The bid to bring the 'Children's Olympics' to Scotland for the first time has been given a celebrity boost with one of Scotland's most internationally successful bands saying they hope it will be sunshine on Lanarkshire when the venue for the 2011 Games is announced.

Established in 1968 and supported by the International Olympic Committee the International Children's Games (ICG) is the largest sporting event of its kind for young people; Lanarkshire's two local authorities have joined forces with the civic pride group New Lanarkshire Limited in a bid to host the Games in four years time.

Despite being in the middle of a hectic touring schedule The Proclaimers, twin brothers Craig and Charlie Reid, took time out to hear details of the Lanarkshire bid and agreed to give their backing to it.

The brothers will appear in a video presentation that will be part of the final submission to the Committee of the International Children's Games when it meets at next year's ICG in San Francisco to vote on the venue for 2011.

The Games have never been staged in Scotland before and Lanarkshire faces tough competition in a three way race to host the event with rival bids from Singapore and Daegu in South Korea.

Craig and Charlie said: "We are delighted to support the Lanarkshire bid to host the International Children's Games in 2011."

Charlie continued: "I very much support getting kids involved with sport at any level. From a very young age, it's good to get them active and moving about and to keep it going on into secondary school - it's very, very important. If you get them involved at that age they are more likely to carry it on into later life."

Craig added: "Children are the same the world over and the enthusiasms that they have are very much the same. I think something like this, that is an international event bringing children together from all over the world and showing them a bit of Scotland, is a great thing."

The Proclaimers perform to sell out crowds around the world and, in addition to international record sales running into millions, their music has been used on numerous movie and TV soundtracks including 'Shrek' and 'Benny and Joon' - and of course they scored a huge UK hit with the official single for Comic Relief 2007 joining comedian Peter Kay in a new version of their classic hit '(I'm gonna be) 500 miles'.

Welcoming the Proclaimers support for the Lanarkshire ICG bid Leader of South Lanarkshire Council Councillor Eddie McAvoy said: "It is great to have two such internationally recognised stars backing the Lanarkshire bid and the fact that The Proclaimers hail from outwith Lanarkshire really underlines the fact that should this bid be successful the Children's Games 2011 will be an event for the whole of Scotland.

"I would like to thank Craig and Charlie for taking time out of their busy schedule to give their support for the bid and to appear in the video that will provide a crucial part of the submission to the International Children's Games Committee".

North Lanarkshire Council's Chief Executive, Gavin Whitefield, said: "I am delighted that The Proclaimers – two of Scotland's most recognisable musical talents – have got on board to back Lanarkshire's bid for the 2011 International Children's Games. Craig and Charlie are known to audiences worldwide and, with their backing, we are hopeful that the International Children's Games committee will 'proclaim' Lanarkshire the winner when the host is announced at next year's Games in San Francisco. Let's hope that our 'Letter from America' will be a happy one!"

First Minister Alex Salmond, former First Minister Jack McConnell and former Home Secretary (and now Chairman of Celtic) Dr John Reid are among other high profile supporters of the Lanarkshire 2011 bid.

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