Electronic tendering specialist Millstream has added its support to a spectacular dolphin-themed tourism project which will hit the streets of Aberdeen next month.
The city is hosting the Wild Dolphins project, which will see around 50 life-sized sculptures of bottlenose dolphins - usually spotted off the North-east coast -popping up all over town.
Millstream, which operates the Public Contracts Scotland procurement portal as well as the Tenders Direct and mytenders websites, has also signed up to the scheme and sponsored Funky D, designed by artist Ishy Walters.
Pastel-coloured Funky D will have a spot on the Wild Dolphins trail, which will lead visitors and locals around Aberdeen’s landmarks, including the beach, parks, city centre and harbour.
Trail maps will be available from shops, libraries, community centres, hotels and other attractions and a smartphone app will include incentives and rewards for visitors who scan different Wild Dolphins on their phone.
Tim Williams, managing director of Millstream, said: “I studied marine biology at university so this is of great personal interest but as a company we were very keen to get behind this fantastic scheme, which I know will bring a lot of visitors to Aberdeen over the summer while raising awareness of the work of the charities who are to benefit.”
The dolphins will be on display from the end of June until August, before being auctioned in aid of Whale and Dolphin Conservation (WDC) to help protect local wild dolphins and the ARCHIE Foundation at the Royal Aberdeen Children’s Hospital.
Aberdeen is the latest city to benefit from the successful Wild in Art sculpture projects, which have previously seen giant cartoon Gromits in Bristol, GoGo Gorillas in Norwich and Super Lamb Bananas in Liverpool.
Wild in Art specialises in mass-appeal public art events and local people will be encouraged to become tourists in their own city.
Visitors from across the UK and beyond are also expected to come to the Granite City over the summer to see the dolphins, with previous projects reporting an increase in tourist activity in the area and a boost to the local economy.
WDC’s events and fundraising manager, Stine Bang, added: “The dolphin sculptures were inspired by the bottlenose dolphins who live in the wild on the doorstep of Aberdeen, which has been named as one of the best places to go dolphin watching in the UK.
“The Wild Dolphins event will not only raise awareness and vital funds for our work, but will also delight local people and tourists alike when they see these big sculptures on the streets of Aberdeen, so we are very grateful to Millstream and our other sponsors who have supported the project and made it happen.”
The Wild Dolphins project also includes an education scheme, where sponsors are matched with schools, and patients at the Royal Aberdeen Children’s Hospital also have the chance to adopt a real dolphin and experience a dolphin day out.
Wild Dolphins runs from June 23 to August 29. For more information, visit www.wilddolphins.org.uk
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Millstream runs the Tenders Direct and mytenders websites, which provide private companies with tender information on new business opportunities in the public sector. It also runs procurement websites for Scotland (Public Contracts Scotland) and Wales (Sell2Wales) and recently launched a Norwegian service, myTenders Norge, after running the national portal for the Norwegian government for eight years.