According to Al Tibbitt of Greener Leith, the award would mean £80,000 for the Leith scheme and it would not be the end of the story. But the money would help to pay for essential research (bird studies, wind monitoring and so on) as well as the cost of submitting planning and grid connection applications.  All  working towards the goal of a handsome turbine capable of supplying energy for up to 1300 local homes.  But of course there is much more to a windmill than electricity.

I may be biased, but I feel the turbines actually add to our skyline, rather than detracting from it. [The Island of Gigha website]

There are all sorts of myths and plain old fashioned lies about windmills, but you just have to look to the success of community schemes like Gigha to see how well-designed projects can bring new hope and pride as well as real tangible benefits to local neighbourhoods. On Gigha, The Dancing Ladies (more prosaically, the first community wind project in Scotland) have generated enough income to build new homes and bring people back to live on the island.  What’s more they paid for themselves within six years. In fact the scheme has been so successful the Isle of Gigh Heritage Trust is now raising money for a fourth turbine.

Leith and Portobello are not an island, but these urban communities could share the same benefits of regeneration; the renewed pride and hope that goes along with investment in homes, jobs and opportunities for young people.

And, given pride of place, windmills have a way of winning hearts, minds and tourists!  On Gigha a walk to see the Dancing Ladies is now a popular tourist attraction.

This is how Gigha schoolchildren greeted the arrival of the Dancing Ladies in 2003 (I hope they won’t mind me grabbing the images off their website: see them for yourselves here).

Cathy Macnaughton at the ’surprise’ leaving party: Pictures by Sue Duporto

The shiny new stapler is clearly going to become a prized possession in the offices of Multi-Cultural Family Base. It was a humorous and affectionate gesture but it speaks volumes about the work of voluntary organisations like MCFB.

As their retiring chief executive Cathy told the crowd of friends and colleagues filling South Leith Parish Halls, the voluntary sector was a completely new experience for her when she arrived at MCFB five years ago. “It was an eye opener to learn how the voluntary sector manages to achieve such miracles when they are always trying to get by with things that don’t work well,” she said, “Computers that take an hour to warm up and everyone sharing one stapler.”

Even so, MCFB does achieve miracles, not least in their rapidly expanding therapeutic services for children and families affected by violence. And among the audience were many of the young social workers trained by MCFB. Their aim stated on the website: to enhance the lives of vulnerable and disadvantaged children.

Which is why Cathy also presented a bumper box of glitter and a big bag of play doh to symbolise the fun their art work brings to the lives of children.  But she did receive a few surprises in return. In a  warmhearted and truly multicultural event, there was Scottish music from Bronwyn on bagpipes, Sunita’s  Bollywood dancing and delicious curry lunch made by Sikh Sanjog.

All this is an example of the diversity which attracted Cathy to apply for the post in Leith, “There is no better place to work.”

Steve Gowenlock, who now takes over from Cathy as chief executive, paid tribute to  Cathy’s achievements in fundraising and expanding the reach of MCFB. “To quote the Joni Mitchell song, you don’t know what you’ve got till its gone. We will miss her strong and supportive leadership…but as there are no Munros in London and no agency quite like MCFB  in London I hope her memories of us will be special ones. And we will see her again.”

By the way, Cathy, who is going to London to be near her first granddaughter, was also presented with a parting gift – but she opened that in private.

Leith Open Space also wishes Cathy all the best.  We have happy memories of working with her on the World Kitchen Multicultural Family Brunch the fundraising event we organised together in March this year when Cathy did heroic working in the kitchen of Out of the Blue Drill Hall Cafe.

Cathy gets a present too at her leaving party on 12 July. From the left Steve Gowenlock, Wendy Patterson (MCFB chair) and Cathy

“You have to be so cautious. I have boys and they are 12…sometimes they will say something, like, about a bomber jacket and I say ‘don’t call it that’ and they are like ‘but mum it’s called a bomber jacket’ and I’m like ‘call it something else’

It might almost be funny if it wasn’t so sad. Of all the findings in a new Scottish Government report that image of the bomber jacket sticks in the mind. With one poignantly simple description a young mother gives a vivid glimpse of what it is like to be a Scottish Muslim in an age of fear and suspicion.

Muslim women and young people were questioned about their experiences – at work, at school and in the community – and the findings should provide food for thought for the next wave of Scottish politicians, whoever gets into power next week.

The report – Experiences of Muslims Living in Scotland – was commissioned to provide evidence for government policy-making at a time when discrimination against Muslims in Scotland seemed to be growing.  The aim was to explore how racism and religious intolerance affects the daily lives of Muslims in Scotland.

There are few surprises in the report and it’s not all bad news. There are around 75,000 Muslims in Scotland, roughly 1.5% of the population, mostly living in urban areas of the central belt. Compared with Muslims in England, Scottish Muslims describe a greater sense of belonging and national pride – generally  they feel Scottish and want to be part of the community. Confounding media stereotypes, the report found no sign of growing religious extremism. And no-one used the word Islamophobia.

But researchers Sarah Kidd and Lynne Jamieson also found evidence of racial and religions discrimination against Muslims. In Scotland Muslims are more likely to be unemployed, particularly if they are women, and language is still often a social barrier for the older generation. Young Muslims are often torn between the desire to join the crowd and loyalty to their family and faith.  And that sense of belonging is conditional – many Muslims were aware ‘they might be seen as outsiders’.

Countering the stereotype that Muslims are reluctant to integrate, the report finds “evidence to suggest Muslims…feel excluded from fully identifying with Britain. This is an important finding that requires further examination in a Scottish context.”

Once again the role of the media is highlighted with Muslim women in particular blaming the media for linking religion with terrorism. “They were acutely aware of negative stereotyping of Muslims which link Islam and terrorism in global circulation and stressed the local impact of these stereotypes.”

The main conclusion of the report – available only from the Scottish Parliament social research website – is that further research is needed to establish the real identity and diversity of Muslim communities in Scotland.  In the present climate –  it is really not hard to imagine how a 12 year old Muslim boy talking about a bomber jacket could trigger a security alert – this report provides a valuable first step forward.

“We believe in peace, not in passivity” Augusto Boal, creator of Theatre of the Oppressed

During a Day of Dialogue on 11^th May, dramatic scenarios will kickstart a conversation with Leith residents, visitors and elected representatives.  In Forum Theatre no-one is a passive spectator.   By the  end of the day Active Inquiry artistic director Gavin Crichton hopes everyone in the hall will have helped to develop an Action Plan with practical solutions to real life issues in Leith.

This is the ambitious conclusion of a Forum Theatre project which began last year with workshops exploring that often elusive idea of empowerment (What is it? How can communities achieve it?).  Power to the People evolved into the story of Alice and her struggle to gain support from neighbours to improve life in the community.

Performances of the play  drew enthusiastic response from members of audience. Now it is their turn to take to the stage, working with actors to produce their own pieces of Forum Theatre which will be performed at the Day of Dialogue.  Don’t miss the chance to discover – and influence – what happens next. (Time and place will be announced soon, check Active Inquiry website )

IT’S NOT ALL IN THE MIND…BUT A LOT OF IT IS

Meanwhile Gavin is working on another exciting project which takes empowerment a step further.  On 14 and 15 May ACTive Inquiry is offering training workshops open to teachers, therapists, youth workers, social workers, actors and activists.

The workshops will be led by Barbara Santos, who was General Coordinator of the Centre for the Theatre of the Oppressed in Rio, Brazil between 1994-2008 –  working alongside Augusto Boal

Barbara will draw on her latest work exploring how oppressions become part of everyday life – and how we can expose and resist them.

Workshops cost £150 for two days – from 10 am to 5pm on 14^th and 15^th May at Pilmeny Youth Centre. For more information contact Gavin at gavin@activeinquiry.co.uk phone 0771 4321 629 or check out www.activeinquiry.co.uk

The launch of the world recipe book in Leith Methodist Church on Saturday 25 March was always planning to celebrate Japan.  But now, since the devastation brought by earthquake, tsunami and nuclear explosions, WFWP have decided to dedicate all money raised during the event to relief.

As Harumi Currie of WFWP  puts it:

“We still don’t know whole scale of the disaster. We hear worse news everyday. We have many friends in Japan and our heart naturally goes to them.

“WFWP-Scotland decided our recipe book launch on 25th is combinedwith raising fund for Japan. The programme is the same; talks, music and free tasting. We sell our recipe book and the Japanese goods. All proceeds go to the victims. Please invite your friends as well.”

Saturday’s event at the Acorn Centre in Junction Street Leith includes Japanese Harp and African Drum performances. There will also be free tastings of recipes from the book published with funding from Awards for All.

25^th March

“The conference is aimed at disabled people in particular and that will be who we will give preference too, but we will be pleased to hear from everyone who wants to register. If at the end of the day we are oversubscribed then it points to the issue being much larger and another event will be needed to take up the slack.”

Note contact details – if you would like to register or find out more about the event please get in touch with Matt Wheatley 23 Nichollfield EH6 4RA wheatley.matthew@yahoo.com Tel 0131 554 2464

The conference is free to disabled people. Now, here’s the invitation.

It’s an event for all ages at Duncan Place Resource Centre in Leith and it has been organised by Women onto Work and Community Learning and Development in Leith. They are celebrating 100 years of International Women’s Day, 90 years of Duncan Place Resource Centre and 21 years of Women Onto Work.

The afternoon’s programme presents an extraordinary range of local and national talent. Pulse of the Place, Scotland’s largest youth samba band, are regular performers at the Edinburgh Mela and have been making an impact since they formed in 2006 – Saturday’s show will be their last public performance before heading to Barnsley to take their place in the world record breaking attempt to create the largest samba drumming band in the world… 3000 drummers.

Pulse of the Place, as seen at 2009 Mela (they have grown in number since then!)

Then there’s the nationally acclaimed bagpiper, Louise Marshall Millington (she’s a tireless campaigner for the instrument), Fiddlesticks (a ten piece band) and Beat It (samba/ rock fusion) with dancers from 21^st Century Dance Academy.

Plus stalls, arts,  crafts and community information – with a crèche so parents can take part in workshops. And food is provided by the Punjabi Women’s Kitchen so you better come hungry.

Along with the fun there’s a serious side too. Councillor Lesley Hinds (former Lord Provost) will lead the International Women’s Day discussion, ‘Breaking the Mould’.  The MC for the event is local Leith Councillor Gordon Munro.

The pictures say it all.  There were many magical moments at the first Welcome Home open stage night – Sofia’s grin, Maria’s love letters, Gordon’s poetry, Lotus Leaf’s jazz – and the second event promises many more.  Come to the Fort Community Wing on Monday 21st February for a whole-hearted celebration of Leith’s cultural diversity.  And please bring a plate of food that reminds you of home.

“It sounds like it will be an interesting night”, emails Kasia Raszewska, one of the Welcome Home organisers.  That sounds like an understatement.  The night’s event  includes a poet from Iraq, musicians from Tibet, Philippines and Africa along with African, Polish and Tibetan stalls selling arts and crafts.

Gordon reads poetry, Maria reads love letters at the first Welcome Home open stage night in November 2010 (photographs by Pawel Drozd)

This time there is perhaps an even greater emphasis on music. The headline band of the night is Lorraine McCauley and The Borderlands.  The DJ is DJ Waapa and Mad Caravan.  Kasia also tells us that the African stall is by Bongayi Kutywayo Patty of Zimbabwe from AB African Collections. The Himalayan stall is by Reke Rose Gawa  from the Himalaya Cafe and Anna Sznajder from Swietlica has made the crafts for the Polish ethnographic crafts. “We will also have a guest performance from Wilson Warmheart (Scotland),” says Kasia, ” He is one of the people behind Himalaya Gatherings, a huge inspiration for Welcome Home”.

And don’t forget the food. As always food is a central part of the celebration and in the heat of the kitchen at the Fort, the team of volunteers will be writing lists and labels for different foods representing different cultures (we’re told that Cathy McNaughton from Multi-Cultural Family Base is planning to bring cucumber sandwiches so no prizes for guessing where Cathy is from).

Three cheers for Welcome Home – and hooray  for Swietlica for creating such an imaginative way of bringing people together. ‘Multicultural’ has become a loaded word but Welcome Home puts the fun back into cultural diversity with nothing more intoxicating than music, poetry, art, food and soft drink. All completely free of charge.  Oh, and yes, guests are invited to bring candles or fairy lights to add a bit of sparkle.

Welcome Home Open Stage Night is from 6pm – 9pm at Fort Community Wing, North Fort Street, EH6 4HF. FREE [lots more pictures on their Facebook page]

Lotus Leaf: photograph by Maria Kozaczek

The Action Research on Violence Project starts on Wednesday 23rd February 4pm til 5.30pm at the Leith Community Centre Cafe; the project will run every week from then for 13 weeks. The project is open for young people aged around 13-16 years from ethnic minority communities in North Edinburgh and Leith, as this part of our local communities has so far not often been offered space to voice their ideas/opinions and perceptions about such a wide and important subject.

Run jointly by Shakti and NHS Lothian, and with support from many local BME community and youth support agencies, the sessions will include Forum Theatre sessions (run by Gavin Crichton of Active Inquiry Theatre Company) to investigate the wide topic of ‘Violence’; members will have the chance to develop a forum theatre piece around the themes that emerge from discussions and games. There will also be a chance for people to creatively contribute towards an exhibition containing our ideas, discoveries and possibly questions to other parts of our communities. A daytrip to visit another youth project is also being planned.

A meeting is being held in Norton Park on Friday 18th February 9.30-11.30am for interested parties and stakeholders to learn more about the project and how you might be able to be involved.

Please note: the project is not a support group or service, nor is it a focus on issues within particular communities – it is a research focus group for young people starting a vital conversation about an issue that affects EVERYONE.

To book a place at the stakeholders meeting or for more information, please contact Lisa Rigby on 0131 475 2399 or email lisa@shaktiedinburgh.co.uk.

The story began this way in 2010…

Here’s your invitation to host a traditional Burns Supper – with pipes, poetry, speeches and song  – for a very  inventive fundraising campaign during January and February.  “It’s a credit crunch Burns supper”, says Mary Millar of the Meningitis Research Foundation who has teamed up with Clan Radio to provide you with the essential DIY kit.  The only thing they don’t do is cook and eat the haggis for you! (click below to hear a taster).

For a that, and a’ that,
It’s comin’ yet for a’ that,
That Man to Man, the world o’er,
Shall brithers be for a’ that.”

The aim (which fits well with the World Kitchen) is to encourage families and community groups to raise money for the Meningitis Research Foundation (MRF) and the Royal National Lifeboat Institute (RNLI) with the help of a “Burns Super Supper” CD produced by the internet radio station Clan Radio.

For a donation of £5 you get the CD which guides you through the complete Burns Supper from the piping in of the haggis to Auld Lang Syne through all the toasts (to the haggis, the Immortal Memory, the lassies, and a’ that) with poetry and song – and a 30 minute interlude of music to give you time for some eating and drinking. Anything else you raise during the supper (say, £5 per guest) can be sent to MRF (see below).

To listen to sampled extracts of the Burns Super Supper click here:  Burns Super Supper Taster by innerear

“Instead of one big fundraising event we are looking for lots of people to contribute relatively small amounts from lots of different events,” says Mary Millar. “It’s a credit crunch way for people to celebrate Burns and help charity”.

Till a’ the seas gang dry, my dear,
And the rocks melt wi’ the sun;
And I will luve thee still, my dear,
While the sands o’ life shall run.

The inspiration comes from Robert Mackenzie who started Clan Radio to broadcast the highlights of the annual Gaelic talent show (The Mod). He now finds an “almost scary” amount of interest in Burns from different people across the world. That set him thinking:.  “Wait a minute, I would love to have a CD that tells me how to run a proper Burns Supper.”

The result is “the world’s first interactive Burns Supper” – 80 minutes of beautifully produced downloadable music, song and poetry (from singers and musicians giving their time freely, many of them volunteers working in hospital radio).  The podcast programme will be broadcast on Burns Night (Monday 25 January)  beginning at 8 pm on Clan Radio with listeners across the world. But as Mary points out the Burns Supper season lasts until the end of February, ” the CD lets you organise your own event wherever and whenever it suits you”.

The campaign hopes each supper will raise at least £50.  (Anyone raising more than £250 gets a free bottle of whisky.) To find out more and to get your CD, contact Dawn Carrie or Alison Baker on 0131 510 2345 or email dawncarrie@scotland-meningitis.org.uk

Both Mary and Robert are keen  to connect with ethnic minority community groups, emphasising the international appeal of Burns.