Growing Loud by Children in Scotland
Oct 21, 2026 · 30 min · 10 segments
Innes speaks to Liz Nolan, Director of Children and Families at Aberlour Children's Charity, about the issues shaping childhood in Scotland today. From supporting unaccompanied asylum-seeking children…
The political climate on this issue specifically has been particularly heated over the past few years.
And it's where we have to cancel events that we have planned for our young people because of fear of the reprisal and fear for their safety.
We've had a number of the young people that we support in our guardianship who have been assaulted and who have been attacked.
And the sad thing is when we ask them if they're OK or if anything has happened, they just say that's part and parcel of what happens to them all the time.
And just to, you know, a lot of people think that in Scotland there's a bit of exceptionalism when it comes to being a more inclusive country.
But I'm guessing your experience is there's plenty of examples where that is not the case for these young kids.
These are a minority of people and we have to be the voices that are louder and that actually speak up on behalf of the kids and the families that are coming to this country in seeking refuge, seeking sanctuary.
and they just want a better life and that's what everybody wants and actually it's what everybody should be entitled to and for me it is it's really sad that things you know that minority group are becoming more and more vocal they're impacting on the lives of our young people that are trying to get on with just daily life living in Scotland and they should be allowed to get on with it You know, we hear stories about children and families who, you know, are isolated in their homes because there are groups standing outside their houses.
I was wondering, before we move on to more positive conversations around the service, it's easy to get bogged down in these conversations, but I wondered if there was any misconceptions out there that you often come across that you'd like to address for our audience today.
You know, that misconception when you see, you know, older young people or they're not their age that they are, they're not this, they're not that, they're coming here for an easy life.
I mean, we worked with Scottish Refugee Council and it wasn't just about misinformation.
We hear they're getting put up in hotels, they're getting this, they're getting all this money.
The political climate on this issue specifically has been particularly heated over the past few years.
And it's where we have to cancel events that we have planned for our young people because of fear of the reprisal and fear for their safety.
We've had a number of the young people that we support in our guardianship who have been assaulted and who have been attacked.
And the sad thing is when we ask them if they're OK or if anything has happened, they just say that's part and parcel of what happens to them all the time.
And just to, you know, a lot of people think that in Scotland there's a bit of exceptionalism when it comes to being a more inclusive country.
But I'm guessing your experience is there's plenty of examples where that is not the case for these young kids.
These are a minority of people and we have to be the voices that are louder and that actually speak up on behalf of the kids and the families that are coming to this country in seeking refuge, seeking sanctuary.
and they just want a better life and that's what everybody wants and actually it's what everybody should be entitled to and for me it is it's really sad that things you know that minority group are becoming more and more vocal they're impacting on the lives of our young people that are trying to get on with just daily life living in Scotland and they should be allowed to get on with it You know, we hear stories about children and families who, you know, are isolated in their homes because there are groups standing outside their houses.
I was wondering, before we move on to more positive conversations around the service, it's easy to get bogged down in these conversations, but I wondered if there was any misconceptions out there that you often come across that you'd like to address for our audience today.
You know, that misconception when you see, you know, older young people or they're not their age that they are, they're not this, they're not that, they're coming here for an easy life.
I mean, we worked with Scottish Refugee Council and it wasn't just about misinformation.
We hear they're getting put up in hotels, they're getting this, they're getting all this money.
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