Campaign for new image

A Cumbernauld teenager has launched a campaign designed to challenge what she reckons are negative stereotypes about her home town.

Lizzie Clark, 18, is working with a charity called Fixers, which supports young people aged 16 to 25 to tackle any issue that matters to them and helps them get that message across.

And she has the backing of film producer David Brown – who, with his team, is shooting the big budget time travel epic Outlander in a Cumbernauld studio.

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Lizzie said: “People expect young people to disregard and disrespect their environments but it would be a good idea to get young people showing more enthusiasm about their home town.

“Because people moved from the slum areas to Cumbernauld, people still think it’s a rough area. But actually it’s been redeveloped and it’s much nicer to live in than people think it is.

With the support of Fixers, Lizzie has created a leaflet called ‘Lose the Labels’ to go out to schools, libraries and other public places to redress negative youth stereotypes and encourage young people to think about what they say about Cumbernauld - and its people.

Lizzie said: “Cumbernauld is perhaps most famous for the 1980s film Gregory’s Girl, which was filmed at my old high school, Abronhill.

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“It’s good that there is that positive association for the area, but it is outdated.

“Most people view Cumbernauld as not being a very good environment but because Outlander is being filmed here, and will feature on the internet, maybe people will do a double take and think Cumbernauld is a good place because the film crew choose here and not somewhere else”.

David Brown, who also worked on Gregory’s Girl, said: “Cumbernauld is an excellent location and we’re employing 250 people and training them - this is television on an industrial scale.

“We’ve gathered experts from across the US, Europe and the UK to bring this show alive and hopefully this will benefit Cumbernauld”.

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Fixers works with young people across the UK, and each Fixer is supported by the charity’s in-house team of creative professionals to produce a resource to get their chosen message across.

Many young people are said to choose to create a short film, website, poster campaign, information leaflet, or hold an event or even flashmob