AGENDA
:— Luck of the draw
Charities in Scotland are waiting for the National Lottery, which sold its first tickets this week, with a mixture of apprehension and anticipation. The lottery promises that ‘every time you play, you help a good cause’. But will it be an important new source of income for cash-strapped charities, or might the possibility of hitting the jackpot divert money from people who would otherwise bung a quid in a collection tin?
David Sieff, chairman ofthe National Lotteries Charities Board which is responsible for distributing the proceeds to charities, will warn a conference in Edinburgh next week that the lottery is not the answer to charities’ financial problems. ‘It is not going to be a big beanfest for everybody,’ agrees Kirk Coulson- Gilmer, secretary of the NLCB.
‘Charities shouldn’t assume there will be money for all, and certainly shouldn’t slacken their own fund- raising efforts.’
In fact only 28p from each £1 ticket goes to good causes, with that money split five ways between sport, the arts, charities, preservation of the national heritage and the Millennium Fund. Still, the lottery operator Camelot
tional lottery: diverting ash fo charities?
expects the purse for charities to be somewhere between £56 and £130 million a year.
It may sound like a treasure trove for can~rattlers, but Coulson~Gilmer points out that there will be difficult choices to make, with as much as 95 per cent of
' the expected 200,000 applicants turned
away. ’There will be money, but only for a lucky few,’ he says.
Lucy Pratt, policy analyst for the Scottish Council for Voluntary Organisations, says charities have always been wary of the lottery. ‘People may see a collection tin across the street but buy a ticket instead, thinking “it’s going to a good cause and 1 might win a million on Friday”,’ she says. ‘ln fact very little ofthe money is going to any good cause at all, let alone charities.’
The current advertising campaign is too close to the bone, Pratt claims. ‘The National Lottery Charities Board are so behind in setting up applications procedure, that it is wrong for them to imply that the moment you buy a ticket charities are benefiting. it could be eighteen months before they see any money at all.’ (Stephen Naysmith)
The Charities Annual Conference 1994: Looking to the Millennium. is at Edinburgh 's Scandic Crown Hotel on Thurs 10 Nov. Details front the Charities Aid Foundation on 0732 771333 or SCVO on 031 556 3882. Lottery tickets are available at a shop near you with the first draw live on BBC1 on 19 Nov.
:— New alliances
The Government’s love of civic competition pits cities against each other for public funding, with Glasgow and Edinburgh frequently making a grab for the same prize — 1999 City of Architecture is the perfect example. flow a conference has been organised to explore for the first time the cultural and economic effect of these competitive urges.
Representatives from Glasgow and Edinburgh councils and economic development agencies are likely to toe the same line: there’s often more
1 to be gained by co-operation than
competition. But only last week a proposal for a Millennium project to regenerate the canal link between the two cities was given a cool reception by Glasgow council leader Pat Lally, who suggested a preference for a city- specific idea. Old habits die hard, it would seem.
‘A degree of rivalry is inevitable,’ says Scottish Trades Union Congress arts officer Mary Picken. ‘ln cultural development terms I would argue that partnership would reap more specific rewards. The canal link could capture the public’s imagination and is certainly worth further consideration.’
Glasgow councillor Jean McFadden and Edinburgh’s Mark Lazarowicz both
argue that tax-payers’ money spent on costly bids for things like City of Architecture could be saved by co- operation. ‘If you succeed in bringing visitors to central Scotland then all benefit,’ says McFadden.
lazarowicz believes the two cities are continually forced to go head to
' head because of a lack of strategic
planning at a national level. ‘I don’t say we shouldn’t compete, just that we should look for areas of co- operation,’ he adds. (Eddie Gibb)
Edinburgh and Glasgow: Rivals or . Partners? is organised by the John Wheatley Centre on Fri 4 Nov at the Festival Theatre, Edinburgh. Details on
' 031 557 5515.
Reading festival
Scotland has traditionally enjoyed the reputation of being one of the best read countries in Europe - we’re second only to the Firms at book borrowing. However in recent years there has been concern that book reading is falling off, particularly among young people, as the instant thrills of everything from Nintendo to bungee-jumping take over Now an imaginative book promotion has been launched to combat the trend, which includes placing book extracts it some unusual places.
The problem was first spotted in a 1989 readership survey commissioned by the Scottish Arts Council. At the time, SAC’s literature director Walter Cairns noted: ‘There was clearly a hell of a job to be done in getting more people interested in reading literature.’ A series of initiatives was immediately set up including Now Read On and Books For Babies to address the problem, but last week saw the launcl
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Glasgow writer William Mcllvanney encourages tomoflottt’s DOOR-buyers
of Readiscovery, the biggest campaign to encourage people to pick up a book since the 1989 report.
Headed by Jenny Brown of the Scottish Book Centre, Readiscovery is aimed at both adults and kids all over the coumry. ‘Literature will be on the move and in the public eye,’ says Brown. The promotion includes a specially designed Book Bus which will tour remote primary schools and involve more than 100 children’s authors. Brown also announced a new National Book Day on 12 August, encouraging people to give a book to someone they love. Every baby born on
that day will be presented with a ‘Born '
to Read’ certificate and book.
Most bizarre will be Readiscovery’s plan to lurk in public toilets with the Posters in Public and Private Places campaign, inspired by the success of London’s Poems on the Underground. Employers ranging from The List to CalMac ferries and local authority-run public toilets will display a series of posters featuring an attention-grabbing extract from a novel. An opportunity for toilet humour, perhaps? (Ann Donald)
Readiscovery can be contacted on 031 221 1995.
l Access most areas Members of the public often feel nervous about walking in open country because of uncertainty about legal access, according to a new report from Scottish National Heritage. In Enjoying the Outdoors SN H proposes a new scheme called ‘Paths for All’, an initiative to improve public access with a network of footpaths, cycle routes and bridleways across the country. The aim is to have this network in place by the end of the decade with grants likely to be available to help local authorities, land owners and communities with the costs. The Criminal Justice Bill is likely to increase public concern over legal rights of way, making a paths network even more vital to encourage visits to the countryside. The report is available from SNH Publications, Battleby, Redgorton, Perth PHl 3EW and costs £7.50.
I Setting Forth Lothian Regional Council has called on the Scottish Office to shelve plans for a second Forth road bridge to enable more sustainable transport options to be considered. The council suggests increasing the toll on the existing road bridge — possibly around £1.50 compared to the current toll of 40p — to help raise money for public transport schemes. ‘More and more evidence is available to suggest that new roads are not in themselves the answer,’ commented transport committee chairman David Begg. A major concern is that a second bridge would overload the already congested roads leading into Edinburgh‘s city centre.
I Write stuff The Scottish Youth Theatre is looking for young playwrights aged 15—25 to take part in a new workshop scheme to develop new scripts. Anyone with ideas for theatre, radio or television scripts should contact SYT, with the best selected chosen developed and performed in a series of rehearsed readings next year. Details from Susan Fraser on 041 332 5127.
Bertie List 4—17 November 1994