Welcome Back!

We hope you all had a great October break, and are back, raring to go for the second half of Semester 1. Although the sun is still shining, there is a chill in the air as we move into the winter term.

So, cosy up at one of our crafting events, help those around you with our Winter Coat Appeal, or, work up a sweat at one of the Active Campus events!

There is a lot going on, so take time for yourself, but take the opportunity to get involved, meet new people, and be an active part of your student community. 

If you see us around campus, come say hi and tell us how you're getting on. We love a good chat!

Here's to a great winter term - let's do this!

Charlie, Adam, & Sukinder

In order to mark this year's Care Experienced Week, we've invited Catherine McCormack, Edinburgh College's Student Experience Manager and Corporate Parent Lead, to share her reflections on how Edinburgh College is supporting our care experienced students. 

EC Students' Association is "Driven By Students". This isn't just a tag-line for us, we really mean it. We plan and deliver a range of activities, services, and events throughout the year, and we need your help to make them as awesome as possible!

So, if you are into arts & crafts, video games, board games, or just want to be involved to help students get to know each other a bit more, then we would love you to get involved and help us run our events and activities.

We also need help to expand our ever-popular Community Fridge and Clothing SwapShop projects to help meet demand from the hundreds of students who use them every single week.

As the weather starts to turn colder and we all search out our winter clothing, now is a great time to consider donating coats that you no longer need - help us reduce waste and keep everyone warmer this winter.

The Students' Association are inviting students and staff to donate good quality pre-loved or new winter coats, scarves, hats, or gloves so that someone else can make use of them in the coming winter months.

The 21st to the 25th of October is the College's annual Sustainable Education Week. Your class might be doing something a little different this week, focussing on what sustainability means for your area of study.

The Students' Association will be running a range of activities across different campuses, so keep an eye out for us on your campus. We'll be talking to students about the College's Sustainability Strategy and what it means for students.

Active Campus is the college's recreational sports organiser, run by our Active Campus Co-ordinator, Xsara Murray. They are part of the Active Campus Network, who work across Scotland to bring sports opportunities to Colleges.

They are now running lots of fun sports activities at our Sighthill campus! These include basketball, badminton, dance aerobics, and walking group sessions, held at lunch time for all students to enjoy. 

There is no experience required, just a positive attitude and a want to join in. 

Come along and see what it's all about!

Edinburgh Interfaith Festival, Tuesday 12 November, 11am-2pm.

The College is working with Edinburgh Interfaith Association to host a special event on Tuesday 12th November.

All students are welcome and the event will be at Sighthill Atrium from 11am-2pm.

No need to book, just drop in. All are welcome.

Edinburgh Libraries are developing a new Future Libraries strategy and vision to enhance their services over the next five years, meeting the needs of our city's residents and adapting to changing public expectations, financial pressures, and technological advances.

They carried out initial engagement activity earlier this year. The feedback gathered from this engagement period, along with our existing service data has helped produce a draft Future Libraries Strategy 2024 – 2029. The information has also informed the identification of potential options for change:

• Library opening hours; and
• How the service manages events and activities.

The City of Edinburgh Council are now carrying out a formal consultation to seek the views of citizens, and stakeholders on the draft strategy and options for future change to service.