 The next item of business is a Member's Business debate on motion 4.039 ym name of Jackie Dumbar. On global intergenerational week 2022 the debate will be concluded without any questions being put, so I would ask Members to speak in the debate, to press the requests, to speak buttons now or as soon as possible. I'd also ask those leaving the public gallery to do so as quickly and quietly as possible. But I call on Jackie Dumbar to open the yn refer Grandma for around seven minutes, Mr Barr. First of all, I thank colleagues across the chamber for the cross party support, and I thank in advance, the folk who have taken part in the debate today. I would also like to give my thanks to Kate Samuels from Generations Working Together for the help that she has provided me. The intergenerational week has first taken place in 2020 as a local campaign by St campaign by St Monica's Trust. Following its success, it then grew into a national campaign in 2021, before becoming the global campaign it has become this year. The campaign is led by generations working together, an intergenerational charity based in Scotland, and it has gone truly global with eight countries such as America, Spain, Australia and Sweden joining in. They have worked alongside partners from every nation in the UK, which is Lincoln Generations Northern Ireland, Beth Johnson Foundation in England and Bridging the Generations in Wales. It is understood that each country will lead on a programme of events with intergenerational interactions and social media co-ordination throughout the week. This will show the activities of each country participating in global intergenerational week to be shown across the globe, which I hope will help to inspire other countries to become involved in future years. To date, more than 150 organisations have registered their support for global intergenerational week and are looking through the list of organisations. I was delighted to see my own local authority, Aberdeen City Council, where Aberdeen Donside lies within, have registered their support, but also surprised to see that out of all our local authorities, Aberdeen City Council and Perth and Kinross Council, are the only local authorities to have registered their support. Come on, local authorities, you can do better. It is through the intergenerational practice that both younger and older generations are able to come together and learn from each other. One example of practice could be with older generation within local communities helping to teach the younger generations how to cook. The skill of how to cook is something that we, as adults, sometimes take for granted. Teaching young folk how to cook is often learned from the older generations within the families and has been passed down. I know myself that my grunni's bacon was second to none and how to do things were passed down to her children and then to her grandchildren. I swear that I can still taste her apple crumble when I put my mind to it. Not everyone has family nearby to pass on such skills and it does not have to be just cooking. Sharing skills can help both generations, the young and the not-so-young. Intergenerational practice is one way in which we can help to fight an increase in loneliness within our communities. Currently, it is estimated that around half a million older people go five, even sometimes six days a week without speaking or seeing anyone at all. The number of those over the age of 50 experienced in loneliness set to reach 2 million by 2025-26, which is a 49 per cent increase on the figures in 2016-17. I am sure that we can all agree that that really does need to change. I note from the Scottish Government strategy 2018, a connective Scotland, that the role of the Scottish Government in reducing social isolation and loneliness is to foster the right environment and create the conditions for folk and their communities to design and deliver the solutions that best meets their needs. That shows that it is vital that if Scotland is to continue to be a country that aspires to be inclusive in all areas of life, we need to ensure that all generations within our society are communicating with one another and ensuring that no-one is isolated or feels left out of the communities in which they live. I am pleased that the Government is committed to tackling loneliness and isolation across all generations right across Scotland. We must not leave anybody behind. The vision of generations working together is for a Scotland in which different generations are more connected and everyone can build relationships that help to create a fairer society. Generations working together promotes intergenerational projects because it is a charity that is dedicated to promoting intergenerational work. It trains, supports and links projects. I note, Presiding Officer, that generations working together is a national charity and is an intergenerational excellence training centre that delivers training to communities, charities and individuals both in person and online. As I have previously mentioned, we are working in partnership with Lincoln Generations Northern Ireland, the Beth Johnson Foundation in England and Bridging the Generations in Wales to deliver the global international week right across each of the devolved nations and should be applauded for the work that they are doing to help to raise awareness of intergenerational practices and in doing so sharing their good practice. It is crucial that no one in any community across Scotland feels isolated or lonely. It is through the fantastic work that generations working together are doing across Scotland that will help to ensure that Scotland becomes a nation where the generation seems to be working collaboration together. Through the incredible work that they are doing, it will help to ensure that folk who may feel isolated or lonely are aware of the opportunities available to them within their local communities and can access such opportunities. I will end by strongly encouraging all members across the chamber to encourage intergenerational practice across their constituencies and regions and raise further awareness of global intergenerational week within the areas of Scotland that they represent. As it is important that we have a Scotland where individuals and communities are more connected and that everyone has the opportunity to develop meaningful relationships regardless of age, status, circumstances or identity. Thank you. Thank you very much, Ruth Stumbart. Another gentle reminder to those that wish to participate in the debate to press their request to speak buttons as soon as possible. I call Firstly Ruth McGuire, who joins us remotely to be followed by Alexander Stewart for around four minutes. Thank you, Presiding Officer. I thank my colleague Jackie Dunbar for bringing this important topic to the chamber and highlighting the excellent work of the charity generations working together. I think that we all agree that the last two years have been challenging. It is important that we recognise the isolation and loneliness that is presented by the pandemic for all generations and the negative impact on some opportunities for intergenerational working. I enjoy hearing examples of the intergenerational associations that have been created across Scotland, and today I am delighted to have the opportunity to highlight some of the inspiring work that has taken place across my constituency of Cunningham South and North Ayrshire. Ayr 2, the outbreak of coronavirus, there were a number of special relationships developed between primary schools and older generation groups that marks primary and early years of visited Venol community gardens, same-castle primary school allied with the Burns daycare centre. Special recognition has to go to St Winning's primary school in co-winning, but there are stellar efforts at community intergenerational development. St Winning's primary school worked hard to develop a number of intergenerational opportunities with groups such as Charlie Beach sheltered housing, a Greddon care home and St Winning's over 60s club. Working with Lingo Flamingo, the young people helped older residents to learn Spanish words, which were later tested playing fun games of Spanish bingo. At Christmas, the young people performed a selection of songs and carols for the St Winning's over 60s club, and encouraged the members to get involved. What is more, as a result of the incredible benefits that both groups built through the intergenerational working, Woodland View dementia unit based at Ayrshire central hospital in Irvine visited St Winning's primary school for a range of activities, including a day visit, a roast beef lunch with some other members of the community and a Christmas assembly. The day visit involved pupils in primary 5 to 7 being assigned a Woodland View patient, where they spent the day, their time, giving a tour of the school and having a meal with them. The older folk enjoyed sharing stories and gaining an insight into present school life, which was fun for young people and also helped them to develop the essential life skills. St Winning's rich and diverse intergenerational projects underline the mutual benefits to both the younger and older generations and the extent to which it enhances their health and wellbeing. Adli, as we all know, the pandemic resulted in some face-to-face interactions being paused. In the midst of adversity, the people of North Ayrshire found other ways to contact the older, sometimes isolated residents of care homes, to make them smile and let them know someone was thinking of them. St Winning's artistic CIC's Pots of Talent project provides school children with pots and paint, so they could design a colourful reminder for those alone in lockdown that they weren't forgotten. A WAP community member pioneer for Irvine and Dreghorn developed the sunshine through your letterbox campaign to help those in local care and nursing homes during self-isolation. The campaign saw hundreds of local children sending care homes some sunshine in the post, daily drawings, poems and uplifting messages. The activities co-ordinated at Three Towns care home in Stevenson noted, the residents really enjoy looking at the pictures, so it definitely cheers them up and lifts their spirits. And to print the drawings out and put them up around the care home, the residents really enjoyed looking at them. Any simple remarks and examples set out today speak volumes to the mutual value and happiness of intergenerational friendship and collaboration. As our life returns to more of our normality, I am happy to echo Jackie Van Bauer's call to help, inspire and reconnect people of all ages with so much to gain from each other, here in Scotland and around the world, to dart or restart intergenerational connections. I thank and pay tribute to Jackie Van Bauer for securing this member's debate this afternoon. As my parties shadow equality and older persons, I am pleased to take part this afternoon, and as you already know, this year's global intergenerational week runs from 25 April to 1 May. From its humble beginnings, the event has grown to international level and international status, and that has taken place in a very short space of time just over three years. I am particularly enthused that the event in Scotland for this year has been broken down by its organisations, generations working together into specific daily themes. Those provide an insight and opportunity to plan for the future by developing new ways of exploring and discovering the myriad of resources that are available across generations with one another. It is also highly encouraging to see many organisations and groups such as the Forest Valley Intergeneration Network in my own region all pulling together for what is a highly important common goal. Although it is exceptionally relevant, we encourage and, as we emerge from the pandemic, the development to celebrate relationships between generations has never been more important. That will help to rebuild communities from the young people to catch up with their learning as we tackle and reduce ageism. Indeed, one fact that the pandemic has and is resulting lockdowns was in many communities across my region and across Scotland was the increase in isolation and loneliness, and that has been mentioned already in the debate. I have much concerns about how that is being tackled, and we need to look at ways to ensure that communities and individuals can come through that. There are many stereotypes when we look at what has been happening during the lockdowns, but younger people and older people alike have difficulties in both those areas. Notwithstanding many residents having access to electronic devices and access to the internet and social platforms, those make no substitute for the face-to-face interaction that many individuals require. Moreover, it is widely accepted that loneliness and isolation has a similar impact on mortality as smoking around 15 cigarettes a day. That is just one of the reasons why the intergenerational connections should be encouraged right across our communities, so that our neighbours, our friends, our colleagues are able to get together to interact and fight loneliness and isolation together. As I touched on earlier, ageism can be one of a major blight to communities. It has serious consequences and detrimental effects on individual self-esteem, mental health and wellbeing. To this end, it is important that we consider that age is just a number and we have more in common with other generations than we think. Sadly, ageism still persists in Scotland, though there are many effects that are trying to tackle it, and I welcome that. Ageism and loneliness and isolation also impact health, wellbeing, finances and the economy, and its present serious consequences for individuals' human rights. Age Scotland's recent big survey provided a wider range of information, showing that only 7 per cent of respondents agreed that older people were represented positively, especially so within the media. Indeed, a massive 51 per cent of over 50s said that older people were not valued for their contribution to society, while 36 per cent believed that they were made to feel a burden on society. I look forward to hearing from what the minister might be saying on that when she comes to summing up. It is especially important that we educate and encourage at all levels to ensure that generations can interact with each other as far as humanly is possible. In conclusion, this is why I wholeheartedly encourage such initiatives as this and supporting them within the chamber today. I wish everyone involved in the global intergenerational week all the best in their endeavours to ensure that we can capture and work together to benefit everyone in our communities, regardless of their age and responsibility. I congratulate my friend and colleague Jackie Dunbar on securing this debate. Jackie Dunbar has certainly highlighted the global and Scottish and wider UK intergenerational work. The intergenerational practice aims to bring people together in purposeful, mutually beneficial activities that promote greater understanding and respect between generations and which contribute to building more cohesive communities. It is right that we are marking and supporting this global intergenerational week. Due to the change in demographics and greater mobility within families, generations are becoming increasingly isolated from each other, and both younger and older groups can become victims of stereotyping and discrimination. For example, we have all heard blanket statements like, older people can't do social media, but when generations work together, they realise that those generalisations are absolutely inaccurate. Many younger adults don't have the immediate support of their family for everyday discussions, and older people may no longer have easy access to family when they may need support as they age. Both groups have commonalities that often neither side see. When children encounter new concepts through interaction with others, those concepts and ideas are incorporated into their understanding. That works between generations, too. For young people intergenerational work improves academic performance, and older adults can learn new information and technologies. In general, the breadth and depth of learning improves for everyone. Culture values and traditions can also be passed on, and to hear Jackie describe her grunny's bacon role is absolutely one of those examples. Each generation learns about the other and gains a better understanding of strengths, fears and weaknesses. Each generation has resources of value to the other and shares areas of concern that aid in providing a sense of empowerment. A study by Professor Duncan Graham, University of Strathclyde, reaffirmed the benefits of intergenerational working. The study found that intergenerational working recreates the links between generations and makes it possible to promote intergenerational understanding and respect. It can contribute to the development of individual competencies for a more inclusive society, and fostering intergenerational dialogue encourages collaboration. Generations learn from each other, and that has been mentioned already. Intergenerational exchange significantly fosters solidarity, active citizenship and personal development and can strengthen teaching quality. The benefits are many and should absolutely be built on and supported. A local example is the Lorburn Housing Association, which is doing fantastic work to promote intergenerational working. In Strunrar, at the former Garrick hospital site, eight, one bed and four two bed extra care dementia friendly homes are being built. Alongside a youth foye, it is an employment hub offering supported accommodation for up to 12 young people. Youth foyes, which are recognised as international best practice, provide safe and secure housing, support and training for young people aged 16 to 25. The Strunrar development will be the first for Dumfries and Galloway and only the second foye in Scotland. Young people living at the foye will be either in education or training, in apprenticeship or employment and will have access to volunteering opportunities within the community. That will be a promising project and I look forward to it progressing. I would invite the minister to come and visit the project when her diary allows, because I'm sure it will be filling up pretty quick. Another local example is Mallory House Nursery and Daycare in Dumfries, led by Kerry Little. The nursery kids have interacted with older people at Cumberland Day Centre and they started this before the pandemic, but I understand that the nursery will restart the programme as soon as the wanes and everybody can get back together again. The feedback has been so positive and all have really enjoyed and benefited from the intergenerational experience with Mallory House and Mallory Daycare with the older people at Cumberland Day Centre. In conclusion, I again like to thank Jackie Dunbar on securing this debate. I welcome all the work that's been done globally and locally across the UK, and I look forward to following it in the future. Thank you, Deputy Presiding Officer, and I begin by thanking Jackie Dunbar for bringing forward this debate to the chamber today. As someone who can still smell my Irish granny's soda bread, I associate with her comment. I'm making everyone hungry for their lunch in the chamber today. I'm extremely pleased to stand in support of global intergenerational week 2022, a campaign that we've heard stresses the value of generations within society, and a campaign that highlights the benefits of learning from and supporting one another, a measure that is integral to strengthening our communities and to tackling social isolation. Since the start of the pandemic, public health messaging has emphasised the importance of social distancing, but for hundreds of thousands of Scots who live alone and rely on community social support, a secondary quieter public health crisis has surfaced, and that's loneliness. We know that loneliness is a public health crisis, as it significantly increases the risk of stress, anxiety and depression, and it doubles the risk of dementia. In fact, as we've heard from colleagues already, long-term loneliness is as damaging to our health as smoking 15 cigarettes per day. Although loneliness can occur at any and all stages of life, most triggers tend to congregate in later life due to factors such as retiring from work, being bereaved, illness and children moving away from home. During the pandemic, the effects of social isolation were often felt most acutely by our older generation, many of whom fell into high-risk brackets, and as such were forced not only to isolate, but to shield completely. For the rest, as a result of Covid regulations more generally, most mechanisms of social support, such as in-person community groups, were closed. I think that, in common with colleagues across the chamber, during the lockdown periods, I really saw generations coming together in a way that perhaps I hadn't in the past, and that could be as simple as young neighbours looking in on their older neighbours to make sure that they had shopping in or they had their prescription picked up. I think that there was a real willingness to go across the garden fence or the garden gate and to have a conversation with someone, perhaps in a way that hadn't happened before. There were also formal examples of that in my own West Scotland region in Renfrewshire. The intergenerational project and creative writing programme poetic pathways worked with older adults living independently within shelter housing and young people from schools to provide an outlet for both generations to exchange their feelings and experiences during the lockdown. Local schools would periodically write letters and cards, facilitating connections between both generations at a time when many were shielding and had received little or no social interaction. That had the effect of breaking down the stigmas that are often attached with older people and younger people and instead created a sense of partnership between generations through which life experience could be exchanged and commonalities shared. That project has moved on further and poetic pathways has now created an interactive poetic walk down the cycle routes in Renfrewshire, route 7, cycle path, which runs from Paisley through Johnston. Two schools that were involved in that Glencoats primary in Paisley and Fordbank primary in Johnston are very proud of the work that they have done along with shelter housing residents to put poetry on to that pathway for everyone to read. They won an award at the generations working together awards for their use of place and space, and that is something that absolutely has to be celebrated. We know that the third sector and voluntary organisations continue to work tirelessly to combat loneliness, and we all know that we need to do more to provide sustainable funding and support for those organisations, because undoubtedly age discrimination and loneliness will often result from wider pressures on our society, not least within our health service. To conclude, global intergenerational week is about important conversations being had, about recognising the value of every generation in Scotland and taking the next steps towards continuing to reconnect our generations post Covid-19. Thank you very much, Mr O'King. I now call on Audrey Nicholl to be followed by Maggie Chapman again around four minutes, Ms Nicholl. Thank you very much, Presiding Officer, and likewise I congratulate my friend and colleague Jackie Dunbar on bringing this debate forward today in recognition of global intergenerational week, and I commend the contributions so far that have reflected just how much we can all relate to intergenerational week. It certainly resonated with me. Inspiring individuals, groups and organisations to connect younger and older generations, especially given that tackling loneliness and isolation is an increasing policy concern for governments, makes complete sense. As articulated during the launch of this year's campaign, it offers the chance to change the narrative from it being just a nice thing to do to being something that is essential practice. However, why? The improvements in older adults' mental and physical wellbeing and the impact on conditions such as depression, dementia and, of course, loneliness are well documented, but also improved strength, eating and sleeping better, sharing stories and, of course, tackling stigma—all significant health and wellbeing benefits for older people. However, while it is easy to assume loneliness and isolation only impact older people, as Lee Nifton from the Mental Health Foundation Scotland reminded us, the elephant in the room is also the number of young people who struggle to form relationships at a young age. Intergenerational practice has many benefits for children and young people, shared thinking, stronger social skills, developing empathy and kindness and learning about local history. Like many of my own peers, I belong to the sandwich generation, caring for my parents and my own family both at the same time, sometimes demanding, but an opportunity for a strong intergenerational dynamic between my son and his grandpa. It was organic and natural for my son to visit his grandpa, my father, then in residential care and to take him for a walk to the nearby beach, help set up the annual summer care home barbecue or just talk with residents in the common room about his school trip to the battlefields in France and Belgium. A wonderful opportunity to the residents to reminisce about their own lives and experiences, importantly acknowledging their own past, rather than just being a photograph on their bedside table or a memory kept but never really shared. My constituency of Aberdeen South and North Concardin is home to some fantastic groups and organisations, all supporting intergenerational connections. My friends at the Portletton Benchhead never failed to amaze me with their sense of brotherhood towards each other, but also to their village and beyond. Recently, they prototyped and delivered a tinkering board or a busy board for the local primary school to support younger pupils to tinker, learn and explore while developing their sensory practice. I very much invite the minister to come and visit the Portletton Benchhead after she has been to my colleague Emma Harper's constituency. If you want to drop in past the old Tory community centre just along from my office, any Thursday morning you will find a fabulous group of physiotherapy students from the Robert Gordon University running a community physiodropping offering in particular older folks the chance to chat about their aches and pains, do some exercises or just have a cup of tea under leather. At the same time, the students are developing their own clinical skills in a real world environment, a living example of intergenerational practice. At this point, I wish to acknowledge generations working together from Scotland, linking generations Northern Ireland, their Welsh partner bridging the generations and the Beth Johnstone Foundation in England. I also want to acknowledge the work of the many charities, third sector and voluntary groups and organisations, all working to support intergenerational practice and supported for many of them by the £10 million commitment announced last year by the Scottish Government to support a five-year social isolation and loneliness plan. This will be a pivotal part of our national response as we face the challenges from the awfulness of the pandemic. To conclude, I wish everyone supporting and participating in intergenerational week well. I look forward to hearing more about the work that they will be taking forward, both in Scotland and beyond. I have warned the minister that Dumfries and Galloway is not really on the way to Aberdeenshire, but I am sure that she will have worked that out. I now call Maggie Chapman, who will be followed by Stephanie Callan in around four minutes. Thank you very much, Presiding Officer. I thank Jackie Dunbar for her motion and for securing this debate today. I am delighted to share in the welcome for global intergenerational week and the appreciation of the work of those behind it. It is indeed essential for both individual and community wellbeing that we develop and celebrate relationships between generations that, together, we work to combat loneliness, create inclusive spaces and shared stories, build solidarity and overcome barriers to its expression. Intergenerational practice, care and learning are indispensable parts of this important work, but we also need to acknowledge that some of the barriers between generations are structural, constructed by decades of deliberate policy and shameful inaction. For the first three quarters of the 20th century, there was an assumption that each generation of children would have better life experiences than their parents, be better housed, better fed, better educated, would have higher paid and more rewarding jobs, would live longer and healthier, happier lives. That is no longer the case. Young people, and I don't only mean the very young, are disproportionately burdened by massive levels of student and other debt, by precarious work, including zero-hour contracts, by career pathways blocked except to the highly privileged, by insecure, unhealthy and exploitative private sector tenancies and by overburdened and inaccessible healthcare, especially in relation to mental health. Just this week, LGBT Youth Scotland launched a new report showing a huge drop in the numbers of young people who believe that Scotland is a good place in which to be LGBTI, from 81 per cent 15 years ago to only 65 per cent now. That is a shocking and sobering statistic, as is the finding that 69 per cent identify transphobia as a big problem in Scotland, and 81 per cent say that media representation of LGBTI people is not accurate. Those are scandals for which their generation is not to blame. I am proud that, as Scottish Greens, we have recognised this deep and broad intergenerational injustice and are addressing these issues head-on, and I urge others at all levels of government, Parliament and councils to do the same. Much more must be done, especially by those generations who have benefited from the 20th century welfare state to repair that legacy for those who follow. Meanwhile, our younger generations, including the tiniest children, bear yet more even heavier burdens, those of the climate and biodiversity crises. The simplest and most fundamental foundations of our everyday lives—predictable seasons, rainfall, harvests, healthy soil, pollination and peace—are all diminishing as we watch and debate and are distracted and procrastinate. The righteous and accurate anger of Greta Thunberg, Elizabeth Wanjirw, Watuti and Carlos Manuel are, if they are noticed at all, met with condescension and content or with useless sentimentality. Those two ways of responding to the voices of the young are, in reality, mirror images of one another. We either ignore what they are telling us, dismissing their experience and their analysis with cheap drives and patronising pats on their head, or we sanctify them, taking their evidence and argument out of the realm of political action altogether. Those young people, we say perhaps, they are so clever that they will fix it in the future, but it is not their job to fix it, and the time to act is not in the future. In conclusion, I would like again to welcome this initiative and wholeheartedly support the development and celebration of intergenerational relationships, but those relationships have to take place in political, institutional and structural contexts, not just in the personal and social. We need to develop a truly participatory politics that is shaped as much by the young as by the older people, and that has the honesty to name injustices and the courage to act upon them. Ms Chapman, I call the final speaker in the open debate, Stephanie Gallan, for around four minutes. Thank you to my colleague Jackie Dunbar for bringing this debate, and it has been great listening to what everybody has got to say today. I will try to keep mine quite light. Global intergenerational week is an opportunity to strengthen intergenerational bonds, strengthen communities, strengthen our response to major challenges in an uncertain world and also to share knowledge and share joy. Covid provides examples of intergenerational connections that have quite literally saved lives but also highlights the terrible toll of isolation like never before. For decades, policies and practices have segregated younger and older people, resulting in a cascade of problems from ageism to loneliness to fragmented movements for social change. Scotland must strive for a future where different generations are much more connected and working together to build relationships that help to create a fairer society. The elderly can be vulnerable in our society and we can be guilty of taking them for granted if we are honest about it. That can lead to solitude and confusion, and it can foster a general feeling of alienation within a community. However, by playing and reading with children, the elderly are less likely to suffer loneliness and our children thrive in those opportunities for one-to-one reading and playtime. In Sweden, it is popularly to win nurseries with care homes to boost children's literacy skills and it also improves the health of the elderly. In France, initiatives enable students and seniors to live together, providing students with deep accommodation in exchange for helping out. Every generation wins when age diverse programmes help to solve the unique problems that older and younger people face today, creating new ways of addressing everything from homelessness to climate change. Let's forge ahead with innovative, joined-up policy thinking right here in Scotland. My colleague Jackie Dunbar was the first to mention generations working together in the Connecting Scotland initiative that aims to boost confidence around digital technology. That is definitely an exciting and sensible approach to fostering an intergenerational community and one that we should support absolutely wholeheartedly. It is not just about the digital skills, because at the heart of all those initiatives, it is spending more time together, understanding each other better and appreciating the generations that come before and after us, their beliefs, their values, their achievements and their potential. Inspiration is at the heart of a week like this, and I have seen first-hand the positive impact of intergenerational action in the Dinsdon and Baleshill constituency. I want to take this opportunity to champion an inspirational local man that I am proud to call my friend Jim Cuthberson. Too often, important work in the community can go unnoticed, and community leaders like Jim are typically pretty humble. Based in Whitehill and my constituency, Jim has adopted a street, which is more like a full housing scheme, in a business of over 60 elderly isolated residents. Jim drops off shopping and prescriptions, he goes round for a chat and a cuppa, he offers companionship and generally just goes out his way to improve the lives of those around about him. Sometimes Jim will bring his grandson or some other young people who have shown an interest in helping, building those relationships for people young and old, both benefit. Jim benefits from the joy these wee chats bring him to. He loves all the stories he times gone by, and I am sure Jim won't mind me saying that I hope he doesn't, that he could talk behind legs off a donkey, but he's putting this to absolutely the best juice possible. He's a really fantastic example of the power of everyday people coming together. In Cawson, I want to return briefly to the societal challenges that we face. It's often said that older people may be less informed about climate change, and I would argue that this is because they have limited opportunities to connect with younger generations who see climate change as the greatest threat to their future. Equally, it's often said that younger people take many of today's civil and workers' rights for granted, and I would argue that it's because there are not enough forums to hear from those who fought for union recognition and for social justice. With so many of our fundamental rights under attack, we must bring our generations together. Presiding Officer, decision-making needs to be global and intergenerational, because this empowers community and empowers our society. Thank you very much, Ms Callaghan. I call on Christina McKelvie to respond to the debate for around seven minutes. Thank you very much, Presiding Officer, and I'm absolutely delighted to be closing this debate on global intergenerational week 2022, which is as we've heard runs until 1 May. I thank Jackie Dunbar and all colleagues across the chamber for a wonderful debate today and for Jackie for bringing forward the motion. I'm a grateful thanks to all the members for their contributions, and I'll touch on some of them as I go along. Many today's contributions have cited excellent examples of intergenerational projects, and I've taken a wee list of them and I'll come to them in a minute. If I've missed anybody, please forgive me. I think that it is important that Parliament comes together to support and celebrate this global event, organised by the wonderful generations working together, and nationally recognise the Centre of Excellence supporting the development and integration of intergenerational work across Scotland. This is the first year that the event has gone global with over 150 organisations from around the world who have supported it in its great to see generations working together Scotland at the forefront of intergenerational practice at the international level. The Government is clear that intergenerational practice can promote greater understanding and respect between generations, and it can contribute to building more cohesive and fairer communities. That's why we work very closely with a wide range of partners across the age equality spectrum, including generations working together who are a very valued member of the Older People Strategic Action Forum and our social isolation and loneliness advisory groups. We recognise the contribution that they have to play there. I echo Jackie Dunbar's call for our local authorities to support intergenerational work. We all stand ready to support you and our local authorities. We might get a wee taste of Jackie Dunbar's grannies, apple crumble or Paul O'Kane's grannies, soda breed. That would be lovely. In order to facilitate that work, we have provided £600,000 to generations working together through the Equality and Human Rights Fund to support its valuable work up to 2024. We also supported generations working together during Covid, providing £58,000 from the immediate priorities fund and £76,000 from the winter fund for faith and care homes digital resources and individual radios for care home residents. Some simple things made a huge difference. I'm also delighted that generations working together are launching a toolkit tomorrow to support practitioners, develop intergenerational relationships through play and stories. The toolkit is a legacy from some pilot events from our get-into-summer play programme for 2021. We are generations working together in play Scotland. We are supported by Scottish Government funding to pilot intergenerational play and story projects. I heard they were absolutely wonderful. The toolkit will support the understanding of how to develop projects and build confidence in practitioners. I hope that that is a clear example for members here who said that we need to learn the lessons of all the things that we do and how we develop great tools. That was particularly called for by Emma Harper and Audra Nicol. We already know that when generations mix together there is equal partners, wonderful things can happen. I've certainly seen that for myself and we've seen some amazing examples today, whether it was Ruth Maguire's lingo bingo or Emma Harper's foyer visit. Yes, I will come to a visit in Dumfries in Galloway. Emma or Paula Cain's writing project, Fantastic the Writing Pathways, Audra Nicol's port left and men's shed. Yes, I'll do a visit. I have a hiring geography, so I understand that we'll take two visits to do both of that. I just pay tribute, like Stephanie Callaghan to Jim Cuthbertson. He's an absolute legend in Hamilton and it's great to hear about his work in the chamber today. I hope that Stephanie Callaghan will also welcome that it's not just funding and supporting those wonderful examples but looking at building intergenerational practice into our futures. One great practical example of that is a new collaborative intergenerational housing development in Alloa involving architecture and design Scotland, Clackmannisher Council, the Scottish Government and Kingdom Housing Association. Development will provide 60 apartments in the town centre, close to essential amenities with key features, including dementia-friendly elements and a mobility scooter charging points. Again, practical examples of how we can do that, but building that into our future there. For older people in particular, intergenerational practice can alleviate loneliness, as we've heard much of today. Encouraged participation and increased mobility and happiness. I hope that reassures Jackie Dunbar that we take tackling loneliness and social isolation as a key priority for this Government. Alexander Stewart raised some incredibly important points about social isolation and ageism. We're doing a lot of work in that area. The same with Connected Scotland. Have we looked at what outside the box do with digital bodies? I'm happy to speak to Alexander Stewart in detail if he wishes to do that, because there's no time to do it today. There's so much more to say. As part of the programme for government, we've committed to investing £10 million in projects focusing on reducing social isolation and loneliness. I hope that Paul O'Kane and Audra Nicolle will be happy to know that the fund will open for bids later this year. I really look forward to seeing what innovative approaches that pernicious social problem will result from the substantial investment. We're very excited about it. As Ruth Maguire reminded us, we are of course living in very different times from when this issue was last debated. The Covid-19 pandemic has affected us all young and old alike. Not one person remains unaffected by the pandemic, and it's forced us to change our way, the way we work and the way we connect. However, my goodness, how much we have done in creating those connections during the pandemic, we need to learn how to sustain and keep those all going. During the early months, we've provided funding to do that. I'm happy to give more detail on that if members want it. Maggie Chapman and Stephanie Callahan reminded us of the historical wrongs and modern-day challenges. Intergenerational good practice builds positive relationships and dismantles negative attitudes towards older people or younger people. It has an important contribution to make in rebuilding our communities. There is so much more from the human rights work that we're doing, from the equality human rights fund work that we're doing, from the disability equality strategy work that we're doing, that I could bring to the debate today, but I'm quickly running out of time and everybody's probably desperate for their lunch. Global intergenerational week provides us an opportunity to reinforce the connections that we know are needed to build a stronger, fairer society. We have come a long way towards a more inclusive in Equal Scotland, where everyone can play their part in shaping their communities, but there is yet more to do. I'm sure that everyone in the chamber will play their part and will seek to listen and learn from the wisdom of all ages as they do so.