Support for visit to the Highlands by His Holiness The Dalai Lama

Up to a maximum of £5,000 from the Inverness Common Good Fund will be provided to support the visit to Inverness on Saturday 23 June of His Holiness the Dalai Lama.

Members of the Inverness City Committee approved the financial contribution after a report, presented at yesterday’s meeting, recommended the support to help underwrite an expected shortfall of approximately £10,000.

His Holiness the Dalai Lama is one of the world’s leading religious and spiritual leaders and a Nobel Peace Laureate.  His visit to Scotland is part of a wider visit to the United Kingdom that will include Manchester and London, beginning on the 15 June.  His visit to Scotland includes Edinburgh and Dundee, culminating in a public talk at Eden Court Theatre in Inverness.  The theme for this is `Be the change: an inner and outer world revolution through compassion’.

The cost of the tour is entirely funded from ticket sales and other contributions, with core costs for the Scottish part of the tour shared between Edinburgh, Dundee and Inverness.  Although all the tickets for the Eden Court event have been sold, due to the smaller capacity of the venue compared to those in the other Scottish cities, there is a predicted shortfall.

The remaining £5,000 towards the outstanding costs will come from The Highland Council’s corporate budget.