The Save BBC Introducing in Scotland campaign is in its 60th day so it seems like a good time to let you know how things are progressing as we’ve made some enormous strides.

November 9: We were invited to the Scottish Parliament in Edinburgh to meet Joan McAlpine MSP, who has been the campaign’s most vocal and proactive supporter within the Scottish Government’s zanily-designed corridors. She and her researcher Gail Lythgoe were tremendously receptive – they were keen to find out what help we needed/wanted to move things forward and we spent about 45 minutes bouncing ideas around.

November 14: Meeting at BBC Scotland’s HQ in Pacific Quay, Glasgow with Bill Matthews, the BBC Trust’s representative in Scotland. Again, he seemed genuinely interested and inquisitive. At one point he quoted something I wrote in my first blog post about the campaign, which was quite surreal. The discussion was very much a fact-finding exercise for the BBC Trust in terms of just how important the radio show is at grassroots level, and Bill promised to pass on our eloquently-made points to the big chiefs in London.

November 20: Back to Pacific Quay, this time for a Save BBC Introducing in Scotland busk outside the BBC building, which fellow campaigner Paul Downie of Pelmet Nites organised single-handedly. I can’t speak more highly of Blochestra, Aerials Up, Ben Harrison from Bear Bones and Kobi Onyame, who all performed in incessant rain and possibly ruined some very expensive instruments in the process. There was a healthy turnout of about 50 sodden punters and we raised £50 for Children In Need.

The Sunday Herald’s Catriona Stewart and The Glaswegian’s Tristan Stewart-Robertson wrote these lovely words:

December 1: Politicians in Westminster discussed the BBC cuts in the House of Commons, and our campaign was brought up during the debate. Jings! You can see the momentous moment by skipping the video forward to 2:01:13:

Kudos to Pete Wishart MP for bringing the Save BBC Introducing campaign to the attention of Westminster – here’s what he said:

“People are taking the issue into their own hands. There’s one fantastic campaign… Introducing In is under threat by the BBC. It’s one of these great programmes that so many new artists and bands find they get the radio platform for the first time in their careers. It’s responsible for the early development of artists like Paolo Nutini and Calvin Harris. Bands like Biffy Clyro and Frightened Rabbit sent their first demos to Introducing In… this is now to go.

“Such has been the response to this little radio programme on Radio 1 that it’s already secured a petition of some 6,000 people – that is more per head of population than the petition to try and save Radio 6 [6Music], such is the concern about this. The individual identity and opportunity for bands from Northern Ireland, Wales and Scotland will be lost. This isn’t a local service, this isn’t a regional service, this is a national service.”

Afterwards he posted these nuggets on Twitter:

So that’s where we’re at… now here’s where we’ll be:

December 12: Andrew Rankine, a bass/dubstep music producer and DJ who goes by the name of Tactus, is putting on a club night at Edinburgh’s Sneaky Pete’s to support the campaign. He’s also releasing a Save BBC Introducing In Scotland compilation album on December 19 through his ABAGA Records label – any musicians wanting to get one of their tracks on it should email info@abagarecords.com by December 8.

December 19: We’re heading down to London to meet Ed Vaizey, Minister for Culture, Communications and Creative Industries, to discuss the campaign, along with our counterparts from Northern Ireland and Wales who are also working tirelessly to stop their own BBC Introducing shows from being axed. We’re hoping to bring someone with us to play a brief gig inside Westminster – there’ll be more info about that as soon as it’s confirmed. The night will be rounded off with a Pelmet Nites vs The Pop Cop Club Fandango DJ set at The Bull & Gate, London from 10pm-11pm.

December 20: We’ll be handing in the petition in person to the BBC Trust headquarters in London, a day before the BBC’s public consultation period ends.

Make sure you sign the Save BBC Introducing in Scotland petition and keep an eye on the Facebook page for further updates. While you’re at it, sign the Northern Ireland petition as well. Unity is strength as the campaign nears its conclusion.

Most importantly, keep listening to BBC Introducing in Scotland with Ally McCrae. That’s what it’s all about.

Aerials Up – I Am

Bear Bones – Rose Fever