Tenants Voice – September 2020

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.

Grant Application Form – Final

September 2020

This year’s Scottish Housing Day takes place on Wednesday 16th September. This year’s theme is ‘celebrating the impact that housing makes to the lives of people and communities across the country.’ If you have any thoughts/stories you would like to share and are happy be included in ETF’s response, please contact ETF’s Development Worker Mark Henry by emailing mark@edinburghtenants.org.uk or phone 07918 742468.

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