Talking to ourselves?

Empty chairs and empty tables
I've attended numerous meetings over the course of the week - AGMs at Pilton Youth & Children Project, Edinburgh Community Representatives Network, Royston Wardieburn Community Council and the Edinburgh Association of Community Councils this morning and the latest Forth Neighbourhood Partnership on Tuesday (yes, I do lead a fascinating life).
It strikes me just how few people attended some of those meetings, particularly given their importance. Projects and community organisations face cuts and possible closure with the bungled introduction of the new Fairer Scotland Fund, yet when community representatives have the opportunity to discuss these very issues there's only a handful of people there.
At Forth Neighbourhood Partnership members of the public were heavily outnumbered by the people who have to attend - the officials and local politicians. At the ECRN meeting - which covers those areas likely to be hit hardest by changes to funding to tackle poverty and deprivation like North Edinburgh, Craignmillar and Wester Hailes - just eight people attended. Yes, eight.
Even this morning's EACC event, which was addressed by Angela Leitch (a major player in both Fairer Scotland Fund and Community Planning, attracted less than 30 people. You might think that thirty is not a bad turn-out, but Edinburgh has 41 community councils and significant swathes of the city were unrepresented.
Big issues, small turnouts - why is this? Apathy, 'meeting-ed out' (a hell of a lot is expected of community representatives these days), unsuitable days, times or venues or perhaps a feeling that all these meetings are just not making any difference. Have people just given up, or has Mrs Thatcher's dictum that 'there is no such thing as community' finally come to pass.
Whatever is happening, it's not a healthy sign and I fear that our communities - particularly the poorer ones - are going to look a lot different in a few years time, and not for the better either ...

On a more positive note I attended a Volunteers Fair down in West Pilton recently and there were dozens of people there who carry out voluntary work in projects across the North Edinburgh community - so maybe it's just that people prefer to give their time to something positive, where they can see the difference they are making, other than spend hours and hours at meetings then leave thinking: now, what did that achieve?

Burns in the firing line
Congratulations to Andrew Burns, who is apparently the sole nominee to lead the Labour Group - and the Opposition - on the city council. I first came into contact with Andrew almost twenty years ago - God, I'm getting old - when he was an enthusiastic advocate of Charter 88, the group that campaigns for democratic and constitutional change. That group has had some success in changing the way we are governed, but I'm still not convinced that proportional representation is necessarily a better or even a fairer system. We now have multi-member wards with a choice of councillors, MPs, MSPs (with list MSPs who are only there to literally make up the numbers) and Euro MPs, but do you think that we are better-governed today than we were ten years ago, or that communities genuinely have more influence in the decision-making process that affects them?
Better governed or over-governed, I wish Andrew well in his new position. Since they came to power last May the new administration has made some serious errors of judgement - yes, perhaps inexperience is one excuse but you can't use that forever - and it is the job of the opposition to expose and highlight mistakes, offer alternatives and call the Administration to account. Effective opposition is important and Andrew has already shown that he can be very effective in scrutinising the Administration's performance.
Isn't it a wee bit ironic that it was the switch to PR that gave us the current set-up?

Euro 2008
I have decided to boycott Czech beer following my team's dismal dismissal at the hands of Turkey last Sunday. Two goals up with ten minutes remaining, things were looking so good, too ... anyway the Turks repeated their smash and grab tactics when they mugged Croatia last night, so at least I know it wasn't personal. It is, as they say, a funny old game ...
I have watched in horror as my Fantasy Football team has inexorably slid down Brian's wee Mini-League table. Once sitting respectably in mid-division, my bunch of under-achievers and misfits is now hovering perilously just above the bottom (that position is currently held by my niece Laura).
I desperately need results to go my way, otherwise my credibility is in tatters. Football is a man's game, for goodness sake - yet I could end up finishing rock bottom and getting beat by a bloomin' girlie! The shame!

Highlights
I've missed most of the football this week due to evening commitments (yes, meetings)but there have been a couple of highlights.
The ECRN meeting finished with a social element and I ran a quiz. As I said earlier it was hardly packed out, but the quiz was good fun - more so because I haven't done one for a while. I miss the old Botanics quiz night - I'm sure both of the participants do too!
Jenni Marrow's daughter Charley called into the office to go over an obituary I am writing for next month's NEN, and we talked at great length about what a really remarkable woman Jenni was. Charley brought in some family snaps and what might have been quite a sad and sombre visit was nothing of the sort - quite a lot of laughs, actually. The death of a loved one is not an easy thing to talk about, but it was really nice to have the opportunity to take time and reflect on a fascinating life. It's good to talk!
We also talked about how long it will be before Charley becomes simply Charley, and not 'Jenni Marrow's daughter Charley', and, that bloody subject again - meetings! (and the constant battle of how to get the work/life balance right).
We've had a number of contributions for the Jenni article and I hope it does her justice.
It seems strange that talking about someone who is no longer with us can be a one of the week's highlights, but there you go - it was. It's been that sort of week.

Next Week
The July NEN goes to print on Thursday and I've still got a lot of writing to do. I've got Drylaw Telford Community Council's monthly meeting on Wednesday - all well organised in good time this month - and we should also hear our 'Fairer Scotland Fund' fate next week, so more meetings will undoubtedly follow. Meetings, eh? What would life be like without meetings!

The picture was taken at my last one man show at Broughton High School. It wasn't supposed to be a one man show, but I was the only one there - Boom! Boom!

See you next week.