Central Scotland MSP Christina McKelvie joined around 60 other volunteers in undertaking a Firewalk to raise funds for motor neurone disease charity MND Scotland at Falkirk Stadium on Friday. Speaking after she had completed the walk along a 20 foot path of burning coals, Christina said:

“I feel absolutely exhilarated – I could take on the whole world right now. Everyone should do this!

“My feet don’t have a mark on them. When I go into the Scottish Parliament next week I think I’m going to be spending all my time taking my shoes off to prove I’m not covered in blisters. No one will believe me!

“There has been an amazing atmosphere here tonight. All of the Firewalk volunteers and their friends and family have been cheering each other on. It has been an incredible experience and brilliant way to raise money for motor neurone disease.”

Christina was nine when her father, David Curran, was diagnosed with MND. He eventually lost his battle with the disease 12 years after his diagnosis, and since then she has been determined to do all she can to help other sufferers and their families. She said:

“I had to summon up all my courage to do this Firewalk, but it was nothing compared to the fearlessness that my dad showed in fighting MND, or the courage shown by sufferers and their families in facing up to this condition every day.

“At any one time, there are around 300 to 350 people in Scotland with MND so its not a large population. And because its a very personal disease, it can be very different for every single individual.

“MND Scotland provides specialist nursing care, which is something that was never available when my dad was ill, as well as support groups across the country which have resulted in a huge support network of carers, family and friends. It’s a real community and a very special charity.”

S3M-05942# Christina McKelvie (Central Scotland) (Scottish National Party): Tackling Youth Crime on the Street— That the Parliament commends the Street, an innovative immersive drama project funded through Regen:fx Youth Trust in Hamilton, which confronts young people with the consequences of destructive and violent behaviour; notes that the Street combines hard-hitting theatre performance with youth work and education to challenge harmful behaviour by young people, highlight the consequences of their actions, and how that impacts on others, and encourage them to question their life choices; further notes that the project not only works with targeted groups of young people who have been identified as being at particular risk of becoming involved in crime but also that the drama is performed by young people who have themselves previously participated in the project; believes that such peer-to-peer discussion about violence, crime and their consequences, backed up by strong professional support, is an effective model for enabling at-risk young people to explore their attitudes and feelings and the choices available to them; further believes that this model has the potential to reduce offending by young people in communities across Scotland, and hopes that funding is found to allow Regen:fx Youth Trust to continue this important project.

S3M-05937 Christina McKelvie (Central Scotland) (Scottish National Party): Celebrating National Social Care Week and World Social Work Day— That the Parliament expresses its support for Scotland’s National Social Care Week, beginning on 15 March 2010, and World Social Work Day on 16 March 2010 and their celebration of the excellent work in often difficult circumstances done by social workers and social care workers throughout Scotland every day; notes that 163,000 people are employed in social work or social care in Scotland, that an estimated 650,000 Scots or their families use social work services every year and that 84% of users rate services as good quality and 76% say that they help them to live more independent lives; believes that, in a time of unemployment and recession and with a growing number of older people in the Scots population, social care and social work services are more vital and more valuable than ever, and endorses the continuing work by the Association of Directors of Social Work and the Scottish Social Services Council to positively raise the profile of the social work and social care professions through the Social Work Changes Lives campaign.

Christina spoke in the Conservative debate on 11 March.

“Scottish education is getting some serious funding, but there is a big gap between our funding and the funding afforded to the Swedish system, which is because of Sweden’s willingness to pay high taxes to fund the very best public services. I am delighted that the Conservatives are coming on board with that, and I look forward to their championing fair taxation. Another reason why the Swedish education system is so good is that it is delivered by local authorities to a central plan under, believe it or not, an historic concordat. It is true that it is difficult to get a better model than a good Swedish model, and I congratulate Liz Smith on taking a second look at that model.

“East Lothian is not quite as far away from here as Sweden is, but it has a forward-thinking SNP council that is trying to find innovative ways, using the resources at its disposal, to improve the education system. East Lothian Council is looking at a raft of measures, and I wish it well; perhaps it will do things that we can take forward. Finding ways of spending money more wisely rather than in greater quantities is a bit like searching for the holy grail, but at least SNP councils have set out on the hunt—I wish them well in that. Their job could be made even harder, though, when the cuts start coming through from Westminster. The task must be not to improve parental choice but to improve school education. Our professionals—our teachers—have been striving to do that, and they continue to push that improvement forward.

“Scotland’s education system is in fairly decent health and is moving forward steadily. Slow, steady progress is what is needed: a gradual movement towards improvement. The improvements that the Scottish Government has already put in place will continue to filter through.”

Read the full debate here.

http://www.scottish.parliament.uk/business/officialReports/meetingsParliament/or-10/sor0311-02.htm#Col24449

Christina McKelvie will do sponsored charity Firewalk Challenge

Christina McKelvie MSP will walk on hot coals next week to benefit people with motor neurone disease. The SNP MSP for Central Scotland will undertake MND Scotland’s Firewalk Challenge at Falkirk Stadium on Friday 12 March 2010.

The MND Scotland charity provides care and information for people affected by MND, and funding for research to find a cure for motor neurone disease.

Christina, whose father was an MND sufferer, is a longstanding supporter of the charity. She and other volunteers will take part in a motivational training session before walking along a 20 foot path of coals burning at 1200 degrees Fahrenheit – without experiencing any pain or injury!

Christina said:

“There are a lot of people out there who’d pay good money to see a politician get barbecued. Now’s their chance!

“Blistered feet are nothing compared to what motor neurone disease sufferers go through though, and this is an exciting, if scary, way to raise money for a cause that is very close to my heart.”

Notes

Motor neurone disease is a fatal illness with no cure. It can cause paralysis, loss of speech and impairs the ability to eat or drink.

Further details of the Firewalk Challenge are available from www.mndscotland.org.uk or by contacting Bryan Carroll, Communications Officer on 0141 945 1077, bryan.carroll@mndscotland.org.uk

You can sponsor Christina at http://www.justgiving.com/Christina-McKelvie-MSP.

S3M-05839 Christina McKelvie (Central Scotland) (Scottish National Party): 25th Anniversary of the Scottish Refugee Council— That the Parliament congratulates the Scottish Refugee Council on 25 years of providing practical help and moral support to people who have come to Scotland to escape persecution and human rights abuses in their own countries; notes that, since its inception in 1985, the Scottish Refugee Council has co-ordinated protection programmes for refugees from Vietnam, Chile, Bosnia and Kosovo and now assists independent asylum seekers from countries across the world; further notes that in 2008 almost 3,000 people were supported through the asylum process in Scotland; believes that in 2010 the work done by the Scottish Refugee Council to assist and support people seeking asylum, promote public understanding of refugee issues and promote dialogue and integration within and between Scotland’s diverse communities is more vital then ever, and fully supports the Scottish Refugee Council’s aim of securing for Scotland and the UK a humane asylum policy that respects and protects individual and collective social welfare and human rights.

Christina spoke in the debate on 25 February.

“At the weekend, I watched with interest “The Politics Show”, because that is what all of us do at the weekend. Glenn Campbell was interviewing Colin Sutherland, head of North Berwick high school and chair of School Leaders Scotland, which is the new incarnation of the Headteachers Association of Scotland. If I recall Mr Sutherland’s comments correctly, he said that the Scottish Government had issued all the high-level documents for the curriculum for excellence, that the preparatory work had been done properly and that, as long as the implementation timescale was followed properly, we were, in his words, “good to go”.

“Mr Sutherland told all of us who had gathered around our tellies for our weekend fix of political news that the Scottish Government had already given teaching staff extra time to prepare for the introduction of the curriculum for excellence—extra in-service days and so on—and that headteachers were grateful for that consideration. He winged a wee warning or two across the bows, saying that we are now trying to peer into the future with the curriculum for excellence, that staff need to know where it is leading, that timelines must be adhered to and that qualifications must be well prepared. However, by and large, he was positive and upbeat about the implementation of the curriculum…

“As with everything else in these times of tightening fiscal belts, finances are a worry, but Mr Sutherland made clear on the BBC that implementing the curriculum for excellence should not cost money in most subjects and can be done at nearly neutral cost overall; he is very positive. Where there are funding requirements—I assume that the cabinet secretary will correct me if I am wrong—the Scottish Government will ensure that the resources that are needed to implement the curriculum will be made available…

“In my opinion, the curriculum for excellence is a good move for Scottish education. For the first time ever, Scotland will have a unified system from three to 18—a through-school experience to aid pupils’ learning. That is a prize for which it is worth competing and undertaking some change.”

Read the full debate here.