A fundraising event highlighting The People’s City anthology
Edinburgh City Chambers was a grand venue for the most recent fundraising event in aid of the OneCity Trust charity. Hosted by the Rt Hon. Lord Provost, Robert Aldridge, A Dinner in the People’s City, focused on its namesake anthology, The People’s City (Birlinn 2021).
Following a reception and three course dinner, two of the contributing authors, Sir Ian Rankin and Dr Anne Hamilton, joined publisher Hugh Andrew in talking about their stories, Broukit Bairn and The Finally Tree. With setting integral to Edinburgh – the Royal Mile and the Botanic Gardens respectively – the writers talked about the importance of the city to their work, and the value of the OneCity Trust in general.
The Trust was established in 2003 in response to the OneCity report of the then Lord Provost, Lesley Hinds’ Commission on Social Exclusion.
It employs the concept of a ‘community foundation’ to give people and organisations a means to reach across the social divides of the city, to challenge inequality, and to support those excluded from the community. A permanent endowment was established with a donation from the City of Edinburgh Council, which the Trust adds to over the years.
The event, part of Scotland’s Year of Stories 2022, raised funds in excess of £4500 for the charity, and all proceeds from the book, The People’s City, also go towards the OneCity Trust.
The People’s City (Birlinn 2021)
£7.99
Stories by Ian Rankin, Alexander McCall Smith, Sara Sheridan, Nadine Aisha Jassat, Anne Hamilton, and an introduction by Irvine Welsh.
For more information, and to support the Edinburgh OneCity Trust, go to: www.onecitytrust.com