Highland projects line up to win viewer vote and share of £1.2 million
Two young people’s projects in the Highlands out of 24 groups across Scotland are to appear on television in a bid to win Big Lottery Fund good cause cash. The Highland groups will be competing later this month for awards of up to £80,000 in the Scottish regional People’s Millions TV contest.
If it wins, Highland Council’s ‘Rain Starts Play’ project will equip every Pre-school Centre in the Highland Council area with waterproof suits and wellington boots to enable staff to take children outside for play and learning in most weather conditions. It would benefit every child in Highland pre-schools, some 4,100 children. The broadcast date for Rain Starts Play on STV’s 6pm North Tonight programme is Wednesday 28th November.
Malina MacDonald, Highland Council’s Play Development Officer said: “I am absolutely delighted that our project is in the running to win this £80,000. Play and especially outdoor play is so important for social, emotional and physical development and winning this money would go a long way in improving the quantity and quality of play in Highland children’s lives. Getting our kids active outdoors early in life makes them more likely to adopt an active lifestyle later in life which will help with our fight against obesity. This money has the power to positively affect the life of virtually every child who grows up in Highland, enabling them to play and learn in our world famous outdoors, regardless of our world famous weather! Billy Connolly was right when he said ‘there’s no such thing as bad weather, only the wrong clothing’ and this project aims to prove him absolutely right.
Also bidding for votes the Highland Council – HealthWays Kids Get Wet! project would provide watersports programmes in four Highland waterside communities for 520 young people and adults. The project aims to address the observed decline in involvement in healthy sporting activities in young people particularly moving from primary to secondary school. This project will benefit young people in the Invergordon, Alness, Fortrose, Gairloch and Ullapool areas and the broadcast date for Kids Get Wet! Is the 29th November on STV’s North Tonight at 6pm.
Susanne Standish-White, HealthWays Co-ordinator, Dingwall & Black Isle said: “Kids Get Wet! is an exciting opportunity for transition-age Highland kids (10 – 14yrs old) to experience a wide range of indoor and outdoor water sports during a 3-day holiday camp. Camps will be run twice in each of four locations during Easter, summer and October holidays and will include canoeing, kayaking, sailing, coastal rowing on the loch or Firth as well as lifesaving, water skills, snorkelling, sub aqua, water polo, underwater hockey and indoor rowing in the local leisure centre. Funds will be used to train community instructors and volunteers in each location so that the sports will all be able to continue for years to come. All the equipment purchased by the project will be donated to the communities at the end of 2008.”
This is the third year that the BIG Lottery Fund and ITV have worked together to bring the People’s Millions to living rooms across the UK. Across the week of the 26th to 30th November, good causes will go head to head in a bid to secure public support by phone vote.
Councillor Bill Fernie, Chairman of The Highland Council’s Education, Culture and Sport Committee said: “I urge people in the Highlands to vote for ‘Rain Starts Play’ on Wednesday 28th November and Kids Get Wet on the 29th November – both will be on North Tonight at 6pm on STV. We live in one of the best places in the world but to ensure our children and young people can take full advantage of it a win for one of these projects would be a great boost. We have a widely scattered community across highland so let’s see if we can all pull together to help them win.”
A full list of shortlisted People's Millions projects throughout the UK can be found at www.biglotteryfund.org.uk/pr_311007_uk_pm_shortlisted_projects_list