A FULLY funded three-day training programme is giving young people the chance to become top activists on nuclear disarmament.
The Youth Peace Academy is inviting 18 to 30-years-olds residing in Scotland to take part in a packed training programme.
Participants will learn about nuclear weapons, lobbying, writing press releases, fundraising tools and more.
Peace Education Scotland’s Flavia Tudoreanu helped come up with the idea after attending a similar event in Berlin.
She said: “We thought it would be really good to bring to Scotland.
“We have many high-quality and high-profile speakers, and are planning a trip to Faslane on the Sunday.
“We’ll be visiting the peace camp. We’re keen to show people an example of a group that has a confident presence close to the base, performing direct action.
“The academy will try to motivate as well as inform and educate – to get the youth in Scotland to be proactive and involved in campaigning on the matters that shape our society.”
Guest speakers include a representative from 2017 Nobel Peace Prize Winner ICAN; Ross Greer, the youngest ever MSP, and Masashi Ieshima, who was a toddler in Hiroshima when the atomic bomb hit the city. He now campaigns to end nuclear weapons.
Tudoreanu added: “He’ll give a clearer picture of what it means to have nuclear weapons exist, rather than having them in the corner like furniture where nobody really thinks of the effect – just that they’re there.
“The stories of the victims are so powerful and haunting.
“The more I speak about the impact of nuclear weapons, the more I realise they are too evil to even be part of any so-called strategy.”
Peace Education Scotland is the educational arm of the Scottish Campaign for Nuclear Disarmament, for which 33-year-old Tudoreanu is an organiser.
Accommodation, food, training and transport costs during the academy will be covered, and some costs for transport to Glasgow.
As well as workshops, speeches, the visit to Faslane and an “InspYre” social evening, there will also be free entry into the MugStock Festival.
The Generation Y Peace Campaigning Academy will run between July 27-29, with applications closing by July 9. Visit www.peaceeducationscotland.org/peace-academy/ for more details.
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