Real lives before me

I spent the morning at two more Christmas Fayres (St Christopher's and then St Ninian's churches) before doing my surgery at the Lochend YWCA.

The fayres were their usual mix of home made festive consumerism, a cup of tea with neighbours and a visit to Santa’s grotto. (St Ninians wins the tablet award this year, that's my benchmark for Christmas Fayre home baking!)

I like my Saturday surgery. It has a different feel from the others, (I do an evening surgery on the first three Wednesday of the month and then one during the day on the Last Saturday for those who can’t get out of an evening. You can get full details at the bottom of the page). Because I do it for an hour rather than the weekday half hour, I find it less frantic although its usually my busiest, averaging around 8 inquiries.

Surgery work is often the hardest but the most rewarding part of being a Councillor. Its not unlike parish work in that you are given a privileged insight into peoples lives and when you do get something sorted, there's a real sense of achievement. But it also lets you see first hand just how tough some folks lives are, often through no fault of their own.