The Edinburgh Minute ⏰ Monday 9 February 2026
800 uni staff leave jobs, A&E 'under extreme pressure', Southside Community Council meeting tonight + £15k fundraiser for cathedral bells
🌤️ Good morning Edinburgh. Not the busiest morning of news so far. Here’s everything I could find for Monday's Edinburgh Minute.
☔️ This week's weather: It's expected to get colder as the week progresses. Starting with a high of 9C today, falling to a freezing 0C by Friday. Showers for much of this week. There are some 'exact time it will snow' headlines, but they're clickbait and it's just sleet forecast for Thursday night. - See the full Met Office forecast here.
🎓 'Almost 800' University of Edinburgh staff left their jobs last year, with 345 the result of a targeted voluntary severance scheme. Union leaders said the 'cuts are clearly damaging the quality of research and teaching', while the university said 'staff numbers fluctuate due to a variety of reasons'. - Exclusive by Josh Pizzuto-Pomaco in The Herald.
🏥 People are being urged to only attend A&E if they have a critical emergency, with NHS Lothian warning that its emergency departments are currently under extreme pressure. - Chloe Goodall, Edinburgh Live.
⚽️ A staff bank holiday after Scotland’s opening football World Cup match this summer has been denied by the City of Edinburgh Council. First Minister John Swinney had previously 'encouraged employers nationwide to put in place arrangements'. - Calum Loudon, STV News.
🎭 Festival Fringe organisers are 'frustrated and disappointed' after being left off the council's new tourist tax income spending plans. - Brian Ferguson, The Herald.
🏡 The average local house price went up 4.3% (year-on-year) to £296,083 for November 2025 - January 2026. But the number of sales decreased by 8.0%. - More details from ESPC here.
⮑ Meanwhile some people who live near the Western General hospital are angry that more flats are being built in an area without enough car parking spaces / too many cars. - Jacob Farr, Edinburgh Live.
🏨 Plans for an apartment-hotel on Leith Walk have been approved. - Brian Donnelly, The Herald.
💰 Ahead of debates on the proposed UK Government's Spring budget, some business owners and organisations in Leith have their say on their financial outlook in this piece in The Edinburgh Inquirer by Clifford Heberden, titled: 'How Leith Walk will take a hammering from rates'.
The Edinburgh Inquirer
🚗 'DVLA warns ‘nobody wins’ as over 2000 Edinburgh vehicles clamped in 2025' - Liam Eunson, Midlothian View.
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📌 “Monday 9 February, 6pm (Nelson Hall on corner of Bernard Terrace and St Leonards Street) - Southside Community Council is meeting at Nelson Hall, 5 Spittalfield Crescent. We will be discussing planning issues and our work to develop a Local Place Plan for Southside. Check the agenda on our website and to join, just turn up!” - Thanks to Alessandro Fusco, Chair of Southside Community Council, for sharing this.
📌 “The parents at St Peter's Primary School have started running a second bike bus route to the school from the Braids. This second route follows after the success of the 1st route from Newington Library. If you would like a bike bus to your school, contact bike bus organiser jarlathflynn@hotmail.com” - Thanks to Jarlath Flynn, Bike bus organiser, for sharing this.
📌 “St Mary’s Episcopal Cathedral Bellringers are launching a fundraising campaign for £15,000, for essential repairs on its bells - some of which haven't been done since the 1930s! The campaign will run until July 2026 (when the works are planned). All donations are gratefully received!” - Thanks to Timothy Coleman, St Mary's Episcopal Cathedral, for sharing this, and to Geoffrey Farquharson for the photo:
📌 “Tuesday 10th February - The Caley is hosting another of its free online talks when Ann Lindsay will share stories of the many Scottish plant hunters from the 17 & 18th centuries that crossed the globe to find many of the plants we have in our gardens today.” - Thanks to The Caley for sharing this.
📌 “Tuesday 10 February. Fancy a fun, slightly competitive team-building night? Join Ancient Robot Workshop’s “Planes, Trains & Automobiles” Game Jam in Edinburgh, come solo or get matched into a team. Make a mini tabletop game, meet creative locals, and win a £50 Ancient Robot Games voucher.” - Thanks to Stuart Wright for sharing this.
📌 “Tuesday 10th February - We welcome Anemara to Leith Folk Club. Tickets are £15 and can be reserved by emailing leithfolkclub@gmail.com Further details can be found on our Facebook page.” - Thanks to Leith Folk Club for sharing this.
📌 “Tuesday 10th to Saturday 14th February - Enter into the glamorous world of Baltimore theatre for a night of music, dancing and some unexpected guests with Edinburgh University Footlights' production of Kiss Me, Kate! Tickets are available via the link! Thanks!” - Thanks to The Edinburgh University Footlights for sharing this.
📌 “Wednesday 11th February (7.30pm start) - The Portobello Bookshop team are hosting An Evening with Val McDermid at Assembly Roxy! McDermid will be in conversation with Nicola Sturgeon to discuss her latest Karen Pirie novel, Silent Bones. Sign up to join us in person or tune in to the livestream.” - Thanks to as always to The Portobello Bookshop team for sharing this.
📌 “Wednesday 11 February. Online Zoom Forum: Peace Education: Spiritual. Ethical, and Social Foundations. There will be five talks, each of 12 minutes, followed by discussion among the speakers and the chair, followed by Q & A.” - Thanks to Neill Walker, Edinburgh International Centre for Spirituality and Peace, for sharing this.
📌 “Wednesday 11 February. Pilgrimage is the next talk from the Musselburgh Conservation Society. Tom Brownlee will help us to explore local & international routes, uncovering forgotten routes and considering the health benefits of these popular spiritual journeys. 7:30pm at St Peter's Church Hall.” - Thanks to Musselburgh Conservation Society for sharing this.
📌 “Wednesday 11 February. Join Scotland's National Historic Buildings Trust to discuss how the 18th century estates in Edinburgh's outer suburbs now face pressure from modern development. Lindsay Aitken of Gracemount Mansion Development Trust and Andrew Hopetoun of Hopetoun House discuss this.” - Thanks to Scottish Historic Buildings Trust for sharing this.
📌 “Wednesday 11th February - Freelance Adviser Beta Test Launch. Join us at Codebase to help us test our new peer advice app for creative freelancers. Attend the launch event, get great advice for 3 weeks, do a couple of wee surveys, for a chance towin a £30 voucher!” - Thanks to Holly Patrick-Thomson of Edinburgh Napier University for sharing this.
📌 “Wednesday 11th February: Coffee and Cake by donation is a relaxed and welcoming get-together at The Open Door, inviting friends to enjoy good conversation, fresh coffee, and fabulous home baking in a calm, friendly atmosphere where everyone can slow down, reconnect, and feel at home. ☕🍰” - Thanks to Simon Warr, Operational manager at The Open Door in Morningside, for sharing this.
📌 “Thursday 12 February - Join us at the Royal Incorporation of Architects in Scotland for our first BookshopLATE of the year. Bruce Peter, Professor of Design History at Glasgow School of Art will be discussing his recent book 'British Interior Design since 1925'. Tickets via Eventbrite.” - Thanks to the organisers for sharing this.
📌 “Friday 13th February. Brewhemia, 1A Market Street, Edinburgh EH1 1DE. Join We Are Fun Events UK, a sub-branch of We Are Fun Scientists, for an unforgettable Valentine’s party. Expect hands-on activities, live entertainment & moments to laugh, experiment.. & maybe flirt a little!?” - Thanks to We Are Fun Events for sharing this.
📌 “Saturday 14th February - Mark Quinn returns to the Pianodrome for an all vinyl Valentines Day special listening session. From the emergence of lovers rock to the roots of spiritual jazz he'll be telling stories of the artists who devoted themselves to spreading love through their music.” - Thanks to Greenhouse Records for sharing this.
📌 “Sat 14th February: Mini Afternoon Retreat hosted by LUSH and Marpole - who doesn't love a local collab? Come along to 378 Leith Walk for a fun afternoon of; painting, hand massages, maing your own Bathbomb and a soothing Soundbath. The perfect treat for yourself or someone you love. £45 per person.” - Thanks to Marpole & LUSH for sharing this.
📌 “Forever Edinburgh has teamed up with Civerinos to launch two limited-edition pizza's for Edinburgh residents to celebrate National Pizza Day. EH postcode holders can get 50% off the pizza's today or take advantage of Resident Rewards offer to get 20% off all full-sized pizza's this month.” - Thanks to Forever Edinburgh for sharing this.
📌 “Saturday 14 February – Ceilidh Collective host a Valentine’s Ceilidh at Portobello Town Hall with live music, dancing, a bar, kids’ activities and a raffle. Raising funds for Friends of the Earth Scotland and Porty Community Energy. Tickets from £16.” - Thanks to Ruby, Friends of the Earth Scotland, for sharing this.
📮 Anything missing? Please share your local news and events here.
👀 The most-visited links from the last newsletter:
- 🚗 Locals have their say on congestion charge idea.
- 🏉 Scotsman: 20 of the best Edinburgh bars for watching rugby.
- 💰 'Council’s £1.8m overtime bonanza shared by just 50 staff'.
- 📚 Violence against Edinburgh library workers.
- 🌱 Snowdrop weekend at Hopetoun House.
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⏰ Thanks for reading edition number 834.
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