Rural Community Gateway

John Davidson has been championing the Halls for All campaign. Earlier this month, he briefed Alex Salmond on the campaign when the First Minister visited Islay. You can read more in Salmond briefed on Halls for All campaign.

The Halls for All campaign calls for the Scottish Executive to stop the slow-burning crisis in the country’s village halls and community buildings by cutting red tape and giving more financial support.

John Davidson met John Swinney at an awards ceremony at Angus Volunteer Centre in Arbroath. The centre is the first to receive the Excellence Award from Volunteer Development Scotland (VDS).

Following the awards ceremony, both Bill Howat, chair of VDS and John Swinney took time to find out more about the Halls for All campaign and signed the petition. Mr Swinney made it clear he was aware of the issues and was looking forward to hearing the specifics of the proposals from the Scottish Council for Voluntary Organisations (SCVO), who are leading the campaign.

The Halls for All e-petition currently has over 1100 signatures, with hundreds of signatures also being collected on paper. The petition will close on 27th July 2007. You can find more information about the campaign on the Village Halls website.

Richard Lochhead meets with SCVO

Village halls were also on the agenda when Cabinet Secretary for Rural Affairs and the Environment, Richard Lochhead, met with representatives from SCVO in Edinburgh recently.

Chief Executive Martin Sime and Rural Policy Manager Norman MacAskill were delighted to welcome Mr Lochhead to SCVO’s headquarters at the Mansfield Traquair Centre.

Martin Sime said, "We had a very useful and constructive meeting where we emphasised the vital role that the voluntary sector plays in Scotland’s rural communities and pressed the case for increased support and funding for village halls."

Cabinet Secretary for Rural Affairs and the Environment Richard Lochhead said, "We covered much common ground in our discussions. Like the SCVO, I recognise the crucial importance of building community assets and am delighted that the Scottish Rural Development Programme we have submitted to Brussels for approval will offer as much as £32 million over the next seven years to help provide and refurbish community premises, including village halls.

"We recognise the significant contribution that the voluntary sector makes to supporting service delivery in our rural areas. We are committed to working with SCVO and other key rural stakeholders to seek ways of empowering our rural communities and harnessing their enthusiasm."

Ministers’ summer tour

The Cabinet Secretary for Rural Affairs and the Environment, Richard Lochhead and Minister for Environment Michael Russell are travelling around Scotland this summer to answer questions and hear views from people in rural areas.

You will find more about the events on the Gateway when further details have been confirmed, but in the meantime take a look at the Scottish Executive website. The first event is in Dyce on 19th July 2007 from 7.30 to 9pm.

And don’t forget to look out for Richard Lochhead’s replies to Rural Gateway users’ questions coming to the site soon.

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