Holiday Hubs – no solution yet

REPAIR (Edinburgh) Networks have issued an open letter which laments that they are in much the same position as they were a year ago.

The parents of children who are disabled or who have additional support needs have talked to the council endlessly about their need for Holiday Hubs – a vital lifeline in the care of their children which offers care during holiday time.

The group now believes that the service is being reduced and “mismanaged”. The letter which is signed by 36 parents outlines the process under which they believe the system has been slowly eroded. First there was a six week/five day a week provision during the school holidays, then it was reduced to a four day week, and then from six weeks to four and now three (per annum).

Assured that this was temporary, families were appalled to hear recently that the Holiday Hub would only run for three weeks in the 2025-26 school year.

The letter states how unworkable these reductions are: “We had to agree to this because the alternative was zero weeks for 120 families whose disabled children met Tier 1 criteria. This allocation equates to just 12 days of childcare, from 9am – 3pm, across the 13 weeks of school holidays. Moreover, some of the most complex needs families received no provision last school year due to being allocated unsuitable providers that were outwith their staffing capabilities. This is completely unacceptable.”

A Holiday Hub is a place for a child who is unable to access any other mainstream provision – but the service has recently been renamed as the Holiday hubs for children with ASN. Previously it was called Holiday hubs for children with disabilities. The parents group feel that the core purpose for which they Hubs were established has been altered “with the very users for whom the service was designed being written out”. The group also says that early steering group meetings were unminuted and discussions later misrepresented.

In the letter REPAIR say this situation is extremely disheartening and upsetting: “Despite complicated and stressful lives as parent carers of disabled children, many of us have given up countless hours of our unpaid time to collaborate with the Council in the Holiday Hubs steering group, ostensibly to improve the service. While we are relieved the service has been retained, we are left tired, upset, and angry to be in the same position we were last year, with reductions and uncertainty around allocations. We have lost faith and trust in the management of Holiday Hubs.”

Quite how this matter will be resolved is not yet clear, but there are going to be two meetings of the Education and Families Committee in the next few weeks, one on 4 November and one on 27 November. The papers are not yet published, but when they are REPAIR hope there will be at least one item on the agenda relating directly to them.

Read more about the campaign here.

Roads in Holyrood Park

On Saturdays and Sundays the roads in Holyrood Park are closed to vehicles all day from 8.15am until around 6.30pm. There is a rolling road opening and closure procedure adopted by rangers in the park so these times are approximate. Historic Environment Scotland advise that from 25 October roads will reopen by 3.45pm. The Duddingtson Low Road is now accessible once more although only to pedestrians and cyclists pushing their bikes as there is a barrier system in place on Samson’s Ribs. If anyone has accessed this then please send us photos and an account of your experience! At present Duddingston Low Road is closed to vehicles as HES believe there is still a risk of rocks falling on the roadway.

The High Road and Dunsapie Loch Car Park are open to vehicles from Tuesday to Thursday 9.30am to 3pm and there is a one way system for cyclists. This road was closed in August after a wildfire.

The Radical Road remains closed.

Paolozzi’s Master of the Universe has moved

The Paolozzi sculpture, Master of the Universe, which for the last quarter century has been on display outside the Modern Art Gallery has been moved into town.

It now has pride of place at the National Gallery. The move of the one tonne sculpture took two days to complete along with a crane. Dr Patricia Allerston, Deputy Director & Chief Curator of European & Scottish Art, National Galleries of Scotland said: “We wanted to bring the art outdoors and into the gardens at the National to spotlight that we are a gallery from the moment people arrive in the gardens. We wanted it to welcome people in and to show a snapshot of the incredible Scottish art on offer inside. Paolozzi seemed like a perfect choice for this spot, he was very much an artist who looked to the past as well as to the future, which is very much what we are about at the National Galleries of Scotland. He was also from Edinburgh, which seemed very fitting as he will now be looking out over the city and facing towards his hometown of Leith.”

The sculpture is based on a drawing by William Blake showing scientist, Isaac Newton. Paolozzi used the same pose but he mechanised the figure. He also used himself as a model.

Fundraising for a statue of Hugo the cat

In the West End Hugo was a legend. Hugo was an Arabian Mau, adopted by his owner Jane on the streets of Doha. When the family returned to Scotland, Hugo came with them, and from 2020 to 2023, Hugo owned the streets of the West End.

The Crowdfunder says: “Each day, he wandered through William Street and the surrounding lanes – visiting shopkeepers, offices, and local homes. He had his favourite spots for naps, meals, and shelter, and many residents and businesses welcomed him in, letting him curl up for the night.” Sadly Hugo was killed when he was involved in a hit and run. Current legislation does not make it an obligation on a vehicle driver to report such an incident if it involves a cat. The West End community would like that law changed.

Now there is to be a statue of the most famous cat to have lived in the area, created by sculptor Alan Beattie Herriot, and already almost half of the target sum has been raised on Crowdfunder.

Square Music back in Edinburgh this weekend

At Pianodrome Granton this weekend Square Music are back to entertain as part of the Stretto Piano Festival. This is a group of four pianists who sometimes play their experimental work all at the same time. Works to be performed will include Julius Eastman’s “Gay Guerilla”. Tickets here.

It is going to be a busy weekend for Tim and the gang at Pianodrome as they are also soft launching their new location at St Oswald’s in Bruntsfield. Read more about that here.

Founding Editor of The Edinburgh Reporter.
Edinburgh-born multimedia journalist and iPhoneographer.

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