YOUNG art talent in Kelty will be in the spotlight when the village's primary school pupils contest the Jim McLure Memorial Cup.

Kelty and District Art Group is a community organisation which is open to anyone over the age of 18 years. The objects of the group are to foster an interest in Art and to encourage the practise and appreciation of all aspects of Art.

The group arranges the annual competition in memory of Mr Jim McLure who passed away in September 2016. Jim was one of the founder members of the art group and the first chairman.

He was a very able artist who specialised in the use of soft pastels. Jim was generous in passing on his knowledge and was keen for people, especially young people, to take up the hobby. He ran a number of workshops and a regular pastel class each Monday morning until he became too ill to continue.

This is the third year that we have run the competition which is open to children in Kelty Primary Schools from Primaries 4 to 7.

Said Syd Reeve, treasurer of the Group: "We have had almost 300 entries to the competition from Kelty and St Joseph’s primaries and

"At 7.30 pm on Friday May 24 in the Kelty Community Centre we will be hosting a prize giving ceremony for invited guests and of course the winners of the above art competition.

"We are very grateful to the Rev Hugh Steele of Kelty Kirk, George Hogg from Kelty Community and Peter Dodds of the Kelty Art Centre for judging the finalists. Peter has also undertaken to frame the winning painting without charge. We are also extremely grateful to Councillor Alex Campbell for agreeing to present the prizes".

Syd added: "Our summer exhibition will be open to the public and held in the Kelty Community Centre on Saturday May 25 between the hours of 10am and 4pm. Entry is free and we ask the public to come along, give us their support and view not only many paintings produced by our members but also the winning pictures by the young people of Kelty.

"At our exhibition we will be raising money for Alzheimer's Scotland by asking people to colour in a pre-drawn cartoon, give a donation and take the completed picture with them. Each year we choose a different charity or good cause to support. In the past we have raised money for Kelty Scouts, CHAS, Chest Heart and Stroke Scotland, Macmillan Cancer Care etc."