Category Archives: News and Events

Lord Provost’s Inspiring Volunteering Awards: 2014

Nominations for the 2014 Lord Provost’s Inspiring Volunteering Awards are now open.

The annual awards ceremony is organised by Volunteer Centre Edinburgh and the Edinburgh Compact Partnership as part of Volunteers’ Week, the national celebration of volunteers and volunteering.  This event is hosted annually by the Lord Provost and City of Edinburgh Council.

The awards celebrate the accomplishments of volunteers, and the major economic and social benefits they provide as a result of their voluntary activities. This year the event will take place on Wednesday 4th June 2014 and is by invitation only. This is your opportunity to recognise the contribution of your volunteers by nominating them for an Award.

You can nominate your volunteers online through this Survey Monkey

https://www.surveymonkey.com/s/6LBL3VW

Organisations can nominate up to three individual volunteers and one team. There is no guarantee that any of them will be invited to accept their award at the City Chambers because numbers are strictly limited. However all nominated volunteers will receive a certificate.

Eligibility criteria:

  • The Awards are only open to people volunteering in the City of Edinburgh.
  • There are no age restrictions.
  • Volunteers must have volunteered for at least six months with your organisation before being eligible to be nominated.
  • If they have previously received an “Inspiring Volunteering Certificate” at the City Chambers they should not be nominated again.
  • Only fully completed nominations will be considered for individuals or teams, and we will quote from these statements when presenting the awards.

All shortlisted nominations will be considered for the Lord Provost of Edinburgh’s Inspiring Volunteer of the Year Award 2014.

A number of special recognition categories have been introduced to highlight some of the diverse areas of volunteering across the City of Edinburgh, including:

  • A Young Volunteer (aged between 11 and 25 years old)
  • Long Standing Contribution to Volunteering Award (an individual who has volunteered for 10 years or more, and has made an outstanding contribution)
  • Charity Shop Volunteer
  • Fundraising Volunteer
  • Trustee Volunteer
  • Health & Social Care Volunteer (volunteers engaged in health and social care, including support work, befriending or projects which reduce social isolation and help assist independent living)
  • Sports Volunteer (volunteers actively involved in supporting sports in their communities).
  • Environment & Conservation Volunteer (volunteers engaged in environmental activities including education, conservation or gardening).
  • Arts, Culture & Heritage Volunteer
  • Housing / Tenant volunteer ***NEW category for 2014 ***

Volunteers Week runs from the 1st – 7th June 2014. We encourage all volunteer involving organisations to organise their own recognition events during Volunteers’ Week, whether that be their own awards ceremony, coffee morning, lunch or social activity for their volunteers. It’s a great opportunity to do something to say thank you, and show your volunteers that they are valued and appreciated.

*** Nominations close on Monday 7th April 2014 at 6pm ***

For more information please contact:

Lara Celini, Public Services Manager, Volunteer Centre Edinburgh, 24 Torphichen Street (3rd Floor) Edinburgh EH3 8JB

Direct dial: 0131 225 0630

lara.celini@volunteeredinburgh.org.uk

www.volunteeredinburgh.org.uk

 

The City Centre Neighbourhood Partnership Local Community Plan 2014-17

Why do we have a Local Community Plan? Well, for all the local agencies, groups, organisations and communities to work together towards common goals, we need to know that we’re all heading in the right direction.

We’re looking to gather the views of anyone who care about what happens in the city centre, so whether you live, work, study, volunteer or visit here, please share your thoughts. This survey, which will be open until 25 April, is just the very first step in gathering information – we’ll follow this with focus groups, community events, and walkabouts.

You can also help us reach as many people as possible by

  • Sharing the link with your contacts in the city centre, by email, in person, through social media, in your newsletters…
  • Telling the local group you work with.  We’d be happy to come along and talk about the consultation

Survey link – https://www.surveymonkey.com/s/CityCentreLocalPlan1417

Further information – http://www.edinburghnp.org.uk/neighbourhood-partnerships/city-centre/about/local-community-plan/

Katie Swann l Partnership Development Officer l City of Edinburgh Council l City Centre & Leith Neighbourhood Team l 1 Cockburn Street l Edinburgh l EH1 1BJ l 0131 529 7492 katie.swann@edinburgh.gov.uk

 

City Centre Partnership News e-bulletin: March 2014

This article is for interest only – City Centre NP area is adjacent to, and does not overlap with Leith NP area. Here is a map of NP areas.

Understanding our community

Thanks to everyone that came along to the Neighbourhood Partnership Meeting on 6 Feb, and contributed to the lively discussion about communities in the city centre.

The presentations and comments are now on the Neighbourhood Partnership website, and further Census 2011 information can be found on the City of Edinburgh Council’s website.

Your City Centre, Your Priorities

You’re the people that know the communities best – so please share that knowledge with us and inform the CCNP priorities for the next 3 years. This short survey https://www.surveymonkey.com/s/CityCentreLocalPlan1417 is the first step to finding out what’s important to you. We’ll then get out and about and talk to you to find out what improvements need to be made in each area.

Upcoming CCNP Meetings

Thursday 12 Jun 2014 @ 7pm
Thursday 13 Nov 2014 @ 7pm
Environment Forum – Tue 18 March 6pm (City Chambers)
Business Forum – Fri 4 April 10-11.30am (1 Cockburn Street)

Partnership News

The CCNP extends a warm welcome to Community Inspectors Alun Williams and Nic Page who will be representing Police Scotland on the Board.

The Old Town Community Council will be inviting nominations for new members from Monday 3 March to Monday 24 March. If an election is required it will be held on Thursday 24 April 2014. Further info here.

The third Royal Mile Spring Clean will take place on Tuesday 25 March 2014, and we’re keen to encourage groups, businesses and residents to get involved in this popular event, and build on the shared pride in the area.

Neighbourhood Environment Programme Update

Edinburgh World Heritage report on the joint project at High School Yard Steps.

Work has also begun at Thistle Lane and Heriot Bridge on NEP funded projects. Footway resurfacing at Abbey Street took place during the recent school half term holiday.

Funding Updates

A date for your diaries – the ever popular ‘Meet the Funders’ will take place on 1 May 2014 in the Assembly Rooms.

For further information, please contact:

Katie Swann
Partnership Development Officer
Tel: 0131 529 7492
Email: katie.swann@edinburgh.gov.uk

Your local web links

Neighbourhood Partnership website
City of Edinburgh Council
Edinburgh Voluntary Organisations’ Council
NHS Lothian
Edinburgh Community Councils
Police Scotland – Edinburgh Central

Leith Funding Panel: Community Grants Fund 2014-15

The first Leith Funding Panel Meeting for the 2014-15 financial year will now be held on Thursday, 8 May 2014.  This  is to enable sufficient time for Community Grants applications to be submitted for summer projects.  Community Grants applications should now be submitted no later than Thursday, 17 April 2014.

Applications can be downloaded from http://www.edinburghnp.org.uk/neighbourhood-partnerships/leith/about/community-grants-leith/.  (Note:  The page has not been updated due to technical difficulties, but the application and guidelines can be downloaded)

Please direct any questions to:

Loraine Duckworth | Partnership Development Officer | Leith Neighbourhood Partnership | Services for Communities | Leith Library | 28-30 Ferry Road | Edinburgh EH6 4AE | Telephone: 0131 529 6194 | Mobile: 07739188437

Kerbside recycling

Calendars for the red and blue box collections are going online this year. Calendars have been posted only to those with assisted collections this week.

In recognition of the fact that more people have access to the web, and to help drive down the amount of paper and costs involved with distributing more than 140,000 calendars each year, we currently only offer the refuse, garden and food waste calendar online, and the new red and blue box calendar is now online too.  In addition, we offer a link on our website to Green Box Day so that residents can get reminders of their next collection for garden waste and red and blue boxes.

We continue to send out calendars to those residents that received help with their collections (called an assisted collection) and anyone who still wishes to have a paper copy of the calendar, can contact us either by email or by calling 0131 529 3030.

There is a directory for the red and blue boxes here: http://www.edinburgh.gov.uk/redandblueboxdays, which lists the collection dates, and there will be a calendar linked to this that residents can download by Wednesday next week.