Hello, my name is Hisham. I’m from Sudanese origin. I was born in Glasgow. For the past 2 years I've been single parenting my five children while awaiting my wife's visa. She luckily joined us last Monday. Before the past discussion in the focus group meeting June 2022 I wasn’t aware much about the Scottish Parliament and their activities. I wasn't much aware that I could be involved in such activities and how to do so. The main reason I find it hard to take part in getting involved with the Scottish Parliament is my responsibility to cater for my family needs and the time allocation needed on daily basis. But now that my wife finally here I think I can manage to dedicate some time for the Parliament activities of course. I would also like to say that in my volunteering capacity working with the, some of the Syrian community, I’ve noticed a few key aspects that they are concerned with. For example recognising their qualifications, skills, professional skills obtained abroad, being an Engineer, practitioner, carpenter and so on. And also understanding the cultural barriers in breaking the ice with engaging with the Parliament, with a political entity such as the Scottish Parliament whenever it comes to governmental engagement has always been, em, things to think about. Me personally what I think it would be easier for me to share my views with the Parliament is communicating via virtual channels of technology and occasional visits or meetings to the Parliament.
Responsibilities of childcare. A good person to tap into and to spread the word in his community about SP. He has good skills of communication to other people within his community. Environment of SP feels a bit like a church, and this might make people feel comfortable. Trying to include and engage with people to point them in the direction of the SP.
Environment needs to feel quite welcoming. SP to be a safe place to come into.
Instead of citizen participation groups on particular issues, experts or niche individuals representing already identified protected groups or minority communities could be paid for a couple of days a month to work with different teams.
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