CREATIVE COMPETITION PRIZE GIVING 2023
On Friday 16th June, the BT Murrayfield Stadium in Edinburgh played host to Show Racism the Red Card Scotland’s 2023 Creative Competition Prize Giving Ceremony. Nominated finalists, alongside parents, teachers and guests, including representatives from major trade unions in Scotland, the American Consul General in Edinburgh, Jack Hillmeyer, and Scottish Rugby’s all-time leading points scorer Chris Paterson, to name but a few.
Prior to the awards ceremony, students and guests in attendance were invited to enjoy a carousel of entertainment, including anti-racist quizzes, an art station, magician, book corner, dance workshops, and learning activities including a privilege walk. There was even a special guest appearance from Scottish Rugby mascot, Lochie.
Awards were up for grabs for visual art in a range of age based categories as well as specific awards for both multimedia and written entries. Our judges, Frank To, Rachel Dallas, Molly Gill, Len Pennie, and Tiffany Boyle whittled down an incredible collection of submissions to 50 finalists who were invited to the ceremony. They also selected the winners and honourable mentions via a mix of four criteria; message, craft, effort and appreciation.
The ceremony itself was hosted by Peter Martin, sports broadcaster, business owner and longtime supporter of the campaign. Alongside him, actor, comedian and writer Sanjeev Kohli lent his razor sharp tongue to proceedings.
The first award of the evening was for the P1-2 category presented by the Consul General and Dora Petherbridge from the National Library of Scotland. Our winner was Corynn from Ulva Primary School on the Isle of Mull. Judge Rachel Dallas said that their t-shirt design conveyed not only a message of antiracism but also a pride message, highlighting the intersectionality of discrimination. Other finalists included Joni from Pinkie St Peter’s Primary near Edinburgh, and Autumn from Lochdonhead Primary in Argyll and Bute, as well as the highly commended entrant; Laura from Kirkbean Primary in Dumfries and Galloway.
Next up we had the P3-5 category, in which Pippa of Carnegie Primary School in Fife was our winner, with judge Frank To stating that it was a “great use of imagery, perfectly matching the message which makes a really striking piece overall.” Handing out prizes and certificates for this one were Roger Oglesby on behalf of the Scottish Youth Football Association and Zia Hussain, representing Unison’s Black Members Committee. Ian and Jack, also from Carnegie Primary School, took home a finalist certificate alongside Yasmin from Cardross Primary School in Argyll and Bute. Our honourable mention went to class P4B from Pinkie St Peter’s Primary.
The multimedia category saw a range of different submissions including videos and graphic design from a range of age groups. This year’s victors were a group submission from the International School of Aberdeen, with Eric and Enrico producing a short film highlighting the racism faced by England football team in the aftermath of their loss to Italy in the Euro 2020 final. General secretary of Unite Scotland, Pat Rafferty and Leap Sports’ Caroline Sousa e Sá handed them their prize and also gave certificates and prizes bags to Joe, Nico and Lucy all from Lauriston Primary School in Falkirk for being finalists, as well as Layla from Renfrew high School. The honourable mention went to Logan from Blairgowrie High School in Perth and Kinross.
S1-3 was a bumper category this year with a great wealth of submissions and as such, a larger pool of shortlisted submissions and finalists. Taking up the mantle to hand out prizes and certificates to this bumper group was Scottish Rugby’s record points scorer Chris Paterson, and General Secretary of the Educational Institute of Scotland, Andrea Bradley. Drake took home the award to Blairgowrie High School in Perth and Kinross, with an excellent piece of visual art. Our judge Rachel said “the messaging is from the perspective of someone who could experience racism sticking up from themselves and saying you cannot erase us.” Due to the size of the category, we had two honourable mentions in Detta and Rachel, both from Park Mains High School, Abbey also took home a finalist certificate to Park Mains. Fleur, Caitlyn, Lucy were all finalists, while James, Connor and Finn were also invited to the awards to collect their finalist certificates for a group submission.
The penultimate category was also our final age category being P6-7. On presentation duties were Scottish Rugby’s Head of People and Engagement, Julie Gemmell and former Newcastle United and Glasgow Rangers footballer Olivier Bernard. Charlotte from Cardross Primary School in Dumbarton submitted the winning entry with a stunning visual work, which our judge Rachel said was “powerful, emotional and beautiful. 10 out of 10.” Ruhi was our honourable mention from Bruntsfield Primary in Edinburgh and was joined by classmate Shaurya who was a finalist. Jaime and Rio were the other two finalists from Dalry Primary School and Community School of Auchterarder respectively.
Our final category of the day was the Written category, featuring a range of songs, stories and poems. Another category packed with quality, Len Pennie, who is a poet and mental health advocate and Tony Higgins, President of the Scottish Players Football Association took the reins to deliver these awards. Hugo from Broomhill Primary in Glasgow took the category with his poem, “Running Against Racism”. Rachel said of the poem “It is well written, truthful, encouraging and uplifting.” Michal took the honourable mention certificate back to St Thomas Primary School in Glasgow, whilst Chloe and Leanne took finalist certificates back to Park Mains High School and Auchmuty High School respectively. Annalise and Lucy from St Paul’s High School in Glasgow also earned themselves a finalist certificate for their joint submission.
A huge thanks to Scottish Rugby, who provided us with a venue and multiple prize givers and our prizegiving hosts Peter Martin and Sanjeev Kholi who delivered an entertaining and memorable ceremony. We are so pleased to see anti-racism alive and well amongst Scottish young people, their schools, and the wider community. Thanks to all our patrons, partners and supporters for making the day so special and assisting our charities education and campaigning work throughout the year.
