Au revoir to the Minister for Sinister

Graeme Littlejohn has been working for Scottish Liberal Democrats in various capacities for the better part of five years. He started off as an intern, and then worked for Tavish Scott, George Lyon and latterly was also the Scottish Liberal Democrats' Director of Communications. It was in this latter role that I constantly teased him about how sinister he looked, lurking in the shadow while senior party figures took to the public stage. I christened him the Minister for Sinister, a name I feel he (not so) secretly liked.

I first worked with him on the Glenrothes by-election in 2008. That campaign was full of great fun as well as hard work. I used to fear for my life, though, as Graeme and the others played darts behind my head to give themselves a much needed break. And don't even mention the incident with the packing tape...

I've since worked with him on Westminster, Scottish, European and local elections. He's been a key player in the team that's kept us punching above our weight in Holyrood in the last couple of years. In every role he's been a wise, politically astute voice.

He may well have this sinister, grumpy persona, but actually, he spends huge amounts of time doing things for other people. He's done several charity runs to raise money for Alzheimer Scotland in memory of his dad. He spent time volunteering in Uganda in 2011 and now he's heading back there for a longer spell.

We are going to miss him so much but I know he's going to do so much good over there. This post is really about saying thanks Graeme, for five years of excellent work in a really tough political environment, and for all the fun and friendship we've had along the way.

He'll be helping other young people as they volunteer in Uganda. After he came back the first time, he and others talked about the sort of work they did out there:



I'm sure other Scottish Liberal Democrats will want to join me in saying thanks to Graeme and wishing him well in Uganda and beyond.

Support Austin Rathe and Graeme Littlejohn in the London Marathon

If you're a Liberal Democrat who's been elected to anything in the last few years, chances are that you'll owe something to the efforts of either Austin Rathe or Graeme Littlejohn. Austin works in the Campaigns Department at Lib Dem HQ in London and Graeme is the Scottish Party's Director of Communications.

Today, we can give them something back in return for their unfailing hard work for us. At the moment, they'll both be shivering nervously in Blackheath awaiting the start of the London Marathon.

Both are aiming to raise £2000 for causes very close to their, and our, hearts. Graeme's father passed away in 2010 and he's running in his memory to raise funds for Alzheimer Scotland. Austin is racing for the British Heart Foundation in memory of our friend Andrew Reeves who so suddenly died last June.

As I write,both are slightly short of their target. Graeme has £35.42 to go and Austin £285. Surely to goodness the combined forces of Liberal Democrats across the country can raise at least another £320 to get them both over their targets. It's the very least we can do to these hard working individuals who, in their spare time, act to help others.

It's not just the four or so hours today. It's the months of gruelling training in horrendous weather leading up to it. It's the pain, the determination that they've put themselves through that we should all recognise - and all of this at the same time as working horrendous hours for the party.

Now is the time to back our boys.

Sponsor Austin. Sponsor Graeme. Do it now and let them get a nice surprise when they cross the finish line.

Graeme finally gets around to writing about his time as a volunteer teacher in Uganda

If you don't have time to read a longish blog article right now, save this one as a favourite to enjoy later. In July, my friend Graeme left the comfort and proximity of Starbucks of his office to go to rural Uganda to volunteer as a teacher for a couple of months.

He's finally got round to writing about his experiences. His blog "Hunting for Gems in the Pearl of Africa"  outlines a bit about the history of Uganda, the philosophy behind Volunteer Uganda's programme and about the children he taught. I remember he posted on Facebook about how enthralled they were when he taught them about the solar system.

My Anna is so lucky - her attendance at school isn't dependent on my ability to pay. She learns in a modern environment with all the resources she needs. It breaks my heart to think of children who don't have access to even a basic education because their parents can't afford it.

I was also particularly interested to read about the Teaching First programme, which aims to introduce modern teaching techniques (ie not caning the children or making them learn by rote) into the country to make learning more exciting for the children and suited to their needs.

The work that Volunteer Uganda is doing will benefit the country for decades to come. Graeme has now become an ambassador for them, which means he spends time going round schools, talking to young people and encouraging them to take part in the programme.

This is a well written introductory piece. For his next one, I want to learn more about the day to day experiences he had out there, how he planned his lessons, what a typical day was, how often he was beaten at football by the kids,what he did at the weekends, that sort of thing.

This video, available on You Tube, shows Graeme in some, shall we say, interesting trousers and gives a flavour of his time there.

Volunteering in Uganda - the adventures of Little Grumpy G and others

I have been meaning to post this video for weeks and weeks and am kicking myself for only just getting round to it.

Recently my friend Graeme spent a couple of months in Uganda, volunteering as a teacher. The organisation he went with, Volunteer Uganda, made a video of their experiences which sums up their work and leisure time.

I'll let them all speak for themselves. I did ask Graeme's permission to post this, but I promised I wouldn't comment on his trousers. Don't let that stop you, though........

Being part of something which makes so many children very obviously happy and teaches them vital life skills, including HIV awareness is clearly very rewarding and will benefit those children all their lives. Graeme will be writing about his experiences in more detail at some point when he gets the chance to take a breath - he came back and started a new job within days. I'll let you know when he does.

Help my friend Graeme raise funds for Alzheimer Scotland

Have a look at this video in which the Duchess of Hamilton tells of her husband's distressing experiences in hospital which have led her to spearhead a 3 year fundraising campaign to provide hospital staff with greater awareness of the needs of patients with dementia and to provide specialist nurses.  Like they say, often the things that are needed aren't rocket science, but if people don't understand the condition, basic needs of Dementia sufferers in hospital can be left unmet, or preventable medical intervention becomes necessary.

That's just one aspect of the work of Alzheimer Scotland. Dementia is really hard for both sufferers and those who care for them to live with. I don't have any direct experience myself, but a fair few of my friends have, and in fact two of them lost their dads last October to the condition.  Alzheimer Scotland can support people through the minefield of legal, emotional, financial and day to day care issues and their support is vital.

My friend Graeme Littlejohn, who works for George Lyon MEP, is one of those who lost their dads last October. Graeme is a brave, active, outdoors type who does things with a surfboard that I could only have nightmares about. He was one of the crazy souls who undertook the Team Hopeless-Ness venture in 2008  for Alzheimer Scotland. In three weeks' time he's doing a half marathon in Alloa and hopes to raise £500 - although with the generosity of people in the last 24 hours, which has almost seen him get half way to that, I hope that he'll be able to raise that target. In fact, I think it would be good if he could beat the £1200 the Team Hopeless-Ness caper netted. There is a little widget just on the right hand side of my page and if you can see your way to adding to his total, you can do with just one little click.