Reporter comment

Two events were hosted at Clydebank Town Hall.

Firstly the showing of “I, Daniel Blake” the award-winning film which showed the horrors resulting from the Tory attacks on the benefit system, and secondary the play “Dare Devils Ride to Jarama” which relived the bravery of working class people prepared to risk all in order to fight fascism.

Both events exposed the class nature of our society and the need for workers and their communities to unite and collectively fight back against the forces which would destroy our lives and livelihood.

A total of 400 people attended the two events which were sponsored by UNITE, UNISON, EIS, GMB, and Clydebank TUC. The RMT assisted with the film. Approaching £1,200 was collected for West Dunbartonshire Foodshare as an expression of solidarity with those in the community suffering from the austerity measures from government.

And to think Thatcher said: “There is no such thing as society!”

Thanks to all who supported these nights and we intend to hold further cultural events, using all methods to get across the message of the need for workers to organise both industrially and politically if they want to create a fair and just society– rather than the rat race that prevails currently.

Tom Morrison,

Secretary,

Clydebank TUC

THIS month we’re celebrating Disabled Access Day – a chance to raise awareness of the need for ease of access at public venues all across the UK.

We understand that for many disabled people, accessibility goes far beyond the realms of simply being able to get in or out of a venue with ease; it’s about being independent, having freedom of choice, embarking on new experiences and living life to the absolute fullest.

Over the years, we’ve conducted plenty of research into accessibility at public venues, including the UK’s top 100 tourist attractions, Premiership and Championship football stadiums and major high street stores.

We found that even in today’s society, many public venues continue to fall short of the mark when it comes to being truly accessible.

Take the high street for example – despite having a huge turnover, 84 per cent of disabled people and carers we asked said they had experienced problems with the accessibility of high street stores. Totally unacceptable, we think.

And, it isn’t just about the obvious moral obligation to make society a more accessible place; there is of course a financial incentive too.

With the spending power of disabled visitors and the so-called ‘Purple Pound’ being a market worth an estimated £212 billion, it makes absolutely no sense that public venues still aren’t buying into the idea of becoming fully accessible, at the risk of losing incredibly valuable revenue year on year.

I work for Revitalise – a wonderful charity that provides respite holidays for disabled people and carers from all across the UK.

As an organisation with over 50 years experience of supporting disabled people and their carers, we are absolutely resolute in our belief that society should be accessible to everyone.

To find out more about Revitalise visit www.revitalise.org.uk, or call 0303 303 0145.

Stephanie Stone,

Revitalise,

via email

TEN years ago, this month, Animal Aid launched a new initiative, entitled Race Horse Deathwatch.

The aim of the project was to monitor and publish detailed information on as many on-course race horse deaths as we could find out about, because the racing industry did not do so.

Ten years on, little has changed.

Racing’s regulator, the British Horseracing Authority, merely publishes the number of horses killed whilst racing, and not the names of the horses or how they died.

Animal Aid, however, does.

The names of 1,500 horses, killed as a result of racing in the last decade, appear on the Race Horse Deathwatch website, but the true figure is likely to be much greater.

The majority of those horses were killed after breaking their leg, or neck, whilst racing, or because they collapsed and died.

This shocking number of fatalities is racing’s dirty secret.

We continue our work to expose it – on behalf of all those horses who had nobody to speak out for them except us.

Fiona Pereira,

Campaign Manager,

Animal Aid

WOMEN with an interest in Clydebank, Dunbartonshire and indeed Glasgow history will be aware of political activist and suffragette Jane Rae who first rose to prominence as one of the main protagonists in the 1911 Singers strike.

The strike was initiated when 12 female cabinet polishers in the Clydebank factory walked out in protest over the re-organisation of their work practices.

Support for the strike soon spread throughout the workforce resulting in a mass walkout by the vast majority of the 11,000 workforce.

Although ultimately unsuccessful (and also costing Jane her job) it could be argued that the strike was the catalyst for the spread of Trade Unionism throughout Clydeside and gave rise to the world famous ‘Red Clydesiders.’

Jane went on to join and become an active member of the Independent Labour Party and became the Clydebank branch secretary in 1913.

She was also politically active in a number of areas (women’s emancipation being one) and chaired a meeting where the well-known suffragette Emily Pankhurst was present in Clydebank Town Hall.

Jane also became a local councillor between 1922 and 1928 and was a strong advocate for women’s rights.

Clydebank has already honoured Jane by naming a street in Whitecrook in her honour (Jane Rae Gardens) but, as we move towards the centenary of women’s emancipation in 2018, I feel it would be a fitting tribute to Jane and all the women of Red Clydeside to honour them by naming the new Clydebank Care Home, which is due to be open in 2018 and will be built on a site that fittingly stands in what was the heart of Red Clydeside, as ‘Jane Rae House’.

As a postscript, my research into local history also threw up the surprising fact that Clydebank has never had a female Provost (although I do stand to be corrected).

As our next elected council will sit through the centenary of women’s emancipation, maybe the newly elected administration should take the opportunity to lay that particular ghost to rest.

Stephen Gallagher,

Clydebank,

Via email

WE ARE reaching out to people in Dumbarton who are affected by diabetes, particularly Type 1 diabetes, to find out more about their experience of diabetes technology such as insulin pumps and continuous glucose monitoring (CGM) and the difference it has made to their lives.

Diabetes is a serious condition which requires careful management every day.

For people living with diabetes managing the condition is relentless.

There is no day off. While CGM or pump technology is not suitable for everyone, we know that it has improved the lives of many of people living with diabetes.

However, availability varies across Scotland with some people opting to self-fund as they cannot get access to this life-changing technology through NHS Scotland.

We welcome the recent government announcement of £10 million to be invested in diabetes technology but we want to ensure that it is invested wisely and fairly with the needs of people living with diabetes at the heart of any decision-making.

We believe that everyone has the right to the support, treatment and technology that can enable them to live well.

We’re calling on people who are living with, or caring for someone who is living with, diabetes to add their voice to our campaign, The Next Step.

If everyone in the diabetes community works together, we can drive Scotland forward to become a leader in diabetes technology and care so that everyone affected by the condition can live happy, healthy lives.

This will not happen overnight but we are confident that we are on the right path.

If anyone would like to find out more about The Next Step campaign or get involved, please get in touch with me on telephone 0141 245 6380 or email gavin.thomson@diabetes.org.uk.

Gavin Thomson,

Campaigns and policy manager,

Diabetes Scotland