WHALE Arts

🌻 Meet Jenny! 🌷

We're delighted to introduce Jenny, our new Community Gardener and the latest member of the team here at WHALE Arts.

Jenny has recently joined us and will be helping to develop and care for our wonderful community garden - creating a welcoming space that supports wellbeing through nature, creativity and connection with others.

We're hugely excited to have Jenny onboard, and can't wait to see how the garden grows and develops under her care.

We asked Jenny a couple of questions to get to know her better:

What are you looking forward to doing as part of your new role?
I'm really looking forward to getting to know the garden and the people that use it, and making it feel like a welcoming space for everyone. I'm excited to see how the space evolves over my time at WHALE.

What do you enjoy doing outside of work?
Outside of work I enjoy spending time with my family and friends, and my dog. I have a particular love for traditional crafts and can always be found knitting, leatherworking, basketmaking, sewing, felting... you name it!

Wester Hailes Open Exhibition 2026 – Submit Your Artwork

Be part of the fantastic Wester Hailes Open Exhibition! This year's theme is 'Our Stories' - a celebration of the people, places and experiences that make our community what it is. Anyone who lives or works in Wester Hailes is invited to submit artwork for display at the exhibition.

Artwork can be created and submitted as a group, or by an individual. Tell us about the artwork you'd life to submit by Monday 14th September.

Either visit the link in our bio, scan the QR code, get in touch with us via email ([email protected]) or call 0131 458 3267.

🎞️ The Local Cinema programme is back! 🎞️

Led by WHALE Arts, Local Cinema is an incredible network of community cinemas across Edinburgh. The 26/27 programme will take place across nine community spaces - Craigmillar Now, The Crannie, Drylaw Neighbourhood Centre, Duncan Place Leith, North Edinburgh Arts, Norton Park Centre, Royston Wardieburn Community Centre, Space at The Broomhouse Hub and WHALE Arts.

This year’s programme spans 26 films and is diverse and varied. There's a mix of archive films and recent releases, films about social justice, men’s mental health, and porridge championships, as well as some fantastic family-friendly screenings for everyone to enjoy. The first screening is on Saturday 29th August at Norton Park Centre - He**in Parts 1, 2 and 3 (1983). Book your ticket here: https://www.eventbrite.co.uk/e/heroin-1983-local-cinema-film-screening-and-discussion-tickets-1996441403982

Check out the full programme: whalearts.co.uk/local-cinema

A few photos from our summer holiday Comic Club session!

Our regular Comic Club resumes from tomorrow! For young creatives aged 12 - 16, this is a fun and relaxed group to learn how to write, draw and create comics, as well as cosplay, model-making, animation and more! You can even just pop in, grab a seat and enjoy our comic collection.

💥 Comic Club
📆 Wednesdays
🕓️ 4pm - 6pm
📍 WHALE Arts

No need to book, just drop in and sign up to join the club.

Our regular programme is back 🎉

After a fantastic summer packed with activities, events and trips, we're now getting back into the swing of our regular programme!

Here's just a few of the sessions that we run every week here at WHALE Arts:

Adults programme

🎨 Open Studio
📆 Tuesdays (10:30am - 12:30pm) and Thursdays (1:30pm - 4pm)
➡️ A social and creative drop-in group. Bring along a project you're already working on or use our materials and try something new.

🔨 Makers Club
📆 Wednesdays
🕥️ 10:30am - 1:45pm
➡️ A relaxed group for men who want to meet new people and make things.
Work on your own project or join in with our group activity (e.g. drawing, painting, light woodwork, sculpture). Each session ends with a shared meal provided by us.

🍵 Coorie In Cafe
📆 Wednesdays
🕙️ 10am - 12pm
➡️ Group coaching sessions with our wellbeing coach. For adults living with long-term conditions, disabilities and mental health challenges.

📱 Digital Support Drop-In
📆 Mondays, 1pm - 3pm, at WHALE Arts
📆 Tuesdays, 1pm - 3pm, at The Health Agency
📆 Fridays, 10am - 12pm, at Clovenstone Community Centre
➡️ Need a helping hand with a digital issue - a new device, social media, accessing an online service, or something else? Pop into to one of our digital support sessions!

Young People programme

✏️ Comic Club
📆 Wednesdays
🕓️ 4pm - 6pm
➡️ For young people aged 12 - 16. Learn how to write, draw and create your very own comics, as well cosplay, model-making, animation and more!

🎨 SmARTies Art Club
📆 Fridays
🕜️ 1:30pm - 3pm
➡️ For young people aged 6 - 11. Explore a range of fun art activities, from drawing, painting and sculpture, to animation, photography and textiles.

- Please note, our Street Art sessions are currently paused.

🥗 Our community meal runs as usual every Friday, 1pm - 2pm, so pop in, grab a seat and enjoy a delicious, free lunch.

🎥 Plus, our Friday film screenings are coming back! First one up: the fantastic 'Hoppers' on Friday 25th September at 2:30pm.

⭐️ We've got heaps more going on and coming up, visit whalearts.co.uk/whats-on for our full programme! ⭐️

Volunteer with us!

The Pod Café is a vibrant community café located within WHALE Arts, our community arts centre in Wester Hailes. We're looking for an enthusiastic volunteer to join us.

As a café volunteer, you’ll be at the heart of our community space, helping to prepare food and hot drinks, and providing a friendly experience for our customers. You’ll gain hands-on experience in customer service, food preparation, and barista skills, all while being part of a friendly and dedicated team.

Find out more: whalearts.co.uk/vacancies

Thank You!

A huge thank you to the Garfield Weston Foundation, a family founded grant-maker supporting charities operating in a wide variety of sectors across the UK that make a positive difference within their communities.

We are hugely grateful to The Garfield Weston Foundation for their generous support. This funding means we can keep doing what we do! Thank You.

Join WHALE Arts and Creative Edinburgh at one (or more!) of our creative wellbeing sessions. These free sessions having been created for women aged 50+ who are looking to try something different, learn new skills, and connect with others.

We've got two more sessions lined up:

🌸 Paper Flower Bouquet Workshop with Lauren
📆 20th August
🕙️ 10am - 12pm
📍 WHALE Arts

✂️ Collage Workshop with Liz
📆 3rd September
🕙️ 10am - 12pm
📍 WHALE Arts

To register, either scan the QR code or visit https://bit.ly/44oAHhI

Unfortunately there will be no Pod Café or Coorie In Café this week.

Our Pod Café will be back open on Tuesday 18th August, serving up the usual array of tasty treats.

Coorie In Café will be back at 10am on Wednesday 19th August.

Apologies for any disappointment caused.

💚 Thank you for joining us! 💚

What a lovely afternoon at our Community Picnic!

A huge thank you to everyone who came along, got creative, tried something new, enjoyed the food and music, had a chat and helped make the afternoon so amazing.

And of course, a big thank you to Starcatchers, SCOREscotland, Chantel and Anna for the delicious food, and everyone who helped out today, it would be impossible to do it without you.

We hope everyone who came along today had as good a time as we did.