WHO WE ARE

JANET FENTON

I am a Quaker feminist, an internationalist that is Scottish to the core –  and I lived in Ireland when my children were small. My working life was in the theatre and community arts, mental health support and advocacy and community development with a big emphasis on peace and disarmament.  I work with the Acronym Institute for Disarmament Diplomacy and others on issues around Disarmament and the Women Peace and Security agenda, and in seeking different ways to create a peaceful and nuclear-free Scotland, including direct action with Trident Ploughshares and XRPeace.

With Acronym, I am a member of the International Steering Group of ICAN (Nobel Peace Laureate 2017)  I have lived in a community at various times in my adult life and spent two years as a co-worker in a therapeutic community. I am a co-founder of Secure Scotland and am an active member of its Core Group as the Organiser.

DANIELLE O’KANE

I am a passionate young feminist, and I was born and raised in Edinburgh.

After leaving school at 16, I spent 5 years working in finance before travelling to Australia to live and work for a year. I spent most of my time there fund-raising for Amnesty International, The Cancer Council and The Australian Conservation Foundation.

In my late 20s, I decided to take the plunge and re-enter the world of education. After completing an access course at Newbattle Abbey College, I was accepted to study Philosophy and Politics at Edinburgh University. In my final year at university, I became passionate about nuclear disarmament and secured an internship with the International Campaign to Abolish Nuclear Weapons. Through this, I became a member of the Women’s International League for Peace and Freedom, and of Scottish CND.

Since completing my degree, I have been employed by Edinburgh University with their Accommodation Catering and Events team and I am still involved in Words and Actions in a campaigning and administrative capacity, through the development of Indycan and supporting ICAN activity in Scotland.

DAVID MACKENZIE

Since retiring from the formal education sector, where I was a secondary school teacher, a curriculum adviser and latterly an education officer, I have made a range of voluntary contributions to the peace movement, principally with Trident Ploughshares – the non-violent direct action campaign against nuclear weapons, where my work has included media, event planning and newsletter editing.

I am also involved with Nukewatch – the citizen network which monitors the movement by road of the UK’s nuclear weapons. With Nukewatch my work has included monitoring, monitoring co-ordination and co-authoring the 2017 publication Unready Scotland.

I was a co-founder and am an active member of the Secure Scotland Core Group.

Arden Connor

I am a young girl from Edinburgh, Scotland. I became a part of Children’s Parliament when I was 9 years old through a project called ‘What Kind of Edinburgh’ which involved working with public services to make them more child friendly and accessible. Since then, I have worked on a wide range of issues such as the incorporation of the UNCRC into Scots law, mental health, equality, and poverty. I have taken part in the Cabinet Meeting (a meeting with the First Minister and children), the executive meeting (a meeting between children and the First Ministers cabinet), the pre-session for the UN discussion on children’s rights in the UK (which took place at the United Nations HQ in Geneva) , the Children’s Right General Assembly and so much more.