Dear Burgesses

Today Community Planning Aberdeen has launched an online simulator to enable citizens to express what is important and of value to them and for their community.  Please help cascade and promote the following information to your citizen, customer and community contacts.  The survey is open to any resident of Aberdeen City.

What is important to you?

Community Planning Aberdeen is the name for your local partnership of public, private and third sector organisations and communities all working together to improve people’s lives across Aberdeen City.

We would like residents of Aberdeen to participate in this short exercise to discover what things you value and what is important to you.

Imagine you are responsible for improving the lives of the people of Aberdeen. You only have 500 points to give to various improvement projects. You must allocate all of these points. How would you allocate these points? How you do this will help guide the work of Community Planning Aberdeen and the priorities within the City’s Local Outcome Improvement Plan.  You can, also, give comments and submit ideas. 

Open until Wednesday 31st of March 2021

Get Started >>

We are delighted to announce that we have another virtual lunch lined up for Wednesday 24th March at 12.15pm

Guest speaker is Colin Wight who is well known to us as our local news reporter with BBC Scotland and now latterly with STV. Colin’s subject will be covering his career called “From Teresa to Trump”. The Teresa being Mother Teresa. It is sure to be an interesting talk, and there will be an opportunity to ask Colin some questions at the end.

If you wish to attend please email Clerk Garry Stevens at clerk@aberdeenburgesses.com

The link to the Zoom meeting will be sent out nearer the time.

Acvo if the third sector interface for Aberdeen city that provides support, learning and development opportunities, governance advice, representation, and capacity building for individuals and organisations through a diverse range of work. Whether you want to know more about the many volunteering opportunities in the city, setting up and running a third sector organisation, have interests in CSR, or using social enterprise as a model to deliver social good, ACVO is your local starting point.

ACVO has been in existence for over 20 years, with the staff team boasting many more years of experience working in Aberdeen, making the TSI the central hub of knowledge and support relating to the local third sector. To compliment our diverse and experienced board of trustees, ACVO is looking for energetic, passionate, and enthusiastic people to join our board to;

• Be part of supporting, involving and representing the work of the third sector in Aberdeen.

• Champion the important work the sector does.

• Contribute to the strategic direction of ACVO.

If you believe in the value of Aberdeen’s third sector and would like to be part of ACVO’s vision for the sector, we have a chair for you at our boardroom table. We are particularly looking for people with financial, legal, HR and marketing skills, while alternatively experience in business, the third sector, or local government would be valuable.

We are looking for a number of new Board members and welcome applications from a wide range of skills. Board members are expected to attend 6 meetings a year (currently using zoom)

Our Board meetings are held alternately at lunchtimes and evenings in Aberdeen.

Being part of team ACVO gives you a tremendous insight to the powerful, vital, and exciting work of the third sector in our city, and nationally, while having the opportunity to contribute to the wellbeing of our citizens at a time where the sector and society must build back better. You can learn more by visiting ACVO’s website at www.acvo.org.uk

Interested?

For an application form, or if you want to ask any questions please get in touch with Maggie Hepburn, ACVO’s CEO at Maggie.hepburn@acvo.org.uk or the Chair of the board Paul O’ Connor MBE at pauljoconnormbe2018@gmail.com 07889666726

NESCol is currently recruiting Non-executive Members to its Regional Board. Details are contained in the attached advert, however for further information or an informal conversation about the role and application process, contact Pauline May, Secretary to the Board: p.may@nescol.ac.uk / 01224 612025. Closing Date for applications: 12 March 2021.

Burgess, Sam Murray, is Chairman of the Friends of Grampian Hospitals Art Trust and would like to extend an invitation to the following event. Burgesses visited the Trust a couple of years ago and learned how it supports front-line services in the NHS, therefore a worthy cause to support.

The Trust recently issued a call to professional and amateur artists to produce postcard-sized artwork using the theme ‘Postcards from Home’. The project aims to raise awareness of the Grampian Hospitals Art Trust, and help generate funds to make art accessible to all.

The concept is simple, each postcard is sold for £30 with all proceeds going to the Trust. The twist being, the artist’s identity is not revealed until their work is sold.

The collection was due to go on physical display until COVID-19 struck. With the pandemic limiting ability to deliver the intended event, a virtual exhibition has been developed and was launched on 6th February and will run until the 20th of February.

We are happy to post this on behalf of the Trust and its Chairman. Here is the link:

www.friendsofghat.gallery

This message conveys my best seasonal wishes to all fellow Burgesses, and also to your families and friends.  I want to avoid over-used cliché’s about this past year and simply say that I hope all have coped with the unusual and unexpected situation and now look forward to a better lifestyle in 2021. The finishing line is in sight !

Burgesses’ activity in the past nine months or so has been limited to forms of social networking including virtual lunches: nominations were also suspended. The emergence of the vaccine seems to have been a catalyst to reawaken interests about past and potential future events, this is heartening and things are happening. With the Assessors I am working on a provisional programme for 2021 and hope soon to communicate further with you.

Meanwhile, this will be a Christmas and New Year celebration like no other we have known but it can and still be enjoyable and fulfilling. Please make the most of every opportunity you have, for yourself and your family, keep safe and keep well, mask up when you have to but don’t mask the laughter.

Best wishes to everyone. 

Colin G. Taylor

Lord Dean of Guild of the City & Royal Burgh of Aberdeen

We recently held our second virtual lunch due to the current restrictions, and 44 Burgesses attended to hear an excellent humorous and informative presentation by Lord Provost Barney Crockett on the US voting system.

For those who were unable to attend the meeting was recorded and placed on YouTube, the link can be accessed by clicking the link below:

It’s been a while, but we are delighted to announce a virtual lunch to be held via Zoom on Tuesday 1st December at 12.00 noon.

People in the UK are often puzzled by elections in the United States. They take a long time, methods of registering votes and counting vary in different places. There are delays in implementing results. Counts can get involved. All so different from the UK. How did it come about and what is the big problem in the future?

Lord Provost Barney Crockett will give a personal and light hearted take on this.

If you wish to hear the Lord Provost please email Clerk Garry Stevens at clerk@aberdeenburgesses.com

Details of how to join via Zoom will be sent out to you before the date.

Please see email below from fellow Burgess Neil McLennan:

I have brought three veteran’s charities together: PoppyScotland, Legion Scotland and the Royal Caledonian Education Trust (I am a director of the last one) to mark the first national commemoration of St Valery. https://www.poppyscotland.org.uk/get-involved/saint-valery/
Can I ask that you share this with fellow Burgesses.  Many Aberdeen men and their families were impacted by St Valery. It is apt that we mark their service and sacrifice on the 80th anniversary.
Many thanks in advance
Neil

Burgesses of Guild of the City of Aberdeen

LORD DEAN OF GUILD COLIN G. TAYLOR

17^th May 2020

Dear Burgesses of Guild

I am pleased to report a successful AGM last week, with the assistance of the internet meeting place, Zoom.    In accordance with tradition a group of Burgesses convened at Noon on the second Tuesday of May.   The relevant papers had been circulated by email in advance of the meeting and on the day our agenda was completed in fifteen minutes or so.   The attendance was 23 and history was made, importantly because this was the first ever online gathering of Burgesses for an AGM and also because no butteries were served !    Lord Provost Barney Crockett, himself a Burgess of course, attended and kindly offered his appreciation of our support of the City; regrettably, Council Chief Executive Angela Scott could not be there but did send a message which we circulated a few days ago.  The meeting agreed the co-option of Stephen Wedderburn to be an Assessor, replacing Chris Croly whom I thank for his past service.

Our programme of lunches with guest Speakers is mothballed now, with no explanation necessary, however we are to trial a virtual lunch and this will be on Wednesday 3^rd. June commencing at 1214.    The Speaker will be Professor Ferdinand von Prondzynski who will address the hot topic of Education with a talk entitled “’Post-Coronavirus Aberdeen: what should be the role of the universities and the college?”.  If you wish to attend the virtual lunch, please email Clerk Garry Stevens at – clerk@aberdeenburgesses.com

Garry will send a link to the meeting to all attendees prior to the lunch

I look forward to your support, please.

In my Lord Dean role I am a Trustee of the Lord Provost’s Charitable Fund which is administering a Hardship Fund to support local charities which support fellow Citizens for whom life is difficult in the current crisis.   The initiative for this came from our colleagues in The Seven Incorporated Trades (‘Burgesses of Trade’) whom I applaud for their foresight and generosity.   The Council through the Common Good Fund and the LPCT is fully supportive and the Lord Provost is heading up the Appeal for funding.  There has been quite a bit of publicity and a number of people have defied the old music hall joke about the meanness of Aberdonians.    Significantly, there have been a couple of anonymous donations of very large amounts but more is needed.   When the Trustees met last week to consider the many application requests for funding I found it eye-opening to read the hardship which is suffered by many families in this, OUR CITY, thus I am incorporating a copy of a recent press article which carries more details including how individuals can contribute to the Fund.   Please offer your support.  Regretfully in terms of our Trust, we are forbidden from contributing to such initiatives, but perhaps individual Burgesses would like to make a contribution.

Best wishes to everyone, keep well.

                                                Colin

Charity registered in Scotland – Number SCO11857 City of Aberdeen Council Guildry & Mortification Funds