Inverness pupils’ candle creation wins Christmas food and present bank competition run by Robertson Homes
The creations of Inverness children are set to shine a light in the homes of those less fortunate across Scotland this Christmas.
For talented children from Kinmylies Primary School have helped to name and design Christmas candles which are being donated to food and present banks across the country this festive season.
Housebuilder Robertson Homes set the children the challenge of designing the packaging of the scented candles.
Isla Outram (11) from Kinmylies Primary School was the overall winner of the label design competition and her design will feature on candles donated to Highland Foodbank on Glebe Street in Inverness.
Faye Lingard, headteacher at Kinmylies Primary School, said: “The children loved the challenge to come up with a name and packaging design for the new candles after smelling the samples we were sent. It was a fun process which really challenged them and it also helped them understand the vital services food banks provide to people in their community.”
The candles were created by Robertson Homes in partnership with the charitable enterprise Mecoco.
Mecoco, part of social care provider Sense Scotland, was formed in 2019 for the purpose of providing workplace experiences for disabled adults and young people, especially those with significant support needs. Based in Dalry, Ayrshire, Mecoco currently has 20 volunteer colleagues in the team.
Sharon Spinelli, sales and marketing director at Robertson Homes, said: “As soon as we heard about the work of Mecoco we were keen to collaborate with them on producing a festive scented candle which would bring some extra joy to families this Christmas.
“Mecoco encapsulates the true meaning of inclusion with every person, disabled or not, given the opportunity to work together, create new friendships and meaningfully contribute. Having produced a beautiful scent, we knew the creativity of the children at Kinmylies would help us produce a lovely Christmas gift and I would like to thank them all for helping us achieve this.”
Robertson Homes made a contribution towards Kinmylies Primary School funds as a thank you to the children for taking part and also gave prizes to Isla, along with Natasha Osial and Leo Monaghan, who were runners-up in the competition.
Robertson Homes is currently building a range of new apartments at Great Glen Rise on Forester’s Way and new homes at Torvean on Golf View Road. This is the second time the housebuilder has worked with the children at Kinmylies Primary School at Christmas, with their creative writing featuring on Age Scotland Christmas cards Robertson Homes sponsored in 2023.
