A mural created by young people from Haldane to commemorate last year’s European Championships has been unveiled in Balloch.

Youngsters and staff from Haldane Youth Services joined staff from Loch Lomond and The Trossachs National Park Authority at Balloch bus station on Friday to officially unveil the artwork, called ‘Little Hands Ben Lomond’.

The work was created by members of Haldane Youth Services to celebrate last year’s open water competition that took place in Loch Lomond as part of the legacy of the European Championships.

The group decided they wanted to reflect what the athletes would see when they swam north up Loch Lomond and chose Ben Lomond as the focal point for the piece.

The mural was created using the handprints of young people from Haldane Youth Services, visitors from near and far who attended the competition and from members of the community, including staff from the national park authority.

The idea behind using handprints in the artwork was to show that, although everyone has an individual handprint, collectively all the handprints look the same and that we are all part of the global community.

Sharon McMillan, project coordinator at Haldane Youth Services, said: “The little hands mural was designed so that local children, international visitors and members of the local community could contribute a hand print to the picture, giving it a true European partnership and celebration of an iconic landmark.”

During the event, Haldane Youth Services was also presented with a cheque for over £5,000 from the park authority.

Each year the staff at the park authority choose a charity of the year to support.

The youth services was chosen for 2018/19 as staff at the park wanted to support a charity that works with young people.

Throughout the year staff organised a series of events to raise money including car washes, raffles and sponsored challenges.

Gordon Watson, the park's chief executive, said: “We were thrilled to present staff and members of Haldane Youth Services with our donation and hope that the money raised will help them continue their good work."