7 year old to become youngest person to give evidence to Scottish Parliament
7 year old Callum Isted is the youngest petitioner in the history of the Scottish Parliament, he's urging politicians to replace disposable water bottles in schools with reusable ones
Last updated 9th Mar 2022
Today (March 9th) a 7-year-old Primary school pupil will become the youngest person to give evidence to the Scottish Parliament.
Callum Isted is campaigning for all schools to stop using disposable water bottles and to replace them with reusable items.
Callum, who is a pupil at Dedridge Primary School in Livingston, has already had success in raising money to buy reusable water bottles for his own school.
He will tell the Citizens Participation and Public Petitions Committee about what he's achieved, and what he'd like to see done on a wider basis.
Callum said:
“I am going to Parliament on 9th March 2022. I am going to ask the Committee for two things:
I am feeling confident and excited to be able to speak to the Citizen Participation and Public Petitions Committee and maybe Nicola Sturgeon.”
Callum's Dad James told us:
"When it all started he wrote to his head teacher because he didn't like the school lunches because they send home a plastic bottle.
"He worked out just on a Friday the plastic was the weight of a panda from the school each year.
"He wanted to do something about it, it's all been him."
Convener of the Committee, Jackson Carlaw MSP said:
“Creating a public petition lets the Parliament know about the issues that are most important to people across Scotland.
“At 7 years old Callum is our youngest ever petitioner and he’s already campaigned for – and brought about – positive change in his own school.
“Now he wants to see that change extend across the whole of Scotland. I look forward to hearing more from him tomorrow and what he hopes we can do to help his campaign achieve wider success.”