A £2 million loan fund will be launched to help stop empty homes blighting Scotland’s communities, Housing Minister Keith Brown said today. The new funding was announced as the Unoccupied Properties Bill, which will allow local authorities to charge extra Council Tax on houses that have been empty for more than a year, was introduced [...]
An attempt to break the Guinness World Record for the most people running in kilts, will take place this summer. Scots runners will try to break the original record set by Canadian runners in Ontario, which saw over 1089 kilted enthusiasts pounding the pavements. The attempt will made along the River Tay, in Perth and [...]
FOUR teenage sisters are set to follow in their famous cousin’s footsteps – by playing football for Scotland. Natasha, Simone, Dion and Whitney McMahon – cousins of Manchester United’s Darren Fletcher – are on track to be the first family in the country to have four siblings in the national squad. Natasha, 16, and Simone, [...]
LOCALS in Fife have been helping police tackle crime in the area. As part of the Fife Constabulary’s commitment to community engagement, community consultation meetings are held throughout Fife on a bi-monthly basis within the heart of local communities. This allows people to meet with local officers, identify issues they feel affect them and be [...]
Nicholson street Oxfam manager David Hendrie with some of the comics A COLLECTION of 5000 comic books spanning four decades has been donated to a charity shop in Edinburgh. The donor, who wishes to remain anonymous, left staff at an Oxfam bookshop stunned when they turned up at his flat to pick up the donation [...]
The pony’s hooves were curled from neglect. The Scottish SPCA has sent out an urgent appeal for information after a pony was discovered with extremely overgrown hooves in Fife. The male Shetland pony was tracked down to a small area of land next to Balbeggie Avenue, Thornton, by SSPCA inspectors on Sunday. It had been [...]
Parents Paula and Alex McPheators with four-year-old Zoe and two-and-a-half-year-old Oliver By Alan Robertson PARENTS have condemned a council for shutting their children’s nursery and moving it into a “pub.” Almost 40 children aged between two and five will receive their pre-school education inside Dalkeith Miners’ Club, Midlothian, under the plan. Angry staff and parents [...]
CHILDREN at Edinburgh’s Sick Kids Hospital will enjoy visits from Clown Doctors thanks to money raised by a local property development. Edinburgh’s Quartermile donated £5 on behalf of every visitor to the city centre property development during New Homes Month in September 2010. The Sick Kids Friends Foundation will use the £1,000 raised to fund [...]
A NEW scheme aimed at helping drink or drug addicted criminals break their cycle of offending is being piloted in Edinburgh. Working with Sacro, City of Edinburgh Council and the Scottish Prison Service, Lothian and Borders Police say their so called ‘Integrated Offender Management scheme is aimed at what police term “vulnerable offenders” – those [...]
FIRE chiefs in Edinburgh have assured that they don’t want to stop people having fun on Guy Fawkes Night but that they want to ensure that everyone is being safe. Dangerous homemade bonfires are being removed in the Capital in the run up to Bonfire Night. Community safety teams from the City of Edinburgh Council [...]
A TERRIFIED foster family had to be rescued by fire-fighters after their home was torched by thugs leaving them trapped inside. Linda and William Mackenzie were hailed as heroes by emergency crews who said their quick actions in trying to block the flames and smoke at their front door helped save them and foster son [...]
Crew members from the Lothian and Borders Fire and Rescue Service paid a visit to some of the patients at the Royal Hospital for Sick Children Edinburgh to highlight the dangers associated with bonfire night.
INDIE folk six piece Broken Records make a return to their kith and kin of Edinburgh this coming Monday (Oct 25) when they mark the launch of their aptly named new album ‘Let Me Come Home’ with a signing session at Fopp on Rose Street from 5pm. It will be followed with a live set [...]
by Shaun Milne ONE of Edinburgh’s longest-running day centres is celebrating its 25th anniversary later today (tues). The Rt. Hon. George Grubb, Lord Lieutenant and Lord Provost of the City of Edinburgh, will be guest of honour at a special event this afternoon at Drylaw Rainbow Club Day Centre to a commemorative plaque. The building [...]
By Christine Lavelle SOME of Scotland’s hardest prisoners have helped create giant 40ft effigies to be torched to mark a major Hindu celebration this Sunday. The colourful figures are for a parade marking the Indian festival Dusherra held Edinburgh this weekend. Dusherra is a Hindu celebration of good conquering evil, telling the story of Lord [...]
By Christine Lavelle BOSSES at Edinburgh’s Royal Hospital for Sick Children hope to use ideas from families of loved ones who owe their lives to the miracle staff there to make improvements at the campus. A new family forum has been set up, inviting parents and carers who have spent time at the hospital to [...]
By Christine Lavelle THE sixth annual world hickory championships tee-ed off today (Mon) at Musselburgh Old Links course. Participators were dressed for the occasion in period costumes, as they started the week-long tournament, which will progress along the East Lothian coast – reaching Gullane on Friday. Hickory refers to the playing of golf with shafted [...]
By Christine Lavelle A PRIMARY school in Edinburgh unveiled a brand new mural today, painted by artist Olivia Irvine. The design features two gardens – one during the day and one at night – and was heavily influenced by drawings sketched by all of the pupils at St Mary’s School in Leith.
By Christine Lavelle AN East Lothian primary school has been selected to make a ‘welcome video’ for the Pope, which will be viewed by thousands at the open-air Mass in Bellahouston Park. St Gabriel’s Primary in Prestonpans put themselves forward to the Scottish Catholic Education Service, who selected 20 schools across Scotland to make videos [...]
By Christine Lavelle SCHOOL kids in Edinburgh are being invited to compete to be the next generation of culinary masters, with the support of a successful Scottish chef. Steven Adair, executive head chef of The Glasshouse off the Mile, is hoping to sign up schools in the capital to a nationwide culinary programme put on [...]