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Aims & Purpose

The Jimmy Reid Foundation has been established in memory of Jimmy Reid and to continue the legacy of radical political thinking his life represented.

The Foundation is an independent ‘think tank’ and advocacy group for the advancement of education focused on practical policy proposals for transforming Scotland, which are based on analysis and investigation of the current Scottish and global political, cultural and social situation. All income and donations are used for the general funding of our activities as contained in our objectives unless specifically restricted.

The Jimmy Reid Foundation was set up to include the full range of progressive politics in Scotland.  All the work of The Reid Foundation is based on a series of underpinning principles drawn from Jimmy’s own radical political thinking that:

  • society should be based on equality and social justice
  • people should have the democratic power to influence their workplace and social institutions
  • quality of life should be at the forefront of political debate and not an afterthought
  • justice can only come from peace and support for human rights
  • ideas, learning, arts and culture have the power to transform society and individuals
  • all these principles are underpinned by the importance of national identity and a vision for Scotland

The Jimmy Reid Foundation has been set up by the Scottish Left Review Editorial Board (www.scottishleftreview.scot) – the SLR was Jimmy’s last major political project.

Our structure

The Jimmy Reid Foundation is run by the Director, Dave Watson, and the Foundation’s Project Board. The Project Board sets and oversees the work of the Foundation.

The membership of the Project Board is as follows:

Chair

Lynn Henderson, PCS union.

Deputy-chair

Mike Danson, Heriot Watt university.

Board members

Andrea Bradley, Educational Institute of Scotland (EIS) union.

Stephen Deans, UNITE the union (Scotland).

Ruth Dukes, University of Glasgow.

Carole Ewart, human rights consultant.

Pat Kelly, retired senior union official.

Kay Sillars, UNISON Scotland.

Eurig Scandrett, Queen Margaret University.

Bob Thomson, retired senior union official.

Dave Watson, independent consultant and researcher.

Andrew Watterson, University of Stirling.