I am very much looking forward to embarking on my third summer engagement programme. I am heading up to the Western Isles for the next four days to visit a number of people involved in projects and organisations which make a real difference to the communities there
I have not been in that area of Scotland for many years, since my father took me as a young lad. I remember the beauty of the area and feel very honoured and excited to be able to travel there, this time as Presiding Officer, to represent the Scottish Parliament.
My packed programme of visits across the Isles will provide an opportunity for me to learn from local people and groups about how the Scottish Parliament is communicating with them and will, I hope, encourage them to do more to engage with Holyrood’s work.
My previous working programmes have taken me to a number of places including Skye, Aberdeen, Inverness, Dumfries and Galloway, Eyemouth and Fort William. This time round I am fortunate enough to be going to Benbecula and Stornoway before heading to Perth, Falkirk and Bo’ness.
By the end of this programme, I will have travelled the length and breadth of this beautiful country. I will have visited more than 30 different organisations in every region of Scotland and spoken to people from many different walks of life about their experiences of, and views on, the Scottish Parliament.
I hope the programme will also have encouraged many of those individuals and groups to visit, read about or become directly involved with, their Parliament.
This is the first year I have ‘blogged’ during the programme … and I do hope you enjoy hearing about the many interesting people and places I visit.
