NEXT Saturday will see what could be a template for workshops up and down the country to help bring about independence.
Hosted by Yes2 Edinburgh and other independence groups in the Lothians such as Yes Pentland, the day-long session on February 24 in the Waterside Social Club at 26 Inglis Green Road will see workshops and seminars on subjects ranging from media and public relations to campaign strategy and audience engagement.
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There will also be discussion on how Edinburgh and Lothians Yes groups should operate and which national and local groups should be engaged with.
With contributions from The National – columnist George Kerevan is the keynote speaker – workshops will be held in both the morning and afternoon, and there will also be an update on the National Yes Registry from Jason Baird.
The organisers say the event aims “to bring together local grassroots, campaigners, group members and supporters from across the Lothians to prepare and strategise for a second referendum on Scottish independence.
“Can we make Scottish independence happen in our time? Aye, we think so. The day will focus on how we can galvanise our collective ideas to realise a second vote within our lifetimes.”
Coordinator Lindsay McCrea said: “The theme for this workshop is simply Yes. While it is impossible to avoid politics being involved, they should be kept to a minimum and only in relation to furthering the Yes cause. Party politics should be left at the gate.
“We will aim to concentrate on how the Yes movement is going to go about achieving independence.
“We will be asking participants to steer away from specific matters such as the NHS and education, though we recognise how such issues are very important, and we will be focusing on simply independence as much as we can.
“Our facilitators are all experts in their field and they will be tasked with keeping people away from arguing about details. In particular we will be asking participants to stop talking about the SNP and start thinking in terms of Yes.
“Too often you go to meetings and hear people talking about what they want from independence but this is a genuine attempt to see how we go about getting independence - it’s all about keeping the grassroots together and growing.
“I’d like to think we could see organisations such as the Scottish Government noticing that we are still here but we need support. We are a big enough and broad enough movement but we have a lot to do and we need support.”
Tickets can be obtained online through Eventbrite.
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