| Over the last few days a D8 summit has been held in the Perthshire village, with the community hearing at first hand from 20 ordinary people from 10 African nations about the issues affecting their countries.
Tayside Police Liaison Officer for the area, Fraser White, was today presented with a communique containing the findings and suggestions of the Dunning summit, and left on his bike on a journey that would end up at Number 10 later in the day.
PC White explained, “It is an honour to undertake this journey for the community of Dunning and their guests to deliver their declaration to Number 10.
“The D8 Summit is a tremendous example of how the issues at the heart of the G8 World Leaders Summit have prompted local people to seriously consider issues affecting people in other parts of the world.
“It had been on the cards for a couple of months that I would pick up the declaration and cycle with it to the Gleneagles Hotel, with the hope of delivering it to the summit.
“Somehow Downing Street got wind of what we were planning to do and asked me to come down and deliver it in person. The furthest I’ve been since starting this community liaison job is Braco, so this makes a bit of a change!”
Outlining the concept of D8, one of the organisers, Mrs Jean Young, explained, “We wanted to know what our African friends think and to learn from them. Just as the world leaders will speak to the leaders of African nations, we as ordinary people wanted to consult with ordinary people from Africa.”
Those who have participated in the D8 — both locals and their overseas guests — left the Village Hall this bearing the flags of the attending nations and led by African drummers and schoolchildren.
The procession moved on to Tron Square, where Mrs Young read out the Dunning Summit Declaration before handing it over to Constable White, who then set off for Downing Street. |
