Give our young people tools to thrive

A few weeks ago Blair McDougall and I had the pleasure of presenting the winner of the 2025 Barrhead Young Citizen of the Year Award.

- BY WEST SCOTLAND LABOUR MSP PAUL O'KANE

The family and friends of the winner and the runners up gathered at Arthurlie House in Barrhead to hear about the fantastic contributions their young loved ones had made to their community.

The three finalists were all so deserving of their awards because in their own unique way they had done something inspiring.

There was a very particular motivation behind our decision to bring back this award.

We wanted to give people the chance to hear something positive about our young people.

The news is filled with stories about school classrooms becoming pressure cooker environments, and violence and antisocial behaviour rising on our streets.

We thought it was time to raise awareness of the great things the next generation of young people are capable of.

There is however an undeniable feeling that our young people are being let down and could be offered so much more support than they're currently getting.