 The final item of business is a member's business debate on motion 12184 in the name of Bruce Crawford on 10 years of System of Scotland and the Big Noise Orchestra. This debate will be concluded without any questions being put in it. Can I ask those members who wish to speak in the debate to press their request to speak buttons now on a call on Bruce Crawford to open the debate? Mr Crawford, please. Thank you, Presiding Officer. Firstly, I would like to put on record my thanks for the support that I have received from MSPs from all parties and colleagues across the chamber, both for signing the motion and for being in attendance for this debate this evening. So, too, I would like to thank System of Scotland for helping to put together today's events at Holyroods, marking 10 fabulous years of the Big Noise. Members will be aware that following this debate, there is a reception taking place in the Garden Lobby to mark that 10th anniversary. Their guests will hear from the fantastic and talented young people of the Big Noise orchestras. I am also pleased to say that the First Minister will make one of the keynote speeches. However, we are here this evening to pay tribute to the amazing work that System of Scotland does in transforming, yes, transforming the lives of younger people in disadvantaged communities. Of course, I am the MSP for the Stilling constituency and the Big Noise orchestras in Scotland launched in Rapploch in my constituency in 2008. From the very beginning, I was touched by the very nature of what the Big Noise project is all about. I was and remain so proud that it was launched in my constituency. From members across the chamber who might not be familiar with the Rapploch area, it is a place that has faced some real challenges over a long period of time, both socially and economically. However, it is also a place that, in recent years, has seen some real positive change for the better. However, of course, there do remain some significant challenges. However, a big part of that change, I have no doubt, is down to Big Noise, which has engaged young people who may be from disadvantaged backgrounds in a type of creative expression that was simply not available previously. The creativity and the work that it involves give young people the chance to express themselves and to learn with each other. Using a symfony orchestra and learning a musical instrument through an immersive and intensive programme helps to build social and life skills. Given those same young people some of the tools to believe in themselves, to raise their confidence as well as their level of aspirations about what can be achieved, this is a massive step to enabling children to build their self-resilience to reach their full potential and to help them to live successful and fulfilled lives. Ultimately, empowering them for the rest of their lives is a very powerful thing. Since launching in Rapploch in 2008, Systema Scotland now works with around 2,500 children and young people weekly at Big Noise centres, alongside their families and the broader community, all working towards permanent social transformation. Today, it not only operates in Stirling but also in Glasgow, Aberdeen and most recently in Dundee 2. In Rapploch, over the past 10 years, it has worked with over 500 members from babies right through to S6s. Systema Scotland now employs 116 members of staff, and that number is growing year in year. It offers over 80 opportunities a year and over 33 volunteer hours have been worked over the decade. Now, of course, orchestral performance is a big part of what the Big Noise does. Notably, Big Noise orchestras have performed with Nicola Benedeti at the 2014 Commonwealth Games opening ceremony and launched the 2012 London festival for the Olympic Games. On forum this year, the Big Noise young people will be performing at the BBC Big Weekend alongside the BBC symphony orchestra, as well as at the Glasgow festival, the launch of the youth arts manifesto at the Barbican in London and the BBC proms in the park. What a programme to be proud of for the future. Not to mention, of course, the many community events that the Big Noise young people play at, as well as for their own family and friends. So what about impact that has had on the young people? What are the outcomes for the investment that is being made? While independent research, commissioned by the Scottish Government, Education Scotland and the Glasgow Centre for Population Health, has consistently found that Big Noise has a wide range of remarkable impacts on children's lives. That includes engagement with education, developing lives skills, securing emotional wellbeing, building social skills, encouraging healthy behaviours and offering respite and protection for some of the most vulnerable children, but they also found that Big Noise increases confidence in young people. It results in better concentration, helps to build trust and increases the young people's self-esteem. I know that Systema Scotland is midway through its second four-year funding package with the Scottish Government. By 2019-20, that amounted to £3.8 million over an eight-year period. However, that accounts for only 19 per cent of the Systema Scotland's expenditure over that period, with local authorities investing in Big Noise centres and a number of public and third sector organisations also making financial contributions. That is a huge investment in young people, yes, but the outcomes are phenomenal, unlocking the potential while transforming lives and communities. I know from conservation with Systema Scotland and my own constituents that they are committed for the long haul for services in Rapploch, as well as in places such as Tory, Govind Glen and the Douglas centres. In closing, what 10 years it has been, from its launch in Rapploch in 2008 to today, the organisation has offered a wealth of opportunity to thousands of young people. As I have said previously, I am so very proud to have the Big Noise centre in my constituency. The work that they do carries untold value and the results speak for themselves. As members will know if they go along to the reception later this evening, they will get a chance to see and hear what is achievable by these young people. I look forward to the contributions from other colleagues in the chamber about their experiences with this fantastic organisation. I would also like to sincerely wish Systema Scotland, Big Noise centres, staff, volunteers and the young people involved all the best for the years to come. Well done! This evening is about you and the fantastic young people's lives who have helped, who you have helped shaped and those who have yet to come. I say gently to the public in the gallery that applause is not permitted from the gallery. I understand why you want to do it, but it is not permitted in the Parliament. I now move on to the open debate. Tom Arthur is followed by Rachel Hamilton. Mr Arthur, please. I would like to have the opportunity to speak in this debate. I would like to begin by thanking and congratulating my colleague Bruce Crawford for securing this debate. I will take this opportunity to remind the chamber, as well as being the parliamentary liaison officer, Cabinet Secretary. I am also a member of the Musicians Union and was formerly a freelance private instrumental teacher. As is so often the case when my colleague Mr Crawford speaks, for those coming after him, there is often very little left to be said, Mr Crawford brilliantly highlighted many of the fantastic achievements of Systema. I want to join Bruce Crawford in welcoming Big Noise to the gallery, and I am looking forward to attending their reception later this evening. One of the terms that Bruce used was empowering for life. That is what music education is. It is empowering for life. It was the great pianist and composer. I think that Dr Sergy, a command officer said that music is enough for a lifetime, but a lifetime is never enough for music. I think that that is so true. I certainly know for myself from having the opportunity to receive music tuition. It is something that I will carry with me for the rest of my life. At times when we can characterise Big Noise and Systema as being about more than just music, we know how fantastically integrated they are into our communities. The positive outcomes that result across a whole range of different subjects and disciplines, but I would not say that that is more than music. That is what music is about. It covers every aspect of cognitive development, of ability, of how we engage with other people. Indeed, learning an instrument in itself is a transformative experience, the skills that it teaches, not just the practical skills of learning to play an instrument, but of learning to listen to other people to engage of self-discipline. At our age of perhaps instant gratification, one thing with learning a musical instrument is that there are no shortcuts to excellence. The more time you put into an instrument, the more you will get out of it. Indeed, perhaps the greatest joy of learning to play a musical instrument is having the opportunity to play alongside other people. Sometimes that can be in large ensembles, where you are working together as a team to produce an overall effect and within that there are opportunities for individuals to set shine and there are other opportunities when you are supporting other people. There are other opportunities when you are just having to step back and allow people to have their moment. What a metaphor that is for how we engage and interact with other people. The cognitive development that music has, we often think of about musical ability as being something to do with motor skills, but it is all that is going on inside the brain. There was a great concert pianist in the first half of the 20th century, Walter Gieseking. Gieseking had the capacity to memorise entire works and perform perfectly without ever practising on the instrument. He could get on a long train journey with the score of the Mozart, Piano Concerto and, by the end of it, walk in and play a recital. It speaks to something that the Great Glen Gold said, which is the best place to hear a Beethoven symphony is in your head, because then there is nothing else mediated in the sense that it is a pure experience. There is actually neuro-scientific evidence that shows that, simply by imagining playing a musical instrument, changes occur in the brain. Indeed, changes can occur in the muscles in one's hand and on the shoulder as well. It has sometimes been advised that for singers, professional singers who are suffering from a particular sore throat, it is not to read and not even to think about speaking, because very subtly there are muscular changes that happen in the throat and that can cause stress. I illustrate the examples of what a profound and transformative impact music has on one's engages in learning music. That, for me, is just—and I could certainly speak at some length on this matter, as we may have been able to tell—but it is just one aspect that leads me to believe in, which I think helps to explain the tremendous transformative effect that the system that has a big noise project has. The very final point that I wish to make, Presiding Officer, is that the big noise has been transformative for the individuals involved, the young people, the communities and those who participate and the volunteers. However, there is a bigger contribution that it makes and it underlines the value of music, education and instrumental tuition. When we see instrumental services under threat in certain parts of the country, that is something that we should all bear in mind. I want to conclude by again joining with my colleague Bruce Crawford in wishing to stay in my big noise a very happy 10th birthday. Thank you. Thank you, Mr Arthur. I call Rachel Hamilton. Do you follow by Jenny Marra? Ms Hamilton, please. Thank you, Deputy Presiding Officer. If Tom Arthur wondered how he was going to follow Bruce Crawford, how on earth I'm going to follow the eloquence of Tom Arthur, but what I can gather from his speeches is that I am going to pretend that I'm playing the trumpet, Deputy Presiding Officer. Firstly, I would like to thank Bruce Crawford for securing that debate. I wish the system of Scotland and Big Noise Augusture a very happy 10th birthday and also welcome them in their wonderful t-shirts here tonight to the gallery. The reward of music lessons in schools are well documented and they have been shown to help children build skills in other areas of the curriculum as well as having social and psychological benefits and generally bolstering concentration, which benefits all areas of learning. I'm sure I don't have to tell you about the number of well-documented musical programmes, often inspired by the Systema programme, which has helped children from impoverished or socially difficult backgrounds. For five years, I sat on the committee of the Board of Children's Charity and I became aware of a number of cases where children who were coping with very testing circumstances found their lives improved, being able to take instrumental lessons, and music has boldness and power in it. It provides young people with resilience and confidence and an opportunity for them to reach their potential across all areas of their lives. During this debate, we celebrate those opportunities that Systema Scotland and the Big Noise Augusture project have created. The youth augusture scheme not only provides free music tuition in deprived areas but a fun, immersive and creative experience. I know what it was like when I played in a youth augusture very badly with the trumpet, but it was fun and immersive and socially interactive. It's a chance for people to enjoy that social experience, free of barriers and free of the worries that parents have with costs as well. Supported by many funding strands, young people can access instruments free of charge along with healthy snacks, activities and trips. No doubt that this has and will continue to transform lives. Currently, as many as 2,500 people are engaged with the established Systema Scotland centres. Education Scotland has also praised Systema's work and the way it improves the life chances of children who take part. Systema is demonstrating that music can create permanent social change, and we should do more to talk about those positive impacts of music, which means overcoming the challenges that Tom Arthur concluded with. A singer, Paolo Nattini, is behind exactly a campaign called Develop Not Dismantle, which lobbies headteachers and politicians on the importance of music education, and violinist Nicola Bendetti and composer James McMillan are actively campaigning to promote the benefits of music in schools. There are unstandably fears that with cuts to local authorities, the first subject or service to be cut is music. The threat of taking away free instrumental lessons has provoked a campaign of support by prominent musicians and communities and families to stop musical tuition being removed. Across Scotland, so too, is a worrying statistic that the numbers of music teachers have declined with a dramatic fall from 1,100 to 640 over the past decade, threatening our next generation of musicians. In order for music to continue to transform lives, music must be recognised as a valued cultural activity. Perhaps a private and public partnership may be a possibility in order to guarantee the long-term future delivery of musical tuition. To conclude, I support measures and initiatives like Systema that involve volunteers and make music a shared community focus. Their expansion is a testament to the great work that has been done over the years, and I hope to see further expansion across Scotland in the years to come. I welcome discussions regarding the benefits that they could bring to my constituency. I would once again like to say happy birthday to Systema and wish them all the best in the future, and indeed I wish all their musicians the best of luck. I hope that we will continue to celebrate the longevity of Systema and that it continues to benefit and enrich and transform children's lives across Scotland. I call Jenny Marra to be followed by Mark Ruskell. It is with great joy that I speak in a debate in the Scottish Parliament on Systema's 10th birthday here in Scotland, safe in the knowledge that Systema is up and running and touching the lives of 400 children in Douglas in Dundee. For me and for many people, I know that this is a dream come true and the culmination of many years of work. I thank Bruce Crawford and congratulate him on the honour of securing this debate tonight. We debate many difficult topics in this chamber, but the work of Systema is a glorious and joyful thing in its intensity and in its values. I think that we should shout from the rooftops about its successes and promote the spread of this movement to the corners of our country and the corners of the world who need its light and radiance the most. It is at least 10 years, probably more, since I sat in the Royal Festival hall in London to hear and to watch, for it is a spectacle. The Simon Bolivar orchestra from Venezuela performed. They are the original Systema, probably in their forties now. The thought, as I sat there in London, that such a community would be great for Dundee turned into a campaign soon after and then a community endeavour after the establishment of the local trust optimistic sound following the death of my late uncle Michael Marra. The name of the trust optimistic sound is taken from one of Michael's lyrics in a song about realising how lucky we are and that we are not on our own. He sings words of encouragement to pander to the bright and cheery and make the optimistic sound. I believe that that optimistic sound is what the children of Douglas are now making. Systema works in communities where opportunities are not as available as we would like, where equality struggles to show its face as factors that we all know and debate daily have taken hold. Douglas was one of many communities in Dundee that could have hosted Systema. Fabulous music has come out of the streets and homes of Douglas and continues to do so. The heart-rendering voices of Gary and Kit Clark of Danny Wilson fame, both singer songwriters, they are both Douglas boys. Jed Grimes of Simple Minds and my favourite Dundee singer, Lloyd Anderson, are from streets not far away. Systema is in Douglas to rekindle the oxygen of music and learning in that community that economic circumstances have stifled. Those musicians that I mentioned are all big supporters of Systema and its work. That is part of the appeals of Systema to many, that it works intensively but I believe outside the boundaries of convention. To quote my late uncle, Nicola Colleen and her team are not about battering music into children but instructing them in a joyful, fulfilling environment without judgment and inspiring families along with them. Nicola Colleen said to me when we started talking about bringing Systema to Dundee. She said, when a music teacher takes a violin to a heroin addict's house for tea, then they are doing what we are doing. Systema is bringing light and learning to homes and schools that need more light, that need more joy. Our privilege tonight is to celebrate it, but I believe that our challenge ahead is to bring the joy of learning music and all the advantages that it has for learning attainment and life opportunities to more and more children here in Scotland but also across the world. I wish Systema a very happy 10th birthday and all the best for years to come. It gives me great pleasure to speak in this debate, celebrating what is probably the most far-reaching and successful social cohesion project that we have in Scotland today. I thank Bruce Crawford for giving us the opportunity to celebrate those achievements and to congratulate all those who have made big noise such a Scotland-wide success over the last decade. I first connected with big noise back in 2012 when the world-renowned conductor Gustavo de Demel and the Simon Bolivar Orchestra came to an abandoned brownfield site in the Rapplock to play a huge televised concert. I think it was just before the festival theatre concert that Jenny Marrow went to. It was a remarkable evening as thousands of people flocked to the Rapplock to hear not just the orchestra but the dozens and dozens of local school children stepping up to play on the biggest stage of their lives. It was a double triumph because so many of the orchestra themselves had come not from privileged backgrounds but from ordinary communities touched by the Systema programme in Venezuela. For that evening, everybody on that stage held us all absolutely captivated. Now, there have been many incredible concerts and events over the years, including opening ceremony of the Glasgow Commonwealth Games with Nicola Benedetti, and I'm sure there'll be many more to come, including the opening of the V&A in Dundee and, of course, the big weekend happening this weekend. But as Systema's founder, the late Jose Antonio Abru put it, the music is just the agent of social development. To see Systema as simply about intensive community-wide music tuition is really to Mr Point. It's about building a level of social cohesion and collective consciousness that we've lost in almost every community in the developed world. So many deprived post-industrial communities have seen regeneration initiatives come quickly and go quickly. But Systema is an approach that goes far deeper into hearts and minds, far deeper than bricks and mortar can alone. There's ownership, there's inclusion across the community, and the results 10 years on are starting to strongly show through. Bruce Crawford mentioned the Glasgow Centre for Population and Health study. It does show a wide range of benefits from better engagement with school to growth of life skills, social skills, securing of emotional health, and the respite and protection offered for the most vulnerable children in the community. Of course, if we as a society fail children and communities, we know what the implications are, not just on their precious lives, but also on the crushing cost and strain that places on public services. Social work budgets and councils can quickly become exhausted when the needs and challenges of even a small number of utterly disenfranchised people become overwhelming. I remember from my former roles at cancer and sterling just how stark failure can be if we don't find ways to intervene early on in young people's lives with that deep level of support. So, big noise is not only about music tuition. It's a vital regeneration initiative anchored to the transformative role of music. But I've also been happy to see young musicians across the sterling area starting to feed into gatherings at big noise wrap locks during school holidays. Big noise is really driving sterling's cultural life across the whole area. Presiding Officer, I recently visited the wrap lock community campus to see big noise in action, and it's an inspiring campus combining two local primary schools, a special needs school, fourth valley college and big noise itself. Even on a quiet day, big noise was a hive of activity, rooms bustling with practice sessions, children of all ages working together, everyone of every ability had a role, a focus, a discipline, and it was a humbling experience to see what big noise has grown into. I'm delighted that other communities are now also reaping the benefits a decade later. So, happy birthday big noise, and here's to the next 10 years. Thank you. Before I call Ms McAlcann, I say due to the number of members who remain and wish to speak in this debate, I'm minded to accept a motion without notice under rule 8.14.3 to extend the debate by up to 30 minutes. I would invite Bruce Crawford to move a motion without notice. Do members agree to extend the debate? Yes, thank you very much for that agreed. I now call Joan McAlpine to be followed by Alison Harris and Ms McAlpine, please. I'm very pleased to speak in this debate, and I congratulate Bruce Crawford on securing it. Before I continue, I'd like to declare an interest as my sister is an employee of System of Scotland, lucky her. It is timely that we are celebrating Systema's 10th anniversary. In the same week as we are debating tomorrow, the Government has proposed new national outcomes for the country. The outcomes put a new emphasis on culture, which reflects the increased understanding of how in creativity can improve health, wellbeing, learning, regeneration and sustainable economic growth as a whole. I look forward to participating in that debate tomorrow. Systema is very much leading the way on that. It's been doing that for 10 years, so it's absolutely fitting today that the Parliament makes a big noise about the big noise. Bruce Crawford mentioned the Glasgow Centre for Population Health and the systematic research that they have been conducting into Systema's projects. I just wanted to touch on one of those evaluations that came out last year into the big noise in Tory in Aberdeen. It was an interim report, and 522 children from age 3 to 9 have benefited. As with the other projects across Scotland, the Tory project is immersive, intensive and incredibly supportive, and that's why it delivers such impressive results. If I can just quote from— Yes, of course. I'll take an intervention. Maureen Watt. Can I thank the member for giving way on the Tory project? Will she agree with me that it was the vision of Richard Holloway seeing the systema in Venezuela and taking it to Scotland that was really valuable and started the whole thing off? Will he congratulate my former councillor, colleague Jim Kiddie, who for many years was a councillor in Tory in working with Richard Holloway to take this important project to Holland or to Tory? Will she agree that it's not just the children who benefit, but the whole family's benefit when they see their children gaining in confidence and then flourishing, that it gives them a great uplift too? Dini Fash herself, you're getting the extra time back. That was a long intervention. It's difficult for ministers to get into something, so that's the only way they can do it. I'm absolutely delighted to congratulate Councillor Kiddie and Richard Holloway. Richard obviously has been an incredible figure in Scotland and Scotland's cultural life over very many years. I'm delighted to congratulate him on that. I was about to go on to quote from the evaluation into the Tory project, which, as I say, was an interim evaluation. It said that, at this early stage, based on the evidence that we have gathered, we conclude that the big noise Tory is a large-scale, high-quality social intervention that is already positively impacting on the lives of participants. It quoted young people who talked of the feelings of happiness, enjoyment, fulfilment and pride in developing musical skills. I was going to go on to quote some of the ways that the system measures its outcomes and pathways, but part of that interim report that I found most moving was the case studies of the children themselves. They were asked to do drawings of how they felt when they attended their orchestral lessons. It was just very moving reading the case studies of young children whose lives had been transformed, who talked about their happiness at taking their instrument home, all with little pictures of themselves with their instruments, and also talking about the relationship that those young people had with their name musician in the orchestra and the amount of intensive one-to-one work that went on in dealing with all the children's individual issues. They all had individual issues. Some were shy, some had behavioural issues, but all of them were obviously benefiting so much from being part of the project. I would recommend it and found those case studies extremely moving. The outcomes themselves are boosting engagement with learning and education, developing and building life skills, securing emotional wellbeing, building social skills and networks, offering respite and protection, developing as a musician and encouraging healthy behaviours, and clearly the evaluations show that they are all being delivered. Tom Arthur mentioned earlier the neuroscientific evidence about what music does to the brain. Cultural activity is good and helps to deliver a whole range of outcomes in terms of wellbeing, but there is definitely something to be said for the research into music in particular. I was going to quote from Harvard Medical School a couple of years ago and evaluated a number of the research projects that have been done into it. They concluded that musical training improves the function and connectivity of different brain regions, increases brain volume and strengthens communications between different parts of your brain. Playing an instrument changes how the brain interprets and integrates a wide range of sensory information, especially for those who start before the age of seven. I thought that it was very interesting in the systema context, because in the Tory report that I read, it started at three. I am pleased to see that that is feeding into other projects across Scotland. Last week, in Parliament, I sponsored an event for early years Scotland. It had children under five from Drumchappel in Glasgow who had been working with the folk musicians Chris Stout and Katrina Mackay and had written their own song, which premiered here in the Parliament last week. The age that we start is very important in helping children to develop the skills and achievements that the systema has helped them to deliver. I am just going to wind up and say happy birthday to the systema. I do not think that the intervention was two minutes, by the way. I will call Alison Harris, followed by Kezia Dugdale, Ms Harris, please. Over centuries, the power of music has been known to inspire, to rouse and to unite people, and the making of music in a group, particularly in the form of a symphony orchestra, can bring people together in a way that few others can. Music is well known to help develop social cohesion and, indeed, be a very sociable experience. When you think back to days before we had television, people would regularly gather round a piano and it would not only bond families but communities. I know that it is well known that through music we can not only learn new skills but increase our levels of concentration and ultimately boost our confidence, as we have already heard. It is probably at this stage that I may have to hold my hands up and say that it is with some regret now in my adult life that I did not practice well enough for the piano lessons that my mother insisted in sending me to, especially when I had both parents who loved playing the piano and we were a family who bonded round the piano on musical evenings. However, I would like to pay tribute to those in the systema Scotland who, 10 years ago, not only established a charity with the aim of social transformation, but sought to use the benefits of making of music together as a tool to meet that aim. Hence the launch of the big noise in 2008 in the rap-loch, followed later by the establishment of the big noise orchestras in other parts of Scotland, namely Glasgow, Aberdeen and now Dundee. As it says in the tin, big noise aims to use intensive and enticing orchestral music making to foster confidence, teamwork, pride and aspiration in the children taking part and in the wider community. In those aims it certainly has succeeded. It is therefore right that this evening we pay tribute to all those who have played a part in both systema and the big noise orchestra over the last decade, with special thanks to those who over that period have taught the joy of making music and to those public and private bodies, as well as individuals who have assisted in providing the funds to meet costs such as the purchase of instruments. Virtually from their birth the big noise has been giving children the opportunity to make music together, not just occasionally but regularly and for up to 10 hours per week. Very importantly, those children are not from a wide geographical area but from one small one, friends and neighbours in a compact community such as rap-loch, Govenhill and Tory. Through buddying up the most vulnerable and challenged with other children and providing adult support, the aim of big noise is to provide support for every child in whatever way that is needed. The orchestra fosters teamwork and aspiration, which is a natural learning place for self-discipline and fosters the benefits of working hard together as a group, as well as developing artistic creativity. Working in partnership with schools, social workers, health service professionals, community workers, parents, carers and the wider family, systema and the big noise provide holistic support. I mentioned the wider family and in many cases it is indeed grandparents who play such a major role in bringing up children in Scotland today. Their involvement and that of parents also provides them with a chance to take part in workshops, family excursions and home visits. Let us not forget that it is the children that are the vital link in extending this programme to family and friends. Any organisation that for a decade works to make a real difference and with the success that systema and the big noise has achieved deserves to be recognised in this Parliament, and I thank Bruce Crawford for bringing this forward tonight as members' business. Can I finish with my personal thanks for the work done and the hope that in years to come the roll-out continues and the benefits of systema and the big noise are brought to other communities in Scotland? Happy birthday, systema. Thank you. I call Kezia Dugdale to be followed by Dean Lockhart. Mr Dugdale, please. Thank you, Presiding Officer, and can I first of all start by congratulating Bruce Crawford on securing this debate and also for the pride with which he spoke, that same sense of pride and passion for the subject. I think that we also felt from Jenny Manow's speech to MSPs who have both been embedded in the heart of systema and their own communities for a long time and speak with it with a great deal of pride and passion, and I want that for the communities that I represent, so rather than repeat all the wonderful things that we have heard tonight about systema and different parts of the country, I want to focus on the latter parts of the briefing for tonight, which is about looking to the future. Not only are we told that Systema Scotland intend to continue to invest in the four communities that they are already actively involved in, but they are looking for new communities to set up in, and I have one for the cabinet secretary and indeed the powers that be at Systema Scotland, and that's Craig Miller in the east end of Edinburgh. I can't think of a more perfect community for Systema to come and have the same impact that it's had in Govanhill, in Tory, in Douglas and indeed in the rap block. I would say to Bruce Crawford that I've spent a lot of time, more than he might like, stomping the streets in the rap block over the years for various different Labour candidates, and the similarities between the rap block and Craig Miller are really quite significant in terms of the reputation that the community had, the desperate need to overhaul the housing that was then delivered, and then a recognition that you needed to provide more than housing to rebuild a community, and that came with so many of the additional parts of investment that went into the rap block. The same things now happening in Craig Miller at a slower pace in many years later, but I think that it's a critical point now, and I know that the cabinet secretary will be more than well aware of the link between the Edinburgh international festival in Castlebury high school last year, which was a three-year partnership to bring the arts into the heart of Craig Miller, with tremendous success. It led to a film from Castlebury with love and indeed Castlebury high school being converted into a festival venue where they put on a production of Project Rebel, which I think was an R&B and hip-hop show for a couple of days during the festival last year. I know for a fact, having spoken to a number of the pupils in the school and indeed the head teacher, the tremendous rewards that that project brought to the school and the wider community, all the words that I've heard tonight about confidence, resilience, aspiration, community and cohesion were felt by those involved in the Edinburgh international festival, Link at Castlebury, the same experience that we've heard from people speaking tonight about El Sestema. I would hope that there are people listening in the gallery and indeed to this debate who might consider that the next place that Sestema might go would be to the east end of Edinburgh, where it would be hugely, hugely welcome. Just in the minute and a half that I have left, I want to make a couple of wider comments about how we fund music and music tuition in general, because I think that it's important to recognise that music tuition is under threat at the moment. We see the disappearance of free music lessons across a number of different local authorities. When it still exists, prices are going up and it's pricing out children from some of the poorest backgrounds. We also have to recognise that there's something in our curriculum at the moment that is disadvantaging music. I've spoken to a number of people involved in youth festivals across the country who now say that advanced and higher music doesn't allow students to study to the level that they need in order to apply for RASMED or to the Conservatoire. The only way they can get to the standard of entry levels for the Conservatoire is if they pay for additional music tuition, which they then can't afford because it's disappearing. We are perpetuating a gap with regards to music in our schools and communities by not properly linking up what they can achieve at school without additional funds and what they can achieve at the elite levels of music. I think that that's really, really important. Just in closing, I was very grateful to be in Broughton High School a week or so ago, which is Edinburgh's school of ambition with regards to music. We had to campaign against cuts to the music school status about six months ago and managed to convince Edinburgh City Council that that was the wrong step. We saved that, and we're still seeing brilliant musicians coming out of that school. However, I want that for every community across Edinburgh, and I want that for the communities that I represent. I think that if we all collectively recognise, as we have done tonight, that this project is about more than music but about light and optimistic sounds, then I'm sure that we can achieve that together. Thank you very much. I call Dean Lockhart, followed by Iain Gray. Mr Gray will be the last speaker in the open debate. Mr Lockhart, please. Thank you very much, Deputy Presiding Officer. I would like to join others in thanking Bruce Crawford for securing today's debate to recognise the important work undertaken by System of Scotland and the Big Noise Orchestra. Unlike Tom Arthur, I have no musical skills whatsoever unless really bad karaoke counts, which I don't think it does, Presiding Officer, and I certainly won't be testing that out. You'll be glad to hear in the chamber this evening. As other members have mentioned, the first Big Noise programme was established in Rapplock back in 2008, and the programme has since helped thousands of children over that time, all the way from infants through to teenagers and is now starting adult classes. Around 75 per cent of primary school children in the Rapplock area in Stirling are involved at any given time, and the important long-term consideration is that this generation will grow up with the orchestra through to adulthood and will hopefully support the orchestra during that time. The central aim, as we've heard of the Big Noise programme, is to transform the lives of the children in those areas and ultimately strengthen disadvantaged communities through music. We've heard the connection between music and improved learning, and I'd like to look at this, not only in Scotland but in what's happening internationally. There is really strong evidence to show the strong link between music and learning ability in countries across the world, as diverse as the US, Holland and many countries in Asia. Recent large-scale studies have supported that in terms of music ability, which helps children's learning abilities across many different disciplines. That was also highlighted in the Scottish Government research, Education Scotland and Glasgow Centre, which has consistently found that Big Noise has a wide range of positive impacts on children's lives. You only need to look and meet the children involved in the programme to see the real-life examples of that in terms of engagement with education, developing life skills, securing emotional wellbeing and, through their own work, encouraging healthy behaviours, not only themselves but in family members. In fact, the children and young people from the Big Noise raplift project have become ambassadors for their community, for Stirling and for Scotland. As Bruce Crawford mentioned, they are regularly invited to performance-speaker events across Scotland and internationally. We are all looking forward to hearing them at the BBC's biggest weekend in Perth and the opening of the V&A in Dundee. We have heard a lot about the direct educational benefits, but there are a huge number of other social side benefits and societal benefits that those programmes deliver. Children play together from the start, they learn about teamwork and they learn about a team environment, about being and participating in a team environment and a sense of belonging. That sense of belonging and sense of responsibility is a very powerful outcome from those programmes. As we have heard since the Big Noise in Rapluk was established, the programme has spread to many different areas across Scotland. We have heard from members representing Aberdeen area, Tory and Aberdeen, Dundee, Governhill and Glasgow. The very powerful common message is the impact and positive outcomes that those programmes have delivered. The communities in which those programmes operate are becoming famous for their young maestros and are showing the real benefits of those programmes. The children involved are becoming role models and they are genuinely an inspiration for young kids around Scotland. I think that there is consensus. A couple of members mentioned pressure on funding. I think that there is consensus across the chamber that this is a priority area. It tends sometimes to be seen as a soft area of funding, but I think that there is consensus across the area about the priority of this and the need for adequate funding. Let me conclude by thanking Bruce Crawford again and wishing all involved in the project a very happy birthday and continued success into the future. I have long been aware of the benefits of participation in music. All three of my daughters took part in instrumental tuition in the Edinburgh schools orchestra. I have also for a long time been aware of the far more profound benefits of the El Sistema approach in Venezuela that was developed by Eobro initially in a multi-story car park because he had nowhere else to begin the programme. I was delighted 10 years ago when the idea came as big noise to Scotland and I have tried to do everything that I can over the years to support it. I just wanted to mention two moments from those 10 years that I am brought to mind when I think about the decade of the big noise. One has already been mentioned and that was the concert given in the rap block in 2012 that Mark Ruskell spoke about when the big noise orchestra played with the Simon Bolivar orchestra prior to their engagement in London. I remember that night well. One thing that Mr Ruskell did not say was that it was, I think, a Scottish summer's night and so the heavens opened and it poured. The audience were drenched. They were soaked and it was glorious, glorious to see the empathy and the joy between the Bolivar orchestra musicians and those youngsters from rap block was radiant. If the heavens above Stirling were weeping that night, it was tears of joy that they were weeping. No one who was there will ever forget that. I do not know about the neuroscience and the effect on the brain, but I tell you what, that stuff is good for the heart. The other anniversary that I am reminded of was the 10th anniversary of the Scottish Parliament, back in 2009. As the then leader of the Labour Party in here, I was asked to speak with the other party leaders and the then First Minister at our reception in the Parliament, celebrating the Parliament. I found myself reaching for something that epitomised this Parliament in place absolutely at its best. The thing that came to mind then was an earlier reception, like the one that we will have tonight, early on in the big noise in the garden lobby here. I said that it seemed to me for a Parliament to be open and to welcome in those youngsters from the rap block to demonstrate by playing Beethoven's Ode to Joy the way in which they were engaging with the power of music to raise up their lives was about as good as it could get for Scotland's Parliament. I was moved to say then that I thought that if the first First Minister of our Parliament, Donald Juer, had been able to be present at that event, he would have loved it. He would have loved it, and I think that he would have been moved to pay it as an event, the highest praise that he ever gave to anything that he would be to say I like that. I like that too. Happy birthday, big noise. It was worth waiting for, Mr Gray. It was very worth waiting for. I call on the cabinet secretary to close with the Government, Fiona Hyslop, please. Presiding Officer, what is clear is that there is a shared appreciation of and indeed passion for Sysema Scotland and their work in our communities as we come together in our national Parliament to celebrate their 10th anniversary. Best expressed, I think, by Bruce Crawford MSP, and I congratulate him for securing this debate and for the pride and passion that he spoke of for the big-noise rap-lock. As Maureen Watt highlighted, however, one man in particular deserves recognition for the success of Sysema Scotland. Richard Holloway, chairman and founder of Sysema Scotland, brought his passion to the rap-lock 10 years ago, and he believed that being part of an orchestra and learning to play an instrument could help children to reach their full potential. He founded Sysema Scotland, began working with Stirling Council, the schools, the community and the families, and a model that would meet the needs of children and secure change in that community. The rest, as he says, is history. Since then, Sysema Scotland has gone from strength to strength. The board of Sysema Scotland, the chief executive, Nicola Colleen, the teaching staff, the schools and the many supporters, including local authorities, deserve special praise too. I have supported Sysema Scotland since I first became culture minister way back in 2009. It was clear to me that this creative, empowering and energising approach to helping to support young people and communities was something special. Despite the resource budgets and pressures on this Government, I believe in the power of music that so many have expressed, and I have managed to protect the youth music initiative, which provides music experience not just to a few thousand but hundreds of thousands of children in Scotland. The Government's ambition is for Scotland to be the best place to grow up. Every child has been given the best chance to succeed, and we are committed to supporting early intervention programmes that support our young people, raise attainment, tackle inequality and empower our communities. Sysema Scotland is addressing each of these key priorities and making a real and positive impact in our communities. Although I am answering this debate, this Government has always seen that this is a project of health and wellbeing and community development as much as it is of culture. Our finance for the project and support for it comes from different parts of Government. Mark Ruskell was very correct in identifying that Sysema's investment in the social infrastructure can make as a bigger impact as a physical infrastructure and sometimes in cases when that has not. We recognise that there are many partners that have helped to support Sysema Scotland. The programme was working with around 385 children in Rapplock, and with our and other partners, support Sysema has extended its reach with the new big noise centres in Govan Hill, Torry and more recently in Douglas, meaning that Sysema now reaches 2,500 children weekly. However, of course, the importance of the private sector involvement, local authorities and various trusts are equally as important. I encourage Kezia Dugdale to do the hard work that other members have done to help to bring all those different partners together in her ambition. Sysema Scotland continues to have a significant and positive impact, and, as Joan McAlpine reflected on, the various reports and case studies evidenced that, as Dean Lockhart reflected on as well. Independent evaluation has highlighted that, as well as increasing the confidence, aspirations and self-esteem in the children and young people involved, Sysema Scotland is making a real and positive difference, benefiting the wider community, young people, the families themselves as well. Tom Arthur set out how music can change the lives of individuals in so many ways, including neurologically. I am delighted that the Scottish Government, in our on-going £2.5 million investment over four years, has enabled Sysema Scotland to sustain and build on its work, to enhance the health, the wellbeing and the prospects of young people in those communities of Stirling, Glasgow, Aberdeen and Dundee. The models are sometimes different and reflect the communities that they live in. Jenny Marra spoke eloquently about the Douglas experience and that sense of place in Dundee and that musical experience. Orchestral performances are an important part of the big noise programme, giving children life-changing experiences. Like Mark Ruskell and Ian Gray, I was lucky enough to be on that very wet field in 2012 and to attend that big concert at the Rapplock. It was launching the London 2012 festival for the Olympic Games, conducted by Gustav Diddamel with the Seaman Bolivar Orchestra. It was so inspiring and so moving. As the heavens opened and we had that deluge, not one person moved so captivated they were by that special musical experience and the impact that we could see on the faces of the children and on the music that they played and the impact that it had. That was the place to be at that moment in time. It was on that moment in that evening in 2012 that the late Maestro Josie Abru, the founder of Systema, said to me that although there are Systema programmes across the world, he felt that the Rapplock model was the one that he thought was truest to his original vision. Of course, the Systema model has brought together the communities, it has brought together classical music and it is best that it has celebrated the achievements and ambitions of young people and the opportunities of those young people, no bounds now. This year there will be performances at the BBC big weekend with the BBC Scottish Symphony Orchestra, the Glasgow European Championships festival programme and the BBC proms in the park, as well as the many concerts that the children perform to their own communities for family and for friends. Of course, this is our year of young people and this is a great example of what our young people can achieve and creating opportunities for them to shine. It is very timely that we are supporting the success of Systema Scotland during the year of young people. The reception that Bruce Crawford MSP is hosting after this debate here in the Parliament will hear stories from some of the children. It will be the first time ever that more than 80 children from all four big noise centres will have performed together. I know that that has involved a lot of hard work, preparation and dedication, so it promises to be a must attend event. The last word and the last sound and the last noise must be to congratulate the children involved for their achievements because the Systema Scotland would not be in the place that it is just now if it had not been for the commitment of the children. I think that as we celebrate, Presiding Officer, let's celebrate the children of the big noise system of Scotland. What a lovely debate that was and excellent speeches. I enjoyed everyone and that concludes the debate, and I close this meeting.