Shelter Scotland Social Housing Campaign

Are you passionate about social housing and would like to see more being built in Scotland? Nearly 15,000 people have signed Shelter Scotland’s petition calling for more social housing. Build Scotland’s Future aims to get all the major political parties standing at next year’s Scottish Parliament elections to commit to building 37,100 social homes.

You can sign a copy of the petition by clicking here. You can also sign in one of the seven Shelter shops in Edinburgh. These are situated in Corstorphine, Morningside, Dalry, Stockbridge, Nicholson Street, Tollcross and Forrest Road. To find out more, please get in touch with Susie Rose by emailing Susie_Rose@shelter.org.uk or phone 0344 515 2442

ETF E-Newsletter | October 2020

ETF E-Newsletter October 2020

Edinburgh Tenants Federation’s First Virtual Members’ Meeting deemed a success

Edinburgh Tenants Federation’s (ETF’s) first online virtual meeting for members held on Wednesday 23rd September 2020 has received plenty of positive feedback from those who attended. The meeting entitled ‘ETF, COVID-19 and beyond’ allowed members to find out more about ETF’s activities during lockdown, hear about the work of ETF member groups and to discuss ETF, member group and tenant priorities for the future.

Some of the priorities for ETF’s members included:
• More social housing needs to be built in Edinburgh;
• Council rents need to be affordable;
• Ensuring repairs are carried out first-time and correctly;
• Dealing with Anti-Social Behaviour.

ETF’s Convenor Betty Stevenson commented, “ It was great to be able to hold our first online virtual meeting for our members and I enjoyed being able to see a lot of familiar faces for the first time in many months. The meeting allowed our members to discuss priorities for moving forward and I was impressed with the range of topics that were being discussed. We will be working hard to take these issues forward.”

ETF staff and the board are working hard in preparation for our Annual General Meeting, which is scheduled to take place on Friday 27th November 2020 via zoom. You can find out more about the work of ETF at www.edinburghtenants.org.uk.

People Know How

Delivering their 500th device
People Know How have delivered their 500th device as part of their Computer Delivery project.

Digital exclusion
The Scottish charity People Know How began Computer Delivery when lockdown began, refurbishing donated devices and delivering them to people in Edinburgh and East Lothian experiencing digital exclusion, in partnership with Venture Scotland. The project grew popular quickly, demonstrating the effect that lockdown has had in revealing the prevalence of digital exclusion in our communities.
Thanks to donations and the support of their volunteers, they have been able to deliver 500 devices, and are on track to deliver 1,000 by the end of the year. To mark this special occasion, they invited Ben Macpherson, MSP for Edinburgh Northern & Leith, to make the delivery to one of his constituents.

Meeting the Digital Champions
First stop was 525 Ferry Road as Ben Macpherson stopped by to meet the Digital Champions outside People Know How’s main office. Digital Champions volunteer their time to refurbish and deliver donated devices and provide follow-up phone calls for device set-up and support. Some also take part in People Know How’s operation of the Connecting Scotland national helpline, offering phone support for people across the country who have received a device from Connecting Scotland. Ben Macpherson discussed the projects with Digital Champions Paul and Ruairidh, alongside project coordinator Nigel and Venture Scotland’s CEO David.

The delivery
After coming by the office building, Nigel met Ben Macpherson in Leith, where Mark, the 500th recipient, awaited his delivery of a laptop and keyboard. With the parcel safely in hand, Mark and Ben Macpherson discussed what life had been like under lockdown in this constituency, including finding access to hot meals in the local area. Mark also mentioned he was excited to open his new device to play games and most importantly to video call friends and family abroad.

Ben Macpherson commented, “It’s remarkable that People Know How have delivered 500 devices and it’s great to see the work actively reaching people in the community. I’m very grateful to everyone involved for all they’ve done to help and empower so many people in these challenging times.”

Looking towards the 1,000th delivery
Now that they’ve delivered their 500th device it’s onto People Know How’s next goal of delivering 1,000 devices. After a large donation from HSBC they now have the number of devices they need to meet this next milestone and they can’t wait to keep refurbishing, delivering and providing support in the community.
People Know How would like to thank those who have donated, funded and made this project possible, including individuals and organisations such as Good Things Foundation, National Lottery, University of Edinburgh, HSBC, Change Recruitment Group, Venture Scotland, Inverclyde Community Development Trust, Parabola, The Clothworkers’ Foundation, Scran Academy, Edinburgh Remakery and the Cordis Trust.

To find out more or to get involved please visit www.peopleknowhow.org/computer-delivery.

Claudia Baldacchino
Graphic Designer & Communications Officer, People Know How

Update from Scottish Human Rights Commission

Housing Rights and COVID-19
In recent months the Scottish Human Rights Commission has been working hard to highlight areas of human rights concern during the COVID-19 pandemic, and to constructively engage with how rights can inform Scotland’s recovery in the months ahead. Human rights law provides both a set of agreed standards and a way to orientate law and policy making in complex and challenging times like these.

Here are some of our key COVID-19 policy briefings:
Care Homes and Human Rights
Prisons and Human Rights
Police use of temporary powers
The Right to Food
The Right to Housing
The Right to Social Security
Evidence to Scottish Government’s Advisory Group on Economic Recovery
Evidence submitted to the Scottish Parliament Inquiry into COVID-19 and Human Rights

We are also finalising a monitoring report on social care, human rights and COVID-19, which we will publish in the coming weeks.

Looking ahead, the Commission has called for and welcomes the Scottish Government’s commitment to a human rights based approach to a public inquiry into the handling of the pandemic, including what happened in care homes.

We are also calling on the Scottish Government to take a rights-based approach as we plan for economic recovery and social renewal. This should include pressing ahead with incorporating economic, social, cultural and environmental rights into Scotland’s laws so that we have a robust framework for the future. The work of the National Taskforce for Human Rights Leadership is crucial to this. The continued development and implementation of Scotland’s National Action Plan for Human Rights will also be key to ensuring that people’s rights are realised in practice, particularly when it comes to addressing inequalities of access to rights that COVID-19 has highlighted.

You can find out more about our COVID-19 work on our website or by emailing us at hello@scottishhumanrights.com.

Scottish Human Rights Commission
August 2020

Why tenants’ groups need volunteers to succeed

My name is Paul Vaughan and I’m currently the Chair of Gateside Tenants and Residents Association (GTRA) in Kirkliston.  Our Registered Tenant Organisation is very active and we work throughout the year.  When we finish one project then it’s the start of another. It’s the same with other RTOs and community groups throughout Edinburgh, but in out work with GTRA, we have found it challenging at times.

Although most RTOs and community groups have good committees, it’s often not enough.  That’s why they often depend on volunteers from the community to make things happen.  If they don’t get enough volunteers and helpers then events may need to be cancelled.  people often sit back and think to themselves, it’s ok, there will be enough people to cover certain events, but in many cases it’s a struggle to recruit volunteers.

You are being pushy by offering to help out in any way you can, even if it is just offering to help make a cup of tea.  RTOs like GTRA and community groups depend on volunteers in order to be successful.  If you have never done volunteering before then I would definitely recommend it.