A UNIQUE networking and training event for independence activists will take place at the end of this month.
Common Weal’s Gearing Up: For a Better Scotland will feature speakers including Robin McAlpine and Craig Dalzell from Common Weal, trainer and campaigner Bill Dale and social media activist Sarah Mackie.
READ MORE: Common Weal to launch campaign for a Scottish currency
The session will take place on Saturday, September 29, from 11am to 5pm at the Salutation Hotel in South Street, Perth, and 120 people from all over the country are expected to attend.
Event organiser Stuart Bates said the get-together came about because “a number of Common Weal groups around the country wanted to get together to discuss what has been happening and gear ourselves up for independence”.
Bates said the event will allow independence groups to focus on “how we can get ourselves more organised for eventualities in the Yes movement”. He said these “eventualities” included tackling Unionist media. Bates added: “The challenges to independence are really broad – how do we refute scare stories and lies told by various people who want the status quo?
“We want to cut across stuff people are hearing and reading and let them think for themselves. We want to approach this in the form of a friendly discussion and get people to think a lot more broadly.”
A reframing discussion with Dale will explore the skills needed to develop as an activist. Bates said a social media campaigning talk with Mackie is key because it is something the Yes movement “must be clued up on”. “The talk will look at how we make common weal policies more accessible in campaigning,” Bates said.
Another discussion will be Campaigning With Young People. The speaker has yet to be to be announced but Bates said the discussion will focus on how to encourage the next generation to be activists.
It will be the first local event of its kind that Common Weal has organised and Bates said it is key for Scotland’s independence groups to communicate. He said: “It is important people can demonstrate at marches but it is also important people get the chance to speak about their particular area.
“We need to make sure we are part of a bigger movement and not isolated to pockets of Scotland. Hopefully there will be a big turnout.
“There will be local groups from all over Scotland from Inverness to South Ayrshire and places in between. Most are very involved in the independence movement.”
Tickets cost £10 per person, including tea, coffee and biscuits on arrival as well as a buffet lunch.
To book tickets and find programme times visit www.facebook.com/events/1815980651784593
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