Almost 2,000 primary six pupils have taken part in a series of safety workshops designed to keep Renfrewshire children safe.

The Safe Kids event, organised by the Renfrewshire Community Safety Partnership and hosted by St Mirren Football Club, covered everything from internet safety and drug and alcohol awareness to antisocial behaviour and responsible dog ownership.

Kids also composed their poems for Paisley ahead of the town's bid to be UK City of Culture 2021. The bid to win the culture competition will be submitted at the end of April.

At a special VIP day on Friday 24 February, five pupils were awarded certificates by Provost Anne Hall for their winning Safe Kids poster designs.

The winners were:

· Ava Logan, Ralston Primary

· Kaiden Lynch, St Peter's Primary

· Erin McGinnigle, Wallace Primary

· Abigail Nelson, Houston Primary

· Connice Luse, St James' Primary

Councillor Jacqueline Henry, convener of Renfrewshire Council's Education Policy board, said: "The key to the success of Safe Kids is the way it is delivered. The workshops allow the kids to have fun while they are learning about tough issues and keeping themselves safe.

"It is important to make sure our young people are equipped for the different risks they may face in their lives, particularly now that many have access to the internet at a young age.

"Initiatives like Safe Kids are a great way to give children the skills and confidence they need to make good decisions in difficult situations."

Councillor Eddie Devine, convener of Renfrewshire Council's Environment policy Board, said: "The members of Renfrewshire's Community Safety Partnership are working more closely than ever to make our communities safer.

"A key thrust of our activity is about providing kids with information on how to keep safe in a wide range of real-life situations.

"The kids really enjoy spending the day at St Mirren and all the partners bring a unique message to the children."

Safe Kids aims to keep children safe by reducing the number of accidents involving young people, promoting positive behaviour and reducing risks.

The Safe Kids workshops are supported by Renfrewshire Council, Police Scotland, Scottish Fire and Rescue Service, St Mirren Football Club, Who Cares Scotland, Tesco, The Rescue Cafe and Renfrewshire's Alcohol and Drugs Adolescent Resource (RADAR).

All kids who attended the event are being offered a free parent and child ticket for the match against Dunfermline on Saturday March 11. To find out how to claim your ticket email stephen.gallacher@stmirren.com 

Wednesday night's two goal hero, Stelios Demetriou, says that Sunday's match against Celtic provides the Buddies a chance to prove themselves on the big stage.

The full back, who scored his first goals for the club in the 2-0 win over Hibernian at the Paisley 2021 Stadium, admits the team are well aware of how difficult an opponent unbeaten Celtic are going to be. 

But the London-born Cypriot believes all the pressure is going to be on Brendan Rodgers' side come Sunday. 

Speaking to stmirren.com after the win over Hibernian, Stelios confessed that the William Hill Scottish Cup tie represents a big chance for he and his team mates to show what they are capable of.

It's a big opportunity," he said. "We all know the reality of this game, we all know who Celtic are and we know how long they are unbeaten. But it's a game where we have nothing to lose and we can go and show that we are a team that deserves to be higher up.

26 year-old Stelios scored his goals either side of half time, with the second coming just 42 seconds after the break. He admitted he was delighted to score his first goals in front of the home supporters and says he feels blessed to play in for the side every week.

I'm happy," he said. "Whoever scored tonight would be the same and the most important thing was the three points.

"But I'm double happy for the two goals and hopefully a few more will come until the end of the season.

"Every time I walk out of the dressing room and I see our fans here I'm so blessed that I play for this team. I've got this opportunity to step on to the field and play for historic team."

The Buddies have had to deal with the pressure that comes with being bottom of the league but have responded well in recent weeks with two big wins over Ayr United and Hibernian. And the Cypriot believes the way the team have reacted shows the character within the squad.

That shows big personalities," he said as he discussed the pressure that has been on the side in recent weeks.

"The real good football players show it when they are under pressure. The way we are working in training and what I am seeing up to now we have a lot of personalities in this dressing room and I think we are on a good road. 

"Since I've been playing we are unbeaten and that shows we are not going to give up. We are going to fight to stay in the division and we are showing that we are not a team that deserved to be in this position."

Saints make the short trip to the east end of Glasgow on Sunday for a lunch-time clash with Celtic in the last eight of the William Hill Scottish Cup.

This will be the first meeting between the sides since St Mirren dropped to the Championship at the end of season 2014/15 when Saints lost all three Premiership matches to the Glasgow side.

A lot has changed since then on the managerial front for both sides with Jack Ross now in charge of Saints and Brendan Rodgers at the managerial helm for Celtic.

Celtic are on a storm this season as they are undefeated in domestic competition with their only losses so far this term coming in The Champions’ League.  They sit a massive 27 points in front of Aberdeen in the Premiership table meaning they only need to take seven points from their eleven remaining games to land their sixth consecutive Premiership title.

Rodgers bagged his first trophy as Celtic manager in November when they ran out 3-0 winners against Aberdeen in the Betfred Cup final. They now have their eyes fixed on a treble with St Mirren being the next obstacle in their quest having already knocked out Albion Rovers and Inverness Caledonian Thistle to reach the quarter-final stage of the Scottish Cup.

St Mirren have had good cup runs this season having made it to the final of the IRN-BRU Cup and going on to knock Spartans, Dundee and East Fife out of the Scottish cup to make it to Sunday’s tie with Celtic.

After a poor first half to the season Saints have found a bit of form since the turn of the year and go into the game at Glasgow on Sunday on the back of four straight wins.

The sides last met in the Scottish Cup four years ago almost to the day when a goal from St Mirren striker Esmael Goncalves was sandwiched between scores from Joe Ledley and Anthony Stokes. The sides had met two months earlier in the semi-final of the League Cup when Saints ran out 3-2 winners at The National Stadium.

Saints last Scottish Cup success against Celtic was on 7th March 2009 when Billy Mehmet’s second half penalty put St Mirren into the last four of the tournament.

The odds will certainly be against St Mirren on Sunday as many will look at the teams’ current positions with Celtic on top of the Premiership and Saints at the bottom of the Championship. But Jack Ross will take his side to Celtic Park looking to put them in place to try and upset the odds.

This coming Sunday (5th March), St Mirren head along the M8 to Glasgow to face Celtic in the last eight of the William Hill Scottish Cup at Celtic Park and then next Wednesday (8th March) Saints are on the road again this time to Kirkcaldy for a Ladbrokes Championship match-up with Raith Rovers at Stark's Park.

The latest info we have on Travel Clubs heading to Celtic Park and/or Stark's Park for these matches is as follows:

Tile Bar Supporters Bus

Celtic v St Mirren - 05/03/2017

The bus for Celtic Park will leave at 11:30am.

Bus tickets are now on sale in the bar.

Raith Rovers v St Mirren - 08/03/2017

The bus for the match against Raith Rovers at Kirkcaldy will leave at 5:15pm.

Bus tickets are now on sale in the bar.

Cockles Wilson Supporters Bus

Celtic v St Mirren - 05/03/2017

Our bus will be leaving at 11:30am for Celtic Park.

Bus tickets are now on sale in The Bankhouse.

Raith Rovers v St Mirren - 08/03/2017

We will be leaving at 5:00pm for the Raith Rovers game.

Bus tickets now on sale in The Bankhouse.

Chivas Travel Club

Celtic v St Mirren - 05/03/2017

We are sharing a bus with the North End Club for this match.

The bus will leave the Court Bar at 11:45am.

Bus tickets for our half of the bus are SOLD OUT.

Raith Rovers v St Mirren - 08/03/2017

We are sharing a bus with the North End Club for the Raith Rovers game.

The bus will leave the Court Bar at 5:45pm

Bus tickets on sale now from the Court Bar.

North End Travel Club

Celtic v St Mirren - 05/03/2017

The North End Travel Club will be sharing a bus with the Chivas Travel Club for the Celtic game.

The bus will leave St James' Street at 11:45am.

Bus tickets are now on sale in the Brewers Tap, £5 each.

Raith Rovers v St Mirren - 08/03/2017

We will be sharing a bus with the Chivas Travel Club for the Raith Rovers game at Kirkcaldy.

The bus will leave St James' Street at 5:45pm

Bus tickets are now on sale in the Brewers Tap

Tickets for the match are now on sale from the St Mirren Ticket Office up till 11:00am on Saturday 4th March.

Tickets must be purchased in advance as there will be no sales on the day of the match.

The St Mirren Ticket Office opening hours for the remainder of this week are as follows:

03/03/2017 - 10:00am to 2:00pm
04/03/2017 - 9:00am to 11:00am
05/03/2017 - CLOSED

Ticket Office Phone No: (0141) 840-6130.
St Mirren Ticket Office E-Mail: tickets@stmirren.com.

Additional Information for Travelling Fans

On Sunday (5th March), St Mirren head along the M8 to Glasgow to face Celtic in the quarter-finals of the William Hill Scottish Cup.

The ticket prices have now been confirmed for the cup tie at Celtic Park and these are shown above.

The referee on Sunday will be Steven McLean and he will be assisted by Graeme Stewart and David Roome. The fourth official will be William Collum.

For directions to Celtic Park click here

Under-21 International Challenge Match
Scotland v Estonia
Tuesday, 28 March 2017, kick-off TBC
Paisley 2021 Stadium, Paisley

Scotland will continue their preparations for the 2019 UEFA European Under-21 Championship qualifiers with a home friendly match against Estonia on Tuesday, 28 March at the Paisley 2021 Stadium.

The match will provide coach Scot Gemmill with the chance to shape his new-look under-21 squad ahead of the forthcoming qualification campaign, which kicks off in September.

Scotland begin with a home match against Netherlands on Tuesday, 5 September.

They will also face England, Ukraine, Latvia and Andorra as they bid to reach the 2019 finals in Italy.

Players born in 1996 or later are eligible for selection at under-21 level for the upcoming qualifiers.

The kick-off time and admission prices for the friendly match with Estonia will be announced soon.

A selection of pictures from last night's 2-0 win over Hibernian at the Paisley 2021 Stadium as Saints picked up another valuable three points.

Full back Stelios Demetriou scored either side of half time to secure the win over Neil Lennon's table topping side.

Match gallery pictures by Allan Picken – © Allan Picken Photography and John Millar - © millarpictures

A delighted Jack Ross speaks to stmirren.com following the Buddies brilliant 2-0 win over table topping Hibernian in the Ladbrokes Championship.

A double from full back Stelios helped Saints to an assured win over the Hibees at the Paisley 2021 Stadium.

St Mirren made it four wins on the spin for the first time since 2008 with an assured victory over league leaders Hibernian at the Paisley 2021 Stadium.

Cypriot Stelios Demetriou was on the scoresheet twice as he scored either side of half time - his first goals since joining the Buddies in January. 

The Buddies started in hungry fashion and were unlucky not to be ahead with 13 minutes played when Kyle Magennis forced Ofir Marciano to work. Stevie Mallan sent an expert cross field ball towards John Sutton inside the box and the Englishman cushioned a header to Magennis who fired low into the right corner only to see the visiting goalkeeper tip the ball wide.

It was Magennis who went closest to opening the scoring again when he cracked the cross bar after a cross from Morgan. Morgan did well on a driving run to keep the ball in play and expertly picked put Magennis whose volley looked to be heading into the top corner before smashing off the bar and going over. 

Saints had been on top but minutes after Magennis' chance hit the bar, the Hibees were almost ahead. John McGinn played in a wonderfully teasing cross that just evaded Efe Ambrose, making his Hibs debut, thanks to the fingertips of Billy O'Brien who clawed the ball away.

And the Buddies took a well deserved lead 10 minutes later when Stelios grabbed his first St Mirren goal. The full back charged down the flank and was expertly picked out by Mallan before cutting into the box and lashing it beyond Marciano at the near post to spark wild celebrations in the Paisley 2021 Stadium. 

Fraser Fyvie had a gilt-edged opportunity to get the Hibees back on level terms just before half time after coming on to McGinn's pass inside the area but he fired well over.

HALF TIME: St Mirren 1-0 Hibernian

The second half was barely a minute old when Stelios struck again to double Saints advantage. He took the ball from Morgan on the left side before cutting in on his right foot and driving the ball low to the near post where it kissed the post on its way into the net. It was a fabulous start to the second half and gave the Buddies a cushion.

Saints were buoyant and Cammy Smith went close on two occasions. The first, a shot dragged wide from 25 yards, but the second looked like it was heading in for the far corner 

Captain, Stephen McGinn was next to go close as he forced Marciano to stretch as he tipped McGinn's effort just by the post. It gave St Mirren a corner that was only half dealt with by Hibs before falling to Morgan who left fly from outside the area with the shot whistling just over the bar. 

As Saints looked to extend their lead the fragility of a two goal deficit was almost shown when O'Brien was called into action a minute later as he made a tremendous double save to deny Martin Boyle and then Grant Holt. It looked as though Hibs were destined to pull a goal back at a vital stage in the match but the loanee did brilliantly well to keep his hopes of a clean sheet alive. 

Still though it was St Mirren who were doing the creating and Harry Davis was unlucky to see one cleared off the line after getting on the end of a scramble from a Saints corner. 

And with just over ten minutes to go, Lewis Morgan should have made it 3-0 after a neat exchange between Magennis and Mallan found the 20 year-old winger in acres of space inside the box, but he dragged it wide of the left hand post. 

That was to be the last clear cut chance for either side in the match as Saints saw out the closing minutes comfortably to secure another huge three points in the battle to remain in the Ladbrokes Championship

FULL TIME: St Mirren 2-0 Hibernian

St Mirren: O'Brien, Irvine (Fjelde 62), MacKenzie, Davis, Stelios, Magennis (Todd 86), S.McGinn, Smith (Baird 90), Mallan, Morgan, Sutton
Subs Not Used: Langfield, Webster, Loy, Storie,

Hibernian: Marciano, Gray, McGregor, Ambrose, Stevenson, Bartley (Holt 59), J.McGinn, Shinnie (Keatings 70), Fyvie, Boyle (Graham 78), Cummings
Subs Not Used: Laidlaw, McLean, Crane, Martin

Referee: Euan Anderson
Assistant Referee: David McGeachie
Assistant Referee: David Burns

Attendance: 3441

St Mirren are forced into one change from the side that defeated Ayr United on Saturday.

Adam Eckersley drops out with injury and is replaced by Gary Irvine. 

Saints are looking to make it for four wins on the trot for the first time since 2008. 

You can follow all the action on Twitter, Facebook and those outside the UK & Ireland can watch the match live on St Mirren TV.

St Mirren: O'Brien, Irvine, MacKenzie, Davis, Stelios, Magennis, McGinn, Mallan, Smith, Morgan, Sutton
Subs: Langfield, Webster, Baird, Todd, Storie, Fjelde, Loy