A STUDENT who played Commonwealth Games mascot Clyde has won a new volunteering award presented by Prime Minister David Cameron.
Brian Borland, 23, spent hundreds of hours dressed as the thistle character during Glasgow 2014.
He was one of 10 people selected from thousands of Clydesider volunteers to play the mascot and attended more than 200 events after first donning the suit in January 2013.
Mr Borland has now been awarded a UK Points of Light award, which recognises outstanding individual volunteers who make a change in their community and inspire others.
He said: "This has been such an incredible journey and this award just tops it all off. The guys I work with are fantastic and we've put so much time into this over the past couple of years. I really hope people have enjoyed what we've done. I hope this award inspires others to jump on opportunities to volunteer - you never know what you may end up doing.
"It was great fun being Clyde. When we first started we were building up the brand but when more people knew about it they were excited to see Clyde and would come over to get their photo taken."
During his time as Clyde, Mr Borland, from Ayr, attended events including the ticketing launch, the Queen's Baton Relay and a range of local sport celebrations.
At the Games themselves, he greeted thousands of visitors and posed for hundreds of selfies, visiting nearly all of the venues including The Hydro and SECC and the athletics at Hampden Park.
He is the 77th recipient of a UK Points of Light award, which has been developed in partnership with the Points of Light programme in the US, where it was established by former president George HW Bush. Mr Cameron said: "As Clyde, Brian has made the most of a fantastic volunteering opportunity and put a remarkable amount of dedication into being part of an incredible sporting experience for thousands of people."
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