YOU SNOBS!
Homeowners in Edinburgh’s West End leave note on charity van, saying it’s ‘lowering tone of area’
IT is one of Scotland’s most prestigious postcodes, where properties can fetch more than £1million.
So when a work’s van was parked in Edinburgh’s West End it was bound to set lace curtains twitching.
In fact, two residents were so incensed by the appearance of Bradley Welsh’s vehicle in Drumsheugh Gardens they left a note warning him he was ‘lowering the tone’.
They also said an advertising trailer attached belonged in an ‘industrial estate’ and asked him not to park outside their new flat, before signing off ‘Brian and Bill’.
The vehicle belongs to Bradley Welsh, 42, who runs free boxing classes for some of Edinburgh’s poorest children as part of the Helping Hands volunteer group.
Mr Welsh said he parked the van on the street as he lives ‘about 25 paces away’. He uses it for his charity work and the trailer was promoting it.
Yesterday he spoke of his disgust on social media after finding the note which read: ‘Please can you stop parking this van outside my new flat as it is lowering the tone of
‘See the difference between rich and poor’
the area. Also the trailer. Keep it for the industrial estate, not the New Town.’
The boxing trainer posted a photo of the message on Facebook, writing that he had ‘offered to help Brian and Bill buy a castle with private grounds to keep the peasants out of sight’ and called the pair ‘clowns’.
Later, he said: ‘Who would do that? I put up the post to shine a light on what some people are like.
‘This is Edinburgh. There’s an upper class and a working class and the divide is very much there. Anybody with a brain can see the difference between rich and poor.
‘You would think they would read the side of the trailer, or look up the organisation and see what we do.’
He added tongue-in-cheek that ‘after six weeks of relentless work, it’s always nice to be reminded you are doing good’.
But followers rallied round when they saw the note on Holyrood Boxing Gym’s Facebook page.
Juliette Jones wrote: ‘Brian and Bill being snobs and also missing the point of advertising (“keep it for the industrial estate”).’ Another, Kat Jarvis, told the coach to ‘continue the amazing work you’re doing’.
Trainspotting author Irvine Welsh, who supports the volunteer group, joined in, saying: ‘Rumours I’m Brian are totally unfounded. Irvine Welsh, aka Bill.’
Bradley Welsh, who is no relation to the writer but did have a cameo in Trainspotting movie sequel T2, has lived in the area for four years.
He said he gets on with his neighbours and claimed the van was ‘parked legally’.
Despite the note, Mr Welsh remains undeterred. He said: ‘I’ll just keep doing what I’m doing, providing opportunities for kids in the area.’
Helping Hands runs a food bank with Social Bite and has donated 150 cycles to schools as part of its community work.
Drumsheugh Gardens was built in the late 19th century as homes, but part of the street has been converted into offices.
Mr Welsh’s van and trailer were parked near such august institutions as The Committee of Scottish Bankers and the Chartered Banker Institute.
Brian and Bill could not be reached for comment, but resident, Caroline MacDonald, said: ‘It’s a friendly neighbourhood. This is not what I’d expect.’
But another claimed: ‘The truck can be an irritation when it’s difficult to get parked here.’