The purpose of this workshop was to give children and young people the opportunity to learn about Sydney Devine, who once attended Cleland Primary School as a boy having been born in Cleland, to ensure they had the knowledge and understanding of the history and reason for the memorial in relation to their village and school and ensure community buy in from the young people who live there.

We were approached by the Sydney Devine Fan Club and family, who requested some sort of memorial within Cleland. Our community partnership team worked with this group on a Local Development Plan proposal to develop a design for the memorial.

In the planning for this project, we were keen to ensure that the community, particularly the young people at Cleland Primary, were involved in the process. They were consulted but also learned more about this Scottish musical legend, so they were able to participate in the celebration of his life and the reason behind the memorial.

Children from Primaries 1 to 7 enjoyed engaging in fun and learning activities including creating bubble paintings, designing an album cover and outfit, and a timeline of Sydney’s life story, and of course blowing bubbles to celebrate Sydney’s signature song “Tiny Bubbles”.

We are in the initial installation stages of the memorial that will be located on ground next to Cleland Primary School in the coming months.

The photos below show some of the work the children and young people participated in that will be displayed at the unveiling ceremony of the memorial.