Dear All

Please find my regular  Councillor’s report attached, which is timed to coincide with Portobello Community Council taking place tonight, Monday 26 January at  7.30pm.  It’s always on the last Monday of the month. Click to find out what’s on the agenda: : PCC Agenda  All are welcome to attend. This is the kind of thing they normally deal with – click on:  Portobello Community Council

East Neighbourhood Centre and Craigmillar Library are going to be closed on Saturday for essential building maintenance work. They plan to install two heat curtains in the entrance area of the building, and will need to replace the main power distribution board to accommodate it. This will mean an improved experience of the building for everyone, with a warmer and more inviting reception space.  To minimise disruption as much as possible, the building will be closed to the public on Saturday 7 February and will reopen as usual at 8:30 am on Monday 9 February. They will be advertising the closure in East Neighbourhood Centre and Craigmillar Library and surrounding libraries in the neighbourhood and city, as well as through online channels, including Facebook and Twitter.

I have been asked to let you know about Portobello Open Door (POD) Film Silent Movie Weekend on 13-14 February.  Tickets for their Silent Movie Weekend films are on sale now at Popeye’s Sandwich Bar, priced at £6 and £4 concession (U18/O60). They expect demand to be high and only have 100 tickets for each screening, so get your tickets early if you want to come along to these special evenings at the Wash House Community Centre, Adelphi Grove. 

Friday Feb 13th, 7.30pm
The Black Pirate starring Douglas Fairbanks

A tale of adventure on the high seas. An aristocrat joins a pirate crew in order to avenge the death of his father and, along the way, rescues a princess. This is the first major feature film to be made entirely in Technicolor.

Saturday Feb 14th, 7.30pm
One Week & Seven Chances starring Buster Keaton. 
One Week (short) – A couple have one week to build a house from an assemble-it-yourself pre-fab kit.

Seven Chances – Buster gets word that if he can be married by seven o’clock that evening, he will inherit $7 million.

Films accompanied by the Jane Gardner Trio, featuring Hazel Morrison (Percussion), Roddy Long (Violin) and Jane (Composer/Piano).

A message from Portobello’s own Mike Knox working on our local school community’s partnership with a community in Tanzania: “We have been working on a Computer Education, Coding and ICT Project for all the schools here with partnerships and have produced the attached document, which outlines the Project. We have set up a training programme for a small number of schools. This involves a member of staff having access to a laptop and in some cases an i pad and a small Pico projector. There is a weekly training course, which we have funded. Both teachers and pupils are aware that it will be essential to acquire these skills but opportunities are really limited. We would really like to be able to work with all members of staff in all the partner schools and with classes. Students do courses and examinations in ICT without having touched a computer! We would also like to pilot materials with St Ursula’s Primary and Secondary Schools who are willing to act as ‘demonstration schools’ and then support the other schools as they move forwards. You can see the schools, staff and pupils on the blog: Twende Pamoja Trust In due course we are hoping to secure some funding to develop this. However in the meantime I am writing to ask you if you could give us a Laptop, which you no longer use but which is working with a version of Windows –  from XP to Windows 8. And if Microsoft Office is installed that would be perfect. If I could get 15 Laptops then they could be used in classes on a 1 to 3/4 pupil basis and with the whole staff together. There are 8 teachers coming out to Tanzania in early February which means free, safe and soon transport. So if you can help and have a Laptop that you don’t need I would be very grateful.”  Let me know if you can help, and I can put you in touch with the Portobello team.

Concerned about unconventional gas extraction?  You may well already have heard about a public meeting being organised in Portobello Town Hall details have been widely circulated locally.  The next ‘Our Forth’ meeting is being organised in response to proposals to begin fracking in the Central Belt. This is a public meeting at Portobello Town Hall on 31 January 2-4pm. All welcome.

That’s all for now.  I have a number of queries from individuals from last week which I am following up.  But don’t hesitate to get in touch if you think I can help.

Best wishes

Maureen

Councillor Maureen Child | Labour Elected Member | Portobello/Craigmillar (Ward 17) | City of Edinburgh Council | City Chambers | High Street | Edinburgh | EH1 1YJ | Tel 0131 529 3268 | Mobile 07718 666 481|Twitter @MaureenChild1

p.s. My face-to-face Councillor Advice Sessions, or ‘Surgeries’, are usually every Monday at 5.30 pm in Castleview Community Centre, 76 Craigmillar Castle Avenue (Phone 661 4064) and then at 7 pm in Portobello Library, 14 Rosefield Avenue (Phone 529 5558).  Now also at Craigmillar Library, 101 Niddrie Mains Road, EH16 4DT, 1st Wednesday of the month, drop-in session 5pm-5.30pm, thereafter by appointment only up until 7.30pm. Please phone me on Direct Line 0131 529 3268 or Mobile 07718 666 481, or email maureen.child@edinburgh.gov.uk to check availability, make an appointment or request a home visit.