Clubs and Associations,

For the browsers who do not know the structure of the Federation can I explain a little. The Federation began in 1885 as a gathering for the multitude of Burns Clubs established to celebrate Robert Burns, and while some years ago we moved to include individuals and families as Members the essential structure and organisation still leans heavily on the Clubs, and into the various groupings, or associations, into which they were formed to provide the mainstay of our organisational structure. Scotland is divided into a dozen areas, there are several in England, one each in Australia, New Zealand, USA and Canada and a few others covering other parts of the world. Each of these associations send delegates to the Federation Executive meetings, 3 per annum, and this is where the several committees meet to deal with the various aspects of Federations interests.

The associations are as varied as the parts they are based in, and I have had the pleasure recently of sitting in on a few meetings. I have previously blogged here about such a meeting in Dumfries, The Southern Scottish Counties Burns Association, where as you would expect, their close connection with the later part of Burns life, leads to a great deal of enthusiasm and support from Burns afficianados.

The same can be said for Ayrshire Association of Burns Clubs, where recently I was fortunate to call in on their Annual General Meeting in Dalry, and join with them as they celebrated their centenary as a group. They do not however rest on their laurels, I found a very well supported meeting, representing many Clubs, with several well know servants of the wider Burns movement. It was very interesting to hear the plans many of the Clubs have in hand for special events for 2009.

Across the other side of the country in Edinburgh one fine evening I joined Edinburgh Association for quite a special meeting. We gathered in the offices of Edinburgh World Heritage, a fine buiding in Charlotte Square next door to Bute House, the First Ministers official residence, to hear of EWH plans to conserve the Edinburgh Burns Monument, which we all agree is in need of some significant work. EWH works closely with Edinburgh City Council in looking after much of Edinburgh which is designated a significant heritage site of word importance. They have a scheme in hand for £250,000 worth of work to the Burns Monument and you will soon be hearing more about this substantial project, and their appeal to raise the funding. After the EWH presentation the Edinburgh Association held their meeting. Perhaps not as numerate as the other meetings I have been to, there was around a dozen clubs represented, there was a similar level of enthusiasm for their Clubs, for Burns time in Edinburgh, and for plans to celebrate 2009 in style with one or two special events. Note that the 2009 Federation Conference is in Edinburgh and this could be quite a special treat for those attending. I look forward to catching up with these Associations again during my Presidency and calling in on several of the clubs I met there.

I look forward to catching up with other Associations throughout my Presidency.

Desperate Dandy

I would like to give you a great example of how broad a cultural position many of our Burns Clubs take. On Tuesday evening I was at a meeting of Perth Burns Club, for a talk on some of Scotlands most popular modern literary icons, The Broons, Oor Wullie, and Desperate Dan et al from the comics of D C Thomson. David Torrie, lately of the creative staff of this great comic institution, gave a light hearted look at the history of the comics, Beano, Dandy, Bunty etc, the comic strips of the Sunday Post, and their characters, charting their development from the first editions through to modern times, and the changes there have been along the way, all illustrated by a great slideshow of the various editions of comics and strips. Perth meetings such as this are open to the public and there were a few in the audience who had been attracted by this topic (The Club find this a great way of recruiting new members). It is perhaps more than a century from the Club's early beginings as a gentlemans literary society, but the Club still provide an interesting forum for discussion on many popular topics, not just Burns. check out their future syllabus on www.geocities.com/perthburnsclub

Hearts of Midlothian

Last Friday I had the pleasure of joining Danderhall Burns Club at one of their social evenings. This was a very enjoyable get together, a gathering of around 30 members enjoying the fellowship of a few hours together whiled away as many took their turn to perform their party piece song or poem. This is a regular feature on the Club calendar, Danderhall club meet all year round for a variety of events, President Sam Campbell told me of their various meetings, visits to other clubs, trips to Burns Country etc, and their schools competitions. This is very much a community based club, rightly proud of their roots and mining heritage, supporting the social heart of their village with a focus on Burns but a broad outlook. It was good to see a spectrum of ages attending, and giving of their individual talents to entertain their fellows. This is perhaps not the geographical heart of Midlothian but these men are the true heartbeat.