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"Primetime" telly vote to get older Scots active
TV presenter Dougie Vipond today donned a wetsuit alongside actress Dorothy Paul to call Scotland's over-50s to action ... with the lure of £3million in cash.
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³ÉÈËÂÛ̳ Scotland and the Big Lottery Fund have joined forces on Primetime, the biggest ever lottery cash award where Scottish viewers vote for the projects they want funded.
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For Primetime, the Big Lottery Fund Scotland is looking for projects aimed at helping older people get together to keep healthy and active.
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Then 18 projects will be chosen from around the country and will be highlighted on a ³ÉÈËÂÛ̳ Scotland television series next year.
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Split into six regional areas, the winners from each region – voted by the public – will be in line for a £500,000 award.
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The regional areas are Highland and Islands, Edinburgh and Lothian, North East, Glasgow and West, Central and Fife, and Ayrshire and South Scotland.
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Dougie, who also presents The Adventure Show and is a regular on Sportscene, said: "We are looking for ideas that will improve the health and well-being of the over-50s.
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"We want people to get thinking ... not to be shy, to think big and be imaginative. It could be salsa classes, it could be hang-gliding for dare-devil grannies or a project bringing older and younger generations together."
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Dorothy Paul said: "We all like to look in the mirror and say I'm looking quite good. We all have a bit of vanity in us and it is no bad thing. I say exercise for the mind, eat less for the figure, and giving up smoking is great for the face."
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Alison Magee, Chair of the Big Lottery Fund's Scotland Committee, said: "At present Scotland's population is ageing faster than any other country in Europe. Half the population will be over 50 in ten years time.
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"We want people in their 50s and over to be able to live life to the full, and share their skills, experience and talent for the benefit of the whole community."
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In the initial launch period, when the project will be championed by MacAulay & Co and various other ³ÉÈËÂÛ̳ Radio Scotland programmes, the aim is to get applications in.
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Sample ideas of the kind of thing the Primetime project is looking for can be seen on a series of televised shorts, presented by Dougie Vipond, which will start broadcasting on ³ÉÈËÂÛ̳ One Scotland and ³ÉÈËÂÛ̳ Two Scotland from 1 June.
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Further information is also available from 31 May at bbc.co.uk/primetime with applications available to download from biglotteryfund.org.uk/primetime.
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The public telephone number for applications is 0845 367 1020. The deadline for applications is 24 August 2007.
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HM
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