Lord Provost Bill Campbell Blog #20

Hello, and welcome to my End of Month Blog #20 as the Lord Provost of Dundee.

I started off 2024 with a busy month of events and meetings.

Activities over the past month included:

• On the first of the month, the Lady Provost and I attended the annual New Year’s Day Dook at Broughty Ferry Harbour where I also had the privilege of giving a speech to the sizable attendance on the day;
• I was absolutely delighted to go along to Sessions 4 and 5 of the University of Dundee Discovery Days 2024 event in the Dalhousie Building across the morning of Thursday 11th;
• I met with Council Leader John Alexander, Chief Executive of the Archie Foundation Paula Cormack and the Tayside Regional Fundraising Officer for the Archie Foundation Jamie-Leigh Cook in the Twinning Room on the Civic Floor on the afternoon of Friday 12th to discuss their latest work and fundraising efforts;
• Later on Friday, I was present again at the University of Dundee for Session 11 of Discovery Days 2024 which was the Presentation of the Stephen Fry Public Engagement Awards. My congratulations go out to the award winners and to all those who participated in this superb event;
• In the evening of Friday 12th, the Lady Provost and I attended a screening of the 1945 film ‘I Know Where I’m Going!’ at the DCA which was organised in partnership with the V&A Dundee as part of their Tartan events programme;
• I had a meeting with the Convener of the Council’s Climate, Environment & Biodiversity Committee Cllr Heather Anderson to discuss a number of matters including Climate, the Environment and a Dundee Twin City Garden;
• On Thursday 18th, I was delighted to welcome members of the Dundee Orléans Twinning Association (DOTA) to the Civic Floor as they were holding a meeting in the Twinning Room;
• I stopped by the Dundee & Angus College stand in the Overgate Centre on Friday 19th for a chat. The stand was there to provide information on the College, including an 86-page 2024/25 information prospectus and Open Days flyers;
• I held a Civic Reception at the V&A Dundee on the evening of Friday 19th to celebrate and commemorate the unveiling of the Dundee Tapestry. It was great to see a large attendance and I would like to express my gratitude on behalf of the city to everyone involved, including the Weavers Incorporation of Dundee, DJCAD, the V&A Dundee, all the stitchers, volunteers, historians and everyone else involved in the project;
• On Monday 22nd, I had the pleasure of visiting Downfield Mains Church to meet with Reverend Dr Nathan McConnell to hear of the exciting developments at his Church and was informed of what the Church is currently doing locally;
• On Thursday 25th, I visited the Lord Provost of Aberdeen David Cameron at the Aberdeen City Council Town House. Part of my role as the Civic Head is to promote Dundee within the city, nationally and internationally and I hope to have meetings with a number of other Civic Heads from around the country during my term in office. This was the second of such one-to-one meetings, the first having been with the Provost of Angus in Forfar last December. My thanks to Lord Provost David Cameron for his time and courtesy;
• The Lady Provost and I attended a celebration of the 75th Republic Day of India at the Trades Hall in Glasgow on the evening of Friday 26th. My thanks to Mr Bijay Selvaraj, Consul General of India based in Edinburgh, for his kind invitation;
• Also on the evening of Friday 26th, Bailie Helen Wright hosted a Civic Reception in the City Chambers to commemorate the 140th anniversary of Ye Amphibious Ancients Bathing Association (YeAABA). My congratulations to all at YeAABA and my gratitude to Bailie Helen Wright for not only hosting the event on my behalf but also having done the same at a number of events for me in my time serving as Lord Provost;
• I also recently met with Dr Richard Irvine, Deacon of the Weaver Incorporation of Dundee to discuss and thank him for the civic work he and the Weavers undertake;
• On Tuesday 30th, the Lady Provost and I, having received an invitation from the Holocaust Memorial Day Trust, attended the Scottish Holocaust Memorial Day (HMD) Ceremony 2024 in the Scottish Parliament in Edinburgh;
• On Wednesday 31st, I carried out two events for the UK Universities Sales Competition 2024. At Abertay University during the afternoon, I officially opened the Competition before, in the evening, I provided a Civic Reception in the City Chambers.

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

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 February 2024.

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