 The next item of business today is a member's business debate on motion number 10661, in the name of James Dornan, on celebrating Glasgow, the Caring City. This debate will be concluded without any questions being put, and I would be grateful if those members who wish to speak in the debate could please press the request to speak buttons now. I would also be grateful if guests leaving the chamber in the gallery could do so quietly. The Parliament is still in session. This debate is a very important one to me, and I could speak on it for half an hour. You'll be delighted to know that I won't. I'll try and stick to the seven minutes. Before I start, I'd like to welcome the Reverend Neil Gilbrath, who is the founder of Glasgow Caring City, to the chamber this afternoon. Many of you all know Neil. He's been tireless in his work, both across the city of Glasgow and further afield. He's a minister for the Catrol parish church. He works as a police chaplain and works with veterans, particularly with his coming home project that is run from the church. The minister, Keith Brown, has been out before the coming home project started, which is for veterans, so I find it difficult to reintegrate into society. It's a place for them to meet their peers, and it's now becoming a place for them to move on, get jobs and move back into society. It's fairly invaluable. I was speaking to just a couple of them the other day. For many, he'll be known as the founder of Glasgow Caring City and the charity that I'm delighted we're recognising in the Parliament today. It was founded in May 1999 as Glasgow's very own aid agency. It was originally set up to help those who were made homeless by the wars that were raging across the Balkans. The same was to help as many of the thousands of asylum seekers and refugees that were arriving in Glasgow at that time as it could. It's core at central aims to provide care, help and love to the most fragile and destitute children both at home and abroad. It's a name that the charity has been tirelessly working towards for the past 15 years. Glasgow to Caring City now works with a number of projects across the world to provide help and support both locally and internationally, as well as providing emergency relief where it can. The first of these is education, which is a key part of the Caring City's development strategy. As the late great Nelson Mandela once said, education is the most powerful weapon that you can use to change the world, and the Caring City have taken that mantra to heart. At home, they've been working on their give a kid a goal project for the last couple of years that started as a way to encourage P6s and 7s to think in a different way about the issues that were closest to them and has grown into a much bigger project. It gets kids involved both in their local community by organising or taking part in a community event or taking part in a youth organisation to perhaps find out a wee bit more about the history of people by getting involved in a local campaign. It also helps to foster links with children worldwide, including by supporting the work of an international charity, gathering resources to be sent or even just taking the time to learn about what life can be like for the children in different parts of the world. Caring City is clear that it wants to ensure that projects work towards becoming self-sufficient, that they are providing help and expertise in education as the initial setup, but the end game for them is to empower local communities across the world to make the decisions about what is best for their school or college. It's fantastic to see their vision and action in the many projects that I've visited that they've been involved in. I've also been fortunate to travel abroad to see some of the great work that they were doing in Uganda and South Sudan, and I'll talk about that in a minute. As mentioned, they also do a lot of work in disaster relief around their key themes. In education, it's by assisting and rebuilding schools that have been destroyed by natural disasters such as floods or earthquakes. That was clear with the support that they gave to the people of Seats-Salil in Haïti to rebuild their school after the devastating earthquake there in 2010. Another theme to their work is security. Glasgow Caring City is, I believe, one of the best examples of a charity that sees security not only as physical security from harm, but also what can be seen as human security. The belief that being secure is more than just having police in an army, but that security also comes by having easy access to food and water, having a secure job, home, relationships and family life. Human security was at the heart of their work in the post tsunami Sri Lanka, where the Caring City invested in medium to long-term projects in the fishing and hospitality industry, which became self-assustainable. That has meant that the community could start to build a better future for themselves out of the horrors of that fateful boxing day. It was also apparent in their work in South Sudan at Matthews Farham, which helps young men and women to become farmers and teach them the skills that they need to farm land, as well as to do basic maths. I had the pleasure of visiting Matthews Farham, which was funded by Roscoe Breithw. I want to give a special mention to him as well. He is the international development officer for the Caring City. He has seen Matthews Farham growing from being just a patch of land to being a sustainable farm, where the people who use it can now take their goods, grow their goods, take them to the market, sell them at the market, feed their families based on what they get from starting to grow these. That was not the case before. It has made a huge difference. I spoke to a number of people who have benefited from it, and it was just fantastic to see. Closer to home, there is a cycle initiative, which makes sure to recycle furnishings and white goods to give to people across Glasgow who might just need a helping hand to help to make their home life more secure. Under the health banner, the Caring City has done some great work, particularly around the beautiful game. When I was in Uganda, I watched a football match between some local children who were all wearing Scotland's strips, denated by Scotland's captain Darren Fletcher—a great initiative and one that I hope gets continued support. I have only scratched the surface of the many great projects that the Caring City has worked on or are working on at the moment. It is fair to say that their work has had a huge impact both at home and across the world. I have been fortunate to see a first-hand a lot of the work that they are doing in my constituency and in Glasgow, as well as further afield, as I have just mentioned. They are a brilliant example of the sort of work that epitomises a Glasgow spirit. I have spoken about the brilliant celebration city festival in the previous debates during the Commonwealth Games, which showed the city at its best. I am proud of my constituency. I think that there are lots of great things going on in my constituency, and I could bore you to death with all the examples that I have. However, I have to say that there will not be many better that shows my constituency and, in my view, the city of Glasgow in the country of Scotland in a better light than Glasgow, the Caring City. I know that they have done great work over the past 15 years, and I look forward to the work that they are going to do over the next 15 years. I know that the minister has visited them before, and he has a close relationship with them, and I am sure that he will have some kind words to say about them. However, I want to put in the record how delighted I am that they are there for all the people that they help, and also for the fact that they are based in my constituency of Glasgow, Cathcart, and I want to once again thank the Reverend Neil Goebrath and the others for all the work that they do. I turn to the open debates and speeches of four minutes, please. Mary Scanlon, to be followed by Hans Allam Alec. I welcome this member's debate not only as an opportunity to celebrate the 15th birthday of Glasgow, the Caring City, but as a chance to highlight its achievements and to raise its profile. I would like to thank James Dornan for securing time in the chamber for us to discuss this motion. It is exactly the type of motion that the member's business was designed for. As a spokesman for education and lifelong learning, many of the projects supported by Glasgow, the Caring City, resonate with myself, such as projects involving the Ikota School in Southern Sudan and the Himbasi School in Burundi, as mentioned by James Dornan. We regularly debate issues relating to education in this chamber, but we often fail to consider just how fortunate we really are with university opportunities for education from preschool all the way to university, giving Scottish children, male and female the chance to discover and realise their own potential. This is not the case in some parts of the world, so I am proud to see charities such as Glasgow, the Caring City, working in countries such as Burundi and Southern Sudan to help to deliver education opportunities to those who need it most. I may be old-fashioned, but I have always believed that access to education and training is one, not the only route, but it is one route out of poverty. I also praise the charities give a kid a goal campaign, which encourages children in Glasgow to fundraise for the Himbasi school project. That not only makes these children more aware of the world around them, but demonstrates just how fortunate they are to have a good education and economic security and more, as James has outlined, and quite often issues that we can take for granted. The projects supported by the charity in Malawi, such as the David Livingstone Clinic, are a reflection of the special partnership between Malawi and Scotland, founded in 2006. The clinic provides training facilities for student nurses and primary care to mother and babies. We have debated the dire circumstances of maternity care and the effects on mother and child in the chamber in the past. If I may say to you, I do remember your input and concern into many of those debates. Another Scottish Charity project trust sends around 10, 17 to 19-year-olds across five projects to Malawi each year on 12-month placements. It is also a member of the Scottish Malawi partnership and it has contributed to teaching and social care in the country for many years. As well as sending up to 300 young people to 20 other countries each year, project trust is another great example of young Scots and other nationalities striving to make a difference to those who are less fortunate, and we should all be very proud of them. Glasgow, the caring city, not only carries abroad the great name of Glasgow. I cannot claim to be a representative or a resident of Glasgow as a Highlands and Islands MSP, but I do recognise good work when it is being done. Glasgow, the caring city, is an ambassador for Scotland and the United Kingdom, demonstrating our compassion and outward-looking vision. The United Kingdom has the second-largest aid budget in the world for international development and is in fact the only country in the G8 to meet and regularly meet its aid target. On top of that, Scotland contributes an additional £9 million through its international development fund towards projects in Malawi, such as the David Livingstone Clinic, in addition to Glasgow, the caring city, which was one of the first Malawi millennium projects. I will finish there as I see my time is coming to an end, but just to say through the work of charities such as Glasgow, the caring city and many others such as Mary's Meals, Scotland has demonstrated that it can and will continue to make an impact on the international stage. I wish Glasgow the caring city a happy anniversary and continued success in its charitable efforts. I praise the work of Neil Galbraith and thank James Dornan for bringing this debate to the Parliament. Many thanks. We have a little bit of leeway with time this afternoon. Hans Alamallach, to be followed by Linda Fabiani. Thank you very much and good afternoon, Presiding Officer. First of all, please allow me to thank James Dornan for raising the motion celebrating the 15th birthday of Glasgow, the caring city, and of course, Reverend Neil Galbraith, who I have known for many years. I am very pleased. James Dornan went on to advise us and inform us that the charity is based in his ward, as it is in my regional area as well. I have had a privilege of travelling with Neil Galbraith in a number of countries pursuing giving and carrying out charities throughout the world. Throughout this period, the charity has supported a range of health, education, security programmes worldwide, whilst most important, most prominent examples for the charity influenced includes funding of schools around the world. I would like to cite one or two examples of how the Glasgow, the caring city, has carried out that work. It is indeed a caring city, a charity that cares. It works throughout the world in many countries and just to give you a flavour of the countries that it has engaged in, to my knowledge, is Cuba, India, Pakistan, Sudan, Uganda, Scotland, and to give you just two sites in Scotland. One was the disaster we had in Fyrhel when the factory exploded and also the airport where blankets and water was provided instantaneously and a lot of hard work was done by volunteers. Another examples are like helping schools in Glasgow, for example, in Hillhead where I was a councillor. The secondary school was assisted in funding to support its twinning with the Lahore School in Pakistan and also countries like Malawi and Sri Lanka, particularly when this tsunami took place. May I also go on to say that we see the practical results of this type of work around the world and that is that when I had the privilege of going to Sri Lanka during the Commonwealth Games, one of the things the Sri Lankan community were very proud to say was that the new Scotland and New Glasgow, because of the work and the charity work we did for them, they didn't know Nigeria because they were nowhere near to be seen. Now I'm sure Nigerian people did support them, I'm not sure to what extent, but they certainly remembered the work that the getting city did and that's a tribute to Neil Gilbrath as well because he was very active and worked very hard out there. In fact I was concerned about his health when I saw him because I felt he was overdoing it, but that's the nature of the business that he's in. There are another example of charities in Glasgow which do a tremendous amount of work around the world for us. UK is one example who funds schools around the world also charities like the Islamic Relief which is renowned for its work around the world and has been supported by Scottish Government on occasion in regards to supporting help, rebuild schools, refurbish schools, stock equipment to bring children the quality of education that they deserve and that's something that's to be congratulated. Islamically this also operates in other areas as well and more recently in Afghanistan and Iraq which is a very troubled part of the world and I think our charities do a tremendous amount of work and I'm really really very proud of the work that our charities do, but going back to Glasgow, the getting city, I mean one of the interesting bits that I can tell you today is that they also worked with 1122 which is fire and rescue services in Punjab which was twin with fire and rescue service in Strathclyde in terms of delivering fire engines from Glasgow to Lahore which contributed immensely in saving life and limb and property and I think you know these small measures go a very long way in supporting people and I think that people appreciate the support and help people get from around the world and I think that you know when I first realised it was the 15th birthday of Glasgow the getting city and we were going to have a motion in the parliament I was pleased it brought a smile to my face because I genuinely felt that we don't do enough thank yous around the world and we don't do enough thank yous to the volunteers and the donors who make it possible to support people at very short notices and I think I would really want to take an opportunity providing officer to say it here today in public that we really want to give a very huge thank you to all the industry and businesses the privates and the volunteers the individuals who make a immense contribution to the charity and charity movement in Scotland which makes it help us make a success around the world and it makes it matter and I think that's very important and once again I know only congratulate the the Glasgow getting city but also Neil Gebrith for all his hard work and I hope and pray he will continue to do so in the future thank you very much many thanks and I now call Linda Fabiani thank you very much Presiding Officer it was interesting that James Dornan said he could speak for half an hour about this and I'm sure that Hansala Malik could speak for probably double that as well but that's just a mark of of how much Glasgow the caring city has achieved in the 15 years since it was set up and may I say happy birthday and thank you to Glasgow the caring city Neil Gebrith and his team everyone who's involved in it and may I say not least the the ladies in the cat parish church who always make great cakes when you go along for events I'm fascinated by the work Glasgow the caring city does it's the depth and breadth of that work that I find to be quite amazing because even having listened to three contributions already I'm still thinking of of other things that Glasgow the caring city has been involved in like that wonderful link with the new york firefighters for example and I remember attending a very moving service at the cat parish church in honour of the victims of 9 11. I was interested too to hear that James Dornan and Sala Malik have travelled to various places in the world with Glasgow the caring city I must be doing something wrong because the furthest I've ever got is East Kilbride but I mentioned East Kilbride for a reason it's my constituency but also to make it quite clear that Glasgow the caring city does do work at home out with Glasgow the city itself because it's that kind of charity wherever there is felt to be a need you will find Glasgow the caring city and one thing that I have been involved with in East Kilbride is the give a kid a goal project which I just find very very uplifting and both Hunter primary school in EK as well as Vincent's primary school in EK have been involved with that and their head teachers are to be commended to have realised the value of the give a kid a goal project because what it does is it it makes quite normal and quite natural that children work towards goals themselves whilst recognising that they should work towards these goals for children in other parts of the world too and too often you know we hear phrases like charity begins at home but you know what what Glasgow the caring city does is makes it quite plain that charity may well begin at home but it certainly shouldn't end there because we are all one big global family I feel that's what's so very precious about them it's the imparting of that to young people and making it fun now I said this a long long time ago that I was at primary school and I'll accept the minister from this but I think just about everyone else on the floor of the chamber here would recognise that when the teacher ever said oh the reverent from the local church or the priest from the local RC church is coming along you were like oh no but I'll tell you what in the schools in East Kilbride if you say the reverent Neil Gebrath coming along they're like yahoo this is wonderful we're going to have a great time and it does raise their self-esteem too and the other thing that hasn't been mentioned today is a cross out child poverty initiative that has been started and carried through by Glasgow the caring city and this is something that I want to extend to East Kilbride as well and I have to hands up here been quite lax in so doing but that's a project that's on going but again it's a recognition that we have to work across borders and across boundaries because yes there is absolute poverty in other parts of the world that should be addressed we should be raising awareness of but there's relative poverty in our own country in our own cities in our own satellite towns in our rural areas and we have to recognise that as well and if we're truly talking about successful cities successful towns successful nation and then extending that across the world we have to recognise that we're all in it together I think that's what Glasgow the caring city does in a wonderfully non-judgmental way that we can all learn lessons from and I'm delighted today to be recognising that 15th anniversary and I don't just wish them a further 15 years but way beyond that thank you many thanks and now invite Homs of Yusuf to respond to the debate minister in around seven minutes or so please thank you Presiding Officer it's a privilege for me to close this debate on behalf of the Scottish Government and also as a proud Glaswegian I thank James Dornan for securing this precious parliamentary time I fully endorse the motion and join with others across the chamber in complimenting Glasgow the caring city for the excellent work that they've been involved in both in Glasgow and overseas over the last 15 years and congratulate them on that 15th year birthday and two let me add my compliments and and real regard for Neil Reverend Neil Galbraith personally as well as a testament that everybody in this chamber everybody across the political parties speak so highly of him but also know him as an individual he is one of those forces of nature that is very difficult to say no to somewhat sometimes even suddenly annoyingly unable to say no to him it's an excellent speeches across the chamber though I fear Linda Fabiani may have got herself into trouble from our local priest or minister but nonetheless good contributions all reflecting on great facets and strands of the work that's being done by Glasgow the caring city and too many to mention you know I was reflecting the the discussions going on in the chamber that there's two favorite parts that I had to the commonwealth games opening ceremony and one I think universally we all enjoyed was the UNICEF moment in that point where we showed off Glasgow as the caring city in Scotland is the caring nation and making that opening ceremony the very first opening ceremony in the commonwealth games ever to raise money for orphans across the world the second one that the second favorite moment of minds was the south african singer promesa singing freedom come all ye and taking freedom away from just a traditional sense of what it might mean what I liked about that was that it encompasses everybody that all ye stance that freedom from poverty freedom from deprivation freedom from social stigma freedom from having your life opportunities hindered freedom for all ye if that just doesn't just mean for Scottish children for glass regions but also for those across the world and if ever there's a charity and NGO that sums it up then it has to be Glasgow the caring city for the work that they do here domestically in Scotland but also overseas and there's very few organisations that I know that managed to do both with the success that Glasgow the caring city does many of the projects have been mentioned Presiding Officer I too want to give a mention to their training programme I think it's a great example of their work in facilitating training opportunities for young adults and empowering people to make the most of the skills that they have the give a kid a goal campaign is another example of empowering work this time in helping our school children gain a greater understanding of their place in the world and how they can make a difference in tackling the challenges faced by our planet and that ambition to help our young people to become fully global citizens is something that Scottish Government absolutely fully endorses it's a key part of our curriculum for excellence and last year I myself and the cabinet secretary for education we jointly announced funding for six development education centres to work with our young people in Scotland round the ethos actually of that give a kid a goal campaign to empower them to give them the knowledge of the world that we live in to ensure that they gain an appreciation appreciation of the difference that they can make and that is hugely important the world where people are cynical that as Linda Fabiani mentioned cynical about giving money overseas and why do we do it and charity begins at home etc etc and days in this day and age when finances are tough when difficult economic times then we have a real obligation to ensure that our children are educated and understand the responsibility that they have as individuals as global citizens when it comes to demonstrating partnership work something the Government is always keen to highlight then there's great examples that are provided by Glasgow the caring city I think about their superb contribution to the celebration city festival during the common wealth games that phrase that was employed throughout the games people make Glasgow one of the great slogans that was used throughout the games the Glasgow the caring city helps demonstrate this through the work that they did in working with 40 other partners 40 other partners to showcase the very best of Glasgow hospitality throughout what was a superb cultural programme and activities throughout the games attended by over 10 000 people so some of the work that they're doing domestically is there on the record but also brings me to looking at some of their overseas work as well that they've been involved in over the last 15 years much of that has been mentioned Hanzala Malik mentioned the genesis of that at the time of the Balkans conflict the motion though quite rightly also recognises the support that's been given to him bazaar school in Burundi that that's just a flavour of the work they're doing work in south Sudan Malawi Uganda and throughout the developing world I was interested to hear from James Dornan about his own trip and I remember reading some of the articles that he wrote on his return from Uganda from south Sudan and I'm very pleased that he got to see the football game as well and pleased he wasn't playing otherwise the poor Ugandans might have needed the shin pads sent across as well the Scottish government aims through our international development policy for Scotland to be seen as a good global citizen but a global leader as well and I'd like to take this opportunity to acknowledge the work that Scottish charities like Glasgow the caring city do but it's underpinned and every member has mentioned this by their volunteer network that they have people have a real affiliation not just through Cathcart old parish church which I've had the pleasure of going to but much wider across the city and across the country as well we have the easy job as politicians of putting the funding together making the resources available where when we can it's those that are on the ground in charities like Glasgow the caring city that actually get it done so my I commend them for doing that as a government as I say we're determined to play our part in helping to make that happen through our own international development work that we do we've committed of course and the result of a yes vote to meet that zero point seven percent target but also enshrine it within legislation but whatever the result of the referendum we're committed to helping those in the poorest parts of the world that is helping women and girls into education it's about helping those that don't have energy access to energy access to clean water and some of the very simple and most basic challenges that nobody in the 21st century should have to suffer through indeed and let me also add to what Hans Alam Alex said and put on record the Scottish government's appreciation of all the NGOs across the country that do a phenomenal job you mentioned the UK foundation Islamic relief but also I had the pleasure of meeting Skiath new director this morning as well but also what the work that is done by all the members of NIDOS the Scottish Malawi partnership and many others to so I commend the motion once again Glasgow the caring city has done Glasgow proud but it's done Scotland proud over the last 15 years I look forward of course is this customary emotion like this that James Donnell will be providing the 15th birthday cake but I wish them every single success for more than 15 years to come in the future and again this I commend the work that Reverend Neil Garbrath and his team are doing I look forward to working with them closely in the future as well thank you many thanks minister that concludes James Donnell's debate celebrating Glasgow the caring city and I now suspend this meeting of parliament until 2 30 p.m.