British High Commission marks 100 days to go to Glasgow 2014
British High Commission distributed Shetland pony mascots to student representatives of schools in Brunei at a Year 3 ISB Assembly.
Acting British High Commissioner, Mrs Sunny Ahmed giving her speech about 100 Days to Go and the 'Support a 2nd Team' programme.
The British High Commission marked 100 days to go to the Glasgow 2014 Commonwealth Games at International School Brunei on Monday 14 April. Acting British High Commissioner, Sunny Ahmed, distributed Shetland pony mascots from schools in the Shetland Islands to student and teacher representatives of schools in Brunei at a Year 3 ISB Assembly.
Mrs Sunny Ahmed and the student representatives of Hornbill School with their Shetland pony mascot.
Shetland school children have been creating their very own travelling mascot as part of the ‘Support a 2nd Team’ initiative that aims to connect each local authority around Scotland with nations and territories competing at the Commonwealth Games in Glasgow this summer. The Shetland Islands have been paired with Brunei for the ‘Support a 2nd Team’ programme and this particular ‘Travelling Mascots’ project is a Shetland spin on the programme which will hopefully be the start further collaborations between schools in the Shetland Islands and Brunei.
Acting High Commissioner Sunny Ahmed said:
The Commonwealth games are an excellent opportunity for a new generation of Bruneians to establish links with the UK.
It will be interesting to follow the journey of these mascots, and the creativity with which school children in Brunei engage in the project.
Student representatives from PPSD Sahibul Bandar Primary School with their Shetland pony mascot and shoebox.
Children from the Sheltand Islands entered a Fair Isle design competition and the winning designs were knitted by Elma Moar from Unst. The blankets were made to fit a small Shetland pony toy which has been placed in a shoe box along with small items selected by the children, photos and writing from each class, which will also be given to schools in Brunei. Bruneian school children will be asked to look after the mascot and take photographs of the pony in places of interest such as sports facilities, schools and with local people. These items will then be placed back in the shoebox and sent on to Jersey where children there will also contribute to the shoebox before returning the pony, along with all the keepsake items to Shetland at the end of May. The mascots and items should be back in Shetland by June and go on public display ahead of the Queen’s Baton Relay visit on Tuesday 1 July 2014.
The ‘Travelling Mascots’ project is a wonderful way of connecting Shetland children with Bruneian children. There are a total of 18 Brunei schools involved, a mixture of government, private and international schools that have been paired with 10 schools in the Shetland Islands.
Further information
For more photos from the event, please visit our UKinBrunei Flickr page.
More information about the ‘Support a 2nd Team’ programme can be found here.
More information about the Glasgow 2014 Commonwealth Games can be found here.