Curling Stones fae Mauchline at the Winter Olympic Games

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The XXIII Olympic Winter Games begins today in PyeongChang.

I learned on a recent visit that Kays Curling in Mauchline have provided the competition stones to the Winter Olympic Games since 1998.  

So congratulations! to Kays on their 20th anniversary of being the sole supplier of Ailsa Craig granite stones manufactured in Mauchline and used by all the competitors from around the world.

Good luck to the all-Scots men's and women's Curling teams representing Great Britain when they begin their competition on Wednesday 14th February.

CurlingStonePoster.JPG

So congratulations! to Kays on their 20th anniversary of being the sole supplier of Ailsa Craig granite stones manufactured in Mauchline and used by all the competitors from around the world.

Broadband Information from the Public Meeting (27th September)

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The Public Meeting on Broadband Delivery in East Ayrshire held on 27th September helped to bring some understanding of the scale of the task involved to bring high speed broadband across Scotland. It also highlighted some of the problems facing the communities in Kilmarnock and Loudoun.

Duncan Nisbit from Digital Scotland kindly gave permission for the information he presented on the night to be shared which shows the Scottish Governments plans locally. You can find out more online at https://www.scotlandsuperfast.com/.

 

PDF file of Broadband Presentation

PDF file of Broadband Presentation

Unsolicited Marketing Communications (Company Directors): Ten Minute Rule Bill

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Unsolicited Marketing Communications (Company Directors): Ten Minute Rule Bill

I was happy to support my colleague Patricia Gibson MP when she brought forward her Ten Minute Rule Bill on the 13th September 2016 and welcome the moves by the UK Government to clampdown on nuisance calls.

The Unsolicited Marketing Communications (Company Directors): Ten Minute Rule Bill was introduced to Parliament on 13 September and included provisions to hold company bosses personally responsible for nuisance calls, by giving the Information Commissioner’s Office (ICO) the power to take action against named company directors found to have made unsolicited marketing calls in breach of the Privacy and Electronic Communications (EC Directive) Regulations 2003.

Following the debate in Westminster, UK Ministers have now agreed to Patricia Gibson’s proposal to end the scourge of nuisance calls by legislating for company directors to be fined up to £500,000 each if they are found to be in breach of the Privacy and Electronic Communications Regulations. Prior to this, only businesses were liable for fines, many of which try to escape paying nuisance call penalties by declaring bankruptcy - a practice known as “phoenixing”- only to open up again under a new name. 

I gave a comment to the Kilmarnock Standard shortly after Patricia Gibson’s speech:

“Nuisance calls plague millions of people every year and it is wrong that rogue companies are able to avoid paying the penalty for their unlawful actions.
"At best nuisance calls can be an irritant; at worst they can be a blight on the lives of some of the most vulnerable in society.
“If passed, the bill would hold company bosses personally liable for fines imposed for unsolicited marketing calls – elevating the issue of nuisance calls to the boardroom and ensuring that these companies cannot escape responsibility by going into liquidation.
“If the UK government is serious about tackling the practice of cold-calling it should back my bill and give the ICO the powers needed to pursue unpaid fines.
"This would benefit the taxpayer and act as a strong deterrent to firms engaging in this practice.”

If you would like to find out more about the Unsolicited Marketing Communications (Company Directors) Bill the link to the debate in Parliament is here or click the following link to view the speech instead. The Bill has gone to 2nd reading and is due to be heard again on the 18th November 2016.

Notes
To date, fines totalling almost £3.7million have been issued to companies behind nuisance marketing. This year alone, the ICO has fined firms responsible for more than 70 million calls and nearly 8 million spam text messages. Over 114,000 nuisance calls and texts were reported to ICO in the first nine months of 2016. 

Reporting a nuisance call is simple: visit the ICO website at www.ico.org.uk or call their helpline on 0303 123 1113 and they will take it from there.

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Kilmarnock Railway Station – World War 1 Stories

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Kilmarnock Railway Station – World War 1 Stories

Back in May 2016 I appealed to constituents and local groups to consider applying to the Heritage Lottery Fund for community projects to learn more about the First World War. The Heritage Lottery Fund announced that they were making money available as part of the ‘First World War: then and now’ programme for small, community grants. This was to encourage local communities interested in marking the Centenary of the First World War to learn more about how the First World War affected the local area and the impact it had on communities.

Through this programme East Ayrshire Council Education Services has come together with the Kilmarnock Station Railway Heritage Trust and applied successfully for a grant of £10,000 for their project ‘Kilmarnock Railway Station – World War 1 Stories’.

I was delighted to be visited by Graham Boyd, Heritage Projects Coordinator East Ayrshire Council along with Sixth Year pupils from St Joseph’s Academy, Ann McGiffen and Ava Hepburn to find out more about the project.

Pupils from local primary schools and St Joseph’s Academy have been researching and developing an archive on a number of Kilmarnock Railway Station workers, employed by the Glasgow & South Western Railway Company and other nearby railway works, who volunteered or were enlisted to serve at The Front during World War 1.

The pupils want to build a picture of what the town was like before WW1 and the changes brought about due to the outbreak of war. Their research is uncovering many fascinating and largely untold stories both with a local and international dimension. In order to share this forgotten heritage with the public, the pupils along with many community groups associated with the Station Village are planning to host a display of the archive along with a service dedicated to the memory of these workers.

I have always been interested in WWI and I think this project combining social history along with consideration of some locals involved in the war is a fantastic way to get a wider understanding of what life really was like. I commend them for their efforts and look forward to the displays. 

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WASPI Petition to the House of Commons

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WASPI Petition to the House of Commons

I am helping to support the WASPI campaign by collecting signatures of Kilmarnock and Loudoun for their public petition at my Constituency Office and presenting the petition to the House of Commons on the 11th October.

I will be collecting signatures at the office until Friday 7th October so if you can spare the time please come down to my Constituency Office at 31A Tichfield Street, Kilmarnock to support the campaign and add your signature to the petition.

If you are not available during the week there is an Ayrshire WASPI meeting that I will be attending this Saturday 1st October at 10am in the Kilmarnock Wetherspoons. I will bring the petition to sign and copies for others to gather signatures.

If you're not able to come to the meeting you can download a petition from the WASPI website http://www.waspi.co.uk/action

If you wanted to gather signatures yourself the petition would need to be brought into the office or posted to me and received on or before the 7th October. Please note that any petition I present has to be from Kilmarnock and Loudoun constituents and have the original signatures on the petition (not scanned, copied or emailed).

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Neighbourhood Food Collection (30th June to 2nd July)

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Neighbourhood Food Collection (30th June to 2nd July)

I visited the  Neighbourhood Food Collection on the 1st July arranged by Tescos in conjuction with their charity partners The Trussell Trust and FareShare and added my donation and the bags collected in my Constituency Office.

Over the Neighbourhood Food Collection initiative (30th June to 2nd July) Tescos received enough food to supply approximately 7500 meals to those in need in the local community.

Even though the initiative has passed there is still an ongoing need and, if you can, food can still be donated directly to the Trussell Trust and FareShare or through Tescos collection points at over 600 of their stores nationwide.

Below is a suggested list of non perishable food suitable for the collection, any and all donations would be gratefully received.

  • Tinned meat
  • Tinned fish
  • Tinned vegetables
  • Instant mashed potato
  • Cooking sauces
  • Tinned tomatoes
  • Jam
  • Fruit juice (long life)
  • Tinned fruit
  • Breakfast cereals
  • Tinned rice pudding
  • Tinned sponge pudding
  • Milk (UHT or powdered)
  • Instant coffee/Tea bags
  • Sugar (500g)
  • Biscuits or snack bars
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Food collection at Constituency Office - 23rd June to 1st July

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Food collection at Constituency Office - 23rd June to 1st July

Last December we took part in the Neighbourhood Food Collection arranged by Tescos in conjuction with their charity partners The Trussell Trust and FareShare.

Sadly the referals to foodbanks continue to increase year on year with over 60% citing low pay or changes/delays to benefits as the major factor causing the need for emergency food supplies. Across the UK 1.1 million 3 day emergency food supplies were distributed by the Trussell Trust in 2015/16, over 133000 in Scotland alone. (from Trussell Trust)

To help meet this demand Tescos will be holding their 8th Neighbourhood Food Collection between the 30th June and 2nd July with collection points at over 600 of their stores. We will also be taking part to help support the community by using the Constituency Office as a collection point.

If you would like to support this initiative please bring along any bags to the Constituency Office between 23rd June and 30th June. Alan will be visiting the local Tescos on the 1st to find out how the Collection is going and will take all food collected in the office along at that time. 

Below is a suggested list of non perishable food suitable for the collection, any and all donations would be gratefully received.

  • Tinned meat
  • Tinned fish
  • Tinned vegetables
  • Instant mashed potato
  • Cooking sauces
  • Tinned tomatoes
  • Jam
  • Fruit juice (long life)
  • Tinned fruit
  • Breakfast cereals
  • Tinned rice pudding
  • Tinned sponge pudding
  • Milk (UHT or powdered)
  • Instant coffee/Tea bags
  • Sugar (500g)
  • Biscuits or snack bars
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Saying thank you to Natasha Kerr on Volunteers Week

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Saying thank you to Natasha Kerr on Volunteers Week

I was honoured to meet Natasha Kerr from Catrine during Volunteers Week and to thank her for her amazing contribution to volunteering in Kilmarnock and Loudoun. Natasha has devoted over 800 hours to coaching children and young people last year with the Catrine Youth Club, Kilmarnock Harriers and East Ayrshire Vibrant Communities through her Ayrshire College course.

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Broon's been Roon the Toon

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Broon's been Roon the Toon

It was the first ever Roon the Toon 10K in Kilmarnock on Sunday and I took part along with around 1400 other runners.  My wife Cindy and my office colleagues came to cheer me on and with their help I managed to complete the 10k road race in a respectable 51 mins and 42 seconds!

Well done to all the runners who took part in the 10K including family friend Megan who ran in memory of her wonderful Gran and my Parliamentary Assistant Neal who raised money for the East Ayrshire Carers Centre.

I raised money for Kieran and Jack in my Roon the Toon fundraiser  and people generously donated £228.75 (£190 before gift aid) to Gain - Guillain-Barre and Associated Inflammitary Neuropathies. 

Thank you to all those who contributed to a great day and a great event that brought over 1400 people into Kilmarnock on a Sunday and turned the town centre a hive of activity in the Doon the Toon festivities.

I hope that the event can become a regular event in future and encourages people in Kilmarnock and Loudoun to think about taking up physical exercise through sport and promotes a healthier lifestyle for everyone.

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Broon's goin Roon the Toon

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Broon's goin Roon the Toon

I am running my first 10k on 12th June as part of the Roon the Toon in Kilmarnock and after meeting Kieran and Jack recently I have decided to raise money for Gain Charity (Guillain-Barre & Associated Inflammatory Neuropathies).

Kieran (10) has lived with this painful and debilitating condition for 2 years and is thankfully now fully recovered but still needs some support and regular 6 monthly check ups.. He and his cousin Jack are now determined to raise awareness of this rare syndrome and fundraise to help others suffering with Guillan-Barre and other debilitating conditions. 

Kieran's cousin Jack has been growing his hair for 2 years for another charity, The Little Princess Trust, but decided that he could raise money for GAIN at the same time through his JustGiving page to support his cousin. Soon Jack will be donating the money raised to GAIN and his hair will be donated as a wig to a little girl who has lost hers because of cancer treatment.

If you want to help me support Kieran you can visit and donate to my Roon the Toon fundraiser or alternatively you can visit Jack's on JustGiving

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Stewarton Academy - S3 Modern Studies visit

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Stewarton Academy - S3 Modern Studies visit

I was delighted to be given the opportunity to talk to the S3 Modern Studies class at Stewarton Academy recently on my role as an MP. The students had prepared a number of questions which related to their coursework and I was impressed with the range of questions that were asked. I was keen to make it clear that although I gave my personal view on the topics they had chosen that I was willing to hear their views as well. It is always important to show that different points of view can be informed, considered and equally as valid and that debating them can add to the understanding of complex issues.

My visit was after the Modern Studies department had held a workshop and a mock election for S4 – S6 pupils, this was to inform those students eligible to vote on the process and what to expect from the Scottish Holyrood election.

I learned that the students were organised into groups and attended a workshop to discuss what qualities and skills their perfect representative would have, what their local policies would be for the local area and their priorities given a budget of £250,000. Each group were given an opportunity to present a ‘party political broadcast’ to the other groups and then vote for the candidate or Party they wanted to represent the Stewarton Academy constituency.

I was impressed that to highlight the importance of registering the process included checking that pupils were registered and if not they were prevented from voting.

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