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Edinburgh Makar recognised by The Guardian – Cooperative Capital – Grants for old fashioned lamps – Lothian Buses office to get a makeover – Gilmerton Library today 

 

Edinburgh’s Makar Ron Butlin is fabulous. That we already know. But now Carol Rumens of The Guardian has made his poem Nicolson Square her Poem of the Week! This is yet another poem included in the latest publication by Mr Butlin which is called The Magicians of Edinburgh, which aims to lead the reader through the streets of our beautiful city.

Here is a smidgin of an excerpt

The girl’s left hand keeps her coat shut, the other’s
empty. She’s standing in the middle of the street,
the traffic breaking to a stop around her.
Hardly sixteen – bleached hair, bleached skin, fear.

 

The man she’s with – badly healing cuts and anger
clenched into a face, pressed-in bruises
where the eyes should be.
She’s telling him she’s sorry, and being sworn at.

 

To read more you must buy the book from Polygon by clicking here.

 

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Edinburgh is on track to becoming a ‘Cooperative Capital’, according to a leading co-operative consultant.
Speaking at a seminar in the City Chambers yesterday, Martin Meteyard, of the Co-operative Enterprise Hub, praised the commitment shown by the Council in taking forward plans outlined 12 months ago in its Framework to Advance a Cooperative Capital 2012/17.

The council aims to encourage communities, partners and those using its services to become more involved in how these are planned, managed and delivered, with a particular focus on developing more co-operatives to deliver energy, housing, social care and child care services.

Mr Meteyard said: “Co-operatives are a tried and tested business model going back 250 years. We now have a billion members worldwide, providing over 100 million jobs.

“Edinburgh has led the way in Scottish local authority terms and the level of commitment shown continues to be very encouraging.

“Maintaining this commitment in terms of resources is going to be challenging, particularly in the context of continued cuts to the council’s budget, and so building stronger relations with ‘anchor institutions’, such as universities and hospitals, will be key.”

Council Leader, Cllr Andrew Burns, and Chief Executive, Sue Bruce, also spoke at the event, which was attended by 80 councillors, officials and stakeholders.

Cllr Burns said: “We realised when we took office that we had to have a fresh think about how we do business as a local authority so that we could put the public back at the centre of decision-making.

“This has already resulted in some very positive actions, including the creation of the first Petitions Committee, direct parent representation on our Children & Families committee and the complete revision of the budgetary process to allow meaningful public input and debate before any final decisions are made.

“Only last week, I was delighted to receive cross-party support for our proposal to join the Co-operative Councils Innovation Network – the first local authority in Scotland to do so. I have no doubt that, by calling on the knowledge and expertise of others across the UK, we can continue the good work we have started.”

Sue Bruce said: “We were presented with a clear mandate 12 months ago and immediately set about establishing a dedicated Cooperative Development Unit within the Council.

“Since then, good progress has been made in each of the four target areas and also in council service design and procurement. In particular, a lot of time has been spent engaging with external agencies and communities to enable them to deliver the concept themselves, ensuring that their local knowledge, preferences and practical experience shapes the services in their area.”

The seminar, which also included a number of workshops, will inform an update report to be considered by councillors next month.

Key Developments

Co-operative Education
We have established an SLA with LAYC (Lothian Association of Youth Clubs) to support the Out of School Care sector, to identify and help those who wish to adopt a co-operative approach. One club is in the process of applying to the Co-operative Enterprise Hub for support, and a ‘Co-operative Charter’ is also being developed for clubs wishing to follow this route.

Social Care Co-operative
As part of our Market Shaping Strategy we are supporting the development of personalised services and self directed support to launch an Innovation Fund (£300K in 2013/14 and £100k in 2014/15). We are specifically inviting applications to the Fund, launched on 1 October 2013, for a contribution of up to £50,000 towards the costs of establishing an employee owned health and social care co-operative.

Co-operative Energy
Edinburgh Community Energy Co-op is working with CEC on a solar photo voltaic project and is currently identifying suitable locations. The aim is to make money from feed-in tariff for reinvestment to provide other community benefits.

Co-operative Housing
Proposals to support new build co-operative housing in East Edinburgh are progressing well.  Co-operative approaches to the development of social rented housing are limited by investment priorities and the available subsidy, but there may be more potential for mid market rent and low cost home ownership

Co-operative Service Design
Participatory budgeting successes such as ‘Leith Decides’ generate considerable community participation. The ongoing ‘Canny wi’ Cash’ initiative is believed to be a UK first with its focus on a community of interest rather than place. Throughout October, Edinburgh’s older generation will determine how £35,000 of small grants for enhancing older people’s services will be allocated.

Co-operative Procurement
Many examples of strong engagement with partners and service users:
o Market Shaping Strategy for adult social care services
o Commissioning Approaches for children and families services
o Homelessness Prevention Services review
o Community and Accessible Transport Review

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Edinburgh World Heritage is awarding grants for lamps to be replaced with new ones in the World Heritage Site. They explain:-“The extra funding of £4,200 will enable the production of a specially patterned mould to produce lanterns to an authentic appearance. The new lamps will also be of a higher quality design which will age much better, reducing the need for maintenance and regular replacements.”

The heritage body works alongside the city council on this and hopes that the first of these lamps will be installed by next year.

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Lothian Buses has announced it will be modernising its most visited Travelshop in the heart of the city centre.

Waverley Bridge Travelshop is set to become the flagship shop for Transport for Edinburgh covering both Lothian Buses and Edinburgh Trams. Customers and visitors to the shop will be able to seek advice on journeys within Lothian and buy tickets for both buses and trams.  The shop will also continue to be the home of Edinburgh Bus Tours, Scotland’s third most popular paid for visitor attraction.

The doors will close on 3 November and are expected to re-open in spring 2014. During the modernisation, customers and visitors will be able to access any of the company’s other three shops: Hanover Street, Shandwick Place and Dalkeith – some of which will offer extended opening hours.

Ian Craig, Lothian Buses Chief Executive commented:-“Our investment in Waverley Bridge will create a flagship shop for the new organisation offering a modern, comfortable and welcoming environment which will meet the needs of our customers.”

The company’s £500,000 investment will see Waverley Bridge completely transformed both internally and externally.

Councillor Lesley Hinds, the city’s Transport Convener, said:-“Edinburgh’s new tram service is fast approaching and we’re developing the service in a way that fully complements our award-winning bus service. Transport for Edinburgh’s flagship shop will be at the heart of this service and this redevelopment will provide a modern building that will reflect a modern, integrated transport system for Edinburgh.”

For further information please visit www.lothianbuses.co.uk

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Gilmerton Library is a good example of one of our city libraries where they try very hard to put on loads of events for children. Today they are offering these events:-

Friday 11 October at 10.30am
Bookbug lets singalong with Wendy …
Fruit and refreshments
under 5’s

FRIDAY FUNDAY AT  2.30PM
Pirate facepainting and Pirate plates
under 12’s

 

 

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