Weeks beginning Mondays 12th and 19th December 2005
It’s the morning
(afternoon actually) after the night before and my last office task
this year is to complete my weekly diary for the year. Last night was
the office party – I’m saying no more about that except well done to
our Karen for yet again organising a grand hooley! My intention was to
finish work at lunchtime yesterday, but hasn’t happened. Still though,
I’d rather be sitting here writing than elbowing my way round the
shops.
The last two weeks have
been busy in-between doing my Christmas clear-out and writing hundreds
of Christmas Cards – the cards designed by Sandford School were
brilliant and I was really proud to send them out locally and beyond.
Same as I was proud to learn that a couple of weeks ago the Access
Group in North Lanarkshire (the organisation which assists young
people who’ve had a hard time and helps them attain and retain
accommodation and work) had been nominated for a major UK innovation
award for their sterling work. That was followed by shock last Monday
morning when I visited them to hear that their funding runs out at the
end of March and the service might disband – crazy! When something
works, keep it going. So, I’ve been doing a bit of lobbying on their
behalf and managed to ask the Minister about it in the Chamber this
week after his statement on Homelessness:
Linda Fabiani
(Central Scotland) (SNP): I was
pleased to hear the minister's comments on the innovation fund and his
assurance that we would build on successful approaches. Certain
cross-cutting and innovative measures have already been taken on
homelessness and its causes; for example, the minister has visited the
youth-based accommodation, employment and support services—or
ACCESS—project in north Lanarkshire. Concerns have been expressed that
such projects could be closed because interim new futures funding has
run out and that innovative approaches might well be lost if services
are mainstreamed. Will efforts be made to ensure that existing
successful approaches remain as they are?
Malcolm Chisholm:
This summer, I visited and admired the work of the ACCESS project.
However, I cannot give a detailed answer to Linda Fabiani's question
because I am still looking into written correspondence that I have
received on the matter. I can certainly write to Linda Fabiani when I
have finished doing that.
So we’ll see what he
says when he writes, but I know that Malcolm Chisholm MUST have been
impressed when he visited, and that North Lanarkshire Council are
fairly forward-thinking in such matters, so fingers crossed.
Last Tuesday evening
was spent with another favourite local group – Theatre Nemo, based in
East Kilbride but now working in Glasgow and Lanarkshire. Theatre Nemo
is the campaigning theatre company which aims to raise awareness of
social and mental health issues, and give a voice to those who have
been touched by mental ill health. I was introducing their latest
performance – “Ann-Marie and The Huge Bag of Worries”. As always, this
was a powerful piece – fun mixed with serious messages about how to
cope in life, and the actors in Theatre Nemo go from strength to
strength. I get a real buzz from watching, and talking with
participants and their families makes it very clear just how valuable
this organisation is to them. I am so fortunate that so far in life I
haven’t suffered from mental ill-health – I can’t begin to imagine,
for example, how it must feel to suffer despair for ‘no apparent
reason’. Prior to the play performance, Nemo showed a video which had
been produced by members and depicted how one of them ‘saw life’. It
was very dark to me and a bit disturbing. This lass has also written a
poem giving her view of life ‘before’ and ‘after’ Theatre Nemo – what
a difference it has made in her life. A good news story here – Nemo
has just been awarded three years of lottery funding to progress their
workshop and performance programme.
www.theatrenemo.org
And so to my birthday
on Wednesday 14th December. Although I was working I had a
grand time, with a thoroughly enjoyable lunch with Elspeth and Iain
who had won my donation to a local charity of lunch/tour of
parliament. Dinner in the evening with the Presiding Officer and the
new European Commission UK Head, a Finnish chap, Mr. Kemppinen. A very
good dinner too – not a bad way to spend a birthday! And they call it
work – how good is that? Real work was going on all week – meetings,
correspondence, debates – as ever. Apart from national campaigning
issues in which I’m involved – Elderly Carers, Survivors of
Institutional Child Abuse, Immigration and Asylum etc - I do have a
few constituency cases which are really going on for a long time
without resolution. I’ve been trying hard to progress these, but it
seems to no avail. Perhaps the New Year will be a turning point for
some of these people affected.
No dinners on Thursday
I’m afraid, just work, but through to East Kilbride on Friday as a
guest of the Lanarkshire Chamber of Commerce at the Maggie’s Centre
Fundraising Lunch. The Centre will be built in the grounds of Wishaw
General Hospital. The funding target is £1.5m, and I was amazed that
Friday’s lunch raised £80,000. One of the main sponsors of the Maggie
cause is Mrs. Vera Weisfeld, business woman originally from Coatbridge,
and meeting her and listening to her speech brought back some funny
memories to me. You see, Mrs. Weisfeld was the founder of that famous
Glasgow shop chain “What Every Woman Wants”, and I remember so clearly
that first wee shop in Anderson and how my pals and I were desperate
to get there on a Sunday morning after we’d been paid for our Saturday
job – skirts for 75 pence/two jumpers for £1. Great. I remember too
when I worked in Anderson some years later, the shop had moved across
the road to bigger premises and had a first floor too which was
entered by a side stair off Argyle Street. My pal Trudy and I always
had a giggle at the arrowed sign on the pavement – “What Every Woman
Wants is up the Close”. A smashing lady Mrs. Weisfeld – she made a lot
of young women happy, made a great success of her career and now she’s
giving back.
www.maggiescentres.org
Strathaven Academy’s
Christmas Concert on Friday night, 16th Dec. They just get
better and better all the time – two hours of sheer musical enjoyment,
and some grand singing.
The last working week
of the year was this week, and as I said earlier, I thought it would
be a short week. But no, it was as busy as any other. Chamber on
Wednesday and Thursday, Europe Committee on Tuesday – a fairly
positive meeting I thought with the Minister not averse to the idea of
Scotland making a bid for one of the potential European Institutes of
Technology (which would be based in an existing university), and being
quite up-front about the next round of structural funding. No decision
yet though on how these are to be dispersed throughout Scotland –
imminent I’m told, but I am concerned that it’s all being cut a bit
fine, with the new funding due to come onstream January 2007; projects
have long run in times.
The working week
finished on a high with a visit from sixth-year modern studies pupils
from St. Brides/St. Andrews in East Kilbride. They did the lot –
committee rooms, public areas, sat in the Chamber, met lots of MSPs
and ended up squashing into the window seat (think pod) in my office.
A really bright bunch and the girls were so tall! Maybe I’m shrinking,
but young girls seem so tall these days.
And then to the SNP
Group, MSP and staff party last night – a fine finish to the year.
I’ve enjoyed most of 2005, and I hope for readers it has been the
same. If not; if it’s been one of these years that you just want to
see the back of, then I hope 2006 will be better.
So, to those reading
this on-line – HAVE A
GREAT FESTIVE SEASON, and to those
reading hard copy in January –
I HOPE YOU HAD A GREAT FESTIVE SEASON.
ALL THE BEST TO ALL
FOR 2006
Linda Fabiani:
23.12.05
Email Linda at
Linda.fabiani.msp@scottish.parliament.uk
