Yes Orkney on tour
by Unknown - 12:52 on 12 January 2014
Yes Orkney is stepping up its campaign to secure a Yes vote in the islands on 18 September, with plans unveiled this week to take the positive case for an independent Scotland around the parishes and islands over the coming weeks and months.
The tour will start in Holm this week, with leafleting taking place around the parish in the lead up to an open session in the Holm Community Centre on Saturday morning, and a ‘Yes Orkney in Conversation’ event next Wednesday evening, January 22.
Ian Carse, who has been part of a co-ordinating group for the campaign along with Donna Heddle and Graeme Ramage, explained: “Yes Orkney, as a non-party group campaigning for a Yes vote in this year's referendum, is keen to have a conversation with all the people of Orkney about this vote as it seems that the majority of voters are undecided and have questions they would like to discuss with us."
Yes Orkney campaigners will be in Holm between Thursday, January 16 and Wednesday, January 22, distributing information that we hope people will find helpful. On Saturday morning we will be in the Graeme Room of the Community Centre providing information and speaking to people between 10am and 12 noon. On Wednesday, January 22 folk are invited to join Yes in Conversation with Holm between 7.30pm and 9pm to discuss the key points that they would like to talk about in respect of the Referendum vote in September.
With similar events planned in Kirkwall, Stromness and Finstown, and then round the parishes and islands in the coming weeks and months, folk should look out for details locally and in the local media.
Robert Leslie of Yes Orkney said: “Over the past year or so we have had a steady growth in numbers, and had many interesting discussions with folk while leafleting on the streets, at agricultural shows, and at social events. Fiona MacInnes, Donna Heddle, Ian Carse, Ewan Loudon and Phaemie Matheson have also been involved in discussions and debates in schools and with local groups. It has been an interesting journey from a dozen or so early in 2012 to now having folk ready to campaign in parishes and islands throughout Orkney, from Westray to Hoy and from Deerness to Stromness and all points in between.
“We now need everyone who has signed up to our mailing list so far – and those who are part of the wider Yes Orkney campaign on social media - to take the message to their friends, family and the wider community. There is a place in the campaign for the public meetings and debates that will take place in the coming months. However, simply talking about Yes – in the street, in the pub, in the local shop, at community groups, or round the table in your own home – will be every bit as important, if not more. Conversations in small groups of folk that you know will be one of the most effective ways of getting others to see the advantages for Orkney of being part of an independent Scotland. This is going to be an important – and exciting – eight months in Orkney’s history and we all need to play our part in it.”
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