Lord Provost Bill Campbell Blog #5
07/11/22Hello, and welcome to my fifth Blog as the Lord Provost of Dundee.
It has been another busy month for myself, the Depute Lord Provost and the Civic Office with a wide variety of different commitments and duties taking place across the month of October.
I was delighted to start the month off with a very positive civic reception in the City Chambers for our city’s 2022 Commonwealth Games Gold Medalists; Eilish McColgan and Sam Hickey. This led on to a very interesting array of activities throughout the month where I met a great many people contributing to our city in their own positive yet different ways.
I thoroughly enjoyed the latest exhibition that the wonderful V&A Dundee has put on, that being entitled “Plastic: Remaking Our World”. I thought that it was stunningly impressive and certainly made me not only consider plastic as a major material in my daily life but brought back distant and pleasant memories of plastic furniture that I once purchased for my home many years ago. The orange coloured desk and the circular shaped wireless are but two of the many items that I really liked.
I have now been some five months in Post and by the end of October I have done 147 various events.
Activities over the past month included:
- A well-attended Civic Reception was held for Commonwealth Games Gold Medal winners Eilish McColgan and Sam Hickey on Sunday 3rd which took place at the City Chambers then on the balcony looking on to City Square;
- I welcomed a Nine Incorporated Trades Biennial Stated meeting in the City Chambers, with a number of Craft members along with friends and family in attendance;
- I was delighted to visit the Fiveways Day Centre where a Celebration Lunch was put on to mark the 75th Anniversary of Dundee Age Concern;
- I attended the Kirkin’ of the Guildry of Dundee, which included a meeting at the City Chambers, a church service at St Mary’s before returning to the Chambers for a speech from the Lord Dean of Guild Scott Williamson;
- In the evening of Sunday 16th, following the Kirkin’ of the Guildry, I attended the city’s Chess Congress 2022 where I gave a closing speech and had the honour of presenting prizes to the tournament winners;
- I also attended an event at the V&A with Director of V&A Dundee Leonie Bell, and architects Kengo Kuma & Maurizio Mucciola speaking in front of an audience looking back at the development of the V&A and its growth over recent years;
- I was in Edinburgh, at COSLA, for the first meeting of the Scottish Provosts Association 2022 which presented the opportunity to meet many Provosts and Conveners from around the country and to exchange information about our roles;
- With Council Leader John Alexander, I met with Abertay University Dundee’s Principal and Vice-Chancellor Liz Bacon which covered civic opportunities amongst other matters;
- In the evening of Wednesday 26th, I attended Dr Joe Morrow’s ceremony at the City Chambers where he became the new Dundee Lord Dean of Guild taking over from Scott Williamson who previously held the position;
- On the same day I also attended the Incorporation of the Baker Trade of Dundee Annual Dinner at the Woodlands Hotel in Broughty Ferry;
- On the evenings of Thursday 28th and Friday 29th, I attended events at the V&A prior to the launch of the museum’s new ‘Plastic: Remaking Our World’ exhibition;
- In the afternoon of Friday 29th October, I was present at the Dundee and Angus College Graduation Ceremony at the city’s Caird Hall;
- Lastly, I visited the Boomerang Community Centre in Stobswell where I met staff, volunteers and some visitors. I was hugely impressed with the centre and their work.
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 November blog.
Union Street Design Proposals Exhibition
People are being encouraged to visit a new exhibition showing the proposed transformation of...28/03/24
Family Voices at Forefront of Alcohol and Drug Services
The voices of Dundee families are to help shape the way that local drug and alcohol services are...28/03/24