Charity youth projects help George at Asda designers create Children in Need T-shirt

A big well done to Amy Wallace from RIG Arts in Greenock, who helped our George at Asda designers create this year's official BBC Children in Need T-shirt.

Amy Wallace from RIG Arts in Greenock at Asda Linwood helped create the official BBC Children in Need 2021 T-shirt — **Pics free to use** Children from RIG ARTS Greenock who helped design the new Asda Children in need T-shirt Asda Linwood Community Champion Claire Mackie with Amy Wallace who designed the wining Pudsey design

Amy called in at our Linwood store with other members of the group to meet the store's community champion Claire Mackie and try on the finished T-shirt, which is available in stores and online now ahead of the appeal night on Friday.

RIG Arts is one of four youth projects in Scotland, Wales, Northern Ireland and England funded by Children in Need who designed a different Pudsey character for the T-shirt. The groups were tasked with designing their own version of Pudsey using materials they could find around the house.

RIG Arts currently receives a three-year grant of £66,932 from BBC Children in Need to support young people with ill mental health through art sessions, with an aim to improve emotional wellbeing, develop better relationships with others and feel more empowered.

Lauren Grech, Project Worker at RIG Arts, said: “We have been funded by BBC Children in Need for several years, supporting many children and young people throughout this time so we were delighted to have been asked to be a part of this project to help design the official T-Shirt for the charity.

"It was a really special opportunity for the young people to be involved and seeing their design printed on a T-shirt that is being sold across the nation in Asda stores has been a really exciting experience for them.”

RIG Arts in Greenock helped design the George at Asda official Children in Need t-shirt — **Pics free to use** Children from RIG ARTS Greenock who helped design the new Asda Children in need T-shirt Pictured: James, Travis, Nora, Poppy, Erin, Amy, Connor with Jim and Louise from RIG Arts and Community Champion Claire Mackie

The official T-shirt is now on sale online at www.george.com, BBC Children in Need and Asda stores across the UK, subject to availability. It costs £8 for adults and £6 for children, with 48% of the price going to benefit BBC Children in Need.

Estella Arroyo, product design profession lead at George, says it was a great experience working on the design with RIG Arts and the other projects – The Playhouse in Londonderry, Bransholme Community Arts Enterprise in Hull and The Create Project in Conwy.

She said: "BBC Children in Need is really close to our hearts here at George, so it’s been a real privilege for the team to work alongside these amazing projects to design this year’s official BBC Children in Need T-shirt.

"The young people at the projects have all been super creative, and passionate in their work. It has been inspiring to see and I’m delighted they can see all their hard work come together in this brilliant design."

Claire Hoyle from BBC Children in Need said: **"**George has been a partner of BBC Children in Need now for 21 years and has raised millions of pounds to help make a difference to children and young people’s lives across the UK. We are delighted to be launching our official T-shirt this year with George, featuring this year’s brilliant design created by young people from across the UK who have been supported by our projects."

George at Asda 2021 BBC Children in Need official T-shirt — **Pics free to use** Children from RIG ARTS Greenock who helped design the new Asda Children in need T-shirt

The Playhouse currently receives a three-year grant of £99,279 to deliver facilitated workshops in drama and theatre for children and young people who lives in the local community, which enables them to learn new skills and helps to develop positive relationships between young people and the local police service, encourages greater community engagement, and helps to reduce the chance of risk-taking behaviour.

Aine McCarron, theatre programmer at The Playhouse said: "Taking part in this Pudsey design competition provided a much needed fun activity for these young people during lockdown. The work of the Street Talk programme has such a positive impact on the young people involved. They really get to explore and creatively examine issues in their lives and communities. Involvement in these projects also give young people opportunities to explore positive creative pathways into adulthood."

Bransholme Community Arts Enterprise uses a three-year grant of £29,919 from BBC Children in Need to deliver arts activities for young people with additional needs and learning disabilities to help improve confidence and self-esteem and encourage self-expression.

Chris Smith, coordinator at Bransholme Community Arts Enterprise, said: "We were delighted to have been asked to be a part of this project to help design the official T-shirt for the charity. It was a really special opportunity for the young people to be involved and seeing their design printed on a T-shirt that is being sold across the nation in Asda stores has been a really exciting experience for them."