Political rivals Nicola Sturgeon and Douglas Ross to make joint visit to Glasgow drug project
They will visit a recovery cafe in the east end
Last updated 22nd Nov 2021
First Minister Nicola Sturgeon and Scottish Conservative leader Douglas Ross will undertake a rare joint visit to a Glasgow community centre to discuss Scotland’s drug death issues.
The leaders of the two biggest political parties will be at the Bluevale Community Club in Haghill which runs a recovery café to help people with drug addiction.
The organisation's founder, Kenny Trainer, has asked for politicians to put their differences aside and work together to start saving lives.
Bluevale helps over 1000 households every year through its sports, youth, elderly and community work.
The community club is seeking government funding to maintain its voluntary services and start to expand to deliver a whole-systems approach to tackling poverty and drug deaths.
Plea to put political differences aside
Mr Trainer said: "We welcome the visit by Scotland’s two main political leaders today to see first-hand not only what we are trying to achieve here at Bluevale Community Club but also meet the people who remind us daily why we do it.
"We ask that all parties, and both governments, put their political differences aside and agree on how we can tackle Scotland’s problems not just at a national level, but how this look for local people.
"We must ensure that any investment is reaching the people who need it, in the heart of our communities, this is where it will make the biggest impact.
“Bluevale Community Club is a local response to local issues, led by the community itself - but clubs like ours cannot operate on a hand to mouth basis, investment is needed”.