13.03.2007
Commonwealth Week 2007 will be marked in the Scottish Parliament this week by the opening of a unique photographic exhibition from one of Scotland’s top sport photographers.
The Commonwealth Sporting Heroes exhibition will be launched at the Scottish Parliament on the morning of Wednesday 14 March, and will feature a series of photographs taken by award-winning Scottish photographer Steve Lindridge at the 2006 Commonwealth Games in Melbourne.
Held in the Members lobby of the Scottish Parliament from 14-16 March, the exhibition is in association with the Glasgow Bid team for the 2014 Commonwealth Games and O2, and is co-hosted by the Commonwealth Parliamentary Association (CPA) Scotland Branch.
Deputy Presiding Officer Trish Godman MSP will speak at the launch which will be officially opened by the Minister for Tourism, Culture and Sport, Patricia Ferguson MSP.
The exhibition will also be complemented by an evening reception on Wednesday to celebrate Commonwealth Day, hosted by the members of the CPA (Scotland Branch) which will open with a speech by the Presiding Officer George Reid MSP.
The reception will be attended by young athletes representing sports that feature in the Commonwealth Games – reflecting the fact that half of the population of the Commonwealth is under 25.
Three Scottish medal winners from the 2006 Commonwealth Games held in Melbourne will also be attending the reception: Susan Jackson, who won a gold medal in women’s 50m prone pairs rifle shooting, Martin Sinclair, who won a silver medal in men’s 50m prone pairs rifle shooting, and Katie Cullen, who won a bronze medal in women’s point race cycling.
The Commonwealth Day theme for 2007 is “Respecting difference, promoting understanding”.
Background Notes
Commonwealth Day is held on the second Monday in March and is an annual event during which all 53 member countries of the Commonwealth around the world celebrate their links with one another.
On that day the Head of the Commonwealth, Her Majesty The Queen, issues a special message, through Commonwealth Prime Ministers and Presidents to the citizens of the Commonwealth.
The Commonwealth Parliamentary Association (Scotland Branch) will mark Commonwealth Day at Holyrood on Wednesday 14 March.
The Commonwealth Games Council for Scotland is the national sporting organisation charged with entering a Scottish Team in the Commonwealth Games and Commonwealth Youth Games every four years along with 71 other Commonwealth countries, territories and dependencies. The Commonwealth Games is the only multi-sport event in which Scotland competes as Scotland.