Two Scottie-dog mad schoolgirls, who raised £2600 for Maggie’s, the cancer charity which supported their gran, Jane McNiven, through breast cancer, have won the Outstanding Young Person of The Year Award at Crufts.
Sisters Daphne (11) and Evie (9) won the award for their endeavours raising the profile of the Scotties breed and promoting Maggie’s ‘Scotties in the City’ art trail.
The award was presented yesterday Sunday (8 March) at Crufts.
Jane and her two granddaughters from Alexandria went to the prestigious dog show to show their own wee Scottie dogs, Edward, Dugald and Tromie – and with the aim of promoting Maggie’s and its ‘Scotties in the City’ Art Trail to everyone in the doggy-community.
The two young schoolgirls also recently held a ‘Meet the Scotties’ session at their school for fellow pupils – and they raised a fantastic £2600 on the day for Maggie’s, the national cancer charity.
While at Crufts, Jane and the girls also had the pleasure of meeting presenter, Clare Balding, who delighted them by joining them in a photo in the Crufts’ Channel 4 studio.
Jane said: “Myself and the girls have had a fantastic weekend! The girls won the overall Royal Kennel Club Award for Young Person of the Year for all of their in raising the profile of the Scottie breed and for their work promoting Maggie’s Scotties in the City art trail.
“Daphne also came third in the young person’s grooming competition, and she got a 2nd for showing one of our Scotties in her age group. Evie also won a 1st for showing her wee dog! Attending these shows is exhilarating for both myself and the girls.
“Both Daphne and Evie are quite mature and level-headed for their age and seem to take it all in their stride. Our Scotties are tired today after a long weekend but they also love being on show.
Jane adds: “I’m now in recovery from breast cancer but Maggie’s supported me throughout my diagnosis and now myself and Daphne and Evie are doing everything to promote Maggie’s as a charity and its Scotties in the City Art trail this year.
“We got to speak to Crufts’ presenter Clare Balding over the weekend and she was impressed with our youngsters and happy to get in a photo with us – and she loved the idea of the Scotties in the City Trail as well.
Jane added: “The new Scotties art trail will be fabulous for brightening up Glasgow with its fantastic, giant-sized, colourful Scottie dogs. It will be such a fun trail for visitors to the city and for people who live here to visit with their families. And it will hopefully raise a lot of money for Maggie’s to support other people going through cancer.”
Hayley Smith, Project Manager for the Scotties in the City Trail for Maggie’s, said: “It was fantastic that the girls won the overall Young Person of the Year Award at Crufts! Clare Balding speaking to us about Maggie’s and getting in a photo with myself, Jane and wee Evie was the icing on the cake!
“We really appreciate everything that Jane, Daphne and Evie are doing to raise awareness of our new Scotties in the City art trail and telling everyone about Maggie’s.
“The vibrant Scotties in the City vibrant trail is set to take place for eight weeks over this summer – when a pack of 30 beautifully designed, giant Scottie dogs will take over Glasgow, including the city and its suburbs.
“Following the trail, the Scotties will be auctioned to raise much needed funds for Maggie’s centres across Scotland.
“At end of the trail, we will host an evening where we will auction off our beautiful, giant Scotties with the aim of raising as much money for Maggie’s, the cancer charity to support as many families going through cancer treatment as possible.”
Hayley added: “We are actually in our 30th anniversary year for Maggie’s and rely almost entirely on voluntary donations from individuals and the local community to enable our professional team to provide specialist cancer support, psychological support and benefits advice for absolutely everyone who needs it. The best bit is that no one needs an appointment to visit Maggie’s. Anyone who is worried about cancer can just come in.”
