The Edinburgh Reporter October 2022

6 NEWS
Pedalling in pink
Blind and partially sighted people cycle with VIE Velo bicycle club
New bookshop
needs you
By STAFF REPORTER
By KIRSTY LEWIN
VIE VELO tandem riders are stoking up
interest as they hit the Edinburgh streets in
their bright pink club kit. The organisation is a
cycling club for blind and partially sighted
people, with a sighted person riding in the pilot
position at the front of the tandem.
Tandem riding is all about trust. Trust is
crucial when you’re visually impaired, riding as
a stoker on the back of the tandem, especially if
you have not met the pilot before. The stoker
relies on the riding and communication skills
of the sighted pilot. That is why new pilots at
the club try out the stoker role at their training
sessions. They need to experience it for
themselves to get a sense of how it feels.
Of course, tandem riding with VIE Velo
involves far more than trust. On their regular
thirty-mile trips, riders enjoy companionship,
conversation, fresh air, bird song, a physical
work-out, and freedom. Shona Black, one of
the club founders, talks about her massive grin
when she’s out as a stoker, especially going up
steep hills. This love of riding uphill is,
Warm Space scheme is a broad church
By STEPHEN RAFFERTY
PORTOBELLO CHURCHES are
throwing open their doors to offer
a “warm space” for local residents
worried about the cost of living
crisis and massive rises in
energy prices.
The initiative will run from
4 October with churches and a
community centre partnering to
offer people a place to meet amid
real concerns over impending rises
in gas and electricity tariffs.
Glenn Innes, Pastor of Portobello
Baptist Church, started the project
and has enlisted church colleagues
apparently, not shared by everyone.
Ken Reid, Chair of VIE Velo and a founding
member, says he particularly enjoys getting out
into West Lothian to discover new territory. He
also enjoys feeling the airiness riding across the
Forth Road Bridge without vehicular traffic,
the sound of the gulls, and the long downhill
runs. The cake and coffee stops, beloved by all
cycle clubs, provide a great opportunity to chat
to the rest of the group.
The club encourages riders to vary their
partnerships so that stokers do not ride
regularly with the same pilots. Imogen
Williams, a pilot in the club, stresses the
need for good communication between
the two cyclists.
Pilots ask their stokers how they like to cycle
to ensure they have a great experience. The
stoker might want a running commentary of
sites and colours on the route, or they may
prefer essential communication only, for
example stopping and starting, turning left or
right, warnings about rough surfaces, and
changes in gradient.
Club rides depart from Saughton Park in
in the seaside town to open
doors throughout each week.
Those taking part include
Portobello Joppa Parish Church,
St Mark’s Church, and Bellfield
community hub.
Pastor Innes said: “While on the
face of it Porty has become a very
wealthy community we know that
is not true for a lot of people, and
the reality of massively increasing
costs of living means some have a
genuine fear of how they are
going to pay their bills.
“We have space in our church
which is right on the High Street
and is easily accessible for people,
and we thought it would be
nothing for us to use some of our
resource to open up two days a
week to create a warm space.
“Our space will be warm in
terms of keeping physically warm,
but even before the pandemic
loneliness was an issue for a lot of
people, so if folk can come in and
sit down and there are other
people there, there might be
some other benefits that come
from this.”
The Warm Space scheme is open
to anybody – including those who
work from home who may want to
break out of their normal routine.
Edinburgh on the first Saturday and third
Sunday of every month. There are also
fortnightly evening rides on Wednesdays in the
summer. Riders enjoy trips in Edinburgh and
the Lothians as well as Fife. There are excellent
routes, but The City of Edinburgh Council
could make the rides even more comfortable
by removing chicanes and improving many
road surfaces.
VIE Velo was set up in 2018 with the support
of Cycling UK. Funding has been provided by
the RS Macdonald Charitable Trust and
Transport Scotland. The club currently has
thirteen tandems. If you are over sixteen, and
would like to try out a pilot role, or a stoker
role if you’re blind or partially sighted, do get
in touch with VIE Velo. They’re a friendly
welcoming group. The club would also
appreciate financial donations, as it has to buy,
maintain and insure its fleet while keeping the
cost affordable for its members .
Contact vieveloridecoordinator@gmail.com or
visit www.facebook.com/VieVelo.edinburgh
to find out more.
Pastor Innes added: “I am very
conscious there are probably folk
in Porty who are now working
from home and who don’t get paid
an arm and a leg. They may be able
to afford to live in Porty but if it’s
going to cost them a fortune to
put the heating on every day, they
might welcome the opportunity to
pop out somewhere to work in a
warm environment.”
• Portobello Baptist Church, Tues
and Thurs 2-4pm, Wed 10-noon
• St Mark’s, Wednesdays
• Portobello Joppa, Mondays
• Bellfield, Fri 10-12.30pm
EDINBURGH COMMUNITY Bookshop,
due to open in October, is a new project
in Leith selling donated second-hand
books to raise funds for local charities.
The bookshop is being set up by local
businessman, Alasdair Corbett, also the
owner of Easter Greens, a vegan grocery
store on Easter Road. The shop will be
run mostly by volunteers, supported by a
paid shop manager, and will rely on
donations of books from the public. Each
month the shop will support a different
local charity by donating most of its
profits directly to them.
Over the last few months Alasdair has
been raising money through a
GoFundMe campaign and has now
secured premises on Great Junction
Street to set up the shop. It has already
been fitted out, with volunteers helping
to build and install the 36 bookcases.
Tables and chairs have been set up too as
the bookshop will also be serving teas,
coffee and vegan pastries from local
supplier Breadwinner Bakery.
POSITIVE REACTION
Announcing the new location for the
bookshop on Twitter there was a lot of
excitement with the tweet receiving over
300 likes and users commenting things
like “Ooh yay!” and “Great news.” Another
user commented that “a community
bookshop is something that Leith
really needs”.
Now that the refurb is more or less
complete, the next stage is to get enough
books to fill the shop after it opens.
Alasdair is asking people in Edinburgh
to donate their books to the shop during
September so that when they open they
can raise as much money as possible for
their first charity of the month. And they
have chosen Edinburgh Children’s
Hospital Charity as the initial beneficiary.
You can donate your books by dropping
them off at the shop most days between
10am-4pm. Call them first on 0131 378
5589 to make sure someone is there.
Address: 179-181 Great Junction Street,
Edinburgh EH6 5LQ
www.edinburghcommunitybookshop.org