The Westfield Health British Transplant Games gets support from EventScotland’s National Funding Programme

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The Westfield Health British Transplant Games gets support from EventScotland’s National Funding Programme

 

Edinburgh, Scotland, 2017-Jul-28 — /Travel PR News/ — The Westfield Health British Transplant Games – in North Lanarkshire from today, Thursday 27 July to Sunday 30 July – is amongst 14 forthcoming events taking place across the country which are benefitting from a share of £145,500 in the latest awards round of EventScotland’s National Funding Programme.

The event has been awarded £25,000, which has been used for advertising and enhancing the programme and visitor experience.

The Westfield Health British Transplant Games – the flagship event of the charity Transplant Sport – began almost 40 years ago when the first ‘Transplant Olympics’ took place in Portsmouth in 1978. Over the years the event has grown and it has been staged annually in 17 host cities across the UK, including Edinburgh in 2007, with last year’s taking place in Liverpool.

The event is expected to attract around 2,500 visitors from across the UK, with 1,000 competitors (aged between two and 80 years old) taking part. Some 89% of attendees will be from outwith Scotland. Over the four days, 25 sports and events in 14 venues throughout North Lanarkshire will be used to deliver the programme.

The Games aim to demonstrate the benefits of transplantation, encouraging transplant patients to regain fitness, whilst increasing public awareness of the need for more people to join the NHS Organ Donation Register and discuss their wishes with their families. The event also seeks to thank donor families for the gift of life.

Jim McCabe, Chair of the Local Organising Committee, said: “We are delighted to be bringing the Games back to Scotland this year and very grateful for this funding support which will help us ensure that the event is as successful and memorable as possible for our participants and spectators alike.”

VisitScotland Regional Director Annique Armstrong, said: “The Westfield Health British Transplant Games is a unique and important event and also a wonderful celebration of transplant athletes and the gift of life made by donor families. I’m therefore delighted it was one of the fourteen events across the country to be chosen as recipients of this funding support.

“The National Funding Programme plays a vital role in maintaining Scotland’s reputation as a great destination for events that celebrate our culture and heritage whilst delivering real economic benefits to their local communities.”

The National Funding Programme supports the strategic delivery of events taking place outside Edinburgh and Glasgow with the aim of driving domestic tourism, delivering economic impact for local communities, and generating media profile for Scotland.

Enabling existing events to expand what they offer visitors, extend their marketing reach and enhance the on-site experience of attendees are just some of the ways that National Funding Programme support is used to help regional events continue to flourish and grow further. This in turn strengthens Scotland’s overall events portfolio – a major contributor to our national economy.

The full list of events which received support in the latest (Round 35) awards from EventScotland’s National Funding Programme are:

  • British Transplant Games, North Lanarkshire: 27 – 30 July (£25,000)
  • MugStock Festival, East Dunbartonshire: 28 – 31 July (£6,000)
  • Aberdeen Mela, Aberdeenshire: 30 July (£9,700)
  • European Dodgeball Championships 2017, Wishaw: 8 – 20 August (£9,500)
  • Scotland’s Salmon Festival, Highlands: 29 August – 2 September (£5,856)
  • St Andrews Photography Festival, Fife: 1 – 30 September (£5,500)
  • Electric Fields, Dumfries & Galloway: 1 – 2 September (£11,500)
  • Skyline Scotland, Highlands: 1 – 3 September (£12,000)
  • Bo’ness Revival, Falkirk: 2 – 3 September (£8,500)
  • BOWFest, Argyll: 8 – 10 September (£6,000)
  • The Highland Military Tattoo, Highlands: 8 – 10 September (£19,000)
  • Loch Ness Knit Fest 2017 , Highlands: 13 – 15 October (£10,500)
  • The Spree, Renfrewshire: 13 – 22 October (£10,500)
  • Colours of Cluny, Moray Speyside: 8 – 19 November (£6,000)

For more information on The British Transplant Games, visit http://www.britishtransplantgames.co.uk/

Notes to Editors

    • Follow us on twitter: @visitscotnews
    • VisitScotland is Scotland’s national tourism organisation. Its core purpose is to maximise the economic benefit of tourism to Scotland.
    • The organisation’s core objective is to contribute to the Tourism 2020 Strategy ambition of growing tourism revenues by £1 billion by 2020.
    • This will be supported by seven overarching strategies:
      1. Marketing: we will market Scotland and its outstanding assets to visitors from all parts of the world, including the promotion of Scotland to people living in Scotland to visit different parts of the country
      2. Events: we will support the national events strategy and its delivery, and sustain, develop and promote Scotland’s international profile as one of the world’s foremost events destinations
      3. Internationalisation and International Engagement: we will utilise all our platforms to enable Scottish-based tourism businesses to better understand international opportunities and market to a global audience and we will work within One Scotland Partnerships to optimise the potential of Scotland’s Diaspora and our strategic partners at regional, European and global levels
      4. Customer Experience: we will provide information and inspiration to visitors both locally and globally via their preferred medium of choice
      5. Quality and Sustainability: we will provide support and advice to businesses, with the goal of improving the quality and sustainability of the tourism sector in Scotland. We will provide quality assurance to visitors through our Quality Schemes
      6. Inclusive Tourism: we will strive to make tourism in Scotland inclusive and available to all
      7. Working in Partnership: we will listen to and work with the industry, partners and communities to shape our offering and support
    • To ensure everyone can safely enjoy Scotland’s amazing countryside and landscapes, VisitScotland encourages all visitors to fully respect their surroundings by behaving in a responsible and appropriate way.
    • VisitScotland works together with tourism businesses to make tourism a success for everyone and ensure the industry continues to grow.
    • The organisation employs 700 people and has offices and VisitScotland Information Centres across Scotland.
    • Spending by tourists in Scotland generates around £12 billion of economic activity in the wider Scottish supply chain and contributes around £6 billion to Scottish GDP (in basic prices). This represents about 5% of total Scottish GDP
    • The Scottish Government is the Managing Authority for the European Structural Funds 2014-20 Programme. For further information visit www.gov.scot or follow @scotgovESIF
    • For VisitScotland’s press releases go to http://www.visitscotland.org/media_centre.aspx, tourism statistics and frequently asked questions go to http://www.visitscotland.org/
    • Where possible, a Gaelic speaker will be made available for broadcast interviews on request (Far an tèid iarraidh, agus far am bheil sin nar comas, bruidhinnidh neach le Gàidhlig aig agallamh)

2017 Year of History, Heritage and Archaeology

  • 2017 is the year to delve into the past and discover Scotland’s fascinating stories through a wide-ranging variety of new and existing activity to drive the nation’s tourism and events sector, boosting tourism across Scotland.
  • The Year of History, Heritage and Archaeology begins on 1 January 2017 and will end on 31 December 2017. It will build on the momentum generated by previous themed years in Scotland including the 2015 Year of Food and Drink, Homecoming Scotland 2014, the Year of Creative and the Year of Natural.
  • The Year of History, Heritage and Archaeology is a Scottish Government initiative being led by VisitScotland, and supported by a variety of partners including Creative Scotland, Scottish Tourism Alliance, Scottish Enterprise, The National Trust for Scotland, Historic Environment Scotland, Highlands and Islands Enterprise, Built Environment Forum Scotland, Heritage Lottery Fund, Museums Galleries Scotland and Traditional Arts and Culture Scotland.
  • The Year of History, Heritage and Archaeology is supported by £570,000 of Scottish Government funding.
  • The Year of History, Heritage and Archaeology events fund is managed by EventScotland, part of VisitScotland’s Events Directorate.
  • For more information visit visitscotland.com/HHA2017 or join the conversation at #HHA2017

For further information contact:
Ellen Drummond
VisitScotland Corporate Press Officer
T: 0141 566 4019
M: 07801 820757
E: ellen.drummond@visitscotland.com

Source: VisitScotland

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