A major project aimed at promoting the historic importance of Elgin has been boosted by a lottery grant of £78,000.
The ‘Castle to Cathedral to Cashmere’ initiative have been awarded the funding by the Heritage Lottery Fund to be used for a £400,000 project that involves 17 local organisations and volunteers.
Moray Council, Highlands and Islands Enterprise and Elgin BID are all part of the group working on a new visitor trail through Elgin that is hoped will bring 1000 years of history to life for visitors to the town.
Jim Royan chairs the partnership group that will aim to involve young people in the creation of the trail. He said: “It is a great pleasure to announce we have been successful in receiving the grant from the Heritage Lottery Fund.
“We are fortunate to have a wealth of experience within the partnership and we look forward to working with the community and volunteers throughout the project and beyond.”
John Cowe, chairman of the Moray Economic Partnership, said that driving up tourism was the main aim of the project – but insisted it was not just about Elgin, saying that the “ripple effect” to heritage tourism in other parts of Moray/Speyside could be substantial.
He said: “Along with ideas from the recent charrette we could see a resurgence of Elgin as a destination.”
Plans for the initiative have taken some time to be brought forward since it was first announced in 2011 by then chair of economic development and infrastructure services at Moray Council, John Russell.