Recently in Sandra White Category

THE Scottish Parliament recently held its fourth Communities Conference aimed at helping local organisations understand more about their Parliament and how to engage with it.

It was a great day and more than 120 small voluntary groups, civic associations and local action groups came to the Parliament.

Most of the local organisations that attended had had very little previous contact with their MSP or experience of campaigning to bring their concerns or suggestions to the attention to the Parliament.

LAST weekend saw the first of a series of planned marches in Edinburgh in support of Independence.

It was a glorious day with the sun shining and a great positive atmosphere.

I was there with another 12,000 supporters of Independence as we marched through town towards Princes Street Gardens to hear from a number of speakers.

What really hit home was the diverse range of people and parties there who are supporting a YES vote in the Independence referendum of 2014.

WITH the Olympics over a lot of attention is now shifting to the legacy it will leave, with special attention on how it can inspire and shape new generation of youngsters to be the gold medal winners of the future.

It got me thinking about all the local groups, who reach out to our youngsters, who help to inspire them to take on new challenges and achieve their dreams.

The people who work in these organisations deserve a gold medal for the work they do, work that often goes unmentioned or unseen and their tireless dedication and determination should definitely be celebrated.

FOR a number of years I have campaigned for local communities to be given more power over the areas around them.
 
For too long now communities have been side-lined when it came to the decisions which affected their local communities or watched in dismay as a local asset has been left to go to ruin, without any real voice to change this.
 
Well I'm glad to say that the SNP have fulfilled their manifesto pledge to introduce a Community empowerment and Renewal Bill, which aims to supporting communities to take their own decision about what matters to them.

THE dust has finally settled on the Scottish Council elections, well almost, if we overlook the 380 votes found in a ballot box from Battlefield Primary that were 'mislaid'.

Of course Glasgow City Council needs to look into this matter and launch an investigation into how this happened as soon as possible but whatever the outcome of this investigation I don't think it'll change the overall results.

So, whatever the make-up of Glasgow City Council it's now time to work together for a better Glasgow. I don't think the people of Glasgow want to see their council oppose everything the Scottish Government proposes simply through petty politics.

In our Manifesto before the last Scottish Parliament elections the SNP made a clear commitment to hold a referendum on Scottish Independence.

In January of this year the Scottish Government published its consultation on an Independence Referendum inviting people to have their say on what it should include; when it should happen and who should be able to vote.

The consultation runs until the 11th of May and I would encourage as many people as possible to have their voice heard in what I believe is a very important decision for the people of Scotland.