Sponsored by Belhaven Best

Sponsorship news
Trevor Dodds, Chairman of the Edinburgh International Curling Championships Organising Committee, is a man with a smile on his face. John Dignan, fellow committee member, Director of the Best Western Braid Hills Hotel, recently had a meeting with Belhaven. They have confirmed their continued sponsorship of the event for 2009; indeed, they have agreed to an increased level of sponsorship this year compared to last. They will be the major headline sponsor of the competition, from now to be known as the 'Edinburgh International Curling Championship, sponsored by Belhaven Best'.

As part of the deal, their corporate logos will be under the Murrayfield ice for the duration of the season. They will be particularly prominent during the live webcasts of selected games as the competition progresses. In addition, their headboards will appear behind the headline games in the competition.

Their sponsorship and support is particularly appropriate and apposite; their beer is on tap behind the Murrayfield bar!

They join an impressive and welcome list of sponsors already signed up for the event.

Murrayfield Curling Limited has agreed to provide free ice for the weekend. This is a major concession by the rink; the ice at Murrayfield is always in demand at weekends and the business could reasonably expect to fill the rink at commercial rates from the many local clubs that that are regular users.

Edinburgh Curling Club has agreed to increase their financial sponsorship of the event and will again host the successful buffet lunch for competitors and spectators on the Sunday afternoon.
In addition, John Dignan’s own business, the Best Western Braid Hills Hotel, official partner hotel of the event, is sponsoring the competition with a major cash injection.

Trevor Dodds commented, “Without the support of these four sponsors, the competition would not go ahead in its current format. It has been a real boost for the competition in these difficult times to receive this level of support from these major supporters and, as Chair of the Organising Committee, I cannot thank them enough.”

Murrayfield rink opens for new season

It's Wednesday, September 16, 2009. It's the day before the Murrayfield rink, which will host the Edinburgh International Championships in November, opens for the new season! Here Jean Graham puts the finishing touches to the paint job on the door to the rink.

During the season, the rink will be the busiest in Scotland. There are six scheduled sessions each day. Eighty-eight different clubs use the facility, and some 2000 curlers play there regularly. Manager Iain Baxter confirms, "It's the most curled rink in the country!"

The ice was in pristine condition today awaiting the first stones to be thrown! The Edinburgh International will be held November 27-29. Other major events headed for the rink this season are the Scottish Mixed Doubles Championship next month, October 23-25. And the Scottish Schools' Championship returns to the Edinburgh rink, March 19-21. The season will wind up on March 30.

Gala Dinner and Fun Evening

On Saturday evening, supporters and friends of the Edinburgh International Curling Championship gathered together in the club rooms at the Murrayfield rink for a fundraising dinner.

The Edinburgh International Curling Championship Committee wish to thank its many sponsors including the Braid Hills Hotel, Belhaven Best, Murrayfield Curling Ltd and Edinburgh Curling Club Ltd. The Committee also thank everone who attended yesterday evening for their support. They invite all to come along to the rink to watch the best teams in Scotland and teams from across Europe competing for this year's Championship, November 27-29.

It was a great night! We were well fed and watered, and royally entertained.

Guests gather for the evening.

The trophies were on show.

The club rooms were full to capacity on the night.

The Championship Committee Chairman, Trevor Dodds, was in charge of the proceedings.

David B Smith was his usual sparkling form. Mind you there was the one about the swan, the duck, and the lawyer that I didn't understand at all!

Robin Copland stood in at short notice as the second speaker and was in fine form.

Trevor's better half, Catherine, failed to draw my number in the raffle.

And Robin Aitken gave the vote of thanks.

Here's the Committee. Back L-R: Ernie Prior, John Dignan, Robin Copland, Iain Baxter, Robin Aitken. Front: Ian Seath, Trevor Dodds, Anne Marie Ross (plus Colin Hamilton, not in the photo).

Pics by Bob Cowan