Greener Leith is one of Scotland's best websites

We are exceptionally surprised and humbled to discover that the Greener Leith website features in sixth place in a list of Scotland's best websites, published by The List. 

Here's what they said about the criteria: "We weren't necessarily looking for the biggest or the best known cultural websites in Scotland. We were looking for unique and interesting ideas, cleverly realised and lovingly maintained on the web."

They add, "What's been interesting is that most of these sites, from fashion blogs to on line magazines, new music hubs to foodie havens, aren't professional concerns. The most passionate, well-written and original content seems increasingly to come from interested amateurs, or at least people who started out that way."

And on that note, we should take this opportunity to thank all of the people who have contributed to the website in some form or another since we started Greener Leith in 2006. And, we should also emphasise that if you want to write for Greener Leith about something that you're passionate about in the neighbourhood then do get in touch.

We'll add this latest bit of recognition to our little on-line trophy cabinet. 

The 30 sites identified in the List, er, list, are a diverse, unique and fascinating bunch. You can check them out online here. 

Of course it did get us thinking about our top 30 Scottish website list... what would you put on it? 

Award winners announced!

Last night the first ever Greener Leith Awards were dished out at a glitzy festive get together in the Tourmalet bar. The idea behind the awards is to recognise the endevours of local people who have done the most to make Leith a better, more sustainable place to live in the last year. Every award winner was given a unique, hand chosen, upcycled award procured from a local charity shop. There were three categories of awards.

Local Green Heroes

Firstly there were the Local Green Heroes Awards, which are awarded by the Greener Leith committee to recognise volunteers who have made a special contribution to the neighbourhood.This year four Green Hero awards were made to:

• Richard Cross
• Martin Chester
• David Poyner
• Emily Dodd

Richard and Martin were given their award for volunteering as cycle leaders for our monthly We Love Leith bike rides. Over the year they've had to cope with poor weather, various mechanical faults, participants getting lost - you name it!

David Poyner was given an award as he has single handedly led and developed the "Leith Walk" monthly walking group.

Emily Dodd was given a green hero award for helping to develop the Greener Leith podcast, and making such excellent regular contributions to our blog. Below you can see a picture of David Poyner with his porcelain cat award, and Richard Cross enjoying his beer stein award. The other Green Heroes somehow managed to evade capture by the camera.

The Greener Leith Politician of the Year Award.

Readers of our blog were invited to choose who should win the first ever Politician of the Year award, choosing from a shortlist selected by the Greener Leith management committee. There were three nominations:

• Cllr Marjorie Thomas (for her support of a residents campaign to reduce traffic on The Shore).
• Cllr Maggie Chapman (for her vocal championing of the Leith Decides, participatory budgeting pilot.)
• MSPs, Shirley-Anne Somerville, Robin Harper and Malcolm Chisholm (for the support for the Moratorium on large biomass plant campaign). 

In the end, it was a close run thing, with Cllr Thomas receiving 20% of the vote and the MSP's receiving 37% of the vote. This meant that Cllr Maggie Chapman just won the first ever Greener Leith Politician of the Year Award, with 43% of the vote. It turns out that this is the first political award that she's won in her political career. Accepting the award, represented by a shiny "golden rhino", she said:

"This award should really go to Loraine Duckworth, and all the other volunteers and council officers who made the Leith Decides Participatory Budgeting event such a success."

The Greener Leith People's Award

This award winner was selected from nominations received from our readers through our website. The winner was Angus Millar. Angus is a geologist by day, and volunteers as a community councillor with Leith Links Community Council. He was nominated for all the voluntary work he has put in over recent months, working with more than 400 local school pupils to plant thousands and thousands more spring bulbs on Leith Links. This spring, and indeed every spring for many years to come, you will see the results of all of their hard work! There's a picture of him below, with his 'coloured sand vase thing' award.

The Raffle

Last but not least we should of course mention that we held an informal raffle on the night too, with prizes generously provided by The Edinburgh Bike Company.

Here's a photo of two of the winners of the raffle. One of them is called Emma.

Greener Leith festive meet-up and awards.

It may be a bit late to announce it, but all the Greener Leith committee would like to invite all our members, friends and supporters to an informal get together at 7.30pm at the Tourmalet bar at 25, Buchanan Street on the 14th of December. Why there? Well, we've been doing so much cycling this year that it seemed apt to choose a bar that has a vague cycling theme. It also has a train set in the ceiling, live fish in a tank, and a fine range of imported German beers too.

On the night, we also plan to announce the first ever Greener Leith awards. These hugely prestigious awards are conceived to be a bit like the Oscars, only more glamorous. On the night we'll be dishing out a select number of local 'green hero' awards to volunteers who we think have contributed the most to helping Leith become a better place to live.

In addition, there's a couple of other award categories that we'd like you to help us with. These are the "Greener Leith Politician of the Year Award", and the Greener Leith "People's Award". You can do this by filling in the form below.

There will also be a raffle with some exciting prizes donated by some kind local sponsors.

Please note: - None of the Greener Leith board, or employees, are elgible for any awards. So please don't nominate any of them!

Young Scottish Green List 2011 - Call For Nominations

Do you know a young person who is passionate about all things green? Someone who works tirelessly to inspire others to action and make their green ideas a reality?

Nominations are now open for the first ever Young Scottish Green List. If you know someone aged 11 - 25 years old that deserves to be recognised, make a nomination by midnight, Friday 14th January.

To make a nomination go to: www.youngscottishgreenlist.org

Greener Leith needs your vote

Greener Leith is delighted to announce that Alastair Tibbitt is one of just three people in Scotland to make the 2010 shortlist for the Talk Talk 'Digital Heroes' Awards. This is the UK’s only scheme to reward individuals who are using digital technology to benefit their local communities.

The person who receives the most votes in each regional shortlist will be awarded £5000 for the charity they work for. Alastair Tibbitt said:

"I'm both honoured and humbled to even be in the running for this award. The results of our recent readers survey has shown that our online work really has inspired people to get involved in practical action to improve their neighbourhood. I hope that everyone in Leith will vote to support us, and if we win, we'll make sure that the prize money is invested in projects that help to make Leiths public spaces more attractive, and more sustainable for everyone who uses them. If we're going to get that money though, we need every single one of our friends and supporters to vote for us."

Please vote for Alastair Tibbitt now by visiting this webpage: http://www.talk-talk.mirror.co.uk/region-scotland.htm

Once you have voted, please also consider encouraging your friends to vote too by sharing the link to this blog post on your Facebook, Twitter or other social networks.

Nominate us for a Future Friendly Award

Please help us develop our work promoting sustainable food by nominating us for a Future Friendly Award. It'll only take you five minutes and could lead to Greener Leith receiving £20K worth of support for developing our projects in Leith.

The form to fill in is here: http://www.futurefriendly.co.uk/awards/nomination-form.php

It would be great if you could highlight the successes of our Persevere Community Garden and in establishing the Pilrig Park Berry Hedge. Were we to be win a Future Friendly Award we'd be able to establish a similar berry hedge and childrens orchard project for local school pupils on Leith Links.

According to their website:

"The Future Friendly Awards, is designed to celebrate the local heroes that take small scale, positive action to help make a difference. The awards focus on recognising and developing the work of those who actively demonstrate and lead the way in encouraging others to adopt sustainable principles."

Thanks in advance!