Yes Groups

Believe in Scotland is effectively a coalition of 142 affiliated grassroots Yes Groups. Fully democratic and inclusive, it is managed by a National Campaign Steering Group, consisting of elected representatives from 17 regions across Scotland and representatives from 10 national campaigning Groups. The second round of elections to the National Campaign Steering Group took place in August/September 2023. Representatives are elected by the local Yes Groups in each of our 17 regions (you can see a list of our affiliated groups here). Representatives from national organisations have been chosen internally by the national organisation. You can view the newly elected members of the National Campaign Steering Group here.

If you are a member of a local or national Yes Group that wishes to affiliate to Believe in Scotland, you can do so through the link provided here.

Role of Yes Groups?

Local Yes Groups are the heartbeat of the grassroots movement. They bring the campaign to life in communities across Scotland by speaking directly to the undecided people in their towns, villages, and neighbourhoods. They achieve this by hosting stalls, campaign days, door to door leafleting and other similar events.

They are a constant visual reminder of the campaign, therefore keeping the movement in the minds of people all over the country even in small communities. What Believe in Scotland does is act as a support mechanism and partner to these grass-root Yes groups and connect their activities and efforts to the wider independence movement.

Yes Group Events.

Believe in Scotland helps coordinate both National Days of Action and targeted Indy Campaign Day's. Since we launched our campaign in 2019, our local Yes Group partners have delivered more than 5 million items of physical campaign materials throughout Scotland. 

We work closely with Yes Groups to run targeted actions in areas where support for independence is lower—providing tailored leaflets and materials to suit each region. We have also organised marches and rallies in partnership with national pro-independence organisations like Yes for EU and Pensioners for Independence.

If your BiS-affiliated Yes Group would like to log campaign activities or request support, you can do so through the form available here. 

Many of our affiliated groups have found it difficult to get insurance for street stalls, public meetings, and town hall events. If your group needs insurance for a specific event, you can use the same form to request assistance when campaigning under the Believe in Scotland umbrella. 

Supporting Yes Groups through Social Media

Believe in Scotland has a huge reach on social media - for example, on just one day alone (our National Day of Action in conjunction with The National & 112 local Yes groups) we had #BelieveinScotland trending on Twitter and reached over 1,000,000 people on social media. A perfect example of the organic strength the Yes movement boasts when it works together.

Regional Pages – We also launched our Believe in Scotland Regional Social Media Network on Facebook that will accommodate local Yes groups and ran Free online training for Yes group social media managers with more than 60 volunteers attending. You can find and follow our regional pages here.

Media Post -  If your BiS-affiliated Yes Group wants to send us the content to post on your behalf on the 'We Believe in Scotland' and Believe in Scotland Regional Facebook pages, you can do so using the form available here.

Believe in Scotland has also provided free training on social media campaigning, local press relations and canvassing to hundreds of volunteers from more than 100 local Yes Groups.

Free Indy Banners for your Yes group 

For several years Believe in Scotland has been providing banners for local Yes Groups which have been displayed on the sides of houses, in farmers fields and peoples gardens etc. It’s been a great success and is a very cost effective way to get key messages out.

Resources

For resources such as our regional pamphlets and Scotland the Brief, you can find those by clicking here.