March Members Update
BELLFIELD UPDATE – March 2021
Corona Anniversary
This time last year Covid caused us to close our doors. In November we thought we would begin opening by the end of 2020, yet today we are still closed.
All the Covid preparations we undertook before Christmas mean we have Covid safe guidelines to go through with each hirer once we can reopen.
We hope we can reopen to Quakers and Edinburgh Youth Theatre in April, and then be bringing back former regular users one at a time. While we have not firmed up a timescale on re-opening Bellfield to one-off and occasional users, we'll be watching regulations keenly to see if postponed weddings can go ahead. Please send your booking queries to bookings@bellfield.scot, and we will take them on a first come, first served basis. We may well still be slow to respond, so please bear with us.
Thank You
Huge thanks to Ben McLeish, who has stepped down as a co-opted Board member. His invaluable business and strategic advice will be missed. We may well be chasing him up informally for more!
Wider Role for Action Porty?
Action Porty’s main focus has been to ensure Bellfield becomes a viable, vibrant and vital community resource. However, discussion with many other community venues and ventures identified a need for a strategic community-led organisation, like a development trust, for Portobello. As a result, we are exploring whether it would be useful to re-structure Action Porty to have one board focusing entirely on Bellfield, thus enabling the Action Porty board to take on a strategic role and deal with other community issues and concerns. We intend to organise a members’ meeting over the next few weeks to explain this idea in more detail and get feedback from our members.
If we are to take on this wider role, then it is essential it is in response to a clearly articulated community agenda. We are proposing to undertake ‘Porty 2025’, a community-wide process to reach all parts and identify WHAT folk’s key priorities, needs and visions are, and HOW we as a community can act on them to make them real. Rather than being yet another consultation to inform other bodies decisions about us, we hope we can collectively develop shared decision-making processes to enable us all to ensure the community’s priorities are realised - whether affordable housing, meaningful work, sustainable transport, health and care, leisure and playparks, a vibrant high street and Prom, etc.
Website Relaunch
On that theme our website had grown up organically telling the story of Action Porty and Bellfield. We’ve reworked it with more of a Bellfield focus, working with Molly Wilson Designs using funding from the Edinburgh City Council Neighbourhood grants, and with really helpful input from new Bellfield communications volunteer Nadira Tucker, to create this new site www.bellfield.scot.
AGM - 7pm on 31st May
The AGM will provide an opportunity to discuss our proposals for the future. Details to follow soon.
Community Garden News
Best places to get news of the Community Garden are on their Facebook page @bellfieldcommunitygarden or the new website Bellfield Community Garden | Bellfield
Attic Insulated!
The attic space in the Celebration Hall has been insulated with a double layer of Earthwool by Logical Insulation of Grangemouth, after preparatory works by local contractors Sean Mulligan and Steve Roy. This was funded by the Climate Communities Action Fund as the first step in making Bellfield as energy efficient as possible. Alongside developing solar PV generation and battery storage, this contributes to our playing our part in tackling the climate and ecological crises.
Asks
Swift Bird Boxes
Now that insulating the roof has been completed, we want to support the RSPB and the Swifts, we are looking for 3 Swift nest boxes to install around Bellfield. We hope to be able to source wood from pallets but will pay for any materials. reply to this, or emailAl@actionporty.com
Further info from the RSPB:
https://community.rspb.org.uk/ourwork/b/scotland/posts/we-re-making-edinburgh-a-swift-sanctuary-and-we-need-your-help
https://www.rspb.org.uk/get-involved/activities/give-nature-a-home-in-your-garden/garden-activities/createahighhomeforswifts/
Data Protection Advice
Does anyone have experience implementing a data protection policy? Action Porty are looking to review existing policies at Bellfield and would really appreciate input. We think it would be a short-term project, maybe a few hours over a few weeks?
Gifts by donation
Your generosity keeps us going. As a charity, we rely on your donations (one off or regular) to enable us to support Bellfield and make a difference to the Community of Portobello. Don’t forget that, in addition to gifts by donation, you can support Bellfield by considering making a gift in your will. This is very easy and straightforward. You can find out more about ways to donate here.
Lastly you can also support us each time you shop on Amazon. Of course we recommend shop local first but if you are buying from Amazon, then please use AmazonSmile at https://smile.amazon.co.uk/ch/SC047358, and Amazon donates to Action Porty, at no cost to you.
Till the next update,
Yours Aye
The Action Porty Board for Bellfield
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