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Boldy oldies
By PHYLLIS STEPHENTHE EDINBURGH CHARITY VINTAGE
VIBES will celebrate its first decade on
International Older People’s Day with its
striking new campaign Ten Years Bold.
This is the charity which helps older
people to make real lasting friendships
in their later years with volunteers aged
from 17 to 93. The friendships are based on
mutual interests - from a love of Love Island
to learning computer games together.
The charity hopes the new series of
photographs will help to challenge the
stigma of ageing as well as help to raise vital
funds for the charity which tackles loneliness
among older people.
Ten Years Bold star Sheila, 85, who got
her first tattoo aged 70, said Vintage Vibesproved to be life changing. She said: “I like
to be different, but I became very depressed
when I was alone. I just absolutely love
Vintage Vibes. I’ve never looked back. It gave
me my life back.” About the Ten Years Bold
campaign shoot, Sheila said: “It was amazing,
I had no idea it was going to be like that. I
love my jacket, I love this colour. I started
to blossom again when I got involved in
Vintage Vibes.”
The campaign spotlights six remarkable
residents Sheila, Robin, George, Pat, Fay and
Norma whose lives have been transformed
by their involvement with Vintage Vibes
for friendship and advocacy. Each one of
the residents is in their 80s or 90s and their
photos will be used to spread a message of
resilience, joy, individuality and confidence.
Georgia Artus, Director of Vintage Vibes,Robin Norma SheilaGeorgePatFay
All photos: Robin Mair PhotographyCall for council to pay translation costs
By PHYLLIS STEPHEN
LOCAL COMMUNITIES are
prevented from being involved in the
planning process because the council
does not support the costs of printing
or translation of leaflets connected to
Local Place Plans (LPPs).
The council is now preparing the
City Plan 2040 and put out a call
to any “constituted group” to write
their own Local Place Plan. This
would help the council in producing
a plan for the whole city to reflect
public opinion. Some of those
groups are community councils. So
far two LPPs have been registered
- one for Wester Hailes and one for
Midmar Paddock.
At a recent Planning Committee
meeting, the Green group tried to
fix the problem, by asking that the
council would pay for “accessible
materials for community groups”
but they lost out at the vote - and
the Planning Convener said this was
“already happening”.
Community groups say that not
everyone in the area can take part
as English is not their first language
and so leaflets translated into other
languages are a necessity. According
to a recent FOI request around a
quarter of the residents of Gorgie/
Dalry speak a language other
than English. It appears that the
council will not make any financial
contribution to printing or translation
costs until council officers have
looked into the likely costs ahead of
budget-setting in February 2026.
Moira Mackirdy of Gorgie/
Dalry Community Council said:
“Gorgie Dalry is a diverse area,
and we want our local place plan
to be representative of our whole
community whether they have
internet access or speak English as
a first language or not. We need the
council to provide support to assist
with this goal.”
Cllr Alys Mumford said: “Everyoneis agreed that hearing community
voices in planning decisions is vital,
so it’s really disappointing that our
request to support local groups to
access translation services and other
accessibility measures was voted
down.
“Groups making Local Place
Plans – something the council asks
them to do to improve our work- should be supported to reach as
many people in their communities
as they can, and we know that
having information in a wide range
of formats and languages can help
with that. It is so disheartening
to hear councillors from other
parties claim to support access and
inclusion and then repeatedly fail
to take the tiniest steps towards
making this happen.
“At least the promise to have
information on including costs in
the upcoming budget decision
will allow us to see which parties
actually value community voices,
and who fails to prioritise measures
to help those furthest from
democracy to have their say.”
Planning Convener, Cllr Joan
Griffiths said: “We’re grateful for
the huge amount of time and
effort Community Councils all over
Edinburgh put into their Local Place
Plans. It’s important that they feel
supported to carry out this work
and we’re looking at how we can
improve this. There are many ways
community groups can take action
to make their plans as inclusive as
they can. Our officers can provide
advice and support on this.”
Cllr Ross Mackenzie Independent
councillor for Gorgie/Dalry said:
“I watched this item with interest
as I was aware that Gorgie
Dalry Community Council had
requested help with translation.
Sadly, it played out like so many
other decisions on this Council.
The Greens made a really strong
case, backed with evidence, inline with Council strategy, and
were supported by the SNP. The
Convener simply said “these things
are already happening” and voted
the proposal down with Tory and
Lib Dem support. These things are
not already happening – that’s why
a proposal was made and that’s
why there was a vote! The only
explanation for the Convener’s
confusion is that she had failed to
engage with the issue and simply
voted in line with officers and
Tories. This happens all the time. It’s
absolutely pathetic.”
According to the council website:
“Every place in Edinburgh is
different. Local Place Plans have
been brought in to reflect this. They
are a new type of plan introduced
by the Planning (Scotland) Act 2019.
Producing a Local Place Plan gives
you a chance to shape the future
of your local area by creating a
plan that addresses local needs or
concerns.”said: “This isn’t just a celebration. It’s a bold
call for change. To change perceptions of
older people and celebrate them as unique
and fantastic individuals. To change our
Vintage Vibes community by widening ourreach as we see more and more older people
in Edinburgh facing chronic isolation. To
change the story of a small local charity to
one that is even bolder, braver and more
inclusive in the years ahead.”