By LIAM BRYCE

SCHOOL pupils in Renfrewshire are getting involved in Paisley’s 2021 UK City of Culture bid, through a short story by an award-winning author.

‘Grace’s Big Idea’ – which will be issued to all 14,000 schoolkids in Renfrewshire – was written by Ross MacKenzie and features Paisley-themed illustrations from artist Neil Slorance.

Jean Cameron, 2021 bid director, said kids are being asked to nominate their favourite thing about Paisley, as well as submitting ideas for the campaign, which hopes to engage 30,000 people overall.

She said: “The bid and related work aims to create a lasting legacy for the Renfrewshire our children will inherit – so it was crucial we captured their views, and Ross’s wonderfully-written story is a great way to do that.”

Renfrew-based Ross, a former Scottish Children’s Book of the Year winner, attended St Catherine’s Primary in Paisley to read part of the story, about a young girl who loves to dance. He said: “I think it’s very fitting the Paisley 2021 team are asking children all over Renfrewshire to contribute their ideas to the next chapter of the town’s story.”

The UK City of Culture competition is run by the Department of Culture, Media and Sport. For more information on Paisley’s bid, visit www.paisley2021.co.uk

Paisley 2021 bid director Jean Cameron said: “From the start of Paisley’s bid we said it would be by the people of Paisley for the people of Paisley – and when the bid goes in at the end of April it will be their voices contained within it.

“Once this schools exercise has been completed we estimate around 30,000 people will have had the chance to feed ideas into the bid – that’s a number equivalent to more than half the town’s population.

“That could only have happened with the hard work of our dedicated community engagement team, which has toured every corner of Renfrewshire over the past year.”