Calendar An icon of a desk calendar. Cancel An icon of a circle with a diagonal line across. Caret An icon of a block arrow pointing to the right. Email An icon of a paper envelope. Facebook An icon of the Facebook "f" mark. Google An icon of the Google "G" mark. Linked In An icon of the Linked In "in" mark. Logout An icon representing logout. Profile An icon that resembles human head and shoulders. Telephone An icon of a traditional telephone receiver. Tick An icon of a tick mark. Is Public An icon of a human eye and eyelashes. Is Not Public An icon of a human eye and eyelashes with a diagonal line through it. Pause Icon A two-lined pause icon for stopping interactions. Quote Mark A opening quote mark. Quote Mark A closing quote mark. Arrow An icon of an arrow. Folder An icon of a paper folder. Breaking An icon of an exclamation mark on a circular background. Camera An icon of a digital camera. Caret An icon of a caret arrow. Clock An icon of a clock face. Close An icon of the an X shape. Close Icon An icon used to represent where to interact to collapse or dismiss a component Comment An icon of a speech bubble. Comments An icon of a speech bubble, denoting user comments. Comments An icon of a speech bubble, denoting user comments. Ellipsis An icon of 3 horizontal dots. Envelope An icon of a paper envelope. Facebook An icon of a facebook f logo. Camera An icon of a digital camera. Home An icon of a house. Instagram An icon of the Instagram logo. LinkedIn An icon of the LinkedIn logo. Magnifying Glass An icon of a magnifying glass. Search Icon A magnifying glass icon that is used to represent the function of searching. Menu An icon of 3 horizontal lines. Hamburger Menu Icon An icon used to represent a collapsed menu. Next An icon of an arrow pointing to the right. Notice An explanation mark centred inside a circle. Previous An icon of an arrow pointing to the left. Rating An icon of a star. Tag An icon of a tag. Twitter An icon of the Twitter logo. Video Camera An icon of a video camera shape. Speech Bubble Icon A icon displaying a speech bubble WhatsApp An icon of the WhatsApp logo. Information An icon of an information logo. Plus A mathematical 'plus' symbol. Duration An icon indicating Time. Success Tick An icon of a green tick. Success Tick Timeout An icon of a greyed out success tick. Loading Spinner An icon of a loading spinner. Facebook Messenger An icon of the facebook messenger app logo. Facebook An icon of a facebook f logo. Facebook Messenger An icon of the Twitter app logo. LinkedIn An icon of the LinkedIn logo. WhatsApp Messenger An icon of the Whatsapp messenger app logo. Email An icon of an mail envelope. Copy link A decentered black square over a white square.

Paisley v Perth: Broadcaster Shereen Nanjiani and actor Andy Gray have their say

Paisley (left) and Perth
Paisley (left) and Perth

PAISLEY and Perth are rivals to be named UK City of Culture for 2021.

Here, two famous backers of the campaigns for each community have their say.

Title could transform Paisley

p00sjrwv
(BBC)

By broadcaster and journalist Shereen Nanjiani

I HAVE such fond memories of Paisley, where I grew up living with my mum, dad and brother, Ian.

It’s a town that has a tremendous history and the people have a strong sense of identity.

As kids, we used to take ourselves off to Paisley Museum to study the town’s industrial past as part of our schoolwork.

The magnificent Abbey also featured prominently in my youth, as my brother was in the choir and the family never missed the annual Watchnight Service.

Paisley Town Hall was important, too, and that’s where I saw The Corries belting out Flower Of Scotland, long before it was adopted as our unofficial national anthem.

Today, Paisley is a curious melting pot.

It has some of the most deprived communities in Scotland with 30% of children living in poverty, but it also has a growing cultural scene ignited by the likes of the PACE Theatre Company.

I believe it is now Paisley’s time. It would just take a bit of alchemy – such as a national culture title – to bring about a transformation that we Buddies could be proud of.

Inclusiveness and diversity are extremely important to me and the Paisley bid has that in spades.

The ability for everyone to easily access and experience cultural activity, irrespective of background, is at the heart of Paisley’s bid.

I’ll raise a glass to that!

 

There’s always something happening in Perth

3257341By actor Andy Gray

I WAS born and bred in Perth and started my career here at Perth Theatre.

I owe the city my life and career.

It’s a beautiful part of the world and there’s so much happening.

The city is a real cultural crucible and has a certain something.

The people are proud of its culture and that has a lot to do with the arts and the history of Perth.

I live not far from the concert hall and I know a lot of people involved in the arts here.

To see how much support there is for the arts you only have to look at how many times the concert hall is packed out. There’s always something happening.

The local council has plans to create a “cultural quarter” on the edge of Perth city centre. That should be in place in about a year from now and will be just another bonus of visiting here.

I feel incredibly proud of my hometown.

Often when I am abroad I can’t help but tell people about the city and the fact the Romans had a settlement here.

Perth has already been active in attracting culture and people to come here but securing something as prestigious as the UK City of Culture title would give the city that extra boost.

There’s due to be a lot of money spent in preparation for the vote so putting a bid in can only be a good thing – even if we don’t win it in the end.

Read more: Paisley and Perth set to do battle over City of Culture 2021 title

Paisley v Perth
Paisley and Perth