The Edinburgh Reporter February 2023

8 NEWS

Poarty heroes

By PHYLLIS STEPHEN

A NEW CHAIR has been appointed by the

Board of Trustees at The Queen’s Hall. Dr

Nigel Griffiths, the former MP for

Edinburgh South, has been chair for the

last decade, and now steps aside in favour

of Rosamund West.

Dr West is Editor-in-Chief and Managing

Director of Radge Media which is the

publisher of the cultural magazine, The

Skinny. She holds an honorary doctorate

from the University of Edinburgh for

services to cultural journalism.

Rosamund will bring a great deal of

knowledge of the country’s cultural

landscape to the role and shares The

Queen’s Hall’s aim to reflect the diverse

audiences it serves.

She said,:“It’s an honour to step into the

role of Queen’s Hall Chair, and an exciting

time to join the team. The challenges of

recent years have tested organisations

across the cultural sector, and the way the

board and management team have

steered the Hall through is a testament to

them both as an organisation and as

individuals. Nigel leaves behind an

impressive legacy, with an organisation

ready to build on recent successes with

exciting new programming and projects.

I’m looking forward to working with Evan

and the rest of the team to help build on

this legacy going forwards.”

EXCITING TIMES

Evan Henderson, Chief Executive of The

Queen’s Hall says, “I’m looking forward to

working with Rosamund on the next

chapter of The Queen’s Hall. This is an

exciting time in our history, with world-

class artists having the chance to once

again perform to live audiences, and the

opportunity for us to curate new strands

and give opportunities to Scottish artists.

I’d also like to thank our outgoing Chair,

Nigel Griffiths, and outgoing Board

member Fiona Salzen, both of whose

commitment and invaluable support

helped us to successfully steer through the

challenge of the pandemic and beyond.”

This marks an exciting time in the

history of the 43-year-old venue, which

re-opened after the pandemic with a

reconfigured foyer space, which hosted

the award-winning AMPLIFI series of gigs,

curated by We Are Here Scotland to

showcase the sounds of modern Scotland

and give a platform for black artists and

musicians of colour.

The appointment took effect from

16 December.

New Chair at

Queen’s Hall

Incredible Atlantic crossing generates £30,000 boost to two local charities

Allan Shedlock

By OLIVIA THOMAS

CAPITAL THEATRES, the charity

which runs the King's Theatre say

that there is now a real urgency to

their fundraising to save the Old

Lady of Leven Street. The City of

Edinburgh Council was

unsuccessful in its bid to the UK

Government's Levelling Up Fund.

Some £26 million has already

been raised by the charity but the

remaining £8.9 million must be

found soon so that the building

may be signed over to the

contractors and the work allowed

to begin.

Fiona Gibson CEO of Capital

Theatres said: “This really is the

last chance saloon for the King’s.

It’s been a long road planning

and fundraising for the capital

redevelopment of the King’s

Theatre to turn it into both a

thriving community hub, fully

accessible to audiences and

performers, and a world class

venue, while maintaining its

history and heritage. Nearly all

the original capital cost estimate

of £26 million to transform the

King’s is in place thanks to grants

from The Scottish Government,

City of Edinburgh Council and the

National Lottery Heritage Fund,

generous donations from our

patrons and donors, companies

and trusts as well as Capital

Theatres’ own contribution.

We are incredibly proud of

the collective effort to reach

this figure.

"If the money is not found in

the next few weeks, the last

opportunity for us to greenlight

the project, the King’s could close

its doors forever. We have to fight

for its survival.”

King’s Theatre in dire need of renovation funding

By STEPHEN RAFFERTY

BOAT FOR SALE. Five careful owners.

Three thousand (nautical) miles on the clock.

Starts first time. Ideal vessel for raising funds

for local charities.

Back on dry land, the crew of Atlantic Body

& Soul are ready to bid a fond farewell to the

Rannoch 45 boat which carried them through

foul weather and massive waves on an epic

transatlantic voyage from the Canary Islands to

Antigua in the West Indies.

The Portobello crew completed the Talisker

Whisky Atlantic Challenge in a commendable

39 days despite losing power at one point and

having to hand steer overnight in pitch dark

while they battled to remedy the problem.

Now Sean Watters, Matt Callis, Ed van der

Ven, Alec Martin and Cal MacAninch - all

members of Eastern Amateur Coastal Rowing

Club - are taking a well-earned breather before

returning to the calmer waters of the Firth

of Forth.

The six week voyage has so far raised

more than £30,000 for charities Body & Soul,

which supports people of all ages who have

experienced trauma in childhood, and Leith’s

The Junction, a safe, confidential centre

offering support for young people in Edinburgh

aged 12-21.

Actor Cal MacAninch, who has starred in

Downton Abbey, Line of Duty and Trigger

Point, said the trip had not been without its

challenges and at times all five were physically

and mentally struggling.

He said: “Most rowers who are sitting for

hours rip the skin or get a rash on their bum.

Unfortunately I ripped the skin on my bum on

the very first day, so I had to endure it for six

and a half weeks. You also get blisters on your

hands, and the waves cause the oars to smack

off your shins which is incredibly painful,

so I was bruised and cut and in constant pain.”

Cal’s fellow crew all suffered similar issues

and he admits that at times they relied on

each to pull through. “You are in a very small

space and after a week everyone is starting to

break down mentally and physically. There were

moments of tension, because nothing is

normal anymore.

“Everyone has a different way of handing it.

You expect people to behave the same way but

you don’t because you’re all in breakdown, until

you cope with that as a crew.

“If we did something wrong, we apologised

and moved on. Psychologically, it’s so hard, so

intense, but you get through those moments

and work together and come out better and

stronger as a team. We tried to have as much

kindness, care, and patience with each other as

possible, even though you’re really hurting and

you just want everyone to go away.

“At one point, I was trying to think of ways to

get off the boat. So when we were over the

finishing line we embraced each other and it

was heartfelt because we had been through

such a lot together.”

The Porty pals were welcomed into English

Harbour in Antigua to the sound of the pipes

• the crew of a superyacht had spotted the
  Saltire flying and blasted out the AC/DC song
  It’s A Long Way To The Top which features the
  pipes, then a member of the crew appeared
  with a set of bagpipes.
  “They saw the Scottish flag and played the
  pipes for us, it was absolutely fantastic,” said
  Cal. “There was lot of cheering and fireworks
  being set off and as we crossed the finish line it
  was quite emotional to be honest.”
  After a brief holiday in the Caribbean sun,
  the team are now back home in Edinburgh
  and are preparing to take up oars again but
  Cal is waiting to see – “it depends if my bum
  has healed.”

Rosamund

West

Atlantic Body & Soul crew

celebrate on the finishing line