A CROWDFUNDING campaign has been launched to secure the future of a Yes shop in a Tory-targeted area of the North East.

Volunteers are setting up the Blether-In in Forfar to try to counteract a Tory resurgence in the area which saw long-standing SNP MP Mike Weir lose his seat at the snap General Election in June.

“Blether-In was conceived with the vision of starting to work as if we are living in the early days of a better nation, an independent nation,” said organiser Julz Buchanan. “The Unionist parties have targeted this area hard to boost their agenda, and now see the North East as a new Tory safe haven.

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“As a result, we see a need in our community to increase access to information not available through mainstream media channels and not easily accessible for those that don’t use the internet, or don’t know where to look.

“We also saw a need to bring the community closer together, to start a conversation, over a cuppa – a wee blether, and to provide a space for people to come and discuss, have meetings, events, talk about the big issues, and decide, together, what type of Scotland we want.”

The group behind the Blether-In are all volunteers and the future of the hub is entirely dependent on donations to cover overheads of rent and utility bills. They are aiming to raise £1000 with the crowdfunder which they hope will take them through to the next independence referendum.

“Recent events have shown us that it will be even more important to maintain our presence in the North East of Scotland in the run up to indyref2,” said Julz. “Any donations are most gratefully received, and will keep the doors open till the next independence referendum. There has already been interest from other groups in the area to start their own Blether-In, and it would be a longer-term ambition to help other areas start their own hub.”

The whole of Angus was a Tory-voting area before Mike Weir was elected as an MP, holding the position for 16 years until losing in June to Tory Kirstene Hair. This followed the local council elections where an SNP councillor, who had represented Forfar for years, was replaced by a “parachuted-in Tory”, according to Blether-In volunteer Ron Buchanan.

“The Tories opened up an office and really targeted this area before the council elections,” he said.

“We thought there must be more we could do to counteract that and the Westminster media so it seemed a good idea to have a shop and try and get information out there.

“We took the lease before the General Election because we thought at that point there was going to be a vote in Scotland because of Brexit and that we had a better start building the grass roots.

“Friends in Brechin where there was a Yes shop before indyref said it made a huge difference.

“We need a place that folk can come in for information and somewhere Yes groups can use as a discussion place. It’s in a great position on the High Street just off the Cross so there is good footfall.”

To donate go to the Blether-In GoFundMe page.