In Edinburgh Southern

Grange Fair and Bridgend Farmhouse Market

What a fantastic way to spend a sunny Saturday in the local community. Bridgend Farmhouse Farm Market and Grange Fair both demonstrated why it’s so important to stick up for and preserve our community projects. Thanks to all the organisers who work so hard to bring our community together. Lots of cakes and other goodies were purchased.

Newington Cemetery Wall

The wall at Newington Cemetery was damaged by an uninsured driver and recently made safe with Heras fencing. I have been in correspondence with the City of Edinburgh Council to make sure this issue is resolved as efficiently as possible. The bereavement team have sourced reclaimed stone and will be rebuilding this wall in the coming months as part of a training exercise. At present, the wall is prepped for repair, the damaged fence and posts have been removed and blocks that can be refixed have been placed in the cemetery. I will be keeping a close eye on this situation, maintaining communication with the Council and of course, keeping my constituents updated. Please don’t hesitate to get in touch if there are any concerns you want to raise.

Re-opening Warrender Swimming Pool

It was fantastic to be at the community celebration for the reopening of Warrender Community Centre.

In the Scottish Parliament

Meeting with Scottish Chambers of Commerce and their Export Event

Once again, it was great to be hosted by Diageo at another Scottish Chamber of Commerce event, which was chaired by Seona Shand, the International Director at SCC. This time, the event focused on the importance of trade between the UK and Markets in East Asia. The panel included a wide-range of people, with different expertise in this area – from Ian Smith, the head of Corporate Relations for Diageo in Scotland, James Brodie, Commercial Director at China-Britain Business Council and Arjun Koyappalli, from Napiers the Herbalist.

It was also great to attend with my friend and Leader of the Scottish Labour Party, Anas Sarwar, to discuss with panellists from the Scottish Business Community and find out more about the market in East Asia and what support Scottish business needs in this area.

Thanks for organising such an interesting event.

Celebrating 10^th Anniversary of Scotland becoming a Fair-Trade Nation

It was fantastic to attend the 10^th Anniversary of Scotland becoming a Fair-Trade Nation reception at the Scottish Parliament, which was hosted by Scottish Labour colleague, Colin Smyth. This was an opportunity for me to meet fair-trade campaigners and re-commit to continuing my support for fair-trade.

Living Streets Walk to School Week

I met with pupils from Bruntsfield Primary and representatives from Living Streets outside Holyrood to celebrate Walk to School week.