Youth Councillors Back Calls For Ban On Religion On Education Committees

 Aberdeen City, Information  No Responses »
Oct 212013
 

Two city youth councillors, Barry Black and Kenneth Watt, have backed a Scottish Parliament motion calling for the legislation making three religious figures on local authorities’ education committees necessary to be banned.

acyc-youth-council-logo1

Instead of the religious committee members, Barry and Kenneth
believe that the positions should be filled by young people, who can be taken from democratically elected bodies such as the Scottish Youth Parliament or the Aberdeen City Youth Council.

Kenneth said:

“It is not correct in 2013 to have religious figureheads – who nobody elected and many disagree with – to be making decisions about school children.

“I firmly believe that multiculturalism should be a key part of religion in faith in school, however, this in no way makes it appropriate to have unelected people deciding the budget and crucial decisions for schools.

“The majority of young people have no affiliation to religion and by only selecting religious representatives from a faith with a ‘place of worship,’ minority faith groups and those who do not follow religion are not represented.”

Barry said:

“We have officially recognised youth groups at both national and local level – it would be a much better idea to utilise an elected young person to give input in to their education.

“Young people should be empowered to make decisions about what matters to them.”

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Dickens Fellowship And The Topicality Of Bleak House

 Aberdeen City, Featured, Information  No Responses »
Oct 172013
 

Charles_Dickens_-_Project_Gutenberg_eText_13103October’s monthly meeting of the Aberdeen Dickens Fellowship had a celebratory air about it.
Not only were we to discuss a further aspect of Bleak House, considered to be Dickens’s crowning glory as a novelist, we were also treated to the news that the Aberdeen group has been awarded its charter.
Aberdeen’s is now the only Dickens Fellowship in Scotland, and part of a global fellowship of thousands, united in their admiration of Dickens and his prodigious legacy of unsurpassed writing.

Further good news is that Aberdeen’s offer to host the 2016 Dickens Fellowship International Conference is the only offer received so far by the Dickens Fellowship Council and the bid is finding favour with Council members. What larks, indeed.

So, to the evening’s theme, The Topicality of Bleak House.

What were the contemporary events during Dickens’s planning, writing and publishing his ninth novel?

  • Dickens began writing Bleak House, for publication in monthly parts, in December 1852, the year after The Great Exhibition, the first time that thousands travelled to a centrally-organised event.
  • Stephenson’s Rocket had made its first journey in 1829. By 1840, thousands of miles of railway tracks criss-crossed Britain. So inadequate was the road system that Dickens’s first journey to Edinburgh in 1834 had been made by boat.
  • Whilst outwardly proclaiming to improve democracy, the much-anticipated 1832 Reform Act had done little to increase the franchise and improve representation.
  • The Exhibition was as much a celebration of the fact that the European revolutions of 1848 had not been replicated in Britain and it was a popular self-promoting celebration of the ‘transformational, dynamic prosperity’ of a mature industrial age.
  • Dickens hated it, and considered it ‘vulgar’. Bleak House, from its opening chapter’s evocation of an environment of mud and fog is almost deliberately ‘uncreative’ in contrast to the Exhibition’s boastful celebration of British creativity and global influence.
  • Chancery, the central bureaucratic monolith of Bleak House, originally devised as a charity to assist the less well-off access to legal representation, was failing. Myriad is the evidence of its failure to act on the behalf of the disadvantaged, as costs associated with never-ending cases swallowed whole estates and inheritances. The Times of the 1850s was running a campaign critical of Chancery. Dickens himself had fallen foul of the lack of protection as his work was plagiarised. The generations-old Jarndyce and Jarndyce case, the novel’s all -pervading brooding presence is, from Dickens’s pen, representative of all that was wrong in Britain in the 1850s.

Whilst it comprises 67 chapters in 20 books, this is an economical novel. Every character, sub-plot and dialogue is a contribution to the whole. Loose ends are not left untied or are clipped neatly. It is a work of supreme inter-connectivity.

Rather than join in the popular clamour of approval for establishment spin doctors’ views of British success, Dickens used Bleak House to shine a light on the vapid, self-consuming nature of public services, to address social deprivation, rounding on the privileged, and on rule-makers and enforcers,

‘Dead, your Majesty. Dead, my lords and gentlemen. Dead, Right Reverends and Wrong Reverends of every order. Dead, men and women, born with Heavenly compassion in your hearts. And dying thus around us, every day.’

he thunders on the pathos-laden death of Jo, the crossing sweeper. We agreed that as a social commentator Dickens had earned the right to address those in power who were shirking their social and community responsibilities.

He populates Bleak House with dysfunctional families, where children act as ‘parents’ to their own neglectful or inadequate parents, where the burden of orphanry is widespread, and in contrast to the celebration of free-market capitalism of 1851, floats the message that we have responsibility for looking after each other. He might have written, ‘We’re all in this together’.

Esther Summerson, in her narrator role, despite the bad hand she’s been dealt as a start to life, is the moral touchstone of Bleak House, demonstrating how to survive and prosper despite hardship and how not to exploit others in the process.

It was quite a night. It’s quite a book.

If this has whetted your appetite, new friends are always welcome to attend meetings. Membership of the Fellowship costs £20 for the 2013-14 period, or non-members can attend by paying £3 per meeting on entry.

The programme for the rest of the session is

Tuesday 12 November 2013, a lecture by Dr Dan Wall on The Serialisation of Bleak House, followed by a discussion seminar on numbers 11-15, chapters 33–49.

Tuesday 3 December 2013, Dr Paul Schlicke will, again lecture on the theme, Plots and Detecting in Bleak House, followed by a discussion seminar on numbers 16–20, chapters 50–67.

Tuesday 17 December, Dr Paul Schlicke will read A Christmas Carol

Tuesday 4 February, readings of favourite passages from Dickens’s writings by members of the local Fellowship

Tuesday 4 March, Malcolm Andrews lecture, ‘The Speech of the Sea is Various: Dickens, Turner and the Sea’.

Tuesday 8 April, seminar on selected journalism. Texts available on-line on John Drew’s website http://www.djo.org.uk/

Tuesday 13 May: Fellowship banquet

A warm welcome will be extended to all comers, and lively questioning and debate is almost certainly guaranteed. You can be added to the mailing list by e-mailing Dr Paul Schlicke, Fellowship Chairman at p.schlicke@abdn.ac.uk

For more information, visit https://sites.google.com/site/aberdeendickensfellowship/

– David Innes

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Community Activity Thriving In Upper Donside

 Aberdeenshire, Community, Featured, Information  2 Responses »
Oct 112013
 

By Steve Cameron.
GBHall1

The parish of Glenbuchat lies north west from the River Don, between Glenkindie and Strathdon. In the 19th century its population peaked at around 570 people who had ‘a strong sense of identity and fostered a powerful social spirit’.

Community activities included an annual highland games and picnic, St Peters Fair, a Literary Society, a Mutual Improvement Society, and Glenbucket Male and Female Friendly Society providing support for members falling on hard times.

At some point in the last 200 years the name started to appear in records as Glenbuchat. The Glen was proud of its tradition of ballads and violin and pipe music.

Towards the end of the 19th century, by which time the parish population had fallen to around 400, the people of the glen felt a need for a building in which to hold meetings and social events. Raising funds was not easy, but eventually the hall was built by public subscription, with donations received from the Laird, who also donated the land, and the shooting tenant.

The opening bazaar took place in September 1899. From that time until the First World War the hall was used regularly for a range of educational, training and social activities and events.

During and following the war, activities and fundraising dropped dramatically, and the building showed signs of wear and tear. Thanks to donations from the Women’s Rural Institute the hall was repaired and refurbished in 1924. It is likely that activities continued as before, but no record survives from this period.

Glenbuchat2At the end of the Second World War fresh efforts were made to put the hall back into use and to carry out necessary works. However, it took nine years to raise sufficient funds to add lavatories to the building. From 1946 to 1962 there were regular activities, with many fundraisers for various good causes.

The latter part of the 20th century saw the population dwindle to fewer than 100, and activities in the hall diminish as social change saw less demand for the activities on offer.

By the end of the century, the building once again looked shabby.

Fortunately, a small group continued managing the hall and the Millenium ‘stirred old feelings of public responsibility for the hall …for community activity’

In 2005, the Glenbuchat Hall Community Association was formed to support the hall and activities.  The Objects of the Association were to

  • secure the establishment, maintenance and management of the Hall.
  • promote and maintain the traditions and culture of the Glen.
  • benefit the inhabitants of Glenbuchat and surrounding district.
  • associate with inhabitants, local authorities and voluntary organisations in a common effort to advance education and leisure with the purpose of improving the lives of the said inhabitants.
  • act as a focal point for environmental matters concerning the Glen

In 2007, around thirty residents gathered for two working weekends to undertake refurbishment and temporary repairs. In the last decade, the programme of social events throughout the year has grown, with current annual footfall estimated as more than 2500.

In 2010, the Association undertook a public consultation, which identified an aspiration to sustain the hall for future use, including adult education, a focus on environmental issues, wider access to the surrounding environment, increased arts and recreation facilities, development of a heritage group, and increased availability of the hall to other organisations. From this the Glenbuchat Hall Community Hub project developed.

HallCraigton1Thanks to considerable local fundraising, and generous grants from a number of bodies, the Association has installed air-to-air heat exchanger heating and has refurbished the hall with new toilets, disabled access and a kitchen.

The Association is developing an outbuilding as an additional smaller meeting room or entertainment space. When completed, it will be made available to selected organisations as a base for accessing the locality.

In 2013, the Association has hosted a community hall re-opening party, a film night and music events including the Cairngorm Ceilidh Trail where young musicians can develop and perform. There’s been a wedding reception, a private party, and the hall has acted as a major venue for North East Open Studios (NEOS) arts fortnight. It’s also the focal point of the community for Hogmanay celebrations and has been used for Burns suppers in the past. A Sound Festival collaborative project Framed Against the Sky used the hall as one of its venues.

Currently the Association has appointed installation artist Gill Russell as artist-in-residence for three months. We have had some fantastic musicians on our stage including Catford, As The Crow Flies and recently Son Al Son, an exciting collaboration between Cuban and Scottish musicians making fantastic salsa music.

Current plans include developing the programme of music events, including touring traditional music acts and contemporary music. Plans are afoot for a festival to celebrate the fiddle music of Alexander Walker 150 years after its original publication.

Future visiting acts will include The Locust Honey String Band on 4 Nov and an exciting trio comprising  Leah Abramson, Rayna Gelert and, from Petunia and the Vipers, Patrick Metzger, on 17 March.

Glenbuchat1Fresh from outstanding reviews at last year’s Celtic Connections The Dardanelles will be appearing on 23 April.On 16 May we have one of the finest American roots music acts around with Cahalen Morrison & Eli West, reviewed twice previously in Aberdeen Voice.

Although building works ruled out a spring fair this year, this very popular event will no doubt return in 2014.  The Heritage Society is formed and is planning a range of activities, and the Association hopes to follow the current artist in residence programme with further residencies.

All of this demonstrates how we are attempting to reach out to the wider community.

Community halls throughout the country face difficult times but in rural locations they are a precious resource. In Glenbuchat we are fortunate to have the hall as a focal point for community activity and  hope we can continue to engage both the local and wider community. That ‘strong sense of identity and powerful social spirit’ described in the opening paragraph lives on in Glenbuchat!

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A Tour Of Bleak House

 Aberdeen City, Information  No Responses »
Sep 272013
 

I have a friend who divides the population into two categories, those who have read Steinbeck’s East of Eden and those for whom that is a pleasure in prospect. I’m pretty much of the same opinion, but with Bleak House as the tome in question.

So, it was with delight that I read chapters 1-16/numbers 1-5, pretty much untouched since I first read it in awe as an undergraduate in 1978. It was with even more delight that my fellow Dickens fans and I absorbed the wisdom of Aberdeen Dickens Fellowship’s guest Professor Grahame Smith, who effortlessly drew contributions from the Dickens devotees attending, enthused by his own passion for the author and the book. David Innes reports on the latest get-together of the Aberdeen Dickens Fellowship.

Charles_Dickens_-_Project_Gutenberg_eText_13103

Grahame was obviously delighted to attend and to return to Aberdeen, where he studied, meeting friends old and new who share his enthusiasm for the master of novel-writing.
Bleak House, most Dickens readers would agree, sees the man at the peak of his powers as a novelist. Grahame pointed out that it followed David Copperfield in the author’s canon and that since he had honed his writing to literary perfection in that semi-autobiographical masterpiece, Bleak House gave him the confidence to experiment.

The use of a narrator, interwoven with chapters by the main character and conscience of the novel, Esther Summerson, was bold, although as one contributor on the night pointed out, Dickens had to be careful not to alienate a large and appreciative readership as a consequence of experimentation.

Radiohead and the transition from OK Computer to Kid A is the best contemporary comparison I could make.

Is Esther credible, too good to be true? We mused on this. One of our number commented that her background of psychological abuse was similar to that experienced by many young people with whom he has contact, and her reactions and motives are not untypical of similarly unfortunate young people in the 21st century.

She is also fairly unique, it was agreed, in being a strong female character and major protagonist in Dickens’s fiction.

As well as his Dickens scholarship, Grahame also has a fascination for the cinematic. He believes that the best potential Dickens film adaptations might have been directed by Orson Welles, which is no longer a possibility, sadly. He feels that perhaps Spike Lee could do Dickens justice, a controversial view perhaps, but one which chimed with some of the Fellowship who shared Grahame’s interest in cinema.

It really was the best of times.

Bleak House is the biggie, of course, and in more ways than one, given its labyrinthine plot, range of characters and ground-breaking fiction-writing technique. It’s also large in volume. To do it justice, therefore, the next three meetings will consider it further, and allow those of us with limited reading time to read it cover to cover. That is no hardship.

The Fellowship’s programme between now and the end of 2013 will be:

  • Tuesday 15 October 2013: lecture by Paul Schlicke, on the topicality of Bleak House, followed by seminar on numbers 6-10, chapters 17–32.
  • Tuesday 12 November 2013: lecture by Dan Wall, on the serialisation of Bleak House, followed by seminar on numbers 11-15, chapters 33–49.
  • Tuesday 3 December 2013: lecture by Paul Schlicke, on plots and detecting in Bleak House, followed by seminar on numbers 16–20, chapters 50–67.
  • Tuesday 17 December 2013: Paul Schlicke will read A Christmas Carol

 

All meetings will be held in Grampian Housing Association’s offices, situated at the corner of Huntly Street and Summer Street, Aberdeen, where there is ample free parking. Each evening’s proceedings will start at 19:00 and finish at 21:00. We’ll be delighted to see you.

 

The Aberdeen Fellowship intends to affiliate to the International Dickens Fellowship. We’ll carry details of that here when everything’s finalised, but https://sites.google.com/site/aberdeendickensfellowship/ is the place to go to keep up to date.

 

To be added to the circulation list for information on local Fellowship activities, contact Dr Paul Schlicke p.schlicke@abdn.ac.uk  , newly elected chair of the Aberdeen Dickens Fellowship.

Dickens Fellowship: Autumn Events Announced

 Aberdeen City, Events, Information  No Responses »
Jul 262013
 

dickens-writing2
With thanks to Dr Paul Schlicke.

The exhibition on 19th century journalism, trailed in Angela Joss’s recent article will be on display in the foyer of the Duncan Rice Library at the University of Aberdeen for the remainder of the summer.

It really is worth visiting for an insight into how the goings-on at a time of great political upheaval were documented.

In a time where there is an overbearing 21st century political and constitutional question to be answered, the exhibition provides a means of gauging how journalism has changed, even if the fervour of political argument is no less intense.

The exhibition was brought to Aberdeen largely due to the considerable efforts of Dr Paul Schlicke who is also working hard to have a Dickens Fellowship established in the city. He has been in touch with details of the autumn programme which looks to be extremely rewarding for Dickens addicts.

Dr Schlicke says,

“Our schedule for autumn is now firmed up, and you should all get cracking with your reading of what is arguably Dickens’s greatest novel, Bleak House.

“Taking the cue from members who participated in the seminars on Hard Times in spring, each of the meetings will be prefaced by an informal lecture.

“I’m delighted to announce that Grahame Smith, Professor Emeritus from Stirling, has agreed to give the opening lecture. Professor Smith is a graduate of the University of Aberdeen, and for several years has been external examiner for the University’s Department of English. He is also past president of the international Dickens Fellowship.

“He has written books, articles and reviews on Dickens, most notably Dickens, Money and Society (1968), Charles Dickens: Bleak House (1974), Dickens: A Literary Life (1996), and Dickens and the Dream of Cinema (2003). It is a great pleasure to welcome him back to Aberdeen.

“Other speakers will be myself and Dan Wall, recent PhD from the University of Aberdeen and specialist in 19th century periodicals.”

All meetings will take place on Tuesday evenings, 7–9 pm, in the Grampian Housing office, at the corner of Huntly St and Summer St, with plenty of free parking in the Grampian Housing car park. There is no charge for attending the seminars.

  • Tuesday 17 September 2013 – lecture by Professor Grahame Smith, introduction to Bleak House, followed by seminar on numbers 1-5, chapters. 1–16.
  • Tuesday 15 October 2013 – lecture by Dr Paul Schlicke, the topicality of Bleak House, followed by seminar on numbers 6-10, chapters 17–32.
  • Tuesday 12 November 2013 – lecture by Dr Dan Wall, the serialisation of Bleak House, followed by seminar on numbers 11-15, chapters 33–49.
  • Tuesday 10 December 2013, – lecture by Dr Paul Schlicke, plots and detecting in Bleak House, followed by seminar on numbers 16–20, chapters 50–67.

A warm welcome will be extended to all comers, and lively questioning and debate is almost certainly guaranteed. You can be added to the mailing list by e-mailing Dr Schlicke at p.schlicke@abdn.ac.uk

For more information, visit https://sites.google.com/site/aberdeendickensfellowship/

Historic Exhibition Graces University

 Aberdeen City, Information  No Responses »
Jul 182013
 

There were no Hard Times at all last week when the latest Charles Dickens exhibition came to the University of Aberdeen’s Sir Duncan Rice Library.  By Angela Joss.

dickens-writing2
Entitled ‘Dickens, Journalism and Fellowship: An Exhibition, Lectures and an Online Tour’, this event was jointly hosted by the Aberdeen branch of the Dickens Fellowship, The University of Aberdeen Centre For the Novel and The Friends of Aberdeen University Library.
A wine reception gave attendees the chance to have a relaxed browse around a fascinating display of 19th century journalism, devised by Anthony Burton, former Director of the Forster Collection at the Victoria and Albert Museum.

Originally devised for a 2012 conference at the University of Birmingham, the exhibition places Dickens in the midst of a thriving journalistic tradition devoured by anyone at the time who was literate and had the necessary ha’penny to buy the weekly or monthly publications as they came hot off the press. They were frequently much anticipated.

Aberdeen University’s own Dr Paul Schlicke introduced two visiting Dickens scholars, John Drew, Professor of English at the University of Buckingham and Director of Dickens Journals Online, and Dr Tony Williams, formerly joint honorary secretary of the International Dickens Fellowship.

Professor Drew’s lecture followed on from the exhibition by underlining Dickens’s original contribution to the written word. This was almost exclusively as a parliamentary reporter and journalist, before he branched out into periodical publications, providing him with a platform for his burgeoning campaigning views, as well as his subsequent fictional works. The latter seemingly served to combine all those passions.

Dr Williams then provided an illuminating history of the Dickens Fellowship, which began in 1902, thirty years after the author’s death, meaning that many of its original members either knew the author personally, or had been present at the dramatic readings of his own works. Fellowship has always been the keynote of this Dickens movement, with a tradition of providing support for waifs and strays whilst preserving the writings of Charles Dickens.

As attendees were being informed that the Fellowship’s publication, The Dickensian, provides a 108- year record of members’ activities, with only seven editors during that whole span, the call to vacate the library ahead of closing time was heard, leaving them, like modern day Olivers, definitely wanting more.

Fortunately, like Dickens’s journals, The Dickensian is now available online and whilst the exhibition has been removed for a short period, it will be reinstated in the Sir Duncan Rice Library during the last week of July.

It can be visited by the public from then and for the whole of August.

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Dickens, Journalism, And Fellowship: Tues July 9

 Aberdeen City, Events, Information  No Responses »
Jun 282013
 

dickens-writing
Dr Paul Schlicke of the Aberdeen branch of the Dickens Fellowship has been in touch to confirm that an evening of first class Dickens-related activity will be going ahead on Tuesday 9 July in the University of Aberdeen’s Sir Duncan Rice Library.

Dickens, Journalism, and Fellowship: An Exhibition, Lectures and an Online Tour
will be hosted in collaboration with The University of Aberdeen Centre for the Novel and The Friends of Aberdeen University Library.

Dickens’s talents as a novelist and performer are well-known.

What can be overlooked are his considerable journalistic talents and his voluminous output, both as a Parliamentary reporter and as a periodical journalist.

Dickens lived in times of colossal social upheaval and chronicled the times as a journalist as well as a novelist.

To give further context to Dickens’s work in the journalistic field, visitors will have a unique opportunity to view the exhibition of 19th century journalism devised by Anthony Burton, Formerly Director of The Forster Collection at The Victoria and Albert Museum.

Paul is visibly enthused by the exhibition,

“The exhibition was devised for a conference on 19th century journalism at the University of Buckingham last year. It is quite simply stupendous. Don’t miss it! It will remain up in the library after 9 July”

The programme

5.30 pm: arrival, wine reception, and exhibition. Ground Floor Foyer, Sir Duncan Rice Library

6.00 pm: Lecture: An Introduction to Dickens’s Journalism by John Drew, Professor of English, University of Buckingham, and Director of Dickens Journals Online and Dr Tony Williams, formerly joint honorary secretary of the International Dickens Fellowship. Room 224, Sir Duncan Rice Library

6.40 pm: John Drew, An Online Tour of the Dickens Journals Online Project. Room 224, Sir Duncan Rice Library

7.00 pm: Tony Williams, A Brief History of the Dickens Fellowship. Room 224, Sir Duncan Rice Library

7.20 pm: questions and return to ground floor for final viewing of exhibition.

8.00 pm: Library closes

John Drew and Tony Williams are both particularly distinguished Dickensians and superb speakers. We are very fortunate that they are coming to Aberdeen, and they deserve a bumper turnout.

To plan for catering and seating, could anyone planning to attend please send an RSVP to scc.events@abdn.ac.uk

Bliddy Hypocrites

 Creative Writing, Opinion  Comments Off on Bliddy Hypocrites
Jun 212013
 

newslong
By Bob Smith.

The”P&J” wis ask’t tae leave
A  debate aboot eddicashun
They took iss aa tae hairt
As a slur on Press reputashun

A maun agree with the paper’s view
An they shudna hae bin chucked oot
Bit they’re bein a bittie hypocritical
Fin ither facts they’ve gien the boot

“Iss wis a maitter o public interest
An the pros an cons needed airin”
So says their ain opinion column
Yet TUT views they’re nae fer blarin

Cast yer myn back a fyow ‘ear ago
In the paper TUT cwid nae be vocal
Cos accordin tae the “P&J” editor
The organisation it wisna local

Noo  is his bin since proved
Tae be a richt heap o shite
There’s lots o local fowkies
Faa in TUT took up the fight

A wid say in the public interest
Tripping Up Trump maun be heard
Their pros an cons aboot Trumpie
Wi aabody shud be shared

So cum aa ye “P&J” hypocrites
It’s time tae pit things richt
An owerturn iss stupid ban
So TUT views see the licht

Bob Smith “The Poetry Mannie” 2013

Hidden Aberdeen: History On Your Doorstep And Underfoot

 Aberdeen City, History  1 Response »
Jun 072013
 

hiddenaberdeen
David Innes reviews Dr Fiona-Jane Brown’s new book which is published this month.

This eagerly-awaited book has been trailed for quite a while, but at last Hidden Aberdeen is unveiled, in more ways than one.

First impressions are quite surprising.

Although written by an academic, Hidden Aberdeen is no wordy narrative; neither is it a history text.  It’s not even published in portrait, all of which gives it a welcome air of informality.

The cover is attractive – plain white with colour thumbnail photos of several of the mysteries on which the author sheds light inside.  It almost demands to be opened.

Dr Brown employs no stuffy language, neither does she let her explanations of each of the city’s historical and cultural features stretch to over 500 words.  Call that a page and a half.

Yet, the economy of language deployed and the open writing style will give readers enough insight to the subjects featured to encourage them to find out more for themselves.

Further research is made easier by the provision of a detailed and comprehensive bibliography.

So, this is more a guidebook than an in-depth investigation into hidden Aberdeen, structured geographically to allow its users to walk easily and quickly between the city’s mysterious but often highly-visible landmarks.

Anyone working in the city centre, or Old Aberdeen, for example, will be able to explore more than one nearby attraction and still have time for a lunchtime snack.

It would spoil the fun of exploration to list here the features Dr Brown enthusiastically introduces.

An idle half hour’s stroll, with a copy of Hidden Aberdeen tucked into a handbag or pocket to discover the city’s little-known physical history, will be time well spent by anyone with a sense of heritage and civic pride.

As has been demonstrated in the past couple of years, there are many around who have passion enough for their city to want to fight to retain its character.  For them, and for those just keen to broaden their knowledge, Hidden Aberdeen is an indispensable resource.

You can meet Dr Brown and have a copy of Hidden Aberdeen signed, at WH Smith, St. Nicholas Centre, at 13:00 on Saturday 8th June, or at Waterstones, Union Bridge (Trinity Centre) at 18:30 on Tuesday 18th June.

Hidden Aberdeen – History On Your Doorstep and Under Your Feet is published in hardback by Black and White Publishing and costs £9.99 from all good bookshops.

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Beacon Community Centre: What’s In A Name?

 Community, Information  No Responses »
May 172013
 

With thanks to Anne Florence.

beacon-centre-2
The many changes that have taken place in the Beacon Community Centre over the past couple of years have left many in the Bucksburn community wondering if we still have a building to call our own.

The inclusion of our community centre in the 3Rs project left us with a refurbished building, but with a smaller programme of activities as many did not continue after the building re-opened and much of the time and space was given to Sport Aberdeen.

The management committee (the only four remaining) have been faced with meetings (across the present and last Administration) while the Council try to work out how volunteers can take the place of the community learning staff that they have effectively disbanded.

The Council also expect these groups to maintain their “lifelong learning” programme in centres across the city. The remaining committee would like to see the centre used for all the activities it served before – sports for all ages and abilities and crafts and learning for adults and children – but we do not have the time between us to put in the work that that would entail.

We have had a very constructive talk with Sport Aberdeen and were pleased to learn that they share our view that the centre should once again provide a wide range of activities. They are prepared to help that happen and, for our part, we have agreed to do all we can to find out what the community would like to see happening in their centre and help bring it about.

You can do that by e-mailing beaconcommcentre@gmail.com or by leaving a letter for the management committee at reception in the centre. Tell us what activities and groups you would like to see, or better still become a part of the local forum that will continue to have a role in the centre.

It is now called the Beacon Centre – it’s up to you to put the community back into it.

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