WHO COORDINATES DOORS OPEN DAYS IN MORAY?
Alan Macbeth, Economic Development team, Moray Council
Moray (21st September)
I've been co-ordinator of the Moray Doors Open Day since 2017. I'm in the Economic Development team at Moray Council and most of the year I deal with European funded projects for the Council. My back up person as Co-ordinator is Kirsty Conti who has been particularly good at getting interesting old country houses to join in with Doors Open Day.
I started as coordinator for Moray after the previous co-ordinator, Liz Trevethick, left in 2017 and she left me plenty of notes and went over everything as she handed over the task.
Organising Doors Open Day has been a nice wee change from my usual day job. The best bits have been securing exciting buildings to take part – such as we have finally managed to get a Speyside distillery on board this year.
The most challenging part of Doors Open Days for me is ensuring that I have all the correct paperwork required.
The most memorable part of coordinating Doors Open Days in Moray was when we got feedback from the Forres Tollbooth and a visitor said that they had seen a ghost on Doors Open Day – a lady with grey hair and a pink garden. I’m thinking of hiring that ghost next year to encourage more visitors!!
I'm really excited about Moray's 2019 Doors Open Days programme and I'm delighted to have secured a distillery this year - Benriach Distillery just north of Elgin. We also still hope to have another distillery on board. This is particularly important because Moray sees itself as “Malt Whisky Country” with about 50 distilleries – so it’s great to get the participation of a Speyside Distillery for Doors Open Day.
You can see the full programme of events, activities and buildings that are opening their doors in Moray here.