Nominate Community Batonbearers for Commonwealth Games Baton Relay

The Queen’s Baton Relay began its journey through 70 nations and territories of the Commonwealth on 9 October 2013 in the lead up to the Glasgow 2014 Commonwealth Games. Once it has completed its journey through the Commonwealth, the baton will come home to Scotland on 14 June 2014 to spend 40 days visiting communities in all 32 local authority areas of Scotland.

The relay will pass through North Lanarkshire during summer 2014, and Games organisers are seeking worthy and deserving community batonbearers to help the baton through the North Lanarkshire leg of its journey. You can nominate a family member, a friend, or someone you know for a position as a community batonbearer, or you can apply yourself.

Nominated community batonbearers will be required to meet one or more of the following criteria for activities undertaken whilst having been a resident or working in Scotland:

• Made a positive contribution to the lives of others through community sport
• Undertaking volunteering or contributed to schools or youth organisations
• Contributed towards greater inclusion for disadvantaged or marginalised sectors of the community
• Been a role model or mentor to youth through sport
• Displayed a level of individual achievement against the odds
• Made a significant contribution to the local community.

I believe this is a fantastic opportunity for local groups, organisations, schools and individuals to make nominations of deserving volunteers or individuals who have contributed greatly to local communities and would therefore encourage as many nominations to be made as possible.

To find out more information and to make a nomination visit the Glasgow 2014 website.

Airdrie Post Office

Last Friday I got the opportunity to say thanks to the people who help to deliver Christmas: the postal workers.

As a society, we like to talk about Christmas being stressful. But for most of us, that stress is encapsulated by Christmas shopping, writing cards and visiting relatives.

For postal workers, the stress of Christmas is rather more literal: the strain on mind and body of numerous sacks of letters and packages that must be emptied, sorted, re-packed, and hauled up hills with darkness overhead and ice underfoot and a chill wind blowing in the face.

Royal Mail’s busiest day of 2011 was the 15 December, when 149 million items were handled: almost three times the average daily mail bag of 58 million. In all, two billion letters, greeting cards and parcels were delivered to 29 million addresses in time for Christmas.

It was a real privilige to see at first hand the immense effort that postal workers put in at this time of year. I would like to thank postal workers in Scotland and across the UK for all their hard work and commitment, and wish them all the best for Christmas and New Year.

And just in case you haven’t seen them already, here are some useful dates:

Last posting dates for UK mail:

18 DECEMBER             20 DECEMBER                  22 DECEMBER

Second Class                    First Class                       Special Delivery

Deserved success for responsible banking

I recently tabled a Parliamentary Motion in recognition of the excellent financial results achieved by Airdrie Savings Bank in the past year.The Motion has attracted considerable support.

In stark contrast to most high street banks, Airdrie Savings Bank pays no shareholder dividends (it does not have shareholders) but is run by a board of unpaid trustees. This means that any profits made are reinvested into the business, rather than being salted away into the pockets of a select few. 

It is a responsible bank run according to the traditional virtues of prudence and probity. It does not take reckless risks, and it provides secure deposit and lending facilities to its loyal customers.

As a Central Scotland MSP, I am delighted that this Airdrie institution has expanded outwith its traditional Lanarkshire base by opening a branch in Falkirk. I am sure the new venture will be run according to the same principles, and will provide the same excellent level of service to local residents.

I look forward to further branches of Airdrie Savings Bank being opened throughout Scotland.

Distilling Success

I very much enjoyed my recent visit to Inver House Distillers in Airdrie.

Inver House is now owned by International Beveridge ltd, the international arm of the Thai Beveridge Company, and is responsible for the distillation and bottling of all the group’s Scotch Whisky. It sells over 12 million units per year, and exports to 85 countries around the world. Amongst the many products it produces is Old Pulteney, which was awarded World’s Best Whisky of 2012 for its 21-year-old single malt.

Its Towers Road site was first established as a distillery in 1964, and although it is no longer used for alcohol production, it has remained open and involved in the whisky industry ever since, and today operates as a  storage and packaging facility for a range of quality whiskies and gins. Inver House employs 176 staff across Scotland, with 126 based in Airdrie and 5o in its 5 distilleries.

After an interesting and informative meeting with senior management, I was lucky enough to be given a guided tour of the warehousing and bottling facilities. The sheer volume stored and packaged at the site is really quite staggering, and stands testament to the quality and commitment of the staff and workers, some of whom have been employed at the site for well over 10 years. A slow workforce turnover is always a good sign, and suggests that relations between staff and management are very good. 

Inver House Distillers is a great asset to Airdrie, and it was interesting to hear the reasons behind retaining it as the Scottish headquarters. Not only does Airdre provide a good source of local employees, it has excellent road and rail links to both Edinburgh and Glasgow, and is in close proximity to two 2 major airports.

Given the recent announcement regarding the new BioCity life sciences hub at Newhouse and Chapelhall, it is clear that Airdrie remains a very attractive proposition.