A gift

When I visited the Reid Kerr campus of the new West College Scotland in July I was given this remarkable piece of sculpture designed and created by students on the renewable engineering course who make tremendous and imaginative use of recycled materials, as I blipped then.

Today those students - Sherose Khan, Amardeep Singh and Beth Kelly along with their Lecturer Craig Stevenson (and a number of others from the College accompanied by Paisley MSP George Adam) - brought the piece to my office in St Andrews House and made sure it was well placed there.

It symbolises the religions in Scotland and will be a constant reminder not just of the rich diversity of this mongrel nation ( as Willie McIlvanney memorably called it) but also of the huge talent and achievement of our young people in Scotland's dynamic and forward looking colleges.