WE at the Yes DIY hub like to hear from other hubs working towards Scottish independence, so we are grateful to David Mackenzie from Edinburgh Yes Hub for his account of an interesting evening of fundraising that other groups might wish to emulate.

It centred around an auction, ably conducted by Janet Fenton, in the Edinburgh Yes Hub premises in Lasswade Road.

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He told us: “On Friday, May 24, we held at the Hub a fundraising auction of donated items, ranging from a painting of a cup cake to a conversation-piece elephant.

“The participants were modest in number but enthusiastic about almost all the lots and spent £547 in next to no time, with excellent help from a handful of online bidders.”

It wasn’t just bidding that those in attendance were asked to do, as Mackenzie explained.

He wrote: “During the mid-evening break from frantic bidding we had a ‘go-round’ of those in the room, who were asked to say something about themselves and what they were doing and planned to do for Scottish independence.

“The list of activity was pretty impressive. There was all the work that needs doing to make and keep the Hub itself vibrant and effective – website maintenance and development, fundraising, just being there to keep it open to the public, plus contributing to and publishing our magazine, Saor Alba.

“There is real hope, yet maybe not everyone has understood that the work needs doing now, instead of waiting for the referendum date starting gun.”