We assessed the impact, access, legacy and reach of HES Gaelic inputs and approaches across all HES communication outlets and points of exposure including, HES properties, the website and all publications. We observed and reviewed participants experiences of Gaelic education themes and language engagement and asked 80 teachers, 60 parents, 300 pupils and 53 HES staff and related stakeholders (delivering CfE national policy priorities) what they thought of the current offer and future potential.  Our Gaelic speaker focus group reviewed their own Gaelic experience of Edinburgh Castle covering Gaelic interpretation and a wider review of the HES website and learning resources and made recommendations about optimising Gaelic engagement for all audiences. 

Formulating the ‘future offer’ was exciting. We fed our findings into a SOSTAC strategic marketing plan framework to interrogate do-able and worthy actions against realistic implementation (taking account of ‘audience attention’ impact, medium and content, ‘practical’ access and ‘geodemographic ‘reach). 11 action – based recommendations were further discussed at our HES staff workshop before final report submission.

It is the policy of the Scottish Government that Gaelic has equal status to English and HES is well positioned to lead public engagement in Gaelic through its incredible historical sites with stories, cultural associations and ‘hooks’ that feed our emotional response and help better understanding of the significance of Gaelic to our nation and identity. 

The HES client report is available on request from merielyoung@tiscali.co.uk