Tour guide launches kids’ activity packs

CHILDREN who can’t take part in Invisible Cities’ walking tours can now learn about locations while at home thanks to the social enterprise’s new activity packs. Invisible Cities, which trains people who have previously experienced homelessness to become walking tour guides of their own city, has created a series of “round-the-world subscription boxes”. Created in…

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Alcohol-free ‘spirits’ up 30%

SALES of alcohol-free “spirits” in the UK are up 30% year-on-year, according to market research firm Neilsen. Shoppers have spent £5.4 million buying 171,000 litres of alcohol-free “spirits” in supermarkets so far this year, analysts said. Many alcohol-free “spirits” use herbs, berries, roots and botanicals to create flavours similar to gin, prompting their use in…

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Book festival hails global audience

THOUSANDS of viewers from throughout the world have tuned in to watch live sessions from the Edinburgh International Book Festival online. People have watched the performances from as far away as Algeria, Brazil and Nigeria. Highlights from the first few days of the virtual festival have included Ian Rankin, Julia Donaldson, Hilary Mantel, and Bumi…

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Artists send online D&G postcards

NEARLY 40 artists and makers have contributed small-scale works to an online exhibition entitled “A Postcard From D&G”. Pieces created for the initiative range from paintings, drawings and feltwork through to original prints and glass. Artists who have taken part in the exhibition include Heather Blanchard, Lisa Hooper, and Amanda Simmons. The online show opens…

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Rural arts fundraising campaign launched

A FUNDRAISING campaign to help rural venues host live performances begins this morning. The “Keep Rural Arts Live” initiative aims to raise £20,000 through the Crowdfunder website. The campaign is being run by The Touring Network, which brings together artists and venues spread across Scotland. The money will subsidise lost income if venues have to…

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Fairways from heaven

Editor Richard Bath visits the outstanding Dumbarnie Links in Fife, that rarest of things – a new golf course that lives up to the hype. I TRAVELLED to Fife determined not to be swayed by the hype surrounding Dumbarnie, but came away as an ardent evangelist for this astonishingly good new course on the banks…

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Campaigners call for reopening of Glasgow Boy’s historic home

CAMPAIGNERS have called on the National Trust for Scotland (NTS) to reopen its historic Broughton House and Garden in Kirkcudbright and save the jobs of its five staff. Scottish colourist E A Hornel, one of the Glasgow’s Boys, lived at the house with his sister, Elizabeth, and planned its Japanese garden. The Friends of Broughton…

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Online concert for ‘Folk In Crisis’

ACCORDIONIST and shinty star Gary Innes will perform in an online concert tomorrow night to raise money for Folk In Crisis, a fund that supports traditional musicians affected by the coronavirus lockdown. Innes will be joined by Lochaber violinist Ewen Henderson, and will answer the audience’s questions at the end of the performance. The gig…

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Senegal chef opens Glasgow debut site

A YOUNG chef who came to Scotland from Senegal just seven years ago is preparing to open his first restaurant. Modou Diagne is transforming the former “111 by Nico” site on Glasgow’s Cleveden Road into “111 by Modou“. The 46-cover restaurant will open next month with a reduce capacity of 28. Diagne began working for…

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