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Pentland Digest – December 2016

Pentland Inspiration Art & Photographic Competition 2016

The seventh Pentland Inspirations Art & Photographic Competition award ceremony took place in late November where this year’s winners were announced. The 2016 competition saw 101 photographs and 2 paintings being entered. The judges found the entries this year to be inspiring, thought provoking and technically excellent. The ceremony was held on at Swanston Brassiere, with Councillor Bill Henderson giving out the awards.

There were five categories and winners chosen were:

Best Art - Graeme Donnachie - Lochs and Hills

Best Art - Claire Jones - Through the Mist

Best Landscape - Victor Partridge -Winter Day

Best Activity Photograph - Steve Chambers - Heather Burning on West Water

Best Biodiversity Photograph - Erica Linklater-McLennan - Honey I am Busy

The judges also chose commended photographs for each category which have been included in an exhibition.

We would like to thank our two sponsors; Mount Parnassus Picture Framing who gave all entrants a 15% discount on picture frames and Cicerone Publishing who provided the Pentland Hills guide book as a prize for the winners.

As with the previous competitions, the entries have formed an inspiring

exhibition that is on tour from now to April 2017. The exhibition will be shown

at venues across Edinburgh, Midlothian and West Lothian with viewings of the

exhibition free of charge at all venues.

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Community Navigator

It can be hard to know what’s going on in your local area and how you can access the support and services you need. This becomes especially difficult when our lives are changing, for example after a fall that knocks our confidence or after the death of a loved one.

Our staff and team of friendly local volunteers will support you to find out what’s on in your local area and how you can access the support you need, in the way you want. We hold information stations across South West Edinburgh. Get in touch with us to find out where you can meet us in the near future! We know that it can be hard to approach people about the support you need, so we can also contact you at home.

If you would like to find out more about what we do or the local support and services available, please get in touch.

Community Navigator South West: Edyta Pyczek. Call: 0131 225 8508.

Email: Edyta@health-in-mind.org.uk

Currie Community Council – At the Heart of the Community

As we in Currie Community Council take time to look back on what has been a very busy year there are some real highlights we would like to share. We kick off with our very successful Summer Fair which helped raise over £1000 which will go a long way in funding local groups and events in the future.

Full details are available on the Pentland Hills Regional Park website http://www.pentlandhills.org/news Enjoy viewing the exhibition and hopefully if you haven’t entered this time, the entries will inspire you to enter in 2018!

Jenny Hargreaves Senior Natural Heritage Officer Pentland Hills Regional Park

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In partnership with Juniper Green we organised and ran the highly anticipated Book fair which drew good audiences throughout all the venues.

Our last big event is our Christmas Fair which this year is bigger and better. We have a Grotto, face painting, free hot chocolate and mince pies and lots and lots of surprises. Thanks must go to Hearts and Hibs who have contributed signed tops complimentary match tickets and more!

Now for next year!! Bring it on.

Allister McKillop, Currie CC Chair

TAKE SMALL STEPS TO STAY ON YOUR FEET

Did you know that more than 30% of people over 65 will have a fall every year? As well as physically hurting yourself, having a fall can knock your confidence and leave you less likely to want to get out and about.

‘Take Small Steps to Stay on your Feet’ gives you five easy tips to try and prevent falls and also information about what to do if you do fall over.

1. Get checked out top to toe – have your eyes and hearing tested regularly, wear shoes and slippers that are comfortable and fit properly, and get your GP to regularly review your prescription medications.

2. Calcium keeps bones strong – eat a well balanced diet that contains calcium rich foods like dairy products, green leafy vegetables, bread and fish

3. Get enough Vitamin D – this helps keep your bones strong. You get vitamin D from sunlight, but if it is difficult for you to get out and about you can take a supplement.

4. Stay active – exercise such as walking, gardening and dancing can strengthen muscles, bones and improves balance.

5. Clear your way at home – make sure there’s nothing that you might trip over or bump into such as rugs, loose carpets and items lying on the floor. You should also make sure your home is properly lit so you can see where you’re going.

The good news is that there are lots of simple things you can do to decrease the risk of falling, and you can start at any age!

The City of Edinburgh Council and NHS Lothian have produced a handy guide which highlights small changes that will make you stronger, steadier on your feet and less likely to trip or fall.

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If you have a fall and you can’t get up without help or you are hurt:

Call for help. Use your alarm if you have one, or shout and bang on the wall to get a neighbour’s attention. If you can, use a mobile or crawl to a telephone and dial 999

Move to a soft surface. If you land on a hard surface like a bathroom floor, try to move on to a carpet. This will help to keep you warm

Keep warm. Try to reach for anything nearby which will keep you warm. This could be a duvet or clothing. If you are in a draught try to move out of the way of it

Keep moving. Try to rock from side to side, but keep the injured part of you still. If you lie still for too long you will become stiff and cold.

If you have a fall and feel you can get up, first of all check that no part of you is injured. Everyone is different so there is no set way to get up after a fall, but remember to be careful and take your time. You can use a piece of sturdy furniture to support you when you get up.

You can get more information about ‘Take Small Steps to Stay on your Feet’ www.edinburgh.gov.uk/fiveeasysteps or www.nhsinform.co.uk/falls. Alternatively phone NHS Inform on 0800 22 44 88 (textphone 18001 0800 22 44 88).

Local issues impacting on individuals and communities matter to us and within the new structure we have the chance to tackle problems and work more closely with our partners to improve the service delivered within the area. Our shift pattern has been realigned to enable us to be working at times that impact most on community issues so that we can be present and visible within the area.

A number of new roles have been developed within the team to enable us to deliver a flexible and effective community service to tackle the wide range of challenges and issues faced.

The South West Community Policing Team is working to;

Serve and engage with the local community, improving our visibility and presence

Prevent crime, tackling local needs and developing solutions to local issues

During October 2016, the community police teams within Edinburgh restructured to enable us to improve our service to the local community. The changes were as a result of feedback from you, the public, about our community policing approach and the fact that we want to be more visible across the area and have more opportunity to engage with and work with our communities.

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Enhance and develop our work with partners to improve our services for local communities, including earlier intervention, prevention and education.

Roles within the team include:

Community Ward Officers, who as per the previous structure, are the two named officers who are funded by the City of Edinburgh Council in each ward focusing on community engagement and addressing local issues within their wards.

Area Community Officers who work closely with community ward officers to enhance our capability to address local issues.

Local Alcohol Violence Reduction Unit who work proactively to tackle and investigate local crime trends and other local priorities.

Local Authority Liaison/Family and Household Support Team Officers who are aligned to work more closely with the council teams focusing on early intervention and prevention.

Prison Liaison Officer who works closely in partnership with the Scottish Prison Service in HMP Edinburgh.

School Link Officers who are embedded within the secondary schools to work with staff in education, pupils and other youths to promote awareness and early intervention.

Chief Inspector Helen Harrison, SW Local Area Commander states: -

“I am really encouraged and enthusiastic about the opportunities ahead for community policing in the South West of Edinburgh. I have a strong team of officers, with a variety of skills and experience, and they are all embracing the opportunities the new structure is affording them. Our links with partners in the council are developing quickly and it is very positive to see the increase in joint working already evident through the work they are doing. I am keen for the ward officers to become more visible within their communities and am encouraging them to think of new ways to work within their areas. Communicating and engaging with our communities is important in our approach and over the next few months we will be looking at ways to improve this. I do believe it has been a very positive start and we are going to keep building on this”

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Persistence – The Art of Fundraising

In today’s shrinking economic world finding and more importantly securing funding on a regular basis is a daunting task for many. However, this article is from a successful fundraiser, C MacDonald offers hope.

Don’t give up when you get turned down for a grant, I have had applications declined from some of the biggest funders you care to mention. But let’s face facts most funding bodies are oversubscribed, and simply can’t give funding to all groups and individuals who apply. The answer is to be bold, apply to several at the same time. For example my group were once turned down for a group grant. When I inquired for feedback, I was informed that not all applications could be accepted. Three weeks later, I received an email informing me that our application had been forwarded to a partner agency that awarded us a grant of £500.

3. Don’t apply to a fund that only supports groups with a bank account if your group don’t have a bank account.

4. Find out how often the trustees make awards. If they only do this in

January and July, you will have a long wait if you apply in February or August.

Don’t just apply online speculate once in a while and take off the cuff opportunities, I frequent a coffee shop and recently asked the manager if they support local groups. The result of that speculation was a grant that paid for our Christmas Party and entertainment.

Do some fundraising within your group. Our group have sold personal attack alarms, key ring torches and Christmas cards to raise funds this month. That’s on top of what we make every month at the Lunch Club, the Breakfast Club and the Smoothies Club.

Final tips, there is a charitable fund for almost every occupation and almost every medical condition. There are even funds for individuals with certain surnames. Go to as many funding events as possible, and make yourself known to as many different groups as possible. Perseverance is stubbornness with a purpose!

You would be amazed that some groups don’t do their homework and apply to the wrong body for example;

1. Don’t apply to a charity that only supports single women if you are looking for funding for married women.

2. Don’t apply to a charity that only matches the funds you already have, if you have no funds.

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We are now into our third year and are going from strength to strength. We currently have two groups running and are hoping to start another two this year.

We have so many supporters that it is difficult to mention everyone but we must thank the following organisations and people:

The Lifecare Centre

The Serenity Café

CHSS

SPNA

Jude Walsh (The Creative Consortium)

Simpson and Marwick Solicitors

Scottish Government Health Grants

Pentland Neighbourhood Partnership

A wee reminder of venues and times for the existing groups: The Lifecare Centre, Cheyne Street, Stockbridge – alternate Mondays from 2pm – 4pm (starting again on Monday 9th Jan 2017) Contact Pauline 07546244466 or Sarah 07784267894 for info.

The Greyfriars Church Centre, Pleasance – alternate Mondays from 2pm – 4pm (starting again on Monday 16th Jan 2017) Contact Anne 07769322583 or Sandie 07971046771 for info.

What of the future for THE CHEYNE GANG? We have secured funding to keep the two existing groups going/expanding and to create two new groups – one in Oxgangs and one in Leith. Unfortunately, because of access difficulties for our some of our less mobile members we are moving from the Serenity Café to the Greyfriars Church Centre, Pleasance on January 16th 2017. Our sincere thanks to the staff at the Serenity Café for looking after us so well and we look forward to starting in our new venue.

THE CHEYNE GANG is a singing group specifically for people living with long term respiratory conditions such as Chronic Obstructive Pulmonary Disease, Bronchiectasis or severe Asthma. The benefits of singing on health and wellbeing are well documented and our work has demonstrated this time and time again, specifically in the areas of breathlessness and improved quality of life.

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Over 65s, their families, friends and healthcare professionals can call 0131 603 8311 for free, to speak to a friendly LOOPs advisor about clubs and activities in their local area. We do all the research to provide you with the information you need, and can also organise transport to and from activities. Tailored to your individual requirements and interests, LOOPs has already connected over 600 older people to laughter, fun and friendships.

Health & Wellbeing in the Pentlands – Next Steps

Allister McKillop writes, the Health & Wellbeing Action Group could never be accused of rest on their laurels. After delivering a comprehensive awareness campaign during the spring and summer, highlighting the issues in the community around dementia, the group have now embarked on their next awareness campaign specifically to target the stigma of dementia and how the community can assist. This information awareness promotion will be in local libraries and community centres across the Pentland NP area. The campaign involves you the public, being aware of wider community needs and responding accordingly. Below is the campaign and its dates, this will also be supported by a series of local activities and events in the Oxgangs area, starting in early 2017. So as they say please keep your eyes peeled for further information.

Promotion Title Timeline

1. Learn the Facts 14 Nov – 11 Dec 2. Help me join in 12 Dec – 8 Jan 3. Use kind words 9 Jan – 29 Jan 4. Talk to me 30 Jan – 19 Feb 5. Be patient 20 Feb – 12 Mar 6. Be a friend 13 Mar – 2 Apr

In addition, to the campaign noted in this edition of the Pentland Digest I was passed this essay from a pupil at Currie Community High School and gives a perspective from a young person’s point of view;

People with dementia need more support

People with dementia need more support. The patients wait till they get a space in a home as need a more permanent place to live which provides help and support for the patient, but it’s like a waiting game. Who is going to help

As we get older, the risk of social isolation becomes greater, which can also affect our mental and physical health. LOOPs (Local Opportunities for Older People) was set up to combat this. LOOPs run a city-wide phone line to help over 65s get out the house, meet like-minded people and enjoy everything Edinburgh has to offer

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them? What can they do? How much time do we have left? There needs to be more support for the dementia patients.

Considering that there are different types of dementia then there should be more homes available for all the different types. “Mortimer house is designed specifically for people who have both dementia and learning disability” Care homes are being built for people with other disabilities that also have dementia. You can’t always see the different types of dementia, doesn’t mean we can ignore it. There are less and less spaces in all the care homes, so where do they expect the patients to go and live?

Patients need more time outside their care homes. Since it’s beneficial to keep a dementia patient active then there should be more activities going on outside their care homes instead of them sitting about all day. It’s said that “Exercise is beneficial for the physical and mental health and can improve the quality of life for people at all stages of dementia” There are so many things that you can do for them. Some examples are, dementia Café’s for the patient and their family and friends, dementia adventure which is park walks. Do you ever consider that if we keep them more active will their memories deteriorate slower? Just because they have forgotten how to do certain things doesn’t stop you from taken them out of the homes for a wee bit.

We should encourage more independence for the patients. When assisting with the patient you should offer encouragement to try get them to do things themselves with supervision. When assisting them you need to help them through their daily routines and activities completed in a day. Have you ever considered how lucky you are having your own independence? To be able to do things your way without nurses help? There are many ways that you can help keeping their independence and not to dwell on things that go wrong with the patients.

When people are first diagnosed it may be hard at first but you can get support. Where can you get help and advice from? There are many support groups and day centres to attend. It’s said on the Alzheimer Scotland website that day centres can “help people maintain their skills so that they can stay independent as long as possible and feel good about themselves” When your brain is losing its memories, you want to try to get help to keep it for longer. What activities can they offer? Exercise to music, painting, life’s story work, gardening, discussion etc.…. There are many support groups and people to talk to when you are first diagnosed with dementia as it can be tough and hard to handle with at first.

Since a family member is diagnosed, we don’t always assume that the families might need support as well as the patient. If a family has a member with dementia it will be hard to handle everything. What support can be offered? They can help in many ways. You can gain support as you can have “denial about the disease”, “anger at the person”, “depression” etc.… When receiving help you can talk through challenges and ways of coping. You can always get help from people to talk through your problems and issues you are having.

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Patients don’t have to go to care homes. They can receive support at home. How can you get help at home? Home care workers and personal assistants are there to help them to stay independent for as long as possible in the comfort of the own home. Home care workers can be there at any time in the day as they are very flexible to help out the patient; they are also there to do whatever is needed done for the patient. This is a much better option for the patient as they get to stay in the comfort of their own home and also don’t confuse the patient. Think about it. Would you prefer support in the comfort of your own home or at a day centre?

Is there enough support for dementia patients? I believe that there needs to be more care homes for the patients or more nurses going to the patient’s home. How would you feel if you or a loved one didn’t get enough care? We need to make more of an effort for the individuals, as you can’t always see the dementia in the individual. They are as important as everyone else, just because their brain has started to deteriorate doesn’t mean you can forget about them.

Hunters Tryst Woodlands Renewal

Work has continued at a great pace on improving the woodland at Hunters Tryst with thanks to the 3 Rifles, the DIO survey team, Wood Mackenzie volunteers and the local school children. The paths have been cleared and 2 skips of rubbish have been removed. There have also been over 5000 bulbs planted involving over 200 school children. There are further activities planned in the New Year so look out for future opportunities to get involved.

For more information on the projects go to; http://www.elgt.org.uk/projects/communities/south-west-edinburgh-armed-forces-covenant-project and a link to a film made about the Hunter Tryst activities http://forces.tv/01843966#.WEAt6HIWgi4.twitter

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Wester Hailes Library has recently acquired cinema screening equipment as part of the Edinburgh Libraries Film (ELF) Club with funding from Scottish Libraries and Information Council (SLIC). In September the ELF Club at Wester Hailes Library, which is aimed at under 7’s, showed its first film, Sing Along Frozen, with Monsters Inc. Being screened in November and a special Christmas screening of Snow Dogs lined up for December 17th. The screen and equipment have also been used not only for the ELF Club, but have been

made available to a number of groups that use the library.

Local schools have been invited along to Authors Live events including a special Book Week Scotland Authors Live featuring Lauren Child.

Local youth groups have used it show films to their members and there are several planned events coming up that will make

use of the cinema equipment including a Games Evening on Tuesday 6th December and two special Christmas film screenings for the children of Clovenstone Primary Schools P1-3.

Jeffery Archer event Readers from Wester Hailes and Currie libraries enjoyed a literary outing to the Usher Hall on 9th November, to attend Jeffery Archer’s launch of his new book, ‘This was a Man’. The event was part of the Edinburgh International Book Festival’s Booked! programme, supported by the People’s Postcode Lottery.

The Book Festival, supported by City of Edinburgh Libraries, invited readers from across the city to attend the talk, encouraging people who have never attended Edinburgh International Book Festival events in the past to go along and listen to the author talk on his work, life and career. Archer was interviewed by the journalist Ruth Wishart, and both speakers received warm praise from our readers, who said that they thoroughly enjoyed the evening.

The evening was topped off with a mention to the group by Archer himself! A special effort was made to ensure that the event was accessible to all, with a minibus organised by Edinburgh Libraries running from Ratho, which was much appreciated by members of the Ratho community.

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Currie Community Centre

We also support The Round Table for their Fireworks display and provided a café for the community during this event. The Christmas lights event organised by Currie Community Council was successful in the centre for the 2nd year running – there were various choirs singing, a string quartet playing, Santa’s grotto and lots of festive fayre and fun.

Our volunteers organise a lot of activities in our Centre; a community Café every week, a hugely popular Youth Club on two Fridays a month, a community cinema as well as Currie Football Club which runs extensive football coaching. In all, we have around 50 volunteers contributing to community life in Currie Community Centre.

Centre website for further information: http://www.csh.hw.ac.uk/facilities/ccc.html

Pentland Community Grant - 7TH EDINBURGH BOYS’ BRIGADE The 7th Edinburgh Boys’ Brigade successfully applied for a £300 Community Grant Fund to enable us to run a Smoothie Stall at Colinton’s Art in the Park event on 4 September 2016. The grant enabled us to purchase smoothie makers and smoothie kits, a second hand freezer, and to hire portable generators to provide a power supply. The aims of the project were:

to involve members of the Boys’ Brigade (BBs) in planning and running a trading stall, introducing them to project management and team working skills

to raise the profile of the BBs as a community organisation through participating in a highly visible manner in a major community event

This year, we have once again been part of the big events in our Community, beginning with our own Hogmanay Party. This family event was a great success and started the year in the best possible way. In the summer we were the venue for the Currie Beer and Curry Festival, bringing about a thousand people into the centre over two days of celebration. In September, we held various events as part of the Currie Fair.

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to teach BB members about healthy alternatives to fizzy drinks

to promote healthy eating in the community by selling our smoothies at a price that competed with the fizzy drinks being sold by other food outlets.

Once the grant was confirmed, we discussed and developed the plans for the stall with the BBs, scoping out options for advertising, set up and running the stall on the day. We discussed the different flavours on offer and how attractive these might be to potential customers, and the boys made the final choice of 5 flavours (4 fruit based, one “green”). Boys were instructed about the importance of food hygiene, and about safety aspects of running the equipment.

On the day, the older BBs assisted with the set up of the stall, arriving at 8am (on a Sunday morning). A rota was drawn up that provided for a minimum of two adult supervisors at all times, and up to four BBs running the stall. Other BBs provided assistance to Colinton Village Events, the organisers of Art in the Park, helping other stall holders set up and assisting in keeping traffic moving into and out of the site. For the older boys, this broader volunteering was recorded as part of their BB Queen’s Badge and Duke of Edinburgh Silver activity.

Our stall was situated in between other food outlets, and after a slow start, trade quickened up. By lunchtime, we had people queuing to buy our smoothies, and the BBs had learned the importance of an efficient production line, with one boy taking orders, another finding the right flavour, another whizzing the smoothie, another pouring it, another taking the money etc. The day was a great success. We had bought 270 frozen smoothie sachets and had set ourselves a target of selling at least 200. Any unsold smoothies would then be kept frozen until our coffee morning in November. In the event, by mid-afternoon we had completely sold out! The BBs were delighted at the success of their enterprise.

Meet the Funders Event

The most recent drop-in “Meet the Funders” event took place in Heart of Midlothian Football Club “Gorgie Suite” on Thursday 8 December 2016. The event was very well attended, attracting 227 visitors and 28 exhibitors. Community groups met organisations which provide funding and resources, including the Big Lottery, Royal Bank of Scotland Foundation, Sportscotland, Pass IT On, Greenspace Scotland Tesco Bags of Help and the Robertson Trust to name just a few.

Two events take place each year, with one in held in a local Neighbourhood Partnership area and a larger scale event in the city centre. Since the first event in 2009, the number of exhibitors has steadily increased from 8 to 33 and the 18 events have attracted 2,807 visitors. Comments from visitors included:

“Well organised – good mix of representation.”

“Very well organised with an impressive array of funders.”

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“I was really early & able to chat too many funders.”

“ Always a good event, this kind of support for 3rd sector is highly valuable”

“The variety of organisations & funding types was brilliantly broad and holistic”

...And talking of funding opportunities, see below!

Pentland Community Grant Fund

If you have projects in mind why not contact the offers below and take 5 minutes to chat it through. Ideally the panel are looking for projects that will compliment the Pentland Local Community Plan see link on; http://www.edinburghnp.org.uk/media/327158/swnp_exec_summary.pdf

Application Form – http://www.edinburghnp.org.uk/neighbourhood-partnerships/south-west/about/community-grants-info/

Funding Criteria - http://www.edinburghnp.org.uk/media/15420/Community%20Grants%20Fund%20Criteria.pdf

For further information contact either Michael Edwards (michael.edwards@edinburgh.gov.uk) or Scott Neill (scott.neill@edinburgh.gov.uk) Partnership Development Officers, to discuss potential projects.

Equalities and the Partnership

Partnership meetings are open to all members of the public who wish to attend and we are keen to make these as accessible as possible. Please let us know if you require any assistance to attend these meetings, or to take part in any other Neighbourhood Partnership events, meetings or other activities e.g. large print, disabled access requirements, travel arrangements, hearing loop etc.

Contact Scott Neill, scott.neill@edinburgh.gov.uk to discuss any of the above information.

@southwest_team

For more information about the activities of the Pentland Neighbourhood Partnership, go to

www.edinburghnp.org.uk

or contact the Partnership & Information team on 527 3816.