South Ayrshire Provost Gordon McKenzie hosted a Civic Reception to mark the occasion of the Biggart Hospital Centenary, and to announce the winners of a very special art competition.

Alexander Love Biggart, a Glasgow businessman founded the Biggart Hospital and Home for Crippled Children, as it was initially known. The hospital was officially opened on 18 May 1905 and since that time services have improved and changed dramatically, with the hospital now offering a diverse range of high level care and rehabilitation services. The physical structure of the building has also changed with sympathetic additions having been made to the original building and the grounds surrounding the hospital.

As part of the centenary celebrations a competition was held for South Ayrshire Council primary school pupils, who were invited to design a logo for use on a mug and posters during the celebration year. The theme of the competition was to design a logo that reflected all aspects of the care provided by the hospital over the last 100 years, and those that will be provided in the future.

Provost Gordon McKenzie invited the prizewinners to a Civic Reception with their parents and a representative from their school. He presented each child with their original poster that had been specially framed, a gift token, commemorative mug and ‘T’ shirt from NHS Ayrshire & Arran and a number of ‘goodies’ from the Council.

There was great excitement as the Provost announced the names of the winners, afterwards he said: “The standard of artwork submitted by the young children was outstanding, and the judging panel had a difficult task selecting winners.

“Some of the entrants had inadvertently used too many colours, so after selecting the winners in each section it was decided to award two special prizes. The winners of the Highly Commended prizes were selected from all the competition entries regardless of the number of colours that had been used.

“Every child who entered the competition put a lot of time and effort into their creation. My congratulations go to them all, and in particular to Jordan Logan, P6 Tarbolton Primary School whose design has been reproduced on mugs, ‘T’ shirts and posters.

“I would like to take this opportunity to thank all the staff at the Biggart Hospital for the exceptionally high level of care they deliver with such efficiency and compassion, and to the voluntary organisations who work so closely with them.”

Professor George L Irving, Chairman, Ayrshire & Arran NHS Board added: “On behalf of NHS Ayrshire & Arran I thank the Provost and South Ayrshire Council for the Civic Reception to mark the centenary celebrations. The art competition has been a great success and the entries have been outstanding. We will create a display within the Biggart Hospital so that patients and staff can enjoy them. This is a great start to our celebration of 100 years of care.”

The Civic Reception was attended by representative of a range of people connected with the Biggart Hospital, including descendants of the founder of the hospital, past and present staff, volunteer organisations, Committee members and Councillors.

Martin Cheyne, Chairman of the Divisional Management Committee (General Hospitals Division) and Chair of the Biggart Hospital Centenary Group said: “The Civic Reception and art competition have been a great way of raising the profile of the centenary event. Members of the Biggart Hospital Centenary Group are currently working on a range of events that will take place this year amongst which are a service of celebration, an exhibition, a Ceilidh, a fund day at the hospital, and a golf competition.”

Details of these events will be widely publicised to encourage as many people as possible to join in the celebrations, and information will also be available on the following website www.nhsayrshireandarran.com.

Pictured at the awards ceremony are (back row left to right) Provost Gordon McKenzie, Professor George L Irving, Martin Cheyne, and the prizewinners (front row left to right) Vhari McMaster, David Brodlie, Jordan Logan, Emma Angus, and Jennifer Reid.

Competition Winners
Overall winner: Jordan Logan P6, Tarbolton Primary School
P3 to P5: David Brodlie P5, Struthers Primary School, Troon
P6 to P7: Emma Angus P6, Tarbolton Primary School
Highly Commended: Vhari McMaster, P5, Struthers Primary School, Troon & Jennifer Reid P6, Tarbolton Primary School

Please note that there were no entries received for the P1 to P2 section.

May 2005