A YES group has announced a public event to raise support for securing a city centre hub.
The group hopes to have a hub act as a central location to distribute campaign materials, answer queries and provide a place for supporters to get together.
The event on Saturday, May 20 at Quaker Meeting House in Edinburgh will host guest speaker Gordon MacIntyre-Kemp, founder of Believe in Scotland. Tickets are available here.
The original Edinburgh Yes Hub was opened a few months prior to the 2014 referendum and was kept going by volunteers since then in various locations. The Hub manager, Mike Blackshaw, passed away in November 2022 and this set the Hub’s course for closure.
A fundraiser, started by Mike Wallace, is to help secure a new venue and volunteers hope the initial fundraiser can cover leasing costs for a few months.
Wallace, a retired engineer from Prestonpans, pointed out that no city in Scotland has a Yes hub in a central location with heavy footfall – something the group wants to change.
Volunteers of the Edinburgh Yes Hub steering group have been working behind the scenes in various ways to organise setting up a new hub.
The group now has a not-for-profit company, Edinburgh Yes Hub Limited, set up with an associated crowdfunder and a website.
Wallace said: “We have been engaged with help from some supporters in identifying suitable premises from those that might be available to us. The type and location of options we may be able to take up will be dependent to a large extent on turning the support in principle we now have from many independence-supporting organisations and individuals into actual monetary amounts and more solid future commitments.
“The public event on Saturday will also be looking for input from potential and actual supporters on what and how they see an Edinburgh Yes Hub working to further Scotland’s cause in our capital city.
“An immediate aim ahead of the meeting is, by resuming promotion of our project, to re-energise the crowdfunder which rather ran out of steam in last few months while still well short of its target amount.”
The crowdfunder goal is £6000. Just over £1200 has been raised so far and volunteers are calling for Yes supporters to “give what they can”.
For updates on the hub’s progress and to donate to the crowdfunder, click HERE. You can also check out the group's Facebook page.
