The job market is a lottery and why employment figures are a nonsensical folly

listen to ‘The job market is a lottery and why employment figures are a nonsensical folly’ on audioBoom

Graduates like me have entered a volatile
and unsettled job market. And so have
non-graduates.

It's the draw for this week's job lottery! Get your tickets out and see if your applications lead to success. You could be a winner!

Many job seekers and those looking to expand the amount of work they do always have that recurring hope that their desires, hopes and ambitions within their own career can be fulfilled. Yet despite figures out today stating that unemployment has fallen, very few people have questioned the potential devil in the detail as far as the reality of the overall situation in the economy is concerned.

According to the Office of National Statistics, unemployment fell below two million between June and August 2014. The fall between a year earlier and now is 538,000 which is the largest annual fall in unemployment since records began in 1972. Yet the economic inactivity rate is still an eye watering 22.2%. For the sake of clarity, I tried to find an official definition of what "economic inactivity rate" meant on the Office for National Statistics website, but I was not successful.

However, according to the Scottish Government website, "economically inactive" was defined as people who weren't officially unemployed, but who aren't in employment and:

- Want a job but have not been seeking work in the last four weeks; or
- Want a job and are seeking work but not available to start work in the next two weeks; or
- Do not want a job.

So let's assume that being economically inactive is defined as such. How many people fall under this category, but who cannot find actual paid work or earn a living in order to satisfy their social and economic needs? And how many people fall under this category who want to be in a job that suits their own career needs, but are being shut out? And, on another note, how many people find themselves self-employed through no choice, but to stay afloat as much as they possibly can in the stormy sea?

That's the reality and the core of the whole problem that actually exists in our country, economy and society. There are talented graduates and non-graduates of all ages with a strong bank of experience and skills who cannot find a vacancy that helps them move on in life. There is a disturbing complacency amongst nearly everybody when it comes to the overall employment and job market situation.

And it's not just the fact that there is next to no work available in many areas, but when vacancies arise and candidates fulfil pretty much the criteria in an interview which would make them a perfect appointment, they still face the likelihood of being knocked back. That's the reality today. You could have all the experience and skills in the world, but it counts for nothing if you're not "it". I appreciate that the competition for vacancies is fierce, but that doesn't compensate for the frustration and injustice that has arisen more than ever for many talented people.

The release of the latest employment figures today reminded me of an early morning telephone call to London based talk radio station LBC when I spoke to Olly Mann about my own life and career earlier this year. More people might find themselves employed by name, but not in spirit. And as I remember stating to Olly, statistics are one thing, but the reality on the ground is another.

Let's all stop being naïve, give ourselves a good damn reality check and think properly about what's really happening out there.

Alex Salmond, outgoing First Minister of Scotland - my personal tribute.

I took this picture of the outgoing First Minister
of Scotland earlier this year - he is a canny, well
liked and highly skilled politician.

If you've got no access to a television, smartphone, tablet, computer or any media then you will be one of the very few people on this planet not to be in the knowledge of what has unfolded here in Scotland over the last 24 to 48 hours. 

As a supporter of the Yes campaign,  I am personally devastated, hurt and very upset by the outcome of the Scottish independence referendum. Yet at the same time, I'm proud also. With a turnout of well over 80%, it is clear that democracy was the big winner with this referendum. But the outcome of the vote has sadly led to the forthcoming loss of quite probably one of the greatest (if not the greatest) politician to have ever led Scotland. 

When I arrived home at lunchtime today, a volcano of emotions erupted. Tears, sadness, devastation, sorrow and even anger. Yes I know the last one is very drastic, but it was inevitable. Let me add though that I wasn't angry at anybody. I was just angry that my country was never granted the ability to take it's place on the international stage as an independent country.

I slept much of those emotions off throughout the afternoon and when I woke up, I discovered that our current First Minister announced that he was to resign towards the end of 2014. Now you would expect me to feel a sense of complete and total sadness at that news, wouldn't you? Well I did feel upset for him, but the main feeling that emerged for me was a sense of relief, happiness and respect for the man who has led our nation since 2007.

Let's face it, Alex Salmond could not have done any more in his current role. He led his party to two stunning election victories in both 2007 and 2011. I have never been a member of the Scottish National Party, but my admiration for him and his party existed, especially in the latter of the two victories. At that time, I was still a Conservative member yet I can still remember wanting to see the Scottish National Party win. I was so impressed by how the party managed to govern effectively despite having to work as a minority within the Scottish Parliament in their first term of office.

Alex Salmond's party frankly deserved their overall majority in 2011, because they proved to people across Scotland and beyond that they could run an administration with competence. I don't think they got everything right, but they certainly performed well. But as far as the issue of independence was concerned, it was always going to be a big ask. Yet despite this, the MSP for Aberdeenshire East proved why he is one of the world's most skilful politicians. He outplayed Westminster and the Prime Minister from the start all the way until before the referendum vote. 

The loss for Yes is something that the First Minister should never be blamed for. Rather, he should be very proud that the Yes campaign managed to convince well over 1.5 million people in Scotland to vote in favour of independence. When you consider the overall environment in Scotland, it is an absolutely remarkable achievement. He could have very easily continued on, but I think he was absolutely right to resign. He doesn't need to put himself through any unnecessary agony, pressure or stress in the coming weeks. And he will depart Bute House with dignity and his integrity well in tact.

I think when we move on, history will put Alex Salmond in a good light. This is a man who wanted the best for his country. This is a man who was willing to lead from the front and do what was necessary to make Scotland more appealing and relevant internationally. I absolutely reject the absolutely absurd and downright malicious assertion that he was an arrogant individual. Arrogance is not the same as being assertive. He asserted himself appropriately and although he was quite mischievous at times, he was never boring and always wanted the best for the country. It is people like him that makes politics tolerable.

Despite this referendum, he is a winner. Scotland needs winners. And that's why he will always be someone that I will regard with a deep sense of affection for the rest of my life.

It's time for an independent Scotland to take it's place on the world stage

listen to ‘My declaration over the Scottish independence referendum’ on Audioboo

Will my home city become the capital of a
newly independent Scotland?

This is probably going to be the most important blog post I have ever written. For many weeks, people have asked me time and time again what stance I take on the forthcoming independence referendum this Thursday. I came to the conclusion that keeping my thoughts to myself was not justifiable in the face of what is to become one of the most defining moments in my lifetime (no matter what the result is) so I've decided to share my thoughts and feelings publicly.

Let me put my cards on the table. I have never been a member of the Scottish National Party and have no desire to become a politician anytime soon. I was a member of the Conservatives between 2009 and 2012 and left the party for a mixture of reasons - losing interest in party politics in general and being unable to support many of the decisions being taken by the UK coalition government, plus it's overall performance in a variety of issues (such as failure to stay successfully on track to tackling the UK's deficit).

But also, despite initially favouring Ruth Davidson for the leadership, I felt that the Scottish Conservatives took the wrong direction when Murdo Fraser's plans for disbanding the party and creating a new centre-right political party for Scotland were rejected. I felt then that my place in the party had disappeared and let my membership expire. I am approaching the issue on Scotland's constitutional future as an individual and I am only speaking for my own self now. I'm not really left or right anymore. I see myself as more of a pragmatist if anything (some may argue that I'm more of a populist, but I don't see things that way!).

Firstly, I want to congratulate everybody, Yes, No and those on the fence on what has been one of the most enlightening and thrilling debates of all time. Political apathy has well and truly been defeated for the first time in around three decades or so and we should all be proud of that. With a turnout of well over 80% to be expected, it is clear that many people want their voices heard on what is clearly a very important issue.

Despite there being some unpleasant moments of friction between some supporters of the two sides, the vast majority of people have debated the issues in an environment of respect and dignity. Although differences of opinion undoubtedly create some sort of disharmony, it is fair to say that none of us want to live in a world where everybody agrees with each other on every single last aspect or issue in life - where's the fun in that?

On Thursday, the nation's voters will be asked whether Scotland should become an independent country. It's fair to say that both options on the ballot paper carry a mixture of benefit and risk.

Let's start with the Yes option. Nearly nobody disputes that Scotland is more than capable of being a superb, prosperous and successful independent nation and that we are more than capable of running our own country. We are a wealthy country that has been blessed with a range of resources such as our talented population, oil and water. We also appeal to many tourists as a country worth visiting. We also have demonstrated to our friends all over the world that when we hold international events in the areas of arts, culture and sport, we are world class.

And we need to do much more in order to properly reach out to all corners of the globe. We need to become the number one place for business to come and invest in - after all, investment brings employment and prosperity. Although the level of investment into Scotland has increased over the last few years, we need to do far more to achieve that goal. People get terrified of the word competition, but I think it is the reality of our world today. We need to stand up and take our own unique place in what is becoming an ever more dynamic and globalised world.

Evan Davis' excellent documentary "Mind The Gap: London v the Rest", which was broadcast on the BBC, demonstrated to me why Scotland needs to take responsibility for all of it's economic matters. Now please don't get me wrong, London is a fabulous city and I visit the city a lot and enjoy my experiences there, but it just feels like it is prioritised too often over other parts of the United Kingdom for investment and economic growth. There simply aren't enough job opportunities for people my age in Scotland, nor is there enough support to help our future generations come out of secondary or tertiary education and into a successful career and good quality of living.

People like myself have had no choice but to leave home in order to further a career. And if I'm honest, although it's great to travel around and have a different environment every now and again, I actually resent having to face the idea of having no choice but to leaving my own country in order to make progress within my own life. My friends and family live here and I want to live, work and build my life in Scotland and I seriously think that the country needs much more autonomy in order to take it's own direction economically.

But I also acknowledge that there are risks that will be taken with independence. Many people are still anxious about the currency issue and wonder whether we will still be using the Pound Sterling. However, I am very confident that whether we end up in a currency union or not that the currency we currently have will still be the one we are using in the immediate aftermath of becoming an independent country. However, I do believe that one day, like other nations such as the Republic of Ireland and Australia, we will have our own currency (such as the Scottish Pound for instance). There's nothing to fear from that - these nations and many more started out in a similar way and then over the years they used their own currency and have gone on to be successful since.

And what about the No option? Well, we will still remain a nation state within the United Kingdom as it stands today. I guess not much will change - we'll still have the BBC, have MP's representing us at Westminster and retain British passports. But as far as the constitutional issue is concerned, dare I say this but I fear that after many years of debate and ideas being exchanged and discussed that we will end up with nothing. It's all well and good to hear the three main parties who support the union propose ideas for more new powers for Scotland. But from what I've heard in the news over the last week or so, it's just not good enough.

It seems like we will only get some powers and nothing like devolution max. And what's more, that option isn't even on the ballot paper - it could have been though. Also, how will MP's and voters react in the rest of the UK? I think very few people there will happily approve of the idea of giving Scotland any more powers. Whilst I applaud those on the No side aspiring to see more devolution taking place in Scotland, I strongly think that it is not achievable. The idea of devolving more powers to Scotland in the aftermath of a No vote is politically impossible and probably won't gain approval at Westminster.

I have to applaud the current administration at Holyrood for it's competence in ensuring that policies such as free NHS prescriptions and the abolition of tuition fees for students in Scotland have been implemented - ensuring that you have appropriate policies in order to cater for the social needs of the population is vital. Although I do agree that welfare reform is necessary, I do not feel comfortable about some of the things that have unfolded. The rise in the number of food banks is troubling and the way the welfare system is run is frankly not working effectively. Also, the policy of the spare room subsidy has proven to be an absolute disaster and should never have been implemented in the first place. If Scotland's voters don't want such policies, then why should they be brought about in the first place?

On another note, I am absolutely sick, tired and fed up of listening to some people who doubt our capability to run our own nation. I feel that the decision I am about to announce has been vindicated by the events of this past week - the scare stories which illustrate that some sort of an economic catastrophe will hit our country have been nothing short of ridiculous. I'm actually really angry, hurt and very disappointed about the way my country has been treated, sneered upon and viewed over our future, because of the referendum - call me emotional if you want, but this decision is a mixture of head and heart. It's a democratic decision. The world will respect it and if we are set to become an independent country then I would expect there to be a degree of anticipation for us to take our own place in the world.

I respect the views of everyone whether they are voting Yes, No or don't intend to vote at all. I have no doubt that we all, whichever viewpoint we accept, want the best for Scotland. I absolutely condemn any intimidation, abuse or questioning of anybody's patriotism within this debate. Whilst I am more than delighted to debate the issues with anybody in a calm, constructive and dignified manner, I will have absolutely no time for anybody who is looking for trouble of any kind (and it doesn't matter what stance you take on the debate either!).

And finally, I could go on and write a book about all of my thoughts on the future of our country, but I don't have time. And you probably don't have time to read them either. Which is why I'm going to declare that after weighing all of the risks and benefits, I am convinced that the benefits of Scottish independence outweigh the risks. I am supporting a Yes vote and I'm ready to embrace the independence of the Scottish nation (if it happens).

Thank you very much.

My speech on hospital radio and Victoria Radio Network

Last night, I was hounoured to be asked to speak to an audience at St Marie's Church about hospital radio and Kirkcaldy's award winning hospital radio station, Victoria Radio Network.

Have a listen to what I had to say last night - there is a speech from me and a short Q and A session. Plus, you'll get to find out what my wildest broadcasting fantasy is at the end! Enjoy!

Lack of Scottish talk radio - the REAL democratic deficit

listen to ‘Lack of Scottish talk radio - the REAL democratic deficit’ on Audioboo

Let's increase the variety of voices heard on the radio and faces
seen on television. Excite the listener or viewer and don't
switch them off!

Talk radio is proving to be a popular phenomenon in many different geographical areas. In the Republic of Ireland, Newstalk is their most well known independent talk radio broadcaster. The BBC focuses on talk based programming through it's own output on stations such as Radio 4. And in London, who can forget the popular LBC?

Scotland is about to face the biggest decision in it's entire history in just under three weeks from now. Much debate has been had on television screens, in town halls and on the streets of every city and town across this country. Yet, despite all this, the country can sadly not boast that it has it's own independent national talk radio station. Frankly, this is a national obscenity as well as a tragedy.

A good friend of mine and I had a deep conversation about this whole issue on the phone last weekend. Like me, and I say this with modesty, he has a constructive and analytical outlook on the referendum. Personally, I'm getting more and more fed up of seeing the same faces and hearing the same voices on my television and radio every day, particularly with regard to coverage of the Scottish independence referendum. I'm getting fed up of listening to the same soundbites from politicians on both sides time after time. And I'm also getting fed up of the petty point scoring that overshadows many broadcasts on the issue of the referendum (and on other issues within politics in general). Why can't the broadcasters and other media outlets start looking further afield to other people and commentators to seek their constructive opinions? Are people like me just not interesting enough?

To be fair, I have to feel grateful to the BBC at Pacific Quay for allowing me on numerous occasions to come onto Morning Call on BBC Radio Scotland and speak about the issues featured on their show (of which not every issue that I've discussed on that show has been specifically related to the referendum on independence). But BBC Scotland can only do so much and has to cater for all of it's listeners as Radio Scotland is not specifically a talk radio station. The advantage with having an independent national talk radio station is that it'll enable a platform for a variety of different people to come on air and put their opinion in the public domain. It's wrong to suggest that people don't care about politics. They do - for goodness sake, look at the number of people who have registered to vote for this forthcoming referendum. I know some of you will point me to Talk 107, which was a talk radio station serving Edinburgh, Fife and the Lothians in the 2000's. Sadly it's no longer around, because, in my opinion, it did not reach out to the whole nation and only broadcast to a selected part of the country - that was a fundamental mistake from the start.

If I'm being really honest, the need for Scotland to catch up with the likes of London and the Republic of Ireland in having, exclusively, a talk radio station of it's own is overwhelming. We should be ashamed of ourselves as a country that such a service does not exist in it's own entity. I hope somebody with experience, expertise and passion for such an idea can bring about whatever is required for Scottish talk radio to thrive again and contribute a fundamentally important element to the nation's media.

My genuine fears for Scotland post-referendum

The sun will truly set one way or the other on
September 19th in Scotland.

Four weeks today, Scotland will be at a major crossroad - one direction will lead to independence and another one will lead to remaining within the United Kingdom. Either way, one side of the debate will win and the other will be defeated.

And don't think for a second that this is going to be the first of a series of referenda on Scotland's future. This is a once in a lifetime occasion which will never be repeated. The way the polls are trending at the moment suggests that the result isn't going to be a 70/30 or even a 60/40 split.

For the last few days, the result of people's emotions after the result of the referendum has started to really worry me. Many people have stated their possible intention of quitting Scotland if the result doesn't go the way they want - the results of a recent survey by Panelbase for The Sunday Times and Heart radio station suggested that around 700,000 people in Scotland could emigrate if the referendum ended up with a Yes vote and around 200,000 people in Scotland would quit the country if the result of the referendum was a No. Both figures are not small (link to article from The Scotsman website).

The biggest flaw some people complain about with the upcoming referendum is the fact that there are only two options on the tablet for voters - independence or (arguably) nothing. And the group of voters in particular that will really not appreciate this are those who wanted to vote for a possible third option where it was, for example, "Devolution Plus" or "Devolution Max". What if we end up with a No vote and, after all this long period of time debating, nothing happens? That would go down well with very few people - in June 2012, according to the results of a Ipsos MORI/Reform Scotland survey, only 29% opted for the "status quo" option (link to UK Polling Report website).

Now I know people on the No side insist that more powers will be delivered to the Scottish Parliament under devolution, but how do we really know that is going to definitely happen? The three main pro-union parties at Holyrood have all come up with different ideas and have failed to make a united agreement on what extra powers will be legislated for after the referendum. It could turn out to be their biggest mistake in recent Scottish history and the Better Together side will have nobody but themselves to blame if they lose. However, will it all depend on who wins the 2015 UK General Election? Probably.

On the contrary, it should be asked as to why the Yes side are not leading the polls with just around a month to go. I do not think for a second that anyone within Yes Scotland seem to be panicking at the moment, but time is running out if they want to have enough momentum on their side in order to claim victory. Then again, will they pull off an extraordinary victory? The Scottish National Party certainly did in the 2011 election for the Scottish Parliament, so who knows?

I also felt that the First Minister is still not setting out that unambiguous of a case for Sterling to remain as the main currency of Scotland. When I quizzed Deputy First Minister Nicola Sturgeon on this issue in Kirkcaldy last Tuesday, she gave me a really strong and, frankly, unambiguous case - maybe it should have been her debating Alistair Darling on STV over a fortnight ago.

What also attracted my attention this week was the contrast between many of the polls which illustrate that a No vote was likely and the result of a survey carried out in working class communities by the Radical Independence Campaign. They found that support for a Yes vote stood at 44%, No on 25% and Don't Knows on 31%. Take the latter of the three away and the split would be 63/37 in favour of a Yes vote (link to article from The Scotsman website). 

Now I couldn't source results of another separate survey for those that live in middle class communities, but the possible inequality between those that are well off and those that aren't well off and what both groups of people want for Scotland's future appears very disturbing and divisive to me as far as the future of Scottish society is concerned.

The last thing to consider for now is the fact that this forthcoming referendum is unchartered territory for everybody in Scotland. We have never had a referendum of this kind before and none of us on this earth can really determine what is going to really happen after the result is announced. However, I fear that the political mood of this country will become so toxic that matters could become really unhealthy and it is the responsibility of the politicians to ensure that a sense of calm resumes after the referendum.

The outcome of the vote on September 18th 2014 will go right to the wire. Put it this way, it's like a football cup final - there won't be a draw. And only one side can win this debate.

Five reasons why Glasgow should host the Olympics in 2028

Shall we do it all over again with a
Glasgow 2028 Olympic Games?

So we all know how capable Glasgow was in hosting the 20th Commonwealth Games this summer. But whether Scotland wins independence or chooses to remain within the United Kingdom, I think we should not hesitate for a second in thinking about the prospect of bringing the Olympic Games to Scotland's biggest city. Here's why:

1. Glasgow and Scotland are pretty much well organised with our provision of facilities to host events such as football, swimming and the triathlon. And we all know how magical Hampden Park became when the athletics came to town during the Commonwealth Games. It should also be noted that other cities and locations across Scotland can, like during Glasgow 2014, support the city in hosting sporting events such as when the shooting took place at Barry Buddon near Dundee.

2. Glasgow and Scotland has an advanced transportation system which caters for the needs of commuters on a daily basis. And during Glasgow 2014 there were hardly any major problems despite how busy the city became (particularly at venues where events were taking place). With the help of the specially designated lanes across Glasgow's road network, the extended timetable on the railways and extra bus services, traffic continued to flow well.

3. An Olympic Games in Glasgow and Scotland will provide even more opportunity for the city and country to grow and exceed any expectations. Although I did mention Hampden Park and the athletics earlier, there would probably be a need for a brand new Scottish Olympic Stadium in order to provide a higher level of capacity. A Scottish Olympics will provide the chance for improvements to infrastructure such as the roads and sporting facilities and also the opportunity to build other new facilities such as new hotels and retail centres.

4. Glasgow have a strong track record in hosting international events such as the UEFA Champions League and UEFA Cup (now known as the UEFA Europa League) finals (2002 and 2007, respectively), the annual World Pipe Band Championships and of course the recent Glasgow 2014 Commonwealth Games. 2028 is a good year to go for in terms of bidding for the Olympics, because it allows time for the current political situation to settle in Scotland and for us to reflect and consolidate on the success of the 20th Commonwealth Games.

5. Scotland may only be a country of just over five million people, but we Scots are a very big and well known, loved and admired people worldwide. We live for the big occasion and we continuously make a great name for ourselves on the international stage as we beautifully demonstrated during Glasgow 2014. And we are also an outward looking, friendly and ambitious country so welcoming the world to Scotland will be a task that we would all relish with excitement.

So there you go. A succinct, yet thought provoking case for the country's biggest city to be the focus of the world once again. Don't call me ludicrous or blame me for writing this blog entry. We should not hold ourselves back.

MY GLASGOW 2014 JOURNEY - Part 5: The best Commonwealth Games ever

The sun has well and truly set on Glasgow 2014, but
the memories of the 20th Commonwealth Games will
remain for a long time to come for many people, including
myself.

This final part of my series of reflections on the 20th Commonwealth Games in Glasgow, Scotland's biggest city, is an overall conclusion of what has been the most fantastic sporting event to have ever taken place in the country.

Well I hope people reading my thoughts about Glasgow 2014 will appreciate the time that I have taken to put my thoughts on the record and put my feelings on the record. And I want to thank everybody for reading my blog posts and I hope that people reading them, especially who might have volunteered at the Commonwealth Games or who went to an event at the Commonwealth Games or who have any connection with anybody who might have got involved at the Commonwealth Games will appreciate the experiences and maybe relate to some of the things that I have said or shared as part of my blog entries.

I have to say that I am so incredibly proud of Glasgow and Scotland, because I think we have shown the whole world, let alone the Commonwealth, that Scotland is more than good enough to run an event as big as the Commonwealth Games. And I know a lot of people tend to downplay the Commonwealth Games because it is not the Olympics or because it is not as big as other sporting events like the World Cup. But it's still a very major, major event so it does require a lot of investment, time, effort and energy to make the event work successfully. And I have to say that all the stakeholders who got involved and who helped out with the running of the Commonwealth Games did an absolutely incredibly sterling job and did an absolutely amazing job and they should be given full respect for how well they've done.

I think the fact that the Scottish Government and Glasgow City Council (an 80/20 split I think) funded the Commonwealth Games solely was just an absolute testament to the fact that devolution has really enabled Scotland to actually take the initiative and bring an event as big as this to Glasgow and to Scotland and to invite the Commonwealth to come to Glasgow and to the other parts of Scotland which held events for the Commonwealth Games to actually enjoy the event.

I had such a brilliant time. I would go as far as saying that it was life changing, because for the first time in my own life, I got to see an event as major as this in my own country and that is just special, because it's one thing to watch an event as big as the Commonwealth Games or the Olympics or the World Cup in another country - and yes it's great, but there's just something special about having it in your own country and that is just marvellous and frankly very inspiring.

I think one of the legacies for me personally as far as the Commonwealth Games is concerned is the fact that I have now taken up lawn bowls as a sport so I'm already thinking ahead to the Gold Coast in 2018 and hoping to compete there at the 21st Commonwealth Games in Australia.

Now I know some people may accuse me of being delusional, but there is only one life that you live and you have to live it and it's worth seeing how good I can get at lawn bowls and if I'm good enough then I can make it into the Scottish team for the 2018 Commonwealth Games and that will be absolutely fantastic, but we'll see what happens. The main thing for me personally is the fact that I have taken up a new sport and the fact that I am enjoying it and I am playing it for fun initially and learning is absolutely superb and I think is already a legacy for me personally.

If Glasgow was not in the premiership of the world's best cities before the Commonwealth Games, it is in there now. It is up there with London, New York, Toronto, Melbourne and many, many more cities. It is just a brilliant city to go and visit, to go and run a business in, to go and get a job in and work in and even just spend time with your friends in and to go and see world class events.

And the fact Glasgow has been able to host the Commonwealth Games in such a positive and such a brilliant and excitable manner - Glasgow is truly world class! And now really there are many, many reasons for anybody to go and visit the city or host an event in the city or to even shop in the city or work in the city or run a business in the city - it's just world class!

And although it's not the capital of the United Kingdom or the capital of Scotland, so what? It's up there in the premiership of the world's best cities - it is world famous! And you know, it was always world famous before the Commonwealth Games and now it's reputation has been enhanced thanks to the success of Glasgow 2014.

This Commonwealth Games took place in my home country. I had an involvement in this Commonwealth Games. I played my part in this Commonwealth Games. I personally got to experience this Commonwealth Games. And that for me was just life changing. That was just so special.

I would say nearly everybody is saying that Glasgow 2014 was the best Commonwealth Games ever - Glasgow 2014 was just world class.

When we allowed Glasgow to flourish, Glasgow flourished.

When we were asked to bring it on, we brought it on.

And when we were asked to gie it laldy, we gave it laldy.

MY GLASGOW 2014 JOURNEY - Part 4: Being a spectator

The Clyde Auditorium and the SSE Hydro were just
two of the many venues across Glasgow and Scotland
hosting sporting events for the 20th Commonwealth Games.

This is the penultimate part of my overall reflection of Glasgow 2014. In this blog entry, I take a look back at my experience of being a spectator at a variety of events during the Commonwealth Games.

I was lucky to go and see the badminton, squash, para-sport powerlifting and the athletics as far as events were concerned and ultimately the big one I went to was the Closing Ceremony which I was delighted to be at. But I'll start with the sporting events.

The first one I went to was the badminton which took place at the Emirates Arena in Dalmarnock. The first thing you notice about the Emirates Arena is how massive the venue is. It's absolutely huge. And although it wasn't the first time I was in that venue, I sensed how massive this venue really was. And it was absolutely incredible, especially with the badminton taking place there, because I recall seeing on the television beforehand that there was more than one badminton match taking place at the same time. But in my case when I went to see the badminton on the 27th July, there was only one match taking place and I remember it was in the evening. And that was a match between England and India.

The weekend of the 2nd and 3rd August, of which I like to call it the "super weekend" - it was full of events for the Saturday and Sunday. The first of those events was the para-sport powerlifting and I remember watching the English athlete Ali Jawad breaking the world record with one of his lifts and then he broke his own newly set world record - he broke the world record twice in one session which was absolutely extraordinary. It wasn't a sell out for that event, but the atmosphere was absolutely extraordinary and the first sign of this was when the Glasgow 2014 mascot Clyde appeared out of nowhere onto the stage and started singing and got the audience signing and dancing along. That was quite extraordinary to watch and very amusing and light hearted as well.

Later on that evening, there was the three of us - my brother, I and a friend. We went to the athletics at Hampden Park. It was absolutely incredible, because you got this sense that Hampden Park had transformed like magic from what was a football stadium into this athletics arena and you can tell the crowd were really up for it, even though it was raining and it was grey in the skies and the track was wet and that was a bit annoying.

I was a bit disappointed that night, because I didn't see much of Team Scotland prosper on the night which was a bit sad because I wanted to see some medals from my country. Having said that, we did see a certain Mr Bolt compete for Jamaica and he was very entertaining as always. He got the crowd going and surprise, surprise he succeeded yet again and Jamaica scored successfully once again in the athletics (I'm saying that in terms of medals). It was just an absolutely brilliant night for Jamaica. It was just a great night watching a variety of events like the triple jump, javelin, the relay finals and the long distance finals.

I remember we headed to Scotstoun for the squash for the Sunday of that "super weekend" and we (my brother and I) were a bit late for the start actually which was a bit frustrating and embarrassing - it was my fault, because I'd arrived a bit late into Glasgow from Fife and completely didn't get my facts right when it came to getting the right train to Scotstoun. Nonetheless, we got there and we stayed there for a good six hours I think, because there were a lot of final matches being played and we saw a variety of teams playing like Australia and England.

It was great to watch, because squash is one of these sports like badminton which is very fast paced and ruthless to an extent - I'm not implying that the athletes are necessarily ruthless. They are very good natured and have respect for each other, but the velocity of the sport is very fast (squash and badminton fit into that category). We saw a great mixture of competition taking place which was great and eye opening as well. There was a really good atmosphere around Scotstoun.

Afterwards, we rushed back into the city centre and my brother and I met our father and a friend of ours who came to join us for the closing ceremony for that evening. I remember getting a bit agitated, because our friend who was coming in from the west of the city was held up in the train delays heading into Glasgow city centre so I saw all these folk heading into the shuttle buses at Buchanan Bus Station and there I was sitting down in the station thinking, "oh my God we need to get away, because we are going to be late!" - I didn't shout this out in public, because I didn't want to cause any embarrassment.

Nonetheless, we all united and we boarded the shuttle bus and headed to Hampden Park. We arrived very early actually, we arrived around an hour before the start of the actual closing ceremony so I was very chuffed and relieved that we were in our seats before then.

I remember seeing all these tents all over the pitch and I was trying to find out at first what was going on (what were we going to expect?). Fast forward to nine o'clock then the closing ceremony took place and then suddenly I can see all these athletes running out of their tents with absolutely no hint of hesitation, running towards the stage and the stadium absolutely lit up in sound and light and it was just...everybody started going into song and everybody started getting all excited and all these saltires waved across the stadium.

It was a great start to the closing ceremony and it was quite a musical closing ceremony if I rightly remember  - it was almost like being at a concert.

I remember notably HRH Prince Imran saying that the Commonwealth Games was "pure, dead brilliant" and the whole crowd just loved it. There was probably not one person in the stadium who didn't smile at that and it was just absolutely marvellous.

The obvious lowlight was when Prince Edward said the Commonwealth Games were closed. Everybody was very gutted about that, but that was going to inevitably happen.

But I think the highlight of the night for me came at the very end when everybody started to sing "Caledonia" along with Deacon Blue and then when all the acts united together on the stage and started singing "Auld Lang Syne" and then suddenly you can see all around, everybody holding hands together singing that song and it was absolutely a sight to behold.

It's something I have never ever seen in my life, through my own two eyes and just seeing that was so special. It was the best show I have ever witnessed in the whole of my entire life and to be honest I don't think there's going to be very much that beats it, because it was just that special and adding the fact that nearly a billion people (not a million, a billion) all over this planet watched that show - I mean it just summed up how vital and important this event was and how significant it was as well and it was just such a great night.

The other two things I will say - I thought the security team were fantastic. I thought the police, army and other organisations who helped out with the security and looking after everybody - I thought that they were absolutely amazing.

The second thing I will mention, I thought the transport was just fantastic. The trains, albeit some of them were a few minutes late because of high demand, they still ran very well and the shuttle buses especially from Hampden back to the city centre were absolutely fantastic.

A superb experience as a spectator at Glasgow 2014. It's a huge credit to them and all the organisers for how brilliant the experience was and I just loved it.

MY GLASGOW 2014 JOURNEY - Part 3: Life as a Clyde-sider

My volunteering as a Clyde-sider was spent on Tayside
at the Apex Hotel which is near the Tay Road Bridge in Dundee.
Around 400 athletes were based there during the Commonwealth
Games.

In my previous blog post, I explored how I managed to land the opportunity of becoming a Clyde-sider volunteer for the Glasgow 2014 Commonwealth Games. In the third of my series of reflections, I look back at my time volunteering on Tayside.

As far as where I was based was concerned, I didn't care as long I was playing some role even if it was making a cup of tea or coffee then so what? It doesn't bother me. But I got a more prominent role than that which was very good.

After I accepted the role of Clyde-sider, I started attending a series of training sessions. I remember two of them as far as my memory is concerned - the problem is I have got a memory which is the size of a fish and no disrespect to sea animals or fish, because they're lovely but my memory is terrible at times. I remember two training sessions in particular that I took part in...in fact no make that three, because I remember the third one now.

The two I firstly remembered was the one at Hampden which was more of the specific training in transportation, which everyone involved from transportation got involved in for the whole of the Commonwealth Games and all of the venues and it was a limited number of us, I think around fifty of us, in this one big room at Hampden. So I'm not sure if they had other training sessions on - I think they did from what I remember when I booked the sessions on the volunteer portal.

The other one I remember was up at the Apex Hotel in Dundee, where I was based. We (myself and my colleagues who became friends of mine as our time volunteering went on) met our bosses who were fantastic people, absolutely fantastic people and really, really good people and I got a really good sense that we were going to be a great team and that we were going to be a very cohesive team and a strong, closely knitted team.

The third session that I've just remembered and I cannot believe it didn't come up in my memory first of all was the orientation training up at the Emirates Arena in Dalmarnock (I'm going back the way time wise as it was one of the first sessions I went to). I remember seeing Clyde (the Glasgow 2014 mascot) running around the place amusing everybody. And I remember Romeo as well, also known as David Farrell who now presents on STV Glasgow and who used to do a programme called In:Demand on Radio Clyde which used to be broadcast on all of the Bauer stations (across Scotland) so you're talking about Radio Forth, Radio Tay, Radio Northsound and all that. Romeo was his nickname and David Farrell was the MC/compére for the event and his chat was absolutely brilliant and the banter was absolutely enjoyable and everybody was having a good time.

There was about a few thousand of us and we weren't all in transportation Clyde-sider volunteers, there was quite a lot of us in different roles so we had people working in the media centre, people volunteering at the venues, some volunteering in Edinburgh, some volunteering in Dundee and up at Barry Buddon at well (as the shooting event was taking place there). We met all the main staff who gave us a good talk (we didn't meet them in person, we just saw them in the middle of the arena talking to us).

So moving on to the time that I actually volunteered properly as a Clyde-sider, I remember having a mixture of shifts which varied from me starting as early as 6:30am to as late as 9:00pm. I never did any nightshifts as such. I had shifts that were either morning (finishing at lunchtime normally) or afternoon/evening. I really had a good mixture of them and I was responsible for transport. I didn't drive, but I was more responsible for the logistics of the transportation at the Apex Hotel in Dundee where half the athletes were staying for the shooting (at Barry Buddon).

We had regular buses travelling between the Apex Hotel and Barry Buddon so that the athletes could commute between the two venues. And we also had what was called inter-city buses so they would stop between Dundee and Glasgow and go up to Carnoustie as well and during the later part of my volunteering, they would also go to Barry Buddon as well. There was a lot of flexibility in choice for the athletes to choose which transportation they wanted to take according to their needs.

And we also had special cars as well - we had a fleet of cars that were regularly utilised during the Commonwealth Games. We had special drivers, who were Clyde-siders as well, and they drove the athletes around and if say one of the scheduled buses was not appropriate or suitable for someone to move around between the different venues during Glasgow 2014 then we could potentially book them a car or reasonable transportation facilities in order to facilitate their needs.

I also did other tasks such as displaying timetables and making sure the right information was on display and was being fed to the athletes and everyone else involved in the Commonwealth Games and also to answer enquiries. We had our own transportation desk at the Apex Hotel which was great, because it was just the one stop that anybody could make within the Apex Hotel to actually ask us about any transportation needs or anything like that.

And that was really it. It was quite a relaxed role that I had, but it was a very important one as well. We had to get things right and we had to make sure the the buses left on time and keep transportation moving which was important.

The best thing about being a Clyde-sider was making new friends and just knowing that my role was valued and that my input was valued in terms of helping out with the delivery of Glasgow 2014.

MY GLASGOW 2014 JOURNEY - Part 2: Becoming a Clyde-sider

This is a street sign indicating one of the most famous parts of
Glasgow. Within just a 10 minute walk from George Square
was the Glasgow 2014 Volunteer Centre, located on Albion Street,
where I got interviewed for the Clyde-sider role.

I am writing a series of blog entries about my Glasgow 2014 experience. In the first of my blogs, I spoke about how I got interested in the Commonwealth Games and how I wanted to become a Clyde-sider volunteer. We continue on from the point where I put my application in to volunteer for the event.

So fast forward the clock to last summer and I remember that the process of the interview or the build up to the interview and the interview itself was very well organised, the place was very well staffed [that was the Glasgow 2014 Volunteer Centre] and there were many, many people from everywhere in Scotland and beyond who came to Glasgow to get interviewed for the chance to become a Clyde-sider and I wasn't too nervous. I was pretty relaxed. I was actually more nervous about another interview that I had scheduled for the afternoon of that day in Highland Perthshire in a place called Blairgowrie and I wasn't really wanting to get too nervous about this morning interview I had in Glasgow.

I got on well with the gentleman who I chatted with (initial person I was interviewed by before my main interview) and they checked my documentation and other things as well and I remember going downstairs to this basement like floor [in the aftermath]. It wasn't like a typical basement. It was quite glamorous and it was well organised and there were a lot of decorations around signifying that the event was coming. And I remember my interviewer (for my main interview) was a lady from Kirkcaldy, where I live, and it was quite incredible actually. I don't know if it was just a co-incidence, it probably was!

I remember she asked me questions along the lines of how would you be suited to becoming a volunteer, what can you bring, are you looking forward to the Commonwealth Games and all that kind of thing. I don't think these were the exact questions that she asked in that exact manner or wording, but it was just questions to try to get to know about me and actually build a picture up of me and whether I was suitable to become a Clyde-sider. So I was basically just doing the usual thing that somebody does at a typical interview saying, "oh I'm enthusiastic and I'm excited and I cannot wait for the Commonwealth Games".

And I was just being all positive and what not. And I thought it went relatively well. So I was quite happy when I left, which is a rarity, because I tend to come out of interviews and start carrying out a post-mortem on how badly I've done. So I was quite chuffed actually and I was very, very happy and I went on to my other interview in Blairgowrie.

It was a number of weeks before I found out that I was offered the chance to become a Clyde-sider. So I accepted the offer and I was absolutely thrilled and very, very chuffed and very lucky as well, because the fact was there were around about 50,000 applications for only around 15,000 places or roles for Clyde-siders.

I felt incredibly lucky and very honoured that I was picked to become a Clyde-sider for the Commonwealth Games.

MY GLASGOW 2014 JOURNEY - PART 1: How it all began

I will include random pictures of my favourite parts of Glasgow.
This is one of me and the world famous Armadillo.

This is a five part series of blog entries about my own personal journey with regard to the 20th Commonwealth Games which took place in Glasgow this summer. It is merely a reflection of my own experiences and how I felt from first knowing about the prospect of the event taking place to completing my duties as a Clyde-sider volunteer. Please note that the text transcript within my blog entries may not be exactly as the description I provide in the audio, but should be interpreted in the same way nonetheless. Enjoy!

I was intrigued by the whole bidding process and whether Scotland would have the Commonwealth Games taking place within our own country. I actually remember before hand watching the news and finding out that Glasgow beat Edinburgh to become the host city in terms of the bid for Scotland to have the Commonwealth Games. I remember being a bit disappointed because I'm an Edinburgh lad and I was a little bit biased and I wanted Edinburgh to have it. But Glasgow got it and I lived with that.

I remember one of my first memories of my interest in the Commonwealth Games was when I went to a lecture during my time at university in Aberdeen (at Robert Gordon University) and I went to one of the city centre campuses and walked along Blackfriars Street. I remember hearing from a source that Glasgow had just won the bid to host the Commonwealth Games and I remember punching my fist up in the air and giving it this big "YES!" in the middle of the street and half the folk walking along the pavement just looked at me thinking "what the hell is going on here?!" and they realised that I was happy about something and the thing I was happy about was the fact that the Commonwealth Games were coming to Scotland. I was delighted about that and I was quite excited, because  it's not a tiny event. It's quite a big deal and although it's not the Olympics, it's still a worldwide event and it's quite exciting when you hear about something as big as that happening potentially in your own country.

The next memory I had about my journey to the Commonwealth Games was early last year when I woke up on a Monday morning and watched BBC Breakfast on the television and I remember they did a live piece at Glasgow Central train station. There was all these people walking around the station looking for people to show interest or become interested in becoming a potential volunteer for the Commonwealth Games so they were interviewed live on the television and they were saying that they were looking for many thousands of people to become volunteers for the event, to help deliver the event and get involved and I instinctively decided there and then I was going to apply.

So within a couple of hours, I started the application process which was done online and I got my application form done. I wasn't too fussed with what I wanted to do precisely and I just wanted to be involved in the event and play my role at Glasgow 2014 so I submitted my application as quickly and properly as I could.

It took a while until I heard back that I was being invited to get interviewed [for the Clyde-sider role].

Inspired by the late Tom Weir - it's time to travel again.

I had an amazing time in Skye back in May, but I'm hungry for
more travel!

Tom Weir is one of the most loved broadcasters that has even appeared on a television screen in Scotland. His hit TV show, Weir's Way, was a ratings hit on STV and is still much cherished by many people. Despite it being produced well before my own lifetime, it's a show that I'm so privileged to have gained knowledge about and is a glorious example of a television programme that is genuinely worthy of any merit.

But why is he playing such a prominent role in my blog entry today? To this day, I have been very lucky to travel across many places. People who know me will note that I am notorious for being in a different place time and time again. But I just cannot still for a moment and that will hopefully prove to be the case yet again next month. After spending much time in many other countries such as Ireland and Turkey, I think it is more than time for me now to properly explore my very own country.

There are many places in Scotland that I have yet to properly discover and today I've been forming a plan in my head to go away on a driving holiday. Sadly, I don't think I can cover every single last part of the country, but I want to stretch myself as far as I can (especially to places that I haven't been to before nor been to for a very long time).

This month is a very busy one for me. As well as fasting for the holy Islamic month of Ramadan, I have just completed a six day working week and have a few more days of work to do. Also, I will start my volunteering work as a Clyde-sider for the Glasgow 2014 Commonwealth Games next weekend. So you can imagine that I will want to get away for a while in the aftermath.

As for where I want to go, I have devised an initial plan of where I wish to travel in the space of a chosen few days and devised an itinerary of a set of routes:

Day 1 - Kirkcaldy ---> Blairgowrie ---> Braemar (via A93) ---> Royal Deeside ---> Aberdeen
Day 2 - Aberdeen ---> Banff ---> Inverness ---> Tain/Golspie/Brora (i.e. the A9 route) ---> Wick
Day 3 - Wick ---> Thurso ---> Ullapool (via Durness)
Day 4 - Ullapool ---> Loch Ness route (A82) ---> Fort William ---> Mallaig ---> Oban
Day 5 - Oban ---> Killin ---> Aberfoyle ---> Largs ---> Troon
Day 6 - Troon ---> Girvan ---> Stranraer ---> Dumfries ---> Gretna
Day 7 - Gretna ---> Hawick/Jedburgh/Selkirk ---> Eyemouth ---> North Berwick ---> Kirkcaldy

This is only an initial plan and will probably change with time. But if you have any ideas then please let me know via social media or e-mail me anas@officialanashassan.com

Interviewing Gary Stewart of The Society of William Wallace

700 years on, do we know enough about the very people
who fought for Scotland's nationhood?

This weekend celebrations have been taking place in Bannockburn to mark the 700th anniversary of one of the most important battles in Scottish history where Robert the Bruce defeated the army led by Edward II to secure Scotland's place as a nation.

The timing of this anniversary has come at a point in Scotland's current history where the country within just a matter of weeks will be voting to decide whether it becomes an independent country. Could we be on the brink of freedom from the union in just the space of a couple of years? History may feel like it's repeating itself in a different and, arguably, a more amicable kind of way to an extent, but the whole timing of the celebration of this anniversary with the referendum in September is notable.

The history of Scotland is enough to fascinate anyone who holds a curiosity behind how Scotland has travelled through time. There is even much debate over whether enough is taught in schools to generations of new Scots about their own country's history.

Earlier on this week, I picked up the phone and had an enjoyable and engaging conversation with Gary Stewart who is part of a group named The Society of William Wallace. I wanted to know a bit more about the group and what they do.

"Basically The Society of William Wallace is there to promote Wallace," states Gary succinctly. And he went on to give a range of examples of where the group goes and what the group talks about in order to enlighten people about William Wallace's life and what he did for Scotland.

In recent times, the group have been pushing to get a memorial for the Battle Of The Bell O' The Brae built in Glasgow, "We are trying to build a monument in Glasgow to a little known battle that Wallace was involved with in 1297 in Glasgow just off Duke Street and that has taken us six years and planning permission has now been passed and we are just trying to get the authority from Glasgow [City Council] to allow us to build the monument there.", Gary explains.

But it isn't just Glasgow where they are seeking to have a memorial built as Gary went on to explain, "One of the things that we do in conjunction with that is we also built the monument in Falkirk for the Battle of Falkirk. We obviously look after that and we obviously funded that within ourselves. We are also involved with the Stirling Trust which are looking to try to build a monument in Stirling."

Gary also took me back to 2005 which was the 700th anniversary of the death of William Wallace. He also enlightened me about the Wallace Letter and there is an excellent section about it on this page from The Society of William Wallace website.

As the interview went on, I wanted to explore the broader picture with Gary. The rest of the interview was an opportunity for him to personally express how he felt about how much (or little) we know about our own country's history and what the referendum means for Scotland's future. It is worth noting that Gary's opinions are his own and not that of any organisation or group he represents.

"Do you think we as a Scottish nation do enough to celebrate William Wallace's life, his legacy and our history in general, particularly with regard to that period of time when Scotland was very much fighting for it's status as a nation?", I ask him with curiosity. He responded without ambiguity, "No I don't think we do."

He rues the fact that Scotland as a country doesn't do enough to embrace it's own heritage and culture. He also states that the country is gifted with a lot of things such as the country's history, it's heroes such as William Wallace, shortbread, kilts and tartan and that these are things that Scots shouldn't run away from, "Every other country in the world would die for that," said Gary with passion.

"No matter where you go whether its Moldova, Macedonia or Slovenia, they know you are Scottish because you've got a kilt on. And that to me is something that we should be embracing. We shouldn't be trying to get away from that. We should be embracing that and incorporating that into the marketing campaign from a tourism point of view." continued Gary.

Forgive us both for going into other areas which some may argue isn't directly related to the whole work of The Society of William Wallace, but there was a reason for doing so. The whole purpose of the group was to raise awareness of the life of one of Scotland's most notable heroes.

"If I am speaking to somebody that is willing to help us achieve what we want to achieve and you can see that same passion as what we've got then I think that makes a massive difference," states Gary. He also said to me that the group he is part of is a non-political group and does not participate within politics.

Gary and his group have had to work extraordinarily hard in order to secure the memorial in Glasgow and in other places and he expressed to me some of the frustrations in terms of making substantial progress in a swift period of time, "It has taken us six years to get a monument built in Glasgow to William Wallace," he told me. Six years is not a small amount of time by anybody's standards.

We ended our conversation taking about the legacy of a particular Hollywood movie which has arguably raised awareness about the man that Gary and his group work hard to make people aware of. Braveheart, which starred Mel Gibson, is much talked about to this day for bringing light on his life and for altering Scots' own perceptions on identity. Surely everyone, regardless of their identity or politics was affected by the success of the movie?

"When that film came out, I would say 20% of the population in Scotland knew who William Wallace  was. I would probably hazard a guess that wouldn't be far off it. After Braveheart came out, you are probably looking at 99.9% of Scottish people who knew about William Wallace.", quite a transformation some would say and this was Gary's analysis of how Braveheart impacted upon the awareness of Wallace. There is no doubt that the movie had a major impact. Despite this however, there seems to be still much work to do, although the movie's success has played a major role.

For the purpose of this article, I wanted to specifically focus on William Wallace and Scotland's fight for independence in the early 14th century. As far as my own opinion is concerned, we as a country need to do far more to appreciate and know about our ancestors who fought for our nationhood and the work Gary and his team do is crucial in many ways and worth knowing about.

And we should also ask ourselves as to why we don't know enough about William Wallace and the history of Scotland during those crucial years when the whole existence of the country was on the line. It was a defining moment for Scotland and it's a part of the country's history that must never be forgotten.

It's about time I had a TV show of my own and I need you to help me!

Last night, a bright idea came to life in my head. After publishing a video yesterday about the Edinburgh Trams, I decided that it was about time I produced and presented a TV show of my own.

You'll probably notice at this current moment that I have an intention of starting a new video podcast up for my website. And that's what I want to go ahead with, but hope to make it more like a television programme that can be viewed online. It'll most probably be available through my YouTube channel.

I genuinely don't mean to sound arrogant in any way, but I'm feeling pretty confident about starting up and sustaining such a project. And I think it comes at a very interesting time. My ambition is to ultimately make it onto television as a broadcast journalist, but with a view to keeping an open mind to presenting other types of programmes. Also, STV Glasgow TV started up last week, STV Edinburgh TV launches later this summer (not getting my hopes up though, it's tough to get that vital break for starters) and later tonight I intend to attend the Royal Television Society Scotland Awards in Glasgow.

I'm really looking forward to the award ceremony tonight, but do realise that I might be a little lonely to start with. But hopefully it'll be a great event where I can network with many like minded people and where I will learn a lot of new things about what is going on across the television industry north of the border. God willing, it should be a lot of fun!

But going back to the television show idea that I had, I need your help. Although I have initial ideas in my head for what I want to do, I need to think of a few certain things to help get me started.

Firstly, I need a show name. "The Anas Hassan Vodcast" is just not a catchy title, nor has it got much style. I have a couple of ideas in my head already, but I want to know what you think. If there's more than one suggestion then I could consider running a poll to see which is the most popular.

Secondly, I need a good scope of what kind of things I want to cover on my programme. For a start, I want to cover a wide range of topics (not just news, but other things that get people talking) and do it in such a light hearted and not so heavy manner.

And thirdly, I need to create some sort of a realistic studio atmosphere for my show. I'm on a shoestring budget of next to nothing so don't expect anything spectacular, but any suggestions are welcome. And I do have a pretty basic idea of how I want things to look although no doubt my vision will change over time as I develop my ideas further.

Please contact me with a message to my e-mail address: officialanashassan@outlook.com - your input is welcome. Finally, please check out my new video which is at the start of this blog post where I take a look at the new Edinburgh Trams service - lots and lots of views already despite being up for less than 24 hours. Amazing! Thank you!

Three cheers for the arrival of STV Glasgow on TV

Myself standing in one of my favourite parts of the world at
Pacific Quay, Glasgow.

This week, the arrival of the brand new STV Glasgow television channel marked an important milestone within Scottish broadcasting.

For the first time, a Scottish city has a unique TV channel of it's own that reflects the news, life and people of it's own area. You will not be at all surprised as to what tone I'm going to adopt for this blog post.

It's fair to say that times have been rather regressive in recent years as far as the broadcasting industry is concerned north of the border. Yet there is hope that the tide is changing direction for the better. The main thing that impresses me so much about this new television channel is the emphasis it places on serving it's main audience. The viewer knows without any doubt that Glasgow is the main focus and it's headline programme, The Riverside Show, reflects this point really brilliantly.

It's main presenters David Farrell and Jennifer Reoch symbolise what the programme and channel is all about. You can hear it in their accents and see it in their personalities. I cannot confirm for certain whether they were both born or brought up within Glasgow, but I can certainly say that the Glaswegian character in both of them is well and truly alive. It's also worth adding that Storm Huntley and Colin Stone have proven to be excellent members of the presenting/reporting team on the main STV Glasgow evening programme.

The only drawback I can think of at the moment is the lack of new programming that is available. I was expecting more than the main evening programme and the football phone-in that follows. But to be honest, I'm being a bit harsh here. It's only early days and already there seems to be a diverse range of programming from comprehensive news coverage throughout the day to the return of Take The High Road (although it's past episodes of the famous soap) and that football phone-in with Peter Martin and Alan Rough. There seems to be something for everybody.

Viewer and channel must understand each other and, despite only launching on Monday, STV Glasgow gets the people of the city. I'll conclude by saying that I am seriously impressed with how the team who produce The Riverside Show manage to fill in two hours of on air time with a diverse range of guests, features and stories. That is not an easy task to fulfil, particularly if it is for a programme that goes out daily.

So a huge congratulations to each and every one of the team at STV Glasgow and STV for making this new channel work well within it's early days - I wanted to name every single member of the team, but I'm fearful that I'm going to miss somebody out so I'll just lavish my praises upon everybody! Long may this new channel stay alive within our TV listings.

How can we increase the number of people in the media who come from an ethnic minority?

I am working hard to start a full time career within the media
in Scotland.

On Monday evening’s edition of Scotland 2014 on BBC Two north of the border, comedian Lenny Henry gave a thought provoking interview about ethnic minorities and the media. He passionately feels that television isn't representative of the population of the UK and wants money ringfenced for programming that enables more diversity.

My heart is with him as far as his sentiments are concerned, but I've developed my own independent perspective on what the issues are and how best to address the under representation of ethnic minorities in the media. And for this blog post, I will focus on Scotland in particular, as this is the area where I want to spend my career within.

I believe, ideally, that the media of a country should reflect the current population of the whole area and it is disappointing to think that there aren't many TV and radio presenters who come from an ethnic minority background in Scotland at the moment. But the question really is - why there is a lack of diversity?

We must be careful not to start playing a blame game of some kind towards the people within the media who make decisions on who they hire. Editors and producers choose people on the basis of both talent and someone's continued commitment and willingness to develop a media career. Regardless of who the person is and where they come from, it is more likely for someone to make it if they continuously persist in making it on screen or on the airwaves and fully set their sights on a broadcasting career than for someone not to put in any effort at all to make things work.

I do not favour quotas, because I think using such a mechanism for recruitment is a patronising way to hire people. Furthermore, would I really want to be picked for a job on the basis of my ethnicity rather than my talent? Absolutely not. It brings me absolutely no benefit nor the satisfaction in knowing that I genuinely was talented enough to deserve being appointed into a particular job. We are all the same no matter who we are, no matter where we come from and no matter what we look like and that should never change.

As far as ringfencing money is concerned in order to boost the low numbers of people from an ethnic minority, I think this is a viable idea and should be taken seriously. Any money that is invested into improving the diversity of programming available to viewers is a good thing and should be considered. I don’t think viewers will be against the idea and in fact I think they would welcome it if it resulted in a reduction of the current inequalities that exist at the moment.

I had a conversation with a representative from a prominent organisation within Fife about the lack of ethnic minority representatives within the media a few weeks ago. From our constructive exchanges, it became apparent to me that one of the main ways in which positive change can and should happen is for individuals and groups within communities to be enlightened and inspired to look at the possibility of seeking some sort of greater involvement within the media. This can happen by prominent individuals and organisations connecting with them in some way or another to introduce the idea of getting involved in radio or television (and even print, let's not forget that platform).

You can certainly count me as a member of an ethnic minority due to my Middle Eastern background. It could be asked as to how I personally feel knowing that there are very few people of an ethnic minority on television or radio in Scotland, especially when also considering that this is an industry I want to get fully involved in for the rest of my career. You might expect someone like me in my current situation to feel put off by that fact, but frankly I’m not. Meritocracy generally prevails so why should the current situation intimidate me?

I'm continuously promoting myself to convince someone out there that I've got what it takes to be successful within the broadcast media and although knocking on that life changing door can be repetitive, it has to be done. One day that major door could open for me and if it does then I hope to inspire others. For now, I must continue to cheer myself on.