Congratulations to local project FRESH START, who won the Community Action category at last night’s SCVO Charity Awards!
Well done to Biddy and the team at Ferry Road Drive!
The winners of the Scottish Charity Awards recognising Scotland’s voluntary sector were announced in a celebratory awards ceremony last night (Friday 23 June) at the Sheraton Hotel, Edinburgh.
Hosted by Sally Magnusson and run annually by the Scottish Council for Voluntary Organisations (SCVO), the Scottish Charity Awards celebrates the best of the voluntary sector. This year’s shortlist included 32 individuals and organisations from charities, social enterprises and voluntary groups across the country.
The winner of each of the nine categories was decided by a judging panel, with the tenth People’s Choice category winner decided by the public with over 14,000 votes cast online. The winners of the Scottish Charity Awards 2023 are:
Anna Fowlie, chief executive of SCVO, said: “What a fabulous event to celebrate the achievements of organisations and people across the voluntary sector in Scotland.
“Our finalists and winners are all shining examples of the great things happening thanks to the commitment of people working and volunteering in charities, community groups and social enterprises, all championing good causes, providing vital support and making our communities better places to live.
“Every community, and every part of our society, benefits from the work that SCVO is lucky to see on a daily basis. Thank you to everyone who participated in the Scottish Charity Awards this year, including our sponsors, the Sheraton Hotel for hosting us and of course to Sally Magnusson who was lovely as ever.
“Congratulations to all the finalists – I’m already looking forward to what the next year brings!”
A team of Edinburgh Napier University students have triumphed at a UK-wide game design competition with a creative and original depiction of life in fascist-occupied Italy.
Drawing visual inspiration from Guillermo del Toro’s movie adaptation of Pinocchio, their game concept ‘Aging Like Buildings’ takes the player through a story narrated by a grandfather reliving his harsh experience during the 1940s. Using morally nuanced tales told to his grandchild, a player called Cielo explores ruins and works with partisans to reclaim territory taken by occupying fascist forces.
Developers Jacopo Santarossa, Jakub Mazurek, Keir Bailey, Mitchell MacPherson and Ellie Black chose their concept as a way of demonstrating the horrors of war in an empathetic way.
Jakub said: “We were drawn to the idea of creating a game based on under-explored conflict stories – which led us to the Italian partisans.
“The title ‘Aging Like Buildings’ refers to how during times of conflict, people deteriorate the way structures do after being bombed. The scars left behind by a traumatic event are a visible burden, similar to the outside of an old building.
“Even if buildings and people are injured by conflict, they always remain close by to support whoever needs assistance the most.”
Each team member seized the chance to take part in the IWM Games Jam as a way of adding to their skills, with an eye on working in areas like video game development, 3D modelling, sound design and virtual reality.
Judges praised their creative and original approach to storytelling around conflict – as well as twists and complexities that set it apart from the field.
Over the course of a week, competing teams were tasked with basing their entry around an IWM item, with a violin carved from trees growing on former Western Front battlefields inspiring the makers of Ageing Like Buildings.
Fiona Stewart, Lecturer at Edinburgh Napier University’s School of Computing, Engineering and the Built Environment, said: “Game Jams are a great opportunity for our students to gain experience working in teams and learning new skills.
“We’re very proud that the team have produced such a strong piece of work and know they will go on to even greater things in the future.”
Fellow lecturer Iain Donald, who helped judge the competition, said: “I was thrilled to see teams from across the country creating novel and engaging ways of exploring the IWM objects and how these were used to challenge our expectations of war and conflict.
“I think all the judges were impressed by how so many entries embraced their creativity, evoked empathy and encouraged diverse stories that you wouldn’t necessarily expect of when you think of war games. It was incredibly difficult to judge!”
Another team of ENU students, from the BSc in Games Development, placed 10th in the Best Playable category with their demo entitled Prisoners Dilemma.
Pupils from George Watson’s College in Edinburgh battled it out at the Sottish Parliament to become Euroquiz champions.
The pupils tested their European knowledge against 28 other primary schools before coming out on top in the final round.
Euroquiz quizmaster Annabelle Ewing MSP and Deputy Presiding Officer said: “I’ve been so impressed by the knowledge of these young primary pupils. After two years it’s fantastic to welcome people back into our Debating Chamber for this special event.
“Well done to all the pupils who made the final – it was a very sought after competition. George Watson’s College did extremely well to win overall and my congratulations to them.”
Over 400 schools have been involved in competing in this year’s quiz. Following a series of heats that took place earlier this year, the winning schools took part in the final in the Scottish Parliaments’ Debating Chamber on Monday 13 June.
Euroquiz, which was first held in 1993, sees teams of pupils working together to broaden their knowledge of European history, geography, sport, culture, languages and the European Union.
The winners of the First Minister’s Reading Challenge 2020-21 have been announced online by the Children’s Laureate and bestselling author of the How To Train Your Dragon series, Cressida Cowell (above).
Now in its fifth year, the First Minister’s Reading Challenge is run by Scottish Book Trust, the national charity changing lives through reading and writing.
The awards recognise the efforts of schools and pupils to support reading for enjoyment and create a reading culture in their school, home or community. All those who submitted this year will receive book tokens, with the winners also receiving a trophy.
The First Minister Nicola Sturgeon said:“Reading is something that always brings me joy, and no matter how I am feeling there’s something to match my mood. During the pandemic, it has been a lifeline, and I know it has been for countless others.
“The reading challenge was launched to inspire as many young people as possible to discover a joy of reading, and I have been so impressed with all the innovative work schools and communities have been doing this year, rising to the challenge of doing this during these extraordinary times, and doing so with great ingenuity.
“Huge congratulations to the winners, as well as everyone who submitted incredible entries.”
The national winner, receiving the School Reading Journey Award, was Grange Primary School in Angus.
Their submission was full of fun and innovative ideas, from moving their Reading Café to pupils’ homes to their virtual book fair. The impact on families and pupils was clear and the work of the support staff was highlighted for their dedication.
Victoria Tweed, Acting Headteacher atGrange Primary School said:“We have a real culture of reading for pleasure here at Grange Primary School and it’s very much led by the children, which makes us super proud to have won the School Reading Journey part of the First Minster’s Reading Challenge.”
The national winner for the Reading Inspiration Challenge was Preston Lodge High School in East Lothian.
Their entry was put together by their superstar school librarian and promoted reading with a variety of events despite the school closure. They ran a Virtual Library Escape Room and lockdown library clubs and the panel commended their creativity and resilience on trying new ideas to keep the whole school reading.
For the School & Community Partnership Reading Journey Award category, there were some fantastic community engagement ideas, despite the challenges with Covid-19 restrictions.
The national winner for the School & Community Partnership was Elphinstone Primary School in East Lothian.
The judges felt that the partnerships this school built around reading for pleasure were incredibly meaningful and placed reading at the centre of their community with their Elphy Tales project. They worked closely with a local storyteller to embed storytelling into everyday school life, including during lockdown.
The national Gaelic Medium Education (GME) Reading Journey was awarded to Goodlyburn Primary School in Perth & Kinross.
The judges felt that they had gone above and beyond since winning the category in 2018, introducing an exciting and inclusive project called Mother Tongue to Other Tongue and integrating popular genres across their work. The school worked hard to embed books and reading across their GME curriculum.
The Community Reading Culture award celebrates the groups who work outside of school to give young people further opportunities to read for pleasure. The national winner of the Community Reading Culture award was Heriot Mini Book Bank in Scottish Borders.
Their entry stood out to the judging panel due to the creative ways they managed to keep their reading culture going in such a rural area, despite all the restrictions. When they had to close, they took reading on the road in their very remote community with their Book Bike and held an inspiring virtual author event.
This year, the Pupil Reading the Most Books award was won by Camryn from Seaton School in Aberdeen, who read 49 books.
The national winner of the School Reading the Most Books was Crosshouse Primary School in South Lanarkshire. With a pupil role of 401 they have read 3868 books over the course of the Reading Challenge.
For the Pupil Reading Journey award category, there were five national winners:
Mrs Jalland’s Primary 1 class at Carmuirs Primary School in Falkirk. The Primary 1s did a whole range of activities led by their favourite books, and even ran a project with a school in America. It was clear the children took ownership of their reading journeys, taking part in Everyone Reading in Class (ERIC) time and listening to each other’s stories.
Primary 2 class at Oakgrove Primary School, Glasgow. The Primary 2 class focused their reading journey around their class story, and used that as inspiration for lots of reading activities, from designing a home to exploring feelings. They were very creative in their entry, showing enthusiasm for the class story through all of their wonderful ideas.
Primary 4A at Newington Primary School in Dumfries & Galloway. The class put together an entry detailing all of their reading throughout the year, what they’ve done in school and at home, and what they’ve enjoyed the most. They even managed to create some great links with their local community during lockdown.
The Primary 5 award was received by Finn who is home-schooled at Fields Schoolhouse in Angus. The judges were impressed by Finn’s enthusiasm and determination to read during the pandemic. He was commended for extending and developing his knowledge and interest in farming by reading the Farmer’s Guide and being interviewed by them regarding his very own egg business.
Caleb from Findochty Primary in Moray was awarded the Primary 6 Pupil Reading Journey award. The judges were impressed by the progress Caleb had achieved in his reading this year and by his initiative to ask for help when needed.
The First Minister’s Reading Challenge was launched in 2016 for Primaries 4 to 7 and expanded to include all primary and secondary schools as well as libraries and community groups in its third year.
Scottish Book Trust, the national charity changing lives through reading and writing, delivers this exciting reading initiative on behalf of the Scottish Government and every school in Scotland is invited to take part.
From Monday 14 June to Friday 18 June, Scottish Book Trust is hosting the First Minister’s Reading Challenge Festival, with digital events that schools can join online via their website.
Events include creative writing with Patrice Lawrence, a draw along with Ross Collins and a wildlife walk with Hamza Yassin. Events will be available to watch on demand until the end of August.
Marc Lambert, CEO of Scottish Book Trust, said:“Congratulations to all our First Minister’s Reading Challenge awardees. It’s wonderful to see schools across Scotland reading for pleasure and building reading cultures in the classroom and at home.
“Thank you to our funders for making this programme possible, and to Cressida Cowell for announcing our amazing winners. We hope everyone will enjoy our first ever celebration festival, which can be joined from our website.”
Three people in North West Edinburgh are celebrating after winning £1,000 each thanks to their lucky postcode.
The North Bughtlinfield neighbours netted the windfall when EH12 8XZ was announced as a Daily Prize winner with People’s Postcode Lottery on Thursday (1st October).
People’s Postcode Lottery ambassador Judie McCourt sent her well-wishes to the winners. She said: “Congratulations to our winners. What a great surprise to hear on a Thursday morning!”
A minimum of 32% of ticket sales goes directly to charities and players of People’s Postcode Lottery have raised over £600 million to date for thousands of good causes in Britain and beyond.
This draw was promoted on behalf of Canal & River Trust which has received more than £10 million in funding thanks to players. It cares and brings life to over 2,000 miles of canals and rivers across England and Wales. It believes waterways have the power to make a difference to people’s lives and that spending time by water can make us all healthier and happier.
Many good causes close to the winners have also benefitted from players’ support, and local charities can apply for funding next year.
Three people in West Pilton are celebrating today after winning £1,000 each thanks to their lucky postcode.
The Ferry Road Avenue neighbours netted the windfall when EH4 4BL was announced as a Daily Prize winner with People’s Postcode Lottery on Wednesday 22nd July 2020.
People’s Postcode Lottery ambassador Danyl Johnson sent his well-wishes to the winners. He said: “What great news to start your day! Congratulations to our winners, I hope they enjoy their winnings.”
A minimum of 32% of ticket sales goes directly to charities and players of People’s Postcode Lottery have raised over £500 million to date for thousands of good causes in Britain and beyond.
This draw was promoted by Save the Children which has received over £10.1 million in funding from the players of People’s Postcode Lottery. Save the Children connects parents, teachers, and childcare experts to build a brighter future for children across the UK. It works to give children the support they need from the very start of life.
Many good causes close to the winners have also benefitted from players’ support, and local charities can next apply for funding in August.
Two people in Drylaw are celebrating today after winning £1,000 each thanks to their lucky postcode.
The Easter Drylaw Drive neighbours netted the windfall when EH4 2QB was announced as a Daily Prize winner with People’s Postcode Lottery yesterday.
People’s Postcode Lottery ambassador Judie McCourt sent her well-wishes to the winners. She said: “What a great surprise to start the weekend! Congratulations to our winners!”
A minimum of 32% of ticket sales goes directly to charities and players of People’s Postcode Lottery have raised over £500 million to date for thousands of good causes in Britain and beyond.
This draw was promoted by the Wildlife Trusts which have received over £11.3 million in funding from the players of People’s Postcode Lottery. The Wildlife Trusts look after more than 2,300 nature reserves and operate more than 100 visitor and education centres across the country. The Trusts work to make life better for wildlife, people and future generations.
Many good causes close to the winners have also benefitted from players’ support, and local charities can next apply for funding in August.
