Making connections

Off through to Glasgow this morning to a meeting about secure units. Lots and lots of information and discussion over 4 hours - and meeting up with new and known people, one of whom was Alison Gough who has been doing research on secure for the past coulple of years.

To get to the meeting I walked through the new buildings for Glasgow College and Strathclyde Uni. So,e major building works going on: which is where the blip was taken.

Bumped in your Kenneth Norrie who was gearing up for the new term.

Then back to the office. On the train I was in a table corner seat surrounded by a group of young lads who were clearly returning from visiting the university which had an open day.

Lots of discussion which, despite burying myself in my papers I could not quite ignore. Apart from trying to solve mathematical equations and physics problems some of the talk was about this evening. Bake Off seemed to be a key attraction which led to various discussions about meals they had cooked : pasta, cheese, ham, chilli, garlic etc. Wherever they may end up at university they will not starve.

Back in the office three quick meetings then in to town for the APEX Lecture by, this year, the Lord Advocate who was speaking about prosecution in the public interest. After questions there was a chance to circulate. Met up with Ged McEneany who has just stood down from 21 years with the hearings system in Fife as his day job now demands too much of his time: he may come back in the future. Also met up with Alison Di Rollo whom I've not seen for some time and definitely not since she became Solicitor General for Scotland; and my predecessor Bernadette who was in good form.

Made contact with a number of others all of whom have a keen interest in helping young offenders find their feet.