As part of a nationwide series of Purple Picnics at the beach the Edinburgh Yes to Fairer Votes campaign joined hundreds of campaigners across the UK in an awareness raising event at some of the nation’s favourite beaches.
Electoral Reform campaigners from Devon to the North of Scotland took part in building ‘Yeses’ bigger than the Royal Wedding.
The Edinburgh ’Yes to Fairer Votes’ group met at Portobello Beach on Easter Sunday to raise awareness of the upcoming referendum on 5th May and about the advantages of the AV voting system. Whilst creating the 100 foot square beach sand display, the group met many members of the public, all keen to find out what they were up to!
They met one gentleman who had already sent in his vote of ‘Yes’ by post last week and was pleased to see the group working hard to get the message out to the undecided public. A very lively conversation was had with another young man who was not yet convinced the AV system would work for the UK. He had not yet made up his mind how he would vote on 5th May, but the campaign group feel that he went away with a lot of food for thought and, hopefully, a clearer idea of how AV might help the UK become more democratic.
An impressed Lothian lady told the group it was “great to see people give up their time to do things like this.”
Kate Sutton from Bristol, who came up to Edinburgh to join in the build said that she was “very pleased to see that so many people in Edinburgh were informed and interested about the referendum and that so many people were in favour of AV.”
A fun day out was had by all the volunteers and their families! The sun was shining, the sea was sparkling and we all enjoyed digging and building in the sand. They were even joined by baby Jack who helped out by directing our efforts whilst pottering around eating some of the delicious purple Yes to Fairer Votes cakes brought along by Helen Parker.
The display took two and a half hours to create including breaks to chat with people strolling along the promenade or to enjoy a cuppa and a cake.
With thanks to those who took part to the staff of the Swim Centre, and to all those who members of the public chatted to us as the group worked.
