Parliamentary Praise for Schools Programme

Nil by Mouth’s pioneering ‘Champions for Change’ schools programme has been publicly praised in Parliament by Cabinet Secretary for Education John Swinney MSP.

Mr Swinney, who is also Scotland’s Deputy First Minister, made his remarks in response to a question from Inverclyde MSP Stuart McMillan who wished to highlight the success of the ‘Sing Something Else’ project which ran in two Gourock High Schools during the first six months of 2018 as part of the ‘Champions for Change’ Programme.Mr Swinney acknowledged the success of the programme and welcomed the fact that is made available to schools the length and breadth of Scotland.

‘Champions for Change’ was launched in 2011 and helps pupils better understand religious and cultural differences between people as well as work on a number of ‘inter-school’ projects bringing catholic and non-denominational schools together. Support from the Scottish Government helped establish the programme from 2011-2016 and it has been sustained by the charity since then through a range of trust fund grants, crowd funding and fundraising activities.

It is offered free of charge to schools across all 32 local authority areas in Scotland. Since 2011 more than 30,000 pupils from over 100 schools have participated in the programme. It has ran in schools from the Borders right up to the Highlands.

You can read Mr Swinney’s remarks in full at:
http://www.parliament.scot/parliamentarybusiness/report.aspx?r=11598&mode=pdf