Last Wednesday, in the Town & County Hall in the Aberdeen Town House a company of 53 Burgesses and their Guests enjoyed an excellent presentation by Lord Provost Barney Crocket, he left us in no doubt of his ability to represent our city worldwide as he demonstrated his love of his native Aberdeen and his confidence and vision for the future. He shared many interesting facts about our true status in the UK and beyond, he threw in comparisons with other cities and countries, it was very encouraging hearing.
Preceding the Lord Provost I informed the company that the Burgesses are to lead an initiative titled ‘This is our city’. The platform event which will kick-start the activity is to be a dinner held on 27th February 2018.
This is an idea I have had for some time, many Burgesses will have heard me use the term “This is our city” on a number of occasions, the thrust of the matter is that following the adoption of our motto, ‘For Aberdeen’, this is natural progression and whilst our city has gone through a tough few years and has had many ‘knocks’ (mostly from elsewhere) we love our city, we know it, we enjoy it, we live here, work here, invite friends and associates to join us here, ‘this is our city’ and it always will be, and, quoting something which the Lord Provost said in his speech, “let’s have less north-east reticence”. You will hear more about this in the next couple of months, however I make it clear now that we are not moving into the area of politics, the intention is that this will be an initiative involving everyone and everything in our community, ‘this is our city’ and we want to celebrate this and to “come together to be together” for a prosperous future. Both the Lord Provost and Mrs Angela Scott the Chief Executive of Aberdeen City Council are fully supportive and I hope and expect that Burgesses will embrace this also.
The initiative will be lead by one of our Assessors, Sylvia Halkerston, and Burgesses are openly invited to make contact either to volunteer to work with Sylvia or to pass on their thoughts and suggestions. Please make your contact through Garry Stevens at clerk@abereenburgesses.com
The following photograph of the assembled company is the Copyright of Aberdeen City Council and we credit Norman Adams-Aberdeen City Council for the reproduction.
