Hello all,

I’m truly saddened to be making this statement this evening. It’s come a lot sooner than I expected or hoped, and is a difficult decision to make, but with several factors affecting my ability to serve fully as Devolved Speaker, I’ve come to the conclusion I can no longer fulfill the role, and devolution and the wider simulation would be better served by someone else.

I want to start by saying that serving as Devolved Speaker has been a huge honour for me. My main love of MHoC is devolution, so to have been elected to lead, manage and develop it has been a great privilege, and I thank all of you who put your trust in me over the last number of months.

As I mentioned, there’s a number of aspects involved in this decision. I’m starting a job in the next few weeks, which will affect the time I have to give. Once school restarts, I’ll be thrown straight into my final exam year, cutting more time. Not to mention being 18 next month, which will hopefully mean more exciting opportunities and experiences.

Recently, two close deaths in my family have really made me evaluate my life choices, and opened my eyes to the mental difficulty and hardship I am putting myself through, which both affects me and my performance as DvS. The mental toll this role has taken on me is considerable, and in recent weeks I have found it increasingly difficult to deal with. All of these elements combining at once means it is no longer tenable for me to stay on in the role of Devolved Speaker.

To the Devolved Speakership team, thank you for all your hard work, diligence, and devotion to Stormont, Holyrood, and Senedd. You truly are a remarkable group of people, who, despite our differences (looking at you, Duncs), I’ve come to recognise as trusted friends and confidants. Your hard work is much appreciated by all, and the love and attachment you show is truly heart-warming to see. To the Events Team, you’ve been there through the good, the bad, and the ugly, and your persistence and allegiance even in the toughest of times is truly acknowledged.

Thank you to all of you MHoCers for the memories, the laughs, the arguments, the conflict, the resolution - serving as DvS has given me a unique perspective (certainly one I wish all MHOCers could experience, if only for a short while!), and certainly opened my eyes up to the care, consideration, and effort given to the community, from the bottom right to the top.

It would be remiss of me to not give some semblance of wisdom I’ve encountered during my time in the role - just try to remember every Quad, speaker or mod cares deeply about all of MHoC. None of us seek to damage or destroy the sim but merely have different approaches.

Again, thank you all immensely for allowing me to serve as Devolved Speaker, but it’s clear to me (and probably you too) that my time is up, and it’s time to make way for a more able and available successor. Best of luck to them, and indeed all that follow on from them.

Estoban06