The Dinner
The 153rd Anniversary Dinner, 25th January 2024
Message from the President
Dear Members and Guests of Bridgeton Burns Club,
It is my great privilege and honour to be President of the Bridgeton Burns Club.
This wonderful club was instituted in 1870 with the main objectives being;
- To celebrate the life and works of Robert Burns by holding a dinner each year on the 25th of January.
- To promote the life and works of Robert Burns amongst the children of the East- End of Glasgow by holding an annual competition.
Next years will be held on Thursday 25th January 2024, and the planning for what will be a great night is well underway.
The schools’ competition will take place on Friday 1st December 2023 at St Mungo’s Academy, where around 1000 children from all participating schools compete as they perform songs, recitations, choral verse, pieces of art and news desk articles. It truly is the most remarkable event and thoroughly enjoyed by all participants.
At the Dinner, we will have the pleasure of seeing and hearing a selection of the competition winners – a very popular section of the evening.
The long-lasting success of the Bridgeton Burns Club is due to the sustained commitment of its Board of Directors and Past Presidents, who work tirelessly to maintain our high standards.
With a full programme of events over the coming year, I’m sure we will have a busy and enjoyable time.
I look forward to welcoming you at the Anniversary Dinner on the 25th of January 2024.
Yours in friendship,
Jonathan Buchan
President
2023 Brochure
Click below to access this years brochure from The Dinner that took place on 25th January 2023
This Evening’s Pipers.
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Pipe Major SPENCER VEITCH
It is with genuine pleasure that we welcome back Pipe Major Spencer Veitch as our Club Piper to pipe-in both our distinguished Top Table and Haggis this evening.
Spencer is no stranger to our Club having carried out these duties for over 30 years.
Thank you Spencer.
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KILBARCHAN PIPE BAND
Kilbarchan Pipe Band, led by Pipe Major Brian Knight, was reformed in 2002 after a 30 year hiatus from the competition arena. The Band has grown in numbers and continuously strive to improve their musical abilities. They have won numerous awards, and in their last competition year of 2019, the band secured 14 awards and trophies, their best year so far! A key tenet of the Band’s function is the teaching and promotion of Scottish traditional music and culture. They are a teaching and competing band, and compete in both Major championships and local highland games. They have played at Fetes, dinners, parades, and have played in several European countries. The Band are regularly requested to form a reception for the arrival of cruise ships, and they have been involved in functions in aid of caring organisations, most notably Erskine Hospital, and St Vincent’s Hospice. The band are not sponsored, and the band’s income is derived from subscription, fund raising, prize money and donations. Kilbarchan Pipe Band endeavour to excel in all contests without losing touch with their roots as a village band, and are currently working towards the resumption of the competition season this year.
How the Haggis is Cut Ye Up.
The Annual Anniversary Dinner is self-funding and generally makes a very small profit. It is our main opportunity to appeal for the funds required to run the Schools Competition. Our current situation is, although the Club had no appeal revenue in 2021, we still managed to hold a small competition and continued the support of our bursars via the Fund for the Arts. The costs of running the competition have increased by approximately £10,000. The numbers attending the Dinner have not yet returned to pre Covid levels which has a direct effect on our ability to fund our main objective – to promote the life and works of Robert Burns amongst the children of the schools of the east-end of Glasgow. If you agree with and support our objective we would be most grateful if, following the Appeal, you could make a healthy donation to allow us to continue with our work.
Graeme McDonald
President
Below is a collection of photos taken from last years Burns Dinner, the 2023 Dinner will follow soon.
We would like to thank you all for another successful Dinner.
