I was ecstatic when I received the news that I had being given a place on the panel

21 Mar I was ecstatic when I received the news that I had being given a place on the panel

Although I was delighted to have secured a place on the Sunday Mail Young Scot Awards Delivery Panel, I had yet to realise the journey I had ahead of me. I was, at first, unable to attend the initial meeting of the panel due to a prelim falling unfortunately on the same day. After reading the minutes from the meeting, I was eager to finally attend the next meeting.

Firstly, coming from an island on the West Coast of Scotland, my journey to the Young Scot offices in Haymarket began at approximately 7am on Friday morning. Once awake, I took delight in a shower as I thought of the day I had ahead of me. Little did I know at this point, that I would not be returning until late that night.

I sailed on the 0800 ferry from Rothesay Ferry Terminal, roughly a 35 minute sailing. Unlike usual, the boat was surprisingly rocky, and I was kept amused by the sight of tourists gripping their hands to the seat, and the occasional person taking a run to the toilets while trying not to topple over as the boat sailed on.

Then I arrived at Wemyss Bay Train Station. Due to the time of the morning, trains were not terribly frequent and I had a long 25 minute wait ahead of me. I took this time to consider the objectives of the day’s meeting while sipping on a hot chocolate from the nearby café. Finally, the train arrived.

The train from Wemyss Bay to Glasgow Central takes around 47 minutes, leaving me with a 13 minute gap between arriving at Central and boarding the train to Edinburgh Haymarket.

Soon I was on the train to Haymarket which turned out to be an experience with no other, with an older lady telling me of her days as a child and how her father was one of the engineers that used to look after the old Scotrail trains. When I arrived an hour and a half later, I decided to go for a Starbucks until Abby had arrived at the station. As we hadn’t met before, we had agreed to meet at the M&S in the station. I was anxious to meet Abby, but she swiftly made me have a giggle as she randomly shouted ‘Josh’ across the station in hopes to locate me – fair to say this worked.

At the meeting, numerous topics such as theme, red carpet, the reception, dinner and tables, movement between venues and the event itself. Without revealing too much of the details, there were many ideas generated, changes made – and not to forget, the glorious pizza that we enjoyed for lunch. Soon, we had finished all of the topics to be discussed, and also some other things. I found the centrepiece planning was most fascinating, with an array of suggestions coming forth. I believe that it will be fascinating to finally see the awards coming to life.

Now began the race for the train home – a trip that I made to Central with fellow panel member Momo. We boarded the first train to Central, a cross-country train, and soon ensued the panic of wondering if the tickets we had would be accepted. Luckily, mine was. However, Momo was not so lucky as his ticket was via Airdrie and so he had to purchase another ticket.