Tonight is Burns’ Night, when we celebrate our most famous writer and lyricist.

Few poets capture the world’s imagination like Rabbie Burns. Worldwide people quote from Tam o’Shanter, sing My Love is Like A Red, Red Rose, or entertain children and grandchildren with an animated recital of To A Mouse.

And when the world welcomes the New Year, how do they do it? From New York to Nagoya, Auckland to Alberta, Canberra to Capetown, they hold hands and sing Auld Lang Syne.

There is a measure of Scotland in every Burns verse. A nod to our character as a nation; who we are and what it means to be Scottish. ‘O wad some Power the giftie gie us / To see oursels as ithers see us!’

Moreover, Burns is a treasure trove of Scots sayings and expressions that remain in use to this day thanks to The Bard.

In many ways, he is the reason the mither tongue has survived every imaginable political and social upheaval, for he captured the romance of our language which is the romance of our country.

I’ve already attended some Burns Suppers for 2011, with more to come, and with pride we celebrated our Bard and his place in our history, our culture, and our hearts.

I hope every Scot takes the opportunity to read a verse – you can even download an app! – or raise a glass to the memory of Robert Burns, the son of an Ayrshire tenant farmer who became one of the world’s most lauded poets.

I’ve posted a new list of upcoming surgeries.

You can find the dates here.

I’d like to take this opportunity to wish all my constituents a Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year.

Please note that the Parliament enters recess on the 23^rd of December at noon.

The Parliament reconvenes on Monday 10^th of January 2011.

The office will be closed on public holidays.

Outwith the public holidays my office can be contacted by phone or email, please see the “get in touch” section of this blog for further details.

Once again, I hope everyone enjoys a relaxing and rewarding festive period.

On Monday, I visited St Vincent’s Hospice on the outskirts of Howwood in Renfrewshire.

St Vincent’s provides end-of-life care to patients with a range of conditions.

I was welcomed by Chairman Ken Mitchell and Clinical Services Manager Jackie Gillespie, with whom I discussed a range of issues of importance to the hospice and palliative care more widely.

Ken and Jackie very kindly gave me a tour of the facility and introduced me to staff and patients who were eager to praise St Vincent’s and their experiences working there or using its services.

I was struck throughout my visit by a strong sense of community and a palpably positive environment and was left in no doubt that this was due to the commitment and passion of Ken, Jackie, and their staff.

In addition to the excellent level of clinical care on offer, the patients I spoke to praised the stunning environs in which the hospice is located.

We in Renfrewshire benefit greatly from first-class palliative care provision thanks to our two hospices: Accord, and St Vincent’s. Their work is vital to our community, and we should all strive to support them in any way we can.

The values of the hospice movement – patient-centred care, compassion, support, end-of-life dignity – are at the heart of St Vincent’s and we should be deeply grateful and very proud of the important work its staff do for Renfrewshire.

Apologies for only blogging on this just now but last week I visited an innovative charity in Renfrewshire that deserves much acclaim for what it does and how it does it.

Thistle Foundation provides specially tailored support services that allow people with disabilities to live independently in their own homes.

The passion and enthusiasm from staff was palpable, and their commitment to their customers, and the principles of person-centred support, impressive.

Thistle doesn’t simply provide services, it also provides choice. The choice to live independently, to decide your own lifestyle, and to live with disability instead of around it. This is a laudable and empowering philosophy.

For their dedication to support and opportunities for vulnerable people in Renfrewshire, we owe a great debt of thanks to the staff of Thistle.

One of the people Thistle supports is Neil Farren. Neil very kindly invited me into his home during my visit to tell me about his experiences and how the support he receives allows him to lead a fulfilling life. He was full of praise for Thistle and the opportunities it has given him to maintain the lifestyle that he wants.

The third sector is the lifeblood of our community here in Renfrewshire, as across the rest of Scotland. Charities and voluntary organisations are beating a path and leading the way with innovation, originality, and heart.

They are meeting complex challenges with forward-looking solutions and, despite straightened financial times, delivering efficient and responsive services with compassion and care. Renfrewshire benefits greatly, individually and as a community, from the work of the third sector.

Thistle is a fine embodiment of this. It does important, life-enhancing and inspirational work and I wish its staff and clients every success in the future.

Visit to Trust Housing Association, Thornliebank

Annabel with senior staff at Trust Housing Association, Thornliebank. L-R: Supported Housing Coordinator Ros Smith; Housing Operations Manager Elaine Cannon; AG.

I enjoyed a visit to the Trust Housing Association centre in Thornliebank on Monday.

Trust provides ‘sheltered’ and ‘very sheltered’ housing to older members of our society and does a marvellous job for the broader community in East Renfrewshire.

I was given a tour of the facilities by Supported Housing Coordinator Ros Smith and Housing Operations Manager Elaine Cannon.

I also got the chance to visit two residents in their homes within the centre: Mrs Isabella McCrimmond and Mrs Jean Hood.

We chatted about their experiences of the services provided and how they enjoyed the social aspects of sheltered accommodation.

It was a pleasure and an inspiration to see the good work being done by Trust.

The bespoke accommodation it offers allows residents to keep their independence while always knowing that support is on hand as and when they need it.

The success of this approach is telling: the atmosphere in the complex is friendly and positive. Residents are socially active, helping to organise events, pursuing hobbies, and contributing to a strong sense of community.

Personally, I found this a vindication of my view that age is an arbitrary metric for what people can contribute to their family, local community, and broader society. I believe that our culture is too quick to marginalise older people, assuming that age is a barrier to activity, fulfilment, and social contribution. Age is experience and experience is to be valued and celebrated.

The dynamic and innovative managers Ros and Elaine spoke of their satisfaction in the work that they do.

The quality of the service is a testament to their professionalism, the happiness of the residents a sign that Ros and Elaine’s enthusiasm and dedication are appreciated – and reciprocated.

Everyone, staff and residents alike, deserves credit for all their efforts in building what is a happy and pleasant community.

I would like to thank staff and residents for being so welcoming and wish them all the very best for the future.

PHOTOS: If you want to see some photos from my visit to Trust Housing Association, Thornliebank, there’s a set on my Flickr Photostream:

It was a real privilege to be asked to speak to the National Women’s Register lunch in Renfrewshire to help celebrate their golden jubilee.

To meet so many vivacious and talented women was inspiring and great fun.

Well done NWR for a super day!

I’ve posted details of my upcoming surgeries.

You can find the places, dates, and times here.

The Scottish Parliament is now in recess for the summer and will reconvene on 6 September.

That means blog activity will be reduced for a while but I’ll try to post as and when I can.

I’ll also not be regularly in Edinburgh over the next two months but I can still be contacted by West of Scotland constituents.

If you need to get in touch, please use the contacts page at the top of the blog. My office will be staffed throughout the summer so there’ll be someone there to answer your calls or pick up your emails.

I wish everyone – whether you’re holidaying here or jetting off to sunnier climes – a very enjoyable summer break.

Visit to T-Mobile Greenock

Annabel gets a demonstration of the Twitter operation

On Monday I paid a visit to the T-Mobile contact centre in Greenock.

T-Mobile employs 750 people at the Inverclyde site and is an important player in our local economy.

I enjoyed a presentation from centre manager Andrew Ashby, who spoke about the impact of the recent merger with Orange.

We discussed the impressive packages on offer to T-Mobile employees, including salary, health benefits, annual leave, educational opportunities, and even days off to do charity and voluntary work.

I was struck by the care and attention given to employee welfare. This really showed when I chatted with the staff, who clearly enjoyed their work and were proud of their professional achievements.

When I visited, the walls and ceilings were festooned with bunting and flags from all around the world, as employees chose their favoured teams to win the World Cup. A rec room offered snooker and table-top football for staff to enjoy during their breaks. A space which had previously been a manager’s office had been transformed into a library with a view out over the harbour.

A lot of this seemed thanks, in no small part, to Andrew, who came across as a bright, optimistic, and creative thinker. He sees challenges as opportunities to be overcome by innovation. This is exactly the kind of attitude we need to foster at senior level in the public sector.

Particularly impressive was the centre’s Twitter support operation. A crack team of Greenock-based Tweeters run T-Mobile’s online support services, allowing customers to Tweet their questions or problems whenever it suits them. An advisor can resolve the issue via a Tweet that can then help other users with similar queries.

This service, only recently launched, has already proved a big success and it is great to see an Inverclyde-based firm at the forefront of this kind of digital innovation.

T-Mobile’s success is not merely good news for the company but good news for the people of Greenock and Inverclyde, who benefit from the boost to the local economy and the charitable and community outreach work the company does in the area.

I wish Andrew and his staff all the very best for the future and hope T-Mobile continues to play a key role in our local economy.

PHOTOS: If you want to see some photos from my visit to T-Mobile, there’s a set on my Flickr Photostream: