At WHALE Arts we are running a project called the Considerate Path User campaign, it ties in with City of Edinburgh Council’s Paths For Everyone campaign and is about encouraging people to use the shared paths in a way that is more considerate to other users. At WHALE we are focusing on the Wester Hailes area of Edinburgh as the project idea came from the Wester Hailes, Sighthill and Broomhouse Active Travel Behaviour Change Action plan, co-produced by Sustrans and a steering group of local organisations, including WHALE.
Make a pledge about how you are going to use the pathways HERE.

The City of Edinburgh Council, Sustrans & WHALE would like to improve things for everyone to experience a more positive attitude towards using our local pathways, we are asking people to think about how they might adjust their behaviours thereby creating more positive attitudes to using the shared space.  That’s what the Paths for Everyone campaign sets out to do… whatever you are doing, it’s simply about making a pledge which will ensure you become even more considerate to others with walking, cycling or jogging. 

The Considerate Path User campaign has been created by local people for local people in the hope that those working or living in the area take time to think about steps they can take as individuals, to make positive changes when using local pathways. These can be smaller changes such as taking off headphones and being aware of cyclists ringing their bells, wearing high visibility clothing to ensure safety later in the evening or cyclists reducing their speed when passing pedestrians. The purpose of shared use paths is for people to enjoy their free time and free outdoor space which is for everyone, whether on a commute to work or out walking with friends and family.

As part of this campaign there is an opportunity to make pledge about how you are going to use the pathways and a simple questionnaire to answer. At WHALE we are also hosting two events on 2nd & 4th March to raise awareness of the campaign and to hear your thoughts and opinions on the matter of local shared path use. Wester Hailes Artist, Pam Van De Brug has created a ‘Pretty Places’ artist map of the local area which we will share at these events. There will also be free refreshments and free high visibility gear and cycling accessories to give away.

Make a pledge about how you are going to use the pathways HERE.

‘Wester Hailes, 1979’ at WHALE Arts, Mon 25th October to Thu 18th November. Opening hours: Mon – Fri, 9am – 5pm

Are you interested in the history of Wester Hailes? We are exhibiting some rare photographs for the next month at WHALE.

The photographs, taken in 1979 by John Walmsley depict Wester Hailes during his time as photographer in residence at the WHEC. There is a 160 page book to accompany the exhibition available online for £15 here: https://www.johnwalmsleyphotos.co.uk/-/galleries/store/wester-hailes-book-1979

John is doing a book launch for this Wester Hailes book at 6.30pm on Tuesday 23rd November at the Photobook Café in Shoreditch, London.

Tickets here:

https://www.eventbrite.co.uk/e/wester-hailes-1979-by-john-walmsley-tickets-198250471497

VOTE HERE

WHALE ARTS IS REOPENING / RESTARTING
We would like to ask everyone to have a read of this and pass on the message to anyone who you think might need to know.

THE STORY SO FAR
We have spent the last 12 months adapting and flexing our programmes, activities and services to work alongside the community, other local organisations and groups to support the community of Wester Hailes with food, phonecalls, art and wellbeing packs, digital devices and support and much more. We have all been working hard throughout lockdown doing our best to meet local needs. This has only been possible due to our hard-working and committed staff, freelance artists, volunteers, trustees, tenants, partners including residents groups and our supportive and understanding funders.

RESTARTING
These plans are based on current information and advice and may be subject to change.

We will communicate with participants about exactly when their activity will be restarting, how sessions will be taking place and respond to any questions or queries to ensure everyone feels comfortable taking part in our programmes.

We plan to restart groups and reopen the building from
17th May 2021 onwards. This doesn’t mean that everything will restart straight away, we will communicate with group participants individually to let them know when face to face groups will restart.

FOOD
We will continue to serve a community meal each Friday from 1pm – 2pm at WHALE Arts during April and May 2021.  We hope to start some face-to-face community meal gatherings outdoors over the summer – more information to follow once we have worked out how to do this safely.

Although the WHALE Arts building remains closed to the public the Community Fridge and Pantry managed by SCOREscotland will remain on reduced days.

The Community Fridge is Open Monday and Thursday 1:30pm to 3:30pm while the Community Pantry Opens fortnightly on Wednesday 2pm – 3:30pm

If you would like to use the Community Fridge or Community Pantry please contact SCOREscotland on 0131 442 2341 or 07496 190 916

OUR PROGRAMME
Our groups – Stitch n Time; smARTcraft; Men’s Making ; Let’s Create; Street Arts; Let’s Dance; Play Sense Create; Film Club; smARTies; Mums into Business; Wester Hailes Connects Digital Skills Drop-ins; Members Breakfasts; Community Gardening – have been engaging remotely using different methods of communication.

From 21 May onwards we will begin to restart these groups. This will happen in a staggered way – participants in our groups will be contacted directly once we have more detail to share.

PARTNER PROGRAMMES (which usually happen at WHALE)
Programmes delivered with partners have been postponed for 12 months with many groups taking part in remote and/or outdoor versions of the groups:

Room for Art – with Art in Healthcare; Fork in the Road – Edinburgh Tool Library; Expecting Something – with Starcatchers; Open Book; Indian dance – Theiya Arts; Edinburgh Art Festival – art trips and schools groups; NuStart.

Our partner organisations will be in touch directly with participants when they are ready to restart sessions and we will share this information with our community when we have it.
Room Bookings, Rentable Office Desks and Office Tenancies
We have been taking bookings for essential services throughout the last 12 months within the health and safety restrictions in place for COVID-19.  We are slowly and carefully opening our doors to having more general room bookings again. We have introduced strict measures to reduce the risk of coronavirus transmission in the building through a thorough risk assessment.

ROOM BOOKINGS
We aim to officially commence with room bookings and rentable office desks in the WHALE Arts building from as a provisional start date (this date is subject to change.)
Rental spaces will be offered from 26th April provided that the type of booking is allowed within government guidelines and risk assessed.

The rental spaces are listed below:

Arts Workshop (activities in line with guidance and risk assessed, meetings in limited numbers)
Performance Space (activities in line with guidance and risk assessed, meetings in limited numbers)
Board Room (activities in line with guidance and risk assessed, meetings in limited numbers)
Green Room (activities in line with guidance and risk assessed, meetings in limited numbers)
Wee Office Space (long-term tenancy available – please email to enquire)

You can send a booking request for all of these rental spaces online. For more details including rental room measurements and capacities please visit our webpage here.

If you are interested in booking our rental rooms in block bookings (4 weeks or more) or are interested in a coworking space tenancy of 6 months or more, please get in touch by calling us on 0131 4583267 or email: roombookings@whalearts.co.uk

Let Us Know If You Need Help
Please get in touch with the WHALE Arts team if you need support or a conversation on 0131 458 3267 or by emailing info@whalearts.co.uk

Kind wishes,
The WHALE Arts Agency Team