We Stand With Ukraine | February Newsletter
Despite it’s 28 days, a lot has happened in February. Read on for the latest, to find out how to get involved, and what’s coming up for the month ahead…
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UPDATES
What we’ve been doing
🇺🇦 We stand in solidarity with Ukraine and have told the Home Office that we need to welcome refugees
🚌 600 of you - yes, people under 22 in our very own membership - have been making the most of their free bus travel for 4 weeks
🚪 We’ve been campaigning, out canvassing, and rounding up support for our young candidates across Scotland (read on for more detail)
🏳️🌈🏳️⚧️ We held 2 amazing, informative events for LGBTQ+ History Month - a history session & social, and a film screening & discussion
GET INVOLVED
Stuff you can do to join the crew
💬 Talk to us about Slack! What do you like, dislike, or wish we did to communicate better? Not only are we looking to improve our own workspace, but we’re writing guidance for use across the main party too - add your comments to this document to have your say.
📝 Tell us what you want to read in your newsletter. Just fill out this form to submit items or give feedback to improve your monthly updates.
🖱️ Our fabulous working groups will be keeping applications open! Click this link to read more about the groups and apply.
#️⃣ Be sure to join and check out #task-basket to see the one-off tasks that Working Groups and Council Officers need your help with…
📱 Highlands & Islands Greens are looking for a social media officer - could it be you? If you can plan, coordinate, and have 3 hours a week, check out the call below!
EVENTS
So much to do, fill your calendars!
🍃 Spring Conference booking is now open! - Saturday 12th March, 10 AM - 5 PM, Stirling/Online
Join us for conference at the Stirling Court Hotel, on the beautiful University of Stirling Campus.
If you can’t make it in-person, join us online as the conference is hybrid. We will have a schedule packed with great fringe sessions and workshops, with a special session on canvassing for the Scottish Young Greens! We hope to see as many of you as possible for the first time in a long while.
In-person tickets are sold as pay-what-you-want tickets and online attendance is free for all members. You can find more information on the registration page. If you have any questions or want to know about the Conference Access Fund, don't hesitate to email events@scottishgreens.org.uk. Register for Conference today!
WE HEREBY STAN…
Shout-outs for seriously fantastic folks
This is the feature in our newsletter where we recognise amazing people for the great things they get up to. Of course, you’re all stars 🌟 but check out these super folks 🏆
We hear that Claire Maclean has been designing some brilliant candidate leaflets and was nominated for a shout out - go Claire!
Alyson Mackay gave a powerful speech about education reform at the UCU Rally outside Parliament - watch it here!
And our Highlands & Islands Young Greens want to celebrate the amazing Maia Brodie, who is the youngest candidate to stand in the history of Orkney Islands Council! Read more about Maia in this article by The Orkney News, and help towards her campaign here.
OPPORTUNITIES ‘N THAT
Jobs, Programmes, and Webinars
Work With Scotland’s Census 2022
💼 Do you have a passion for civic engagement, statistics, or history? Why not be a part of the Census operations. Vacancies Here.
Map Your Political Journey with Elect Her
🗺️ This 3-part mini-programme will take you on a journey with a community of supportive women as you map out the next steps in your political journey. For women who have made the decision to get politically active and want to understand what steps to take to make that a reality. These three weekly sessions will help you reflect on your passions and map out your journey to elected office, learning from the experiences of others and Elect Her’s resources. The Elect Her team will encourage you to choose whether to stand for a party or as an Independent, help you learn about the roles available to stand for and equip you with the tools you need to Get Ready To Stand. Find out more and sign up for free here.
WEAll Wellbeing Economy Webinar Series
There will be one webinar and one interactive webinar on zoom with speakers from Wellbeing Economy Alliance (WEAll), WEAll Youth and experts in the field of the Wellbeing Economy. Both webinars will focus on a different topic:
1️ “What is the Wellbeing Economy?” on Wednesday, 2 March 2022 at 5pm CET https://us02web.zoom.us/meeting/register/tZAldumhpzIvGdVAXs1EAt8J9s5HEHSiuN8A
2️ “What can YOUth do?” Wednesday, 16 March 2022 at 5pm CET https://us02web.zoom.us/meeting/register/tZEsceyuqTwtGNM4JJSmp9sKyoQ0PTVXQ82g
Everyone will be able to attend free of charge. The webinars are a great opportunity to understand what a wellbeing economy is and to take part in reimagining and rebuilding a more sustainable world. Help to spread awareness of alternatives to our current system; towards a more just system where people and the planet come before profit.
A CHUNK OF CHEER…
Interesting stories to tide you over ‘til next time
🗓️ Why does February only have 28 days?
Have you ever heard that fun little rhyme that’s meant to keep you right about how many days go into each month of the year?
30 days has September, April, June, and November. All the rest have 31, excepting February alone. It has 28 days clear - and 29, each leap year.
But why? Well, back in Ancient Rome, King Numa Pompilius was responsible for coordinating one of the first Roman Calendars, moving away from the old 10-month calendar. To make sure the year synced up with the moon, Pompilius added January and February as new months to the calendar (which would only last 355 days - 10 days shorter than the solar year we follow today!). When dividing the days, Numa made all months have 29 days, except February.
Superstition of the times said it was bad luck to have an even number of days in a month, but Numa didn’t have an extra day to give away, so he decided that February would be the “unlucky” month, for which Romans would conduct rituals to honour the dead.
When Julius Caesar later became Emperor of Rome, and decided to measure the year in line with the sun, February drew the short straw and didn’t gain any of the extra 10 days that Caesar was dishing out - probably due to old superstition and Roman tradition. Since then, we’ve seen the addition of leap days and leap years, but February is always short and sweet!*
However, if you’d love for every month to end on the 28th then why not take a dive into this Wikipedia Article that proposes an International Fixed Calendar, lasting 13 months!
*Source - https://www.britannica.com/story/why-are-there-only-28-days-in-february
Best wishes going into March - things are growing ever busier as the elections near, the sun appears, and we get ready to celebrate International Women’s Day!
Stay safe and hydrated & be kind 😉
Sophie Brodie (she/her)
SYG Membership Secretary 2021-22
@sophiebrodie99