The Edinburgh Reporter October 2022

6 NEWS

Blind and partially sighted people cycle with VIE Velo bicycle club

Pedalling in pink

Warm Space scheme is a broad church

New bookshop

needs you

By STAFF REPORTER

EDINBURGH COMMUNITY Bookshop,

due to open in October, is a new project

in Leith selling donated second-hand

books to raise funds for local charities.

The bookshop is being set up by local

businessman, Alasdair Corbett, also the

owner of Easter Greens, a vegan grocery

store on Easter Road. The shop will be

run mostly by volunteers, supported by a

paid shop manager, and will rely on

donations of books from the public. Each

month the shop will support a different

local charity by donating most of its

profits directly to them.

Over the last few months Alasdair has

been raising money through a

GoFundMe campaign and has now

secured premises on Great Junction

Street to set up the shop. It has already

been fitted out, with volunteers helping

to build and install the 36 bookcases.

Tables and chairs have been set up too as

the bookshop will also be serving teas,

coffee and vegan pastries from local

supplier Breadwinner Bakery.

POSITIVE REACTION

Announcing the new location for the

bookshop on Twitter there was a lot of

excitement with the tweet receiving over

300 likes and users commenting things

like “Ooh yay!” and “Great news.” Another

user commented that “a community

bookshop is something that Leith

really needs”.

Now that the refurb is more or less

complete, the next stage is to get enough

books to fill the shop after it opens.

Alasdair is asking people in Edinburgh

to donate their books to the shop during

September so that when they open they

can raise as much money as possible for

their first charity of the month. And they

have chosen Edinburgh Children’s

Hospital Charity as the initial beneficiary.

You can donate your books by dropping

them off at the shop most days between

10am-4pm. Call them first on 0131 378

5589 to make sure someone is there.

Address: 179-181 Great Junction Street,

Edinburgh EH6 5LQ

http://www.edinburghcommunitybookshop.org

By KIRSTY LEWIN

VIE VELO tandem riders are stoking up

interest as they hit the Edinburgh streets in

their bright pink club kit. The organisation is a

cycling club for blind and partially sighted

people, with a sighted person riding in the pilot

position at the front of the tandem.

Tandem riding is all about trust. Trust is

crucial when you’re visually impaired, riding as

a stoker on the back of the tandem, especially if

you have not met the pilot before. The stoker

relies on the riding and communication skills

of the sighted pilot. That is why new pilots at

the club try out the stoker role at their training

sessions. They need to experience it for

themselves to get a sense of how it feels.

Of course, tandem riding with VIE Velo

involves far more than trust. On their regular

thirty-mile trips, riders enjoy companionship,

conversation, fresh air, bird song, a physical

work-out, and freedom. Shona Black, one of

the club founders, talks about her massive grin

when she’s out as a stoker, especially going up

steep hills. This love of riding uphill is,

apparently, not shared by everyone.

Ken Reid, Chair of VIE Velo and a founding

member, says he particularly enjoys getting out

into West Lothian to discover new territory. He

also enjoys feeling the airiness riding across the

Forth Road Bridge without vehicular traffic,

the sound of the gulls, and the long downhill

runs. The cake and coffee stops, beloved by all

cycle clubs, provide a great opportunity to chat

to the rest of the group.

The club encourages riders to vary their

partnerships so that stokers do not ride

regularly with the same pilots. Imogen

Williams, a pilot in the club, stresses the

need for good communication between

the two cyclists.

Pilots ask their stokers how they like to cycle

to ensure they have a great experience. The

stoker might want a running commentary of

sites and colours on the route, or they may

prefer essential communication only, for

example stopping and starting, turning left or

right, warnings about rough surfaces, and

changes in gradient.

Club rides depart from Saughton Park in

Edinburgh on the first Saturday and third

Sunday of every month. There are also

fortnightly evening rides on Wednesdays in the

summer. Riders enjoy trips in Edinburgh and

the Lothians as well as Fife. There are excellent

routes, but The City of Edinburgh Council

could make the rides even more comfortable

by removing chicanes and improving many

road surfaces.

VIE Velo was set up in 2018 with the support

of Cycling UK. Funding has been provided by

the RS Macdonald Charitable Trust and

Transport Scotland. The club currently has

thirteen tandems. If you are over sixteen, and

would like to try out a pilot role, or a stoker

role if you’re blind or partially sighted, do get

in touch with VIE Velo. They’re a friendly

welcoming group. The club would also

appreciate financial donations, as it has to buy,

maintain and insure its fleet while keeping the

cost affordable for its members.

Contact [email protected] or

visit http://www.facebook.com/VieVelo.edinburgh

to find out more.

By STEPHEN RAFFERTY

PORTOBELLO CHURCHES are

throwing open their doors to offer

a “warm space” for local residents

worried about the cost of living

crisis and massive rises in

energy prices.

The initiative will run from

4 October with churches and a

community centre partnering to

offer people a place to meet amid

real concerns over impending rises

in gas and electricity tariffs.

Glenn Innes, Pastor of Portobello

Baptist Church, started the project

and has enlisted church colleagues

in the seaside town to open

doors throughout each week.

Those taking part include

Portobello Joppa Parish Church,

St Mark’s Church, and Bellfield

community hub.

Pastor Innes said: “While on the

face of it Porty has become a very

wealthy community we know that

is not true for a lot of people, and

the reality of massively increasing

costs of living means some have a

genuine fear of how they are

going to pay their bills.

“We have space in our church

which is right on the High Street

and is easily accessible for people,

and we thought it would be

nothing for us to use some of our

resource to open up two days a

week to create a warm space.

“Our space will be warm in

terms of keeping physically warm,

but even before the pandemic

loneliness was an issue for a lot of

people, so if folk can come in and

sit down and there are other

people there, there might be

some other benefits that come

from this.”

The Warm Space scheme is open

to anybody – including those who

work from home who may want to

break out of their normal routine.

Pastor Innes added: “I am very

conscious there are probably folk

in Porty who are now working

from home and who don’t get paid

an arm and a leg. They may be able

to afford to live in Porty but if it’s

going to cost them a fortune to

put the heating on every day, they

might welcome the opportunity to

pop out somewhere to work in a

warm environment.”

• Portobello Baptist Church, Tues
  and Thurs 2-4pm, Wed 10-noon


• St Mark’s, Wednesdays


• Portobello Joppa, Mondays


• Bellfield, Fri 10-12.30pm