Calendar An icon of a desk calendar. Cancel An icon of a circle with a diagonal line across. Caret An icon of a block arrow pointing to the right. Email An icon of a paper envelope. Facebook An icon of the Facebook "f" mark. Google An icon of the Google "G" mark. Linked In An icon of the Linked In "in" mark. Logout An icon representing logout. Profile An icon that resembles human head and shoulders. Telephone An icon of a traditional telephone receiver. Tick An icon of a tick mark. Is Public An icon of a human eye and eyelashes. Is Not Public An icon of a human eye and eyelashes with a diagonal line through it. Pause Icon A two-lined pause icon for stopping interactions. Quote Mark A opening quote mark. Quote Mark A closing quote mark. Arrow An icon of an arrow. Folder An icon of a paper folder. Breaking An icon of an exclamation mark on a circular background. Camera An icon of a digital camera. Caret An icon of a caret arrow. Clock An icon of a clock face. Close An icon of the an X shape. Close Icon An icon used to represent where to interact to collapse or dismiss a component Comment An icon of a speech bubble. Comments An icon of a speech bubble, denoting user comments. Comments An icon of a speech bubble, denoting user comments. Ellipsis An icon of 3 horizontal dots. Envelope An icon of a paper envelope. Facebook An icon of a facebook f logo. Camera An icon of a digital camera. Home An icon of a house. Instagram An icon of the Instagram logo. LinkedIn An icon of the LinkedIn logo. Magnifying Glass An icon of a magnifying glass. Search Icon A magnifying glass icon that is used to represent the function of searching. Menu An icon of 3 horizontal lines. Hamburger Menu Icon An icon used to represent a collapsed menu. Next An icon of an arrow pointing to the right. Notice An explanation mark centred inside a circle. Previous An icon of an arrow pointing to the left. Rating An icon of a star. Tag An icon of a tag. Twitter An icon of the Twitter logo. Video Camera An icon of a video camera shape. Speech Bubble Icon A icon displaying a speech bubble WhatsApp An icon of the WhatsApp logo. Information An icon of an information logo. Plus A mathematical 'plus' symbol. Duration An icon indicating Time. Success Tick An icon of a green tick. Success Tick Timeout An icon of a greyed out success tick. Loading Spinner An icon of a loading spinner. Facebook Messenger An icon of the facebook messenger app logo. Facebook An icon of a facebook f logo. Facebook Messenger An icon of the Twitter app logo. LinkedIn An icon of the LinkedIn logo. WhatsApp Messenger An icon of the Whatsapp messenger app logo. Email An icon of an mail envelope. Copy link A decentered black square over a white square.

Sgoil Lionacleit praised after mammoth effort to compete in Scottish Schools Pipe Band Championships

The Upper Nithsdale Junior Pipe Band and Sanquhar Schools Pipe Band took home Eilidh MacLeod Endeavour Award in memory of the Barra teen
The Upper Nithsdale Junior Pipe Band and Sanquhar Schools Pipe Band took home Eilidh MacLeod Endeavour Award in memory of the Barra teen

More than 600 young pipers and drummers from across the nation gathered yesterday to participate in the Scottish Schools Pipe Band Championships.

Bands from across the Highlands and Islands were praised for their efforts to compete in the renowned championships, which took place in Inveralmond Community High School in Livingston.

One group will have made a round trip of nearly four days to take part in the event by the time they return to their homes in Uist.

The Sgoil Lionacleit Pipe Band scooped second place in the Freestyle category.

The band also took home a cheque for £500, and the cash prize will be shared with the school music department.

Piping tutor Donald Ban MacDonald said: “The journey for some of our pupils from the islands outlying Benbecula starts at 4am on Friday so that we can take part in the Championships on Sunday. The kids won’t be too disappointed if we don’t get back by Monday because of the weather.

“It’s such a fantastic competition. As long as we get here we know we’re going to play because it’s indoors and we get to meet and play with schools from the length and breadth of Scotland.”

The Eilidh MacLeod Endeavour Award, named in honour of the 14-year-old Barra girl who was tragically killed in the aftermath of the Manchester Arena bombing, was taken home by Upper Nithsdale Junior Pipe Band and the Sanquhar Schools Pipe Band.

Eilidh MacLeod was a member of the Sgoil Lionacleit Pipe Band and the memorial award is given to the pipers displaying a great manner of endeavour, team spirit, commitment and camaraderie.

The Upper Nithsdale Junior Pipe Band and Sanquhar Schools Pipe Band were commended by the judging panel for their entry. It was highlighted in their submission that the band’s philosophy was to “support each child to develop and realise their personal aspirations”.

It added: “The band has never refused tuition to anyone regardless of their abilities or shortcomings.”

Lochalsh Junior Pipe Band also tasted success by securing third place in the Novice Juvenile A category, with  Isle of Bute Schools scooping top prize for the best debutant performance.