Comment posted on Martha Payne and NeverSeconds hit fund raising target: new kitchen for Mary’s Meals by Robert Allan
It has been worth all the embarrassment and ramifications to get the result for Mary’s Meals that Martha has achieved. If it helps to get a coherent and functional communication department at Kilmory and further steps in the direction of an open and honest council then it is a double positive.
Robert Allan also commented
- Argyll is not large in population, and is unable to help the world. Possibly though, we could “adopt” through Mary’s meals this little part of Malawi and have some sort of relation between them and our schools here, not just from a fundraising point of view, but also across the broad spectrum of child care and education. It would teach us all if we could “adopt” somewhere where we can really make a difference.
- Daily Record, bastion and loyal supporter of the Labour Party, attacked ordinary working people, the dinner ladies, not the Education supremo or the even the elected officials, but the working folks. Says it all. We should boycott the paper until they follow the sanctions as stipulated by Dot Macdonald
- First class leadership by Roddy McCuish now what we need is to see some positive press with a photo of the council leader, Martha and the folks from Mary’s meals together with the dinner ladies on the front page of the Record.
Recent comments by Robert Allan
- Council issues prompt response on Martha Payne’s NeverSeconds clampdown
Today the Daily Record had the cheek to say the headline in the Saturday Edition was “lighthearted” calling for the Dinner Ladies to be sacked. Typical of a paper that associates itself with the Labour party and the lack of real concern they have for the working people of this country. Alastair Campbell stated a recent birthday honours list award, should not have been accepted. He should try telling those in his own party who have fallen over backwards to accept peerages in the House of Lords where they can attend and collect the stipend without even having to remain in the chamber. Good socialists like Lord McConnell, Lord Reid, Lord Robertson, Lord Foulkes and Lord Prescott not to mention a few.
Keep up the good Work Roddy McCuish at least you are honest in your endeavour to protect both the ladies working in the school as well as the nine year old girl who was trying to do what was best. - Council issues prompt response on Martha Payne’s NeverSeconds clampdown
Mr Fraser as George Bernard Shaw said, “Those who can do. Those who cannot teach”. Just about sums you up.
Your bitter and twisted, biased point of view does not do justice to the tremendous amount of good this incident has accomplished. Pupils, parents and teachers talking about nutrition, and diet, not to mention the unfortunate children of Malawi who will benefit from the funds raised.
Eat your heart out Mr. Fraser. - Council issues prompt response on Martha Payne’s NeverSeconds clampdown
I thought Councillor McCuish was refreshing honest about the situation and only 3 weeks into the job, has handled it as well as could be expected. As usual the experts with an axe to grind should have stood as candidates in the election if they are as clever and perceptive as they try to appear. - It’s goodbye from Martha as Council switches off her dinnercam
Roddy McCuish has acted in the best way possible, giving some credibility to Argyll and Bute. Mr Sneddon as I stated previously should consider his position. It is obvious from the papers this morning and some of the comments in the blogs that people are only reading a little of the subject and are failing to take on board the content of Martha’s blog and the comments made by other parties in this debacle. I hope Cllr. McCuish will find out who and what was behind these moves and rectify the situation on Monday Morning. As far as the papers are concerned they still have a vitriol aimed either at the Council in general or the Councillors. The people of Argyll who know fact from fiction should excercise great care in which titles they select when they purchase their newspapers this morning tomorrow and Monday. The BBC should also excercise a greater degree of investigation prior to adding to the unbalanced debate that has been evident in recent days - It’s goodbye from Martha as Council switches off her dinnercam
for Jim B – This is the same official that was employed under the previous regime and he needs reeling in or given the same treatment that has been given to the Dinner Ladies
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This is superb! I keep going back to her fundraising page throughout today and the total just keeps on climbing.
#neverseconds #winning
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Donated to the cause about ten minutes ago and in the two minutes after I donated I counted over £200 being donated and now since i donated its jumped by about £1000! Amazing!
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The ban has just been lifted by the Council Leader – just announced on BBC news!
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Lots of silver linings in this story. Martha herself is a great advert for Argyll and this is a fantastic result for Mary’s Meals. Not just the money (which is itself marvellous) but all of the publicity the charity has received, including a link on the BBC web site. Cllr McCuish has also justified his elevation to Council Leader and maybe, just maybe we can look forward to having a council we can take pride in rather than one labelled: “the stupidest council in Britain”.
What a day! Wonder what Martha will make of it all when she gets home?
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First class leadership by Roddy McCuish now what we need is to see some positive press with a photo of the council leader, Martha and the folks from Mary’s meals together with the dinner ladies on the front page of the Record.
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I think that No political capital should be made out of Martha’s humanitarianism. So only Martha and the folks from Mary’s meals should be in the photo.
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I just watched the story on BBC News24 and there are lots of positives!!
Children and parents are discussing school meals and nutrition in general.
The school in question is sending out positive messages.
The new Council has been seen to getting to grips with the subject and a meeting has been arranged between the parents, the pupil and Roddy MacCuish,the Council Leader. (Anyone else think that that was unlikely under Dick Walsh!!)
Mary’s Meals is undoubtedly the supreme winner and deservedly so!
My only concern is for the moral of the canteen staff
and my only condemnation is for the scum-bag rag known as the Daily Record for its headline of ‘Sack The Dinner Ladies’which was neither helpful or fair.
They should publish an apology!!!
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The poor dinner ladies are frontline workers. Someone much higher up the ‘food chain’(sorry)in the Council will sit in an office and be paid a promoted salary to ‘manage’ what the dinner ladies are able to provide. It is that person (possibly even persons) who is responsible for goes on prison trays in schools. It is their responsibility to ensure that dinner ladies have good quality ingredients, cooking equipment,facilities and training to produce good food.
If there is a problem in doing this then it is THEIR responsibility to convey that to elected members so that THEY can address issues.
Is the whole photograph debacle really down to the actions of a paid council official?
Time for some clarity (not just in A&B but across Scotland)about who does what within a local authority. Councillors have been elected to make policies. Officials are paid to implement them.
Lines have become blurred and no one is ever held accountable for their area of responsibility. Especially when it all hits the fan.
The current system failures are mocking democracy.
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Daily Record, bastion and loyal supporter of the Labour Party, attacked ordinary working people, the dinner ladies, not the Education supremo or the even the elected officials, but the working folks. Says it all. We should boycott the paper until they follow the sanctions as stipulated by Dot Macdonald
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The Daily Record have rewritten the story now and do not mention their shameful attack on the dinner ladies. An apology and large donation to Mary’s Meals (perhaps a promise to match donations through Martha’s appeal?) might help excuse their stupidity.
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This is a great result from a very worrying time. I hope Martha continues with her blog and the council learns to work with her and make something from it that shows what a great place Argyll & Bute is. It IS a great place with great people in it. We just need to get those officials out of the bunker and back into the daylight where nine year old girls aren’t a threat. Well done Roddy McCuish for making a start on that!
Of course the Daily Record was way out of order and I sympathise hugely with the dinner ladies, but I’m sure they understand that it’s the fault of some journalistic lout and not Martha herself. From what I’ve seen on Martha’s blog, her dad has already said the dinner ladies are great and the council’s response could have been to gather all the players together and shout it from the rooftops. Hopefully now they can present a united front that makes us all proud.
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The total donated to Mary’s meals through Martha’s blog now stands at an astonishing £36,274 with the money still pouring in.
Such is the power of the internet.
Haven’t noticed a donation from Mr Sneddon but perhaps he gave anonymously.
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Don’t forget to add Gift Aid.
At the moment it is
Total raised £39,257.24
Gift Aid £7,091.17
So the total is £46,348.41
Beginning to wonder whether it is going to end in six figures.
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So far, Martha has raised enough money for SIX kitchens, and the total continues to rise.
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Just had a wee peek this morning and she’s at £57,000+
At least something good has come out of this all. Congratulations Martha.
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£71,864.77 – over 1000% of her target! That’s a lot of lunches for kids who currently don’t get one at all and is a very happy ending to a bad start.
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Fabulous. And how many other children will now eat well?
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Mary’s Meals reckon it takes around £10 to provide each child one meal a day for a year so currently, if all the money was used directly on meals, this would mean a meal for a year for 7,300 children. A fantastic result.
Given that Mary’s Meals feeds over 650,000 children each year, that’s, however, a sobering statistic that shows how much money needs to be raised each and every year so that Mary’s Meals can continue its great work.
Mary’s Meals and Martha Payne: two great reasons to be proud to live in Argyll.
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Hopefully heads will roll first thing on Monday morning in Kilmory!!
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The appeal is getting very close to six figures – £97,676.76 (including Gift Aid). Fantastic achievement!
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It has been worth all the embarrassment and ramifications to get the result for Mary’s Meals that Martha has achieved. If it helps to get a coherent and functional communication department at Kilmory and further steps in the direction of an open and honest council then it is a double positive.
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Argyll is not large in population, and is unable to help the world. Possibly though, we could “adopt” through Mary’s meals this little part of Malawi and have some sort of relation between them and our schools here, not just from a fundraising point of view, but also across the broad spectrum of child care and education. It would teach us all if we could “adopt” somewhere where we can really make a difference.
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There is actually quite a lot of this sort of activity going on already. Malawi and Scotland have historical and cultural ties (mostly through the Church of Scotland)and Malawi is the main focus of the Scottish Government’s aid efforts. I cannot speak for all schools in Argyll but at Barcaldine they have had talks on Malawi and what it is like to be a child there. This makes a big impression on the children and Mary’s Meals is one of their favourite charities.
You are right in saying that we are very limited in what we can do for the poorer parts of the world. We can take huge pride in the fact that Mary’s Meals was founded and continues to operate out of Argyll.
And let’s back our pride with our money whenever we can.
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She’s done it… £100,000 – HUGE CONGRATULATIONS, AWESOME!!!
http://www.justgiving.com/neverseconds
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