First Bulgarian school in Edinburgh brings together friends of Bulgaria on its tenth anniversary

Scotland is known as "The Land of the Brave" and recognized as the "Homeland of the Bagpipe". An instrument that carries the soul of Bulgarian folklore in its sound. According to unofficial data, the "brave" Bulgarians who are building a life in this northern territory of the United Kingdom are between 7,000 - 8,000 and reach 12,000 people with seasonal workers in the period between April and October.

Bulgarians residing in Scotland are mainly engaged in picking cabbage, strawberries and mushrooms in the several large farms in the region, Spas Yanev, who has been living with his family in Scotland for nearly three decades, says in an interview for Radio Bulgaria. Together with his wife Daniela Yaneva, exactly ten years ago they began educational work with a group of children of Bulgarian origin, the result of which today is the First Bulgarian School Lady Nadezhda Stanchova Muir in Edinburgh named after prominet Bulgarian diplomat Nadezhda Stanchova (also Nadejda Stancioff).

"It started because of our son. We were a group of parents who discussed how important it was for our children to speak and learn Bulgarian. Because unfortunately, a phenomenon occurs abroad - children who have been entirely in a Bulgarian-speaking environment, such as our family and our son, who was born here and spoke only Bulgarian until the age of three, after he started attending a Scottish school, he gradually began to lose his native language. And when he entered the first or second grade, we felt the enormous need for a Bulgarian school. Several parents before us tried to create one, but it didn't work out then either. My wife and I decided that if we don't do something, our child will be left without his mother tongue. And we are very fond of our culture and traditions, I am proud to be Bulgarian. And so we laid the foundations of the school."

In 2017, the Bulgarian Cultural and Educational Centre Scotland Ltd was established with directors Spas Yanev and Daniela Yaneva as the school operates as part of the centre. At the beginning, there were six Bulgarian children and one teacher. The number of students grew with each passing year, and today, in the tenth anniversary year of the school, more than 120 children aged 3 to 19 from different regions of Scotland are learning to read and write in Bulgarian. The team of the school in Edinburgh already numbers 15 people, 8 of them teachers, including one in Bulgarian folk dances.

Spas Yanev proudly notes the role of the school manager Mariyana Dimitrova - Ilcheva, who has developed her own Bulgarian language training program, the result of the symbiosis of the two educational systems - the Bulgarian and the Scottish. Her work gives excellent results, Yanev admits and explains that the difference is visible even in the arrangement of the desks in the classroom, which are usually in a circle, and the room itself is filled with various objects and educational toys that help in learning.

The classes are every Saturday from 9.30 ам to 6 pm local time, at a different interval for the different classes.

"A motivation for some of the parents is their desire to return to Bulgaria. We already have some who have returned. The main motivation is to preserve the Bulgarian spirit in their children."

From this school year, there is already a second Bulgarian school in Edinburgh, and this provoked Spas and Daniela, after so much time, to choose a patron for their patriotic work. This is precisely the reason why the First Bulgarian School now bears the name of the first female diplomat in Europe - the Bulgarian Nadezhda Stanchova (Nadejda Stancioff) aka Lady Muir. ‎

‎"We were very keen to find a famous person who had a connection with Scotland and indeed over the years we have not been able to find such a person. And at the beginning of the school year, in one of our meetings with Dr. Zlatko Bars-Dimitroff, who is the deputy head of our Embassy in London, he introduced us to the personality of Nadezhda Muir and her connection with Scotland after she married Lord Alexander Muir in 1924. It did not take us long to decide that this is the person we want to be the patron of our school and we hope to bear the name with pride and that our deeds will correspond to this bright personality who is not very well known either in Great Britain or in Bulgaria. One of our goals is to be able to popularize information about her personality and deeds."‎

And while plans for the future are being drawn up, Spas and Daniela Yanevi have invited all Bulgarians and friends of the Bulgarian school on March 21 and 22 to be part of the festive events on the occasion of the school's tenth anniversary.

The celebrations are organized in partnership with the Consulate of Bulgaria in Edinburgh, which officially opened its doors in early 2025 and is a source of great pride for the Bulgarian community in the region. The University of Edinburgh, the Executive Agency for Bulgarians Abroad and the Forum for Traditional Dances in Scotland are also partners.

The program begins on the evening of March 21, with traditional dance parties, known as keili. "We are doing International "keili +", with traditional Scottish, Irish and Bulgarian folk music and dances included," Daniela Yaneva specifies. ‎

Saturday will offer an International Seminar for educators and specialists related to Bulgarian schools abroad and the education of bilingual children, which will be held at ‎Old College, University of Edinburgh, with free admission. Among the participants will be the rector of Sofia University "St. Kliment Ohridski" ‎Prof. Georgi Valchev, who will hold a special talk on the topic, as well as lecturers from the University of Edinburgh, the University of Cambridge and Middlesex, as well as teachers at the Bulgarian school and representatives of the Executive Agency for Bulgarians Abroad.

The festive celebrations in Edinburgh will end on March 22 with a concert-performance by the children from the Bulgarian school, entitled "When will spring come?" with authors Yana Alexandrova and Bulgarian folk dance choreographer Ariana Stoyanova. ‎

Daniela Yaneva and Spas Yanev wish health and luck to all their supporters and to themselves. As for the rets – Adversity gives birth to new ideas in us!‎

Photos: First Bulgarian school Lady Nadezhda Stanchova Muir in Edinburg

English publication: Rositsa Petkova