First Meeting of 2015 – New Year- New Scotland!
Next Meeting for Lochaber Women for Independence
– 30th January – 7pm –
JJ’s Café Lochybridge, Fort William.
All women welcome.
The Smith Commission and the Westminster Cartel
Flying in the Wind, My Friend.
Lovely morning to go a-protesting. Off to Faslane went 8 women flying the banner for Women For Independence (Lochaber). Atrocious photography with a lampost taking pride of place and the youngest member of the group not in the picture so I had to take another – with the lampost completely taking out another member of…
Ten Things to Consider About RIC2014
The day the Scottish Parliament came to town
Just recently, I’ve become, I guess, an activist. This started after the Independence Referendum – well – I was a ‘keyboard’ activist prior to that – by maybe a couple of months. I’ve always had strong beliefs on certain issues, as you’d see from my facebook statuses, but not when it comes to running the country, or even, running the community – to be honest, i’d never really thought about it. Then, something funny happened. We had that Independence Referendum, which to my disbelief, we lost. But that wasn’t the funny thing. The really funny thing, was my sudden interest in politics! If, you’d said to me at any time, in say the last 6 months even, that i’d be excited about the Scottish Parliament coming to town, well, you probably couldn’t publish my reply! So far, this new found activism has culminated in, joining the SNP, helping to set up a local branch of Women For Independence – and lots, and lots of tea, biscuits, and meetings. And then today, I attended a Community Engagement event at Lochaber High School, hosted by the Scottish Parliament, about the Community Empowerment Bill. I must admit, when I walked into the room, filled with mainly suited and booted men, I thought – I really shouldn’t be here. Sat around a table, with John Wilson MSP as spokesperson for the Local Government and Regeneration Committee, we were to engage in conversation about the bill – and I really felt out of my depth. Luckily, John G (Caol Community Council), spoke up about the planning of the new Gaelic School sports hall in Caol – and the lack of consultation with the residents, and Liz P who I also knew (but only recently since attending all these meetings!) spoke up about planning issues in her area, amongst many other issues. I didn’t contribute much, but I did listen as a lot of really valid points were brought up. Basically the issues centered on the local communities having a voice, making their own decisions, and being consulted instead of being told what was happening in the local areas – for instance, proper consultation on pertinent planning applications. It was suggested that if, the forestry for instance, was selling off land , the local community should have first refusal. There was talk of more allotments being made available, and possible community run market gardens where it was suggested they could sell their produce. We also touched on whether air weapons should be licensed but that was all we really had time for. All in all, it was a pretty positive meeting, the MSPs seemed interested in our views and were taking them with others to the formal meeting in the evening. I didn’t stay for more tea and biscuits, and ducked out as the meeting ended, but was happy I attended, and will hopefully be more at ease the next time! Next stop, Faslane – tbc…………….
New Beginnings
Friday the 7th November was the Inaugural meeting of Lochaber Women for Independence.It was an interesting evening, drinking coffee and eating cake whilst discussing the next steps in our fight for Independence in Scotland. I for one left with a feeling of renewed hope and a firm belief that our local branch of Women for Independence will become an important part of the community.
Setting up the meeting with no idea if it was going to be successful or not was nerve-wracking to say the least but a confident opening speech from Carol Anne and a very pleasant turn out kicked the evening off to a good start. We held a post it session to generate ideas and to allow people to say how they wished the group to move forward.
We discussed the need for training and education and agreed that it would be an invaluable asset to the continued fight for independence to have an army of well informed, confident women on the streets campaigning and keeping up the momentum that the yes movement generated in the lead up to the referendum. We also discussed tactical voting, the yes alliance and the technicalities of what was involved, we hope to arrange a meeting where this can be fully discussed at a later date.
It wasn’t all politics of course, we chatted about the dangers of fracking and discussed our ambitions to be involved with local community issues. We have many plans in the offing so watch this space for more information on Lochaber Women for independence and our intentions. The group usually meets in JJ’s Cafe for any women that wish to attend, please follow us on Twitter or like us on Facebook for more news and information.
Lochaber Women for Independence 