Paddington Bear

I was born and brought up near Stepps and so it was great to see the Commonwealth Games Cycling Time Trial pass through the village. There was a marvellous turnout of locals (and visitors like myself) to cheer the cyclists as they whizzed through - both for the ladies' race in the morning and the men's race in the afternoon. The community had really embraced the Games with lots of different activities organised at the Primary School & Cultural Centre and also at the Parish Church. It really was a marvellous community occasion.

One of the features of Stepps is the Paddington Bear that sits in the window of a house near the main set of traffic lights in the village. This has been there for almost as long as I can remember and the owners make a point of dressing Paddington up in summer clothes, winter clothes, you name it. Well, for the Commonwealth Games, Paddington was fully attired as a supporter of Team Scotland! Good to see the village's mascot getting into the spirit of things.