2015_04_19 EDI City Views-21

Lord Provost completes the London Marathon

Licensing hearing for Accies

Greenest university degree?

Helping you to make up your mind ahead of the General Election

The Royal High School Preservation Trust

We were sure he would give Her Majesty a wee wave on the way past Buckingham Palace, but the Lord Provost still managed to complete the London Marathon in a personal best time.

In doing so he raised over £6,000 for local causes.

Lord Provost after completing the marathon
A relaxed Lord Provost after completing the marathon

This was his very first marathon having only taken up running last year. He completed the 26 miles in five hours two minutes and 50 seconds and raised money for the following causes:

  • The One City Trust Rapid Action Fund is the Lord Provost’s local charity and aims to fight inequality. It supports a variety of community-based charities and organisations by providing emergency funds and resources, and has helped a host of causes from breakfast clubs to foodbanks, and social clubs for elderly residents.
  • The Jamie Skinner Foundation   will help provide defibrillators in Edinburgh communities and training in their use.

He said: “I did it! What a fantastic day and I’m so thankful for all of the support. I think I’m Edinburgh’s first Provost to complete a marathon and I am proud that I’ve managed to raise so much money for local charities. It was certainly a challenge but one I worked hard to achieve.

“It was never about completing the marathon in a set time –  I just wanted to reach the finishing line! But in the end, with the adrenaline flowing, I managed it in my best time yet. It has been absolutely worth it but I am now looking forward to putting my feet up!”

You can still help the Lord Provost boost the final total by going to his JustGiving page here.

***

The Licensing Board meets today to consider the applications made by the owner of Edinburgh Academicals ground in Raeburn Place which is currently undergoing redevelopment.

The campaigners who tried to resist the new building unsuccessfully will be at the meeting although it is not quite clear whether they will have a voice or not. The Licensing Board is not one which is webcast so the only way to find out what has happened is to look at the registers in a day or so, or go along to the meeting. It may be that today there will be no room at the inn however as these applications appear to have generated more objections than the council has ever had to deal with.

***

A degree programme offered by the University of Edinburgh which aims to be the greenest available will seek to equip graduates from around the world with the skills they need to tackle climate change.

Organisers of the online MSc in Carbon Management will provide students with world class learning through lessons that have no carbon footprint.

The virtual delivery of lessons means no greenhouse gas emissions are generated by students travelling to classes. In addition, course leaders will offset the carbon footprint of computers used by staff and students on the programme, to cut its carbon impact to zero.

The three-year taught programme aims to equip students with knowledge, skills and training in the business, economics and science of climate change.

It will be taught by world experts in climate change and carbon management, and is aimed at graduates in business, science and the humanities who want an advanced academic qualification. Graduates of the programme are expected to work in consultancy, research and project development or as policy advisors to governments and industry.

Students can devise programmes suited to their own interests and ambitions by choosing individual research projects. The online delivery is designed to enable students anywhere in the world to balance study with other commitments.

Professor Dave Reay of the University of Edinburgh’s School of GeoSciences, who is Programme Director for the online MSc, said: “Businesses, industries and governments together have the power to tackle climate change.

“Skilled graduates who understand how to make decisions that are good for society and good for the environment can help make rapid and effective progress on this globally important issue. We hope this degree can have a positive impact on the environment from day one.”

Emissions are calculated using methodology published in the journal Carbon Management in 2011. Carbon offsets are bought from the Edinburgh charity Plan Vivo Foundation.

***

Cammy Day who is the Labour Candidate for Edinburgh West at the General Election will drop in to Muirhouse Millennium Community Centre on Wednesday 6 May from 12 noon till 1pm to explain any issues you may have or deal with any of your queries.

Muirhouse Millennium Centre is at 7 Muirhouse Medway EH4 4RW.

We asked all of the candidates for this constituency for an interview opportunity and the interviews are all here.

***

TER Royal High SchoolThere is a  new Scottish charitable trust which has submitted proposals to the council to restore the Old Royal High School, one of the most important buildings within Edinburgh’s World Heritage Site as a new home for St Mary’s Music School, Scotland’s leading specialist music school.

Under the proposals, The Royal High School Preservation Trust (RHSPT) say they wish to conserve the iconic Thomas Hamilton masterpiece and secure its long term future by restoring its original use as a place for educating young people from across Scotland and beyond. The RHSPT believes that aligning the conservation of the former Royal High School buildings with ongoing plans to find a suitable site for St Mary’s Music School will create a fitting and lasting legacy for the site as a focal point for cultural excellence in the Capital.

The Proposal of Application Notice submitted to the Council this week signals the beginning of a process of formal consultation with St Mary’s Music School, city, community and planning representatives, together with arts, education and heritage organisations, to bring forward detailed plans later this year. Crucially, the Trustees of the RHSPT will be seeking to ensure that final proposals for the site deliver an outcome that is in keeping with Edinburgh’s rich cultural and historical heritage, but which also presents an economically sustainable future.

William Gray Muir, Chairman of the Royal High School Preservation Trust said:

“Our aim is the preservation and enhancement of an endangered architectural masterpiece, not just in the context of the City of Edinburgh but Scotland as a whole. Our ardent wish is to achieve this by maintaining the Old Royal High buildings as a school, the purpose for which they were built, and ensure its future use as a vibrant and unique academic institution.  What could be more appropriate than making it home to a national treasure like St Mary’s Music School?”

It is expected that the relocation of St Mary’s Music School to the former Royal High School buildings would be ideal for providing the additional teaching and performance space it requires for a growing student body, while allowing it to extend its popular programme of Saturday music classes for Edinburgh children.

***

Sign up here for a daily email from The Edinburgh Reporter !
[mc4wp_form]

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.
Website | + posts

Founding Editor of The Edinburgh Reporter.
Edinburgh-born multimedia journalist and iPhoneographer.