Community life going strong

I was able to get back to Edinburgh on Thursday to attend two important community events. the first was the opening of the Community Flat in Persevere Court, which will serve the whole Leith Community. It aims to offer a wide range of services, including advice and drop-in sessions on benefits and community health issues. The staff are keen and enthusiastic, and I've no doubt that the flat will be a real benefit to the local community. They've asked me to publicise their Barbecue, which their holding at Persevere Court outside the flat on Saturday May 12th 1 pm to 4 pm (all welcome - details from 555 6042). As well as the BBQ, they'll have some information about their plans for a community garden.

Later on, I went to the AGM of the Pilton Central Association (PCA) at the West Pilton Neighbourhood Centre. The PCA has been a key community organisation in the area for more than 50 years, and it's still going strong. A particularly poignant part of the evening was the annual presentation of the Rose Bowl to mark a local person's contribution to the community - poignant because the Bowl had originally been donated by Agnes Laidlaw who had been one of the founder members of the PCA back in 1954, and this AGM was for the first time without Mrs Laidlaw who had died during the course of the year. The Bowl was presented this year to Betty McVay, who herself has been at the centre of community life in West Pilton, and further afield, for many years.