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The National (Scotland)
The National (Scotland)
National
Laura Pollock

Believe in Scotland announce details for second Scottish independence congress

BELIEVE in Scotland has announced the date for their second Scottish independence congress.

The online conference allows grassroots independence groups to come together to "decide the future direction of Scotland’s leading Yes campaign" for the year ahead.

All active Yes groups (regardless of affiliation) are welcome to join.

The event will be held on Saturday, October 28.

The event is being held after the first congress in February earlier this year was attended by over 200 delegates from more than 100 Yes groups – the largest ever gathering of Yes campaign group organisers.

Michael Russell, Ross Greer and Kenny MacAskill representing SNP, Greens and Alba, as well as other prolific figures in the movement spoke or were quizzed on the route to independence and future of the movement.

For the upcoming Congress, Believe in Scotland has said they want to take some of the focus away from party politics and concentrate solely on how to take the Yes movement’s campaigning to the next level and so this will be a grassroots only meeting with no official political party representation.

In a statement, the group said: "This will be an opportunity for independence campaigners to have a say on how Believe in Scotland campaigns on key issues in the coming year, which in the context of a potential General Election, could be vitally important to Scotland’s future.

"Delegates will be able to submit motions to be debated at the event, which will also feature panel discussions and Ambassador training. More details regarding the content of the Congress, including speakers and hosts, will be announced soon."

When confirming the date, the group also reflected on the past year for the organisation.

The group said: "Since the first congress, there is no doubt that the Yes movement has witnessed significant changes in Scottish politics. Believe in Scotland and our 141 affiliated grassroots groups kept campaigning for independence, with our goal to keep independence at the forefront of people's minds and separate from the political ups and downs of party politics.

"Our activities ranged from distributing around 500,000 pieces of campaigning material to local groups, organising two Days of action, sponsoring local billboards, attending and organising approximately 75 events ranging from online campaign surgeries to wellbeing economy talks, publishing articles and graphics, conducting polling and much more.

"All this culminated in our September march and rally in Edinburgh, held in collaboration with Yes for EU, which generated significant news coverage."

The congress will be a non-partisan event and any active campaigning Yes group is welcome to participate. Groups can sign up to two representatives each, who will act as delegates for the event.

Several Groups are organising live broadcasts from local hubs and meeting rooms.

The congress will be held all day on October 28, with proceedings starting at 10am and concluding at 4.30pm. The online conferencing platform Hopin will once again be used.

If Believe in Scotland has not contacted you directly but you run a Yes campaigning organisation that is interested in attending this event, you can submit a delegate request using the Google Form HERE.

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