A GROUP promoting a unique Wee County dialect has narrowly missed out on a Scots language award.

Sauchie Community Group was among the finalists of this year’s Scots Language Awards, having been nominated in the Scots Community Project of the Year category.

The charity, which has been going for more than three decades, has been working to ensure people feel comfortable using Scots and the Sauchie twang, rather than being shamed into speaking differently.

The group’s Kate Turner explained that people realised there was a heavy problem with the “cultural cringe” and how young people from Sauchie were taught to “speak properly” in order to do well in life.

Since then, there has been an emphasis on the importance of being proud of the way one speaks and to use it as a strength.

As part of that effort, the group held a night of performances from Sauchie poets current and past, inspiring conversations with young and old, with more events of this kind in the works.

Kate said: “Sauchie, and the hail of Clackmannanshire, is Scots speaking, but we arnae recognised for that nationally.

“When folk think o Scots they mibbi think of Ayrshire, Aberdeenshire, the Borders.

“Oor night in Sauchie showed we hae creativity and community and oor ain rich dialect o Scots.

“We’d love to keep helping folk celebrate oor way of speaking and get Sauchie pairt o national conversations aroon culture and language.”

The Scots Language Awards night wen ahead in Cumnock on September 14 and while the group missed out on the accolade, it continues to celebrate language and heritage.

The group’s Laura Turner and Brookes attended on behalf of Sauchie and enjoyed a great night of language and culture with some fantastic performances along the way.

It was a chance to tell everyone about the community group and Sauchie, including legend Sandy “the post” Snaddon, who was the local postie and poet.

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Many of his works from back in the day talk about everyone in Sauchie treating each other like family and always having someone to count on.

Sauchie Community Group is very much inspired by that ethos, looking to be a safe place where people are excited to come to.

There are plenty of social events and activities at the group’s Sauchie Resource Centre base, find Sauchie Community Group on social media or the Advertiser’s District News pages for more details.