BY MAXINE MCARTHUR

A SPECIAL guest visited the Evening Times office to lend a hand with today’s paper.

The European Championship Games Glasgow 2018 mascot, Bonnie the Seal, popped by our Renfield Street office to join our reporting team.

Taking a break from her busy schedule preparing for the games, which kick off on August 2, the harbour seal took to the streets of Glasgow for a very important journalistic mission – to find out how excited the city is for the upcoming sporting extravaganza.

Bonnie, who describes herself as a young, gregarious creature with natural curiosity, took to her task with ease and interviewed dozens of the city’s residents and visiting tourists on the iconic Royal Concert Hall steps.

Youngsters flocked to the cuddly animal as they discussed the sport they were most excited to see at next month’s event.

One youngster, four-year-old Andrew Buchanan, took the time to show Bonnie how to perform an all-important fist bump while his proud mum told of the joy the games will bring to the city.

Ms Buchanan told roving reporter Bonnie: “He absolutely loves sport so I hope we’ll get to see it.

“Why bother having something so close and not accessing it? It’s a great thing to have in the city.

“It’s important to get everyone excited about being fit.”

During her visit, Bonnie also gave the Evening Times an exclusive sneak peek of how the city’s top sporting venues will look during next month’s games.

The artist’s impressions show the pool and the gymnastics centre as well as the triathlon and mountain bike sites decked out for the championships.

Henry Ainslie, Evening Times deputy editor and Bonnie’s boss for the day, said: “The whole city can’t wait for the start of Glasgow 2018, and who better to help the Evening Times report on the build up than the face of the championships.

“Glasgow 2018 will light up the city for two weeks in August, and Bonnie certainly lit up the office when she joined our team for the day.

“It was brilliant to hear how excited people are about the championships, and they’ll be able to read all about it in the Evening Times.”

While Bonnie might be a little too busy to join the team full-time, she gave the day a massive thumbs up and we hope to have her back in the office soon.