Lord Provost Bill Campbell Blog #12

Hello, and welcome to my End of Month Blog #12 as the Lord Provost of Dundee.

May was a very exciting month for the city with the much-anticipated BBC Radio 1 Big Weekend taking place at Camperdown and exceeding everyone’s expectations with so many contributing to the event’s success.

It was, of course, great to see so many residents and visitors come together for such an enjoyable weekend – with the weather to top it off.

Dundee was the centre of attention all around Scotland and beyond during the festival weekend.

Activities over the past month included:

• On Tuesday 2nd, I welcomed the Fife Inner Wheel to the City Chambers for a tour of the civic floor as well as other areas that form the Council’s civic department;
• On behalf of the city, I accepted a plaque from the City of Nablus when members of the Dundee-Nablus Twinning Association visited the civic floor on Wednesday 3rd;
• Depute Lord Provost Kevin Cordell attended a celebration event marking the 50th anniversary of the Dundee Civic Trust where he heard about their work in the past and present, as well as their vision for the future;
• I attended the Coronation of King Charles III and Queen Camilla at Westminster Abbey on Saturday 6th, where I also attended in my role as Lord Lieutenant for the city;
• On Sunday 7th, I gave a civic reception for Dundee FC to mark their winning of the 2022-23 SPFL Championship. City Square was packed with supporters who cheered their heroes as they appeared on the balcony holding the trophy aloft;
• I attended Baldragon Academy on Friday 12th and was given the great honour of officially launching the very impressive Baldragon Academy School of Sport project. I met with the Head Teacher, staff and the pupils to learn more about benefits of the School of Sport and other projects taking place there;
• Early on Monday 15th, Architectural Heritage Scotland members made a visit to the City Chambers where they received a tour of the civic floor and I greeted them with a short welcome speech;
• Also on Monday 15th, I had the great privilege of officially presenting Raymond Edwards with the title of Dundee’s 2023 Citizen of the Year. Raymond was nominated in recognition of his commitment to voluntary work and fundraising efforts for a range of causes in the city. I am very glad Raymond has agreed to take on the role on top of all his other commitments for the city;
• The Depute Lord Provost travelled through to Edinburgh to attend a civic reception with various Provosts from around Scotland marking the Polish National Day May 03rd Constitution Day;
• I was in Portsmouth on Wednesday 17th in order to attend a Service of Rededication for HMS Duncan at His Majesty’s Naval Base. HMS Duncan is a Royal Navy Ship with long-standing connections with Dundee;
• On Friday 19th, I held a civic reception in the City Chambers for the Rostrum Choir from Gothenburg, Sweden with representatives from the city’s Gaelic Choir also in attendance;
• Early on Saturday 20th, I headed through to Edinburgh with Dundee City Council Chief Executive Greg Colgan for the opening session of the General Assembly of the Church of Scotland;
• In the evening of Saturday, I attended the Leisure and Culture Dundee Sports Awards 2022-23 where I was given the honour of presenting the Sports Person of the Year Award to Birmingham Commonwealth Games Middleweight Boxing Gold Medal winner Sam Hickey;
• I was present at Carolina House Trust’s Celebration of Success event where I gave a speech and presented certificates to Foster Carers from the city as part of this year’s Foster Carers Fortnight;
• I attended BBC Radio 1’s Big Weekend at Camperdown Park on Saturday 27th where I had the pleasure to meet and present the Director of BBC Scotland Steve Carson and Head of BBC Radio 1 Aled Haydn Jones with civic gifts to commemorate the fantastic occasion;
• On Sunday 28th, I attended the Kirkin’ of the Guildry which started at the City Chambers before a service at Dundee Parish Church (St Mary’s);
• I welcomed the return of the Lord Provost McManus Citizenship Awards to the City Chambers on Tuesday 30th, where I had the privilege alongside Children & Families Service Depute Convener Roisin Smith to recognise the hard work and application of our school students carrying out community spirited work in their school and their wider area.

For updates as they occur, you can find the latest Lord Provost news and activities on both Facebook and Twitter.

Thank you for taking the time to read my Blog and I hope to update you further on my civic responsibilities in the next edition which will summarise my activity in June.

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