This page contains current news and events items. Please send us any news and forthcoming events that would be of interest to the network, by email to: jenny@trellisscotland.org.uk. Older items are archived at: archive.

August  2010

Planning Aid Scotland

Planning Aid Scotland launches a  New Mentoring Scheme to help community groups take advantage of their local resources in areas such as renewable energy, community centres and allotments. For more information please email Robert Patrick, Mentoring Co-ordinator on rob@planningaidscotland.org.uk or call him on 0131 220 9739.

Scots to focus on Support as 'see me' launches national photography competition

We use photos to capture the most important moments in our lives: family occasions; time spent with friends; images of those closest to us. We also snap views, animals, random shots – whatever makes us happy or thoughtful.

‘see me’ is Scotland’s national campaign to end stigma and discrimination of mental ill health. We know that minds are changed with pictures as much as words.

Our annual photo competition brings together your pictures alongside your thoughts about mental health and wellbeing. Could you be one of our 2010 national winners?

Enter here at  http://www.seemescotland.org.uk/getinvolved/photography-competition

July  2010

Graham Miller is hosting a photographic exhibition opening on the 2nd of July at Birnam Arts and Conference Centre. In this personal project he has been photographing workers who are recovering from severe and/or enduring mental illnesses in the Walled Garden within the grounds of Perth's Murray Royal Hospital. Through the project "The Most important people in the World: Honesty" he is seeking to address the stigma attached to mental illness while reminding those affected of their importance to society.

June  2010

Annual Scottish Allotments Conference 2010: Thinking Outside The Plot

 Day 1: Friday June 18 2010 at the Parish Halls, 266 George St, Glasgow

Day2: Saturday June 19 2010 at Victoria Halls Dunblane

 Interest in allotments, community and therapeutic gardens and orchards, meanwhile and guerrilla gardening (‘community cultivation’) is growing rapidly in Scotland. Since COSLA published ‘Allotments in Scotland: Guidance notes for Scottish Councils’ in 2008, over 80 new allotment associations have formed across Scotland, five Councils have allotment strategies and many more are consulting with local people. Community cultivation is about more than spades and vegetables – it is about growing healthy and sustainable communities.  Community groups, Third Sector agencies and politicians are increasingly aware of the benefits that these activities can bring to health, well being, adaptation to climate change, education and biodiversity agendas. This Scottish Allotments and Gardens Society (SAGS) conference aims to raise awareness of these benefits at a senior level within the Public Sector.

This year, SAGS are experimenting with a conference run over two days, in two distinct venues.  The first day, Friday June 18th, will be held in Glasgow at the Parish Halls, hosted by Glasgow City Council. This session concentrates on the strategic issues related to the development, protection and funding of allotment sites. This session should be of interest to senior decision makers interested in finding out how support for allotments can help to meet goals in the areas of sustainability, public wellbeing, community regeneration... and how to implement this support in a practical way.

The second day, Saturday June 19th will be held in the Victoria Halls Dunblane with MSP's to give the view from parliament, experienced speakers to talk about practical matters and the popular workshop sessions. This will be followed by the SAGS AGM.

More information including the programme and booking form for both days of the conference are available at www.sags.org.uk.

Captured on camera - Community activity sought!

Would you like free professional photographs of your event or community activity?  Would you like photographs of your community activity to appear on a national website and in national publications?  Then look no further…

CHEX’s parent organisation, Scottish Community Development Centre (SCDC), is currently rebranding and we are looking to capture our shared vision for an active, inclusive and just Scotland - where our communities are strong, equitable and sustainable - through a series of photographs to be used on the SCDC and CHEX websites and in our publications and resources. We would like to invite community projects, volunteers and local partnerships carrying out community activities to be part of these photographs. In turn, you will receive a set of professional photographs for your own use, as well as publicity via acknowledgement of your project (where possible) when the photographs are used. 

We would like to capture activities taking place soon and, hopefully, we can catch the summer sunshine in them too!  So, if you are interested, please contact Olivia Hanley by e-mailing olivia@scdc.org.ukby Friday 4 June 2010. Projects will be selected on a ‘first come, first served’ basis. 

For further information on SCDC, please visit www.scdc.org.uk.

May 2010

“Learning for Citizenship & Independent Living” - GDA Learning Festival 2010

Wednesday 26 May 2010, 12.45pm to 3.45pm

Thistle Hotel, Cambridge Street, Glasgow

 A free, half-day conference organised by Glasgow’s largest groundswell of disabled members, Glasgow Disability Alliance, to launch the 2010 Learning Festival. Funded by the Big Lottery and Glasgow City Council, the Festival will celebrate the role of learning in empowering disabled people to be full and active citizens, living independent lives and fulfilling their potential.  It will also introduce the United Nations Convention on the Rights of Disabled People and offer workshops on this.  The conference aims to:

• increase awareness of the barriers facing disabled people in realising their rights and responsibilities as full & active citizens
• increase awareness of the important role which learning and personal development play in relation to disabled people accessing choices and living full and independent lives
• promote learning for all including workshops about disabled peoples’ human rights under the United Nations Convention on the Rights of Disabled People (UNCRDP) and a focus on what organisations need to take account of in relation to rights contained within the Convention.

 The event is free and open to all individuals within partner agencies and organisations interested in finding out about the work of Glasgow Disability Alliance, the UNCRDP and how their own work might contribute to promoting the human rights of disabled people. For more information or to book a place, please call 0141 556 7103 or e-mail Shirley Coull, Administration & Communications Officer,

Glasgow Disability Alliance at shirleycoull@gdaonline.co.uk.

A Plant Sale will be held at the Horticulture Project, Royal Edinburgh Hospital on Thursday 27 May from 10.30 to 2.30pm. For details call 0131 537 6232. 

If you are in Orkney on 31st May you may wish to go along to the Network Meeting in The Garden Rooms, King Street Halls, Kirkwall 2.30 pm - 4pm or 7pm - 9pm . Space is limited so please book ahead See here for details.