Together recently held a series of four ‘UNCRC in Scotland‘ seminars in partnership with the Centre for Research on Families and Relationships (CRFR) at the University of Edinburgh and the Centre for Child Wellbeing and Protection (CCWP) at the University of Stirling.  The seminar series — funded by SUII — sought to improve and address gaps in the implementation and monitoring of the UNCRC in Scotland.  Members of the Glasgow Youth Council and the Scottish Youth Parliament were invited to attend the seminars as part of a film-making and creative project.  As the seminar series progressed, the involvement of these young people became so much more as they learnt about the UNCRC across law, practice and policy, eventually Chairing the final seminar on next steps for implementation.  After meeting Suki Wan, Thomas McEachan and Joel Meekison during the seminar series, Aberdeen City Council invited the three of them to Aberdeen to share best practice of embedding a child-rights based approach into planning and services. 

This fantastic video blog was put together by Thomas McEachan, MSYP for Glasgow Pollok since 2013 and Member of the Glasgow Youth Council for the Southside of Glasgow since 2012.  Many of Thomas’s members motions have focussed on the rights of children and young people, with particular focus on the issue of child poverty.  Thomas is a Scottish Youth Parliament Trustee and holds the Board portfolio for Communications.  

Together with other members of the Glasgow Youth Council, Thomas made a trip to Aberdeen in June in order to visit several child’s rights-related projects that are ongoing in the city.  He decided to record his experiences in Aberdeen through a video blog, which can be watched below.

In their most recent sitting, the Scottish Youth Parliament voted for their 2017-18 national campaign to be on Young People’s Rights.  Together looks forward to working closely with the Scottish Youth Parliament on this campaign over the coming year.