The final tally on last Saturday’s fundraiser for kid’s bereavement charity Richmond’s Hope came to £4,794.50
Update
A letter from Emma Hack from Monday 4th March 2013
“Dear everyone
I can’t begin to tell you how touched I am by everyone’s support and generosity. I hope (and think!) that those of you who were there last Saturday night had a really enjoyable evening, I certainly haven’t laughed as much in a long time! There were a lot of very special people who all worked very hard to make the event happen, so Jim and Lynn Fraser, Scott and Lydia MacDonald, Stella and Derek Birrell, Caroline Wolfe Murray, Shirley Hamilton, Christine Galvin, Natasha Ingram-Phoenix, Amy Baillie, The Domestics, Ray & Charlie and everyone who donated food and homebaking – a HUGE thank you for being so generous with your time, skills and support x.
So the part that everyone has been waiting for, we have managed to raise an absolutely amazing £5395.00 for Richmond’s Hope. That will enable Aimée and another 8 children from East Lothian to receive the help they really need following a bereavement, as well as having a bit left over to help towards the cost of the activities they do.
Can I also put a shout out on Richmond’s Hope behalf – they are looking for pasta bake type jars to use for the children to make memory jars out of. If you have any you were going to put into recycling I can pick up and take into Richmond’s Hope.”
You can see more photos of the event by clicking on the image below.
The charity Richmond’s Hope specialises in helping kids cope with the loss of a parent. Money raised will help kids from East Lothian receive counselling.
After the recent public consultation held in Trevelyan Hall, ELC’s Transport department has returned a recommendation to Cabinet that the plan proceed with one change – no additional car parking spaces will be added to the school.
Following a recent public consultation ELC’s Transport department is recommending the footpath plan proceed minus the additional (in pink) car parking spaces at the school.The proposals included the addition of car parking spaces in the school grounds. A number of Glebe residents, who live around the school’s entrance, were supportive of the parallel footpath but stated they felt they had to object to those current proposals as they did not wish to see further car parking spaces added to the school as part of pedestrian safety improvements.
The original intent was that these further spaces would provide additional car parking in the heart of the village which, courtesy of a new disabled access footpath between the Church, Carriage House and school, would mean that cars could utilise these facilities on evenings and weekends where required. The view was that this would alleviate parking issues on both the main road outside the church and remove the need for cars to potentially park in the Glebe.
Now, with Transport recommending the footpath proceed without the additional parking facilities for the community, it is hoped that Glebe residents’ concerns will be addressed.
The public consultation consisted of an event held in the Trevelyan Hall plus both a paper and online survey. After removing any duplicate responses the results of that process were as follows:
From the public consultation comment book:
44 For the parallel footpath
24 Against the parallel footpath
12 Not stating a position
The online element was more emphatic:
61 For the parallel footpath
There was also a door to door survey:
31 for the parallel footpath Plan
In addition the Community Council received one email for the footpath plan to be completed and one against.
In summary, this meant that there were 137 in total for the parallel footpath, 25 against and 12 where a view on the footpath being completed wasn’t expressed.
Next Steps
The parallel footpath proposals are already widely supported by a number of community groups, many of whom contributed to these proposals after plans to move the lights and widen the main road pavement were rejected by the ELC.
Now that ELC’s Transport department has submitted its recommendation to cabinet, it will be debated on the 11th of December. If the recommendations of ELC’s Transport department are accepted by Cabinet it will then go before a future Planning Committee meeting for a final decision.
Interested parties received a letter today informing them of the Planning Committee’s decision to go ahead with the revised plan for a parallel footpath through the middle of the village, thus avoiding the narrow pavement. However, it remains unclear as to when this work will actually be completed and the alternate path usable by members of the community.
Whatever your view a big thanks to all those who made the effort to come along to the Public Consultation on the parallel footpath today or participated in the survey.
There was a pretty good turnout in terms of numbers at both the actual event in Trevelyan Hall and from those taking part in both the paper and online surveys.
An artist’s impression of the footpath when completed going up to the church. Click above for a larger version.Generally the impression was that the majority are in clear support of the footpath with the odd vehement exception.
However, Glebe residents asked the quite reasonable question of how and why the additional parking became part of the footpath plan and en-mass felt they had no choice but to object, despite not having issue with the core intent of a safer footpath.
Meantime, so far we have received 61 online and 31 written notes of support with 5 online responses against the plan .
Working with ELC officials we will now collate the rest of the comments gathered today and report back.
Remember, if you still want to participate because you missed the consultation and haven’t had the opportunity to air your view through other means, you can still take part in the one question survey here.
Following two recent meetings with officials from the scouting movement and interested parents, plans are taking shape to bring back the Scouts to Pencaitland after a seven year absence.
Pencaitland used to be well served by the scouting movement for many years, with the local troupe being one of the first in Scotland to have girls join. Unfortunately, many of the parent helpers that made it possible moved on and, without new people to carry it on, the local scout group folded around 2005.
Now, thanks to the efforts of parents keen to see it return, a small group has formed to bring it back once again.
This time it’s being headed up by David Donohoe and Alison Mells with the support of parents keen to help make its return a success. But there are few guarantees without further support from parents who would like to see all three age groups eventually revived.
CUBS
Currently the plan is to have Cubs (eight to ten and half age group) return in late November, with the Trevelyan Hall providing a base for Cub meets each Thursday, roughly once a week during term times. Cubs is the second section of the Scouting movement, originally started in 1916 for younger brothers who wanted a ‘look-in’. In nearly a century, the section has constantly evolved and adapted its programme and methods to meet the changing needs of each generation of kids.
BEAVERS
Then, provided there are sufficient local helpers to work with David, Beavers (six to eight and a half age group) would begin sometime in the New Year, also using Trevelyan Hall. Beaver Scouts are the youngest section of the Scouting family. Their activities are based around making things, outdoor activities, singing, playing games, going out on visits, investigating nature, listening to stories, learning how to be safe and most importantly, making new friends.
SCOUTS
Eventually, if there proves to be enough local interest amongst parents, grandparents and other adult volunteers, the Scouts (ten and a half to fourteen age group) could be revived. Scouts are the third section of the Scouting movement. From the first experimental camp for 20 boys in 1907 there are now over 499,000 boys and girls involved in Scouting in the UK. Adult volunteers are critical in ensuring that our local young people are able to take part in their own big adventures as they grow into their early to mid teens.
Q. Would you like to add your child to the list and/or give your details to help? Read on…
Following a recent meeting in Trevelyan Hall with a team from South East Scotland Scouts, a number of parents are keen to reintroduce scouting to Pencaitland.
Come along to the meeting on the 23rd October at 8pm in the Winton Arms and help bring back scouting for kids of all ages to Pencaitland.The Trevelyan Hall meeting highlighted the fact that there are waiting lists in the surrounding towns and villages to join cubs, beavers and scout packs, most notably in nearby Tranent and Haddington. With this in mind Scott Burton, local development officer with the scouts for South East Scotland, was keen to encourage parents and other supportive adults keen to help, to try to restart scouting in Pencaitland which lapsed some seven years ago.
Taking Scott’s lead, locals Alison Mells and David Donohoe are spearheading a follow-up meeting in The Winton Arms on the 23rd of October at 8pm.
If you are keen to see cubs, beavers and scouts return to the village now is your chance to help make it happen. Please try and pop along on the 23rd and see how your help can bring back what was at one time a central part of village life.
If you can’t make it to the meeting but would like to be kept informed, please email scouts@pencaitland.org with your name and contact details.
Following on from yesterday’s article about various sports on offer for kids during the summer, we now have details on arts events in the county.
East Lothian Council’s Arts Service has put together a range of activities for kids in age groups 5 to 7, 8 to 12 and 12 to 18 years of age. Activities cover drama, Art Camps, Musicals and Breakdance.
Youth Theatre Summer Schools can be booked via Musselburgh’s Brunton Theatre on 0131 665 2240. All other arts activities are booked through East Lothian Council’s summer activities booking form. Holders of the Leisure Pass Plus card are eligible for lower fees.
For full details of what’s on offer you can view the Summer arts activities in East Lothian brochure [PDF]. It should be pointed out that these are just some of the arts activities this summer, so look out for more details on other courses from East Lothian Council.
Many mums, dads and grandparents will already be familiar with Hullabaloo – Fun With Music!. It’s a Pre-school music and movement class that’s run by a local mum, Charlotte McMillan.
Classes are already held in Pencaitland and Haddington, but there are plans to provide more classes this August in time for the new school year.
As Charlotte explains, “Both drop-in sessions and bookable blocks of classes are on offer, and everyone gets the chance to try it out for free, so you’ve nothing to lose. Children from as young as a few weeks can come along and it’s a great chance to meet other children and their parents. So please come and have a sing-along with me, my guitar, my instruments and my friends. It’s usually good fun and a great social thing in which to get involved.”
For more info, contact Charlotte via email on the web, Facebook or by phone on 01875 341679 or 07966 434591.
There’s a new Facebook page especially for mums, dads and extended friends and family living in or near Pencaitland and other nearby communities of Boggs Holdings, New Winton and Peastonbank / Glenkinchie.
Called Pencaitland Parents it’s hoped that over time it will become a useful message board for parents with kids of all ages to share information on both school and non-school events and activities in and around the village and other communities in the immediate area.
Of course, not everyone likes (excuse the pun) using Facebook. For those not so keen on it, we recommend following Pencaitland Parent Council on Twitter.
Don’t forget Edinburgh’s International Science Festival has loads of activities for kids this Easter. One of the main attractions is the City Arts Centre, entirely given over to interactive activities for children of all ages.
Below you can see just one of the many entertaining activities to engage children’s imaginations.
Also worth checking out is the National Museum of Scotland on Chambers Street. It has a variety of science activities on offer.
For general information on all events go to the What’s On section of the EISF website. For all the activity based stuff go here.
Edinburgh’s International Science Festival was founded in 1989 and is an educational charity that encourages people of all ages and backgrounds to discover, “the wonder of the world around them”.
