So proud to be a Dundonian

I’M proud to be a born and bred Dundonian.

My love for the city led to the birth of Dundee Culture, a social media brand I created when I was just 12-years-old.

But the roots go back much further than that.

And I have a very special woman to thank for it.

When I was a young child my Auntie Lorraine used to take me and my elder brother Ross to exciting places in and around Dundee.

We explored the Discovery, climbed the Dundee Law and attended all sorts of outdoor events in the city. Every outing was an adventure.

Sadly, our time with Auntie Lorraine was cut short when she died unexpectedly.

But her love for Dundee rubbed off on me and inspired me to create Dundee Culture.

It originally began as a passion project to support

Dundee’s UK City of Culture bid in 2013. The city was in the running to host the 2017 event. But when I explored social media I couldn’t see anything about the Dundee bid. So I took it upon myself to create a page dedicated to supporting it.

Unfortunately, Dundee didn’t win the title, but the interest in Dundee Culture kept growing and I decided to carry on.

It has given me a place to spread the word about everything Dundee has to offer and it has opened new doors for me.

In the nine years since its launch, I have became the youngest ambassador for Dundee.

I carried the Queen’s Baton ahead of the Commonwealth Games in Glasgow in 2014.

I was named a V&A Dundee Design Champion.

And I have won various awards and became a Young Scot Award finalist.

Not bad going for someone born with several disabilities, whose parents were told their child would never walk or talk.

One of the best things about Dundee Culture is the way it has grown alongside Dundee’s development.

When I started, there was no V&A Dundee, no Dundee Waterfront development and nothing like the promotion of the city that is happening now.

While I was working on building Dundee Culture from the ground up, Dundee was changing and growing too and we’re all in a much stronger position today. It’s the people of Dundee who give me my drive.

Dundonians are smart, incredible, innovative, generous and all-round sound people.

The support I have for Dundee Culture means the world to me and I never take it for granted.

I consider myself so lucky to be able to say I’m from Dundee.

It’s a city that is changing all the time and I can’t wait to see what the future holds.

And I’m looking forward to sharing my thoughts with readers about what’s happening in the city and beyond.

l Andrew was born with several disabilities including cerebral palsy and autism.

He is the founder and owner of Dundee Culture and is passionate about promoting his home city.

Andrew and his brother with their Auntie Lorraine.