I'm going to be honest with you - I don't know much about Shelter Scotland beyond the fact that…read morethey have a badass bookshop in my neighbourhood and the recent #SocialMediaSanta campaign made my heart sing. But heart singing moments are still worthy of comment, so i'll write this review based on that. Back in December, the lovely Rachel R turned me onto #SocialMediaSanta as a means to get the online community involved in giving back to the local offline community. The concept was simple - collect unwrapped presents and drop them with Shelter Scotland in December to make someones Christmas a little brighter. The concept isn't new, they haven't reinvented the wheel - it's something we're all familiar with during the holiday season and any way you toss it, giving back is a nice thing to do. But I was particularly impressed with Shelter Scotland's take on this and here's why: 1. Setting up a catchy hashtag. Utilizing online curiosity with a funky sounding hashtag was just genius. Whether you knew about it or not, it was intriguing enough to want to learn more. 2. Really targeting the online community to make offline impact. Let's be honest, most of our communication happens online nowadays, so I thought it was pretty darn smart to use that to their advantage. Getting the local online communities and bloggers onboard, meant the word travelled faster and an impressive amount of people got involved. 3. Making it super easy to drop off. Whether it was in post, or in person, the Shelter peeps made it pretty foolproof to get the presents there safe and sound. I happen to know that Rachel actually went to Glasgow to pick up presents! 4. But perhaps my favourite thing is that they didn't limit the presents to just toys. They were asking for presents for Mom & Dad too. I think that's a really important factor that's often overlooked and it's nice to see someone making the WHOLE family a priority. So yeah, based on #socialmediasanta, i'm a huge fan of this group and look forward to seeing what other initiatives they put forward in 2015!

i went to Shelter Scotland at a very late stage , with i may add a huge ask, i.e Housing, arrears ,…read moreclaiming is a lot of phone time and a lot of paperwork, so many rules timelines photocopys emails, p45, wage slips, courts,i cant even begin to imagine where i would be if it wasnt for Frank at Shelter he done so much , and still is, everywhere i went before wanted a fee, yes thats right , they "step in" to help you with your debt by , giving you another debt, i dont know if its just me but getting a job was my biggest nightmare, how sad I can only praise Shelter Scotland, and their staff esp Frank who i know worked hard and fought my corner, i will be forever grateful, and all my charity donations will go to Shelter Scotland ONLY Thanks again Katherine Hogg Edinburgh Woohoo! As good as it gets

Lovely childrens nursery. My children were there from a young age. Staff are wonderful and very…read moreattentive. Private nursery, more expensive than some others but I believe u get what u pay for

This is a place that I have been dragged along to an endless number of never ending coffee…read moremornings! In saying that, this place plays host to numerous other recreational activities for children and adults alike and should not be pigeon holed into 'coffee for the elderly'! Of a regular week, locals can be seen in here salsa dancing, singing folk music or minding the nippers whilst their mummys and daddys are hard at work. There is also a summer sports club in connection with the local primary school, thereby brining schoolchildren into the heart of this community as well as serving the more willing locals. With local advertisements as well, this is one of the places in Corstorphine that really promotes that community spirit and I don't think the locals would hesitate to agree with me there.

I always have boundless amounts of respect for places like this - it seems cliched to say it, but i…read morelove the idea of kids (and adults as well, oddly enough!) having somewhere to go to keep them off the streets. Most impressivly, this place manages to get a whole week of activities - ranging from dance classes to band practice - in its rooms, all of which remain perfectly functional for anything that they are used for. As is usually nessicary with these places however, you often find that they get commandeered by certain kids who dont always want to play nice, but such is life.

This particular branch of Barnardos is dedicated to books and as such has an amazing selection. On…read moresunny days there are usually boxes of books displayed outside to entice bookworms in and it certainly did the job for me. Unlike other charity shop, this one if very well categorised and organised and it makes it easy to browse for the type of books that you're into. I spotted a few German books which I was seriously considering buying so I can brush up on my grammar but that's just nowhere near as fun as the cookery books that I spied. There were tonnes of cookery books from quick meals, elaborate gourmet dining recipes, cake recipes and many more mouth watering recipes on offer. Prices are very reasonable considering what many of the books would have cost brand new and most of them are in excellent condition, plus it's for a great cause.

This Barnado's store is their book shop, selling a huge variety of books at very reasonable prices…read more- generally around £2-3 a book. The staff are generally friendly and helpful and often quite knowledgeable. The fiction section to the left has a wide selection of books both old and new - a great place to pick up that latest bestseller or an unknown book by your favourite author. The shop is sensibly laid out with sections for science fiction, crime, biography, travel, Scottish books and children's books as well as by subject area. A real gem of a charity shop, you could easily spend a good hour and a great deal of money in there!

I have said it before and I will say it again. Charity shops are great places to find a genuinely…read moregreat bargain. Yes, you may have to search around, and root through a lot of rubbish to get there, but you will inevitably turn up something good. This shop is one of a number of different charity shops in the Costorphine area, covering a range of the different charities. I tend to be drawn towards the CD and DVD section, which will also tend to have a large number of videos. It's like a chronology of technology in these places. This shop had a fair selection, though there was a much larger section devoted to clothes, mainly for women. Obviously, Marie Curie's involvement in the fight against cancer means that it is well worth supporting the work that they are doing. Give them a visit - you never know what you might stumble upon.

An excellent nursery, well run, well equipped, with a caring attitude and an educational…read moremethodology that truly encourages the children to explore and learn. As far as I can ascertain both parents and local council applaud its achievements. The only disharmony I have seen occurs when some children are unhappy to leave the place at the end of the day, a recommendation to other mothers.

This is a very well stocked branch of Marie Curie, in fact, it's full to bursting. I'm not a huge…read morecharity shop person, mainly because of the fact that I can't be bothered raiding through piles and piles of clothing and bric-a-brac. I'm lazy. I was, however, drawn into this branch of Marie Curie with their inviting window display hosting various different handbags and a very sweet selection of teacups. I love tea, so I'm also a huge fan of teacups. I'm also still on a mission to find vintage handbags for my mum and although I couldn't find anything to fit the bill here I still enjoyed browsing. It was a sunny day and because this store is located on a corner the sun streamed through the windows and made the place feel fresh and vibrant which was a nice change as I tend to find some charity shops a little dull and stagnant. The staff here were also very friendly, so if you're into charity shops, give this place a shot.

Great skatepark for all levels of ability. Made of concrete this place is great. Sore if you fall…read moreoff though. Short drive from Edinburgh and alot of great people to meet and ride with. Try not to leave belongings alone for too long though as they might be stolen. Great refreshment shops nearby and a play park for kids.