First Minister enjoys poetry at Corbenic

Home / News / First Minister enjoys poetry at Corbenic

18.09.2026

Our local MSP, John Swinney revisits Corbenic

We were delighted to welcome John Swinney to Corbenic today and thank him for finding the time in his busy First Minister schedule. Our local Member of the Scottish Parliament (MSP) has been a regular visitor for 35 years. To the residents, he is “John” and they are always pleased to see him.

The visit included meeting with attendees at Corbenic’s expanded Day Service, listening to residents recite poems from their Shout! collection and, of course, stopping for a tea break.

Day Service attendee, Seb, was on hand to greet John before handing over to Corbenic Director (and poet) Jon Plunkett.

First stop was Corbenic’s expanded Day Service. Our MSP was very interested to hear from the attendees what activities they undertake. Lola kindly demonstrated the scarf she was knitting, Seb demonstrated his harmonica skills, Jordan showed her artwork and Ethan was content to just share a quiet moment.

The main event was in the hall of the new building. Here John thanked everyone for the invitation and explained his close association with Corbenic going back 35 years. Then four of the Corbenic poets, Stephen, Aaron, Jack and Andrew, recited their poems from publication Shout! before charming our First Minister to appear in a publicity shot with their publication, available from good Scottish bookshops!

Back to news