Trishna Singh outside the new cafe at 122-4 Leith Walk [pictures Nick Gardner]
You can’t miss the Punjabi Women’s Kitchen. Sandwiched between fast food outlets in multicultural Leith Walk, the bright orange shop front promises home made traditional Punjab cuisine. Above the door a sign declares nothing less than empowerment for women. Continue reading “Recipes for success in the Punjabi Women’s Kitchen”
CHANGE – a theatre project during the General Election
Saturday 10th April 10am-1pm, Pilmeny Youth Centre, FREE
So what do we mean by change? Can we do more to change things than just voting every four or five years? With questions like these, Leith-based theatre company ACTive Inquiry invites local people to help create a piece of real-life theatre exploring change for performance and debate – deliberately timed to coincide with the General Election campaign. Continue reading “Defining change in the theatre of politics”
Take your seats? Creative Commons picture of the debating chamber by gnomonic
Monday 10.15 am at the Scottish Parliament – we clear security and head ‘backstage’ to the MSPs offices where Sarah Boyack is printing out her diary for the week. Since there is nothing confidential in there she lets us have a quick peek: lots of meetings both in and out of the parliament but the day starts with an inroduction to David Ng Hop. And that of course is why we are here. Continue reading “Shadowing a shadow in the Scottish Parliament”
Politicians, preoccupied with political rivalry, can forget the most important thing – the needs of people they represent
Read Ola Kasprzak’s fascinating and forthright report of her experience of shadowing two politicians in the Scottish Parliament and City of Edinburgh Council – she says they changed her negative opinion of politicians but her conclusions should be read by anyone standing for election this year. Or any other year. Continue reading “Politics out of the shadow”
Holidays are great but they can get in the way of a good story. A tantalising text from Alice brings news of the world cafe event on Friday. Unfortunately the cafe is in North Edinburgh Arts Centre and we (or at least some of the Leith Open Space Group) are in Amsterdam. Continue reading “All the world’s a kitchen (in Leith)”
Racing for life: picture by Nick Gardner
What is an active citizen? If I was being very flippant I would say it is the kind of person who comes out on a Saturday morning to talk about the big news stories of the day. No, not just talk. Active citizenship in the ACTive Inquiry sense means moving, listening, looking, feeling and doing. At one point I found myself crouching on the floor connecting with the lives – and deaths – of people thousands of miles away. Continue reading “Meet Jo (or Joe) the active citizen”
Spot the poetry in St Andrew Square?
Sadly, we missed the event in Leith last week when performance poet Mark Thompson carried poetry to the Library, for an evening about life and learning with adult learners and tutors from CLAN Edinburgh. But there’s still two weeks to go in the Carry a Poem campaign with free events all round town – not least the snowdrop walks in the Botanics every Tuesday, Thursday and Saturday in February. And look for the poetry planted in St Andrew Square. Continue reading “Carry a poem all around town”
“Immigration is one topic that concerns everybody in the UK.” Mohammed Akram
Here is an organisation that is clearly not afraid to tackle a difficult topic. To celebrate 20 years of working for racial equality, the Council of British Pakistanis (Scotland) has chosen the thorny subject of UK immigration control for their conference on Tuesday 9th February. Speakers include representatives of the UK Border Agency in Scotland, Pakistan and Afghanistan. Places still avsilable! Continue reading “Edinburgh Pakistani conference on UK immigration policy”
Zawadi, African women’s choir at the Diversity event in West Lothian.
“It’s getting busy,” emails Agnes Holmes in her new year greeting from Africa Centre Scotland. As always the diary is full of events and activities which is why ACS is looking for volunteers to join the management committee. Specially welcome are people skilled in money matters, media and marketing. If you have time and experience to offer, please contact info@africacentrescotland.org.uk by 12th February.
Continue reading “Volunteers wanted at Africa Centre Scotland”
Are we really heading for a future of conflict between Islam and the West? Is faith a cause of conflict or can religions help to promote world peace? A very topical interfaith event at Annandale Street Mosque on at 7.30 pm on Saturday 30th January invites you to grapple with some of the most challenging questions of our age – not least the argument which led to the so called ‘War on Terror’. Continue reading “Annandale Street Mosque: interfaith harmony or conflict?”
