Fay Young

Category: Community politics

  • Stop Tesco destroying Broughton

    —

    by

    fay
    in , ,

    Update March 26: Tesco is coming to Broughton, what will happen to local shops?  See Broughton awaits Tesco Express Can we stop Tesco dominating the landscape? I feel strongly that we can and must. But we will need to be quick. Letters to protest against yet another Tesco store in the Broughton area have to…

  • Rehearsing for reality

    —

    by

    fay
    in

    Can art change society? Here’s news of an exciting new community theatre project in Leith which aims to get people actively involved in society by taking part in art. No theatre experience needed but an enquiring mind is useful. 

  • Food could save the planet – and the economy too

    —

    by

    fay
    in ,

    Last night’s meeting at Out of the Blue was cold. Like everyone else Celia and I kept our coats on and held on to hot drinks as long as we could. But the discussion at the Food Summit was so heart warming it reinforced my hunch that food (or how we grow and eat it)…

  • Between a rock and a hard place

    —

    by

    fay
    in ,

    I took a second look, “That is plastic isn’t it?” The answer was swift and smart, “Yes, no man was hurt in the making of this display.” Setting up my stall at the Student Festival of Learning in Edinburgh’s Telford College yesterday I soon realised that I was a bit short of merchandise. Thanks to…

  • Amnesty protest

    —

    by

    fay
    in ,

    Well, Tommy, Nick and I didn’t get arrested but just for a few seconds I felt a flicker of what it might be like to suffer the real humiliation of Guantanamo as we were ordered to kneel in a pose of submission by a young man in combat gear: “I don’t want to see your…

  • Tunnel vision

    —

    by

    fay
    in

    He’s a 40 year old policeman who is fed up having to move groups of young people away from street corners. ‘Where can we go Simon?’ they ask him.

  • Smuggling hope in and out of Burma

    —

    by

    fay
    in ,

    “I spoke yesterday to my friends in Rangoon. They fear the worse but hope desperately for change. I make no excuse for pleading to you my friends on behalf of the Burmese people. This is their hour of need. Uncertainty, fear and just a glimmer of hope exist in that country. We can do something…

  • Moving pictures from Burma

    —

    by

    fay
    in ,

    It was raining in Rangoon in the first film I watched yesterday. Monks with bare feet and shaved heads walked through the street among crowds of people carrying umbrellas. Most of them looked very young and vulnerable, their wet clothes clinging to slim bodies. Even though I had just looked at a spectacular photograph of…

  • Backgreen democracy

    —

    by

    fay
    in ,

    Never mind the election. There may be a glimpse of real grassroots democracy in the gardens opening to the public in Edinburgh this weekend.

  • Sleeping disorders, pornography and public petitions

    —

    by

    fay
    in ,

    As luck has it I chose the Public Petitions committee meeting for my latest outing to the Scottish Parliament. So Celina and I sat in Room 4 listening to petitions of the day – more bobbies on the Strathclyde beat, better swimming pools for Scottish kids – while in Room 1 the Equal Opportunities committee…

  • Bums on seats

    —

    by

    fay
    in , ,

    “In the rise of the electronic era, community can be decoupled from geography. Until you have experienced this don’t dismiss it. This network is very real in lives of millions of people.” I woke at 5.30 this morning with yesterday’s news swilling round my head. Just goes to show it’s not a good idea to…

  • Time to get rid of the flat earthers

    —

    by

    fay
    in

    There’s not as much Bush-and-Blair bashing as some of the audience would like. Every side-swipe at the US, often concealed with mock diplomacy (“we all know what country I am talking about”) prompts a ripple of applause – you get the feeling that a full frontal attack on these arrogant and deluded leaders would bring…