National Lottery Funding Woven into the Fabric of Sport

Paralympic gold medallist Aled Siôn Davies donned a unique kilt today at Cardiff Castle, in anticipation of this year’s Glasgow 2014 Commonwealth Games.

Showing off the strength required for his sport, Aled posed in a bespoke kilt made of more than 1,300 National Lottery tickets. He was joined by Cardiff gymnast Raer Theaker, as she showed off her agility in a fabric version.

The pair donned the Scottish inspired designs to highlight to National Lottery players the contribution their funding has made in helping them prepare for the Glasgow Commonwealth Games, taking place in July.

Aled and Raer are among 1,300 elite athletes across the UK who receive National Lottery funding so they can train full time and have access to some of the best coaching and facilities in the world.

Aled said: “National Lottery funding has helped me get where I am. I am really grateful to everyone who plays. I wouldn’t be able to be a full time athlete without their support of National Lottery players and I hope I get chosen to do Wales proud at the Commonwealth Games this summer.

“Practising moves with Raer is one of the more unusual ways I am preparing for the Games but it’s great to get together with other athletes representing Wales – hopefully the kilts will give us an extra bit of luck for the summer!”

Raer added: “I loved wearing the kilt, I am hoping to go to Glasgow and this is a great way to get excited for the Games and say thanks to National Lottery players at the same time.

“I’m really grateful for the support I receive from the National Lottery and it’s great to be here at Cardiff Castle today to see how the funding is helping in other ways in the city.”

Cardiff Castle was chosen as the venue for the photoshoot as it is one of the Wales’ most iconic National Lottery funded venues, having received more than £6 million in grants.

Vicki Kennedy, a spokesperson for the National Lottery, said: “We think the ticket kilt is a fun way to visually represent the National Lottery’s investment in the very fabric of sport. We fund over 1,300 athletes around the UK so each ticket that makes up the kilt represents an amazing athlete like Aled and Reah.”

Created by textile artist, Malcolm Cruickshank, Aled’s Lotto ticket kilt used over 4000 metres of thread and 60 hours of hard work to make in his Edinburgh studio. Malcolm said: "Making something as big as a kilt would be challenging for most people but creating one by stitching individual National Lottery tickets was another matter altogether. I'm passionate about creating imaginative and decorative works out of unusual materials, so this was a really interesting project that I have enjoyed working on.”

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