Hillside School get in on the Oor Wullie act

The five guardians from Hillside who have been tasked with bringing the project to life.

Oor Wullie’s BIG Bucket Trail will see statues of the iconic character being painted by schools, organisations and local groups being placed around the country in a ‘trail’ that people can follow.

The project runs for 11 weeks from June 17 – August 30, culminating in a series of farewell events and nationwide auctions in each of the five host cities, Glasgow, Edinburgh, Dundee, Aberdeen and Inverness.

Since appearing in the Sunday Post over 80 years ago, Oor Wullie has become a much loved part of Scottish Heritage.

He’s the iconic wee Scottish laddie from the fictional town of Auchenshoogle, and some say the image of Wullie sitting on his upturned bucket, wearing his famous black dungarees is as familiar to Scots as Edinburgh Castle!

Schools across the north-east have been tasked with decorating miniature versions of the full-size sculptures which will be placed around the area.

And our very own Hillside School in Portlethen are taking part. The children, under the watchful eye of teacher Fiona Lindsay have started on the design elements of their statue, and, if any of those the Leader has viewed thus far are selected, the local area is in for a right treat.

Five pupils at the school have been appointed as ‘guardians’ of the sculpture – and part of their remit is to encourage as many community groups as possible to become involved.

Class teacher Fiona Lindsay said: “The community at Hillside is very important to us and we want that community spirit to be instilled in the pupils.

“We have so many different nationalities in the school and 21 different languages so having that sense of community is really important and we want that diversity to be reflected in the Oor Wullie statue.

“Every child in the school will put some kind of mark on the sculpture because we want it to be a reflection of everybody. It’s such an important thing for bringing the school together as well as giving the children a purpose.

“The kids are going to be going out into the community and getting everyone involved. It’s going to be a lot of fun.”

The five guardians – Luke Humphreys, Stacey Simpson and Georgia Roberts, all 11, and 10-year-olds Reuben Doran and Lillian Morrison – announced the project at an school assembly.