I was delighted to attend Young Scot’s event at the Scottish Parliament on Thursday 29 January. Here are some brief notes about the event.

Bill Kidd MSP opened the event, congratulating Young Scot for its work so far and its aims for the future.

Natalie Don-Innes MSP, minister for children young people and The Promise spoke via a pre-recorded brief video, again congratulating Young Scot. I have to admit that I had not heard about The promise before. It’s a promise to implement recommendations of the Independent Care Review, in full, by 2030. Read more on The Promise’s website.

Reid Aiton then took over, introducing four brief talks from

• Elma Murray CBE, chair of Young Scot

Elma reminded us that Young Scot is now over 40 years old. It stemmed from a youth opportunities scheme which actually asked young people what they wanted. The answers were clear information, opportunities and experiences. So Young Scot is more than just a discount card. However, over 900,000 young people have Young Scot smart cards. The big challenge facing young people now is not a dearth of information but mis- and disinformation. (I entirely agree, but it’s not just young people facing this big challenge. Young Scot’s incoming CEO is John Loughton.

• Blessing

In Blessing’s experience, Young Scot is great for developing confidence, independence, helping people make informed decisions and develop employability skills.

• Gia

Aged 15, Gia is proud to live in Scotland because it enshrines children’s rights in law. There is still discrimination (and worse) however. So she joined Young Scot’s DEI panel. She and they also work on countering gender-based violence, understanding lived realities to enable action to improve young people’s lives. All of this has provided Gea with many options for life-long friends and advocacy.

• Muminah

Muminah is a young but up-and-coming storyteller and entertainer. She read one of her poems – a very inspiring piece. Unfortunately my words couldn’t begin to do it justice.

And with that ringing in our ears, it was time to talk with other attendees. Congratulations from me to Young Scot for all they have achieved, and here’s to the future!