Miss Scotland has joined Scottish Sports Furtures as a brand ambassador for our Jump2it and Twilight Basketball programs.

1. Miss Scotland Joins Scottish Sports Futures
Today, the Scottish Charity, Scottish Sports Futures, announced the newly crowned Miss
Scotland, Katharine Brown, as the Brand Ambassador of both The Jump2it and Twilight
Basketball programs. As a brand ambassador, Katharine will play a pivotal role for the
charity, helping them by presenting the brand and spending time with the youngsters.
Scottish Sports Futures (SSF), established in 2000, seeks to encourage young people to
engage in sport and physical activities as a way of bringing about positive behavioural change
and active citizenship. The organisation's strap line is "Education through Sport" and uses
basketball as a positive diversionary medium for introducing young people, especially those
living in disadvantaged communities, to sport and healthy living.
SSF works in partnership to ensure local community needs are met. Its partners include
Scottish Government, NHS Scotland, Sportscotland, Alcohol Focus Scotland and YouthLink
are among those regularly consulted. CashBack for Communities, The Robertson Trust,
basketballscotland and many others help with funding to enable the programs to be run in
Scotland.
With Katharine becoming the face of the charity it is hoped that she will help it reach a wider
audience, informing them of the important community work they do which in turn will help
reach commercial companies who can sponsor these unique and highly successful programs
throughout Scotland.
Katharine said: ‘I am delighted to be invited to join the SSF team as a Brand Ambassador,
and I am especially excited to be a part of their basketball initiatives Jump2it and Twilight
Basketball initiatives. For me, charity is about providing opportunities and support to those
who need it most and Scottish Sports Futures go beyond this by giving the young in deprived
areas the tools they need to make positive life choices. I joined one of the Twilight Teams last
weekend at a Glasgow Rocks match – it was great fun and the team were an inspiration to
me’
Michelle Ferguson, Sponsorship Director for SSF said “The Scottish Government statistics
and recent media reports support SSF’s belief that some youngsters may be getting involved
in anti-social behaviour such as smoking, drug taking and alcohol consumption. Similarly,
statistics on youth obesity show that youngsters in Scotland are increasingly at risk. Our
charity works with children from primary five upwards. Basketball is the main engagement
tool – the activity is inclusive, has a cool image through its association with R&B, Hip Hop,
fashion and street culture. Scottish Sports Futures also benefits from a unique partnership
with the Glasgow Rocks, Scotland’s only pro basketball team, allowing access to inspirational
athletes.
By involving professional sportsmen and local experts, projects inspire and encourage young
people to reach their full potential. Through the sporting environment we tackle issues
including addictions, diet, activity levels and the realities of racism and territorialism. Katharine
will be a great addition to our team; she easily relates to young people and completely
believes in our ethos of not preaching to youngsters. She was already interested in obesity
and youth disorder before she met with us, and at our first meeting she became very excited
by the work we do and instantly wanted to get involved. Like most charities it is important for
us to target commercial organisations to help us fund our programs. With Katharine on board,
we are hoping that she will help us open new doors.

2. For Further Information please contact Allan Hogarth on 07982250682