THE Sunday National is proud to report, on pages 10 and 11 of today’s issue, news of projects set up by local campaigners to mitigate the worst effects of the newly elected Tory Government as it threatens to introduce even more draconian policies.

Of course, this newspaper believes the ultimate response to such policies should be to vote for Scotland’s independence.

But in the mean time, it warms the heart to see campaigners taking action to protect communities from attacks on their standard of living. Action such as the toy bank in Glasgow set up by Becci Wallace.

It seems to us to reflect the values of the Scotland we want to build. That’s why we today launch a campaign to encourage and support such initiatives throughout the length and breadth of the country.

READ MORE: Staying in the Union ‘cost Scotland £3.3 billion this year’

We’ll be devoting space in the Sunday National every week to publicise projects which aim to encourage us all to work together to defend those least able to defend themselves.

The Sunday National will be launching a few such projects itself ... keep reading this newspaper over the next few weeks for more details.

But we’ll be also encouraging our readers to act and giving them the space to explain what they are doing and how it is helping.

To let us know what you are doing, simply email us at letters@thenational.scot, using “A Better Nation” in the subject matter field. And you can let us know about your projects on social media by using #BetterNation.

We hope to shine the spotlight on as many projects as possible over the months ahead, and hope that people who are not yet convinced that independence is the best road ahead will join in too.

Just as Scotland needs to unite in a democratic campaign to gain the right to choose its own future, so too do we need to join forces against a Westminster Government determined to erode our rights and our hopes.