The importance of Scotland’s voluntary sector

May 9, 2011 By DorkyMum in Activism, Family, Scotland Tags: Birth Resource Centre, BRC, charitable giving, charity, Edinburgh, fundraising, parenting, PPC, pregnancy, Pregnancy and Parents Centre, Scotland, scottish politics, third sector, voluntary sector Leave a comment

Neon sign saying Do Something Great

It was great to see that the mini-profile of Lothians List MSP Kezia Dugdale in the weekend papers stated that she is keen to focus on improving things for the voluntary sector. As someone who previously worked for an environmental NGO, and spent as much time scrabbling around trying to raise my own salary as I did on campaigning, I can confirm that a shake-up of the funding system for the third sector would be very welcome.

In the SNP Manifesto section on the voluntary sector they certainly seem to be saying all the right things, but it’s important that MSPs from across the parties keep up the pressure on the new Scottish Government to actually deliver their promises.

I’m hoping that cross-party support for a strong voluntary sector will be good news for an Edinburgh organisation very dear to my heart – the Pregnancy and Parents Centre. Continue reading →

‘Kids just think for yourself’

May 6, 2011 By DorkyMum in Family Tags: child development, Edinburgh, Edinburgh blogger, Edinburgh mum blog, graffiti, live in the now, parenting, pregnancy, Scribbling Mum, street art, toddler 6 Comments

I’ve had enough politics for one day, and I’m feeling inspired by the excellent Scribbling Mum, so I’m going to attempt my first Live In The Now post. The premise is to try and take a monthly snapshot of your life, and capture some of the details that you don’t take the time to record in photograph albums or baby books.

My snapshot is viewed through fairly bleary eyes this month, not just because I was up early checking election results, but also because DorkySon’s sleep has gone to hell in the last few weeks. My reliable 7pm-7am sleeper has suddenly started needing two hours of tucking-in and sips of water before he finally crashes. He has also started middle-of-the-night wake-ups again (mainly to tuck in the toes of all his cuddly animals), and seems to think that the family day should now start at 6am. It’s not good. I don’t function well when my sleep is being disturbed. Continue reading →

The Morning After the Scottish Parliamentary Elections 2011

May 6, 2011 By DorkyMum in Activism, Scotland Tags: Activism, campaigning, election, Greens, Labour, Scottish Election, Scottish elections, Scottish Green Party, Scottish Parliament, Scottish Parliamentary election 2011, SNP Leave a comment

Picture of people voting in an election

Given my post yesterday, confessing to taking a backseat in this election, I am not going to feel too guilty about my lack of insightful comment into the results. Especially given that the numbers seem to be shocking everyone, even the most experienced of pundits. But with that major proviso, and knowing that some results aren’t in yet, here are some of my initial thoughts.

Despite the stunning victory by the SNP, my instinct – and it really is just instinct – is that if a referendum were held tomorrow, it would still be a No Vote to Independence. The SNP have not yet made the case for independence. All they have done, along with the Greens, is treat voters like grownups and repeatedly make the point that the country should decide its own future. Continue reading →

Reflections of a resting Scottish Green Party activist

May 5, 2011 By DorkyMum in Activism, Scotland Tags: Activism, campaigning, election, Greens, parenting, politics and parenting, referendum, Scottish Election, Scottish Green Party, Scottish Parliamentary election 2011, scottish politics, work life balance, Yes to AV 8 Comments

A silhouette of a hand placing a vote into a ballot box

This day four years ago, I’d been up since 6am. I’d spent an hour driving round Edinburgh to put A-Boards up outside polling stations, before standing outside Barclay Church all day with my rosette on – chatting to a young Tory and smiling at voters in the hope it might persuade them to vote Green. When the polls closed I grabbed some dinner with DorkyDad, and we headed out to Ingliston for a long and depressing night at the Lothian count.

Today, I’ve been up since 6am. I spent an hour making breakfast, playing with trucks and reading books to DorkySon, before toddling up the road to go and vote. When the polls close I will probably be tucked up in bed, although if DorkySon wakes up at 2am and shouts for me to tuck Peter Rabbit’s toes back in, like he did last night, I may well have a sneaky peek on my iPad to see what results are in. Continue reading →

Oooh pretty – my first photography post!

May 4, 2011 By DorkyMum in Photography, Scotland Tags: collage, Edinburgh, Flickr, graffiti, macro photography, Photography, spring, street art Leave a comment

Since I’m selling this as a photography blog, at least in part, I thought that it was time I actually got my head around how to include photos in my posts… So here goes.

This is really just a trial run, rather than an attempt to win any awards, but if you like what you see then you can see more of my photos on Flickr.

I’ve loved some of the street art I’ve seen popping up around Edinburgh over the last few months – here are some recent favourites.

Continue reading →

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