Queens Park Chess Club was pleased to host a visit from two local political representatives, Alison Thewliss MP (Glasgow Central) and Councillor Alexander Belic (Southside Central Ward), in The Bungo this week.
The visit, pictured above, took place during a Club night on the evening of Tuesday 3 October. It was arranged in follow up on our recent letter to Alison regarding a £1m funding investment for chess development in England.
Alison and Alexander met with Caitlin and Derek from the Club Committee to discuss several shared interests, including the history of the Chess Club, the social and educational value of over-the-board chess, the general chess and board game scene in Glasgow and Scotland, a successful Dutch initiative to create chess tables in public places, and the scope for governmental investment in grassroots chess in Scotland in the near future.
“There are currently no plans to extend this funding to Scotland…”
Letter from UK Government Minister for Sport, Stuart Andrew MP
While the UK Government’s chess investment package does not include Scotland, Alison kindly offered to write to the Scottish Government to enquire about funding possibilities on our behalf.
Separately, Cllr Belic, who sits on the Queen’s Park Working Group, a partnership featuring Glasgow City Council and Friends of Queen’s Park, helpfully agreed to stay in touch on the outcomes of a recent community consultation, and any possibilities that may emerge to establish a set of permanent chess tables in the park.
Alison previously wrote to the UK Prime Minister on our behalf, to ask if the English chess investment may be extended or proportionately matched in Scotland. We received a response from the Minister for Sport, Gambling and Civil Society, which is available for download below.
We are grateful to Alison and Alexander for their time. We will share further developments as we receive them.