Lord Provost Bill Campbell Blog #3

Hello, and welcome to my third Blog as the Lord Provost of Dundee.

I have been in post as the Lord Provost for some three months now and it has been an increasingly busy and varied period.

The Lord Provost’s Office is the Civic arm of Dundee City Council and we are continuing to endeavour to recover from the effects of the pandemic, and there are clear signs of momentum in the Civic office with a diary that is definitely getting busier.

This has been evidenced in August with it being my busiest month yet.

I feel very privileged to hold the role of Lord Provost and be given the opportunity to meet so many people around our city. The role also allows me to go to events outwith Dundee and to promote Dundee to a plethora of individuals that I would otherwise be unlikely to meet.

Going to events, such as at the V&A Dundee Michael Clark Cosmic Dancer Special Exhibition and at the Edinburgh Tattoo, are examples of events that allow me to meet, and to speak to many individuals from a wide variety of backgrounds.

Going forward, using this Blog, I intend to explain many elements of the Lord Provost role as I see them and I consider it part of my job to outline what the Civic Office does.

In the last week of the month, among a number of visiting guests, I was delighted to welcome one of my predecessors, former Dundee Lord Provost John Letford, to my office for a chat.

In August I also met with a number of the displaced Ukrainians in Dundee who have lost so much but who had such a welcoming and positive attitude to the visit of myself and the Council Leader John Alexander. I found this both uplifting and humbling.

Activities over the past month included:

• I paid tribute to the local athletes who competed at the 2022 Commonwealth Games, as well as to their sporting clubs and coaches who do an impressive job in supporting them.
• I sent a message of congratulations and encouragement to the over 2,900 city pupils received their SQA results earlier this month;
• I was in attendance for the Al-Maktoum College of Higher Education 2022 Graduation Ceremony and had the honour of handing out some of the awards.
• On Sunday 7^th August, I attended the Kirkin’ of the Council at Dundee Parish Church (St Mary’s) where Depute Provost of Angus Council Cllr Linda Clark and Depute Provost of Perth & Kinross Council Cllr Andrew Parrott also attended.
• I attended a 75^th anniversary of Pakistan independence celebratory event in the city, in which I was made to feel extraordinarily welcome and invited on stage to take part in some drumming.
• The Lady Provost and I attended, and thoroughly enjoyed, a special showing of the Michael Clark Cosmic Dancer exhibition at the V&A Dundee. Among the guests were Alan Cumming and Brian Cox.
• To mark the Ukrainian Independence Day on 24^th August, the Council Leader and I met with Ukrainian people living in temporary accommodation in the city. It was also organised that two flags were positioned atop the Caird Hall, with some city landmarks being lit the colours of the Ukrainian flag in the evening.
• I wished Dundee resident Joyce Keiller a very happy 100^th birthday on her special day and delivered a Lord Provost birthday card and a basket of flowers to her in person;
• The Lady Provost and I attended the Royal Edinburgh Military Tattoo and met with a host of guests as well as the Tattoo organisers;
• Lastly, I was present at the Michelin Scotland Innovation Parc Skills Academy Celebration Event where I spoke to stakeholders and was highly impressed with what is happening there.

For updates as they occur, the latest Lord Provost news and activities are available on both Facebook and Twitter.

Thank you for taking the time to read this Post and I hope to update you further on my civic responsibilities in the future through my September blog.

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