The  event gave student ambassadors who had participated in the project and visited Auschwitz-Birkenau the chance to talk about their experiences, and discuss the work they had undertaken as a result.

The young ambassadors that spoke acquited themselves extremely well, and were a credit to themselves, their schools and their families. It is rare that I have heard anyone, of any age group, speak publicly with such passion, eloquence and composure.

The Lessons from Auschwitz project has done valuable work in allowing young people to visit the camps, and to use this experience to educate others. I would like to thank the Holocaust Educational Trust for organising it, and for all the other work they do to ensure that the Holocaust is not forgotten, and that we continue to learn the lessons of the past.

The original church, derelict since 2005, has been extended and transformed into a comfortable and efficient working space for charitable, housing, and support services, helping to improve communications between different organisations and enabling them to work together more effectively. The church itself has been senstively restored with original features retained wherever possible.

The £3 million revamp was jointly funded by North Lanarkshire council and Clyde Valley Housing Association and is part of the ongoing programme to regenerate Airdrie town centre. Both partner agencies deserve credit for their progressive investment in the local infrastructure.

During the first Scottish Parliament we passed innovative and progressive legislation on homelessness, which we all hoped and believed would go a long way towards tackling the problem. However, with the third Parliament drawing to a close the number of homeless people continues to rise, and it is clear that further action is needed.

The Keys to the Future Project, now in the final year of three years of funding, appointed Educational Liaison Offices to provide practical and emotional support to homeless children and families, helping them to settle in to temporary or permanent accomodation and attempting to address and offset the negative effect that homelessness can have on their learning.

Having listened to the children involved in the project I have no doubt that it has had a positive impact. However, it also identified a lack of communication between different levels of government, the education and housing sectors, which must be overcome if we are to confront the problem of homelessness in our society.

For more information on Projects for the Future, click here

Established in Coatbridge in 1931 by John J. Lees, Lees Scotland is the producer of well known cakes and desserts such as Snowballs and Macaroons. Eighty years after its formation, and with sales as far afield as the United States and Kuwait, it remains based in Coatbridge and is a major local employer.

Given the poor state of the economy and the understandable concern many people feel for their jobs, it is heartening to have such a large and successful business in the local area. I hope and believe that Lees Scotland will continue to go from strength to strength.

I always enjoy it when people from the constituency make the trip to Holyrood, and I was pleased that I was able to provide the teachers with an idea of what a school trip to the Parliament would involve. It is very important that as many young people as possible visit Holyrood and get some sense of the political process, and the more knowledgeable their teachers, the better.

I look forward to seeing Chapelside teachers at the Parliament again, hopefully with some pupils in tow, in the not too distant future.

Opened in April 2010, the Windmill Café provides training and real work experience to young adults with learning difficulties. The café employs young people aged between 16 and 25 on a three year accredited training programme, allowing them to learn about hygiene, food preparation and customer service, whilst enhancing their confidence and social skills.

I spoke to Abby Muir and Lynsey McFarlane, two of the young trainees, about the benefits they have derived from working at the Cafe, and listened to the Cafe’s Development Manager, Margery McBain, describe the positive changes she has witnessed in her young charges since they started work.

There are no other organisations or companies offering the same opportunities as the Windmills Cafe. It provides an effective alternative to college, which does not suit many young people, and leaves them no better off than they were before.

Great credit must go to all the staff at the Windmills Cafe, and to the young volunteers who are flourishing under their guidance.

The programme is built upon the suggestion of a current HMP Shotts inmate that young offenders should visit HMP Shotts and speak to the prisoners in person, giving them a firsthand insight prison life, and helping them to appreciate the full consquences of their actions. The programme will target offenders aged between 13 and 15 who have come to the attention of the police on at least 3 ocassions, or who have been referred by social services or the education authority.

This is an original and innovative means of curbing crime and and anti-social behaviour in our communities. Early intervention has proven effective across a range of areas, and I have every hope that this programme will prove a success.

Credit must go to HMP Shotts and Strathclyde Police for collaborating on this programme, an approach which I believe should serve as an example to police forces and prison authorities across scotland.

I recently visited the breakfast club at Plain’s Primary School in Airdrie to witness the official unveiling of an award-winning addition to the breakfast menu, after a pupil from the school won a competition to devise a new sausage recipe.

The sausage, which was created by Graeme Johnston, proprietor of Ferguson’s Butchers of Airdrie (who also judged the competition),  supplemented the traditional ingredients with banana, orange zest, apricots and apple: a great way to ensure that we all get our five a day.

North Lanarkshire’s excellent school breakfast club scheme has gained national recognition as one of the best in the UK. Clubs have been established in 70 of North Lanarkshire’s primary schools, ensuring that hundreds of children are at school on time, fully fuelled, and ready to learn.

North Lanarkshire Council deserve great credit for the time and money they have invested in making these clubs a success.

The park was developed from money raised by the Petersburn Development Trust, a voluntary organisation made up of local residents. We have devoted much time and effort towards transforming an area of derelict wasteland into a public amenity to be enjoyed by all.

It is very sad that this park is being systematically targeted by individuals bent on destruction, and it is time that decisive action was taken to put a stop to it.  I am urging Strathclyde Police to do everything they can to identify those responsible and bring them to justice. Additionally, I believe the area would benefit from the installation of CCTV.

It is simply not fair on local residents or the members of the PDT that the community should be made to suffer at the whim of a mindless few.