The Edinburgh Reporter April 2024

3

Craigroyston went eco

A journey to school camp turned into an environmental lesson

National Lottery comes up with funding for Oxgangs Community Centre

Funding secures

Filmhouse future

FILMHOUSE EDINBURGH the charity

behind reopening the cinema closed since

2022, are rejoicing that their application to

the UK Government Levelling Up fund has

been successful. The UK Government has

awarded £1.5 million to refurbish the

former church which will pay for new

comfortable seating and a small fourth

screen. Director Ginnie Atkinson said the

award was “beyond her wildest dreams”.

She said: “We hope to get underway in May

and it will take around five or six months to

do the work. Our small team could not

have done this without support from

Screen Scotland and Edinburgh Council.”

NATIONAL LOTTERY funding has

been secured for Oxgangs

Neighbourhood Centre, which was

founded in 1995. The charity

awarded the sum of £150,000 from

their Community Fund in Scotland.

Sue Webber MSP said: “I know

Oxgangs Neighbourhood Centre

very well and have attended many

good events there from Quiz Nights

to celebrations such as the

Coronation. But more importantly, it

is a vibrant hub in Oxgangs which

provides a place that is welcoming

to those in our community who may

feel vulnerable, isolated, or lonely. It

really does live up to its motto as ‘A

Centre For All’.”

Centre Manager, Dom Heslop, said:

“This is a great achievement. It

wouldn’t have happened without the

hard work of my staff and volunteers

who dedicate so much of their own

time to making such a success that

the Centre is for the community.”

Local Councillor and Chair of the

Centre, Jason Rust, added: “The

National Lottery has given our

Centre a much-needed financial

boost, so we are very grateful for

that, especially as we receive no

funding from local or national

government. It is a tribute to the

volunteers who have clearly

impressed our funders.”

Enjoying camp

Rebecca Favier headteacher

with some P7 pupils

By PHYLLIS STEPHEN

PUPILS AT AN EDINBURGH PRIMARY

SCHOOL cut out coach travel in favour of
more environmentally friendly train and boat
trips on their annual outdoor learning outing
to Benmore Centre near Dunoon.
Inspired by head teacher Rebecca Favier’s
plan to use her electric car to reach the
destination, 30 Craigroyston Primary pupils
devised an alternative plan which favoured rail
tracks and wave power instead of eating up
road miles on the bus.
For some pupils it was the first time they had
been on a train and for others it was their first
experience of a boat, but they all embraced the
opportunity to put classroom learning on the
environment into practice.
Head teacher Rebecca said: “The pupils plan
to feed back to the government about how easy
the travel was and also recommend any
improvements to the infrastructure as part of
real action to make real change based on their
real experiences. 
“We got really good support from our
outdoor learning service and they offered us a
tool where we could input different methods of
travel, and work out how many emissions we
could potentially save.
“It was really worthwhile because the
children loved being on the train and the ferry
and it didn’t take us any longer to get there. We
went a completely different way, and what an
amazing experience.
“It also brought the learning in the classroom
into the real world and it’s saying actually we
don’t just learn about these things in books or
on iPads, and actually we can all do something
that makes a big difference.”
One pupil, Anmol, said : “If we don’t take
these types of actions our planet won’t be the
same. We studied the pollution that we are
causing to our planet”, while classmate Adam

Let the train take the

strain

added: “We can use electric cars to make sure

none of the greenhouse gases affect the climate.

I really liked the train. You get four seats and I

could sit with my friends and talk to them.”

Since Craigroyston took their trip by train

their idea has been adopted by other Edinburgh

schools including Colinton Primary School who

tweeted their journey as it unfolded.

The activities at Benmore include making

beds on arrival, followed by night walks,

cross-country, canoeing, caving, gorge walking,

biking. The week always sets team and

individual challenges to take pupils and

teachers out of their comfort zone.

THE EDINBURGH REPORTER was

“Highly Commended” in The 2024

Newspaper Awards in association with

Fujifilm.

Up against 20 other contenders in the

Hyperlocal Newspaper of the Year

category, the judges said: “To succeed,

hyperlocal community newspapers have

to be tenacious and innovative and are

looking to constantly evolve.

“The category received entries from all

corners of the country and judges were

impressed with the high-quality of some

of the titles that rivalled more established

traditional, long-established weeklies.

“The Edinburgh Reporter does not

cram its pages, leaving space to breathe

and has a stunning front page format.

You can really feel the character of the

community through its pages.”

Newspaper

Awards - a result