Lord Provost Bill Campbell Blog #25

Hello and welcome to my End of Month Blog #25 as the Lord Provost of Dundee.

June was an inspiring month and I had the pleasure to meet with very interesting people and see some of the incredible projects and initiatives taking place in our city.

Activities over June included:

• On the morning of Sunday 2nd, I attended the Service for the 250th Anniversary of St. Andrew’s Parish Church. This was my first visit to a service in this Church although I have attended a number of events in the Church halls;
• On Monday 3rd, I was delighted to visit the Boomerang Community Centre to present Volunteer Certificates and have the opportunity to speak with many of the volunteers who were in attendance;
• I was very glad to announce Lesley Nicoll and her late-husband Phil Welsh as Dundee’s 2024 Citizens of the Year on Tuesday 4th. Both Lesley and Phil were instrumental in the Hope Point facility coming to fruition and their efforts have rightly been recognised by many in the city. I would like to congratulate Lesley for her tremendous efforts, and I would like to pay tribute to Phil Welsh for everything he did for Dundee;
• On Wednesday 5th, I attended the Annual Commemoration Service marking the 96th anniversary of the opening of the Scottish National War Memorial in Edinburgh Castle. The Memorial was opened on 14th July 1927 and each year the anniversary is marked by a Commemorative Service conducted by a senior Armed Forces Chaplain, assisted by Bishops with an address from the Moderator of the General Assembly of the Church of Scotland;
• Later on Wednesday 5th, I was present for the special presentation ceremony of the Lord Provost McManus Citizenship Award in the City Chambers. I had the privilege to host the ceremony attended by nominated pupils, their families and school staff. Ammer Hamza from Morgan Academy was this year’s award winner recognised for his community-spirited efforts at home and at school;
• To mark the passing of eighty years since the Normandy landings, also known as D-Day, I shared a message honouring the brave Armed Forces who fought for freedom and peace. I wanted to pay tribute, and remember all of the brave individuals who served in our Allied Forces as part of the Operation in 1944 by recognising their courage and sacrifices in cherishing our freedoms and security as a country;
• Later on Thursday 6th, with the EIS Conference taking place in the Caird Hall, I was delighted to accept the Educational Institute of Scotland invitation to their Conference Lunch at the Apex Hotel. On the same day in the evening, I gave a Civic Reception for the EIS at the Marryat Hall and took the opportunity to speak with delegates from across the country including from Dundee;
• The Lady Provost and I attended a Dundee Youth Music Theatre performance of ‘Anything Goes’ at the Dundee Rep on Friday 7th. It was an amazing evening of entertainment and we had the privilege of meeting some of the performers after the show. I sent my congratulations to everyone involved;
• On Saturday 8th, the Lady Provost and I were present at the City of Dundee Combined Ex-Services Association Veterans Day Service of Remembrance in City Square. The Service was conducted by Reverend Bob Wightman, the Association Chaplain. I was deeply honoured to speak and to be able to attend and take part in the event;
• In the evening of Saturday 8th, the Lady Provost and I attended a performance of “When The Brazen Bands Shall Play” at Discovery Point which was then followed by a procession led by the Dundee City Pipe Band to a Reception on board the HMS Unicorn. This was part of the 200th anniversary celebrations for HMS Unicorn with superb performances from the Wallace Collection who used original instruments from HMS Unicorn’s own collection and from the Dundee Instrumental Band. Congratulations to everyone involved in putting together this special occasion;
• I attended the first birthday celebration of the Braw Tea Community Café at Castle Green, Broughty Ferry on Monday 10th. I was honoured to be invited back by founder and Director Jackie McKenzie. The social enterprise is a fantastic initiative supporting women of all ages, some of whom volunteer at the café;
• On Tuesday 11th, I gave a Civic Welcome at a Civic Reception at the McManus Art Gallery and Museum for the European Access Network Conference taking place in the city. It was a real pleasure to meet so many of the attendees from countries across Europe as well as from Scotland, including Dundee. Education is very close to my heart and I was honoured to be able to speak with so many attendees;
• On Wednesday 12th, I hosted the annual visit from Emory University in Atlanta, Georgia in the United States, where their students gain experience at various schools in Dundee. It was a pleasure to meet with the 2024 visitors who were heading to London for a period of time following their weeks in Dundee;
• On Thursday 13th, I was delighted to be invited to attend a meeting of the Dundee Orléans Twinning Association (DOTA) which took place in the Twinning Room on the Civic Floor. Having attended the Festival de Loire in our Twin City of Orléans last year where I met many DOTA members. It was very interesting to attend what was a busy meeting. It will be the 80th anniversary of the Twinning between Dundee and Orléans in 2026;
• On Saturday 15th, the Lady Provost and myself had the privilege of being part of the lead group as Dundee Pride walked from the Overgate through the city centre to Slessor Gardens for the afternoon stage show. This was a brilliant event and I was hugely honoured to be asked to address the event from the stage;
• On Thursday morning on 20th and Friday afternoon 21st, I was part of the stage party attending the University of Dundee Graduations 5 and 8. There were eight Graduation ceremonies over four days with a morning and afternoon ceremony on every day. I would like to thank Bailie Helen Wright for working on Graduations 2 and 6 and for substituting for myself when I could not attend Graduation 1 due to illness. My thanks also go to Depute Lord Provost Kevin Cordell for working Graduations 3 and 7, and thanks to Bailie Fraser Macpherson for Graduation 4;
• On Thursday 20th, in amongst the University of Dundee Graduations was the University’s Graduation Dinner which took place in the High Mill at Verdant Works. This was a very special setting for a very special occasion with Principal and Vice-Chancellor Professor Iain Gillespie hosting;
• On Friday 21st, I met up with three Grove Academy pupils; Amy, Gabriella and Hamish, along with their History Teacher John Anderson and Head Teacher Tim Woodcock, as I presented the three pupils with a wreath to lay on behalf of the citizens of Dundee at Ypres in the Belgian province of West Flanders;
• On Saturday 22nd, I travelled to Perth for the service commemorating the 20th Anniversary of the final operational deployments of The Black Watch (Royal Highland Regiment) in Iraq 2003 and 2004. I was then present on Perth High Street for the Black Watch Veterans of the Iraq tours march past marking the Freedom of Perth. I then made the journey to St Ninian’s Cathedral Hall for a Civic Reception before attending Balhousie Castle to welcome the full Association Parade where I had the honour of giving approval for the Association Parade to be dismissed;
• On Monday 24th, it was an early start for myself and the Lady Provost as we met with Ameed Versace in City Square to see him set off on his ultra solo challenge walk from Dundee to the Beatson West of Scotland Cancer Centre in Glasgow via Dunfermline and Edinburgh. The aim was to raise awareness of and funds for the Beatson Cancer Charity;
• On Monday 24th at 10am, I was involved in the Armed Forces’ Standard being raised at City Square;
• On Tuesday 25th, the Lady Provost and myself attended and presented prizes at the Fintry Primary School Annual Prize Giving;
• Also on Tuesday 25th, Depute Lord Provost Kevin Cordell alongside Children, Families & Communities Convener Cllr Stewart Hunter attended the launch of a new Social Enterprise initiative between Kingspark School and Dundee & Angus College to empower young people with disabilities by giving the opportunity to senior pupils to gain experience in barista skills, customer service, and horticultural skills;
• On the evening of Tuesday 25th, I gave a Civic Reception in the City Chambers to mark the 40th anniversary of the Dundee Rockets’ Grand Slam victory in 1984. The Dundee Rockets won three Grand Slams in three years between 1981 and 1984 and made history as the first British team to participate in the European Cup. Both myself and the Lady Provost had the honour of meeting many of those associated with that golden era;
• On Thursday 27th, Dundee Police Scotland Youth Volunteers were joined by Depute Lord Provost Kevin Cordell for their annual awards ceremony which took place in the City Chambers;
• On Friday 28th, I welcomed a group of young pupils to the City Chambers for a tour. The pupils were there through the Career Ready initiative, a national charity that links schools and students with employers to improve the career and work prospects for young people;
• On the afternoon of Friday 28th, I attended the High School of Dundee Prize Giving Ceremony 2024 at the Caird Hall. This was an excellent Prize Giving Ceremony and I congratulate every pupil who came across the stage;
• In the morning of Saturday 29th, the Lady Provost and I attended the Tayside Hindu Culture and Community Centre for a Consular Camp by the Consulate of India. In attendance was the Consul General Bijay Selvaraj;
• Later on Saturday 29th, the Lady Provost and I attended the City of Dundee Combined Ex-Services Association Armed Forces Day Celebration Service at the Congregational Church. My gratitude to Rev’d Bob Wightman for affording me the opportunity to give an Armed Forces Day speech. It was an honour to meet with many of those attending, including Barry Ross, Commanding Officer, T.S Duncan 113;
• On Sunday 30th, the Lady Provost and I attended a performance of Les Miserables School Edition at the Gardyne Theatre presented by Stage Academy Theatre School. The performance was simply stunning with incredible talent on show from start to finish.

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Thank you for taking the time to read my Blog.

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