I’m on various council committees: Education, Police & Fire, Policy, Nithsdale Area Committee and the full council , which everyone is on. Then I’m on other committees that the council supports, like the Dumfriesshire Educational Trust (it gives grants to students!), the River Nith Harbour Authority, Dumfries Town Centre Group and quite a few others. I go to Community Council and School Council meetings in Nith Ward. I hold councillor ‘surgeries’ once a month in various places in Nith Ward- Georgetown, Cresswell, KIngholm Quay, Glencaple and the SNP office in Irish Street, and anyone who wants to can come along and talk to me, though they can phone or e-mail me if they prefer to do that. I try to get out and about round the ward to meet people, and have visited all the schools in Nith Ward and talked at least to the Head Teachers. And I’m sure I know a lot of the pupils because I was a teacher at Calside Primary for a long time until 2007. But don’t hold that against me if I once told you off!

Well, let’s take last Monday. I went early to meet up with the other SNP councillors in the Council Office in English Street for our usual group meeting. Then in the afternoon I was at the Dumfries Town Centre Group with another Nith ward councillor and officers to talk about ideas we had to make the town centre better. Then I phoned council officials about problems people in the ward had asked me to help with. I went home for tea, and then in the evening sent some e-mails and read papers for meetings later on in the week. Quite a busy day. Sometimes it’s quieter- but nowhere like what I was told when I was persuaded to stand for the council- “Oh, it’s not much work, only about 3 days a week.” Aye, right! Not that I mind if I can help people.

Places for young people to meet and talk with friends. Things to do. Break down barriers between young people and older adults.