies…) is no longer Justice Secretary – ‘that means I can say what I like, but I also have to write it..’ – but he’s still passionately committed to making the world a better place. Although government has a role in tackling human trafficking, we need, he says, to realise that ‘we are all our brothers’ and sisters’ keepers’. We need to offer sanctuary; in short, we need to do our bit. The media may sell papers with sensationalist articles about prostitution, but most trafficking is, says Kenny, quiet and insidious – it’s happening all over Scotland, in tiny villages, on remote farms, in fisheries, on boats – and it’s not about sex, ‘it’s modern day slavery’. Most of the people caught up in it are not economic migrants, they are fleeing wars in countries like Syria and Eritrea only to end up as prisoners, kept in dangerous, inhuman conditions, intimidated, unpaid, pressurised to keep quiet. Their silence, ‘is not a sign of complicity, it’s a sign of the nefarious actions of those who exploit them’. Politicians, business leaders and councils must all play their part in stopping trafficking, but every single one of us needs to report what we see, to help and advise, to give support, love and care. ‘Together’, promises Kenny, ‘we will overcome’. The Just Festival will look at this issue through drama (Foolproof’s Help Yourself) and conversation (Modern Day Slavery and Re: Value of Human Life).

One charity that works across the world to strengthen communities from within has its headquarters right here in Edinburgh. Mercy Corps, another Festival Partner, works in over forty countries, offering humanitarian aid in cases of natural disaster, political upheaval and conflict – but as Ali McLeod explains, although Mercy Corps responds immediately to urgent needs for food, water and shelter, its work doesn’t stop there. Instead it believes in ‘a hand up, not a hand-out’ and its field staff – 93% of whom are from the country where they work – stay to partner communities for their long-term recovery and resilience. Light Up Liberia, Mercy Corps’ event on 26th August, will look at one of the poorest countries in the world, where energy costs are the highest in Africa. Only 2% of Liberians have access to a power supply, but Mercy Corps is building a model for solar electrification via village energy hubs.

Conflict is, of course, nothing new. James Urquhart’s Letters to Aberlour draws on the letters from ‘old boys’ to the Aberlour Orphanage during the First World War; they were writing to the only home they knew. Sixty-two of them died, and for these old boys, every death was the death of a brother. The production will be staged 7th-16th and 18th-31st August at the Just Festival’s new additional venue, Central Hall at Tollcross. Central Hall will also host Denial, in which three people make the pilgrimage to Auschwitz; they come not to mourn the victims of the ‘final solution’ but to celebrate its architects. ‘A powerful and disturbing insight into Holocaust denial’, Descent, in which a woman prepares for the last of many journeys, and Dark Lantern, the stories of three saved survivors of the camps: all three shows are Red Card Theatre productions. On 24th August this theme is also explored in Never Again? a conversation looking at atrocities and genocides over the past 150 years and asking whether humanity will ever learn lessons from the past.

And so back to the ‘light’ entertainment – which may be less harrowing but still has its own message. Monica Salvi’s Mad Women in My Attic (‘one woman and her multiple personalities’) celebrates quirky, mad and unstable women in musical theatre, at a time when concepts of madness are being challenged (the excellent Ragged University exhibition Mad World: On Sane People in Insane Situations – on at St Margaret’s House until 21st June – focuses on just this issue; how do we define madness? and how have our changing ‘definitions’ been used to control people we don’t like?) Monica’s message is one of encouragement: don’t be ashamed of your own little quirks of madness, and stop judging others for theirs. Another aspect of this topic is considered in Moving Minds, an exhibition created by MECOPP and Gypsy/Travellers, reflecting on the impact prejudice can have on mental health and wellbeing.

Press Officer Nicky Hawkins explains that one of the Just Festival’s aims is to get back to the original Fringe spirit – affordable events staged by ordinary people. While Just is proud to draw its performers from around the world (and to assist some who would not otherwise be able to travel to Edinburgh – for most of the performers in the ground-breaking After Freedom musical, this will be their first time out of Soweto), it also nurtures new Scottish acts. Formed in the city in 2009, Voice Box Theatre has similar principles – ticket prices are kept down to £5, and the company strives to produce boundary-breaking, challenging, shows that ‘take the risk’. The company introduces young people to the performance arts in schools and community initiatives, and also works in social education and rehabilitation. Fresh from previewing at the uber-cool Knockengarroch, Voice Box’s Escape from Wonderland is a cabaret of vintage and contemporary circus characters; Alice meets them every night – does she really want to escape or not?

Children are always welcomed to the Just Festival, and this year they can hear – and take part in – stories, make crafts, see puppets, try sculpture and printmaking, and see The Two Mountains, a film that asks exactly why we keep on fighting. Babies and pre-schoolers can also enjoy some musical yoga or the exhilarating Bach to Baby concert (book early – it’s very popular).

All festival-goers need sustenance, and who else to provide it at Just than Social Bite? This amazing social enterprise has gone from strength to strength, with two cafes in Edinburgh, two in Glasgow and others planned for Aberdeen and Dundee – they even persuaded George Clooney to come to dinner (and if you want to be there, enter the competition on Social Bite’s website). In August, under the supervision of their fantastic Sierra Leonean chef Michael Thomas, Social Bite will be offering a mouth-watering menu on the Terrace at St John’s, whilst Central Hall will host its own Pop-Up Cafe. Michael will also conduct a cooking demonstration on 28th August, showing you how to make delicious meals on a budget, whilst entertaining you with lots of anecdotes and stories about his industrious colleagues, many of whom were formerly homeless.

Closing the launch, St John’s Rector Markus Duenzkofer revisited the theme of light, speaking of the fire of the Paschal service, the lights of Diwali, the 2015 United Nations Year of Light and the Burning Bush of Moses; the world, he said, is in desperate need of light, yet in these times of environmental crisis, war, homophobia, disasters and suffering it would be easy to give in and let the night swallow us all. But light is stronger than darkness, it will continue to shine; the Just Festival is such a light.

The Just Festival programme is available now throughout the city and may also be viewed on the Festival’s website here. Tickets (and places for free events) may be booked via eventbrite; tickets for performing arts events may also be purchased from The Fringe Box Office, 180 High Street. Tickets will also be available on the door, subject to availability.

Improving Scotland’s health with active travel

It is nothing new to be told that we should be exercising more, but with active travel at the front of your mind, you will be encouraged to walk or cycle rather than any form of motorised transport.

This exercise will become part of your day rather than something that you have to think about doing. An alliance of Scotland’s national walking and cycling charities have this week launched a joint platform setting out how to radically improve Scotland’s public health by getting Scots more active.

The document, ‘Scotland on the move’, calls for a range of measures, including infrastructure, safety, policy, behaviour change interventions and a long-term funding commitment to increase walking and cycling in Scotland.

The alliance of groups comprises seven Scottish organisations who together champion walking, cycling and sustainable transport: CTC Scotland, Cycling Scotland, Living Streets, Paths for All, Ramblers Scotland, Sustrans Scotland, and Transform Scotland.
The groups have put forward a number of evidenced arguments for the consideration of Scotland’s political parties as they begin work on preparing their party manifestos for the 2016 Holyrood elections.

Colin Howden, Director of Transform Scotland, said: “Our core aim is to see increased long term investment in active travel with a call for 10% of local and national transport budgets to be allocated to walking and cycling. While we recognise and welcome recent additional investment announcements by the Transport Minister, Derek Mackay, active travel investment remains at only 1-2% of the Scottish Government’s transport budget.”

Ian Findlay, Chief Officer of Paths for All, said: “Realising commitments to increase and enable everyday walking amongst the Scottish population will improve people’s physical, mental and social health and decrease health inequalities – walking is physical activity which almost anyone can do for free from their front door. But too often it is taken for granted. Continued commitment and investment are required from all parties to ensure active choices are the first and easiest choices for people.”

John Lauder, Director of Sustrans Scotland, said: “Enabling and promoting active travel needs to be put firmly on the party manifesto agenda for 2016. Now is the right time for the parties to commit to specific policies to increase levels of walking and cycling, as we believe this could be the game changer not only for Scotland’s health but also for our economy and environment. We hope that the 2016 Scottish elections will be an exciting time for those of us who would like to see walking and cycling become the normal modes of transport for everyday shorter journeys.”

Specific infrastructure commitments highlighted include entirely segregated cycle routes in all of Scotland’s cities and the consolidation of long-distance walking and cycling routes. Funding for creation, maintenance and promotion of a comprehensive network of walking and cycling routes in towns and cities across Scotland is also a key recommendation.

The groups also set out a range of actions that political parties should use to get Scotland on the move. All of these are being piloted throughout Scotland but the groups want to see them delivered cohesively in towns, cities and rural areas. They include reducing speed limits to 20mph in towns and cities and enabling children to travel actively through calming traffic around schools, promotion and educating them to be skilled and confident cyclists. Other measures include tackling pavement parking, a particular issue for pedestrians with mobility issues, and pursuing a ‘Vision Zero’ where no one is killed on Scotland’s roads.

Edinburgh Festival of Cycling – Capital Trail

Portobello 3

Spare a thought for those on the Capital Trail this evening. They are cycling 237km from Portobello back to Portobello and may well be cycling overnight.

87 riders set off today on the inaugural ride which has attracted some of the best mountain bikers in the UK, amongst them Commonwealth Games team member Lee Craigie.

This is how the route is explained:

“The route is quintessentially Scottish: tough, rugged and scenic at the same time. It features the beautiful Firth of Forth coastline, Fa’side Castle, the Winton Estate and the Pencaitland Railway Path, Saltoun Big Woods, the country lanes of East Lothian, Lammer Law, the Southern Upland Way, Thirlestane Castle, Melrose Abbey, the River Tweed, the Borders and Abbey Way, the Three Brethren, the 7stanes trails at Innerleithen and Peebles, Dun Rig, Kirkhope Law, the Cross Borders Drove Road, the Meldons and Pentland Hills. And to finish a great route the Capital Trail will take you to all the tourist must-do sights in Scotland’s Capital on two wheels. Edinburgh has recently been voted one of the most beautiful places in the world, so you are in for a treat. Once you leave the hills behind you, you will follow the Water of Leith and the Union Canal into Edinburgh, and whizz through the lively Meadows and down the Royal Mile. You might even spot the Royal Family at Holyrood Palace, the Queen’s official residence in Scotland, before enjoying a final climb up Holyrood Park and down one of the secret urban trails the city has to offer.”

The inaugural ride is taking place overnight tonight as part of the Edinburgh Festival of Cycling. The riders set off from Portobello at 8am this morning, finishing before it gets dark on Sunday giving them 40 hours to complete the route.

Photos courtesy of Ian MacNicol ian_mac1966@yahoo.com

Edinburgh Cyrenians score with Clydesdale Spirit of the Community Award

Two community groups in the capital have been awarded a combined funding boost of £15,000 through the Clydesdale Bank Spirit of the Community Awards to recognise the important role they play in the local community.

The Spirit of the Community Awards announced the substantial donations to voluntary groups at an awards ceremony in Glasgow to recognise the charities and not-for-profit organisations which are going the extra mile.

Twelve community groups across Scotland were selected to share funding of £75,000 to make a real difference in their local areas including ProjectScotland based in Edinburgh and Edinburgh Cyrenian Trust.

ProjectScotland based in Edinburgh offers young people throughout Scotland aged between 16-30 years the opportunity to make a positive contribution to their community through 3 month volunteering placements with local charities and has been awarded £10,000.

Edinburgh Cyrenian Trust is an independent charity which works with vulnerable people to help address homelessness, addiction issues and helps lead people into employment. The social and welfare group has been awarded £5,000 to assist fund a part time worker who will deliver support to some of the most distanced from the labour market.

Now in its third year, the awards programme aims to recognise charities and not-for-profit organisations for the invaluable contributions they make to their local communities. Groups were invited to enter the awards scheme under one of three categories; financial education, employability and environment.

An overall winning group has been selected in each category securing £10,000 of funding, along with three highly commended winners that were each awarded £5,000.

Debbie Crosbie, Chair of Yorkshire and Clydesdale Bank Foundation, said: “Clydesdale Bank’s Spirit of the Community Awards recognise and support the important role that voluntary and charitable organisations play in their local communities. It has been inspiring to see the great work that is being done at grass roots level across Scotland.

“ProjectScotland and Edinburgh Cyrenian Trust are both extremely deserving winners and have been recognised for their community spirit with these awards from Clydesdale Bank.”

Tully Treslove, Mentoring Manager at ProjectScotland, said: “ProjectScotland helps young people aged 16-30 to get on in life through volunteering. Mentoring is a vital part of our programme and this award from Clydesdale Bank will transform our service in the South West of Scotland. We will recruit, train, and provide ongoing support to 30 Mentors in the area, and by working with Clydesdale Bank branches, we’ll also be able to sign-up employees to work with a local young person.”

Rachael Wallace-Lane, Head of Early Intervention for Edinburgh Cyrenian Trust, said: “The grant from the Yorkshire and Clydesdale Bank Foundation will support the work we are doing with some of those who are most disconnected from the labour market. By supporting vulnerable people to stabilize their lives and return to work we will be reducing the need for them to call on a whole range of services, in addition to those aimed at employability.”

Clydesdale Bank’s sister organisation, Yorkshire Bank, has also announced 12 successful recipients of £75,000 as part of the Spirit of the Community Awards initiative. This brings the total funds awarded to 24 community groups up and down the country to £150,000.

For further information about Yorkshire and Clydesdale Bank Foundation’s Spirit of the Community Awards, please visit www.cbonline.co.uk/foundation

Unprovoked serious assault in Restalrig Road

Police are investigating following a serious assault in Restalrig Road, near to Leith Links which took place this morning around 1.50am when two male suspects approached and assaulted two men and a woman who were walking home.

One of the men sustained a serious leg injury as a result of the attack. He was taken by the Scottish Ambulance Service to the Edinburgh Royal Infirmary and is currently in a stable condition.

Police are now appealing for information regarding this incident. Both suspects are described as white men aged 18-20 with slim builds. They are both described as tall (6ft – 6ft 2”) in height and were wearing dark suits with white shirts and black ties.

The first suspect has dark brown hair while the other has shaved blond hair.

Detective Inspector John Kavanagh said: “This was an unprovoked and vicious attack on three people, which has resulted in one of the group suffering a serious leg injury.

“We are eager to trace the two suspects as a matter of urgency. Anyone who recognises their description, or was in the area at the time of the attack, is asked to contact police immediately.”

Those with information can contact Police Scotland on 101 or anonymously through Crimestoppers on 0800 555 111.

Leith Gala Day Parade 2015

The Leith Gala Day parade started off from Pilrig Park this morning led by two police horses Kilmarnock and Stewarton and escorted by Police Scotland motorcyclists.

But the procession was also led by Provost for the day, Willie Barr from Citadel Youth Centre suitably attired in mock ermine and accompanied by Jack Sparrow.

Followed by representatives from other Leith groups the parade made its way out to Leith Walk and then on to Leith Links.

We caught up with some parts of the procession as it headed off on its way:

[vimeo 130625598 w=500 h=281]

Leith Gala Day Parade 2015 from Phyllis Stephen on Vimeo.

Entrepreneurs win big at the EDGE awards

The Scottish EDGE awards held at RBS Gogarburn last night awarded over £1million in funding and prizes to thirty six Scottish entrepreneurs.

The overall winners scooped £900,000 after a gruelling Dragons’ Den style finals day to select the most promising start-up businesses that will bring the maximum return for the Scottish economy in terms of growth and jobs. A further £75,000 was awarded to 11 Young EDGE (founders under 30 years old) winners and £100,000 to 11 Wild Card EDGE (early stage businesses) winners who also collected their trophies at the gala event in the evening.

Scottish EDGE chairman David Shearer, who headed a panel of top business figures judging the entries, said: “We heard from many excellent businesses over the course of this funding round and those which have been selected to receive funding are the cream of the crop.

“Young businesses in the growth phase are the engine of the economy and we are delighted to be able to support the most promising of these firms with the funding they need to thrive. Many have ambitious plans that our funding injection will set in motion immediately.

“The quality of the enterprises we saw on Friday bodes very well for the future of the Scottish economy, and I’m sure that many of our finalists are destined to become well known as they grow and generate wealth and jobs. “

The funding competition, aimed at identifying and supporting Scotland’s top early stage and high growth potential entrepreneurs, received more than 250 hopeful applicants, which where whittled down over a number of rounds to leave 26 in Friday’s final.

The 16 winning businesses were:

· £45k – Beer52.com – the UK’s no. 1 craft beer club which links small craft breweries with craft beer fans across the UK

· £100k – Carbon Black System Ltd – a company which provides customers with high-tech custom built stylish carbon fibre wheelchairs

· £50k – CLDB – a company which provides off-site manufactured, cost effective , low energy building using natural materials

· £100k – Freedom One Life Ltd – a company which designs and manufactures a new generation of power wheelchairs

· £30k – Geek Retreat – a comic book store and gaming café aimed at “Geeks”

· £75k – Helson and Jackets LLP – 3D 360 degree video display, that creates full moving video objects that appear to float in space

· £40k – Hidden Armada – a start-up which is currently developing a PC game called Mutiny, where your phone becomes your controller

· £50k – Ibisvision Limited – developed “RingOfSight” – a revolutionary software based system for diagnosis of glaucoma

· £50k – Katy Rodger’s Artisan Dairy – a company which produces a range of dairy products including Ice cream and yogurt from their family farm

· £65k – Medicen Devise Limited – a company which developed a new medical sterilised catheter device called “Steriderm”

· £40k – Nutrifiz Ltd- the world’s first effervescent wheatgrass tablet

· £30k – Orwell and Goode – a lifestyle brand creating innovative textile based products including cushions and wallpaper

· £65k – RiCo Developments t/a Recipop- an app which allows brands to add promotional products to their customer’s online supermarket basket

· £50k – Shot Scope Technologies Ltd – wearable technology that automatically collects scoring and statistical data for golfers

· £50k – The Wee Tea Plantation Limited – Scotland’s only tea plantation which counts Kensington Palace and Balmoral Hotel as customers

· £65k – VH Innovation Ltd – designed the “Recoil Kneepad” – new more comfortable and protective kneepad design

The awards were presented by Sir Tom Hunter at a glittering ceremony celebrating innovation and entrepreneurship at the RBS Conference Centre, Gogarburn, Edinburgh.

PIC © Sandy Young 07970 268944 Scottish Edge Finals at RBS, Gogarburn. www.scottishphotographer.com sandyyoungphotography.wordpress.com sj.young@virgin.net 07970 268 944

The judging panel consisted of Scottish EDGE chairman David Shearer; Highlands and Islands Enterprise’s director of regional development Carroll Buxton; Carol Graham of Graham’s Family Dairy; Royal Bank of Scotland HR chief Elaine Arden; and David Sneddon of Scottish Equity Partnership.

The entrepreneurs and attendees on the day also heard from BrewDog co-founder James Watt, who told of how the hugely successful Scottish craft beer company grew from a simple idea in 2007 to the expanding international business it is today.

Deputy First Minister John Swinney said: “Congratulations to the Round 6 winners of the Scottish EDGE. They demonstrate the strength of entrepreneurial talent emerging in Scotland. Talent that is helped by competitions such as this and by the range of high quality support across public, private and third sectors. I applaud the CAN DO spirit of all the entrants to this year’s competition. Their positive attitude reinforces Scotland’s position as a world-leading entrepreneurial and innovative nation.”

Gordon Merrylees, Head of Entrepreneurship, Royal Bank of Scotland & NatWest, said: “Entrepreneurs are the lifeblood of the Scottish economy and make a significant contribution in terms of employment and wealth creation. The Royal Bank of Scotland is delighted to continue to support the Scottish EDGE as it plays an important role in promoting and supporting entrepreneurialism in Scotland.

“Starting your own business is becoming increasingly popular and The Royal Bank of Scotland is determined to play a major role in supporting and helping entrepreneurs fulfil their dreams.

“Growing the economy by helping start-up businesses is crucial and that is why The Royal Bank of Scotland is working with organisations such as Scottish EDGE, Entrepreneurial Spark, The Hunter Foundation, Scottish Enterprise, HIE, Princes Trust Youth Business Scotland and Business Gateway as well as Scottish Government to ensure that people are given the best possible chance of success.

“Once again, the quality of the finalists has been superb and the judging panel had to work hard to decide on the eventual winners. Each winner is a proud reflection of the entrepreneurial talent that exists within the Scottish business community and ecosystem.”

Hugh Lightbody, Chief Officer Business Gateway National Unit, said: “Our congratulations go to all of the award winners and finalists and we wish them well as their businesses grow and develop. Business Gateway supports thousands of SMEs across Scotland every year and we are delighted to see so many of our clients securing important funding from the Scottish Edge Awards that will help them on the road to fulfilling their aspirations.”

Eleanor Mitchell, Director of High Growth Ventures, Scottish Enterprise, said: “The Scottish EDGE encourages and supports Scotland’s expanding base of entrepreneurial activity. Past winners have used the award to recruit new team members, fund their marketing activities, translate their ideas into products and expand their sales and they’re demonstrating strong growth.

“Providing companies with access to new sources of early stage growth finance is vital and the Scottish EDGE helps to fill this gap, complementing existing grants and investment products that support Scotland’s entrepreneurs to realise their ambitions and to build sustainable businesses.”

Photos Sandy Young

The Best Places to Revamp Your Makeup Bag in Edinburgh

Is Edinburgh a beauty junkie’s paradise for shopping? Some favour cities such as Glasgow and Newcastle which are only only a short train journey away.

But whether you are on a budget or enjoy taking a browse down the more luxurious cosmetics route, believe it or not our capital city has it covered. The capital is home to a plethora of makeup, skin and hair care suppliers however you may just need a helping hand in knowing where to look.

Boots and Superdrug undoubtedly reign as the nation’s high street staples for all beauty essentials, but here are some alternative cosmetic hotspots in Edinburgh.

Space NK, 103 George Street and Harvey Nichols’ Beauty Hall,

30-34 Saint Andrew Square:

If you are a self confessed beauty queen of regular indulgence or simply treating your makeup bag to a well deserved upgrade, both Space NK and Harvey Nichol’s have a great deal to offer when it comes to nabbing some of the world’s leading cosmetic brands. As the Mecca of all things beauty, both boutiques offer premium products from the likes of Tom Ford, By Terry and NARS while also stocking more coveted and budget friendly labels from across the pond, for example US skincare phenomenon Mario Badescu.

Marks and Spencers Beauty section, Fort Kinnaird Retail Park, EH15 3RD:

If you are in the market for upping your skincare ante without severing your purse strings, the recently launched beauty department at Edinburgh’s Fort Kinnaird store carries a selection of the skincare blogging communities’ most raved about commodities.

With a range of products from Burt’s Bees, to REN and other French pharmacy favourites such as Nuxe, it is a haven for skincare lovers. Similar to Harvey Nichol’s, M&S offers a medley of hard to find brands such as Jurlique or Korres. The cosmetics concession’s laid back atmosphere is a breath of fresh air to beauty shopping as you can browse freely through a serious selection of brands without feeling overwhelmed.

Kiehl’s, 54 George Street:

As the first Scottish Kiehl’s store, the brand has brought something special to Edinburgh’s recently refurbished Assembly Rooms. If you prefer a more wholesome approach to your skincare regime or love unearthing the science behind beauty, try popping in to Kiehl’s. Beginning as a family-run business, Kiehl’s was established in 1851 and specialises in natural skin and hair products, withholding extensive cosmetic and medicinal knowledge. Issuing skin consultations, the shop has something to offer everyone from the more opulent beauty enthusiasts to thrifty weekend browsers. Furnished with a treatment area, coffee bar and barbers, the store’s cool and quirky interior is worth a visit.

The Body Shop and Lush Princes Street:

If you are not wanting to spend so much on your beauty shopping, but still have the desire to invest in quality products, two more affordable retailers are Princes Street’s Body Shop and Lush stores. Both brands provide kind to skin cosmetics at a purse friendly price. I think the customer service in Lush on Princes Street is particularly great and I recommend trying their facemasks. Made with fresh and organic natural ingredients they are modified to target specific skin types, covering various skin woes. The Body Shop’s Chamomile and Tea Tree ranges are inexpensive and gentle therefore would suit a variety of skin types, particularly those suffering from breakouts.

No matter if you are a born and bred Edinburgher or a newbie in town exploring the city, these local shopping landmarks might help you to boost your beauty game.

Rugby – Rugby World Cup Trophy visits Edinburgh

Webb Ellis trophy comes to town

On Friday June 12, Rugby’s most prestigious prize, the Webb Ellis Cup, was in Edinburgh as it travels across the UK and Ireland for the 100-day Rugby World Cup Trophy Tour.

This was the Trophy Tour’s first visit to Edinburgh following a 12 month journey around the world as part of a celebration of Rugby and marked the countdown to the Rugby World Cup 2015 Opening Ceremony at Twickenham Stadium on September 18.

The Webb Ellis Cup was in Edinburgh on Friday and was on display during the Edinburgh Rugby P7 Rugby Festival at the home of Scottish Rugby, BT Murrayfield. Scotland’s most capped Scottish international Chris Paterson, as well as Edinburgh Rugby players Matt Scott and Grant Gilchrist, were attendance and were posing for photos with the youngsters and signing autographs.

Scotland’s scheduled fixtures for the 2015 RWC are –

v Japan – 23rd Sept. Kingsholm, Gloucester

v USA – 27th Sept. Elland Road, Leeds

v South Africa – 3rd Oct. St. James’ Park, Newcastle

v Samoa – 10th Oct. St. James’ Park, Newcastle

A million passengers used Edinburgh Airport last month

2014_03_28 Airport 48 Over one million passengers travelled through Edinburgh Airport last month making it the busiest May on record for Scotland’s busiest airport.

There were increased in both domestic and international passenger numbers with international passengers up over 10% on the same month last year.

Over 570,000 international passengers travelled through the terminal in May an increase of almost 56,000 on May 2014.

Domestic passenger figures increased by 7.4% with 450,928 people travelling through the airport.

Growth in both domestic and international figures has been driven primarily by new routes which have been started within the last year. Increased frequencies on both Flybe and Ryanair London routes have boosted passenger numbers, as well as BA Cityflyer which now operates up to 12 times per day to London City.

Gordon Dewar, Chief Executive of Edinburgh Airport, said: “To see over one million passengers travelling through our airport last month is phenomenal and is a sure sign of a busy summer season.

“Increased capacity on routes to Paris, Basel, Lisbon and Madrid with easyJet, as well as Qatar Airways increasing their Doha service to daily at the beginning of May and the launch of the new American Airlines service to New York JFK have all meant more passengers through our doors.

“We know that over the last few months passengers have had to queue for longer than we’d like to get through security and in other parts of the terminal building. This isn’t what we want and we’re working hard to resolve this as quickly as possible.

The news that Edinburgh Airport has enjoyed increased passenger numbers has been warmly welcomed by Edinburgh Western Constituency MSP Colin Keir.

Mr Keir said: “This is tremendous news once again from our city airport. It is vital to the economic growth of the city as well as the related jobs that come with having such a successful business. Obviously the new direct routes have given more choice and better deals for those travellers who use the airport which is great for tourism and great for business generally”.

“I’m pleased the airport management have accepted there have been problems with the security hall and that they are working towards a solution. If the airport wish to maintain a world class service with direct routes, the passenger experience has to maintain the same standard”.

Edinburgh Leisure would like to teach you to swim!

Portobello pool (1) Edinburgh Leisure has discovered that almost 40% of adults in Scotland do not feel confident in the water, and it plans to do something about it.

They would like to show you that swimming is a fun activity for all, whether you want to strengthen and tone or relax and revive.

The survey results, which examine national levels of water confidence (either swimming or taking part in other water-based activities), reveal a gap in ability in this potentially life-saving skill.

Another key finding is that around a quarter of those surveyed said that they had either a holiday, outdoor activity or time swimming with family negatively affected by lack of water confidence.

However, Edinburgh Leisure has a range of options designed to make swimming suit you. As well as lane swimming, they offer fitness classes in the water like Aquafit and Hydrospin, which are great for managing weight, as well as Skills and Drills and Powerswim for those looking to improve muscle tone.

Edinburgh residents can also relax and revive after a swim at one of our poolside saunas or even the Turkish Baths at Portobello.

Edinburgh Leisure Chief Executive June Peebles said: ”We have pools throughout the city offering Edinburgh Leisure an exceptional range of water-based activities. There is something for everyone – whatever your age and stage. If you are already a regular ‘pool’ user, great – please continue being active with us. If you have not taken a ‘dip’ for a while, why not pay us a visit? The activities on offer can help improve your health and leave you feeling good – please come see us soon.”

Bette Belle takes part in Edinburgh Leisure’s Swimming Buddies initiative as a volunteer within the ‘Ageing Well’ programme.

Bette learnt to swim when she was 63 and, until she had a stroke in 2009, swam every week. After her stroke Bette lost confidence in the water and really missed swimming.

When she heard about the Swimming Buddies programme at the Royal Commonwealth Pool she decided to go along.

The Buddies do not teach swimming but offer help and encouragement. Bette has been going along to the pool and have enjoyed the experience. She found that after a few weeks she could actually swim a little.

Bette said: “I can swim better now and am always encouraged by the buddies. I enjoy being in the pool and feel a sense of achievement that I can actually swim a little. I also enjoy meeting and chatting with the people who come along. I am glad I attend the Swimming Buddies.”

TER Corstorphine area 10 Sheila Currie first started adult swimming lessons at Drumbrae Leisure Centre 12 years ago as a complete non- swimmer. Sheila absolutely loved being in the pool and learned to swim, progressing to our ‘Masters’ class which she continues to attend.

For the past eight years, Sheila has now been volunteering in assisting the teaching of other adult beginners to swim, some of whom are terrified to even go down the pool steps. Swim Teacher Karen Robertson who she assists said: “Sheila is absolutely brilliant with nervous adults as she totally understands their fears and phobias. We also have had “special needs” adults with whom Sheila has achieved far more in the water than I ever could have from poolside.”

Sheila has passed her Level 1 Teacher qualification and hopes to do her Level 2 at some point in the future, possibly once she retires.

This year Sheila completed the Individual 2.5k (100 lengths) at a recent Swimathon, coming 22nd nationally in her age group. Most of the swimmers she teaches and the regular Thursday morning swimmers sponsored her as she is an inspiration to them all.

More information on the Edinburgh Leisure campaign, ‘Swimming Suits You’ can be found on www.edinburghleisure.co.uk throughout June.

Saturday in Edinburgh – What’s On Today

Strange Town Presents Max to the Future by Alan Primrose. Max thinks of a novel way to avoid homework problems… Suitable for all the family. 3pm, Netherbow Theatre,, Scottish Storytelling Centre, 43 High Street. Tickets cost £8/£5 and may be purchased in person, by calling the Box Office on 0131 556 9579 or online here (transaction fee applies to phone and online bookings). Also at 2pm on Saturday 13th June 2015. Strange Town is a theatre company that aims to enable young people aged 5-25 years to fulfil their creative potential whilst producing work of the highest quality that is daring, exciting and entertaining. The company is based at Out of the Blue, Dalmeny Street. The performers in Max to the Future are all aged 8-10 years.

Worldwide Knit in Public Day! They will be doing it in Gottingen, Chicago and Caracas – so bring your wool and needles to Sighthill or Ratho and join in! Tea, cakes and lots of knitting – bring your friends! Help will be on hand if you’re a beginner or need a refresher course. 11am-12 noon, Sighthill Library, Sighthill Road and 2-4pm, Ratho Library (in front of the building, or indoors if wet), School Wynd.

Edinburgh Festival of Cycling continues today! Rides, films, talks, drama, books, photos, workshops and lots more. Today’s events include the Capital Trail (a self-supported mountain bike time trial), the annual Edinburgh to St Andrew’s Cycle Ride, a Bike Curious Family Workshop, an Adult Commuter Course, a Cycle Speedway ‘Come and Try’ Family Day and a Women’s Cycle Forum. For more information please see the festival’s website here or its Facebook page here, or pick up a programme from many venues across the city and beyond, including libraries, leisure centres and many shops. Ends 21st June 2015.

Leith Festival 2015: Trinity House – Maritime Leith. Visit Trinity House and take a self-led tour of Leith’s maritime history, using the latest technologies to uncover the local stories behind the collections. Meet the conservators to learn about the work they carry out on the vast painting collections, and watch digital recordings of Leithers talking about their memories. 10am-4pm, Trinity House, 99 Kirkgate. Free. Also at same times on Saturday 20th June. On Thursday 18th June there will be object handling sessions (11am-2pm) and tours of Trinity House led by Junior Guides Tours (11am-1.30pm). For more information please contact adam.gorysz@scotland.gsi.gov.uk or call 0131 554 3289.

Scottish Waterways Trust Wildflower Survey: volunteer as a ‘citizen scientist’ and help discover more about the plants growing on Edinburgh’s canalside – develop your plant ID skills, make friends and have fun. Led by Anna Canning of Floramedica. 10.30am-1pm, Water of Leith Conservation Trust, 24 Lanark Road. No experience needed, and new faces are very welcome – all you need is a love of plants, enthusiasm and curiosity. Free. For more information contact Anna on 07790 885969 or anna.canning@blueyonder.co.uk.

Leith Festival Gala Day and Pageant: children’s activities, market stalls, fun fair, dancing. Gala Day Pageant arrives at approx 12.45pm. 10.30am-4.30pm, Leith Links. Leith Festival continues throughout the week with a huge programme of events for all ages, including a tea dance, art shows, a dancing display, free keep fit sessions, ‘speed crafting’, a charity walk, comedy, films, music of all kinds, theatre, magic, poetry, tours (including the famous Trainspotting one – and a chance to see behind the scenes at Easter Road), Teddy Bears’ picnic and an Open Day at the new Tardis in Lochend Park! Concludes on Sunday 21st June with the Leith Festival Tattoo. To see the full programme visit the Festival’s website here.

Pastels and Painting Pebbles: a drop-in art workshop. See the current Inverleith House exhibition, Nicolas Party’s Boys and Pastel then come and explore the materials used by the artist in an informal drop-in workshop for ages 8-12. Have a go at painting a pebble like a fruit, and make pastel portraits of yourself or a friend. 2-4pm, Lower Ground Floor, Inverleith House, Royal Botanical Garden, Inverleith Row. Free.

Bruncheon! Featuring the Sound of Muesli: local musical talent creates a chilled-out atmosphere; the Drill Hall Arts Cafe serves delicious home-made food, from kippers to cakes with lots in between. This month’s acts will be Jemima Thewes (‘traditional folk and self-penned songs with a floaty and haunting quality’) and Tim Lane, with a pre-set from Diana de Cabarrus aka Candythief. 11.30am-3pm (live music from around 12 noon), Out of the Blue Drill Hall, 36 Dalmeny Street. Free entry.

Leith Festival 2015: Art By The Water: an exhibition by a selection of Coburg House artists and makers – paintings, jewellery, signwriting and textiles. 11am-6pm, Coburg House Studios, 15 Coburg Street. Ends 21st June 2015.

Lines and Dots for Tots with the Scottish Chamber Orchestra. Children aged 2 to 4 years are invited to meet Lily Line and Dotty Dot and their amazing musical friends. Find out what happens when you take a line for a walk – dance about, sing and make marks to music, inspired by the work of American pop artist Roy Lichtenstein. 10.30am or 11.45am, meet in the exhibition Artist Rooms: Roy Lichtenstein at the Scottish National Gallery of Modern Art ONE, Belford Road. Free but booking is essential and may be made by calling the Information Desk on 0131 624 6560. Please note that a maximum of two adults may accompany each child.

Leith Festival 2015: Delicartessen Summer Exhibition. New works by local artists Jacqui Higgs, Ronnie Buchan, Yvonne Hutchison and John Dunbar, including colourful Scottish harbour scenes and stunning cityscapes of Leith. 11am-1am today, then 11am-12 midnight Sunday-Thursday, 11am-1am Fridays and Saturdays, Joseph Pearce’s, Elm Row. Ends 31st July 2015. For more information please contact Vanessa@delicartessen.co.uk.

New Edinburgh Orchestra: Mendelssohn Overture ‘Ruy Blas’, Schumann Symphony No 3 ‘Rhenish’ and Brahms Piano Concerto No 1 in D Minor. Piano soloist: Helena Buckmayer; Conductor: Tim Paxton. 7.30pm, Inverleith St Serf’s Church, 280 Ferry Road. Tickets cost £10/£7 (children £1) and may be obtained from members of the orchestra or the Queen’s Hall Box Office, in person, by calling 0131 668 2019 or online here. Also on the door, sta.

Gallery of Modern Art Highlight Tours – June 2015: monthly tours of the gallery’s permanent collection, focusing on key works. 2-2.45pm or 3-3.45pm, Scottish National Gallery of Modern Art ONE, Belford Road. Free and unticketed. Please note that temporary access is through the cafe at the rear of the building.

Leith Festival 2015: Seafield Cemetery and Crematorium Open Day. Guided tours of this listed building; find out what happens during and after a service, and see changing fashions in burial memorials, from Victorian headstones to modern mausolea and burial chambers. All welcome; refreshments provided, free parking. 10am-3pm, Seafield Cemetery and Crematorium, Seafield Place. Free. For more information please email seafield@edinburghcrematorium.com.

Filmhouse Over the Rainbow: a new monthly screening strand for new and classic LGBTQIA films and events. This weekend’s film is Something Must Break/Nanting maste ga sonder (18) (in Swedish with English subtitles). Taking its title from a Joy Division B-side, this collaboration between Ester Marin Bergsmark and Eli Leven (both of whom identify as trans*) presents ‘a powerful story of love and longing against a backdrop of shifting gender identity and stylistically daring eroticism’. 3.45pm, Filmhouse, Lothian Road. Tickets may be purchased in person, by calling the Box Office on 0131 228 2688 or online here: prices vary. Also showing at 8.40pm on Sunday 14th June 2015.

Leith Festival 2015: Scottish Mineral & Lapidary Club – Open Studio and Demonstration. The Club’s object is to encourage an interest in natural minerals and in the crafts and craftsmanship related to them – members are keen enthusiasts and very willing to assist both newcomers and old hands. 11am-4pm, Scottish Mineral and Lapidary Club, 20 Maritime Street. Also every day until the end of the Festival – times vary, please see Festival website for details or contact enquiries@lapidary.org.uk or 0131 554 0004.

Moana: The Rising of the Seas. Taster performances from the Oceania Dance Theatre and Pasifika Voices Choir as they share their love of the nature and culture of the Pacific through music, dance and poetry. Several islands in Oceania are already threatened with submersion under water, with the islanders having to consider what the demise of their homelands will mean to them as a people, a culture and even a nation. This elaborate and ambitious Oceanian music-dance-drama is a collaborative creation born out of a desire to use the performing arts of the Pacific to bring attention to this most pressing issue for many Pacific Island nations. 2pm, 2.30pm or 3pm (15 minute sessions), Grand Gallery, Level One, National Museum of Scotland, Chambers Street. Free, drop-in.

Gilbert & Sullivan Society Concert. 7.30pm, Cramond Kirk, Cramond Glebe Road. Tickets cost £10 (under 18s admitted free) and are available from the Kirk Office 9am-12 noon Monday to Friday.

Scotland’s Open Gardens: Rocheid Garden. A young but rapidly maturing garden with an impressive diversity of plants, shrubs, trees (native, exotic and rare). Natural pond, woodland, mature trees, award-winning compost shed with a roof creating waves of ornamental grasses. Refreshments available (subject to weather). 2-6pm, Rocheid House, 20 Inverleith Terrace. £4.50 per person, of which 40% goes to Alzheimer Scotland and the net remainder to SG beneficiaries.

Edinburgh Concert Band Summer Sparkler: a sparkly summer evening of live music in support of Waverley Care, with special guests InChorus. 7.30pm, Greyfriar’s Kirk, Greyfriars Place. Tickets cost £10/£8 and may be purchased by emailing info@edinburghconcertband.org.uk.

Five things you need to know today

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Queen’s Birthday Honours list 2015

World Naked Bike Ride

Smelly plant at the Botanics

Airshow

Muirhouse Photogrpahy Grou

Deputy Chief Constable Iain Livingstone has been awarded the Queen’s Police Medal in the 2015 Queen’s Birthday Honours List.

The World Naked Bike Ride, Edinburgh is part of a global protest against car culture, oil dependency, and a way to demonstrate cyclist vulnerably on the roads. Also a celebration of body freedom and a lot of fun! Dress code is “as bare as you dare”. Most people wear shoes and Scottish laws mean minimal genital coverage is required.