Meeting of the Parliament 16 December 2025 [Draft]
I, too, congratulate Liz Smith. I know the work that is needed for a member’s bill. It involves testing the member’s commitment and dealing with obstacles that are put in their way—they just have to navigate their way round them. I did, just as Liz Smith has done, and I can assure everyone that that does not apply just to Opposition members’ bills. Such bills are very personal and close to the member’s heart—as this one is.
I heard the member in charge of the bill on the radio, referring to more and more children finding traditional education a challenge and saying that outdoor activities can be fun in themselves but also therapeutic. I quite agree. Even before Covid disrupted young people’s educational and social experiences, that generation already had challenges that I did not have in my long-lost youth. Their emotional and mental wellbeing is taking a hammering.
In my youth—yes, Mr Rennie, I did have one—there was little telly and no internet; there were just a few parked cars on the street, which became our ad hoc playground. We were exercising outdoors without knowing it. When we were exhausting my late mother’s patience, her mantra—“Go outside: the fresh air will do you good”—turned out to be true.
Introducing the requirement in schools is right and timely, particularly—but not only—because of the explosion in the number of children with additional support needs.
The member in charge will recall that, in the stage 1 debate, I supported the principle of the bill but caveated my support on the issue of funding, so I am heartened to hear the exchanges today on that.
In the stage 1 debate, I referenced the Broomlee outdoor education centre near West Linton, which I have visited on several occasions. It provides residential outdoor experiences for young people—life-changing experiences in the outdoors for children facing the pressures and anxiety of a post-lockdown world, coupled with the difficulties of a cost of living crisis, given that most of them are from less well-off areas.
At the time of that debate, the centre manager, Richard Gerrish, wrote to me. He said:
“This issue is clearly very close to our hearts ... because we have witnessed first-hand the ever-increasing numbers of children from economically disadvantaged areas who are missing out on these valuable experiences”.
I have abbreviated what he said. Much of what the centre provides is reflected in the bill, and I could see Broomlee providing just such experiences.
Many moons ago, as a working-class child, my first time away from my parents was with the girl guides, camping at North Berwick. Later, as a teenager, I went on a fortnight’s retreat to Iona. They were invaluable experiences, so blame the girl guides and Iona for the way I am today.
Finally—other members have said this, but I am not just saying it because they have said it—Liz Smith’s retiral next year will, of course, be a loss to the Parliament, as I also said about Maurice Golden. They are both MSPs whom I value in this Parliament. However, I really must not make a habit of saying such things.
17:26