The Scottish Storytelling Centre, 43-45 High Street, Edinburgh, EH1 1SR, is hosting a Burns Family Festival Day on Saturday 28 January.

It promises to be a fun-packed day for all the family! Interactive stories, music, song and laughter all inspired by Robert Burns. To book call 0131 556 9579

10.30am (1hr) | £5/£3 | 5+
Burns in the City!
Storytelling
Kicking off our Burns Family Day with a bang, join storyteller Tim Porteus and friends for a fun-filled morning of getting to know Rabbie as he travels into Edinburgh for the first time. Plenty of stories, songs, poems and laughter for all the family.

12pm (1hr) | Free | All Ages
Burns Songs & Music
Music
A celebration of all things Burns with live music and song in the Storytelling Court. Grab some lunch or tea and cake in the Storytelling Café and listen to the sounds of Burns, or just drop-in to the Court and enjoy!

2pm (1hr) | £5/£3 | 8+
Rabbie as a Laddie
Storytelling & Puppetry
What made Rabbie the way he was? Was Rabbie an awfu’ laddie? Where did his wonderful words come from? Join storyteller and puppeteer Sylvia Troon for an interactive session of stories and fun.

3pm (90mins) | £6/£4 | 12+
Simply Burns
Music and Spoken Word
Experience the romance and humour of Scotland’s most famous poet in this enchanting programme of song, story and verse. Combining atmospheric readings of some of his best loved poems and personal thoughts with songs inspired by his verse, Simply Burns is an event that celebrates the very best of The Bard. This captivating revue is a hit with devotees of Burns as well as with those who find it all a bit daunting. It’s witty, entertaining, and engaging… who knew Burns could be so much fun?

(from http://www.allergyuk.org/allergy_intol.aspx)

Gluten Free Bread recipe

• Mix together 500g Gluten Free White Bread Flour, 1tsp Salt, 7g dry yeast & 2tbsp caster sugar
• Add 350ml milk, 75g melted butter, 2 eggs (beaten) and 1tsp vinegar
• Place mixture in oiled 2lb loaf tin, cover with oiled cling film and leave in a warm place to rise for about 45 minutes until the mixture has risen about 3cm.
• Bake for 45 minutes at 200 (180 fan/Gas Mark 6).

When ready, the loaf should sound hollow.

National Handwriting Day was founded in the USA by the Writing Instrument Manufacturers Association (WIMA) so that we could continue to recognise the reward of composing a handwritten note using a high quality writing instrument.

The date chosen was 23 January, the birthday of John Hancock, the first man to sign the Declaration of Independence with a flourish!

In the UK the National Handwriting Association aims to:

• raise awareness of handwriting as a crucial component of literacy
• promote and foster good practice in the teaching of handwriting
• provide support for those working with children and adults who have handwriting difficulties

Together with John Catt Educational Ltd, the NHA is hosting the SATIPS National Schools’ Handwriting Competition 2012 (Monday 21st November 2011 to Wednesday 16th May 2012). To find out more visit www.handwritingcompetition.co.uk

(from http://www.allergyuk.org/allergy_intol.aspx)

Gluten Free Bread recipe

• Mix together 500g Gluten Free White Bread Flour, 1tsp Salt, 7g dry yeast & 2tbsp caster sugar
• Add 350ml milk, 75g melted butter, 2 eggs (beaten) and 1tsp vinegar
• Place mixture in oiled 2lb loaf tin, cover with oiled cling film and leave in a warm place to rise for about 45 minutes until the mixture has risen about 3cm.
• Bake for 45 minutes at 200 (180 fan/Gas Mark 6).

When ready, the loaf should sound hollow.

Makar Sankranti is one of the most auspicious day for Hindus, and is celebrated in almost all parts of India with different names and different rituals.

The festival marks the commencement of Sun’s journey to the northern hemisphere, thereby making the days warmer and longer than the nights – i.e. it marks the end of winter season and beginning of harvest or spring season.

It is one of the few Hindu festivals which is celebrated on a fixed date each year – 14 January.

Some common rituals include spring cleaning, wearing new clothes and exchanging gifts.

In Gujarat and Maharashtra, Makar Sankranti is a festival of the young and the old. Colourful kites are flown all around.

In Punjab, Makar Sankranti is called Lohri. December and January are the coldest months of the year in Punjab and huge bonfires are lit on the eve of Sankranti. Sweets, sugarcane and rice are thrown on the bonfires and friends and relatives gather together.

In Uttar Pradesh, this period is celebrated as Kicheri. It is considered important to have a bath on this day and masses of people can be seen bathing in the Sangam at Prayagraj where the rivers Ganga, Jamuna and Saraswathi flow together.

In Southern India it’s the harvest festival Pongal and lasts for 3 days. On the first day, rice boiled with milk is offered to the Rain God. On the second day, it is offered to the the Sun God and on the third day, the family cattle are given a bath and dressed with flowers, bells and colours, to honour them for their hard work in the fields.

The Festival au désert (Festival in the Desert) is an annual three day concert held on the outskirts of Timbuktu, Mali, west Africa. It is the most remote festival in the world and in 2012 takes place from January 12-14.

It has its origins in the annual meetings held by the nomadic Touaregs (often referred to as ‘the blue people’ because of the stains their indigo-dyed robes leave on their skin) to reconnect with each other after the nomadic season, have fun, resolve conflicts, and to exchange ideas.

The modern day festival is a mix of traditional north African desert music, international musicians, camel racing, dance and sword play.

The Festival is also a way to celebrate “La Flamme de la Paix” (The Flame of Peace), a name that was given to the ceremony where more than 3000 firearms were melted and used to create a monument in 1996 in Timbuktu.

The Festival au désert (Festival in the Desert) is an annual three day concert held on the outskirts of Timbuktu, Mali, west Africa. It is the most remote festival in the world and in 2012 takes place from January 12-14.

It has its origins in the annual meetings held by the nomadic Touaregs (often referred to as ‘the blue people’ because of the stains their indigo-dyed robes leave on their skin) to reconnect with each other after the nomadic season, have fun, resolve conflicts, and to exchange ideas.

The modern day festival is a mix of traditional north African desert music, international musicians, camel racing, dance and sword play.

The Festival is also a way to celebrate “La Flamme de la Paix” (The Flame of Peace), a name that was given to the ceremony where more than 3000 firearms were melted and used to create a monument in 1996 in Timbuktu.

Makar Sankranti is one of the most auspicious day for Hindus, and is celebrated in almost all parts of India with different names and different rituals.

The festival marks the commencement of Sun’s journey to the northern hemisphere, thereby making the days warmer and longer than the nights – i.e. it marks the end of winter season and beginning of harvest or spring season.

It is one of the few Hindu festivals which is celebrated on a fixed date each year – 14 January.

Some common rituals include spring cleaning, wearing new clothes and exchanging gifts.

In Gujarat and Maharashtra, Makar Sankranti is a festival of the young and the old. Colourful kites are flown all around.

In Punjab, Makar Sankranti is called Lohri. December and January are the coldest months of the year in Punjab and huge bonfires are lit on the eve of Sankranti. Sweets, sugarcane and rice are thrown on the bonfires and friends and relatives gather together.

In Uttar Pradesh, this period is celebrated as Kicheri. It is considered important to have a bath on this day and masses of people can be seen bathing in the Sangam at Prayagraj where the rivers Ganga, Jamuna and Saraswathi flow together.

In Southern India it’s the harvest festival Pongal and lasts for 3 days. On the first day, rice boiled with milk is offered to the Rain God. On the second day, it is offered to the the Sun God and on the third day, the family cattle are given a bath and dressed with flowers, bells and colours, to honour them for their hard work in the fields.

What is Braille?

Braille is the system of touch reading and writing that utilises raised dots to represent the letters of the print alphabet for persons who are blind or visually impaired. The Braille system also includes symbols to represent punctuation, mathematics and scientific characters, music, computer notation, and foreign languages.

How is Braille taught?

At The Royal Blind School in Edinburgh pupils start to learn Braille by strengthening their fingertips. Students play with items such as macaroni and peas in a tray and try to sort them using their fingertips. They then progress to learning actual Braille that is taught by their teachers, printing their own stories on Brailling machines. Finally as teenagers they can progress to Braille notebooks that are a really fast and professional means of writing and transcribing Braille.

How was Braille Invented?

Louis Braille was born in Coupvray, France, near Paris on January 4, 1809. At the age of 3 he was playing with a sharp awl in his father’s harness making shop, when he accidentally poked his eye, and subsequently developed an eye infection causing total blindness. He attended the local school until 1819, when he was awarded a scholarship to the Royal Institution for Blind Youth in Paris where he was the youngest student. While there, Braille yearned for more books to read. He experimented with ways to make an alphabet that was easy to read with the fingertips. He started by working on a reading code with a special tool he developed called a slate and stylus. In 1824 at the age of 15, he invented the 6-dot Braille system that evolved from the tactile “Ecriture Nocturne” (night writing) code invented by Charles Barbier de la Serre to send military messages that could be read on the battlefield at night, without light. In 1829 he published his work in Method of Writing Words, Music and Plain Songs by means of Dots for Use by the Blind. He then spent the majority of his life working on this tactile reading and writing system.

Learning Braille

Braille is a system of transcribing print so it can be read by touch. Braille is now mainly used by blind people but the original idea was for soldiers to be able to read at night without putting themselves in danger by using any light.
Cells
The basis of the Braille system is known as the Braille cell. The cell is comprised of six dots numbered in a specific order. Each dot or combination of dots represents a letter of the alphabet and there are 63 different cells not counting the space. The positions are normally numbered starting at the top of the left-hand column as shown opposite.

The two main forms of tactile Braille are embossed paper Braille and refreshable Braille displays (RBDs) in which an electronic signal results in pins moving up and down to make a row of cells. Braille readers use RBDs as computer monitors.
Codes
A natural question is what the Braille cells mean. However, the cells have no intrinsic meanings; since there is only one standard Braille alphabet, the cells mean different things depending on which Braille Code is in use: math, music, Japanese, etc.
Memorizing the dots
One way to learn the alphabet in literary Braille is to memorise the dot patterns for the first ten letters, a-j, shown by the simulated or inkprint Braille cells below.

(The shadow dots in empty positions are for sighted persons and are not used in embossed Braille.)

The dot patterns for the next ten letters, k-t, are the same as the first ten but with an additional dot in position 3. The dot patterns for the letters u,v,x,y, and z are the same as the letters a-e with additional dots in positions 3 and 6. The letter “w”, dot pattern 2-4-5-6, is out of alphabetical order because the French alphabet did not have that letter when Louis Braille invented the Braille alphabet in 1829.

The picture below shows you how the dots are arranged in the Braille cell for each letter of the alphabet.

Braille does not have a separate alphabet of capital letters as there is in print. Capital letters are indicated by placing a dot 6 in front of the letter to be capitalised. Two capital signs mean the whole word is capitalized

Braille numbers are made using the first ten letters of the alphabet, “a” through “j”, and a special number sign, dots 3, 4, 5, and 6.

Larger numbers only need one number sign.
The comma in braille is dot 2.

Information courtesy of:

American Federation for the Blind [ www.afb.org ]
Perkins [ www.perkins.org ]
World Blind Union [ www.worldblindunion.org ]

Why not try some Braille games or send secret messages at http://www.nationalbrailleweek.org/

Every year on 27 January, the world marks Holocaust Memorial Day. On the HMD website you’ll find all of the resources, information and advice you need to participate.

Holocaust Memorial Day provides an opportunity for everyone to learn lessons from the Holocaust, Nazi persecution and subsequent genocides and apply them to the present day to create a safer, better future. On HMD you will find the shared memories of the millions who have been murdered in the Holocaust and subsequent genocides in Cambodia, Rwanda, Bosnia and Darfur in order to challenge hatred and persecution in the UK today.

Creating a safer, better future from Holocaust Memorial Day Trust on Vimeo.

National Handwriting Day was founded in the USA by the Writing Instrument Manufacturers Association (WIMA) so that we could continue to recognise the reward of composing a handwritten note using a high quality writing instrument.

The date chosen was 23 January, the birthday of John Hancock, the first man to sign the Declaration of Independence with a flourish!

In the UK the National Handwriting Association aims to:

• raise awareness of handwriting as a crucial component of literacy
• promote and foster good practice in the teaching of handwriting
• provide support for those working with children and adults who have handwriting difficulties

Together with John Catt Educational Ltd, the NHA is hosting the SATIPS National Schools’ Handwriting Competition 2012 (Monday 21st November 2011 to Wednesday 16th May 2012).  To find out more visit www.handwritingcompetition.co.uk

Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. once said, “Life’s most persistent and urgent question is: ‘What are you doing for others?'”

The aim of World Religion Day is to foster the establishment of interfaith understanding and harmony by emphasizing the common denominators underlying all religions.

The following could be described as the ‘Golden Rule’ of the major religions:

	Hurt not others in ways that you yourself would find hurtful.Buddhism
What is hateful to you, do not to your fellow man. That is the entire law; all the rest is commentary.Judaism
	Do unto others as you would have them do unto you.Christianity
No one of you is a believer until he desires for his brother that which he desires for himself.Islam
	Blessed is he who preferreth his brother before himself.Baha’i FaithThis poster is designed by Jeff Strieff