Porty Podcast

Send us a textTED and TEDx events are celebrated the world over. They bring together interesting, informative and entertaining speakers to talk to a specific theme. This year's theme in Portobello was 'Restart the Machine'. It involved a group of nine speakers - some local, some from much further afield - to talk about how the direction of their lives had been dramatically changed...and how they coped.

Send us a textNext Friday - the 26th of May - Portobello Community Choir will be singing at a concert held at St Mark's Church. The choir, which is about three years old, attracts a wide range of people, brought together by a love of singing - and the fact they don't need to be able to read music! Their repertoire is very varied - as the Porty Podcast discovered when we went along to a rehearsal.

Send us a textThere has been a spate of bike thefts in Portobello recently. It's something the police are all too well aware of. However, they are keen that the public help them to stop this kind of crime by making sure their bikes are suitably marked and recorded. The local beat officer, PC Matt McPherson, insists that, despite the bike thefts, a lot of other crimes are down and Porty remains a safe place to live!

Send us a textWho would steal trees from a community orchard? That's what Porty people want to know after six were stolen from the Donkey Field! They had been donated by another community venture. Six relatively rare trees.

Send us a textIf you are diagnosed with Parkinson's Disease and you live in Edinburgh, then count yourself lucky. The research into the disease going on at universities and hospitals is extensive and the support network better than many other parts of the country. So when Ken Bowler, a now-retired professor of physics at Edinburgh University and Porty resident, discovered that he had Parkinson's, he decided to get involved.

Send us a textFor Action Porty, this was vindication day - the day the Scottish Government confirmed the community right to buy. But now, the hard work really begins of turning the former Bellfield Church into a thriving community hub.

Send us a textThey meet on the last Monday of the month, providing a voice of the community to the Council, the Scottish Government and developers. First set up some 34 years ago, Portobello Community Council is today able to use modern technology to do the job it was set up to do - consult the community and reflect its views.

Send us a textPorty - the best place to live. That's being proved by the fact that more buildings in Portobello and surrounds have been entered for this RIAS Awards than any other single part of the country. Leading the way is Porty High School - but there are other, smaller gems as well.

Send us a textBeachcombing is a popular pastime for many people - but for Nicola McFarlane Young, it's more of a passion. She describes herself as a "Driftwood Artist" - and a highly successful one at that. She's down on Portobello Beach almost every day, hunting not just for driftwood but also for interesting shells and other objects. Her business, Beach Arts, was established six years ago and her work can be found in galleries across the country.

Send us a textA first for Portobello and Craigmillar - an online hustings! The local elections are taking place on the 4th of May and usually there would have been a town hall hustings. That's not taking place this year - so we're organising an alternative using Facebook Live on Thursday the 27th of April

Send us a textToday was a special day for the Porty Parkrun. Over 300 people turned up to mark its second anniversary. The events are free, weekly, 5km timed runs which take place around the world. They are held in pleasant parkland surroundings and the organisers, all volunteers, encourage people of every ability to take part; from juniors to those with more experience.

Send us a textPortobello has a long history - and the Heritage Trust is dedicated to telling that story. It was created with one project in mind - the rebuilding of the kilns near the beach - but there's more to Porty's Heritage than that. However, even the story of the potteries is missing some elements as we heard at the AGM.

Send us a textA lot of local people have been on tenterhooks, waiting for the result of the Bellfield Ballot. It's been a first for Scotland, using new legislation to organise a community buy-out of a local resource - in this case, a redundant church. A ballot of local residents was held - and the result was a resounding YES.

Send us a textThe Porty Organic Market has been running for several years now. Organised by PEDAL, it attracts a wide range of regular traders - and, this being the first market of the Spring, there was a healthy turnout. It's not just the purveyors of food and crafts who take stalls - we'll come back to them in a future episode. There are also campaigning organisations as well.

Send us a textPorty Prom isn't just a great place to enjoy the good weather. It's somewhere to get fit as well. There are all sorts of healthy activities to be found there, some using the beach as an outdoor gym. That's what today's podcast is all about.

Send us a textBig Things on the Beach was a BIG idea - to turn Portobello into a place where large-scale public art would make an impact. A charitable trust, it persuaded organisations such as the Scottish Arts Council (now Creative Scotland) to put up the money to commission artists - local and international - to create pieces which made people stop, look and think. Sadly, times have changed and Big Things will no longer be inviting people to look at temporary art works such as the Pyramid, three huge constructions made from sandbags! But it has left a legacy within the community.

Send us a textThe next few days will be critical in the campaign to save Bellfield Church for the community. On Monday, ballot papers will be going out - and there's a very short window of opportunity to mark and return them. The Scottish Land Fund may have given almost £650,000 to buy the building but without a strong 'yes' vote then the project could yet be stillborn. There's more at www.bellfield.scot

Send us a textMost of the local businesses in Portobello will know about the Shop Party Awards by now - but how many of their customers and clients know about them? There's a wide and diverse groups of businesses in the area, from the restaurants and bars down on the Prom to the specialist food shops like Williamson's the fishmonger, Breadshare and Findlay's the Butcher, from Cobbler's Bench, the shoe repair shop, to the new hardware store. It's all part of the diversity that makes Portobello a great place to live.

Send us a textIn the last few days,Turn2us' Edinburgh Trust has launched a new community funding programme for Edinburgh, asking “What can you do to help your community thrive?” Until now, the Trust has focused on providing financial support to people needing short term help for themselves and their families – and still does. But now, with the launch of a new Community Programme, the Edinburgh Trust are looking to fund projects that can provide more lasting and longer terms solutions to help improve lives, reduce poverty and get the best out of the people and resources in their community.

Send us a textAssassins Kickboxing club meets twice a week at Portobello - and twice a week at Easter Road as well. It attracts dozens of members of all ages - the youngest is just 4! The training focuses on fitness, stamina and skill and is as popular with women as men. But what actually happens at one of the sessions? We went along to find out.