Sgotaidh has worked tirelessly to create and develop a students association at Sabhal Mòr Ostaig UHI. He has inspired his fellow students to engage in representation and has overcome many obstacles to create something from nothing.

Prior to Sgotaidh beginning his quest in 2011/12, the opportunities for social activities which were available to students were negligible, with perhaps the occasional ceilidh. More importantly, the student voice was relatively none existent. Neither were there any social spaces for students to engage with each other and make use of their learning of the Gaelic language outside the classroom. Sgotaidh has addressed all of these issues, whilst studying for his honours degree full time. The outcome of this was that he was appointed as President of the newly formed and constituted ‘Comann Nan Oileanach’ (Sabhal Mòr Ostaig Students Association) in 2012.

Since taking on the role, Sgotaidh has campaigned for a social space for students and has achieved it. It was furnished with a pool table, air-hockey table, dart board, seating, a kitchen and many other activities that students can utilise at Sabhal Mòr Ostaig in an area away from staff. The college in Skye is a close knit community and is in a very isolated location; it is especially difficult for students to find the space to unwind and the facility is now very well used. When I visited the college in September, the reaction from the students was immense; they were so appreciative of this ‘win’ for students, which I feel it has to be commended as an outstanding demonstration of what sheer determination can achieve.

Furthermore, the development of the student voice at the college is now as it should be and Sgotaidh has to be much-admired for that. Members of staff at the college speak very highly of his positive engagement and representation of his fellow students. Moreover, the Principal is especially proud of all that Sgotaidh has achieved and admits that this is long over-due but it necessitated a student to step forward, with a vision of what needs to be done to accomplish it and create a students association fit for purpose.

Sgotaidh understands the issues of his peers and is the one person on site that simply everyone knows and admires. He is both dynamic and inspiring; this is evidenced by the number of students Sgotaidh has brought to both UHISA and NUS events, let alone the mind-blowing increase in internal activities. However, it is too easy to become immersed in what is happening within your own students association, but in a community like UHI, it is even more important to engage with your peers from other colleges. There are so many areas of cross over between the colleges of UHI, that partnership working with all of the student representatives, not only saves time but precious resources. Sgotaidh is a true ambassador of this and has engaged with an exceptional number of colleges in UHI and is supporting students to development their own students associations in the colleges where there isn’t one. The impetus of this is exacerbated by the fact that Sabhal Mòr Ostaig UHI only teaches Gaelic and unlike the rest of UHI, the need for engaging with students from other colleges is minimal; they do not deliver the same level of ‘networked’ courses as other colleges in UHI.

Beyond his responsibilities at his own college, it should be noted that he is also studying towards a Masters, alongside his President role. In addition to this, Sgotaidh is the Gaelic Officer for UHISA and attends every meeting and event; he is an indispensable member of the UHISA Executive Committee. He even wrote a Gaelic Plan for UHISA to enable us to fulfil our wish to become a dual language association, as UHI itself is (see attached document). Sgotaidh makes time to translate things for us, as we need to pay a fee for anyone else to do it, and it takes up a considerable amount of his time but he believes its important and never complains about this additional workload.

His energy and enthusiasm is infectious and he has been a constant source of support for me throughout my term of office. I simply can’t fault him and think that he thoroughly deserves this award.