Call for young people across Tayside to design a new tartan for Hamish the Highland Coo
We are delighted to be working in partnership with Andie Sewing School on a tartan design competition for Tayside Mountain Rescue which launched on Monday 26th May.
The design competition is available for young people aged 18 and under, and closes on Monday 28th July. A design pack, including a brief, inspiration and a tartan template is available to download here or can be picked up from Level 1, Central Library, The Wellgate.
One entry per person should be emailed to kirsten.wallace@leisureandculturedundee.com or physically submitted to Central Library.
Tayside Mountain Rescue is a team of dedicated volunteers who respond to emergencies 24 hours a day, 365 days a year, rescuing members of the public in crisis.
They always look for innovative ways to engage with the public, encouraging others to safely visit the outdoors. They currently do this through the Hamish Hub. The idea to create a tartan for Hamish the Highland Coo was developed by Andie Sewing School student Zoe, aged 13:
“I’ve been going to sewing classes at Andie Sewing School for a few years now and I already knew about Hamish and his song. I thought, why can’t Hamish have his own tartan?
“I mentioned it to the volunteers I know at Tayside Mountain Rescue Team who thought it was a great idea. I’m looking forward to helping choose the winning tartan and then later making an outfit from it during my sewing classes at Andie Sewing School. I think other kids will really enjoy taking part over the summer holidays.”
Zoe, Andie Sewing School student
“Tayside Mountain Rescue Team is always looking for ways to engage with the community and we already have our Hamish Hub which aims to encourage kids to visit the outdoors safely. The Tartan design project is another way to interact with kids in Tayside in a fun way to help show them the wonderful landscapes they have on their doorstep. The pictures in the design pack show the variety of landscapes within Tayside and the variety of colours both in nature and as part of our uniform. We hope the kids will be inspired from these pictures and use their imagination to create a beautiful Tartan. We are all volunteers and rely on public donations and we hope that Hamish’s Tartan will help us stay on the hills for many years to come.”
Paul Russell, Tayside Mountain Rescue Senior Team Leader
“Tartan is such a powerful part of Scottish identity, and a huge part of the Andie brand as we’ve made thousands of tartan garments over the years. The chance to be involved in designing something that weaves tradition with the fresh perspective of our young creatives is so exciting.
Young people bring such raw creativity and energy and giving them a platform to build confidence and discover what they’re capable of is incredibly rewarding. I love that this project combines heritage, storytelling, and hands on design. It’s exactly what Andie Sewing School is all about.“It’s such an honour that Zoe and Tayside Mountain Rescue have asked us to work on their tartan. Zoe has such a brilliant creative mind, and she leads with purpose, so to be nominated by her feels incredibly meaningful. It’s a big vote of confidence in what we’re doing at the sewing school, and I’m so grateful for the chance to collaborate on something with both cultural and personal significance.”
Gillian McIver, Andie Sewing School Director
The winning design will be registered as an official tartan which will be used across Tayside Mountain Rescue merchandise and as outfits for Hamish.
Each finalist will receive a surprise from Hamish, and the winner will be invited to attend Tayside Mountain Rescue’s Volunteer Fun Day on Sunday 28th September. Students of Andie Sewing School will have the opportunity to design a brand-new collection with the winning tartan design in the Autumn.
“We were thrilled to be asked to partner on this project to help celebrate the work of Tayside Mountain Rescue and their team of volunteers, through a developing their own tartan. Two of our designation’s key aims is to champion local design talent and to encourage public participation in design, which we are excited to deliver through this tartan competition with Andie Sewing School.
“We are excited to see and hear the imaginative ideas that the young people come up with through their design process in selecting colour palettes and telling us about the symbolism they represent. Tartan is a creative form of storytelling and Hamish’s new tartan will showcase the work that Tayside Mountain Rescue do for many years to come.”
Kirsten Wallace, UNESCO City of Design Dundee Project Coordinator
Andie Sewing School
Andie Sewing School is an award-winning children’s sewing school specialising in comprehensive sewing education for young people of all ages. With expert teachers and a fun, nurturing environment, they focus on bringing out the creativity, imagination and personality in every child who attends.
The Sewing School provides classes, workshops and holiday camps, as well as adult weekly classes and private hires for parties. In addition to sewing classes, they have a range of creative and cooking classes too. Andi Sewing School is based at Creative Studios on Staffa Place in Dundee.
Andie Sewing School: https://andiesewingschool.co.uk/
@andisewingschool
Tayside Mountain Rescue
Tayside Mountain Rescue are made up of 50 volunteers who carry out emergency outdoor rescues from Montrose on the East Coast of Scotland to Blair Atholl and Loch Rannoch south of the Cairgorms, down to Kinross bordering Fife.
The Tayside Mountain Rescue team are on call to respond to emergencies 24 hours a day, 365 days of the year, rescuing members of the public in crisis, from mountains to rivers in all weather conditions. Volunteers receive training to keep themselves and the public safe, but the team have a range of experience in mountaineering, map and compass skills, remote medical expertise, technical rigging, swiftwater rescue and search management. They have serving police officers, teachers, managers, engineers and outdoor professionals working with them alongside a number of search & rescue dog handlers.
Tayside Mountain Rescue: http://taysidemrt.org
@TaysideMRT
UNESCO City of Design Dundee
Dundee is the UK’s first and only UNESCO City of Design. It was designated a UNESCO Creative City in 2014 acknowledging Dundee’s rich design heritage, its thriving contemporary design sector and strong cultural identity. As the UK’s first and only UNESCO City of Design, Dundee upholds the values of UNESCO and publicly champions the city’s commitment to placing design at the heart of local development plans and to global cooperation working towards the UN Sustainable Development Goals.
The programmes that UNESCO City of Design Dundee deliver celebrate and demonstrate the impact of design, embrace co-design, promote local talent, engage designers in decision making and collaborate with other UNESCO Creative Cities.
Currently there are 49 UNESCO Cities of Design, including Bangkok, Bilbao, Detroit, Graz, Helsinki, Kobe, Mexico City, Montreal, Singapore, Seoul and Wuhan.
UNESCO City of Design Dundee is supported by a partnership between Leisure & Culture Dundee and V&A Dundee.
UNESCO City of Design Dundee: https://cityofdesigndundee.com
@designdundee
