Seven-year-old schoolboy to make Holyrood history with water bottle campaign

A seven-year-old schoolboy will make history when he becomes the youngest ever person to present a petition to the Scottish Parliament.

Callum Isted will appear before MSPs on Wednesday to make the case for every primary school pupil in Scotland to be given a reusable water bottle.

It comes after the youngster successfully raised funds to buy refillable bottles for his own school, Dedridge Primary in Livingston.

He also said he wanted action taken to fix the broken taps in schools “so that we can use the bottles properly”.

Speaking ahead of appearing before Holyrood’s Citizen Participation and Public Petitions Committee, the young campaigner added he was “feeling confident and excited” to speak to the MSPs and “maybe Nicola Sturgeon”.

The Scottish First Minister has already described Callum’s campaign as a “really laudable aim and ambition” and said she would try to “catch a word” with the schoolboy.

Committee convener Jackson Carlaw explained that the process of creating a public petition “lets the Parliament know about the issues that are most important to people across Scotland”.

Mr Carlaw said: “At seven years old, Callum is our youngest ever petitioner and he’s already campaigned for – and brought about – positive change in his own school.

“Now he wants to see that change extend across the whole of Scotland. I look forward to hearing more from him tomorrow and what he hopes we can do to help his campaign achieve wider success.”