I HOPE you and your families are well. As I write this, it’s the middle of Carers Week, and the thought has been sticking with me these last few months in lockdown of just how many people in all our communities have volunteered to become carers for the rest of their family, friends and neighbours, or our wider communities.

There are myriad examples we are all aware of in our daily lives. I’m not going to single out any individual person, charity or cause, simply because they are all doing such an incredible job of helping others to survive/thrive through this hellish pandemic.

This week I was heartened to see that the Scottish Government had provided some assistance. Registered carers will receive a financial uplift of £230 on June 24, and do not need to do anything to claim this, it will be in their accounts on that day and also that a couple of young carers organisations, Young Scot and Time to Live, will also receive funds from the Scottish Government to hopefully help our younger carers in some small way during the implementation of the phased route map out of the Covid-19 lockdown.

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In the Scottish Parliament, as the Chair of the Standards Committee I had the honour of being able to speak on the Scottish Election Reform Bill, which will govern how our elections are run in Scotland and will have a direct impact on our engagement and participation. Changes such as 14-year-olds being able to register to be eligible to vote, people only being able to vote in one area, fixed five-year terms for local councils and the Scottish Parliament, and more flexibility over proposed boundary changes in Scotland, are all to be welcomed.

I managed to also speak in response to the murder of George Floyd, I mentioned the injustices of racism and how it requires us all to stand up against systematic and specific acts of racism, in that vain there is a lot of good that can come from the Black Lives Matter movement and it will do no harm to listen and learn from their experiences.

While I am back in parliament two or three days a week, all my staff continue to work from home and are there to assist with any issues you may need to get in touch about.

All the best – and keep safe.