Spotlight Magazine - Issue #1 - 2022

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Welcome to the first issue of Spotlight Magazine for 2022!

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groups in Kirkliston, Newton and Dalmeny to find a better balance to the magazine.

nce again we’ve had another uncertain start to the year. Sadly, the recent surge in Covid infections following the emergence of the Omicron variant affected the festive celebrations. It is difficult to write the first editorial of Spotlight in 2022 as a result.. Perhaps it is wise to simply say that where there is hope, there is life… and signs of life are in abundance in this community! The original plans for the front cover featuring Loony Dookers, may have been cancelled but I am delighted to welcome other water-borne heroes to the magazine. I am delighted to welcome the crew of RNLI Queensferry to Spotlight and to give them another platform to promote their work and attract support. Their mission to Save Every One is a noble cause and I know I speak for everyone in the community when I say we are proud to have the RNLI represented here.

A warm welcome to CVC Locksmiths, a fantastic local business and a returning advertiser. Callum is a great, hard working guy who would love to hear from you if you need anything for your home, or business.

Indeed, if you have a need for any of the products or services offered by our advertisers, please tell them you saw their adverts in Spotlight! It really does reassure the advertisers that their messages are being seen by our readers and their support makes this community magazine possible.

Finally, we have changed our publication schedule for 2022. Spotlight continues to evolve to adapt to an uncertain environment but also to meet the needs of the community and advertisers it serves. We have traditionally always released the digital and printed versions of the latest issue as close together as possible. From this issue onwards, we are trialling a schedule of publishing the digital version at the start of odd numbered months, with the printed version at the start of even numbered months. Deadlines for contributions remain the same – the last Friday of even numbered months for every issue!

Spotlight continues to work with our other community partners at Queensferry Parish Church, and the Queensferry & District Community Council to bring you news of what is happening in the area. In the last issue, we also reported on a new initiative, Queensferry Community Development Trust, and we can offer even more details in this issue. There are a lot of community events in the pipeline for 2022 and I hope Spotlight can be there to cover as many of them for you as possible. If you run an organisation or charity that would benefit from being featured in Spotlight, just drop us a line at spotlight@ wordsandpicturesUK.com and we’ll happily discuss your requirements. We’re still keen to hear from more

So, please submit your contributions for issue #2 by Friday 25th February at the very latest!

Alistair Pryde Spotlight Editor

Special thanks: Special thanks to all our contributors, contact details are listed with features where appropriate.

Advertising sales & enquiries: spotlight@wordsandpicturesUK.com

Whilst every care is taken to ensure the accuracy of this publication, Spotlight Magazine is not responsible for 3rd party content submitted in good faith from contributors. Due to Covid-19 restrictions in place, readers should check with advertisers directly before making bookings or purchases. Spotlight Magazine is a Words & Pictures publication. Write to us at 48 High Street, South Queensferry, EH30 9HN.

Back issues available online at: www.wordsandpicturesUK.com/Spotlight

Keep your stories coming: spotlight@wordsandpicturesUK.com

Cover picture: Lifeboat family fun day, August 2019 by Scotland on Camera Editorial & pictorial enquiries: alistair@wordsandpicturesUK.com

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Finding the Baby In 1995, during my annual pilgrimage to George Square in Glasgow to see the Nativity scene. I was shocked to the core – the reason? Someone had stolen the baby Jesus!

That week, the Herald reported the event as follows, “If the three wise men know anything, they are remaining remarkably stoney-faced about the whole affair. Right before their very eyes, someone stole the baby Jesus.

Glasgow found itself at the centre of one of the meanest thefts of the Christmas period. The life-size sculpture of the Child in the manger was stolen on Monday night from the nativity scene erected by the city's council in George Square.

All that was left was his bed of straw.

Mary and Joseph, the wise men, shepherds, assorted animals, and an angel continue to look mutely upon the scene.”

A sudden flashback of these events hit me on Boxing Day this year. I was singing one of our final carols before they vanish into thin air for the next year when, looking into the Nativity Scene I began to realise something was missing. There was no baby Jesus in the crib – it was now the 26th December – disaster!

Down on my hands and knees I was praying – no – I was on the hunt for the baby and, with a bit of advice from the gathered congregation, we found him and restored him to his rightful place.

Finally we could sing : ‘a wean in a manger’ safely!

These events made me ask a big question: ‘what if there had been no ‘wean in the manger’? What if there had been no Mary and Joseph, angels and Bethlehem and Shepherds and Wise Men? What difference would it have made to our world?

And that got me to thinking – what differences did the arrival of a baby in a Bethlehem backstreet some 2000 years ago make? I can think of 5 and there may well be more…

1. God became one of us (incarnation) – just two weeks before the Baby was stolen from George Square, Joan Osbourne released her single with a recurring question in it: ‘What if God were one of us?’ At the heart of the Christmas story is the claim that in Jesus – God did become one of us – identifying with us as never before – experiencing family life, being a refugee, the loss of loved ones, rejection and the betrayal of so-called friends and hardships that many of us have been spared.

2. Sins remedy has been revealed (salvation) – if, when speaking about something you have to do, you’ve ever made the comment, “for my sins” then there is good news. We don’t need to undertake some arduous, testing trial and punishment in order to have our mistakes in life wiped out – at the heart of the Christmas story is the claim that in Jesus our sins are forgiven, our mistakes are wiped out – all we need do is to ask.

3. All barriers are broken down (reconciliation) – some of the greatest stories ever told came from the lips of

Jesus – stories such as that of the Good Samaritan in Luke 10 vs 25-37. Racial boundaries gone, the invitation for us all to love our neighbour – regardless of their creed, colour or country.

4. A new purpose is revealed (vocation) – Not only were the stories that Jesus told life transforming, but his teaching was also radical and life giving.

Ever heard someone say in response to the suffering in the world – ‘Why doesn’t God do something?’ Well, with the arrival of Jesus in the world he did do something – he sent out a call for all of us to do something, a call to ease the suffering in the world by feeding the hungry, giving water to the thirsty, providing for those in need, welcoming the stranger, supporting and helping transform those who are sick and in prison. I guess if we managed to get on with that the world would become a more like heaven – heaven on earth!

5. Deaths days were numbered (resurrection) – Outside of the glorious cathedral in Barcelona, the Sagrada Familia,

there is a 16 digit cryptogram which has as a total of 310 combinations that add up to one particular number – the clue to the number is found as you add up the numbers in each row, each corner each column, each diagonal, etc. etc. – in every case the number is 33 – the number of years we believe Jesus lived. So when the wise men arrived with their unusual gifts of Gold, Frankincense and Myrrh, gifts for a King, a Priest and one who would die – what at first sight seemed gifts that were odd for a new baby, 33 years later take on a whole new significance. For not only do the records state that Jesus died, it is also believed that he rose again thereby inviting everyone who wishes to follow him – not just through this world but into the next.

So just as well we found the baby! Let me invite you to find him too.

Wishing you and yours a happy, healthy and hopeful new year, David Rev David Cameron

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Queensferry Community Development Trust A

local steering group has formed, self tasked with creating a community development trust for the area. A CDT could bring huge value to Queensferry and the surrounding area with access to funding and resources currently passing us by. There are no real practical limits to the projects a CDT could deliver, the imagination and will of the community is the only real limit. A Queensferry CDT would give the community far greater say and control over local investment and services. There are currently 329 CDT’s registered with Development Trusts Association Scotland (DTAS), including our neighbours in Winchburgh, Linlithgow and others unregistered.

To do this the group needs people willing and able to get involved on many levels, from directors with legal and financial skills and knowledge, to project managers, fundraisers, effective communicators and anyone with a passion for the area willing and able to get stuck in and help out in whatever way they can, whenever they can. Everyone has a value and is welcome.

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The steering group is currently working on two fronts 1. To research and recommend the legal structure of the CDT, register it with authorities and DTAS. 2. To compile the various local studies and consultations conducted in the last decade to establish potential initial projects and further study requirements.

Further information on CDT’s and what they can achieve can be found on the DTAS website https://dtascot.org.uk/ and updates on the steering group’s progress can be found on the Queensferry Community Development Trust Facebook page https://www.facebook.com/ QueensferryCDT If you think you may be able to help, please drop us an email at QueensferryCDT@gmail.com Together we can create

Do You Want to Make a Difference in South Queensferry A community development trust presents the opportunity to create local ideas, prioritise which to deliver, design it, plan it, fund it, deliver it, manage it, all for the benefit of the community.

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We are RNLI Queensferry!

R NLI Queensferry Lifeboat Station has been situated at Hawes Pier since 1967. We are just one of the Royal National Lifeboat Institution's 238 lifeboat stations across the UK and Ireland. We are the charity that Saves Lives at Sea. We operate 24 hours a day, 7 days a week, 365 days of the year.

How many people from South Queensferry's community does it take to operate the station and launch the lifeboat? We currently have; 22 Lifeboat Crew, 3 Shore Crew, 7 Operations Team, 12 Shop Personnel, 7 Visits Team members, 1 Water Safety Officer, plus countless fundraisers, supporters and donors!

We are ONE CREW and every single one of us is a volunteer!

We absolutely cannot run without the generosity of everyone involved. For the past 2 years, like every other charity, we have had to scale back our fundraising.

However, like every other charity, we have continued to operate, and we sincerely hope that 2022 is the year we can get out and meet many of you and say a huge thank you!

In 2021, we were paged 102 times to people in need. This represents a record for the station which averages 70 'shouts' annually. Of those 102 pages, our Atlantic 85 lifeboat, B851 'Jimmie Cairncross' and relief boat, (while ours was away for a refit), B850 'Edna May' were launched 87 times into the Firth of Forth.

Our operational area covers as far west up the Forth as the depth allows, past the Kincardine and Clackmannanshire Bridges and as far East as is required, although officially it's Leith. That's a lot of miles and a lot of fuel! 2,480 litres were used in 2021, including launches and exercises, for our lifeboat and tractor.

In the middle of winter, the water temperature in the Firth of Forth is at its lowest.

Please enjoy our waters safely, dress appropriately, take a means of communicating, know the risks, let someone know you are going out and/ or go with someone else. We have surfers, sailors, paddlers, swimmers and fishers on our crew so we will be out there Like all Spotlight readers, we have had to keep ourselves safe and we miss you visiting our station. When can you see inside our station? Get a closer look at our lifeboat? Meet the crew? The Visits Team are waiting to hear from you, offering 'Live and Online' tours. Send an email to: Queensferry@rnli.org.uk and we will send you a booking form. Our Shop Crew have just about recovered from the Christmas rush, and throughout January are open Friday/Saturday/Sunday 11:0015:00. There are lots of beautiful gifts, and souvenirs to take home with you.

with you enjoying the water safely! If you do get into trouble, or see someone in distress, call 999 and ask for the Coastguard. We hope you feel you know us a little better now. For more about what we get up to you can follow us on social media: Facebook: @rnliqueensferrylifeboat Instagram: @rnliqueensferry Twitter: @rnliqueensferry

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Queensferry & District Community Council

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DCC has continued operating remotely throughout the pandemic, using various online tools. Monthly meetings are held on the evening of the fourth Monday of every month except December, open to the public and are currently conducted using MS Teams video conferencing.

Anyone wishing to join the meeting or to raise any points should email us through our website: http://www.queensferrycommunitycouncil.co.uk

Planning Major housing developments continue construction at South Scotstoun and Ferrymuir; two more in the pipeline at Springfield and Builyeon Rd (mixed use) subject to approval; Scotstoun House (Arup site) has been submitted for housing.

Details of those and other developments are available in our monthly newsletters on our website. The 20th of December saw the end of the consultation period for submitting formal representations to the proposed City Plan 2030 which determines future development sites. City of Edinburgh Council will now carefully consider the representations received. Once the Council has completed its deliberations the proposed plan, along with its representations, will be submitted to Scottish Ministers for formal examination, presently expected in March 22.

Transport The High St prep work has been completed at the Hawes area with a new fit for all turning circle and work has now moved on

to the west end for pedestrian crossings and a pavement at the Plewlands House corner. Funding for the full work is still awaiting a decision. Discussions are under way to gain back some parking in the promenade area currently restricted with double yellow lines where we believe it is no longer necessary.

Education & Recreation Edinburgh Leisure has updated some of the gym equipment and increased available capacity at the QHS Leisure facilities in line with CEC COVID guidance. Book through https://www.edinburghleisure.co.uk/venues/queensferry-high-sports-complex.

Current plans are to commence the Open All Hours youth facility on Friday evenings from January.

Health & Wellbeing Operational problems with a local pharmacy have been escalated to NHS by our MSP for support. The community response to the Ferry Elves was overwhelming, both through financial contributions and donations of toys, clothes and food. Thanks to all who recognised this unfortunate need and generously responded directly to the Elves or through QHS, Echline Primary School, Queensferry Primary School, Rotary Club and QDCC, all of whom supported the appeal.

Please check out our monthly newsletters on our website for much more local information.

Thank you

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