AGENDA
:— Straight advice
The alternative economy of the ‘pink pound‘ — fuelled by the supposedly higher disposable income of gay people - has been growing in London of late with Soho‘s Old Compton Street as its centre. And where there‘s money, there are financial advisors.
lvan Massow Associates has established itselfas London‘s leading advisor to gay clients on how to handle their finances and specialises particularly in the problems faced by those who are HIV positive. The company believes there is a market for 5 its services in Scotland and is opening an Edinburgh office next month.
‘A whole gay market has been created in London which has had a positive effect.‘ lvan Massow says. ‘The gay community has become more visible and is seen as more responsible. Scotland has nothing like that. We hope to help pull people out of their shells and give them the kind of confidence
1:35, I. .v.-':T'.‘;. "of"??? ".‘3‘ \' ‘9‘. 'n' {'lo'fl 2\\.\\:~.‘.. ' r, it. .D-it. .t Ivan Massow: promoting the pink pound you find in London.‘ Massow formed the company three
years ago in a Kentish Town squat but has graduated to Soho offices. a staff of
ten and a client list filled with celebrities he guarantees you will have
heard of but can‘t reveal. Fee-eaming business comes mainly from handling
; clients‘ pension planning and 3 investments which are usually tailored to benefit partners in the same way as
married spouses. But the company also offers free advice to those suffering discrimination because they are
considered an HIV risk by financial institutions.
The main problem for gay men is securing life assurance which is usually necessary to obtain a mortgage but Massow has negotiated special deals with lenders who offer no-assurance mortgages. ‘The big insurance companies are not as homophobic as we thought they would be,‘ he says. ‘They give us special deals for clients because they can see the business is valuable.‘
The expansion to Edinburgh was welcomed by Scottish Aids Monitor which said that gay people. particularly men, frequently face a ‘lifestyle charge‘ on financial transactions which takes no account of whether they are at risk of infection. ‘There is no reason why HIV should be a special case — there are plenty of other life-threatening diseases,‘ information officer Paul Trainer says.
Massow decided to open an office in Edinburgh because of the city’s widely publicised AIDS problem and hopes . that anyone with concerns about money and HlV, not just gay people, will contact the company for advice. (Eddie 5 Gibb)
l The Edinburgh office is on 226 2001.
Communicado director Heather Baird '. is to leave her post as administrative l director of Edinburgh-based touring l theatre company Communicado tojoin 2 Dundee Repertory Theatre where she will have a similar role.
Arts conference The future of the arts in Scotland will be discussed at a conference on 18—20 October in Glasgow, organised by CoSLA, which represents Scottish local authorities.
v "er/M
and Salvo. the arts lobby group. Local l ’.
authorities in Scotland spend an , estimated £100 million on the arts each a year and the conference will consider
ways of widening the audiences for ‘
publicly-funded artistic output. ‘We
will be looking at the future shape of
arts funding and how we can broaden
the definition of the arts.‘ Salvo chair Mary Picken said. Details on the , conference from CoSLA, 031 3461222.
Bagpipe centre More than two thirds of i
the £3 million needed to build the planned new bagpipe centre in i Cowcaddens. Glasgow has been raised
and the organisers say the building on a former church site should be open by l
October 1995. It will be the first
purpose-built piping centre in the world
and will house a museum, reference
with a new home for the College of Piping. The fund-raising trust is now looking to the commercial sector to match grants already received from Glasgow District Council and Historic Scofland.
Orchestra sponsor Scottish Power is backing the Royal Scottish National Orchestra to the tune of £150,000 in a new sponsorship deal for its forthcoming season. The cash will be added to the Bank of Scotland‘s £100,000 sponsorship deal and should ease the RSNO deficit problems. New chief executive Paul Hughes promised the orchestra would not cut back on programming or quality but would continue to look for other sources of income.
library and performance halls, together |
Highland hopes
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i Scottish Screen locations, the : organisation set up to encourage i filmmakers to shoot movies in i Scotland, is waiting to hear if its . services will be required for not one, 2 but two, Hollywood blockbusters. I Though Canada is supplying the wilderness for shooting the bulk of i ‘Highlander 3’, the next instalment of the Celtic caper starring Christopher Lambert as the tartan time traveller, 881. is hopeful some real Scottish castles will be used when filming begins later this year.
A longer shot is ‘Braveheart’, which ‘The Scotsman’ recently revealed
. in
Christopher Lambert: we to start filming Highlander 3
would be ‘the biggest feature film ever
made in Scotland’. Based on the story
of Scots hero William Wallace, the $40 million film is reportedly close to being ‘green Ilghted’ by the Ladd
Company. SSL suggested some
locations to the screenplay writer
Randall Wallace who was inspired to
i write the story of his namesake while
1 on holiday in Scotland. But since then
i the line to Hollywood has gone dead.
. ‘We are trying to contact the production company but basically we’re as much in the dark as everyone
i else,’ says one SSl. source. (EC)
V ACTION
I Creenfest ’93 The annual event organised by the Glasgow University Green Group for all things greenish will be held at Hillhead Library on Saturday 30 October. If you are thinking about taking a stall, running a workshop or simply entertaining the punters, then get to it, because there‘s still time to book your place. Contact Glasgow University Green Group, c/o The Chaplaincy. 65 Oakfield Avenue, Hillhead, Glasgow.
I The Rights Office Edinburgh‘s
Rights Office, which offers . independent advice every Monday from Epworth Halls on Nicolson Square, is running a ten-week course for new volunteers. The course offers training on benefits, employment regulations, debt counselling and other types of welfare rights. There are up to twelve places on the free course, for which limited expenses are available, and new volunteers are expected to commit themselves to helping staff the Monday Rights Office sessions for at least three months. Training sessions will be held on Tuesday and Thursday mornings from 5 October. Details on 031 668 1091 on Mondays, 10am—4pm only.
I Bike To The Future Friends of the Earth Scotland is taking to the roads on bikes to raise money and awareness with two sponsored rides on Sun 26 (Edinburgh and Borders) and Sun 3 (Glasgow). ‘Bike to the Future will be a fun day out,‘ says FoE Director, Kevin Dunion. ‘We have taken care of everything including transport to and from the Borders event from Edinburgh, lunch and refreshments and the provision of First Aid for both cyclist and bike.‘ The 23-mile Borders ride starts out in the Yair Forest and uses unclassified roads and good quality forest tracks to travel through the Ellbank and Traquair forests. The 35-mile Glasgow ride leaves central Glasgow on established cycleways and canal paths to tour rural Renfrewshire on minor roads before returning to the centre of town. ‘By joining us, riders will not only help to raise much needed campaign funds, but will be demonstrating support for a cleaner Scotland,‘ says Dunyon. Full details and an information pack including sponsorship forms from 031 554 9977 (24 hours).
I Positive Help The Edinburgh-based project which provides practical help for people affected by HIV are looking for new volunteers. Before committing themselves, potential volunteers are invited to one of two meetings to find out more about the project. These will be held at 64a Broughton Street on i Monday 27 (7.30—9. 15pm) and 5 Tuesday 28 (1.30—3pm). Positive Help needs volunteers available during the 1 day, drivers with use of their own car and people for babysitting and trips with children. Training and ongoing support are provided, as well as
mileage allowances and any out of pocket expenses. Further details from 031 558 3636.
If you have news of any events or courses which you want publicised in this column, please forward them to ‘Actlon’ at The list, 14 High Street, Edinburgh EH1 1T5 and include a day- i time phone number.
The List 24 September—7 October 1993 5