by Adrian | May 9, 2016 | News |
We are delighted to announce that Graham Campbell has agreed to be the new Project Leader for Flag Up Scotland Jamaica. David Pott, the founder of Flag Up Scotland Jamaica writes: Some of you will know that my wife and I moved to County Durham in January and, in order to make room for new things here, it was necessary for me to lay down the project leadership. It is also impractical to lead the project from England! Graham is a Jamaican who has lived in Scotland for 14 years and he has been very active in Flag Up since we started in August 2014. He is an excellent team player with great networking skills. He knows so many people in both Scotland and Jamaica who will be part of moving the vision of Flag Up Scotland Jamaica forward. Of course it is also ideal that he is a member of the Jamaican Clan Campbell! I think one of his priorities should be to organise the first ever worldwide Campbell Clan Gathering in Jamaica! I will continue involvement with Flag Up in an advisory capacity and obviously the project remains close to my heart. I encourage you to give Graham your full support. As the project begins a new chapter, we do need funds to help Graham get underway and if you would like to give a donation, please send to Santander Bank PLC, Flag Up Scotland Jamaica Sort Code 09-01-28 Account Number 44648962 We hope later to set up charitable status so that donations can be gift aided. Thank-you so much for your support of me during...
by Adrian | May 7, 2016 | News |
Sadly we must announce that our Petition for recognition of Jamaica as a priority country was rejected in the Scottish Parliament in February as the Scottish Government said it did not have the funds to extend its development funding to additional countries. Although we got a very positive reception from the Holyrood Petitions Committee in December 2015 we cannot hide our disappointment at this outcome. However we also note that Scottish Government Minister for InternationalDevelopment Humza Yousaf MSP hosted a community consultation last month precisely on the issue of extending the number of countries being given development assistance. https://consult.scotland.gov.uk/i…/meeting-global-challenges This indicates that the Scottish Government may well be thinking about expanding the list of eligible countries! You can be assured that Flag Up will not let this matter rest....
by Adrian | Jan 19, 2016 | News |
Three representatives from Flag Up Scotland Jamaica – Graham Campbell, Ish Lennox and David Pott were at a meeting of the Petitions Committee at the Scottish Parliament on Tuesday December 19th. They presented the petition, the focus of which was “to urge the Scottish Government to create a formal bilateral partnership with Jamaica and make it a Priority Country for trade and international development, as a means of acknowledging that trade with Jamaica has contributed significantly to the foundations of economic growth and prosperity in Scotland and recognising that Scotland should now seek to advance the prosperity of Jamaica.” The Petition Committee meetings are televised and our presentation can be viewed at https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zloco-Yepg0 starting after 1 hour and 19 minutes of that meeting and it lasts for just 16 minutes. We are glad to report that the petition was well received. The Committee agreed to forward the petition for further consideration to the Scottish Government and the Cross-Party Group on the Caribbean. They will also write to local authorities to find out if any of them have existing connections with Jamaica which we are not aware of. It is likely that we will be asked to return for a further meeting after we hear back from the Government and the Cross-Party...
by Adrian | Dec 14, 2015 | News |
Flag Up Scotland Jamaica’s petition to the Scottish Parliament closed on the 20th November. We have been given the opportunity to present the petition to the Petitions Committee at the parliament at 11am tomorrow, the 15th December. The text of the petition can be found here http://www.scottish.parliament.uk/GettingInvolved/Petitions/PE01585 You can watch the events from 11.00 by going to http://www.scottishparliament.tv/ and selecting committee room...
by Adrian | Oct 14, 2015 | News |
The launch of the Flag Up Scotland Jamaica petition to the Scottish Parliament has received attention from the National Press. Both The Herald and The Scotsman featured articles on the petition with The Herald outlining the aims of the petition and The Scotsman looking at the historic and more recent links between the two countries. The articles can be found here Herald Article Scotsman Article The petition to the Scottish Parliament can be found...
by Adrian | Oct 12, 2015 | News |
This morning Flag Up Scotland Jamaica launched a petition calling on the Scottish Parliament to urge the Scottish Government to create a formal bilateral partnership with Jamaica, making it a Priority Country for trade and international development as a means of acknowledging that trade with Jamaica has contributed significantly to the foundations of economic growth and prosperity in Scotland and recognising that Scotland should now seek to advance the prosperity of Jamaica. The petition has the support of Anne McLaughlin, MP for Glasgow North East and Sir Geoff Palmer, Jamaican Professor Emeritus at Heriot Watt University. Scotland has many links with Jamaica and these begin with Scottish prisoners of war from the Battle of Dunbar and the Jacobite Rebellions being exiled to Jamaica. Later many Scots came to make their fortunes in the slave economy. The consequence is that there is a greater frequency of Scottish surnames in Jamaica than in countries like Canada or New Zealand. A large number of place names in Jamaica are Scottish and include Glasgow, Kilmarnock, Elgin, Roxborough and Culloden. More recently in 1962, a Scottish missionary in Jamaica, William McGhie was responsible for the inclusion of the saltire in the Jamaican flag. The petition highlights that between 1760 and 1830 the Scottish economy grew from one of the weakest in Europe to becoming one of the most powerful. Profits were made from vast amounts of Jamaican sugar as the old sugar sheds that still exist in Greenock today testify. Other industries in Scotland profited in unexpected ways. The import of linen to clothe slaves in Jamaica increased tenfold between 1765 and 1795. Recent...
