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Ten simple things YOU can do to celebrate:
- Visit an art exhibit or a museum dedicated to other cultures.
- Invite a family or people in the neighborhood from another culture or religion to share a meal with you and exchange views on life.
- Rent a movie or read a book from another country or religion than your own.
- Invite people from a different culture to share your customs.
- Read about the great thinkers of other cultures than yours (e.g. Confucius, Socrates, Avicenna, Ibn Khaldun, Aristotle, Ganesh, Rumi).
- Go next week-end to visit a place of worship different than yours and participate in the celebration.
- Play the “stereotypes game.” Stick a post-it on your forehead with the name of a country. Ask people to tell you stereotypes associated with people from that country. You win if you find out where you are from.
- Learn about traditional celebrations from other cultures; learn more about Hanukkah or Ramadan or about amazing celebrations of New Year’s Eve in Spain or Qingming festival in China.
- Spread your own culture around the world through our Facebook page and learn about other cultures.
- Explore music of a different culture.
There are thousands of things that you can do, are you taking part in it?
International Dawn Chorus Day is the worldwide celebration of Nature’s daily Miracle.
In East Lothian, IDCD is being celebrated with a Dawn Chorus Walk, organised by the Scottish Ornithologists Club (see below for details)
Dawn Chorus Walk
Event Information
| Date | 6-May-2012 |
|---|---|
| Start Time | 6.00am |
| Location | The SOC, Waterston House Aberlady East Lothian |
| Admission | £2 SOC Members, £4 non-members |
| Breakfast | Includes refreshments after the event back at Waterston House. |
| Suitable for children | Yes |
| Contact | Jane Cleaver |
| jane.cleaver@the-soc.org.uk | |
| Telephone | 01875 871 330 |
| Additional Information | Includes refreshments after the event back at Waterston House. |
From 21st-27th May 2012 Arrhythmia Alliance will be holding its annual Heart Rhythm Week which gives anyone the opportunity to raise awareness and promote better understanding of heart rhythm disorders.
For Heart Rhythm Week 2012, Arrhythmia Alliance and its members will be promoting the importance of patient empowerment. Those taking part in the week will be encouraged to organise awareness activities that help people with symptoms of a heart rhythm disorder access the appropriate information and support from a healthcare professional. Find out how you can get involved
Now in its fourth year, Green Office Week is an award-winning initiative designed to address green issues in the workplace and encourage office workers to spring into action and adopt practical ways to help the environment.
The aim of the week is to encourage workers to make environmental changes. Whether it’s to introduce a new policy, start recycling, reduce your carbon footprint or buy eco products, there will be a small change you can make.
Green Office Week (GOW) is an action-packed week full of fun and simple ideas to make your office greener. See what’s happening each day and then find ways you can fit these environmental ideas into your own work place. You can make a real difference to the environment by making a few small, practical changes. But don’t stop there! Become a true green champion by taking our daily themes and making them work for you every week of the year.
For the first time ever you can take part in the Green League to measure your environmental impact.
Focus on Transport
Encourage measures to reduce your company’s environmental impact through travel.
Focus on Waste
Encourage the 3Rs: reduce/reuse/recycle and benefit from the cost-reductions.
Focus on Purchasing
Encourage a review of purchasing habits and switching to eco-friendly office products.
Adult Learners’ Week is the UK’s largest annual festival of learning; inspiring thousands of people each year to discover how learning can change their lives.
Through thousands of events and award ceremonies, Adult Learners’ Week celebrates all kinds of learners and promotes the benefits of every type of learning.
Adult Learners’ Week:
- gives you the opportunity to explore the many different kinds of learning; whether you want to get a better job, try something you’ve always wanted to, be able to help your children at school or discover something new about the world around you.
- recognises the achievements of outstanding individuals and inspiring learning projects through national and regional awards.
- offers your organisation the chance to showcase the learning opportunities that you provide; for 2012 you can even link your activities to our themes.
- attracts widespread media coverage, highlighting the stories of people who have transformed their lives and proving that adult learning really does matter.
- is backed by thousands of supporters each year, helping us all raise the awareness of the benefits of learning.
View videos of inspirational learners here.
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Foster Care Fortnight is an annual campaign to raise the profile of fostering. It is the UK’s biggest fostering recruitment campaign and last year over 35 million people heard about the need for more foster carers.
This year’s campaign is supported by singer Gareth Gates who grew up as part of a foster family.
Over 1500 foster carers are needed in Scotland – Could You Foster?
An annual event of optimistic seed sowing on May Day since 2007.
Plant sunflower seeds anywhere around your neighbourhood they might have a chance of flourishing with a little tender loving care from you and your friends:
– Neglected flower beds
– Weedy tree pits
– Roadside verges
– Municipal shrubberies
– A neglectful neighbours garden
And where ever your imagination leads you.
You’re looking for places where they won’t get weeded away or accidentally trampled. You may need to water them in dry periods, but ideally the ground will be not to sandy and dry and the season will be kind to us and our plants with regular bursts of rain.
You can do it solo or organise a local sowing session near you. Sow your sunflowers any time of the day but this year it’s a Tuesday, so if you’re at work head out at the traditional guerrilla planting evening hours when you’re most likely to bump into other locals and win them round to joining in too – the suggestion is from 6pm.
All you need are sunflower seeds and something to dig the ground a bit so you can sow it a couple of centimetres underground. If you can plant it with a handful of fresh compost and water it the chances of success are improved.
Dystonia is the term used to describe uncontrollable muscle spasms caused by incorrect signals from the brain. The muscle spasms force the body into unusual and sustained movements and postures. This can affect many different areas of the body.
Around 1 in every 200 people either has dystonia themselves or has a close family member affected so it is likely you know someone affected. Click here to learn more.
Do you know who it is? It is possible they don’t either!
As it is estimated that 30-50% of people with dystonia are not diagnosed. Doctors often don’t recognise the symptoms and many people are being told they have a psychological problem.
Possible signs that someone has dystonia include:
Neck dystonia: The neck is twisting sideways or being pulled backwards or forwards involuntarily
Eye dystonia: Uncontrollable blinking or the eyelids forcing themselves shut
Hand dystonia: The hand makes strange, unintentional movements when writing or playing an instrument
Generalised dystonia: Abnormal, twisted postures of the hands or arms
Remember the person
Dementia Awareness Week will take place in England, Northern Ireland and Wales from 20-26 May 2012.
Remember the person is Alzheimer’s Society‘s annual flagship awareness-raising campaign. It’s a big opportunity to raise awareness and understanding of dementia and to get people to ‘remember the person’ behind the dementia.
More info: http://www.deafcouncil.org.uk/daw/index.htm
Free Comic Book Day is a single day – the first Saturday in May each year – when participating comic book shops give away comic books absolutely FREE to anyone who comes into their stores (rules vary from shop to shop).
The nearest participating shop to East Lothian is Forbidden Planet, 39-41 South Bridge, Edinburgh, EH1 1LL.
The Comics:
2012 Gold Books
2012 Silver Books
Join FSID’s flagship Mile in Memory walk to honour the memory of someone special to you.
FSID hopes to see a host of Mile in Memory walks taking place across the country on Saturday 12th May. Most importantly, every penny you raise will go towards their aim of making cot death a thing of the past.
Organise your own walk
Join us on the day by organising your own one mile sponsored walk in memory of a loved one. Organising your own walk is easy and fun to do and FSID will give you all the help you need.
Order your Mile in Memory pack today!
What you get when you register your walk
• FSID Fundraising pack
• Dedicated FSID coordinator
• Tips and advice on how to organise your event
Join a walk
If you don’t fancy organising a walk but would like to support this event, then why not join a Mile in Memory walk near you?
See our map for locations across the country.
Contact Us
For more details contact Lucy at fundraising@fsid.org.uk or on 020 7802 3201
The aim of the month is to increase awareness of local history, promote history in general to the local community and encourage all members of the community to participate.
Activities happen across the UK and include trips, library exhibitions and local lectures. It is a great way for groups to highlight local history and for local people to get involved.
It is a perfect opportunity to visit the John Gray Centre, the new home of the East Lothian Local History Centre. Although based in Haddington, it holds records relating to the whole of East Lothian: from Dirleton to Whittingehame, and Musselburgh to Oldhamstocks.
Whether you’re doing family history research, writing a local history book or want to find out who once lived in your house, the John Gray Centre should be the first place you visit.
Further details on our services can be found via the website www.johngraycentre.org , including a new online catalogue that shows you the materials that can be accessed when you visit.
Cake Break is a scrumptious way to raise money for people affected by MS all across the UK.
Get busy baking and join thousands of ot
hers getting active in MS Week.
Sign up and receive a free Cake Break pack containing all the information you’ll need to organise an amazing event. It’s as simple as inviting your friends, family and neighbours, providing them with plenty of cake and then watching the donation boxes fill up.
Plan a Cake Break:
You can hold a Cake Break at any time of the year. Let’s get baking to beat MS.
Event information
- When:04 May 2012 at (All day)
- Location:Home, work, school & communities all over the UK!
For any queries or to order more materials, email cakebreak@mssociety.org.uk or call 0845 481 1577.
This Christian Aid Week (13 – 19 May 2012), let’s give the tools to help people in poverty out of poverty.
http://www.caweek.org/resources/young-people.html
Young people
Assemblies, talks and activity sheets to inspire children and young people in churches and schools.
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All-age talk
An all-age talk introducing the people of Gbap in Sierra Leone and looking they challenges they face and how they are tackling them. -
Children’s activity sheet
The Tools for the job activity sheets are designed for use with children aid 7-11 during Christian Aid week. Intended to complement the All-age talk. -
Youth group resource
Having the right tools – a youth group resources aimed at 13-year-olds and above. -
Primary school assembly
Small town, big ideas – a Christian Aid Week PowerPoint presentation looking at the vital work our partner does in Sierra Leone and at the people affected. Trouble downloading the PPT file to your PC? Right-click the download button and choose the ‘Save Target As’ option. -
Primary school assembly
An assembly presentation to be used with the PowerPoint presentation. Contains a prayer and ideas for further action. -
Primary school assembly
A PDF of the primary school PowerPoint presentation. -
Secondary school assembly
Council power! a PowerPoint presentation raising awareness of Christian Aid Week and how a Christian Aid partner is helping change people’s lives in Sierra Leone. Trouble downloading the PPT file to your PC? Right-click the download button and choose the ‘Save Target As’ option. -
School assembly presentation notes
An assembly presentation to be used with the PowerPoint presentation. Contains a prayer and ideas for further action. -
Secondary school assembly
A PDF of the above secondary school PowerPoint presentation. -
Young people video
Download our video from the YouSendIt website – this site allows you to download larger files more easily. -
School poster and lesson plan
This resource includes a poster and a lesson plan and it has been written to help schools celebrate Christian Aid Week. Aimed at ages 7-14. -
Activity sheets
This activity accompanies the Tools and teamwork lesson plan to celebrate Christian Aid Week. Aimed at ages 7-14. -
Lesson plan presentation
A PowerPoint presentation to be used with the above resources. Aimed at ages 7-14. Trouble downloading the PPT file to your PC? Right-click the download button and choose the ‘Save Target As’ option.
Vesak is the holiest day in Buddhism. On this day are celebrated the birth, the Enlightenment, and the death of the Buddha. This day is usually in the middle or last two weeks of May.
Buddhists the world over rejoice and ponder this day, which is itself a symbol of rejoicing and pondering. Celebrations can be large affairs, filled with (vegetarian) food, animals, and festivals, or small remembrances, filled with meditation. Silent marches or meditations in the evening end the daylong celebration.
This holiday goes by other names as well, among them Buddha Purinama, Wesak, and Visakha Puja. The name may be different, but the reason for celebrating is the same.
St. Florian was a patron from Noricum, Rome in three hundred A.D., who was said to be one of the first commanding fire fighters of an actual battalion. As legend states, St.Florian saved an entire village engulfed in flames using just a single bucket of water. Legend also states, because of this act St.Florian is known as the protector of those who have come in danger of fire.
The duties St. Florian performed for his province are the same duties that fire fighters around the world perform everyday-with the same dedication and braveries. On May 4, St. Florian is globally recognized and honored and is also known as the day of St.Florian. Therefore, International Fire Fighters Day was chosen to be honored on May 4 in honor of the saint.
http://www.dontgivefireahome.com
Fire Safety
This section tells you everything you need to know about preventing fires, protecting your home and family, the services that can help you, and what to do if the worst ever happens.
Prevention
It’s easy to prevent fires – if you know what to look for and what to avoid.
Alarms & Extinguishers
Fire safety equipment must be installed, maintained and used properly. Get the essential facts here.
Fire Emergencies
Learn what to do in an emergency – it could save your life.
Book a Home Safety Visit
Have your home checked over by professional Firefighters and get a ten-year smoke alarm fitted free of charge!
Fire & Rescue Services
There’s far more to Scotland’s Fire and Rescue services than tackling blazes. Find out how they can help you stay fire safe here.
Fire Action
Would you know what to do if a fire breaks out? How would you and your family escape?
This section gives essential information on Fire Action, as well as tips on everyday routines that will help keep you safe.
Escape Planning
Make a Fire Action Plan for your home today. Read our notes on escape planning and make your own printable plan with our interactive Fire Action Planner.
Emergency Basics – Know What To Do
Knowing exactly what to do in the event of a fire could save your life. Find out here.
Safety Routines
Simple, every day routines to help keep you and your loved ones safe from fire.
There is an old superstition that rowan trees (also known as mountain ash) offer protection against wishes.
It is considered unlucky to cut down a rowan tree except on St Helen’s Day, cut with a household knife from a tree the cutter had never seen before. It must be taken home by a different route from the one taken to get there!
World Asthma Day is an annual event organized by the Global Initiative for Asthma (GINA) to improve asthma awareness and care around the world. World Asthma Day 2012 will take place on Tuesday, May 1, 2012. The theme of World Asthma Day 2012 will be “You Can Control Your Asthma.”
On their website you’ll find a wide variety of information about World Asthma Day, including advice and resources for activity planning, and a listing of World Asthma Day events in your area and around the world.
Read more about World Asthma DayLatest WAD News
World Asthma Day 2012 materials now available! Click here to access them.
International Dawn Chorus Day is the worldwide celebration of Nature’s daily Miracle. In 2012, it takes place on 6 May.
This year there will be more opportunities than ever to join in the excitement. In the run up to the event events from all over the world and across the UK will be listed on this website, so visit us regularly to see what’s planned in your area.
If you are planning an event you can now create your own listing for your event, including sounds, pictures and details of your organisation. Just register here to set up an IDCD account. If you would like to organise an event and are not sure where to start take a look here.
If you have any questions or would like to join our email list please contact the IDCD team at idcd@bbcwildlife.org.uk.
I hope you enjoy being part of International Dawn Chorus Day this year!
Neil Wyatt,
Chief Executive, The Wildlife Trust for Birmingham and the Black Country
The Division for Social Policy and Development (DSPD) supports the worldwide observance of the International Day of Families (15 May) by preparing background information on the family for use by Governments, the UN system, including the regional commissions, and UN Information Centres and NGOs. An annual message of the Secretary-General is prepared for wide distribution.
May is Walking Month!
14-18 May is Walk to Work Week
21-25 May is Walk to School Week.
East Lothian Walks
East Lothian offers a great variety of landscapes for walking, with the Lammermuir Hills to the south, a coast of beaches and cliffs and an expanse of arable farmland in between. Many of the paths go to, or pass vantage points offering views of the surrounding rolling landscape. Amongst the features are many hidden gems – river valleys, woodland, secret bays and historic sites. It is now possible to walk the length of the East Lothian coast, The John Muir Way is almost 73km from Edinburgh to the Borders, leaflets are avaiable below with the route broken down into shorter sections, with opportunities to link into other paths and circular walks along the coast.
A number of walks leaflets have been produced by East Lothian Council and other community groups, highlighting walks along the coast and around towns and villages. Download them below:
| Walks Around | The John Muir Way
Scotways |
Further information about these walks can be found on East Lothian Council’s web site, under Countryside, or by phoning East Lothian Council’s Access Officers on 01620 827671 or 827419.
