The Edinburgh Report

We invited the planning convener Neil Gardiner on to our podcast to explain what the council is doing in the realms of planning right now. It turns out they are working hard to help get the city ready for rebuilding the economy after the lockdown ends.

Malcolm Cannon is the National Director of the Institute of Directors in Scotland Here we find out what is keeping him busy during the lockdown

Here we meet the guys from Edinburgh startup BackHug who may just have the perfect product for the post Covid world

Lee is the person who is responsible for promoting walking and cycling in Scotland. A former professional mountain biker she is using her skills well during the coronavirus lockdown. Listen here

Suzy Enoch is a mum of three children and wanted to have some new material to teach her five year-old daughter how to read. So she has written her own and three will be launched on 26 May with more to be published later. All the stories are set in lockdown and will help you explain that to young children while also teaching them how to read.

The RNIB commissioned a survey of those with sight loss to assess how difficult life had become for them in recent weeks. Here we speak to James Adams Director of RNIB Scotland and to Kirin Saeed who is registered blind

We interviewed Emma Nicolson who is ahead of Creative Programmes about the latest news.

Questions continue over the decision to go ahead with mass gatherings across the UK following the Edinburgh Nike conference COVID-19 outbreak. It is a week since the BBC Disclosure programme which revealed that the Scottish Government had not made findings of positive cases arising from the conference public. Here we speak to Edinburgh South MP Ian Murray about what he sees as a cover up

Edinburgh Lockdown Economy has fast become the website to go to whether you’re looking for food groceries or ideas to keep you entertained during the lockdown here we speak to Tom of Edinburgh Lockdown Economy about how it works

John Loughton is running the logistics of a catering company which is about to deliver its 30,000th free meal in Edinburgh in just a few weeks. We spoke to John recently about how this all works.

Paul Stewart is a walking tour guide with invisible Cities. That is the social enterprise which runs tours for residents and tourists alike. Invisible Cities employee those who have had experience of homelessness. He has been homeless over 10 times, and sees the city in a different way. During the pandemic he is offering virtual tours on Zoom on a one to one basis when you can experience Edinburgh...

The Right Rev Colin Sinclair is the minister of Palmerston Place Church in Edinburgh. He has been Moderator this past year and will give up office on 16 May. We spoke to him and his wife Ruth from their home in Morningside where their daily Facebook broadcasts are making them social media sensations.

Anti-apartheid activist Denis Goldberg died on Wednesday aged 87. We spoke to former Lord Provost Eric Milligan about his memories of Goldberg and FW de Klerk, as well as Nelson Mandela

In the first part of this series we spoke to Sir Geoff who is a human rights activist as well as an Emeritus Professor at Heriot-Watt University about links to the slave trade in the New Town. In the second part we take up the tale of the plaque proposed for the Melville Monument in St Andrew Square.

Talking about the climate emergency, cycling and working from home when you’re building a huge tidal wave energy device.

The city council has had to find a new way of working. They decided only yesterday that council business will be run by 17 councillors on the Policy and Sustainability Committee Other committees will be revived as soon as they can - but this will at least allow some councillors to take part in decision making We contacted the council leader and deputy leader to ask them about it

People are finding all sorts of ways to entertain themselves It is easier if you can already play the piano of course - and here is Edinburgh musician, conductor and composer Richard Lewis with something to keep you going during the lockdown richardjlewis.org

Jim is usually out there doing card tricks and close up magic particularly during the fringe or at corporate events. We found his blog online and it is really worth reading and sharing. Here he is talking to us about what he is up to during the lockdown.

Invisible Cities is a social enterprise which offers walking tours. During the pandemic they are looking after their guides and volunteers who have all experienced homelessness. Here we speak to founder Zakia Moulaoui who tells us what they are doing and how you can help by taking a virtual tour

Sadly at this time there are those who are only too keen to take advantage We spoke to lawyer Margaret Ross from Balfour+Manson who is highlighting the dangers of being scammed at this time -particularly the elderly or vulnerable who may be more isolated than usual

The coronavirus lockdown is not all bad news. Some companies are benefitting from it and turning to technology to help. One of these is Yakety Yak Language cafe which offers language classes with a native speaker in cafes in Edinburgh and Glasgow They have moved the classes onto Zoom and Skype where the chat goes on. We asked Jordan Peyroche one of the tutors how it works.

Garry Clark of The Federation of Small Businesses welcomes the additional funding from Scottish Government but is still seeking some clarification about it

The charity is organising emergency food drop offs for people across Edinburgh, in areas of need. We spoke to Jim from the charity about the work and how you can help.

We spoke to John Macmillan the CEO of The Eric Liddell Centre about their new lunch programme. They are delivering free lunches to vulnerable people in Edinburgh.

Edinburgh chef Barry Bryson is used to catering for large events but now he has started up a home delivery service