21st Century Scots How Scotland Works

Scotland is changing.

The population has never been higher.

More than five million people live and work here.

The country is more diverse,

with more people speaking Polish than Gaelic at home.

The ethnic mix is richer than ever.

I find myself speaking with words like "wee".

Scotland's industries are evolving and digital business is booming.

Engineering and old industries are being replaced by the new.

The growth and the jobs and the amazing new stuff is here.

More than two million foreign visitors a year

are boosting the Scottish economy.

You can swim with dolphins all over the world...

but this is where you get to swim with monsters.

Wonderful.

So how does modern Scotland work?

What does it mean to be Scottish in 2015?

How are Scotland's jobs

and industries competing on a global stage?

How do others see us?

This series goes to the heart of contemporary Scottish life

to reveal how Scotland works.

Scotland's population stands at 5.3 million

and it's projected to keep growing.

The birth rate is increasing,

people are living longer,

and more people are coming to Scotland to live...

making the Scottish people more diverse than ever.

The number of ethnic minority Scots has doubled in a decade,

from 2% to 4%.

Scots are living longer.

Over 65s outnumber under 16s.

So who are the Scots of today?

From birth to old age,

what kinds of lives are Scottish people living?

Meet the 21st century Scots.

-Good stuff. Are you all set? Great.

-Ready, I think.

Yeah, it's fine. So...

Monitor's on, we'll squeeze your arm,

drip in the back of the hand and a local anaesthetic.

-Just remind me, are you left or right-handed?

-Left-handed.

We'll pop it in on the right, then.

So a bit of pushing now...

In Aberdeen Royal Infirmary, a new Scottish baby is about to be born.

In all, more than 50,000 babies

will be delivered in Scotland this year...

by 2,900 midwives in 40 maternity units across the country.

These midwives are supported by hundreds more clinical staff,

like anaesthetist Alan Thompson.

His job requires a high level of medical skill,

but it also needs the human touch.

'I think it's just about human warmth...basically.

'It's about remembering to do the human stuff as well'

as the medicine.

Today's birth is a planned C-section.

One in ten Scottish mums now choose this type of birth -

a big increase on previous decades.

-Are you comfortable?

-Yeah.

-Good.

As comfortable as can be.

-Have you any pain?

-That's the most important thing.

This will be the third baby that mum Angela has delivered this way...

..but this will be her first Scottish baby.

CHATTER

There we are. Hello.

BABY CRIES Oh, my goodness.

What a well-behaved baby.

Angela is Dutch by birth,

her husband Tim is from Zimbabwe

and their two other children were born in South Africa.

This family shows how Scotland's population is changing and growing.

I mean, it's only when they come out that you realise that that

was truly inside you and it's just amazing.

Totally amazing.

-Welcome to Scotland.

-Welcome to the world.

A little bit of a yawn.

In the late 20th century, Scotland's population was in decline.

The birth rate was low and more people were choosing to emigrate.

But since the millennium, the tide has turned.

The 2011 Census revealed that 5.3 million people now call

Scotland home - more than at any time in history.

Glasgow Registry Office records every new birth in the city.

It's one of 197 such offices across the country.

Together, their records show us how Scotland's population is growing.

'We're the biggest registration office in Scotland.'

We can register more than 30 births a day - sometimes 35.

-Shown at the top is the baby's full name.

-Mm-hm.

-It's a baby girl.

-Yes.

We did have a baby boom, maybe a couple of years back,

and there were some days we registered up to 40 births a day.

We had babies everywhere. SHE LAUGHS

-OK. Congratulations. All the best.

-Thank you very much.

-Thank you.

I was trying to check..

Audrey was asking about how many citizens we had.

'Civil registration came in in 1855 to have a record of society,'

so we're just following on from that.

You have to know, well, how many schools do you need?

How are you going to plan anything?

So this gives you a complete picture of the number of registrations,

school age children from any time,

because you have the statistics from every year,

so it builds a picture of society.

Scotland now has nearly 2.5 million households -

that number is projected to keep rising.

More than 5,000 schools teach Scotland's children,

from pre-school to secondary.

And more than 300 hospitals look after Scotland's health.

Glasgow's new babies will be growing up in the most densely

populated city in Scotland.

With 8,829 people per square mile,

and a total population of more than half a million,

Glasgow is the fourth largest city in the UK.

Only London, Leeds the Birmingham are bigger.

Add the rest of the central belt,

from the Firth of Clyde in the west to Edinburgh in the east,

and the population breaks the three million mark -

more than half the Scottish total.

So most Scots are choosing to make their homes and raise their families

in places like this, but not all of them.

And recent figures show that some of the most marked population

increases are in the Highlands.

The north of Scotland is one of the least populated landscapes

in Europe, with just seven inhabitants per square

mile in its emptiest areas,

most of this country is hostile wilderness.

But in crofting communities, like Drumbeg in Sutherland,

normal family life still goes on.

Childhood here is very different from the urban

-sprawl of the central bet.

-CHILDREN LAUGH

The Simpson family has been living here since 2002.

Drumbeg is one of the most remotest villages in Scotland.

It lies on the rugged west coast...

just 30 miles south of mainland Scotland's most northerly point.

From here, it's 250 miles to Glasgow...

90 miles to Inverness

and an 80-mile round trip just to get to school.

If it gets dark, what are you going to do?

Have you got your buddy with you?

-I know.

-You know where everything is.

-You got your timetable?

-Mm-hm.

-Don't lose it.

It's raining. Get your jacket on. HE LAUGHS

Bye-bye.

Have a good day.

Today is the first day of the new school year

and it's a big day for Jamie - it's his first day of high school.

At his local primary, Jamie was one of just seven pupils.

Now he's enrolling at Ullapool High, which has 250.

Young people like Jamie are crucial to the future

of this remote part of Scotland.

For 250 years, the population of the Highlands was in decline.

Generation after generation, people left in search of work,

or were forced off the land and never came back.

But today, more Scots are choosing to make their homes here.

Since 2001, the Highland population increased by 11% -

that's an extra 23,000 people.

And it's one of only three areas in Scotland showing

an increase in the number of children under 15.

Incomers are boosting numbers,

more babies are being born and people are living longer.

Geographically, Ullapool High School has one of the biggest

catchment areas in the country.

For pupils like Jamie, who lives 40 miles away,

getting there involves some extreme commuting.

Despite the travelling, Jamie is looking forward to his new school.

Not a lot of nerves. It's more excitement to get started and that,

see all my friends again.

This is now Jamie's school run,

nearly an hour and a half each way every day on two buses.

This is our bus journey from Skiach to Ullapool.

It's the last bus journey for the morning. About 50 minutes' drive.

For some other pupils at Ullapool High,

travelling to and from school each day is simply impossible.

Look at this view.

Isn't it great?

13-year-old Alex lives on the Scoraig Peninsula by Loch Broom.

Her house is just round the coast from a Ullapool itself.

The school is only ten miles away, as the crow flies,

but there are no roads in or out.

The land is surrounded by water.

The quickest way to get there is by boat.

Everywhere is your garden.

There's nowhere that you can't go, and you have dens everywhere and...

go up, climb trees, go camping...

It's great fun.

The population here collapsed in the 1950s and '60s.

In 1964, the last of the permanent Gaelic-speaking residents

left for good.

But since then, waves of incomers from other parts of the UK

have revived the community.

Many come here looking for a self-sufficient life

close to nature,

but now Alex's idyllic childhood is coming to an end.

She's entering her second year of high school

and exams are on the horizon.

Well, I'm about to pack, so...better get started.

She'll spend the week boarding at school in Ullapool.

More than 100 schoolchildren across the Highlands

have to board like this.

When she was still at primary,

I was a bit apprehensive about sending her and I thought

we might have to move when that day came.

But as the time came nearer,

I could see how excited she was about it

and I didn't want to deprive her of that experience.

I was excited for her because I was putting myself in her shoes.

It's an amazing adventure.

'It's an adventure, going over in the boat.

'It's good fun sometimes, when it's a nice day.

'Sometimes I wish that I didn't have to go over in a boat

'and it would be nice just to get on a bus,

'just with my bag and everything.

'It just seems like normal cos I'm the person doing it.'

Including pre-schoolers,

there are more than 700,000 schoolchildren in Scotland,

the vast majority, around 670,000,

are enrolled in Scotland's state schools.

2,081 primary schools teach them to read and write

and 367 secondary schools prepare them for the adult world.

In Ullapool, head teacher Robbie McFedries is preparing these pupils

for life in the world beyond the Highlands.

Right. Good morning, everyone.

He knows many of them will have to leave the area

for university and work,

but he hopes the recent surge in numbers of young people

choosing to live here will continue.

It's great to say failte - welcome.

Welcome to Ullapool High School.

Welcome to your school.

Brand-new today, we've got 45 youngsters starting in the school

and we serve a huge geographical area -

it must be one of the widest in Scotland.

-Simpson?

-Yeah.

'And for many of them, as you will have seen this morning,

'when they came in after 90 minutes on a bus, it's hard-going.

'I think it does build resilience, I think it does build

'this strong sense of community that I'm talking about,

'this perceived isolation that we have here.

'We have youngsters that go off to universities in Scotland,

'Britain, Europe and America.

'And then, when you find out where people are five, six, seven years

'after they've left here,'

it's New Zealand, Alaska, Antarctica this year.

I suppose part of my job is that,

OK, in your 20s maybe you do want to go and explore.

I want them to come back

and that's a job for a us all, here.

MUSIC: What A Wonderful World by Louis Armstrong

# I see trees of green

# Red roses too... #

-Thank you, bye.

-Bye!

-HE SINGS:

-# And I think to myself

# What a wonderful world. #

Jamie has at least four years of school left ahead of him,

but he thinks he knows what he wants to do when he grows up.

His ambition is to stay here in the Highlands and become a crofter.

Crofting is the traditional form of Highland farming.

On small-scale plots, these remote communities grow crops

and raise livestock.

There are roughly 30,000 crofters still working the land in Scotland.

Jami's mum is one of them.

She runs her croft as a business,

but it also helps to feed the family.

She keeps goats...

and chickens...

and grows most of the vegetables they need.

Jamie is her apprentice.

That big boy over there, he's my favourite. He's very sociable.

Me and him usually get along!

I come in from school and...collecting all the eggs,

checking on the sheep, feeding the goats...

and that's them for the night.

And then, early start in the morning for milking and all that.

It's my job to deal with these animals.

Hey? Oh.

It would be nice for more young people to go back to the old ways...

with a slightly modern touch.

We've taken crofting as...

It's a lifestyle choice, as much as anything else.

So, if he wants to go into crofting,

yes, absolutely, we'll be right behind him,

and help him all we can.

It's ground that I can work on and I can live on...

and have fun.

It's not always fun, there's some mucky sides to it, too,

but, for me, it doesn't get any better than this.

She's taken all the words from my mouth!

Jamie's brothers don't see their future in crofting.

They've got their sights set on university,

just like thousands of other Scottish teenagers.

Scotland has 19 universities

and more top-class universities per head of population than

anywhere in the world.

At least 35,000 students enrol each year.

Hi, guys! I'm sorry I walked by you.

Among this year's freshers are 17-year-old Wendy Onabule

and her friends from Springburn Academy in Glasgow.

It's an exciting time - a turning point in their lives.

Take a picture of this occasion -

it will never happen again.

But it's tinged with sadness, too,

as they prepare to go their separate ways.

Yeah, just sort of cram in as much as we can into,

like, the short space of time before we all sort of go off to uni.

But, for Wendy, this moment has even greater significance.

Wendy was nine years old when she arrived in Scotland from Nigeria.

Her family were fleeing from a life-threatening situation at home.

There were hostilities from people.

It was degenerating

and it's, like, we don't know how bad was...

how it was going to get worse.

And I wasn't going to just put my children's life in danger,

or wait for something terrible or horrible to happen to them.

So, it was like, we need to get away from this for their safety.

But I knew it was the right thing for myself and my children,

so...

Around 2,000 people apply for asylum in Scotland each year.

This is out of a UK total of more than 20,000.

For a time, Wendy's family were housed

in the notorious Red Road Flats,

home to asylum seekers from all over the world for the past 12 years.

Wendy enrolled in nearby Springburn Academy

and did her best to settle into her new life in Scotland.

I really think I made a conscious effort

not to give off a certain vibe, you know, asylum seeker -

I just feel like I was just myself. And I just try and see the positives

because, regardless of what situation you're in,

obviously there's always someone in a worse position than you.

And, like, if they can deal with it, then so can you.

But for years the family were in legal limbo.

They moved from flat to flat.

Wendy's mum wasn't allowed to work

and they faced the constant threat of deportation.

Yet, with all this stress, Wendy was becoming a straight-A student.

When things did get tough,

my mum always totally sort of focused my energy on my education

and what I'm good at, rather than sort of replay

the negatives in my mind, and that sort of way of weighing me down.

But Wendy's residency status was still uncertain

and her place at university was under threat.

She didn't even know if she would be allowed to stay in the UK.

I feel like everybody has stressful times.

I can't really pick one that's been really stressful.

But I'd say, sort of, not being...

not knowing if I was going to, like, uni or not

would have been my most stressful point.

Her friends didn't realise just how high the stakes were for her.

I know she'd come from Nigeria, but I didn't know, like,

she was kind of an asylum seeker or anything like that

because she is quite a private person.

She won't tell anything like that.

She won't give anything away about her private life.

Like, she was like, she'd just moved, like, moved house.

Hi, Graeme!

Knowing Wendy's potential, her teachers in Glasgow University

were able to make sure that she wouldn't lose her place.

I know. I can't wait.

And during the summer of 2014,

she and her family were finally granted leave to remain.

I feel fortunate to be in a country where,

if you do well in school, you sort of have the opportunity to go

to university and sort of make you have a right to an education.

And you're not sort of prevented from it, or not being able to go

through personal or political circumstances and things.

-What are you guys studying?

-Um, I'm studying biochemistry.

Wendy has opportunities

that previous generations of Scottish women

could scarcely dream of.

She'll pursue a career in science or medicine.

Scotland now has 1.2 million women in employment - a new record.

In 32% of Scottish households, the mother is now the main breadwinner -

that's the highest figure in the UK...

..and more women are going into business for themselves.

28-year-old Natalie grew up in one of Scotland's deprived areas -

Calton, in the east end of Glasgow.

From a young age, she had the ambition to be her own boss.

For the past six years, Natalie has been in the beauty business.

Her salon in Duke Street was recently named

Scottish salon of the year.

So, here we are. We're at the famous VIP

and we're just about to open the salon for a busy, busy day.

Got loads of online orders and stuff to do, so...

I've took a gamble.

But obviously my gamble's paying off because it's worked

and I've got the best shop in Glasgow.

-Are you enjoying it?

-I love it.

Glasgow has more beauty salons than anywhere else in Scotland.

Natalie reckons there are more than 20 in Duke Street alone.

MUSIC: DJ Got Us Fallin' In Love by Usher

She wanted hers to stand out from the crowd,

so she made it a one-stop shop for hair, make-up, tans and frocks.

I'm very proud. I'm very happy.

See when I drive down the street, over there at night,

and it's all lit up, I say, "That's actually my shop."

I actually... It makes me smile to say, "That's actually mine."

I don't even really believe it, sometimes,

and I think to myself, "How lucky am I?"

Like, cos I was here when this shop was nothing like this,

and obviously it got built and designed the way I wanted it.

Like, people say, "Who done this? Who designed it this way?"

I done it.

# Cos baby tonight... #

But this is more than just a salon.

For local women, it's become a social hub.

It's a place where, obviously, women will congregate

and chat about life and the family and...obviously what's going on,

and - aye, a bit like a steamie - but obviously it's not a steamie.

Er... And we've no' got, like, they funny...

see, like head wraps on and stuff!

And big bags.

That was hard... Obviously that was hard work, years ago,

like, going to the washhouse or the steamie. It's changed days.

In previous generations, women going into business

and being financially independent would have been unusual...

..but Natalie and her staff take it for granted.

I just think now, you know, it's totally changed that,

you know, women can be out, you know, making money,

being successful, where, like, you know,

years ago it would be that it was always the man that's

expected to take you out for dinner and pay for everything.

Natalie's tried to create an atmosphere

where customers become friends.

In here, you come here, you've got the friendliness,

the environment, the niceness, the personality.

You've got service that's just untowards, man,

it is, it's just brilliant.

As I said to you earlier on, you walk in here a stranger,

-you walk out with pals.

-That's nice!

It makes me smile, makes me happy, see, like, good feedback like that.

# Give it to mama

# Give it, give it

# Give it to mama

# Give it, give it... #

£40, please.

No, sorry.

Nah, we're fully booked, so we are. Sorry.

In today's Scotland,

women are still less likely to start their own business than men,

but young entrepreneurs like Natalie are changing that.

See when somebody says, "Nah, you cannae do that"?

"Aye, I can." And I'll get that.

I remember somebody saying to me,

"Oh, don't open a shop, you can never..."

I done it. See if somebody says to me don't do it - I do it.

Natalie's customers come here to be made beautiful.

Right, on you go - your outfit's all ready to shove on.

-Oh, no!

-NATALIE LAUGHS

But they are as fiercely independent as she is...

and they know how to enjoy it.

-They say you always look for a guy who's like your dad.

-Your dad.

-Aye.

-That's nice, innit?

Depends who your da is!

THEY LAUGH

-You don't like roulette, do you?

-Aye.

Do you know all they numbers? Listen to this,

see all they numbers on the board - add up to 666.

THEY GASP It's the devil's wheel.

Well, do you know what? See the guy who created roulette?

-He shot himself. That probably explains it.

-Did he?!

-Mm.

# I'm up all night to get some

# She's up all night for good fun

# I'm up all night to get lucky... #

Glasgow has more than 70 nightclubs that, between them,

can cater for over 40,000 revellers.

You have to go that that extra mile to make an impression.

Natalie has her future mapped out.

Her business is going well.

She's also a mum

and now she's planning the next big event in her life -

her wedding.

In recent years, marriage in Scotland was on the decline.

Couples were living together, having kids, buying houses,

but were less likely to get hitched.

But since then, marriage has been making a bit of a comeback.

More than 25,000 Scottish couples are now tying the knot each year.

While that's still almost 10,000 fewer than 40 years ago,

it does mark in increase on recent years.

The average Scottish wedding costs almost £20,000...

..but not every couple feels the need to splash the cash.

Tomorrow, all being well,

Samantha Jane will be getting married in Crosshouse,

near Kilmarnock.

To keep costs down, her friends and family have chipped in to help.

Samantha Jane is taking care of a few last-minute details.

We've got dresses, but we've got no shoes, we've got no accessories.

Right, I'll phone home and let them know I'm coming.

(She'll start flapping.)

Any minute, she'll start flapping.

Samantha Jane's fiance Joe is taking things in his stride.

We've been building it up to it for quite a wee while

and then it all suddenly comes together.

And you have rehearsals,

which was last night,

and then it really kind of sunk home.

You know, that we're only one day away from marriage.

There's quite an age difference between myself and Samantha -

I'm 59 and Samantha's 34.

But in this day and age, I don't think age comes into it.

It's no' a big deal.

Oh! I'm getting pulled away with the horse.

Whoa, boy! Hey!

Whoa! Shannon!

-On you go.

-HE CHUCKLES

Getting married is still one of life's big moments,

but attitudes have changed.

It was once a social obligation for a couple.

Now it's a personal choice.

I think if it had been, like, in the 1960s,

where you didn't live together,

I think then I might be in a different state!

But we've lived together for two years.

So, it's just - it's just a bit of paper of paper.

Ultimately I know that it's a bit of paper, ultimately saying,

"I want to spend my life with you."

It was actually... I did the proposing

and I did it in the traditional way.

I actually got down on knee and proposed to her,

but unfortunately I didnae have a ring.

Um, so we used a ring pull...

off a can.

Come on, honey. Are you tired?

It was a natural step to take, so... And that's where we are today.

The average Scottish wedding takes over a year to plan.

The stress level of the average Scottish wedding

has yet to be accurately measured.

OK, I'm on my way. Can you phone me back

and tell me where I'm heading?

What, is that the shoes and stuff?

-Here, black ghillie shirt and black socks.

-Right.

-Absolutely magic.

Thank you very much. Smashing, great.

That's another thing off the list I need to do, so home. Thanks again.

I just... Please, God, be the right bag.

I've done everything I can do,

nothing else can be done, so it's just a case

of wait and let the carnage ensue.

I'm actually starting to feel a little bit stressed now.

Over half of Scottish marriages are now civil ceremonies.

Religious ceremonies have been declining for decades,

reflecting a continuing drop in churchgoing in Scotland.

But from 2009 to 2012, the number of religious weddings actually

went up, partly thanks to the legalisation of humanist weddings,

which are now classed as faith-based.

With 4,616 weddings in 2013, the Church of Scotland still

claims the number one spot for religious marriages.

Samantha Jane and Joe aren't regular churchgoers,

but they want to be married in the eyes of God.

It's important that you do believe in something

and, because I have a belief and he has a belief,

we wanted to incorporate that into the wedding.

Samantha Jane and Joe are delighted to welcome you all

to their wedding ceremony, here in Crosshouse Parish Church.

This is a happy day for them and it's made all the happier for them

because you come to share it with them.

'There's got to be a God, one way or the other.

'You think with the conflicts we've had all over the world

'and the disasters we've had all over the world that God would make

'an appearance, you know, and sort it out,

'but maybe that's me being playground philosopher.'

-To cherish and respect you...

-To cherish and respect you...

-And to love you always...

-And to love you always...

-As long as we both shall live.

-As long as we both shall live.

Wonderful. You may now enjoy your first kiss as husband and wife.

APPLAUSE

Many Scots do still want the church to be there for them

at life's big moments, but Scotland is losing its religion.

32% of the population say they belong to the Church of Scotland,

but 37% claim to have no faith at all.

Among non-Christian Scots, the story is very different.

Scotland is home to over 200,000 people

from minority ethnic backgrounds -

that's 4% of the population.

In Glasgow, this goes up to 12%.

For many of these Scots - Muslims, Sikhs, Hindus, Buddhists -

faith is an integral part of their everyday lives and their identity.

It keeps family and community together.

Scotland's Muslims are the country's largest minority group -

they number more than 75,000.

Many Muslim families have lived here

for two and three or even four generations.

A wedding like this is a chance for family

and friends from across Scotland and the world to get together.

We do see ourselves as Asian Scots, we have our own culture, religion,

language, but we've embraced much of the Scottish aspects.

CALL TO PRAYER

In 1952, when my father came over to this country,

he began his career as a peddler. He was a typical Pakistani,

going round with his bicycle, selling goods door-to-door.

And from 1952 until the day he died,

he built up a very established business in the north of Scotland,

so we gave back an awful lot to the community,

but we got a lot from the community as well - we were very enriched

by our neighbours, our friends and our education.

Most Scottish Muslims live in Glasgow and the south,

but this Islamic community

is thriving far from there in Inverness.

I find myself speaking with words like "wee",

Like, "Oh, um, could you do me a wee favour?"

And I think the lines between cultures become a little less

distinguished, which is really nice.

Inverness is the fastest-growing city in Scotland.

Since 2001, its population has grown by over 15%.

The Muslim community here numbers just 400,

but it's growing all the time.

For the past six years, they have been raising funds

to establish a proper mosque in the town.

Now it's finally ready.

It marks quite a change for this building -

it used to be a football supporters' club.

It has been transformed in to the most northern mosque in the UK.

Today is the festival of Eid, this marks the end of Ramadan,

a month of fasting when Muslims

don't eat or drink between dawn and dusk.

It's a time for family, friends and neighbours to come together and eat.

It's a truly international affair.

One, two, three, whoo!

We're celebrating the best way possible

and we want to get the kids involved as much as possible as well.

He wants to get to the goody bag,

so they look forward to it every year,

so it's like our Eid is like their Christmas, basically.

Hit it really hard. Wow! That was a good one.

Another good one!

One, two, three.

They love hitting stuff.

When candy falls out of something that they hit, it's even better.

Candy heaven!

Zubair Muhammad, his wife Sophia and the children are from Chicago.

They've been in Inverness for just over a year.

Your job is to colour in this circle.

That's pretty good.

I knew of the Highlands because of Braveheart

and I knew of Braveheart...

It was my thing.

Every summer holidays, they would start with Braveheart.

I know every line from the movie,

so "sons of Scotland, I am William Wallace."

and then it was like, "William Wallace is seven feet tall,"

and then William Wallace comes in and he says, "I have heard."

And if you were here, he'd consume the English with fireballs

from his eyes and bolts of lightning from his arse.

That's a good job.

To us, it feels like home now, you know.

It's still to this day... I love it here.

-He sees rainbows every day going to work.

-Well, not rainbows every day.

I see mountains every day, that's for sure.

Ishmael has a mixed accent, it's a little American,

a little English, a little Scottish.

He says a few words here.

We hope he picks up a really strong Scottish accent,

so when he goes back and sees his cousins in America,

they can see that, you know,

that accent and he'll be like the cool cousin.

Zubair and his family feel at home in Scotland.

The country has welcomed to them to join what is

an increasingly diverse society, but there's another bigger change

happening to the make-up of the Scottish people.

It's a trend that other European countries are experiencing too.

The population is getting older.

100 years ago, just 5% of Scots were over 65 -

today it's over 18%.

There are now more Scots over 65 than under 16.

So could 65 be the new 16?

Nowadays, people tend to live longer, they're active longer.

My grandparents were old in their 50s - nowadays that's not the case.

My dad died when he was 55 and we didn't want that to happen to us.

And my mum was only 64 when she died so, you know, you've got to...

You've only got one life, as they say.

Christine Cargill spent her working life

as a teacher on the Isle of Arran.

When she retired, her and her husband decided

it was time to change their lives,

so they sold the house, bought a camper van and hit the road.

Everywhere we travel, we take our canoe so that Ian canoes

and I can swim in all the lochs.

Like thousands of Scottish women,

Christine has had hip replacement surgery.

She has found that swimming,

preferably in the great outdoors, is the perfect exercise

and both Christine and Ian are determined

to keep challenging themselves.

The first year we were travelling in France,

two of our really dear friends died on Arran

and we couldn't get to their funeral,

so Ian and I decided what we were going to do, we really needed...

felt we needed to put something back to them,

so we decided to do, that year, we would do as many runs

and marathons, half marathons

and as many swims in memory of our two friends

and raise money for Macmillan Cancer.

And so Ian did the Edinburgh Marathon with two of our boys,

all dressed in green because of Macmillan,

and I did London, Windermere, Glasgow...Manchester swims

and also in Loch Ness.

When you do look around at the people

that go to swim at these swims,

they're not all young, beautiful and slim bodies.

There's lots of different shapes and sizes and ages.

But some 60-something Scots keep working past retirement age.

In the workshop here, we've got machines which cut and print vinyl.

The vinyl rolls at the back of the workshop here.

Elsie is 63.

She's grafting as hard as ever,

running her sign-writing business installing.

We do quite a lot of work for Prudential, Norbord,

the Youth Hostel Association.

We put signage all over Scotland for them,

United Auctions, we're doing some banners for the Ryder Cup,

that was for the local authority, so we've got a great variety of work.

Elsie started her company in 1983, but as the business grew

she found herself spending more of her time sitting down.

I started to employ people and train them

and, of course, then you start driving a desk.

And that probably precipitated

the first of two breast cancers that I've had.

When you're a 20-year-old, you think differently

because your life's in front of you.

When you're this age, there's far more of your life

behind you than in front,

so every day is a bonus and I feel much more content.

Coffee? Tea?

Coffee, please.

The benefits of medicine, I have benefited from myself,

I should be deid by now, so, like I said, every day is a bonus.

Battling cancer has given Elsie a new lust for life.

Like Christine, she has discovered the thrill of wild swimming.

Swimming, of course, is a great exercise.

It protects the joints and, yeah, it makes you feel fantastic.

I feel like a new woman.

Today, Elsie and Christine are taking on a challenge

that would be daunting for someone half their age.

They are swimming a mile across Loch Lomond,

a gruelling hour in choppy, open water. They won't be alone.

This year's Great Scottish Swim is the biggest yet -

more than 2,500 people will take the plunge.

Scots of all ages, shapes and sizes have got up off the sofa

and trained hard for this.

Three generations of Christine's family are here to cheer her on.

I think she'll do really well.

Yeah, she had a hip replacement a year ago

but I think she'll do really well.

-ANNOUNCER:

-If you're in the water, you're in any discomfort,

if you feel unwell or you get yourself into trouble,

all you have to do is to get on your back,

tread water and raise one hand in the air.

I was a bit nervous getting changed

and feeling very tearful, actually, because I've had two cancers

and had my second hip replacement last November.

Because of work, I haven't been able to train swimming.

I've been doing circuit training but I've not been near the pool.

I'll just keep swimming. It'll take me a long time but I'll get there.

KLAXON SOUNDS

-ANNOUNCER:

-In you go, guys. This is what this is all about.

KLAXON SOUNDS

Davie!

CHEERING AND APPLAUSE

It was good.

CHEERING

Well done, Mum!

Well done, dear.

We're freezing, well done!

CHEERING AND APPLAUSE

Now, get up there, go on.

Whoo!

-ANNOUNCER:

-He is the 2013 world champion...

-Wow!

-Well done.

-Thank you.

THEY CHUCKLE

-Cheers, wonderful.

-Right, thank you.

I'm just thrilled that I've got the health to be able to do this.

To be able, to be able to do this is just magic.

Big smiles, that's wonderful.

CAMERA CLICKS

It's slower than I normally have done before but it was...

choppy going out.

There we go, wonderful.

I'm going to have a glass of wine tonight.

Maybe more than a glass of wine.

Scotland's population is ageing

because people are living longer, healthier lives.

It's projected that between 2010 and 2035,

the number of Scots over 75 will increase by a whopping 82%.

The Scottish mortality rate is also at an all-time low.

Nevertheless, some 55,000 Scots will reach the end of their lives

this year.

The job of laying them to rest

falls to funeral directors like John Gauld.

My dad founded the business in the early '80s in Crieff and,

previous to that, had been a driving instructor for 30 years

in the town so he was incredibly well-known, had taught most of Crieff

to drive and that was a tremendous advantage

when he started the funeral business because he was a well-known face that

some of the people, you know, liked and trusted so the two fitted well.

When I put this tailcoat on,

I become John Gauld the funeral director.

There's a lot of pride in that, there's a lot of pride in being

the local funeral director and being part of the community.

In many ways, John's profession is a traditional one.

But in Scotland today, attitudes to death are starting to change.

I mean it's a very traditional job.

We take a lot of pride in carrying forward those traditions,

but even in the time I've been doing this job in the last 20 years,

I'll see the change, I've seen people's attitudes change

and I've seen, I think,

an awareness that people are looking for something different.

They're looking for something that they feel is appropriate to them

and the way that they've lived their lives.

Here in the Perthshire countryside,

John offers families a new kind of final resting place.

It's one of a growing number of Scottish natural burial sites.

Woodland burial grounds like this are an alternative

to traditional cemeteries.

As more Scots move away from organised religion,

more people value the idea that they could be laid to rest in nature.

There are now around 50 of these across the country in woods

and meadows and tranquil spots by the sea.

It was my dad's idea to initially open what is a green field

burial site.

We have from ornithologists through to hillwalkers to scientists,

motorcyclists.

I think people who have an affinity with the outdoors

feel that this is an appropriate place for them

to see out the rest of their days as it were.

I think you can't help but be impacted by the beauty of this spot

and also the tranquillity of it as well.

To be part of this is quite special, that's how I feel.

In a close-knit community like Crieff,

John has a personal connection with the families he helps.

These are the Williamson family lairs.

The family decided that this was to be their final resting place

and they purchased a number of plots together.

We always check with families to see if they would like adjacent lairs

and it makes sense for families then to have a single point

for future generations to come and to pay their respects

and to ponder the insignificance of it all perhaps.

HE CHUCKLES

The most recent member of this family to pass away died suddenly.

Ian and Ruth Stone were married in Edinburgh in 1970.

They lived and worked all over the world before settling

in the South of England.

But as they approached retirement,

the pull of home became too strong, so in 2006,

they answered the call of Scotland and returned to Perthshire.

They were looking forward to growing old together here.

He was...

I was going to say quiet, he wasn't really quiet cos

he was very good company and good fun and people liked that.

He was relatively fit, I mean he looked fairly fit.

He suddenly became dizzy one Thursday evening.

By the morning, it was apparent there was something going wrong

so I phoned the doctor and while he was sitting in the waiting room,

I think he started to have a full-blown stroke.

He was straight into the PRI.

The plan was that he would come home for the Saturday,

so that was a week afterwards, and I could see on the way

home in the car that something wasn't quite right.

He started saying things to me like, um,

"I think you'd better get used to being on your own."

And, ultimately, it became apparent as the week went on that this was

not going to have a good end.

So I phoned my son in Melbourne and he came,

but by the time he got there on the Friday night, Ian was in a coma.

And he died on the Sunday morning.

Ian had prostate cancer -

one of the biggest killers of Scottish men over 50.

It's easy to miss and although his was diagnosed, it was too late.

Today, Ian's family and friends have gathered at

the natural burial ground to lay him to rest.

The great architect of the universe called our brother,

John Francis Stone,

to his nearer presence on Sunday, 28th September, 2014.

At Crieff Parish Church,

we committed his soul unto God's eternal rest.

We have now brought him home to his final resting place,

here in this beautiful part of West Strathearn,

where his father-in-law, mother-in-law

and brother-in-law are also buried.

A place which will remain a focal point for relatives

and friends to visit in the years that lie ahead.

We now commit his body to the ground.

Earth to earth, ashes to ashes, dust to dust.

Ruth takes some consolation from the fact that Ian has been laid

to rest in a beautiful corner of Scotland.

This is the Turret, but this flows into the Earn.

And when my father died, he said to me,

"Look, dear, you'll have to sort the funeral out."

He said, "Don't worry about me, just burn me and chuck me in the Turret."

However, he also said,

"But you can do whatever you like, as long as you're mother's OK

"with it." So Mum and I decided he would be better by the Earn.

So that's where he is. Next to Ian.

Scotland's population might be getting older, but in Scotland

today, more births than deaths are now being registered each year.

-Give the balloon to Kayla.

-Kayla has the same at the end as me.

Yeah.

Back in Aberdeen, new baby Kayla is ready to meet her brother

and sister for the first time.

Hi!

-Hi!

-Hi!

-What have I got here?

-Look. Look who's with Mummy.

-Who's that?

-Who's this?

-Hello, Kayla.

-What do you think?

-Hello, Kayla.

-Hello, Kayla.

-Exciting, hey? Exciting.

Does she have really little feet?

When you first see your baby, yeah, it's an indescribable feeling,

and the tears well up and, um, it...

Yeah, words don't really do justice.

Do you think she'll be a good little sister for you?

Yeah?

So if you guys look like Jake and Elsa, what does Kayla look like?

-A baby.

-Yeah, for now just like a baby.

In 2014, the most popular name for Scottish baby boys was Jack,

followed by James and Lewis.

For girls, it was Emily, then Sophie and Olivia.

We went through a book of baby names. There was about 500 names in it.

It was either going to be Bella or Gracie, but then as soon as

we looked at her, we decided it was going to be Gracie.

Aidan was the first one that popped up

and apparently the meaning is fire.

And I've been saying it's been like having a wee fire in my belly

and I thought, "Oh, there we go, it's like Zen."

Hopefully she'll be able to better herself

and do something out of this world.

The world's her oyster.

The Scotland in which these babies will grow up

is likely to become more populous and more diverse in their lifetimes.

Experts predict there will be close to six million Scots by 2037,

up from 5.3 million today.

And that the number of Scots from ethnic backgrounds

will continue to grow.

So life in Scotland will continue to change.

Exactly how, no-one knows.

In part, it will be up to these new Scots.

They are the future of Scotland.