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25 April 2025
The Presiding Officer will visit Mayfield and Easthouses in the Lothian region to meet local people to talk about their Scottish Parliament.
The Lothian visit is the last in a series of eight events across Scotland to mark the Scottish Parliament's 25th anniversary. The aim of event is to hear people’s reflections on the Parliament and to understand more about what they want from their Parliament in the future. It will also reflect on 25 years of devolution and the impact of the Parliament on local communities.
The event on Monday 28 April begins with a visit to the Mayfield and Easthouses Development Trust. The Presiding Officer, joined by constituency and regional MSPs from the Lothian Region, will meet with service users, volunteers and staff in their pavilion and café in Mayfield Public Park before visiting their Hub and Pantry.
Following this there will be an event at Mayfield and Easthouses Church Hall with an opportunity to meet groups and projects from the area.
The event ends in Mayfield Community Club where Nourish Scotland will host a public diner lunch.
Speaking ahead of the visit, Presiding Officer, the Rt Hon Alison Johnstone MSP said: “I’m looking forward to meeting local residents and listening to their thoughts on the Parliament and their hopes for its future. We have met people across the entire country to commemorate the Parliament’s 25th anniversary, and visited inspirational community projects, from Shetland to Hawick.
“I’m pleased we’ve partnered with local groups on this visit to Mayfield and Easthouses, and I’m sure we’ll have great discussions about how the Parliament can best represent people in Lothian. I’m also excited to hear more about the various community projects that are taking place here.
“Scotland’s Parliament belongs to its people and it’s vital their voices are heard, to help shape the Parliament’s future.”
Sharon Hill from Mayfield and Easthouses Development Trust said: “We are delighted to be facilitating the visit today. Being chosen for the final visit has been lovely for us. We are proud of the community and people we serve in Mayfield and Easthouses and are keen to engage with the Parliament to show them what is being done here and how we are fostering a sense of community pride through that work.
“This is a fantastic opportunity for our community and all the groups and organisations that are active within it to show what they do and how they can be best supported to be even better.”
Abigail McCall, Policy Officer at Nourish Scotland said:
“We're excited to host and join a lunch in Lothian. Food is always a good way to get people talking about the things that matter most to our everyday lives.
“For the past year, we've been travelling around Scotland talking with different communities about creating infrastructure for food - public diners - that mean our right to food can be protected and that people can have a hand in shaping their food environment. This public diner lunch will be a great way to facilitate discussion around issues, but also potential solutions in the local area.”
The Scottish Parliament was reconvened in May 1999. Throughout 2024 and into 2025, we have been reflecting on this milestone.
The Lothian visit concludes eight planned events across Scotland, where the Presiding Officer engages with communities to listen to their concerns and encourage greater participation in the work of the Scottish Parliament as it celebrates its 25th anniversary.
Mayfield and Easthouses Development Trust (MAEDT) is a development trust working within the community of Mayfield and Easthouses. With a particular focus on the alleviation of poverty and the regeneration of the local area, we run a community pantry, garden and café and work with a vast number of groups and organisations to ensure that the community we serve has access to the resources, help, guidance and support it needs to thrive.
Nourish Scotland is a food policy charity working for a fairer, healthier and more sustainable food system in Scotland. They work with different people and organisations from right across the food system, from community food workers to public health officials to producers, with a particular focus on delivering the right to food in Scotland. For the past 3 years, they have been co-designing a new piece of public infrastructure - public diners - state supported, affordable restaurants serving healthy, tasty food to the general public. Alongside public parks, public pools, a public healthcare system, they see public diners as infrastructure for the right to food in Scotland. Nourish are currently hosting a series of supper events designed to talk with people about this proposal.