Scottish Skillshare

In the dazzling sunshine on Saturday November 7th, 30 or so activists stood in the doorway of a beautiful Georgian stone town house in Perth gazing at the bronze and gold trees stretching in front of us and the hills beyond. It was the day of the Scottish Skillshare. The sky was blue, the sun golden and glorious but we resisted and stayed inside for workshops on street campaigning skills, the new website, what bearing witness means and a discussion about building a festival team for Scotland. Paul Morozzo arrived for lunch and the quiz, which Jake Wilson pulls together regularly, asking the names of Bond villains and comic book characters, chemicals and the weapon that became a toy, all things you feel you really know, or ought to know, but they are buried so deeply in the brain they won't surface... Prizes were awarded and then we went into the complexities of the coal issue and what it means now in Scotland, and then to hearing stories of actions that several activists had been on this year. Great company, laughter, information, good food, discussion, games and presentations - these all make up the activist skillshares around the country and are highlights of the year, one of the ways we try to show how much we value our high quality people and thank them for the time, energy and skills they give to Greenpeace.