Community News 5th August: Eat Out to Help Out & Spaces for People

Eat Out to Help Out

This week the Government launched the ‘Eat Out to Help Out’ Scheme to encourage people to support the hospitality industry and eat out again.

Here are the details:

  • get a 50% discount on food or non-alcoholic drinks to eat or drink in (up to a maximum of £10 discount per diner).
  • every Monday, Tuesday and Wednesday between 3 and 31 August.
  • as many times as you like.

You do not need a voucher to use this scheme and you can use it at the same time as other offers and discounts. There is no minimum spend. You cannot claim a discount on alcoholic drinks or service charges.

You can search for which eateries are taking part on the HMRC website. Here are the details of local ones though to make it easy for you!

Fenwicks of Linlithgow

Sweet Little Cheesecake Cafe

So Strawberry Caffe

Cafebar 1807

The Jersey Bean

Costa Coffee

The Crannog

Mason Belles Kitchen

Bar Leo

Delhis Winter

Nero Pizza

The Ashmaan

The Burger Barn at The Park Bistro

Champany Inn

Rouken Glen Garden Centre

Mannerstons

Bridge 49 Cafe Bar & Bistro


Linlithgow & Linlithgow Bridge Community Council Update

As we slowly ease back into visiting local shops and places we are walking more and cycling more. The Spaces for People initiative have set out temporary measures to make travel and exercise safer during Covid 19. The projects in Linlithgow under consideration are:

  • Footway widening of the High Street at Oliphant’s bakery.
  • Footway widening at Back Station Road.
  • Suspension of Loaning parking between St Michael’s Wynd and the Four Mary’s and also between Lion Well Wynd and New Well Wynd.
  • Walker/cyclist-friendly zones will be introduced on rural roads in the Bathgate Hills with a reduced speed limit to 40 mph.
  • Advisory/temporary cycle lanes will be introduced along the Edinburgh Road and St Ninian’s Road.
  • Physical distancing signage and measures at lay-by bus stops.

Improvements to Capstan’s Walk have also been planned with the Cycling, Walking and Safer Streets (CWSS) initiative.

You can get in touch with your community council via our website using contact us or by messaging our Facebook page.


Business Spotlight – Linlithgow Sports Podiatry & Chiropody Clinic

Podiatrist Martin Godley has operated his business Linlithgow Sports Podiatry & Chiropody Clinic in Braehead Business Park for several years. He is in no doubt that Braehead’s location and compactness offers nothing but plus points: “It’s ideal for parking and it’s within easy cycling or walking distance for lots of people. We have so many services here, everything from therapies and beauty treatment to dog grooming and training. It’s like a mini High Street.”

Martin Godley Podiatry offers a wide range of sports podiatry, for both experienced and recreational athletes, and a range of both general and high risk foot and nail care. His treatments also include biomechanics and gait analysis, foot and lower leg mobilisation, as well as providing custom-made orthotics.

He said that after closing for five weeks at the onset of lockdown he had been providing treatment for high risk patients, including diabetics, or those in pain or discomfort. “I’m now back to providing my usual services, but with a high emphasis on safety. I see fewer patients in the day, I have a screen between me and patients, I wear a visor and a special mask, and I do a special clean between each patient.”

You can read more about Linlithgow Sports Podiatry & Chiropody Clinic in the latest edition of The Black Bitch Magazine on page 6. More information can also be found on their website.


Community Spotlight – West Lothian Clarion Cycling Club

West Lothian Clarion Cycling Club is made up of two sections: a youth coaching set up and an adult recreational cycling section.

During lockdown all club group activities were put on hold, so the weekly youth coaching sessions and races were postponed and the regular club runs and time trials for the adult section were cancelled.

Club President, Diane Clayton Chisholm and the club’s committee set up a number of initiatives to keep the club ticking over “Although folk could ride on their own during lockdown, the social aspect of club life is a major part of why our members enjoy being part of the Clarion. We introduced get-togethers, club runs and races, all on-line of course, so our members could socialise and support each other during lockdown”.

The club used an online platform called Zwift to hold weekly group rides every Saturday, with riders using ‘smart trainers’ to cycling along realistic virtual roads. On Thursdays the more competitive types took part in 16km time trial races, again using their smart trainers.


As Lockdown progressed more and more people started riding their bikes. The club responded to this by publishing weekly cycling routes of varying distances on Facebook. Ride tips, and mini discussions on how to undertake simple bike fixes like mending punctures were also added to the Facebook page

As lockdown eased and families could meet up again, the Clarion’s next initiative was to loan out the club’s eezy-up tents so folk could shelter from the rain while they met loved ones in the garden… and remain dry during a typical Scottish Summer.

Back in the real world, the club set up a fun activity called the ‘Cassqette Challenge”. Every week a club cap or “cassquette” was hidden in a different spot around the county. The challenge part of the game was to find the cap using the supplied grid reference and post up a selfie next to the cap on the club’s Facebook page.


It proved quite a hit and was open to anyone to take part, not just club members, runners and horse riders even uploaded their selfies on the Facebook page!

Matthew Ball who set the challenge up said “The idea was to give people a bit of focus and help folk discover the amazing network of quiet local lanes.”

The cap was placed as far west as Slammanan and Kirknewton was the most easterly spot. People of ages took part, but special mention but go to 10 year old Rhuairdh Fulton and his dad Ewen, who rode 831km in their quest to find each cap!

The club’s youth section has over 20 coaches and a large support group of volunteers that normally run the youth coaching which is held at Xcite, the Oracle car park and Beecraig country Park.

Each week a different coach ran an online ‘Zoom’ quiz so members could meet on the usual club night for a bit of cycling chat and to see friends. The club also held online interviews with local professional cyclist (and Clarion alumni) Cameron Mason, quizzing him about his life racing cyclo-cross in Belgium. British Champ and coach James McCallum was also put under the spotlight live on Zoom as was Scottish Development Squad rider Alex Ball.

Another initiative for the youth riders was the ‘Clarion Etape Challenge’ set up by Craig Duncan.

Organisers of the cancelled Etape Caledonia Cycle Sportive donated their medals to the club, so the youth section could run its own very special 85 mile Etape Challenge. To receive a medal youngsters had to ride 85 miles over the course of 3 weeks.


Craig said “It was disappointing to see the Etape Caledonia cancelled but the organisers wanted to encourage folk to get other bikes. So it was great to see youngsters taking part in our challenge with family members, we even raised over £500 for Marie Curie Cancer Care and Scotland’s Charity Air Ambulance”.

Club organisers have now switched their attention to getting club activities up and running and have developed a road map back to coaching. Keep up to date via the Clarion Facebook page or find out more on their website.


Latest Covid-19 Guidance

Scotland moved to Phase 3 of the route map for coming out of lockdown on the 10 July 2020. See some key dates for future changes.

The current advice from the Scottish Government to stay safe, protect others, save lives is:

  • wear a face covering
  • avoid crowded places
  • clean hands and surfaces regularly
  • stay 2m away from other people
  • self-isolate and book a test if you have COVID-19 symptoms

See what you can and cannot do to help suppress the virus.