VOTE for Tiree in People’s Millions on STV on Monday 23rd

As with Argyll in general, the Isle of Tiree is raising its game. The community of this little Atlantic island has won its way into the STV Central Region finals of the Big Lottery’s People’s Millions competition. Argyll communities have come out of this contest very well. The Isle of Seil community were on the last shortlist and within a sneeze of the finals.

Ringside Theatre – the Tiree project

The purpose of the People’s Millions is to award funding of up to £50,000 each to the winning innovative community projects. Tiree entered a project to adapt the island’s livestock market to a flexible and comfortable cinema theatre, seating 50.

If they win, the money will help them install heating, insulation, blinds and removable theatre seats – and they’re even promising a popcorn machine.

Nightly televised contests on STV

ITV is a partner of the Big Lottery in this programme and is presenting short films of 2 competing projects each night on STV Regional News from Monday 23rd to Thursday 26th November.

Tiree’s Ringside Cinema will be one of the two featured on the first show – on Monday 23rd November.Be there.

The way it works is that one of the two projects each night – the one with the highest vote – wins funding for its project. So Monday is the day to do the business for Tiree. This tiny population is going to need all the help it can muster to get its voting numbers up – so round up all your connections to vote for it.

So what’s the competition that Tiree willl be up against?

The Ringside Theatre project is facing the Glespin Community Garden which the community proposes to create on land beside the local primary school and community hall in Glespin, near Lanark in South Lanarkshire. The garden is based on a design  highlighting the industrial heritage of the area.

These are two good projects but Glespin has a much larger population on its doorstep. Argyll will have to flex its fingers on the dial buttons.

Voting

Telephone voting for the projects featured each day runs from 9.00am to midnight on that day.

So you can vote for the Tiree project ONLY on 23rd November and between those times.The phone number to ring to vote will not be released until 23rd November so keep a close eye on the website.

Text Relay users should dial 18001 before the number they want to vote for.

Calls cost 10p per call from BT landlines. Calls from other networks may be higher and from mobiles will be considerably more.

No profits are made by ITV or the Big Lottery Fund from your calls.

You can register in advance online to vote for your favourite project, after which you will be sent instructions. We advise you to do this and we’ve done it ourselves.

STV central region  runs from Perth down to Biggar on the east – including Edinburgh – and from Fort William to South Ayrshire – including Glasgow on the west.

Just getting to the finals in a region like this is a remarkable achievement and Tiree has every intention of carrying the day.

STV film areas have already visited both communities to film them making their case for the audience on Monday night. There’s nothing more Tiree can do now except wait for the vote – and that is down to all of Argyll and all of its connections.

Get them moving.

The photograph above – of Balevullin on the Isle of Tiree – is by copyright holder Sue Anderson of Island Focus and may not be reproduced without permission.