Helen Wright News
A selection of news items
will be listed here - the page
is currently under construction.
The following are examples
...
Helen Wright - Lifetime Legend
Helen won the prestigious Lifetime Legend Award
and was presented with the award at the LGIU ceremony in Edinburgh
on the 21st November 2023
Heather Lamont, CCLA Client Investments Director,
presenting Helen Wright with the
LGiU &
CCLA award:
This was a magnificent achievement that recognised Helen's outstanding work and many successes since being elected in 1980.
As the chief executive of the LGIU said, "This year, we received an extremely high number of nominations, so to be shortlisted is an outstanding achievement."
Being confirmed as the winner of the Lifetime Legend Award at the Edinburgh ceremony was an outstanding achievement
See
further details
here
Councillor Wright is national voice ... May 2008
" Dundee City Council's
social work and health convener,
Helen Wright, has become the
national voice of the
organisations tasked with
reducing the rate of criminal
re-offending in Scotland ... she
becomes a member of the National
Body on Offender Management,
chaired by the Scottish
Government's Justice Secretary. See press report here
Guest of Honour at 49th Women of the Year Lunch and Assembly in 2004
Helen was informed in 2004 that she would be a Guest of Honour at the 49th Women of the Year event. "Dear Bailie Wright, I am delighted you are able to attend the Women of the Year Lunch and Assembly in October. It gives me great pleasure to tell you that you have been nominated as a Guest of Honour for 2004. Women of particular merit are invited as national Guests of Honour and we very much hope you will accept this recognition of your own notable achievement."
Helen was again invited to the Women of the Year lunch as a guest in 2014 where she met her old colleague and friend going as far back as her trade union days, Helena Kennedy.
Helen Wright with Baroness Kennedy of The Shaws, KC
New Fellows Honoured by Al-Maktoum Institute
1 December 2006 The Al-Maktoum Institute in Dundee has added two more names to its list of Honorary Fellowships.
At the graduation ceremony to be held later today (Friday December 1 2006) Bailie Helen Wright and Alan Harden, Chief Executive of the Alliance Trust, will be receiving their Honorary Fellowships from the Principal and Vice-Chancellor of Al-Maktoum Institute, Professor Abd al-Fattah El-Awaisi. Announcing the awards, Professor El-Awaisi said: These two individuals play a leading part in the life of the city of Dundee. Their contribution to the development of the Institute and to its aims and objectives has been immense. Both have also played a large role in the wider community and we are delighted to recognise those achievements by granting them an Honorary Fellowship.
Bailie Wright was the first
female Lord Provost of Dundee
and was elected to the City
Council in 1980. She has served
and still serves on a wide
variety of community groups,
charities and advisory bodies.
Her current work is connected
with social work, the health
service, fund raising and
community activity. Commenting
on the award Bailie Wright said:
"The city council and the Al
Maktoum Institute have worked
successfully together as
partners over several years. The
Institute has played a major
role in promoting understanding
between cultures in Dundee and
throughout Scotland and I am
delighted to receive this honour
from the Institute."
Helen 2006 
Helen standing in for the Lord Provost at the Graduation in 2023 
Helen Wright, Justice of the Peace and Magistrate
Helen served as a magistrate in Dundee District Court for 18 years from 1982
- 2000
After 2001, members of the council were no longer permitted to be magistrates after changes were made to structure of the courts system in Scotland. Whilst chair of the magistrates association in Scotland, Helen was a member of Lord Cullen's committee that reviewed the court system in Scotland. Changes introduced stopped the long-standing practice of each local authority operating local courts. As well as possible benefits in centralising the system, an argument was also made that it would prevent a potential or perceived conflict of interest.
The appellation "Bailie" was resurrected by the council a few years later and given to the longest-standing elected members of the council but the title no longer had any other significance or connection with the justice system.
Bailies are now typically called upon to assist the lord provost with civic duties.
Helen's time as a magistrate, together with her long service as a prison visitor and her position as convenor of Social Work, provided her with valuable experience in later roles in criminal justice where she was chair of the Tayside Community Justice Authority and later chaired the national association formed to represent all eight CJAs in Scotland.
This photo shows Magistrate Helen Wright preparing for a day on the bench at Dundee District Court. Helen also helped to train new magistrates.
Helen is now titled Bailie Helen Wright on Dundee City Council, and is the only remaining person who originally held this title as it was given to councillors who were also magistrates.
Helen Wright's Maiden Speech in Dundee District Council 1980
In her maiden speech, Helen Wright, Dundee District Council's new Labour Councillor, and the only female member of the 25-member ruling Labour Group, spoke in favour of a motion that would ensure only trade union members would benefit from the improvements in pay and conditions the trade unions negotiated. Coming to the council from years as a trade union activist and a national official of her trade union it seemed fitting that Helen's first major speech in the council chambers would be in support of the trade unions. See further details here
Helen Wright, Social Work and Health Convener
Helen served as Convener of Social Work from 1995-1999, 2003-2007, and Social Work and Health 2007-2009. Helen had many notable successes and was known for her commitment to improving the quality of life of people and to protecting and enhancing the lives of the most vulnerable. One notable success was the Older People’s Working Group Report. Using her breadth of experience and her reputation for working collaboratively she engaged a diverse range of people and groups in a process to review and change the services that were currently being provided. This could have been the focus of major difficulties but Helen’s excellent ability to bring people together, to focus positively on the issues and to reach consensus resulted in a highly successful report that was embraced and accepted by all concerned including the different political groups, officers of the council and other agencies and, importantly for Helen, the service users. Helen’s experience in other fields such as the Health Board allowed her to see the need for integrating services and to do so by bringing agencies together to make the changes that were necessary for the benefit of the public services generally and for the service users; one example of this was the integration of occupational therapy services in health and social work to create the Independent Living Centre.
The following is a sample taken from the extensive range of work that contributed to the judges decision to declare Helen the winner of the Lifetime Legend Award, Helen's Older People Working Group:
